The Faceless, a California death metal band, have split with their bassist and drummer, Evan Brewer and Alex Rudinger, respectively, as of Oct. 20 via Facebook announcement.
Brewer, who has played with the band for the last four years, appeared on their latest album, Autotheism. Brewer noted that the reason for his departure had to do with scheduling conflicts. He elaborated by saying that he would like to do more “teaching, make more music…and to also have availability for any…opportunities.” Similarly, Rudinger noted that he would like to pursue other projects and is interested in “looking for work.”
Both departed one week before Knotfest, set to hit the stage in a week in San Bernardino, California, from Oct. 24 – 26. Rudinger apologized to fans who were “looking forward to seeing [The Faceless perform].” He also noted that he would not be leaving his other band, Conquering Dystopia.
The Faceless have not issued a statement regarding Rudinger and Brewer, or their upcoming performance at Knotfest.
In the face of happenings in Ferguson, MO and a national media seemingly hellbent on sensationalizing every unfortunate interaction between a civilian and officer it’s easy to forget that most of these guys (and gals) selflessly put their lives on the lines every day to protect our liberties. That’s their job. And on the night of September 23, Rochester Police Department officer Daryl Pierson was doing nothing more than his job when he was murdered in the line of duty trying to apprehend a subject.
Since then the community of Rochester has come out in droves for the Pierson family and RPD with multiple benefits, donations, and a simply breath-taking display of support at a massive service at the Blue Cross Arena attended by seemingly every officer and dignitary in a 100 mile radius. The love will continue this Dec. 6 at the Main Street Armory with a benefit night filled with some well-known and up and coming hard rocking entertainment.
Headlining the event is life long Rochester native and songwriter Hall of Fame member Lou Gramm. Well known as the long time “Juke Box Hero” for classic rock heavy weight Foreigner, Lou has been fronting his own band since leaving Foreigner for good in 2003. With a set list heavily weighted with Foreigner classics and a mix of his own solo material Lou commanded a huge audience at this past years Xerox International Jazz Festival (Check out our gallery of XRIJF Lou Gramm unreleased photos below) and no doubt will bring a lot of fans to this charity event.
Steve Augeri is best known for being the first “official” replacement singer for Steve Perry in everyone’s favorite sing-a-long group Journey. Now off with his own group, fans should expect to hear a ton of that former bands repertoire which is back loaded with some of the most heartwarming songs of all time. I can’t imagine their will be a dry eye in the house during “Don’t Stop Believin’” or “Faithfully”.
Two band’s demise became one bands journey – up and coming bands Abandoned Buildings Club and Velvet Elvis both bit the dust in 2013 and those that continued joined forces as King Buffalo. Featuring deep grooves with a heavy background overlaid with psychedelic vocals and a fantastic rhythm section, this band has gathered a ton of buzz and will make a lot of new fans for a great cause this night.
Also joining the fun will be Download – Rochester’s favorite hard rock cover band – and Rainline, who gathered some new fans of their own playing their heavy hitting originals at the 2012 Lilac Festival. Tickets are 20$ and are available on Ticketfly, at the House of Guitars, or Aaron’s Alley. All proceeds will benefit the Pierson family. Come on out and pay tribute to one of Rochester’s hero’s, why wouldn’t you?
Lou Gramm band LIVE at Xerox International Jazz festival
Nineties alt-rock stalwarts Smashing Pumpkins have announced a December 9 release date for their 8th studio effort Monuments to an Elegy. Produced by Howard Willing (from the Adore sessions), Elegy features the lineup of founding member Billy Corgan along with guitarist Jeff Schroeder – who joined in 2007 – and new drummer Tommy Lee. Yes, THE Tommy Lee of Motley Crue fame.
The announcement also includes a first chance for fans to check out the single “Being Beige”, a melancholy song that will remind fans of sessions from the record bearing that name.
Regarding Mr Lee’s ubiquitous presence on the album, Billy had the following to say – “The songs, in demo form, had a strut, and so the suggestion was made that we ought to get someone who ‘plays like’ Tommy. Jeff Schroeder said, ‘why not get the real deal?’ Tommy brings the power and grace he’s known for, which gives the music a vibrancy that is both immediate and unmistakable.”
Fan’s may pre-order the album now on iTunes. A second album – Day for Night – is already in the works. No touring plans were announced as of yet. Stay tuned!
Monuments to an Elegy track listing:
1. Tiberius
2. Being Beige
3. Anaise!
4. One and All
5. Run2me
6. Drum + Fife
7. Monuments
8. Dorian
9. Anti-Hero
Primus’s new album Primus & The Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble is set to be released October 21. But for the fans that buy the vinyl, keep a look out for a very special golden record! Thousands of milk chocolate colored vinyl will be sold but only 5 lucky fans will get the golden one! The ‘golden ticket’ will get fans Primus tickets for life!
The band also released a promotional video for their new album, which includes their “chocolate” records being made, and with the band’s cover of Willy Wonka’s “Golden Ticket”.
You can order the vinyl from the official Club Bastardo store, Amazon, or your local record store.
Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2014 songwriter Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) is streaming his latest album Tell ‘Em I’m Gonehere. The album which was Co-Produced by acclaimed producer Rick Rubin will drop October 27.
This marks Yusuf Islam’s first album since 2009’s Roadsinger. Tell ‘Em I’m Gone is a mix between original material and covers.
As previously reported, Yusuf Islam is embarking on the “Peace Train…Late Again” Tour. The tour will start overseas in Europe in November, but will reach the United States in December at select cities. No dates in New York as the New York City show December 7th is cancelled. Closest stops from the Upstate NY region will be December 1st in Toronto, December 4th in Philadelphia, and December 7th in Boston.
Yusuf Islam released the following statement on his official website:
“Unfortunately I will not be performing in NYC this time around but I am looking forward to playing for fans in Philadelphia on December 4 and hope to return to NYC at a future date. My fans will understand and I thank them for informing me about the extortionate tickets prices already being listed on some websites. I have been a longtime supporter of paperless tickets to my shows worldwide and avoiding scalpers. Unfortunately NY has a state law that requires all tickets sold for shows in NYC to be paper, enabling them to be bought and sold at inflated prices. I’m sorry about not being able to now play in NYC but hope to find an opportunity that aligns with my support of this issue in the near future, God willing. Looks like the Peace Train is going to arrive at New York a little bit later than expected.”
North American tour dates as follows:
Dec 01 • Toronto Massey Hall
Dec 04 • Philadelphia Tower Theatre
Dec 07 • Boston Wang Theatre (New Date)
Dec 09 • Chicago Chicago Theatre
Dec 12 • San Francisco Masonic Auditorium
Dec 14 • Los Angeles Nokia Theatre
Hard Working Americans may sound redundant as a band name, but the newly formed super group offers refreshingly unique takes on classic hits. On October 28, the band releases a rockumentary The First Waltz through Melvin Records and Thirty Tigers. Justin Kreutzmann directs the film which chronicles the band’s formation, first show in Boulder, Colorado, and release of their self-titled album in 2014.
Todd Snider brought the band together in 2013. An admirer of the jam band scene’s virtuosic musicianship and fan of the poetic lyricism in Americana music, Snider needed to marry these two musical worlds. From this desire, Hard Working Americans was born. Snider recruited Widespread Panic’s bassist Dave Schools, Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s Neal Casal, Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi on the keys, Duane Trucks on the drums and pedal-steel guitarist Jesse Aycock to form the powerhouse group.
The rockumentary begins with a folksy version of “The Star Spangled Banner” and pans in to Snider lighting up a joint. “We smoke grass all day, don’t go to church every day… I have a dream—catcher hanging in my fucking rear-view,” Snider quips. “I’m also a flag-waving, country-loving American patriot and I feel like patriotism has been stolen from people like me. And it’s for that reason I called my most talented hippie buddies and convinced them… we’ve got to take that flag back for the silly.”
Snider formed the band for Americans like me and—most likely—you. They’re here for those of us that get our hands dirty for our money and fly our freak flags just below the stars and stripes. We’re proud to be Americans, and we’re equally proud of our freedom to express individuality.
According to Staehly, “It’s about great songs that fell through the cracks… [Snider] spent years gathering up these stray songs, a real humanitarian effort.” It’s also about the people who fell through the cracks—the blue-collared Americans who march to their own beat and love doing so.
The album Hard Working Americans features 11 covers from the likes of old-school country artist Frankie Miller, satirical pop pianist Randy Newman, and southern rock singer Kevin Kinney. Snider refers to the tracks as “a bag of what I’d call perfect songs, all of them written by my friends.”
The First Waltz will be available on October 28. View the official trailer below.
Consider the Source has been hard at work, creating a massive three-part album that is sure to be as exploratory as the Sci-Fi/Middle Eastern Fusion band has been in their tenure together. The album, a three-disc sonic journey entitled World War Trio, will be the groups first release in four years and was successfully funded by a strong Indiegogo campaign. The trio is strategically planning on staggering the release though with disc one being released on Halloween this year and discs two and three arriving in the Fall of 2015. The first track, “Put Another Rock in That Bag (Single Edit)” is out now.
The first release will coincide with a stop in Albany, NY at the Parish Public House where they will play it in its entirety before heading to Buffalo the following night. The EP will contain a six-movement, 25-minute prog-rock epic, titled “Put Another Rock in that Bag”. For longtime fans, the EP will be a different flavor from a band that has been known to touch on various genres. This release focuses on their progressive rock side, featuring a section written by Jan Zehrfeldt of Panzerballet, while still intertwining that virtuosic fusion fans have come to love.
Today, the band released the single, “Put Another Rock in that Bag, pt. 1”, which displays a preview of the six-part beast that is looming in just two short weeks. After listening myself, I can say that Consider the Source has taken a CONSIDERable step forward in terms of composition, talent, and overall cohesiveness. Visit their site here to download the single right now for free! And if you just can’t wait for your browser to open another site, click the YouTube video below to watch now featuring cover art from the new album.
If you want to catch Consider the Source on tour this Fall, check out their tour dates below:
10/31 – Albany, NY – The Parish Public House 11/1 – Buffalo, NY – The Waiting Room
11/4 – Lansing, MI – The Loft
11/5 – Kalamazoo, MI – Shakespeare’s Lower Level
11/6 – Covington, KY – The Madison Theater
11/7 – Chicago, IL – Tonic Room
11/8 – Indianapolis, IN – The Mouse Trap
11/9 – Columbus, OH – Scarlet and Grey
11/12 – Harrisburg, PA – The Abbey
11/13 – Baltimore, MD – The 8 x 10 11/14 – Brooklyn, NY – The Knitting Factory
11/15 – Northhampton, MA – Pearl Street Nightclub
11/20 – Portland, ME – Big Easy
11/21 – Boston, MA – The Church
11/22 – Providence, RI – The Spot
11/28 – Greensboro, NC – The Blind Tiger
11/29 – Knoxville, TN – The Concourse
12/2 – Boone, NC – The Local
12/3 – Greenville, SC – Gottrocks
12/4 – Greenville. NC – Peasant’s Pub
12/5 – Asheville, NC – New Mountain Theater
12/6 – Savannah, GA – The Barrel House South
12/7 – Charleston, SC – The Pour House
12/10 – Boca Raton, FL – Funky Biscuit
12/11 – Jacksonville, FL – 1904 Music Hall
12/12 – Longwood, FL – Hourglass Brewery
12/13 – Tallahassee, FL – Side Bar Theater
12/14 – Dunedin, FL – Dunedin Brewery
12/17 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
12/18 – Raleigh, NC – Southland Ballroom
12/20 – Philadelphia, PA – Ardmore Music Hall 12/31 – Kerhonkson, NY – Rock N Roll Resort “The Ball Drop”
Cut Chemist, founder of Jurassic 5 and helped to form the Grammy winning Ozomatli, with his 7″ size record partner Josh “DJ Shadow” Davis have added dates to their current “Renegades of Rhythm” tour. This “vinyl-only” tour honoring Afrika Bambaataa’s influence on hip-hop’s beginnings is spreading to new markets through November in the U.S. and Canada. The big news is the DJs are using Bambaataa’a actual vinyl collection for this tour.
Their performances are garnering critical acclaim, especially the two sold-out tour openers at Irving Plaza in NYC with Bambaataa in the audience while they spun beats from his legendary vinyl collection. Rolling Stone recently gave high praise for the turntablists, saying “Deep into their September 4th set at New York’s Irving Plaza, as DJ Shadow bent over his spread of turntables, cueing the next sequence of beats, his partner in spin, Cut Chemist, gingerly lifted a piece of 12-inch vinyl from one of his decks and held it aloft, like a round, black equivalent of the Ten Commandments. He had, in fact, just played a religious object.”
The list of new dates is expansive and includes stops at The Town Ballroom, Buffalo on 11/11 and The Westcott Theater in Syracuse on 11/10. Check the deets and beats at their websites, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. There is a ton of info available on each, both historical and the story of Bambaataa’s influence to them both as it’s being told through this tour.
Nov. 6 – Pawtucket, R.I. – The Met
Nov. 8 – Montreal, Quebec – Corona
Nov. 10 – Syracuse, N.Y. – The Westcott Theater
Nov. 11 – Buffalo, N.Y. – Town Ballroom
Nov. 14 – Pittsburgh, Pa. – Mr. Smalls Theatre
Nov. 15 – Charlottesville, Va. – Jefferson Theater
Nov. 17 – Athens, Ga. – Georgia Theatre
Nov. 20 – Winnipeg, Manitoba – Garrick Centre
Nov. 21 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – O’Brien’s Event Centre
Nov. 22 – Edmonton, Alberta – Encore at WEM
Nov. 23 – Calgary, Alberta – Flames Central
Nov. 25 – Oakland, Calif. – The Fox
Saxophone extraordinaire, Karl Denson is set to tour with the Rolling Stones for nine concerts this month and next in Australia and New Zealand on their 14 On Fire tour.
Densen had six shows planned with his funk-jazz band Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe but quickly cancelled the shows when he was asked to perform with the Rolling Stones. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe has become a major hit in major festival and club attractions. He is also the co-founder and leader of the jazz band, The Greyboy Allstars – the band began in 1993 and they merged Latin music and jazz. The San Diego band became an international sensation.
Touring with the Rolling Stones will involve huge amphitheater performances but Denson is far from shy with huge crowds. The saxophonist has toured with his jam band Slightly Stoopid and has also worked with Lenny Kravitz, the Allman Brothers Band, Steve Winwood and guitarist John Scofield, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Kravitz is the one that mentioned Denson to the Stones when they were on the look out for a saxophonist. The band approved Denson’s work and Kravitz relayed the message of the once in a lifetime opportunity to Denson.
Denson will be included in the Stoner’s sax section that includes Bobby Keys and Tim Ries, who have been touring with the Stones since 1990s. He flies out Friday to begin rehearsal with the Stones. Denson’s first date with the band will be Oct. 25 in Adelaide, Australia.
Update: Bobby Keys will not be joining the Australia and New Zealand tour due to illness.
If you are headed to Las Vegas this Halloween, LIGHT Nightclub at Mandalay Bay Resort And Casino, has an impressive 1-2 punch of DJs for this Halloween celebration dubbed #LIGHTMARE The Sequel. On October 31, Nicky Romero spins explosive sets while on November 1, Krewella brings her electrofunk to the nightclub, the first developed by the creative minds behind Cirque du Soleil.
Nicky Romerowill treat the crowd to chart-topping tracks “Symphonica,” his #1 U.K. hit “I Could Be The One” with Avicii and “Legacy,” the highly sought-after collaboration with Krewella among others. Krewella, a Chicago-bred duo featuring sisters Yasmine and Jahan Yousaf have released their debut album GET WET last year which soared to the Top 10 on Billboard’s “Top 200 Albums” chart. Expect peaks upon peaks when the two sisters bring their breakout hits “Alive,” “Live for the Night,”“Killin’ It” and “Enjoy The Ride” among others.
Last year’s LIGHTMARE Halloween party featured terrifying visuals and video content, costumes and decor created by Cirque Du Soleil, and one-of-a-kind Halloween performances from world-class DJ talent including Alesso, Sebastian Ingrosso and Nicky Romero, among others. This year LIGHT’s wildly popular Halloween party returns bigger and better with even more surprises.
In addition to having two world-class DJs spin on Halloween weekend, LIGHT’s #EntertheLightmare contest (running through October 21) gives party-goers the chance to win VIP tickets and a weekend trip for two to Vegas by tagging themselves in Halloween themed photos on social media with the hashtag #EntertheLightmare. LIGHT will choose daily winners to be awarded two VIP tickets to the event and one winner to be awarded a trip for two to Vegas for the weekend. Using all the submissions, LIGHT is going to build a mosaic skull collage which will be hosted on their site.
Pick up tickets for Nicky Romero and Krewella to ensure access to this one of a kind event.
The band also released a promotional video for their new album, which includes their “chocolate” records being made, and with the band’s cover of Willy Wonka’s “Golden Ticket”.
Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2014 songwriter 
