Steve Vai: Naked Tracks
“Naked Tracks”, a series of play-along CD’s designed for aspiring guitarists is now available for download on iTunes, Amazon, Napster and other mp3 sites. In Vai’s own words, “this series of CD’s is designed for the jammers – those who crave playing their instruments along with a band, but don’t have the band to back them up.” The series consist of a mix of Vai’s songs without the lead guitar so guitar players or instrumentalists alike can play along with the track or make loops to jam to. Albums available as naked tracks include: Passion & Warfare, Sex and Religion, Fire Garden, Alive in the Ultra World and The Ultra Zone. For the most part, the tracks are presented in their original form with the lead guitar removed. In some cases, some solo sections have been looped to give an opportunity to stretch out. You can download the full albums as well as individual tracks (ex. Passion & Warfare’s tracks are $0.89 each or $7.99 for the full album at amazon.com).
“One way to play along with these tracks is to learn the original guitar parts that are on the album versions of the songs, but I would encourage you to take a more active role in using these tracks as a bed to lay your own creative interpretation over. There are really no rules. So sit back, flip on a naked track and dress it up with your own artistic musical apparel.”
For more information visit Steve Vai’s website here
Velvet Revolver: Back in the Studio & Looking for New Vocalist
Velvet Revolver founding members Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Dave Kushner announced last April 1, 2008 that they were parting ways with singer Scott Weiland: “This band is all about its fans and its music and Scott Weiland isn’t 100% committed to either,” said Slash. “Among other things, his increasingly erratic on-stage behavior and personal problems have forced us to move on.”
Billboard recently reported that Scott Weiland will announce a full set of tour dates with his old band, Stone Temple Pilots. With Scott Weiland officially out as singer, Velvet Revolver has returned to the studio to record some new material. Bassist Duff McKagan reported on the website for his side project, Loaded: “I just left Matt’s where we laid down 12 new jams.”
Velvet Revolver has not yet introduced a Weiland replacement, however Slash mentioned the band has some people in mind, but he didn’t want to start “naming names.”
Van Halen Postponed Dates Now Re-Scheduled
Van Halen has announced new dates for all previously postponed shows on its 2008 North American tour. Seventeen concert dates on the Van Halen tour were rescheduled so that Eddie Van Halen, could continue medical tests to define a course for his treatment.
The New Tour Dates are:
04/19 – Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Events Center
04/22 – Cincinnati, OH @ U.S. Bank Arena
04/24 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
04/26 – St Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center
04/28 – Milwaukee, WI @ Bradley Center
04/30 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mellon Arena
05/02 – Charlottesville, VA @ John Paul Jones Arena
05/05 – Raleigh, NC @ RBC Center
05/07 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
05/09 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Boardwalk Hall
05/11 – Duluth, GA @ Gwinnett Arena
05/13 – East Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center
05/15 – Baltimore, MD @ 1st Mariner Arena
05/18 – Hershey, PA @ Giant Center
05/20 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
05/23 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
05/25 – Providence, RI @ Dunkin Donuts Center
05/28 – Manchester, NH @ Verizon Wireless Arena
05/30 – Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena
06/02 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
Check out Van Halen’s official Tour Date page for up to date info.
Update from Nuno Bettencourt
As announced last November, Extreme is set to return in the spring of 2008 with their first album of all new material in 13 years. The band features original members Nuno Bettencourt, Gary Cherone, and Pat Badger, along with new drummer Kevin Figueiredo (Paul Geary, the band’s original drummer is now involved in the managerial side of the band). These are some of the highlights of Nuno’s latest update regarding the band:
“We are now finishing up the recording of our new release…We ended up with about 24 tunes…which we dwindled down to the 14 that will be on the record. And I’m sure it’s no surprise to you, our fans, that they are a “mish mosh” of Old School Rock and some tasty abstract ditties…Both on record and live when we come to your town…and WE WILL. Yes… we plan to tour for at least 1 year, well probably 2 years…cause we’ve got a lot of catching up to do with you guys and gals…
Lock up your daughters and lock up your wife…Lock up your back door and run for your life. Cause once we move back in…We plan to be around for the rest of our days…God willing… how ever long that may be. Well… that’s it for now. Who ever is making the trip to LA to see us… see ya there and say hello. We will have a drink at the Hilton bar afterwards.”
Check out Nuno’s Myspace to read the complete announcement.
Radiohead: Limited Edition 7 Disc Box Set and USB Stick
On the 10th of December, EMI and Parlophone will be releasing a limited edition box set collection of all Radiohead’s albums from 1993 to 2003: “Pablo Honey”, “The Bends”, “OK Computer”, “Kid A”, “Amnesiac”, “Hail to the Thief”, plus the live album “I Might Be Wrong”. The box set can be ordered in the following formats: CD Box Set, Download Box Set and USB data stick. The CD box set will feature original artwork in exclusive digipack sleeves. The 4GB memory USB data stick (shaped in Radiohead’s iconic “bear” image and housed in a bespoke deluxe box) will include Radiohead’s entire back catalog at CD-quality WAV files and digital artwork. Also a digital bundle of all seven albums will be available on December 10, as DRM-free 320kbps mp3 files, containing digital artwork for each album.
These are all available for pre-order at www.radioheadstore.com