Classic Hits

A new jam band-theme edition of Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp that will give attendees the once-in-a-lifetime chance to jam with founding Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh is scheduled to take place October 27 to October 30 in New York City.

The Relix Rock Camp event will feature four days of jamming, mentoring sessions, master classes, Q&A events and more, culminating with campers getting to play a concert in front of family and friends at New York venue The Cutting Room.

In addition to getting to jam with Lesh at a private studio, attendees will interact and play with a variety of other talented artists. They include acclaimed jazz guitarist John Scofield, slide-guitar whiz Robert Randolph, one-time Ted Nugent singer/guitarist Derek St. Holmes, Little Feat/ex-Gregg Allman Band guitarist Scott Sharrard, Little Feat drummer Tony Leone and former Hot Tuna guitarist Michael Falzarano.

A variety of packages for the Relix Rock Camp are available, including one that offers campers a full-day session at a recording studio overseen by veteran producer Jesse Lauter.

For full details about Relix Rock Camp and to book a package, visit RockCamp.com.

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Johnny Cash‘s former California home is up for sale, and it’s fit for a country king. 

The home was originally built in 1961 in Ventura County, about an hour outside of Los Angeles, where the “Ring of Fire” singer and his first wife, Vivian, lived when traveling to California. The five-bedroom, ranch-style home was built specifically to cater to Cash’s taste is now selling for just under $1.8 million. 

The Hollywood Reporter states that many of the home’s original features remain intact, including ceilings adorned with glitter, a wood-paneled studio where Cash wrote and recorded songs, an intercom system and even a turntable mounted on the wall.

Photos reveal that the property includes a pair of bedroom suites and Cash’s black commode in the bathroom, while the master bedroom offers stunning views of rolling hills. The house is also equipped with an in-ground pool.   

According to the listing, Johnny and Vivian used the house as a “serene getaway” for them and their four daughters Rosanne, Tara, Cindy and Kathy. “You can feel the spirit of ‘The Man in Black’ as you traverse the private driveway towards the iconic house,” as described in a statement.

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A new signature Cat Stevens acoustic guitar — based on the Gibson J-180 model the British singer/songwriter used to create some of his classic 1970s recordings — has been released by the Gibson Acoustic Custom Shop.

The Gibson Cat Stevens J-180 Collector’s Edition can be purchased now at select instrument dealers around the world and at Gibson.com for the list price of $7,499. Only 50 of the limited-edition guitars have been produced.

The Cat Stevens J-180 guitar features a Sitka spruce top, a star-and-moon design made of mother of pearl on the headstock, star-shaped mother of pearl fretboard inlays and an interior label signed by Stevens, who now is also is known as Yusuf.

The instrument also comes with a Certificate of Authenticity and a selection of collectible Stevens-inspired patches, pins and stickers, as well as a black hardshell case featuring a white cat design.

Stevens purchased his original J-180, a guitar model that had been created for The Everly Brothers, in 1969 at London’s famed Selmer’s Music Shop. He used the guitar extensively on his early 1970s albums Mona Bone Jakon, Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat. Among the memorable tunes he wrote and recorded using his J-180 are “Wild World, “Peace Train” and “Father and Son.”

“I really turned a corner when I got my hands on a black Gibson Everly Brothers J-180,” Yusuf/Stevens explains. “It was my favourite guitar, and it had a very easy action. I played it almost percussively, and that sound gave real character to my recordings. It looked amazing too! Handling the new model is like going back in time to when I first started playing.”

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Earlier this year, Asia announced that it was organizing a new tour to mark the supergroup’s 40th anniversary that would kick off this summer, but now, plans for the trek have been revised.

The tour, a joint outing with The Alan Parsons Live Project, originally was supposed to have launched in August, but the trek has been delayed because of a medical procedure Alan Parsons underwent recently. The tour is now being rescheduled for early 2023, and new dates will be announced soon.

Asia’s current lineup features two original members, drummer Carl Palmer and keyboardist Geoff Downes, as well as bassist/singer Billy Sherwood and lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Bonilla.

Sherwood joined Asia in 2017 after original lead singer and bassist John Wetton‘s death, while Bonilla was recently welcomed into the band to replace singer/guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, who began playing with the group in 2019.

Bonilla is a former member of late Emerson, Lake & Palmer keyboardist Keith Emerson‘s solo band.

“We were hoping to be out this August, however moving the tour to early next year so we can remain on a co-bill with The Alan Parsons Project will be well worth it,” says Palmer. “I am so thrilled that ASIA has finally been able to return to performing after three years off the road due to the pandemic; we have much to celebrate.”

Adds Downes, “ASIA has been through a lot during these last four decades, but the music has always endured…This tour will be historic.”

In addition to celebrating its 40th anniversary, the band also will be promoting its recently released multi-disc box set, ASIA in Asia — Live at The Budokan, Tokyo, 1983, which focuses on a historic concert the band played in Japan that featured ELP’s Greg Lake stepping in for Wetton.

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Graham Nash‘s latest solo studio album, This Path Tonight, was released over six years ago, but the folk-rock legend says he’s finally almost finished with a follow-up record.

“I think I’m two songs from completing it,” Nash tells ABC Audio. “I’ve got 10. I want to add a couple more. I know what I’m gonna add. So it is almost done.”

Nash, who turned 80 in February, says “the most interesting thing” about the new album is that “it was done completely remotely.”

Explaining how the songs came together, Graham notes, “I have a small, tiny studio in my bathroom in Manhattan. I would put down a song on an acoustic guitar and a vocal track. I would send [the tracks] to [guitarist] Shane [Fontayne] in California. He’d put on the bass, his guitars and a harmony vocal. He would then send all those files to [keyboardist] Todd Caldwell in Brooklyn…who would put on all the keyboards and a harmony vocal. He would then send them…to his brother, [drummer] Toby [Caldwell,] in Lubbock, Texas, who would then put on all the drums.”

Nash adds that the audio files would then be sent back to him and Todd, who is producing the album, and Caldwell “would then make a thing of it.”

Graham reports that the new album is being mixed by Kevin Killen, who also mixed his recent concert album, Graham Nash: Live — Songs for Beginners/Wild Tales.

Meanwhile, Graham is preparing to launch a new U.S. summer tour on July 13 in Red Bank, New Jersey, and he says he plans to include some of the new material in his sets. The trek, which will visit various venue in the Northeast, is mapped out through an August 8 concert in Ocean City, New Jersey.

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The Who‘s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have donated a signed electric guitar to a charity auction that will raise money for Music Support, an organization that helps people in the U.K. music industry who are dealing with mental health and addiction issues.

Daltrey and Townshend have signed a white Fender Stratocaster “Player” model that’s up for bid at CharityStars.com. As of Tuesday evening, the highest bid for the guitar was $1,220. Bidding will continue until July 5 at 3 p.m. ET.

Several other items are being auctioned at CharityStars.com to benefit Music Support, including a snare-drum head played and signed by The Clash‘s Topper Headon, a Fender Strotocaster guitar autographed by all six members of Iron Maiden and a Fender Squier guitar signed by each member of Coldplay.

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Whitesnake pulled out of their performance at the Rock Imperium Festival in Cartagena, Spain this past Saturday because drummer Tommy Aldridge was “under the weather.” Now, the band has canceled three more shows on the European leg of its Farewell Tour as frontman David Coverdale has taken ill.

The affected concerts were scheduled for Tuesday, June 28 in Milan, Italy; June 30 in Vienna, Austria; and July 2 in Zagreb, Croatia.

In a message posted Monday on Whitesnake’s official website, Coverdale explains, “I started feeling a bit under the weather two days ago, and was just diagnosed with an infection of the sinus & trachea. The doctor recommends 5 days of no singing and bed rest. Sadly, that means that we are not going to be able to do the upcoming shows in Milan, Vienna and Zagreb.”

The 70-year-old singer continues, “I’m very sorry to all the fans who had planned to come see our Farewell Tour in each of those cities — it’s my intention to get better as soon as possible and be able to pick up with the remaining shows of the European Farewell Tour. You are all in our hearts!!”

Coverdale also points out in the note that the Cartagena concert was the first show that Aldridge had ever missed in his career, adding, “The GOOD news is that he is feeling better and is anxious to get back out there to perform for all of you.”

Whitesnake’s next scheduled concert is now a June 4 show in Budapest, Hungary. The European trek winds down July 19 with a gig in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The band will launch a North American leg of its Farewell Tour on August 17 in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

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R.E.M. released its debut EP, Chronic Town, 40 years ago this August, and to mark the milestone, the band will be reissuing the five-song collection on August 19 in multiple formats.

The EP will be made available for the first-time ever as a standalone CD, and also will be released on cassette and as a vinyl picture disc. Chronic Town‘s co-producer, Mitch Easter, has written new liner notes for the reissue.

Released on August 24, 1982, Chronic Town arrived about a year after R.E.M.’s debut single, “Radio Free Europe,” and preceded the band’s classic 1983 debut studio album, Murmur.

“One might fancifully say that Chronic Town was the sound of an expedition, ready for anything, setting forth,” says Easter about the EP. “If R.E.M. ‘Radio Free Europe’ single was a signpost, the Chronic Town EP was the atlas.”

The EP included the early gems “Wolves, Lower,” “Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)” and “1,000,000,” and features singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry coming together to create the jangly “College Rock” sound that has influenced so many other artists over the years.

You can preorder the Chronic Town reissue now. Here’s the full track list:

“Wolves, Lower”
“Gardening at Night”
“Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)”
“1,000,000”
“Stumble”

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Robert Plant opened the first chapter of his post-Led Zeppelin career 40 years ago today with the release of his debut solo album, Pictures at Eleven.

The eight-track collection peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200, while reaching #2 on the U.K. albums chart. Four of the tracks broke into the top 20 of Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock tally — “Burning Down One Side,” “Worse Than Detroit,” “Pledge Pin” and “Slow Dancer.”

“Burning Down One Side” was the most successful single released from the album, peaking at #3 on Mainstream Rock chart and at #64 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Phil Collins played drums on six of the album’s eight tracks, while journeyman rocker Cozy Powell was behind the kit for the other two songs. Other musicians featured on Pictures at Eleven included guitarist Robbie Blunt, keyboardist Jezz Woodroffe and bassist Paul Martinez. In addition, sax player Raphael Ravenscroft, best known for his memorable playing on Gerry Rafferty‘s “Baker Street,” lent his talents to the song “Pledge Pin.”

Plant co-wrote all of the tunes with Blunt, with Woodroffe also helping to write three songs — “Burning Down One Side,” “Fat Lip” and “Far Post.”

Plant produced the album, which was recorded in Wales at Rockfield Studios, a famous facility where Queen worked on “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Pictures at Eleven has been certified Platinum for sales of over 1 million copies in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Plant launched a European tour with his Raise the Roof collaborator Alison Krauss last Friday with a performance at England’s Glastonbury Festival. The trek runs through a July 20 gig in Berlin and will be followed by a second 2022 U.S. leg that begins August 15 in San Diego.

Here’s Pictures at Eleven‘s full track list:

“Burning Down One Side”
“Moonlight in Samosa”
“Pledge Pin”
“Slow Dancer”
“Worse Than Detroit”
“Fat Lip”
“Like I’ve Never Been Gone”
“Mystery Title”

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In celebration of Def Leppard‘s 45th anniversary, the band has partnered with Rock and Roll Beauty to launch a limited-edition line of themed beauty products.

The 19-piece collection includes a colorful eyeshadow palette designed to resemble Def Leppard’s famed diamond-shaped logo, as well as eyeshadow sticks, lipsticks, highlighters, scented candles, makeup brushes and sponges, nail decals and accessories.

Among the items are blush-and-highlighter packs designed to look like backstage passes, and cosmetic bags featuring the Hysteria album cover art and replicating an old audio cassette. The line also features eyeshadow sticks named after four Def Leppard songs — “Come Undone,” “Gravity,” “Let’s Go” and “Your Touch.”

The Def Leppard x Rock and Roll Beauty collection is available exclusively in Ulta Beauty stores across the U.S., and online at Ulta.com and RockandRollBeauty.com.

Def Leppard is currently co-headlining The Stadium Tour with Mötley Crüe. The next stop on the trek, which also features Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, takes place this Tuesday, June 28, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Def Leppard is promoting its recently released studio album, Diamond Star Halos.

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