Brooklyn’s Dopapod announced yesterday an extensive 2014 fall national tour that includes several dates in Upstate New York.
Early fall will find them headlining a show in Saratoga Springs on September 27. They play Rochester on October 2 with supporting act Consider the Source opening.
They come back through the state later on in October to support Umphrey’s McGee at Niagara Falls on the 23rd and in Binghamton on the 29th before finishing up with Space Carnival at the Oneonta Theatre in Oneonta on November 1.
Check out the entire tour graphic below and mark your calendars for some Dopapod rage!
Together since 2008, Joy Williams and John Paul White – known to their fans as The Civil Wars – have meshed their talents in a seamlessly beautiful quilt of music. It’s sad however that the two who work so creatively together to produce the most amazing music, could not mesh these notes together to continue the upward motion this duo was on. Having just won the 2014 Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, it seemed unlikely that they would soon be announcing their parting of ways.
In comments posted to their official webpage yesterday Williams and White gave their statements to fans, along with a free download as a thank you for their support over the years.
Joy Williams comments, “I am saddened and disappointed by the ending of this duo, to say the very least. JP is a tremendous musician, and I will always be grateful for the music we were able to create together. I sincerely hope that ‘You Are My Sunshine’ will be accepted as a token of my gratitude for every single person that has supported our duo throughout the years. I’m so thankful and my heart is full. Looking ahead, I’m excited to share the music that I am writing and recording in the midst of this difficult transition. I’ve loved being back in the studio, and have missed performing live. I look forward to seeing you soon.”
John Paul adds, “I would like to express sincere thanks to all who were a part of the arc of The Civil Wars—from the beginning, to the end, and all points in between. My deep appreciation goes out to all who supported, disseminated, and enjoyed the music. Whatever shape or form the next chapter takes, thanks for being a large part of this one.”
Although short-lived in the eye of the storm, the talents of these four-time Grammy winning artists have forever created an impression on the world of folk and country music and the fans that adore them.
In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Williams explained that although they were in tune in the studio, the multitude of hours they spent together touring had taken a toll on their friendship and professional relationship. Having taken a hiatus in 2011 after recording what would be their third and final album, the two couldn’t find their ways past their differences and have now announced they will be parting ways for good.
Central New York was rockin’ Saturday afternoon and into the night as KRockathon 19 took over the Chevy Court at the NYS Fairgrounds in Syracuse. The hot sizzling sun didn’t stop music fans from crowd surfing, fist pumping, horn raising or just bouncing up and down to all of their favorite artists that took the stage during the annual summer event.
Though this was an awesome rock festival with a killer lineup – sadly, the music was an afterthought for most as it was overshadowed by a lot of, no actually a ton of, overly obnoxious drunken and impaired fans. Concert goer’s who walked into the venue were greeted by staff who were giving out free KRock koozie’s, sunglasses and KRock Elite passes for the first two-thousand fans who came through the door for random meet and greets with various bands. The venue had its usual set up, with two stage’s side by side. The standout performers of the day were: We As Human, Fozzy and Pop Evil. Blacklite District, Black Stone Cherry and A Day To Remember were really good as well. KRock Dj’s Rainman, Griffin and Cody came out, welcomed fans to the show and kicked things off by introducing the first band.
Blacklite District kicked the show off and got the fans that were actually in the venue – and not in the parking lot still pre-gaming, pumped up and did their job to get the crowd psyched for the rest of the show. Starset was good but they had some technical difficulties at times. Singer Dustin Bates seems to get a little bit distracted with all the technology they use during their set. He cut his mic out when using his emulator screen. He also uses two microphones at once for most of his performance. One mic for regular vocals and one for voice distortion. Still a great performance by the band and when they work the kinks out they will be fine. We As Human came out and just kicked ass. Singer Justin Cordle stood on the security wall and grabbed the hands of fans during the song “Zombie”.Cordle then thanked Lacy Sturm (former Flyleaf singer) for performing on the next track they were going to perform and played “Take the Bullets Away”. Justin then dedicated the next song “I Stand” to the Armed Forces; in a funny moment after the song, Cordle said to the crowd joking “as you can see two people are missing to my left. Our guitarist and our bass player said they needed a vacation. I said, ‘dude you’re a rock star, your life is a vacation.’ ”
Framing Hanley put in a good set for the fans, vocalist Kenneth Nixon said they took a long drive just to be at KRockathon today, then went on to say how they love performing in Syracuse. Nixon went over two lines of the song “Simple Life”with the fans in the crowd so when he held the mic out during the song, he wanted the crowd to sing it back to him. Nixon also noticed a blown-up condom bouncing around the crowd and said “looks like the dude said f^@# it and gave up already.” They then played “Lollipop”and ended with “Stupid Girl”. Halestorm came out and turned the place into a nut house literally, I have never witnessed so much crowd surfing in my life. Lzzy Hale’s mic was drowned out and you could barely hear her sing. Hale told the crowd that she just took two shots of Jameson before she came out. Arejay did his usual drum solo and brought out his oversized drum sticks, this also marked the spot where people started to act ridiculous for the rest of the show. During the mid way point of their set, a woman whom was crowd surfing was targeting other fan’s heads and blatantly trying to kick people in the face. Fozzy surprised me at this show, they really brought it to the Syracuse fans. Chris Jericho in my eyes finally made himself a true rock star and not a WWE superstar trying to sing. From start to finish, “Sandpaper, Enemy, Lights Go Out” and every hit in between. Jericho also went back to his wrestling roots and rhymed a bunch of words building up his band before ending with “you can go home and tell everybody you just got your assess kicked by Fozzy.”
Saliva was another band that the mic was way too low, they still put on a good show and sang every hit from the Josey Scott days’. Surprisingly, they didn’t sing any of their new tracks with new front man Bobby Amaru. Instead of doing an AC/DC cover, they should have played their current single “Rise Up”. Black Stone Cherry just kept the vibe going. They played all their singles and had the crowd singing along to “Blame it on the Boom Boom”.Unfortunately, I had to witness a guy get his lights punched out while his wife frantically looked for help as no EMT’s nor security were anywhere to be found. This was the first of many fights during the day. All That Remains played their usual set of radio singles. Before they played “What If I Was Nothing” – vocalist Philip Labonte said “we’re supposed to be a metal band. Two years ago we came out with our latest album A War You Cannot Win. We made a ballad. We like to break the f^@#ing rules sometimes.” Pop Evil was the best of the night. What an awesome set. This is one of the best live bands to watch. The crowd was absolutely insane for Pop Evil which prompted singer Leigh Kakaty to say “sick of people saying rock is dead. Tell that mother^@#&! to come to Syracuse N.Y.” Before the band played the song “Torn To Pieces” Kakaty said “put your horns and drinks in the air and let’s make a toast.” As the band was getting ready to play “Trenches” Leigh gave a shout out to all the bands that performed on the show. He also said to the crowd “every band on this show would be $#!% without the fans.” Then he dedicated the song to the Red, White and Blue.
Some fans headed out of the show after this. It seemed like the hardcore outfit, A Day To Remember and Seether fans, were the majority that were left. A Day To Remember had tons of fans there, fans were bouncing up and down and crowd surfing everywhere. The crowd nearly got out of control when the band played “Right Back At It Again”. Some fans were by now, passed out sleeping on the ground in some areas from being overly intoxicated in the heat. Seether headlined the event. The band started with “Gasoline” then they played hit after hit including “Fine Again, Rise Above This and Fake It”. They also played new songs “Weak and Words As Weapons”. What could have been the highlight of the night, kind of turned into a little snafu – the vocalist for Seether Shaun Morgan brought out Lzzy Hale from Halestorm to sing the song “Broken” with him. When it was time for Hale to sing the first line of the second verse she paused in confusion, looked to her side and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Morgan look on in amazement then laughed as other band members looked on with ‘what the hell is she doing’ look on their faceS. Hale then looked down at the screen of her phone and must have had the lyrics set as she picked up and started singing from the third line of the second verse. After the song was over, Lzzy went over to Morgan and hugged him and said something to him hopefully apologizing to him. He then said into the mic “it’s a learning curve.” Seether ended the night with “Remedy”. This was a really good show soley based on the performances of all the bands. Every band did their best to give the fans a great show. The lineup was excellent. The organization of the event as a whole is another story.
So many things were wrong again this year at KRockathon. Mostly the drunken violent fans and lack of security. Security just fully and totally dropped the ball. I don’t know how much Police or security were on hand but it did not seem like much at all. The venue could have really benefited from another food tent, lines for a burger could have lasted you up to an hour. The venue could have probably used more garbage cans, but that really didn’t matter because all the cans were half empty because everyone decided to just throw their trash on the ground between all the puke piles. Buying water was also a joke as you needed to buy beer tickets to get a water. A $7 beer ticket was good for two waters but the vendors would take the caps off and keep them. So I guess they expected you to just down your drinks in one minute. They took the caps for whatever beverage you bought – Ridicules.
“This band has provided me with some of the best years of my life. Growing on a personal level from a being supporter of the band in high school, to playing percussion in the band, to playing drums in the band, and growing on a group level from getting kicked out of bars for being under-age as we’re setting up our gear, to playing our first out of town show, to touring a good portion of the country, it has all been an adventure-filled experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Being on the road with my 3 best friends (since before the band) is something I feel I am very fortunate to be able to say I’ve done. This decision I’ve made to leave this behind I cannot contribute to anything negative about the band or really anything negative at all. We are exactly how you’ve viewed us. We’re on stage smiling and laughing about whatever we were joking about earlier in the day, we hop off stage, the jokes continue, and we’re laughing about something new the next night in a different city. The positive environment that was created by being on the road with this band is something that I am proud to say I was a part of. My decision to leave was influenced by a change in me, and change in ideas, a change in direction. Knowing this band and all of its components so well, I know that Aqueous needs all parts of the machine to be in full force in order to move forward. I was no longer able to provide that. While I still would give full passion while on stage performing our songs, I just no longer had the drive off the stage.
I have no doubts as I leave my throne to Ryan Nogle that he is the guy that is up for the task. Nogle has been here with us along this whole journey. In fact his first show working as “some sound guy we hired” in 2008 was the very same first show that I played percussion with the band. So if it would feel appropriate to pass the torch on to anyone else, it would be him. An incredible drummer, a good guy, and with the knack to fix just about anything anywhere, he will be quite an asset on the road.
Possibly the most important thing I want to touch on would be the relationships I’ve formed with people that I otherwise wouldn’t have crossed paths with if it weren’t for this band. I hope you all know who you are. Thank you. These people have never ceased to amaze me along the way with continuous support, understanding, and devotion to the band and the music it makes. It would always amaze me how Aqueous could ignite a room full of strangers. By the end of any show no one’s a stranger and everyone leaves feeling like they’ve made a new connection with someone that night. I’ve always been impressed with our fans. In the past year or two as the crowds started getting bigger, and even though I had not known as large of a percentage of the faces in the audience, I could see that these new faces were just continuing the positive trend that Aqueous emits. This is probably the best feature of the band and I hope that it never changes as the band continues forward.
These last few shows I played with Aqueous are the best shows I’ve ever played personally, and I would consider the best shows the band has ever played as a whole. With the awareness of the situation between my band mates and myself, I felt that we communicated on stage better than we ever have. An unknown sense between the four of us that felt as if no words, cues, or signals had to be given for fluent improvisational music to be performed which is the exact reason Aqueous exists and doesn’t get tired of itself. I’m happy to know that this generation of Aqueous went out with a bang and performed a hell of a good run of shows before I hung it up.
This isn’t the last you’ll see of me. My life wouldn’t feel right if music were not a part of it. If nothing else, those of you who are familiar with Boss Tweed and the Carpet Baggers – be expecting a showing of three weird dudes wearing lucha libre masks to be performing a show together at some point in the future.
Thank you to all of you who have played a role in my irreplaceable life experience with this band.”
We’d like to thank Nick for his years of amazing playing and friendship, and we promise to rock harder than ever as we move forward. Onward!
Over the course of almost 21 years, Mushroomhead has carved out their place as a lasting presence in the ever-changing metal scene. Hard work, relentless passion, and a dedicated fanbase has kept this band going, and they are stronger than ever. Starting out in Cleveland, Ohio, lead singer J-Mann remembers what it was like during the ’70s and ’80s in that area. “It was such an industrial town, seeing that part of it. I remember Detroit falling apart, and signs from the police saying ‘Enter at Your Own Risk’ “. All of that led to J-Mann taking a liking to the aggressive music scene, which would in turn help shape what Mushroomhead would become. “Subversive music intrigued me, anything that challenged society, or was socially aware.” J-Mann took a break from Mushroomhead in 2005, because he was tired of the fight. “Pro-tools bands come and go, they are tourists – it’s lifers versus tourists.” He was jaded by the way the industry was shaping, but it didn’t keep him out music for long.
*Note: Quotes from J-Mann were part of a phone interview with Managing Editor/Photo Editor, Jim Gilbert, earlier in July.
Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert
Returning to Mushroomhead in 2013, the band released their new album, The Righteous and The Butterfly, which went to number 20 on the billboard charts. J-Mann recalls sitting next to Rev. Jesse Jackson on a radio show in Cleveland when he got the news. “Drinking beer out of a coffee cup at 6:30 in the morning, trying to awkwardly high-five and hug Rev. Jesse Jackson. Crazy. It’s all about the fans and their support.”
With a stint on this year’s Rockstar Mayhem Festival, Mushroomhead is looking forward to a headlining tour in the fall, and then the next record, with a lot of new material already in the works, like a track featuring Randy Blythe from Lamb of God. I got to sit down with Skinny and ST1TCH at the festival when it rolled into Saratoga Springs New York at SPAC, and talk a little about the band, and the passing of Dave Brockie of GWAR, both Mushroomhead and Gwar being very close throughout their careers.
Jeff Ayers: So, first question I gotta know. ‘Rumour Has It’. It was your idea, Skinny, to put that on the record, right? Can you talk about that?
Skinny: Usually, when we start recording a new album, we will screw around with cover tunes, just to get tones basically. When you are setting up drums, and dialing in guitars, it’s just about having a little fun with it. That one came about because of my iPod, I had it on shuffle. Dr. F, our bass player, and myself were working on some masks, and we were using it as a background. Sure enough, that tune came on, and we started talking about Adele, I think she is an amazing singer.
‘s Jeff Ayers and Mushroomhead’s ST1TCH (Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert)
JA: Yeah, not going to lie, she is a talented artist.
Skinny: Yeah, just incredible. So we were talking about it, and I said what if we put heavy guitars in it? You know like Metallica or something? Dr. F and I were laughing about it, and after a few more beers, we talked ourselves to go back into the studio and do it. We just knocked it out with some simple drums and guitars, just to get reactions from it, and everyone that came in had a chuckle. So we kept just throwing the whole kitchen sink at it for awhile. After a little bit, it turned into something interesting. You definitely know what tune it is, I don’t think we destroyed it too much. It’s very much in the vain of how we did Seal’s ‘Crazy’ in 2003. It was a lot of fun. It was meant to keep things lite during the writing process. Like, when you get frustrated or something, we could be like ‘Let’s screw around with the Adele tune again!”
JA: You need that in a recording process, to keep it fun.
Skinny: Exactly, it needs to be a good time. So when the album was ready, the label, who originally hated the song, asked us “Hey, what happened to the Adele cover?” Now they love it. It ended up morphing so many times that by the end of it they liked it. It was really for us.
ST1TCH: Yea, we almost re-hauled it again at the end too. We turned in a few different versions and that’s why I think they ended up liking it. At first we were all a little on the fence about it, too ,because there were so many other songs that were also good.
Skinny: We did like five or six different cover songs.
JA: Will we have a chance of hearing any of the songs that didn’t make the cut on subsequent records?
Skinny: Hopefully, yeah. There is a bunch of originals that didn’t make the album either, because we just ran out of time.
JA: That is always good though, to have songs in your back pocket for the next record.
ST1TCH: Absolutely.
Skinny: But like I said, the Adele thing ultimately was just for us. At 20 years in, you got have some kind of fun.
ST1TCH: 20 and a half. Mushroomhead is almost old enough to drink. Watch out!
Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert
JA: Can you guys speak a little on how the game has changed, or how the industry has changed since your beginnings?
Skinny: To bands at our level, like, we missed the ‘record sales’ portion of the industry by three years. Three years earlier and we might not even be here. But, I won’t change anything. For hard-working bands, that have been doing it this long, they are still just working. They punch in, go do their thing, and that’s all they are worried about. It’s funny how, you can get into cycles, like look at us, twelve years later and we are on another festival. Most people might have written us off, but that isn’t the case for the hard-working, honest efforts out there. People tend to know the difference. The rest of the industry though? I would hate to be in a baby band right now.
JA: Is it harder to contend with the ‘baby’ bands out there now?
Skinny: Well there is a lot of them. Oh my god, the saturation of the music industry is incredible. Sometimes, it gets tougher for a band like us. You get people saying, oh they are washed up, or they are gimmick metal. I think that you have to keep pressing on. A lot of bands don’t have that longevity; twenty years, seven albums, four labels. You know what I mean? If they do have that, they already made their millions, they are the big bands. There really isn’t a lot like Mushroomhead, and that’s why it’s always just another day at work for us. I still wake up everyday, like when I was twenty, saying ‘How do I pimp my band? What’s the next thing, how can I push it further?” I feel the exact same passion as when I started.
JA: You have done a lot in your careers, and I am not throwing this around lightly, but you have helped re-invent the idea of heavy music. You aren’t afraid to throw samples in the music, multiple drummers, multiple singers, different instrumentation. Are there any crazy things on the horizon, or things that you have always wanted to integrate into the band you haven’t had the chance to yet?
Skinny: We love working with other people, like guest vocalists on the records. So to see who the next guest might be, and not knowing is a cool thing. But knowing that I do want it, that next tone, that other texture, is exciting.
JA: Musicians are very singular beings. Is it more interesting, or more challenging, being in a band where multiple musicians fill the same roles, like vocalists and drummers, seeing as I am talking to two drummers right now?
Skinny: As long as you can sort through the bad ideas and get to the good ones, I think the more ideas the better. I’d hate to be in a room full of dudes who have no ideas, or no passion.
ST1TCH: We spend a lot of time making sure that it makes sense, too. Not like some bands, where they might have two drummers, but they are playing the same beat. What’s the point? What I do, with water drums, is more about amplifying the show, and percussion. Not muddying it up at all. Just like with three singers, everyone has their parts, and we organize it more like a play, or a theater performance rather than a band going up there and trying to outdo each other. Msuhroomhead is a show, and we are all about entertaining people
Skinny: [in his best Russel Crowe voice] “Are you not entertained!!” That is how I feel up there. We are not rockstars, we are entertainers.
ST1TCH: As soon as that mask goes on, I am not me anymore. I am the character I snap into.
Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert
JA: Mushroomhead was brought up by GWAR, can we talk a little about Dave’s [Brockie] passing. You guys were close right?
Skinny: Yea. The whole GWAR camp gave us our first national anything. Three days after our first show, we were called up for an opening slot at the Cleveland Agora for those guys. So our second show ever was with GWAR. We got to know Dave and Brad and all those guys, and they asked us to do some support stuff the following year. Regional stuff, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
ST1TCH: They were in town filming for the Jerry Springer show then
JA: I remember that!
Skinny: I think that was a few years later, but I don’t know. I remember Jerry introducing GWAR on stage and getting hit with a beer in the face. He was so pissed, he got in his limo and left. [laughs]. But anyway, those guys were really nice to us. We were fortunate to spend some time with Dave on Soundwave 2014 in Australia. It was like a high school reunion. They were on at two o’clock, we were on around 11:30 in the morning, so we shared the same dressing area. So we started drinking, you know, ten in the morning, GWAR and Mushroomhead. You gotta start then! I remember eating kangaroo jerky and drinking jagermeister with Dave.
J-Mann (from phone interview): There were shuttles between all the stages, and Dave joined us for every show. He was brilliant, quick-witted, well-rounded, and that all gets disguised in a big rubber suit. He was such a wonderful guy.
Skinny: On our day off, we all got together and went to visit Bon Scott’s grave [AC/DC]. We went to see his memorial down at the harbour in Perth, and some of us even went to the Indian Ocean together. It was so great to see Dave, and we were very fortunate to spend some of the last days with him. We have some many good memories and great footage of hanging out on stage, and personal photos as well.
JA: It’s great to hear that you got that opportunity with him right before he died.
Skinny: Yea, would you like to see the photo of us at Bon Scott’s memorial? It’s pretty heavy man.
*At this point he took out his phone and showed Jim and I this haunting photo. Skinny was gracious enough to let us use it, another piece of the lasting legacy that Dave was a part of, and a testament to the bond between the two bands.
Mushroomhead and GWAR’s Dave Brockie in Australia at Bon Scott’s (AC/DC) memorial less than two weeks before Dave’s untimely death. Photo by Steve “Skinny” Felton.
Skinny: But, anyway, he was a great guy, funny, talented as hell. He left this earth a better place. We were very fortunate to have him for the short time we did. Because, goddamn, I can listen to those records and laugh my ass off still to this day. Like, we were singing ‘Sexecutioner” out loud the other day, and everyone was taking turns, it was pretty funny.
JA: Have you ever thought about doing a GWAR cover for a Mushroomhead record?
ST1TCH: We were just talking about that actually.
Skinny: Yea, because we were just singing that song recently, we started arguing about which song would be better. So you never know, whenever the time is right maybe we can do something like that. But again, God bless those guys.
JA: So what is the next thing in store for Mushroomhead, then?
Skinny: Touring. We are taking a few weeks off after Mayhem, then we will start getting ready for the Halloween season. That time of year is just us, we have to do that. Probably a nationwide tour, and we are also working on four cities in Russia right now.
JA: Have you been out to Russia recently?
ST1TCH: We were just out there in May.
JA: Well with everything that’s going on over there, be careful.
Skinny: Oh yeah, absolutely. But it is insane for us over there, the fans are great.
ST1TCH: They make us feel like the Beatles.
Skinny: That is no bullshit, they are shaking and crying to get into the shows, it is so nuts.
The 5th Annual Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival is coming to the NYS fairgrounds August 22. This year’s festival may be the best yet with names such as Godsmack, Skillet, These Raven Skies, and many more performing. The full afternoon and evening event begins at 2PM.
Headlining on the Rockstar Energy main stage will be Godsmack. They are touring in support of their sixth full length album, 100hp, which debuted August 5, 2014. The metal legends have sold over twenty-million records since their start in 1995. This will be their second time at UPROAR.
Joining Godsmack on the main stage will be Skillet and These Raven Skies. Ranked as one of the top five hardest working bands in 2011 by songkick.com, Skillet has sold over two-million records in their eight years together. They are touring to promote their new album Rise, which was released in 2013. These Raven Skies is the band formerly known as Dreams of Reason; They are touring to promote their debut album as These Raven Skies.
Don’t miss your chance to attend one of the hottest tours of the summer! Buy your Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival tickets here!
New Jersey thrash metal outfit Overkill unleashed their 17th album, White Devil Armory, a couple of weeks ago and could possibly be the best metal album of the year. It is a nonstop thrill ride from start to finish. Overkill has been overlooked for many years because they were never considered the “big four” of thrash metal. White Devil Armory makes the argument that it should be rebranded as such.
The album starts out with the intro “XDM” which is just a short but haunting instrumental tune. Then all of a sudden BOOM! the album gets in your face and makes your ears bleed with “Armorist”. Overkill has never sounded better and showed no signs of slowing down. Armorist is a song made to be played live.
The album never slows down. White Devil Armory continues to hold the pedal on the gas with “Down to the Bone” and “Pig” before going into the six minute bone shattering anthem “Bitter Pill” which is the lead single off the album. Dave Linsk’s guitar solos are groovy as hell and the vocals of Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth are as fiend as ever. But what stands out the most is the drumming from Ron Lipnicki. My arms and legs get tired just listening to those drums pound.
Another track that really stands out is “Freedom Rings” a real thrash masterpiece as well as closing track “In The Name”.
Overall, White Devil Armory is an album that cannot be overlooked. Most deffinately a candidate for best metal album of 2014. Mabe one of the best thrash metal albums of the decade too. There are no light or slow tracks; It’s nonstop thrash, very heavy album. Overkill clearly has a lot left in the tank. It’s time to really reevaluate who the “big four” of thrash metal really are.
After countless of shows over the past decade, Orange County metalcore outfit Bleeding Through played their last show this past Sunday night in front of a home crowd in Anaheim, California. The band posted the following message through their Facebook page:
“For the last 15 years of this bands career we just want to say it has been a dream come true and none of this could have happened without your undying support to our music. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for allowing us to be ourselves and live through this music. BT has gotten to the point that our music will never die and there will always be #bleedingthrough. To the best fans in the world. You are family!”
Guitarist Dave Nassie also posted:
“I would like to thank all the band members, crew, family, managers, agents, and record companies for all the amazing memories. I always loved being in Bleeding Through with all my heart. Good-bye and thank you for all that you enabled me to accomplish. I feel blessed to have shared the stage and played music with you. Dave“
Bleeding Through finished their career with seven studio albums.
Buffalive Productions and Willow Creek Winery team up one last time for the summer with a full day and night’s worth of Grateful Dead music. The all day event will be celebrating the music of Jerry Garcia, who would have been 72 years-old this past August 1 and Saturday will mark the 19th Anniversary of his passing. No better way to honor the legend with The Grapeful Getdown, which will take place Saturday, August 9 at the winery and will feature bands from the western, New York area.
Workingman’s Dead, one of Buffalo’s premier Grateful Dead tribute bands will headline the event with two sets. The band is a must see as they replicate the sounds of ‘The Dead’ with precision and proving why the group is very sought after.
Joining Workingman’s Dead will be Groove Force, who will also be playing 2 sets. Groove Force is a jam/blues/funk driven machine that has an influence of Grateful Dead music and will be on display at The Grapeful Getdown. Grateful Dan’s will play two sets as well, the five-man band is a top Grateful Dead Tribute act in New York state and will surely take everyone back to the sounds of the Dead. Little Mountain Band will also share the stage for the event, the band heavily influenced by Garcia and can definitely be seen in the bands playing.
A late night set will be played by Adam Bronstein and Paddy Donnelly performing the music of Phish as Adam Bronstein and the Watchful Hosemasters.
An added benefit to the event is the free camping, so plan accordingly and stay for one final night at this must-see event. It’s going to be one strange trip!
Tickets can be purchased here or at the gate. Advance $20 and $25 at the door.
Back in 1993, ‘nu metal’ was barely a thing in the musical landscape. But five young guys from Bakersfield, California started a band that would become the powerhouse metal band Korn. From their debut self-titled album which gained instant success, to the slew of consistent chart topping albums for the last 20 years, they have been a lasting force in the heavy music scene.
The members remained constant until 2005 when Brian ‘Head’ Welch decided to leave the band because, in part, to his addiction to drugs. He then found religion, cleaned up, wrote books and started new bands. In 2013 he officially rejoined Korn, bringing the guitar double team of Brian and James ‘Munky’ Shaffer back to full strength. At the recent Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Saratoga Springs, I got to sit down with Head and talk about what the road back to Korn was like, and how it feels to be back.
Brian ‘Head’ Welch: Life is good, man. You know there is always something to do on this tour. We wake up, eat and then we are busy like crazy. I am also working on a new book, and I am way behind on it, so it takes any free second I have. There are other bands we want to see, on the small stages too. Then we have meet-and-greet, and after the show we are doing after parties. So we have like an hour to shower off, and then we meet like a hundred people every night and then it’s bedtime.
Jeff Ayers: How are those after parties? We heard that some are thrown by other bands.
BHW: Ours is more of a one with our fans kinda thing. We hang out, play some music, take pictures. It’s like a meet-and-greet, but you can buy drinks and hang out in a different atmosphere. There is a Q and A too.
JA: That sounds cool.
BHW: Yea, I don’t really like it. It’s a cool thing, but I was under the impression it was going to be the whole band there. Jonathan [Davis] has his kids out [on this tour] so he is never there. So the vibe is always, “Where’s Jonathan? Where’s Jonathan?” So I am not going to do it again, unless he signs an agreement that he is going to be there. I mean, I understand, he has his kids. But you know, I got a different impression about these after parties.
JA: What’s the new book going to be about?
BHW: It’s about my eight years away from Korn, and my road back to Korn. So it is about me, trying to be the normal person, trying to be dad, and getting my life together while breaking apart a few times a year. I was always wasted the whole time before, and I couldn’t run to that stuff anymore, but I wanted to. A few times. I went through a lot of stuff, and I am writing all that stuff down. It’s flowing out of me, so I think it’s meant to be.
JA: It has to be cathartic, too, to be able to get that onto the page. I am a writer myself, and getting hardship, pain, and loss written down can be helpful and help with the healing
BHW: Yea, you are right. But it is hard too, I mean, I’m feeling it too. I had this episode with my daughter, during the time we [Love and Death] were fighting with this label. They were stringing us along, and they had done it a few times before that, and then they were like “We are going to pass”. So I said “I’m done!” and threw my phone and broke it, but I had this episode with my daughter because she got hit by the phone on accident. It was the worst day, I felt like I might lose her. It has been hard at times, too.
JA: In that eight year recovery, is there a defining moment? That pinnacle moment that smacked you in the face and made life clearer?
BHW: I’d say when I finally hit the day, well I don’t know if it was a day or a time period, but when you hit a place in life where you step back and go, ‘Everything just changed right now’ whether it is a new a career or something. When I went through my bankruptcy, I hit a place where I realized ‘I just went through all of that for a reason.” I faced every fear that I had in life, I faced every emotion that was caused by my drug addiction, every bad thing that I could face, I did, and made it through. Facing those things actually cleansed me from them, so I am new man. It felt like for a time there was a curse on my life. I wrote my first book, and that was cool, but I then started a label, which failed, then I lost my house, then people were trying to sue me left and right. Then I moved to Nashville, I started a new band that wasn’t successful, and it was just like ‘C’mon man!’. But [looking back], it was all a process to make the person I wanted to be, this new man. Then I entered into peace right there, and I have been good ever since.
JA: Can I ask what happened recently in Europe? You guys, Love and Death, were just on tour and you had to cancel dates, didn’t you get sick?
BHW: Yea I had a kidney stone, and had surgery. I was in three different hospitals, called the paramedics twice, once in an airport, once in a hotel. Right in front of the Russian fans, it was just bad. I didn’t know what was going on, because they initially told me I didn’t have a kidney stone, but then my gall bladder started failing. Then my kidneys started hurting really bad. The doctors were just messing around, and I ended up having surgery. I had to Google translate with my surgeon. I asked, “I still feel like I am going to die, we had the surgery, what’s wrong?” Then he would Google translate back to me, it was rough.
JA: Wow, that sounds crazy!
BHW: Yea, remember how I told you everything got better after that certain day? Well that was challenging. But, after going through everything I had before, when I faced the kidney stone I was O.K.. Even though I was in extreme pain, I was fine inside, I knew I could get through it.
JA: You took those eight years off from Korn, now that you are back for a little over a year, how has it been?
BHW: 2014 has been great. 2013 was a little challenging. I came in from running the show at Love and Death. Even though it was a tiny show, it was my show, so I was making all the business decisions, saving tons of money on flights, and hotels and stuff. So I came back here, and I was all about trying to do things different, business wise. I talked with the guys, and was like “Why is this happening? You know how much money we could save, etc?” So I would let it eat me up inside. I was treating the tour manager pretty bad, and he’s been doing this for fifteen years, and he has his ways. He doesn’t work on the things that save nickels, he works on the things that save lots of money. I was sitting there worrying about the nickels, so it took me awhile to balance that. I had a conversation with him eventually where I apologized, because this was a big change for me and had to adjust. Once I got past that though, I have had a good year.
JA: Your new record, The Paradigm Shift, is doing great. You just came out with that the end of last year, what is the plan for after Mayhem Fest?
BHW: Well, I wish I had confirmation to tell you about this thing we are working on, but I can’t say it yet. We are looking to do a really nice tour in the fall. I thought it was just going to be a few shows to close out the year, festivals and stuff like that. But this thing came up, and I am really excited for it to come together. So big tour in the fall, and then I don’t know about next year. We haven’t really gotten that far yet. I think it would be good to take a couple of months off [from touring]. You know, do a couple of cool shows, but everybody just go away for a little bit. Give everybody a break, the fans a break, the band a break, and then start writing the next record. We will see what happens.
JA: Do you guys write music individually and then bring it together or is the writing process a collaboration?
BHW: The big thing with Korn, is we like to get into a room, and flesh it all out together. But we also write at home to bring ideas to those sessions. Definitely have to do that, because the famous thing we like to talk about is when we are holding our guitars and staring at our feet on the floor, and we try to do stuff and it sounds like we are beginning teenagers all over again. Looking around the room asking, “Is this cool?” [laughs]. That’s desperate, so playing on our own helps to stop that.
JA: You guys have been playing now for a long time, and being on the road with the same guys over and over again, it can put strains on dealing with each other. Do you guys handle that pretty well as a band?
BHW: Obviously, humans are humans. Even the people you love will get on your nerves, and it will happen out here on the road too. But you learn to just walk away, and then come back. That’s all is. There are some days, like four weeks into the tour, and you have a great night with everybody and you are on the bus just laughing. On the hard moments, you just walk away and try and go refuel by yourself. At this point, we all know how to do that really well.
Though this was an awesome rock festival with a killer lineup – sadly, the music was an afterthought for most as it was overshadowed by a lot of, no actually a ton of, overly obnoxious drunken and impaired fans. Concert goer’s who walked into the venue were greeted by staff who were giving out free KRock koozie’s, sunglasses and KRock Elite passes for the first two-thousand fans who came through the door for random meet and greets with various bands. The venue had its usual set up, with two stage’s side by side. The standout performers of the day were: We As Human, Fozzy and Pop Evil. Blacklite District, Black Stone Cherry and A Day To Remember were really good as well. 
To my 
