Category — News

Dave Grohl is excited to get back behind the drum kit for his new project, Them Crooked Vultures.

Currently, Grohl is lead singer and plays electric guitar in the Foo Fighters.  He was previously known as the drummer in Nirvana.

He has now hooked up with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Led Zeppelin’s bass guitarist, John Paul Jones in a new supergroup, and the resulting band will unveil their debut album later this month.

“I don’t need to be the lead singer of a band,” Grohl told BBC 6 Music.

“Within the first couple of minutes of playing, I just knew this is going to be good.”

Grohl and Homme have collaborated before, most notably on the Queens of the Stone Age hit No One Knows in 2002.

However, the Foo Fighters star added that while he had “hung out” with Jones in the past, he had before never had the opportunity to jam with him properly.

Millions of adoring fans, platinum records, two studios (depending on which coast you feel like being on). What do you get for the rock star who already has everything? How about your very own street? That is right, Dave Grohl, our favorite drummer / jack-of-all-trades is to have a street in Warren, Ohio named after him.

The once Market Alley will soon become ‘Dave Grohl Alley’ as Warren, Ohio celebrates its biggest rock star. Now lets just see how long city officials in Warren can keep THAT roadsign from being stolen. ROADTRIP!

It’s official…Josh Freese is leaving Nine Inch Nails sometime during their upcoming US tour. Front man, Trent Reznor, wrote a message to fans on the band’s web site:

Freese has explained that his reason for leaving is nothing personal with Reznor and they have mentioned that they will remain friends.

“Josh Freese [NIN's current drummer] fans, be sure to check out a show on the upcoming North American leg of the tour, as sadly they will be the last ones he’s playing with us. He informed me he’s leaving the tour at the end of this year. Yes, we are still dear friends. No, I’m not sure what we are going to do.”

Maybe he should ask his fans for advice… He has already recently asked fans to take an online survey saying,”As we’ve moved from the familiar world of record labels and BS into the unknown world of doing everything yourself, we’ve realized it would benefit us and our ability to interact with you if we knew more about what you want, what you like, what you look like naked, etc.”

Maybe he should follow in Radiohead’s steps, doing a video remix contest or Weezer by getting fans to come play at their shows.

Looking for some fine art? Got 12 million dollars? Then head over to the Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale in New York on November 12th. In addition to being a famous drummer for heavy metal band, Metallica, Ulrich is also known for being a fine art collector.

“As a collector I view myself as a caretaker of works of art, rather than simply an owner,” said Ulrich.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have shared 10 great years with this truly iconic painting by Basquiat and it’s time to put it back into circulation and let someone else enjoy it as much as I have over the last decade.”

I have to admit that when Lars Ulrich comes to mind, the last thing I would think of is a collector of fine art. However, he seems to be very passionate about his hobby. I think his outlook is admirable for someone who is rich enough to have pretty much whatever he wants. He seems to care more about the actual art and appreciation of other artists rather than simply owning something of value.

I just read a really interesting article about a training seminar called HealthRhythms, which brings people from all walks of life together to make music and improve health. The 3-day event which occurs five times a year was developed by neurologist Dr. Barry Bittman and innovator Remo Belli with the goal of teaching people the health benefits of drumming and how to organize drum circles of their own.

According to Christine Stevens, a music therapist and co-facilitator of HealthRhythms, drumming can, “improve the immune system and mood, as well as reduce stress and burnout.” And the best part is that pretty much anyone can do participate. “You don’t have to be musical to lead a drum circle,” said Stevens. “You don’t even have to be an adult. Caring is the most important thing. We don’t think of drumming as performing. We think of it as health care,” Stevens said.

People who attended the training seminar have mentioned a variety of reasons they would like to form a drum circle of their own. Some want to form a group for cancer patients and others for corporate employees. The underlying idea is that music makes people feel good and “it’s a non-pharmaceutical way to enhance your mood.” The great thing about the seminar is that it teaches attendees how to work with groups of people, how to get them to relax and enjoy the music.

While I found all of this information from the article very interesting, it was not a surprise to me. I have benefited from these effects of drumming for years. I never skip a practice because I’m stressed or in a bad mood because I know that drumming will help me get it all out. It might be cool to head out to a drum circle sometime and share the energy with a group of like-minded people. Could be just what I need.

For more information about research done on the health benefits of drumming, visit www.remo.com/health.

This past weekend a lot happened, the All Tomorrow’s Parties New York festival took place and while Stereogum has great coverage of it, most of it doesn’t feature any drummers. More importantly, I thought I would  report on the Travis Barker, DJ AM plane crash that occured this past weekend as some new details have emerged.

It is now being reported that a blown tire was the cause of the crash, which killed four people and injured and burned drummer Travis Barker and DJ AM. According to Billboard, “Barker and DJ AM remained in critical but stable condition yesterday; one of their doctors said he expected them to fully recover. Two of the musicians’ close friends and the plane’s pilot and co-pilot were killed when it shot off the end of the runway, ripped through a fence and crossed a highway. It came to rest on an embankment a quarter-mile from the end of the runway, engulfed in flames.”

“Barker was burned on his torso and lower body and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, was burned on an arm and a portion of his scalp, according to a statement from the musicians’ families released by the hospital. Such injuries can take a year to fully heal, however Mullins said he didn’t think it would take that long.”

It seems like they will be back to normal in a year or so, but after having been involved in something like this I can only imagine its pretty hard to get over.  Both Barker and DJ AM are very lucky to have survived.

Next weekend marks the annual Modern Drummer Festival, which is a two-day event produced by Modern Drummer Magazine. The festival, which features many of today’s top drumming talents as well as seasoned professionals, is the “longest-running, and largest live drumming event in the world.” The event prides itself on mixing education with entertainment, offering attractions such as drum clinics and concerts. The festival lineup includes 25 year-old Thomas Pridgen of The Mars Volta, who is the youngest featured performer at the Modern Drummer Festival.

Tickets are still available for the event which takes place from 1:00-7:30 Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21, 2008 at the State University of New York.

More information about the festival can be found here. More details about each of the performers can be found here.

It was reported earlier this year that the drummer of the Strokes, Fabrizio Moretti, had joined up with his girlfriend, Binki Shapiro and singer/songwriter Rodrigo Amarante to form a band called Little Joy. Their album, will be released November 4th on Rough Trade Records, also home to such acts as Arcade Fire, Low and Jenny Lewis.

Check out this interview for interesting tidbits (like how they named their band after a bar down the street from me in Echo Park).

Little Joy will begin a tour this fall, performing with acts such Devendra Banhart and Gregory Rogove’s Megapuss, who Moretti will also be drumming for on tour.

Little Joy Tracklist:
01 The Next Time Around
02 Brand New Start
03 Play the Part
04 No One’s Better Sake
05 Unattainable
06 Shoulder to Shoulder
07 With Strangers
08 Keep Me in Mind
09 How to Hang a Warhol
10 Don’t Watch Me Dancing
11 Evaporar

Little Joy Tour Dates (w/Megapuss):
09-24 San Diego, CA - Casbah
09-25 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
09-26-27 Big Sur, CA - Festival in the Forest
09-28 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
09-30 Seattle, WA - Neumos
10-01 Portland, OR - Doug Fir

Usually I’m really on top of reporting leaks, especially for big name bands. This time however I’m a few days late, not just because I didn’t know but because I don’t really care that much. Maybe my mind will change once I get to listen to the whole album, but after hearing “Cyanide” and new single “The Day That Never Comes” I just wasn’t really that psyched to hear the rest of the album.

While I cannot legally link to the leaked album, I can direct you to Stereogum’s post about the leak which includes several youtube links compiled in one place.

From what I’ve heard so far, Lars Tama drums are sounding pretty good, as is his drumming…it is the weak and recycled songwriting that ruins the album for me, even though there are some killer riffs. Check out “Unforgiven III” to see what I mean.

Steve Foley, Replacements drummer during 1990-1991 died last week at the age of 49. He was found dead in his home in Minneapolis on August 25th by co-workers from a car dealership where he worked. According to his sister, Colleen Foley, his death was caused by an accidental prescription overdose, as reported in the Minneaplois Star Tribune. Colleen mentioned he was struggling with anxiety and depression recently though he had been sober for the last 15 years. However, his close friend LeeAnn Weimar, a Minneapolis concert promoter defended Steve’s name by claiming: “This is not your typical rock-guy-on-drugs story. He was really struggling, but we know he definitely wasn’t trying to check out.”

Steve Foley had joined the band to replace Chris Mars for Replacement’s farewell tour before their breakup in ‘91. He once told Replacements biographer Jim Walsh that the experience “will always be a treasure in my mind.” “Some days I walk down the street and go, ‘God, I was in that fucking band?’ Unbelievable. It is,” he said.

I don’t know about you, but I still have a few Replacements songs in my playlist and they, along with Steve, will be remembered by many. Notable musicians who have been influenced by Replacement include Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and They Might Be Giants.

In other horrible news, Cream drummer Ginger Baker has been defrauded for half a million dollars by bank clerk.