ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 24, 2013 By Steve Newton When music legend Taj Mahal calls from a tour stop in Phoenix, it’s been just a few days since he played Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival at Madison Square Garden in New York. He’d been asked to play the event before, and never had the time, … Continue reading Taj Mahal wasn’t so much shocked as pissed off by Jesse Ed Davis’s death
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 26, 2011 By Steve Newton When Judas Priest announced its final world tour last month headbangers far and wide, young and ancient, stained their black-leather pants with a torrent of tears. The British metal icons had been bringing the noise to its followers—off and (mostly) on—since 1969, traversing the globe and … Continue reading Glenn Tipton says Judas Priest was shocked by K.K. Downing’s departure
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 24, 2011 By Steve Newton There’s a quote on Carlos Santana’s official website that reads: “When you love what you do, you don’t have to work a day in your life.” If that’s true, then anyone who’s heard Santana effortlessly channel the sound of pure joy through his instrument knows that he hasn’t … Continue reading Carlos Santana says you get the tone with what you’re thinking
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 8, 2011 By Steve Newton Being from Alabama certainly has its benefits, one being the fact that you can really put your heart into it when you sing the chorus of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s biggest hit. But for Jason Isbell, one of the joys of growing up in northern Alabama was being … Continue reading Alabama-bred Jason Isbell learned a lot from “The Swampers” at Muscle Shoals Sound
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 9, 2011 By Steve Newton Last year the Drive-By Truckers released The Big To-Do, a raucous collection of southern-fried alt-country tunes highlighted by the exuberant single “Birthday Boy”. A totally different vibe typifies the band’s new album, Go-Go Boots, which is surprising since its material was recorded during the same sessions as its … Continue reading The Drive-By Truckers’ country-soul mojo gets invigorated by Eddie Hinton on Go-Go Boots
rebecca blissett photo ORIGINALLY PUBISHED ON FEB. 8, 2011 By Steve Newton I should have known that I’d run into Metal Ron—the long-time cohost of CiTR Radio’s popular heavy-metal show Powerchord—at Motörhead on Monday (February 7) at the Vogue. I should have also known that he’d still be reeling from the shocking news of Irish … Continue reading “We are Motörhead, we play rock ’n’ roll,” declares Lemmy Kilmister in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 25, 2004 By Steve Newton Reno, Nevada, isn’t the ideal place for a man battling addictions to be, but Metallica main man James Hetfield seems up to the challenge. When he calls from a tour stop in the renowned party town, the newly rehabilitated rocker makes it clear that he wasn’t … Continue reading James Hetfield on addiction, rehab, and channelling the anger with Metallica
