Blackwater James, 'Blackwater James' -- The Bring Back Glam! Album Review

Want some new music in your life? Try Nashville's own Blackwater James. The band released its self-titled debut April 10, 2009. As you would expect, the band has true southern-rock roots. In short, Blackwater James rocks.

The band self-produced the disc, making the entire project D.I.Y. But what about the songs? The tracklist:

All Fired Up
Midnight Train
Scandalize
Roses & Rain
Taste
Stand Up
Stone Cold
Sick Generation
Wake Me
Rock Steady
8 Letters Gone

I really like "Midnight Train." The guitar solo work is cool and the vocals by Christopher James really gel with the tune. James' voice is somewhere between Josh Todd of Buckcherry and Chad Cherry of The Last Vegas. Make no mistake, Blackwater James is a modern act, but there are throwback elements to the tunes. There's a breakdown in the middle of "Midnight Train" that reminds me of 1976ish Aerosmith. 

"Wake Me" is a ballad that sort of sounds like a completely different band. I mean this is a positive way - it's rare for bands today to create a diversified sound. "Wake Me" is very commercial - think Daughtry and you've got it.

Moving through the disc, "Roses & Rain" utilizes some country guitar elements before launching into a traditional rock assault. Guitarist Deanna Passarella has a lot of talent. I love that Blackwater James has a woman in such an important role!

Blackwater James is one of the strongest debut albums I've come across in a long time. You can buy the disc through Amazon, CD Baby and iTunes. Buy it - this album fits well within any Glam catalog.

New Buckcherry Album Release Date: 'All Night Long' Out August 3rd

Here's some news on the new Buckcherry record All Night Long, courtesy of 10th Street Entertainment.

(New York, NY) – Hard rockers Buckcherry’s brand new album ALL NIGHT LONG is now set for an August 3rd release in North America via original independent label, Eleven Seven Music. The band is currently in the studio putting the finishing touches on the record with producers Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Fuel) and guitarist/songwriter Keith Nelson. The first single from the new album, also entitled “All Night Long,” will make its video premiere on Yahoo! on May 17th, the same day the top down summer anthem will be delivered to radio at the active rock, mainstream rock and alternative formats.

As a thank you to their fans, Buckcherry recently offered the new single “All Night Long” as a free download on their website www.buckcherry.com and via Twitter and Facebook. The response was so overwhelming that Twitter had to temporarily shut down the free download because the requests overloaded the system. Tens of thousands of hits were felt on the new single in the first two days it was made available. Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd commented, “Our fans are rad and we send them props for helping to overload Twitter! We are really proud of the new songs and can’t wait for everyone to hear the album.” Radio has also embraced “All Night Long” from the free download, with early airplay in major markets such as Chicago, Detroit, Seattle and Phoenix.

In other Buckcherry news, frontman Josh Todd guest-starred on the FOX’s hit show “Bones” last month. Buckcherry will soon hit the road in North America to play select dates. Please see below for the itinerary.

In their more than decade-long career, multi-platinum artists Buckcherry have established themselves as a definitive hard rock band with a massive presence at radio. Hits such as “Lit Up,” “Crazy Bitch,” and “Sorry” have propelled the band’s sales to more than 3 million albums worldwide and have garnered Buckcherry two Grammy Nominations. Their most recent album, 2008’s BLACK BUTTERFLY, earned the band their first-ever Top Ten Billboard album debut, with the album coming in at #8. BLACK BUTTERFLY was deemed the “Album Of The Year” by Entertainment Weekly and “Best Rock Album” by iTunes.


Buckcherry on tour:

MAY
28 Pryor,OK Rocklahoma/Pryor Creek Music
29 St. Albert, AB Rainmaker Rodeo

JUNE
16 Valentine, NE Rosebud Casino
18 Cedar Falls, IA Ticketcrusher Ampitheater
19 Burlington, IA Burlington Steamboat Days
23 Brookings, SD Swiftel Center
26 Green River, WY Stratton Myer’s Park

JULY
3 Greeley, CO Greeley Independence Stampede
15 Walker, MN Moondance Jam
17 Red Lodge, MT Beartooth Rally
29 Minot, ND North Dakota State Fair

AUGUST
7 Winnipeg, MB Rock On The Range Canada
9 Sturgis, SD Buffalo Chip Campground
14 Madison, WI Willow Island
28 Grand Junction, CO Rock Jam

For updated tour dates as they’re announced and more information please visit:
www.buckcherry.com

Dirty Penny to Tour Europe in September 2010

If you're in the UK (or just want to travel there) - consider checking out Dirty Penny. The glamsters are heading over there in the fall but they need your help. If you have some connections, use the email addresses below. Here's the update:

Message from Dirty Penny

Attn: European Dirty Penny Fans - The time has come. The wait is over. We are coming. Dirty Penny will touch down in the UK on September 1 to start their first ever European tour. For over a year now we have been throwing around ideas on how to across the Atlantic and come play for you guys. Well the wait is over. We got sick of talking about it so instead were going to make this happen on our own.

For all European booking inquires please contact jahan@fourteen39.net. For UK booking inquires please contact raz.white@rocketmail.com or jahan@fourteen39.net. We consider this trip open ended, we are going to try and play as many countries as we can so if you know of any bars/clubs/live venues that would allow us to play please contact us immediately. We're doing this completely D.I.Y. so any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank You!

Spanky Savage, Tyno Vincent, Binge Daniels, Jonny Prynce

2009 Rocklahoma Coffee Table Books Available for Pre-Order

PRYOR, OKLAHOMA (May 12, 2010) – The 2009 Rocklahoma Coffee Table Book is available now for pre-order. The 12"x9" hardbound book features 128 pages of full color photos and a special narration tells the full Rocklahoma story. Order the book now by visiting www.rocklahomabook.com! Each copy is just $54.95. United States residents order now to take advantage of FREE shipping! Books ordered now will be shipped between May 13-15.

Over 500 photos grace the pages of the Rocklahoma 2009 Coffee Table Book. Every main stage band is featured, as well as bands from all three side stages. But that party didn’t stop there so neither does the photos! You’ll also see highlights from the Garden of Evil and corporate tent after-party fun.  Also included are shots of backstage, press conferences, tons of crazy fans and Miss Rocklahoma! As an added bonus, you will get exclusive quotes from both bands and fans that survived the raucous multi-day party.

The Rocklahoma 2009 Coffee Table Book features action shots of Anthrax, Saxon, Overkill, Anvil, Metal Church, Leatherwolf, Ratt, Night Ranger, Warrant, Danger Danger, Helix, Hericane Alice, Stryper, Jackyl, Kix, Keel, Lizzy Borden, Gypsy Pistoleros,  Twisted Sister, Skid Row, Great White, Nelson, Bonfire, Vixen and tons more!

For more information, please visit www.rocklahomabook.com.

Accept Fan Causes Twitter Chaos

I honestly did a *face-palm* when I read that an Accept fan caused a Twitter meltdown earlier this week. I figure anytime a metal fan does something bad or stupid, there's a zillion people pointing a finger saying "See, I told you that Devil music would be the death of us all!"

The Accept fan accidentally found a bug that forced followers in Twitter. The awesome tech website Gizmodo explains the entire situation, but basically the hack was to type simply "accept username" [so for you to follow me it would be "accept bringbackglam"] and I'd be following you whether I wanted to or not.

What does this have to do with Accept? Well, apparently the overzealous Accept fan typed "Accept pwnz" in homage to the German band...and well, the hack was soon discovered. Of course the guy started "force following" all sorts of famous people. Then he blogged about it. Then Gizmodo picked up the blog and I guess everyone in the Twitterverse (except for me because I don't care) started force following celebs. So Twitter reset every user's follower/following account number back to 0 to correct the issue. Don't worry - things are back to normal.

Still, all this chaos over one metal fan showing a little cyber love for Accept. Amazing.

Follow me on Twitter @bringbackglam

Accept is currently on tour. The band will release a new album this fall.

Twisted Sister: Touring Vs. Festival Gigs

I recently interviewed guitarist Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister for Noisecreep. Twisted is a great band - one of my favorite live acts, actually. They always bring the energy - when Dee Snider runs on stage, you know you're in for a rock show. I talked to Jay Jay about playing Rock n' America but I asked him about touring in general and he basically said the band would never tour again. That wasn't news to me: the guys in Twisted have been vocal about not wanting to do a long tour anytime soon. Still, the article seemed to surprise some music fans (which in turn, surprised me). Anyway, Blabbermouth picked up the article and extracted Jay Jay's comments about not touring again and this got a lot of negative comments.

Why?

Why can't a band make a smart business decision based on their own lives?

Jay Jay wasn't being a jerk when he said this to me on the phone recently:

"I know what these [other legacy] bands make, I know their lifestyle, I know what they do. I can't function that way. I don't believe it's viable for them. I believe they [tour] because they really have no other options on this planet. And by going out on the road constantly, they devalue themselves because they're out there all the time. We work in a completely separate business model. If I don't play, guess what? My value increases, doesn't it? So the less I play, the more valuable I become. So I work completely opposite. I'll bet you I make more money playing 12 shows than most [other] bands make playing 50 shows."

Now, some readers around the Internet took this as an insult - that Jay Jay was attacking other bands. He wasn't. He was saying some bands will take any gig they can get because that is how they earn their money, but that is not the business model of Twisted Sister.

Let's be honest: if you see a band do the same set 10 summers in a row, are you as excited to see them on the 10th time as you were the first? You can't be. You can lie to yourself and say you are, but you can't be. You already know what to expect. You know the set. But, say you only get to see the band once in awhile and always at a big show. It's an event then, right?

Jay Jay is right.

And for the record, he didn't name names of bands "that have no other options" but I don't think he was talking about AC/DC or Motley Crue as some have assumed. Just like everything in life, music goes in tiers of popularity. The Sleeze Beez are not on the same touring level as AC/DC. That doesn't mean the Sleeze Beez are a bad band - I love them actually - but they are just not as popular as AC/DC.

Sometimes reality and brass tacks makes sense in music. After all, it is a business.

So what would you prefer: to see a band over and over on a traditional tour...or at a special event like a festival?

Three Days Grace Added To Rocklahoma Lineup

An update after yesterday's storms in Oklahoma:

Due to the severe weather in Oklahoma and the resulting telecommunications and power outages, Rocklahoma will keep the current prices effective through May 14 before they increase to the next phase.  If you are trying to buy tickets via charge-by-phone, please keep trying or go online to www.rocklahoma.com to get your tickets.  

Here's the last band added to Rocklahoma:

Pryor, Oklahoma -- Three Days Grace has been added to Rocklahoma’s potent opening night lineup (Friday, May 28). The platinum-selling quartet joins an all-star roster of 39 top rock artists from the past three decades performing on three stages over three days, including ZZ Top, Godsmack, Tesla, Buckcherry, Cinderella, Chevelle, Theory of a Deadman, Saliva, Saving Abel, Fuel featuring Brett Scallions, Sevendust and more.

The nation’s biggest Memorial Day party kicks off summer May 28-30, 2010 at “Catch the Fever” Festival Grounds in Pryor, OK.  Tickets are still available for the multi-day destination camping rock festival – with only one day left for fans to save up to $60 on gate prices for the three-day weekend event.

Current Weekend GA ticket prices of $110 plus service fees are good through May 11.  Tickets will then increase to $125 and will be available for $150 at the gate.  Weekend VIP ticket prices are now only $290 plus service fees through May 11 and will rise to $320 and then $350 at the gate.  Single day tickets range from $35-$45 plus service fees and will go up by $5 on May 12. 

Meanwhile, voting is underway for the second annual Miss Rocklahoma contest. The top ten finalists who best possess the spirit of Rocklahoma have been revealed at www.rocklahoma.com.  Rock fans from around the world have until May 18 to vote online for their favorite choice for “Miss Rocklahoma.”  The top five finalists will be announced on May 20 and will be introduced on-stage at Rocklahoma on Friday, May 28.  One lucky contestant will be crowned the winner and ambassador for Rocklahoma 2010.  For more details, please visit www.rocklahoma.com.

For all the early birds who are ready to start Memorial Day weekend early, Retrospect Records and Axis Entertainment will be throwing the official ROCKLAHOMA pre-party.  The party starts at 6pm on Thursday, May 27 at the Retrospect Stage with appearances by:  Sam & The Stylees, Wildstreet, The Glitter Boys, Firstryke, Dressed to Kill, Black Tora and Bad Things, as well as an all-band jam session to end the night!  You must have a weekend ticket in order to attend the pre-party. 

Established in 2007 as a classic rock destination festival with the motto “life, liberty and the pursuit of rock,” Rocklahoma organizers teamed with AEG LIVE to revamp the 2010 event to encompass a much broader mix of classic, current and up-and-coming rock artists. 

The current line-up for Rocklahoma 2010 is as follows: ZZ Top, Godsmack, Three Days Grace, Tesla, Buckcherry, Cinderella, Chevelle, Theory of a Deadman, Saliva, Sevendust, Fuel featuring Brett Scallions, Saving Abel, Adelitas Way, Janus, Aranda, The Veer Union, Burn Halo, Richy Nix, Shaman’s Harvest, Lacuna Coil, Taddy Porter, Like A Storm, Taking Dawn, New Medicine, Year Long Disaster, Gypsy Pistoleros, Nigel Dupree Band, Brookroyal, Within Reason, The Last Vegas, Wildstreet, Firstryke, Krank, The Glitter Boys, O’Dette, Problem Child, Black Tora, Mad Max and Bad Things.  Gates will open at 2:30pm on Friday, and 12:30pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Rocklahoma is located just 45 minutes northeast of Tulsa, in Pryor, OK.  The “Catch the Fever” Festival Grounds is a premiere destination for a multi-day festival, and includes on-site camping with access to restrooms and shower house, a general store for campers, VIP reserved seating, hospitality areas & much more.

For additional information, please visit www.rocklahoma.com.