When Todd La Torre took over the reigns as vocalist for Queensrÿche back in 2012, many felt that he’d have a hard time filling Geoff Tate’s shoes. Admittedly, I was one of those early doubters and could not imagine anyone else hitting those incredibly high notes across some of progressive metal’s most cherished masterpieces. That […]
Drummer Chris Frantz has already gotten acclaim for his 2020 memoir Remain in Love, chronicling his life with Tina Weymouth in Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club. But now he’s planning a second book, using the skills he honed at the art school where Talking Heads sprang. “I just got a shipment of art […]
Mark Farner, the long-haired, bare-chested frontman of Grand Funk Railroad, keeps chugging along at 72, releasing a new DVD From Chile with Love this month with the band he fronts, which takes the name of one of Grand Funk’s most popular songs, Mark Farner’s American Band. He’s also among the Michigan rockers asked to join […]
Celebrating Graham Nash on his 79th birthday with a look back at our 2013 chat with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. —Ed. Victor Hugo once said that music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. When searching for ways to talk about the music […]
Joel Hoekstra is one hell of a musician. From an early age he took an interest in music and quickly excelled at classical instruments such as the cello and piano. However, it was AC/DC’s Angus Young who inspired him to pick up a guitar—and it’s been his lifelong passion ever since. Hoekstra has parlayed that […]
PHOTO: ROBERTA BAYLEY | First released in 1982, Destiny Street was the second of only two albums ever issued by Richard Hell and the Voidoids. After starting the Neon Boys with Tom Verlaine and helping form Television, Hell helped define punk by being one of the first with spiky hair, ripped tight clothes and safety […]
Much like the families and groups from which it was bred and sprung, The Allman Betts Band has consistently thrived as a live performance act. But just last year they proved their studio mettle by releasing a debut album Down to the River, and in late August of this year—and what a strange and volatile […]
Black Stone Cherry is anything but your typical rock and roll band. Founded in 2001, Chris Robertson, John Fred Young, Jon Lawhon, and Ben Wells have a long and storied history together as childhood friends with deep Kentucky roots. Today, they’re a well-oiled rock and roll machine creating inspirational music that challenges both the mind […]
We remember Billy Joe Shaver with this 2015 conversation from our archives. —Ed. Billy Joe Shaver is a diamond. A rough one, to be sure; no “Marquise cut” here. But a diamond, nevertheless. Playing music since the age of eight, the plainspoken Texan became a songwriter exemplar, receiving accolades (and cover versions) from peers like […]
PHOTO: JASON BRIDGES | One of the best-named drummers of the original punk wave, Rat Scabies remains busy with a handful of projects these days, including the new one from The Professor and the Madman, Séance, due out November 13 on Fullertone Records. The band combines Alfie Agnew of the Adolescents and Sean Elliott of […]
PHOTO: LORI STOLL | The first book from Chris Hillman has the same title as the first song he wrote as a founding member of The Byrds, Time Between. Subtitled “My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother, and Beyond,” the volume, due out November 17 on BMG Books, chronicles the nearly 60 years of music […]
Joey Molland has seen it all. During his time in Badfinger, he witnessed the ups and downs of rock and roll stardom, rubbing elbows with The Beatles no less, and being taken under their collective wings to be the big, blockbuster breakout of Apple Records. Badfinger’s power pop legacy is undisputed. Of course, the highs […]
I catch Adam on the phone on a Monday morning, which seems like an inauspicious time to ring up a rock and roller (his manager’s suggestion, not mine). But to call Adam Weiner a rock and roller feels reductive; after an hour on the horn we’ve talked about everything and everyone from the GOP and […]
Living through a time in which live performance on a grand scale is more or less impossible, Matt Beckley is hanging in there. He’s a gifted guitarist and songwriter, but his creative interests truly lie in music production, so it’s no wonder his talents are faring well during the current pandemic, rather than being inhibited […]
LIVE PHOTOS: MATTHEW BELTER | Aside from being a multi-talented musician and bassist for that little-known band called System of a Down, Shavo Odadjian is a serial entrepreneur whose clothing lines and cannabis company are on a steep upward trajectory. In this exclusive interview with TVD, Shavo opens up about his early years in music, […]
