Halestorm, 'Everest' - New Video

Halestorm will release a new album called Everest on August 8. The official video for the title track is available now.

I think Everest is definitely trending heavier than Halestorm's past efforts and that is a good thing. I love the glam-inspired guitar solo, too! Seriously, it starts at 1:25 and it is amazing.

A Victory For Taylor Swift; Education For Musicians

You know what? Good for her! Taylor Swift finally owns the rights to her first six albums. This is the biggest story in music for the week (month) so we might as well discuss here.

Taylor Swift has fought years to get the rights to her music back. When her former label Big Machine was sold in 2019, along with the deal went the master recordings to her first six albums. Investor Scooter Braun acquired the masters when he bought Big Machine. He later sold the masters to investor firm Shamrock Capital for $300 million. Swift was able to buy back her music from Shamrock Capital for an undisclosed price, but she did admit the success of the Eras tour is what enabled her to make the purchase.

Owning the master recordings of songs gives artists more control and ability to leverage their product for fees from licensing deals.

I've always thought it was scummy that most musicians do not own their master recordings. It may have made more sense in the beforetimes when everything cost a fortune - especially studio time - and new acts needed label money to get going. We've all read the horror stories of our favorite bands being in label debt for years, even after having hit releases. With streaming, things are quite different and now anyone can produce an album with some software and a laptop.

The hot thing for big musicians to do these days is to sell their catalogs for a huge lump-sum, forgoing royalties in the future. That is different from owning master recordings but is still a way for an artist to cash in on a designated amount of money. The thing with the Taylor Swift dispute is just how smartly she fought the Braun deal - vowing to re-record those first six albums. These re-recordings are known as "Taylor's Version" and were massively successful. A smart play to hit back where she could. It's a wonder we don't see more artists do this, except for the fact that it is expensive and you need to be in top form musically to pull it off.

Of the big bands we love, Motley Crue owned their master recordings from their Elektra days. It is mentioned in The Dirt but what the band had to do to get them was never exactly revealed. They eventually sold their entire catalog to BMG in 2021 for $150 million.

U2 and Metallica also own their masters. Both those catalogs are worth a fortune!

STYX Release Video For 'Build & Destroy'

The vocal harmonies and the synths are there - must be STYX! The band just shared a video for their song "Build & Destroy" from their new album Circling From Above. I love how this is a real video with a story and everything... and the point is the band mocking A.I. Like maybe A.I. will be our saviors of everything, but I doubt it and not anytime soon. Good for STYX for calling it out.

The band is on tour now.

It Is Fine To Wear The Shirt Of The Band You Are Seeing In Concert

Damnit, I will die on this hill: it is perfectly fine to wear the shirt of the band you are seeing in concert. Like, why wouldn't you wear a Metallica shirt to see the Blackened ones? I don't know who made up this stupid concert "rule" but I'm over it.

I have lots and lots of band shirts. There are definitely shows where I go out of my way to wear a shirt in support of the band.

Is the whole goal here to brag and show off all the band shirts a person owns? Like, what is the point? As for the cartoon below, yes, I've been that person sifting through 15 different black shirts just to pick the "right" one.

Farewell Rick Derringer

Guitarist Rick Derringer has died. I first saw the news from a post on Rikki Rockett's Facebook and then looked it up... there are not many official sources as of this writing, but lots of fellow musicians paying their condolences.

One of Derringer's big songs is "Hang on Sloopy" and if you live in Ohio, you know it. It's used by Ohio State University football, after all! (Rick was born in Celina, Ohio so it all makes sense).

Derringer was a beast on guitar and he had a very long and successful career. The musician died last night in a hospital. According to his official Facebook, he had an ankle bypass back in March.

Here's Rick doing the solo on "Chain Lightning" by my beloved Steely Dan:

'From The Heart' - Tesla, New Song

Tesla, or really guitarists Frank Hannon and Dave Rude, released a video for the all acoustic track "From The Heart."

The song is on Tesla the EP All About Love. This is just a nice song that is very relaxing. I love listening to all instrumental works. Sometimes you just don't need vocals. And to that point, Frank Hannon has a new, all instrumental album coming out soon called Reflections. It is available for pre-order now. Physical copies ship in September.

'Give Me All Your Love' - Whitesnake, Live Remaster Video

Whitesnake just shared a new video of their classic track "Give Me All Your Love" from the album Access All Areas: Live.

The clip was made from a performance in London back in 2004.

I've seen Whitesnake in concert a couple times (way after 2004) and it is always a good show. This video is a strong representation of what you get at one of their concerts: high energy, good moods and an occasional clunker of a note from singer David Coverdale with no apologies. Dude is 73 and still rocks.