Away Team

Former GUNS N’ ROSES bandmates STEVEN ADLER and DUFF MCKAGAN will be presenting the “Riff Lord” award at the REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS SHOW.

The fourth annual REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARD SHOW presented by Epiphone® will take place Wednesday, April 11, at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles. For the first time ever, the event will be broadcast live in its entirety on Xbox LIVE, as well as on the Xbox and Revolver Facebook pages.

The 2012 REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS SHOW will feature one-of-a-kind special performances and collaborations that honor both the past, present and future of heavy music. The night’s hard-rocking musical performances will include sets by MARILYN MANSON (in his first U.S. performance in nearly three years); iconic GRAMMY-winning guitarist SLASH featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators; EVANESCENCE; SIXX:A.M. featuring Nikki Sixx of MÖTLEY CRÜE, James Michael, acclaimed rock producer and songwriter, and DJ Ashba of GUNS N’ ROSES (in their first performance in almost four years); and 2011 Best New Band Golden God Award winner BLACK VEIL BRIDES, who will perform their only U.S. show of 2012 so far.

Adler, McKagan, Slash, singer Axl Rose and guitarist Izzy Stradlin will all be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next month in Cleveland, along with later GUNS N’ ROSES members, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and drummer Matt Sorum.

Steven Adler’s new band, simply called ADLER, will be releasing their debut single “The One That You Hated” April 10th on iTunes.

In addition to Steven, ADLER features Lonny Paul (ADLER’S APPETITE) on guitar and Jacob Bunton (LYNAM, MARS ELECTRIC) on vocals/guitar. The group has been recording its debut album in Los Angeles with producers Jeff Pilson (former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER/TOOTH AND NAIL bassist) and Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER, ADRENALINE MOB).

ADLER’s CD will feature guest appearances by ROB ZOMBIE/ex-MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5 and Steven’s former GUNS N’ ROSES bandmate Slash (guitar).

For More Info click here.

As previously announced, DARK NEW DAY–Clint Lowery (guitarist from Sevendust), Will Hunt (drummer from Evanescence), Troy McLawhorn (guitarist from Evanescence), Brett Hestla (lead singer/guitarist from Virgos Merlot) and Corey Lowery (bassist from Stereomud and Eye Empire)—will release their highly anticipated sophomore album, NEW TRADITION, February 28 on Goomba Music (distributed by eOne Music).

To make the release extra special, the band is offering a bonus track to fans who buy the full album and send in a photo of themselves holding the CD or a digital photo of their purchase online. A MP3 of “Rising Sun” will be available for a limited time only (February 28 through March 6). Photos can be e-mailed to DND@goombamusic.com or mailed to Goomba Music, 6348 N. Milwaukee Ave., Suite 301, Chicago, IL 60646 (must be postmarked by March 6). Goomba Music will then e-mail the song to the fans directly.

“’Rising Sun’ is a cool tune in the history of DND,” explains drummer Will Hunt. “We actually said before writing it, in not so many words, let’s write as basic a rock song as we can for the sake of doing it because we can. It’s kinda getting back to our formidable ‘roots.’ It’s really just about getting in your car, crankin’ up some jams, and headin’ out to get rowdy with your friends. Very different for us lyrically and stylistically.”

NEW TRADITION is the follow-up to 2005’s debut album, TWELVE YEAR SILENCE, which was released on Warner Bros. Records. In 2006, the band released THE BLACK PORCH ACOUSTIC SESSIONS EP after being on tour for over a year with Chevelle, Seether, Crossfade, and many others. After the EP’s release, they got to work on what would eventually be their second album, known at the time as HAIL MARY. Going through many employee and management changes, Warner Bros. decided to release the band from their contract, leaving the HAIL MARY album to be unreleased. It was at this point that DARK NEW DAY went on a hiatus, with the members either returning to their previous bands or venturing out into new projects.

The fire for new DARK NEW DAY material continued to burn in both the band members and the diehard fan base alike. The band came together in 2011 to compile tracks from HAIL MARY, along with newly written and recorded songs, for a special album which will be released as a “Thank You” to all the loyal fans that have continued to follow the band and request more material from the group.









For more DARK NEW DAY click here.

Carolina Rebellion returns Saturday, May 5 bigger and better than ever and boasting a solid rock lineup for the multi-stage festival, including Shinedown, Korn, Evanescence, Staind, Five Finger Death Punch and Slash (see below for full lineup).

2012 marks the debut of Carolina Rebellion at its new home at the legendary Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, NC, conveniently situated between Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Columbia and Greensboro. Also new in 2012: weekend RV and Tent Camping and the Friday Night Campground Party presented by Jägermeister, featuring performances from Foxy Shazam, Lez Zeppelin, One…The Only Tribute to Metallica. Full details are available at www.CarolinaRebellion.com.

The current lineup for Carolina Rebellion is as follows: Shinedown, Korn, Evanescence, Staind, Five Finger Death Punch, Slash, Chevelle, Volbeat, Halestorm, P.O.D., Adelitas Way, Paper Tongues, Weaving The Fate, Redlight King, Red, New Medicine and Ghosts Of August. The festival will once again feature the two Monster Energy main stages and the Jägermeister third stage.

Jonathan Davis of Korn says: “We’re excited to bring Korn‘s new show to North Carolina and we fully intend on blasting out the loudest set of new dope sh#t ever at the Carolina Rebellion!!!”

“It is an absolute honor to be the headliner at such an amazing festival. It’s been a minute North Carolina…It’s good to be back. We can’t wait to see the masses at the Rebellion!” comments Brent Smith of Shinedown.

“Along with AEG Live, Right Arm is beyond excited to unleash the Carolina Rebellion lineup,” says Gary Spivack, co-executive producerof the festival for Right Arm Entertainment. “Like last year, it was our goal to make sure the 2012 lineup was stacked from top to bottom. Three stages of non-stop rock ‘n roll and a Friday night party to kick it all off…The ultimate rock festival in the Carolinas. Let the Rebellion begin!”

General Admission tickets for Carolina Rebellion go on sale to the public on Friday, February 17 at 10am EST at www.carolinarebellion.com and www.ticketmaster.com. To get access to the internet pre-sale, which will be held from Wednesday, February 15 at 10am EST through Thursday, February 16 at 10pm EST, go to the festival’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/CRebellion) or www.carolinarebellion.com and sign up to receive the Rebellion newsletter. A limited number of early bird tickets will be available for only $59.50 plus fees.

This year, Carolina Rebellion–which was called “this generation’s Woodstock” by Examiner.com–will also feature an extensive selection of Camping Packages, as well as a VIP Lounge ticket option to invite the ‘Rebels’ to spend the weekend on-site in Rockingham and create an unforgettable party. The packages will be available via the internet pre-sale as well as the public on-sale. With every purchase of a Camping Package comes FREE TICKETS to the inaugural Friday Night Campground Party! Details for all Camping Packages and VIP Lounge tickets can be found at www.CarolinaRebellion.com.

Based on 2011 attendee feedback, Carolina Rebellion organizers have implemented various upgrades and vast venue improvements to provide a premier concert experience at the multi-stage rock festival. The new centrally-located site provides plenty of space to expand, including more food and beverage stands, merchandise stands, restrooms and parking, and also offers more traffic routes to and from the event.

“When our fans speak, we listen,” commented Joe Litvag, co-executive producer of the festival for AEG Live. “We personally responded to every person who sent us comments, and because of that important feedback, our motto this year is ‘Let’s double it!’ Double the number of entrance points into the festival, double the number of concession stands, double the number of merchandise stands, and double the number of locations for free water…We’re taking the steps to make Carolina Rebellion an upgraded experience for everyone.”

In addition, all ticket prices will include parking to ensure quicker access to the parking areas, and earlier entry into the parking areas and will be allowed, along with earlier door times, to better alleviate the traffic and lines. The inclusion of the new Camping Packages will encourage fans to arrive on Friday starting at 10am and stay until Noon on Sunday, thereby relieving traffic congestion on Saturday.

Further improvements to amenities include: a larger box office area for will call pickup, shade locations in public areas and the Hangover Recovery VIP Lounge area inside the festival grounds to allow those with VIP Lounge tickets to have a special place to enjoy the event.

“Our sponsors mean as much to us as our fans do,” added Litvag. “And without the support of music-centric companies like Monster Energy, who present our two main stages at Rebellion, we couldn’t put a festival of this size and scope on for the people.”

Carolina Rebellion is also proud to be sponsored by Jägermeister, Hangover Recovery, and f.y.e. – for your entertainment (which will be on site selling CDs and DVDs and will host band autograph signings throughout the festival day). Carolina Rebellion is produced by Right Arm Entertainment and AEG Live, the same team that produces the highly successful Rock On The Range in Columbus, OH. Tickets for the 2011 inaugural Carolina Rebellion sold out more than one month in advance and attendance exceeded 30,000.

Rockingham Speedway is located at 2152 N US HWY 1, Rockingham, NC, less than two hours from Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Columbia and Greensboro.

For more info on CAROLINA REBELLION click here.

DARK NEW DAY- New Tradition

Goomba Music

Rating: 9 out of 10

Reviewed By: Jay Rybak

Take one cup Virgo’s Merlot, add one part Eye Empire, mix in two parts Evanescence, topped off with a pinch of Sevendust, and you have the mind-numbing rock recipe that is DARK NEW DAY.  The supergroup consisting of vocalist Brett Hestla (Virgo’s Merlot), drummer Will Hunt (Evanescence), guitarists Troy McLawhorn (Evanescence) and Clint Lowery (Sevendust), and Corey Lowery (Eye Empire/Stereomud) on bass, are about to release their highly anticipated sophomore release, New Tradition on Feb. 28th.  The album has been five years in the making, and believe me it was worth the wait.

The opening track, “Fist From The Sky”, rips into your ears with the finger-bleeding bass and gritty guitar reminiscent of early Down.  As we delve further into “New Tradition”, we find the killer up-tempo rocker that is “I Don’t Need You”, a masterful sonic blend of STP meets Default.  Other highlights along the way include the title track, and “Tremendous”, by now I’m rocking out so hard I’m fit to be tied.  What a coincidence, here comes the “Straightjacket”, a track that, if one didn’t know any better, could easily be mistaken for Whitfield Crane’s bridge from Ugly Kid Joe to Another Animal. 

Now on to the three way tie for my favorite songs on the album.  Is that a new Taproot song I hear?  No, it’s way better.  “Caught In The Light” has a “Hello Taproot, meet your far superior evil twin” feel to it that can’t be ignored.  Nor should it be.  Enter the next contender, “Fiend”, this is pure Sevendust meets Sixx A.M.  Enough said.  You want radio friendly?  You got it.  While the entire album is somewhat radio friendly, and moreso kick-ass, “Breakdown” screams rock radio staple.

This album comes very highly recommended.  Don’t be the inferior evil twin, get your ass to your local record store on Feb. 28th and pick up your copy.  Or if you’re too busy plotting and scheming you can pre-order it here.

DARK NEW DAY–Clint Lowery (guitarist from Sevendust), Will Hunt (drummer from Evanescence), Troy McLawhorn (guitarist from Evanescence), Brett Hestla (lead singer/guitarist from Virgos Merlot) and Corey Lowery (bassist from Stereomud and Eye Empire)—will release their highly anticipated sophomore album, NEW TRADITION, February 28 on Goomba Music (distributed by eOne Music). The first single, “New Tradition” is currently being serviced to radio stations nationwide.

NEW TRADITION is the follow-up to 2005’s debut album, TWELVE YEAR SILENCE, which was released on Warner Bros. Records. In 2006, the band released THE BLACK PORCH ACOUSTIC SESSIONS EP after being on tour for over a year with Chevelle, Seether, Crossfade, and many others. After the EP’s release, they got to work on what would eventually be their second album, known at the time as HAIL MARY. Going through many employee and management changes, Warner Bros. decided to release the band from their contract, leaving the HAIL MARY album to be unreleased. It was at this point that DARK NEW DAY went on a hiatus, with the members either returning to their previous bands or venturing out into new projects.

The fire for new DARK NEW DAY material continued to burn in both the band members and the diehard fan base alike. The band came together in 2011 to compile tracks from HAIL MARY, along with newly written and recorded songs, for a special album which will be released as a “Thank You” to all the loyal fans that have continued to follow the band and request more material from the group.

“We’re very excited about the new DARK NEW DAY release,” proclaims guitarist Clint Lowery. “It seems the time is right to make these songs public and share with the fans that continue to support this project. We believe this music is still very valid and powerful today, and think its mandatory we give these songs a fair chance out in the music world. We owe it to ourselves and the DND fans. NEW TRADITION sums up the mindset we were in writing the follow-up to TWELVE YEAR SILENCE.”

Here’s the complete track listing of NEW TRADITION:

1. Fist From The Sky
2. Come Alive
3. I Don’t Need You
4. New Tradition
5. Tremendous
6. Sorry
7. Straightjacket
8. Take It From Me
9. Caught In The Light
10. Sunday
11. Fiend
12. Breakdown
13. Burns Your Eyes









For more DARK NEW DAY click here.

January 6, 2012 — Prepare for the return of a DARK NEW DAY.   DARK NEW DAY–Clint Lowery (guitarist from Sevendust), Will Hunt (drummer from Evanescence), Troy McLawhorn (guitarist from Evanescence), Brett Hestla (lead singer/guitarist from Virgos Merlot) and Corey Lowery (bassist from Stereomud and Eye Empire)—will release their highly anticipated sophomore album, NEW TRADITION, February 28 on Goomba Music (distributed by eOne Music).  The first single, “New Tradition” is currently being serviced to radio stations nationwide.

NEW TRADITION is the follow-up to 2005’s debut album, TWELVE YEAR SILENCE, which was released on Warner Bros. Records.  In 2006, the band released THE BLACK PORCH ACOUSTIC SESSIONS EP after being on tour for over a year with Chevelle, Seether, Crossfade, and many others.  After the EP’s release, they got to work on what would eventually be their second album, known at the time as HAIL MARY.  Going through many employee and management changes, Warner Bros. decided to release the band from their contract, leaving the HAIL MARY album to be unreleased.  It was at this point that DARK NEW DAY went on a hiatus, with the members either returning to their previous bands or venturing out into new projects.   The fire for new DARK NEW DAY material continued to burn in both the band members and the diehard fan base alike.  The band came together in 2011 to compile tracks from HAIL MARY, along with newly written and recorded songs, for a special album which will be released as a “Thank You” to all the loyal fans that have continued to follow the band and request more material from the group.   “We’re very excited about the new DARK NEW DAY release,” proclaims guitarist Clint Lowery.  “It seems the time is right to make these songs public and share with the fans that continue to support this project.  We believe this music is still very valid and powerful today, and think its mandatory we give these songs a fair chance out in the music world.  We owe it to ourselves and the DND fans.  NEW TRADITION sums up the mindset we were in writing the follow-up to TWELVE YEAR SILENCE.”  

Here’s the complete track listing of NEW TRADITION:

1.  Fist From The Sky

2.  Come Alive

3.  I Don’t Need You

4.  New Tradition

5.  Tremendous

6.  Sorry

7.  Straightjacket

8.  Take It From Me

9.  Caught In The Light

10.  Sunday

11.  Fiend

12.  Breakdown

13.  Burns Your Eyes

For more DARK NEW DAY visit the band’s Facebook page here.

Not too many bands take the path that Crossfade has taken and still manage to find success.  The South Carolina natives exploded onto the scene back in 2004, with their hit single “Cold”.  They then further established themselves on the rock radar with the follow up singles “So Far Away” and “Colors”, propelling their self-titled debut to Platinum status.  Two years later the band’s sophomore effort “Falling Away” was released to mixed reviews and mediocre sales.  From there, Crossfade virtually disappeared, it was rumored that the band had been dropped by their label Columbia Records in a disappointing end to a promising career.  Here we are five years later and Ed Sloan and Co. are back with a new label, a new album, and a new lease on life.  I recently had a chance to catch up with Ed to get the skinny on the aptly named forthcoming album, so sit back and join me as a rejuvenated rockstar reminds us that “We All Bleed”.

AWAY-TEAM: I’d like to first congratulate you on the new album “We All Bleed”, which is being released on June 21st.  The album is a little bit of a departure from your signature sound, and the Crossfade that we’re used to.  I noticed that Les had alot more songwriting duties this time around, do you feel like that contributed to your new sound?  What ultimately led you in the direction that you took on this album?

ED SLOAN: Well, I think you definitely hit the nail on the head right there with Les.  Ya know, he really writes alot of dark music, orchestral music, and that definitely added to the darkness of the record.  Plus I think the lyrics are a little bit darker than our typical albums, coming out of a three year touring haze I think made the lyrics come out a bit darker.  But definitely alot of Les in there makes the album much darker than usual.

AWAY-TEAM: It’s been quite a while since you’ve toured full-scale, I actually had the pleasure of seeing you play a free show outside the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa back on April 1st.  I remember thinking to myself, ‘Is this an April Fool’s joke?’  I mean, there was about two dozen people in attendance, and about a dozen full sets of teeth… (laughs)

ED SLOAN:  (laughs) Yeah, you’re right.

AWAY-TEAM:  …it was definitely a rough crowd!  Anyways, aside from that debacle, which to your credit you guys rocked the shit out of as if it were 30,000 people, then of course you just played Rock on the Range, how has the reception been after being gone for so long?

ED SLOAN: Actually it surprised us all, I mean we’ve seen fans from four years ago when we were last on the road.  I’ve seen hundreds of fans that I remember from back then, and a large amount of new fans.  It’s been great, all the shows have been great, and everybody’s just super pumped to hear the old stuff, but also with the new stuff it’s almost like they’ve stolen the record already or something. (laughs)  It’s been received very well from what we’ve seen so far.  After every show we do a signing of course, and there’s been a line out the door for that.  It’s almost like we never left!

AWAY-TEAM: That’s gotta make you feel pretty good.

ED SLOAN: Yeah, no doubt it does.

AWAY-TEAM: Your debut album went platinum, your sophomore effort only sold about 200,000 copies, and then not long after that you were dropped from Columbia Records.  When you first got the news that you were being dropped, what was your initial reaction?  Was it kind of a sense of defeat? Or was it more like ‘Ya know what? Fuck You.  I’m gonna take my shit and go kick ass somewhere else’?

ED SLOAN: It was actually our decision to leave Columbia.  Everybody thinks we got dropped, but they just gave us some stipulations that we wouldn’t deal with.  So we said ‘Screw you!’ and we got out of our contract.  It was definitely a ‘Fuck You’ to them because they were just, at that time the industry was going to shit, and their whole staff was going to shit, and we didn’t want to have to deal with it anymore so we were just elated to get out of our contract with them.  They wouldn’t do shit for us, all they were doing was working to pimp like Beyonce or whatever the big act was they were working with at the time.  That was all they could focus on, they didn’t have the money anymore, or the manpower, so we were glad to get the fuck out of there.

AWAY-TEAM: You were quoted as saying “Music has always been my escape, a friend, but then music became my enemy.” Elaborate on that for me.

ED SLOAN: Well that was after three years of touring, on two records, and being on that record label, and then us leaving them, or them dropping us, however it’s looked at.  Coming home it was kind of a shocker, after three years you gotta piece your life back together.  You gotta find a new place to live, and you realize it’s gonna be another two or three years to write another album, and find a new label to put it out…knowing that I didn’t wanna stop.  It just seemed kinda daunting knowing that what lied ahead of me was two years of writing another record, and finding another label, and all that kind of stuff.  So music just kinda became… for a while there music became something that I didn’t enjoy.  I couldn’t get to my happy spot when I write music, but that only lasted a year or so and then I snapped out of it.  That’s kinda why the album took a little while to get out, but we all got through it together.

AWAY-TEAM: Addiction and personal demons kinda seem to be a common theme on the album, obviously spearheaded by “Dear Cocaine”.  I may be a little bold in my assumption, but we all know “art imitates life”, so what was your “rock bottom” moment?  What prompted you to break from the doldrums of depression and drugs, and whatever else was bothering you at the time?

ED SLOAN: I think it was, I was just not focusing on music at all.  I was just laying around depressed, and not doing much meaningful.  You know, I really don’t know how to answer that because “rock bottom” comes the same for everybody, once you hit it it’s, ya know… well I guess it’s not the same for everybody but for me it turned out to be that I just wouldn’t do shit, just laid around and did anything to keep music off my mind, or my future off of my mind, so…

AWAY-TEAM:  When did you realize it was time to get up and get back to work?

ED SLOAN:  I think as soon as the other guys got in gear.  Ya know, they were all taking time off for other reasons; family, getting their lives back together.  I think as soon as… I lived at our studio where we recorded all of these albums, and I think it was Les started coming in every day and working his ass of ’til like 6:00, putting in like 18 hour days.  Slowly I started hearing some of the stuff he was writing, and it just started to infuse into my soul, and started to wake me up.  Finally I said “This is enough. I’m enjoying what I’m hearing.” so I joined in and started writing songs.  So I think it was just my bandmates kinda kicking me in the ass, ya know.

AWAY-TEAM: Well we’re glad they did it!  So now you’re on Eleven Seven Music, a label which Nikki Sixx presides over.  How long did it take you to land a deal with them? And how did it happen? Was it through an A & R guy? Or was it Nikki, being ever the opportunist, realizing there was a band of your caliber out there without a label?

ED SLOAN: Well, actually it was Allen Kovac, who is the CEO and Founder of that label.  Literally within like two weeks of everybody knowing that we weren’t with Columbia anymore, he called our manager at the time and said “Hey, I’m interested in signing the boys…” At that time, we were like “We’re not even gonna have a record ready for like a year.” ,which wound up being three years.  But Allen Kovac called at least like 6 times a year to find out how the progress was going, and he was very persistent.  Then when it was finally done, obviously he heard the whole record and still wanted to sign us, so it was definitely his persistence that made us realize that they were gonna fight for us and it was gonna be a good home for us.  So his persistence paid off, for them and for us.

AWAY-TEAM:  I know you’ve always produced your own albums, on this album you had a GRAMMY-winning super producer in Ben Grosse doing the mixing duties.  Did you guys pick his brain at all, from a kind of student-mentor standpoint?

ED SLOAN: Oh yeah! (laughs)  Yeah, he’s a great guy.  We were only supposed to be there for like two weeks, and he actually gave us two months.  We’d slowly start to ask him… we recorded the album ourselves, so anytime you get to see a master doing his work, we kinda try to suck the brains dry!  He was very forthcoming with alot of his tricks and gadgetry that makes his records what they are. So we definitely learned alot from him technically as far as recording.

AWAY-TEAM:  Will Hunt was brought on in 2009, many thought he’d end up being your permanent drummer, what happened there?  Was he supposed to just be a session drummer? Or was the intention for him to become a permanent fixture?  What’s the story behind that?

ED SLOAN: I think in the beginning, all throughout the writing of the album, you know we wrote the album with digital drums, and then we were like “Okay, at some point we’re gonna go into the studio, and at some point we’re gonna go on tour.  We have to get a full time drummer.” And that drummer was gonna be in the band, and Will was down with it, but he’d always have side projects.  Ya know between Evanescence, Black Label Society, Dark New Day, just all these different bands he plays with so the timing wasn’t right.  So he was able to come in and record the album, but because it was shelved for 6-8 months I think Will had to make a decision.  Ya know, “I’ve gotta go out and make money. I gotta do what’s right for my family, so we’ll see what happens when the record comes out.” During that time, we started auditioning new drummers knowing that Will probably wasn’t gonna be able to do it, and we found Mark Castillo from Boston who’s in the band now and plays live with us.  But it was completely amicable, it was just because the record was taking so long to come out that he had to go do his thing, ya know.

AWAY-TEAM: Right.  Mark was brought into the fold last year, and I understand there’s a bit of a funny story as to how he was welcomed into the band.  Tell me about that.

ED SLOAN: (laughs)  Well he drove 18 hours down from Boston, or 12 hours, whatever it is, and we hung out with him for a couple of days, and played 3 or 4 songs with him, jammed with him as far as auditioning him.  And we had him film himself coming down here, and we were like “Look man, if this works out we’d like to have some footage of the trip down.” And when he left, he filmed himself the whole way back.  So when we’re in the editing room making the webisode, we’ve got Mark coming down and him playing, then we’ve got Mark driving 18 hours back up to Boston, and then he pulls into his driveway saying “Thank God, I’m finally home!” and then at the end it shows “Welcome to Crossfade Mark Castillo.  If you ever try to leave us, we will kill you!” And I believe we said “Hey man, there’s a new webisode out.  You may wanna go to your computer and check it out.” Right when he got home he found out he was a member of the band that way, and I think he got kind of a shocker out of that instead of us just calling him to tell him he was in the band.  (Scroll down to see the webisode)

AWAY-TEAM: (Laughs)  That’s great, I love it!  You in particular have listed James Hetfield and Metallica as one of your greatest influences.  So based on content, compare your albums with their closest related Metallica album.

ED SLOAN: Our first record, to me anyway, I think is alot like The Black Album, because the messages were real dark, and it’s also got alot of heartfelt songs and lyrics on it.  And I think this new album is a little bit more like Master of Puppets, it’s darker and heavier, and still the same type messages that Metallica and Hetfield have always had.  But you know how Master of Puppets was a little more layered, a little tighter, a little more musicianship going on.  I think this one is comparable to that.  I mean I would never compare our stuff to Metallica’s integrity wise, I mean I would but… (laughs)

AWAY-TEAM: Well don’t take offense to this, hear me out on this one.  I think this one is closer to a St. Anger, and it’s not just, ya know, I think it’s a shitty album.  I think that you can draw some parallels to James just overcoming some of his personal demons, and the change in the signature sound, it just seems to have that parallel.

ED SLOAN: I got ya.  I can feel you on that.  You know that was definitely a 180 for them, ya know.  I don’t think we’ve quite done a 180 on this one, but I do feel you on the similarities of that change.  I guess, sonically their change was so crazy, such a 180, that’s the only thing I would differ with on that statement.

AWAY-TEAM: On that same tangent, I think you may have answered this already, but do you worry about rejection from your die hard fans?

ED SLOAN: Not at all actually.  Because I don’t think that it’s changed dramatically, I think it’s just been elevated.  It’s still Crossfade, it’s still the things that I think attracted people in the first place, I think are on this album.  It just may be a little heavier, although we do think that the messages, and the feeling, and the soulfulness and the darkness is still what people associate with Crossfade, at least that’s what I think.  Songs that are backdrops to their lives, songs that you can ride around in the car and be pissed the fuck off, and I think that’s the same with this album.  Ya know every album you lose fans, you gain fans, but I think we’re gonna have a winner here, so.

AWAY-TEAM: You landed your first deal through an online A&R firm called TAXI, you had actually gotten to the point where you were actually submitted country music on there in the hopes of getting signed.  Were those some of the songs that we now know as Crossfade? Or do you have some hidden gems, and a future as a country songwriter?

ED SLOAN: (laughs)  Yeah, actually I’ve got 40 or 50 songs that I’ve written that would never be qualified as Crossfade songs. (laughs) I’ve written almost an entire country album, I wouldn’t call it country, it’s more some of it’s pop… well ya know, it’s pop, it’s country, I mean I’ve written everything.  During those years I was actually sort of a musical slut, I’d write anything I could just to get the attention of somebody, anybody.  So I’ve definitely got a catalog of all kinds of strange music, including country. (laughs)

AWAY-TEAM: Well there’s another case where the persistence paid off huh?

ED SLOAN: Absolutely.

AWAY-TEAM: Well Ed, it’s been an extreme pleasure.  Thank you so much for giving me your time.  Best of luck with the album.  It’s great to see you guys back out there doing what you do best.  I look forward to seeing you next time you make your way back through my neck of the woods.

ED SLOAN: Thank You!  I appreciate you including us in your thang!

AWAY-TEAM: Well thanks again.  Hope to see you soon.  Take care.

ED SLOAN: Sounds good.  Bye.

Crossfade will be part of the Rock Allegiance Tour with Buckcherry, Papa Roach, P.O.D., Puddle of Mudd, Red, and Drive A which kicks off this August.  For all things Crossfade including tour dates and to purchase music click here.

Special thanks to Ed Sloan for so graciously giving me his time, and to Tim Tatulli at ‘Stache Media for making it all happen.

Executive Music Group artists 12 Stones are holding a contest which will allow fans to submit footage to be included in their next music video.   The band is asking fans that are into extreme sports to send in video to be included in the official lyric video for “Bulletproof” , the first single off of the band’s forthcoming Skidd Mills produced album, Only Human.  Due to hit stores September 6th, Only Human is the fifth studio album from the quintet fronted by Paul McCoy, best known for his GRAMMY winning performance on Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life”.  The aforementioned single “Bulletproof” is available on iTunes starting July 12th.  Interested fans can submit footage by heading to the band’s website or clicking here.

12 STONES SET TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM, ‘ONLY HUMAN,’ AUGUST 23 ON THE EXECUTIVE MUSIC GROUP LABEL

As singer Paul McCoy recently explained to Revolvermag.com:  “One of the things
that I love about this record is that there are so many different things.  We’ve
got some songs that are really heavy and then some really nice songs that have a
full orchestra behind them.  There’s a lot of variety on this record.  Those 12
Stones fans that like the heavy stuff, we’ve got something for them.  And the 12
Stones people who like ‘Lie to Me’ and stuff like that, we’ve got plenty of
songs in there for them as well. This album’s our most mature for
sure.”

The New Orleans band’s previous albums and singles have sold over two million copies in the U.S., in addition to singer Paul McCoy winning a Grammy® Award for “Best Hard Rock Performance” for his contribution on
Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life” smash hit single which went on to sell over 14
million albums worldwide.  The band has also garnered multiple GMA Dove
Nominations for their singles “Broken” and “Lie To Me.”

Stay tuned for further album details and news about the
band’s forthcoming summer tour.

www.12stones.com

www.facebook.com/12stones

www.twitter.com/12stones

www.myspace.com/12stones

www.ExecutiveMusic.com