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Friday, March 23, 2007

ProgRock Records is please to announce the signing of Amaran’s Plight, a new Supergroup featuring:
DC Cooper (Ex-Royal Hunt, Silent Force)
Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery)
Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard, Kevin Gilbert, Tears for Fears, Genesis)
Kurt Barabas (Under the Sun)
The band's debut album, Voice in the Light will be released worldwide in May by Progrock Records and its label partners. Voice in the Light was recorded in 2006 at Gary Wehrkamp's New Horizon Studio's and described as textbook Symphonic Progressive Metal. It combines the soaring vocals of DC Cooper with the master riffs and melodies of Gary Wehrkamp, backed by the sonic, dynamic and explosive rhythm section of D'Virgilio and Barabas.

TORI AMOS releases a new studio album, American Doll Posse, on May 1st in the US.

Escape Music are please to announce the signing of TRAGIK title of the album "Poetic Justice" featuring the multi talented Phil Vincent: on All Vocals, Guitars, Synthesizers, Organ & Piano, Dirk Phillips: Drums, Damian D'Ercole: Lead, Rhythm, Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Bass with very special guests: DAVID ZYCHEK (AIRBORNE & NIGHTRANGER) : Lead Guitars on "SHOW THE WORLD"& "BACK OF MY MIND" BILLY ROUX: Lead Guitars on "MESSAGE TO GOD", "SHADOW IN THE NIGHT" & "HIGHER"
TRAGIK is the brand new rock band consisting of Phil Vincent, Damian D'Ercole & Dirk Phillips. Their first release is titled "Poetic Justice".
Phil has released 9 solo albums of melodic hard rock since 1997 playing all the instruments and singing all the vocals. In TRAGIK he still contributes all lead vocals, Keyboards and the rhythm guitar part but the majority of the axe work is handled by 22 year old new comer Damian D'Ercole. Damian has been a local session guitarist for many years honing his shredding and songwriting skills. His approach is aggressive and calculated bordering on mayhem. Damian also handles the bass duties, laying a solid backline to the intricate arrangements. Session pro Dirk Phillips has appeared in the past on Phil Vincent's "Circular Logic" and "Tragic" Cds. His heavy, steady drumming is the backbone of TRAGIK's sound. Dirk & Phil grew up together in the small town of Cranston, RI and shared the deep love of rock music while performing in various bands together. Their passion for Boston, Deep Purple, Dokken is heard throughout "Poetic Justice".
Also appearing on the CD lending their six string solo prowess are session guitarists Billy Roux from WHAT MATTERS, David Zychek from AIRBORNE & NIGHTRANGER and local guitar hero Paul Colombo.

The track lists;
1.SHOW THE WORLD 2.NEVER STAND ALONE 3.TEST OF FAITH 4.WHO WILL BE THERE? 5.MESSAGE TO GOD 6.ONE OF US 7.LONG TIME COMIN' 8.CAUGHT IN THE MOMENT 9.HERE IN MY HEART 10.WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD 11.DEFYING LOGIK 12.SHADOW IN THE NIGHT 13.JESSICA 14.BACK OF MY MIND 15.HIGHER
Release date: 21st May 2007

Once again Escape Music are delighted to announce plans to release the third album by "Alliance", the supergroup featuring Robert Berry (Solo, "3", Hush, GTR, Ambrosia), Gary Pihl (Boston, Sammy Hagar), Alan Fitzgerald (Night Ranger) and David Lauser (Sammy Hagar). Keep watching the web site for further details of this brand new recording which is bound to cause a stir in coming months.
In the meantime we are scheduled to release a lavish double CD digipack featuring the first two Alliance albums title to be "Destination Known" ("Alliance" and "Missing Piece") together with several bonus tracks. This digipack will include new artwork and, of course, will be lovingly remastered and packaged...and here is the preview of the front cover .....Something to look forward to indeed!
Release date: 21st May 2007

www.Escape-Music.com
Chavis Records has signed a deal with the high profile L.A. rockers Firstroundknockout aka 1RKO for the release of their self titled debut. 1RKO features Simon Daniel (Jailhouse, Grind, Flood), Brian Spang, Rich Sacco, and Derek Stephens. 1RKO features a new classic rock sound driven by great songs and an infectious energy backed by years of experience. 1RKO will be available through major digital download outlets, online stores and mail order dealers June '07.

HEART’s Ann Wilson is recording a solo album with guests including Elton John, Kd Lang, Shawn Colvin, Rufus Wainwright, Wynonna, Gretchen Wilson, Alison Krauss and Nancy Wilson. No release date as yet.

Arch Enemy have a new guitarist, with Fredrik Akesson, who's been touring with the band for the last 18 months, leaving the band. He is replaced by returning guitarist Chrisopher Amott who left the band in 2005.

The Wildhearts return with the release of their eponymous new album through Round Records on the 23rd April 2007.

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PRESS RELEASES

The Answer, are pleased to announce that they will be playing, by request, two shows including the Hyde Park Calling event with rock legends Aerosmith. The Hyde Park show takes place on June 24th and prior to that they will also perform with Aerosmith on the main stage at Sweden Rock festival, June 8th.
This is a great honour for the band who are huge fans of Messrs. Tyler & co; their cover version of ‘Sweet Emotion’ has become a live favourite and was included on the recent digital single, ‘Be What You Want’, released on March 12th.
Having supported The Who at last year's Leeds Wireless festival and completed tours with Whitesnake in the UK and Eagles Of Death Metal in Australia, The Answer are certainly no strangers to the big stage and this is set to continue through a very hectic summer touring period. The beginning of March saw them headline a sold out show at the legendary London Bloomsbury Ballroom and by media and public demand they fly to the other side of the world to play their first ever headline gig in Tokyo, March 27th at the Shibuya A-X.
April will also see the band embark on a full headline European tour to support their forthcoming pan European single release of ‘Be What You Want’. At the end of this run and in response to the ever growing army of fans in Ireland, The Answer will headline the Temple Bar music centre in Dublin on May 10th and then the 1200 capacity Belfast Mandela Hall on May 11th.

APRIL
08 Schijdnel, Holland
09 Erfurt, Germany
10 Hamburg, Germany
11 Aarhus, Denmark
13 Bergen, Norway
14 Oslo, Norway
15 Gothenburg, Sweden
17 Rotterdam, Holland
18 Gent, Belgium
19 Paris, France
20 Yverdon, Switzerland
21 Florence, Italy
26 Barcelona, Spain
27 Onati, Spain
28 Madrid, Spain
MAY
10 Dublin, Temple Bar
11 Belfast, Mandela Hall

With the release of their debut album ‘Rise’, reaching Number 11 in the Japanese International album chart and Number 27 in the National album chart, The Answer are fast becoming an international success. Since it’s release in the UK (July ‘06) and Europe (September ‘06) the album has clocked up a whopping 65,000 copies sold and achieved an Impala SILVER status certification. With that number rising and with growing international and Japanese exposure, he band edge ever nearer their first 100,000 sales.
If 2006 saw the band cement their solid foundations at the forefront of the current rock scene, 2007 will undoubtedly see them catapulted to super-stardom and international recognition.


THE SWORD are set to return supporting the mighty CLUTCH on their twelve date tour of the UK in April. To celebrate this the band are releasing a seven-inch single and download release of the track ‘Freya’ from their critically acclaimed 2006 ‘Age Of Winters’ album, backed by a previously unreleased live version of ‘Iron Swan’ recorded at CBGB’S in 2006.

April Tour Supporting Clutch
03/04/2007 Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent
04/04/2007 Manchester University
05/04/2007 King Tuts, Glasgow
06/04/2007 Barfly, Birmingham
07/04/2007 Zodiac, Oxford
08/04/2007 Mean Fiddler, London
10/04/2007 Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
11/04/2007 Soundhaus, Northampton
12/04/2007 Rock City, Nottingham
13/04/2007 TJ's, Newport
14/04/2007 Colchester Arts Centre
15/04/2007 Corporation, Sheffield


JACK FROST, guitarist and founder of SEVEN WITCHES (also BRONX CASKET CO., ex-SAVATAGE) has issued the following update:
"Sorry about the slow updates, but the webmaster should have explained about that before this, so I won't get into it. But it's safe to say, I'm OK and working hard on the new Witches album (which is MONSTER and is nothing that you would expect from Witches, but will dig the shit out of none the less). We are in high gear recording some of the sickest shit Seven Witches has EVER recorded! We're going places, dark places, with this album. Alan (Tecchio) and I are writing some of the best stuff of our careers. The new album is based on Mahatma Gandhi's seven deadly sins. You can find out what they are by clicking here to give you and idea on how dark the new songs are. This new stuff will be monumental!
Adding to the excitement of the new sounds and energy in the Witches camp, Joey Vera will be sitting in the mixers chair and will be dialing in the sounds and vibe of the new album, which is bound to add killer sonic aspects on top of all the other great stuff we're doing with it, I'm sure you'll love it. Of course we're back up at Don "Boobala" Strenecker's Mix-O-Lydian Studios in beautiful Lafayette, New Jersey, Seven Witches Official recording studio. If you need professional recording done in a first rate studio, Mix-O-Lydian is the place to go to work.
Also in the works for late 2007 / 2008 is the first 'Live' Witches album. I can't give too many details on it just yet, but I will keep you in the loop as to when and where it will be released etc.
Let's see what else, Oh yeah, I help to form and am playing in a small side project of awesome proportions. SMELL THE GLOVE is the '80's tribute band playing the '80's metal that you really want to hear, the way you deserve to hear it. Click here to check out our MySpace page for gigs and more info. Also playing in the band, I've enlisted the talents of Clint Arent (PAINMUSEUM/TEOS) and Joe Cattano (FROST BITE/AArius Studios) and just to keep things interesting, the three of us are the core members, however, depending on when or where you catch us, you'll see a different singer, or maybe an extra guitar player, you never know. Our first gig will be at the Cup Complex in Linden NJ May 12th with Bobby Mitchell singing.
On the Bronx Casket Co. front, DD Verni (OVERKILL) and I, along with the other members of BCC will be going into the studio to record a new BCC album in the coming months. No working title or track listing as of yet, but I'm sure it'll be killer. Also BCC will be doing more tour dates in 2008, so keep your eyes open for that.
There's more info coming, but I have to finalize some more stuff so stay tuned for more info coming soon!"

GIG NEWS

David Gray and Blondie have been confirmed as the headliners of the 2007 Cornbury Music Festival. The 2-day festival which takes place in Charlbury, Oxfordshire over the weekend of July 7-8 features a host of successful eighties bands such as The Waterboys, The Proclaimers, Hothouse Flowers, Echo & The Bunnymen and Suzanne Vega.

ASIA
December 1st - Falmouth Pavilion
December 2nd - Bournemouth BIC Pavilion
December 4th - Liverpool Academy
December 5th - Perth Concert Halls (Scotland)
December 6th - Glasgow Academy (Scotland)
December 7th - Ebbw Vale Leisure Centre (Wales)
December 8th - Frome Cheese & Grain
December 10th - Newcastle Academy
December 11th - Nottingham Rock City
December 12th - Oxford Academy
December 13th - Manchester Academy
December 14th - Wolverhampton Civic
December 16th - London Shepherds Bush

TAZ TAYLOR BAND
June
22/23 - Rock Cafe 2000 - Stourbridge, UK
25 - The Limelight - Crewe, UK
26 - Riffs - Blackpool, UK
28 - The Boardwalk - Sheffield, UK
29 - The Dolls House - Abbertillery, Gwent, UK
30 - The Royal Standard - Walthamstow, London, UK
July
1 - The Brook - Southampton, UK
3 - The Waterfront - Norwich, UK
5 - The Diamond - Sutton in Ashfield, UK
6 - The Twist - Colchester, UK
7 - The Riga Bar - Southend, UK
8 - The Stables - Colchester, UK
13 - The Classic Grand - Glasgow, UK
14 - The Iron Works - Inverness, UK

Status Quo and The Damned are to headline this year's Bulldog Bash. It happens from August 9-12 at the Shakespeare County Raceway, Long Marston, near Stratford On Avon, Warwickshire.
REVIEWS

DARTZ ‘Fantastic Apparatus/Cold Holiday’s (CDS 2007) www.dartzisgood.com

Dartz certainly get rave reviews in the music press and certainly the song ‘Fantastic Apparatus’ gets the old foot tapping. But overall they fail to really move me musically despite some great guitar riffs. To my ears they sound like a poor man’s Hard-Fi!
Doubtless they will become the next big thing and gain a brief moment in the spotlight but for me I’ll stick to Hard-Fi.

**1/2
Jason Ritchie

BRETT WALKER ‘Spirit Junky’ NL Distribution (2007)

Singer/songwriter Brett Walker has had previous success with his tunes recorded by other artists including Alias. This album is full of self-penned tunes with a distinct laidback AOR feel. Brett also plays everything on here as well as producing the album. If there is one downside to the album it is the amount of mid paced numbers which after awhile merge into one. Perhaps a little outside input may have mixed things up a bit. He has a very melodious voice and these tunes would be a perfect accompaniment to a lazy summer’s day.
Definitely worth a look if you enjoy Henry Lee Summer, Mitch Malloy (the quieter side of his work) and Tom Petty (Petty should cover ‘Round And Round’ as it has his name all over it!).

***
Jason Ritchie

PAUL RODGERS ‘Live In Glasgow’ Eagle Records (2007) www.eagle-rock.com

Recorded on last year’s tour this live set covers all points of Paul Rodgers’ career, with the emphasis on his Fee days as this tour was in part to promote two new Free CD’s, a double CD ‘Best Of’ and ‘Live at the BBC’. There is also a DVD of this concert with bonus features due a month later on from this CD release.
Rodgers voice is still in fine form and he rattles through classics such as ‘The Stealer’, ‘Bad Company’ and ‘Fire And Water’. One new song gets an airing ‘Warboys (A Prayer For Peace)’, which is not bad but is no match for the other songs it is up against in this set. Good to see a nod to the Firm days as well with ‘Radioactive’. Closing the set is a barnstorming ‘Can’t get enough Of Your Love’ and then just Rodgers and his acoustic guitar for a truly moving version of ‘Seagull’.
Decent sound throughout and a good way to remind yourself of just how good Paul Rodgers voice is and the number of classic tunes he’s been involved in through the years.

****
Jason Ritchie

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