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Founding Live guitarist Chad Taylor fired from band

June 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

It may not have been “Lightning,” but something has crashed through the original lineup of Live.

In an Instagram post Tuesday, frontman Ed Kowalczyk revealed that founding guitarist Chad Taylor had been let go from the band.

That announcement was preceded by a comment Kowalczyk made while responding to a fan asking about potential tour dates, in which the singer wrote, “I would love to perform, but it’s not possible in the current situation with the band.”

“The three other original members are not speaking to each other, and I am stuck in the middle,” Kowalczyk shared. “If I try to go solo, there is a good chance they will sue me again.”

Kowalczyk had previously faced legal proceedings from his bandmates after he left Live in 2009. He eventually returned to the band in 2016.

“I have to do what’s best for me and my family and try to stay out of litigation by not performing in public at all,” Kowalczyk added. “Hopefully things change but until then I have to law low.”

Kowalczyk didn’t get into the specifics of Live’s current disagreements, but his follow-up post suggests that the blame lies with Taylor.

“As of last evening, I control 55% of Live,” Kowalczyk wrote. “Chad Taylor is fired. He will never stop the music again.”

Kowalczyk also thanked the fans for their “amazing love and support.”

“I cried multiple times yesterday reading your comments and messages,” he wrote. “It really meant the world to me and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

Presumably, Live still includes fellow founding members Patrick Dahlheimer and Chad Gracey alongside Kowalcyzk.

Live’s most recent release is the 2018 EP, Local 717.

Chris Stapleton postpones three shows after testing positive for COVID-19

June 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Chris Stapleton fans in Denver and Salt Lake City will have to wait another week to see the country star’s All-American Road Show.

After contracting COVID-19, he postponed three upcoming shows: One in Salt Lake City on June 23, and two in Denver on June 25 and 26. He’s already got make-up dates for all three shows on the books, however. They’ll now take place on July 1, 2 and 3.

“To all my friends in Salt Lake City and Denver, I am very sorry to let you all know that I have tested positive for Covid and will be unable to perform this weekend’s shows,” Chris wrote in a statement on social media, adding that anyone unable to attend the make-up dates should contact their ticket point of purchase for a refund.

“I want to sincerely thank everyone who has waited so long for these shows,” Chris added. “We are incredibly grateful for your patience, love and support, and can’t wait to see you next week.”

Chris’ All-American Road Show Tour is set to run through October.

Demogorgon Rock: ‘Stranger Things’ star Joe Keery announces new album; single out now

June 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Did you know that when Stranger Things star Joe Keery isn’t fighting flesh-eating monster bats in the Upside Down, he’s making music? The actor, who plays Steve Harrington in the hit Netflix series, is also a musician who records under the name Djo, and he just dropped a new single.

The funky new song, “Change,” is the lead single from Joe’s upcoming album, Decide, due out December 16. It’s the follow-up to his 2019 album, Twenty Twenty.

The songs on Decide are about “growth, relationships and navigating it all in a world filled with technology at its center,” according to a press release.

So far this year, Joe aka Djo — who was in the band Post Animal prior to launching his solo career — has appeared at the Boston Calling, Shaky Knees and Bottle Rock festivals. This summer and fall, he’ll appear at Lollapalooza, New Jersey’s Sea Hear Now Festival and Austin City Limits.

And Joe isn’t even the only cast member of Stranger Things to release music this year: Caleb McLaughlin, who plays Lucas Sinclair in the show, released a single called “Soul Travel” in May and plans to put out an EP later this year.

The second half of Stranger Things season four arrives July 1, when we’ll presumably find out if Steve and Lucas survive the inevitable showdown with Vecna — and if they reunite with Nancy and Max, respectively.

Sleeping with Sirens announce new album, ’Complete Collapse’; listen to single “Crosses” now

June 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Sleeping with Sirens has announced a new album called Complete Collapse.

The seventh studio effort from the “Agree to Disagree” outfit — and the first since 2019’s How It Feels to Be Lost — is due out October 14.

The album reveal is accompanied by a new single called “Crosses” and, as previously teased, features Underoath vocalist Spencer Chamberlain. You can listen to “Crosses” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

Complete Collapse also features collaborations with Royal & the Serpent, Dorothy and Charlotte Sands.

Sleeping with Sirens will preview Complete Collapse on their upcoming Ctrl+Alt+Del headlining U.S. tour, which takes its name from a song off the album. The outing launches July 14 in Chicago.

Here’s the Complete Collapse track list:

“Tyrants”
“Complete Collapse”
“Crosses” feat. Spencer Chamberlain of Underoath
“Family Tree”
“Let You Down” feat. Charlotte Sands
“Be Happy” feat. Royal & the Serpent
“Us” feat. Dorothy
“Ctrl + Alt + Del”
“Bloody Knuckles”
“Mr. Nice Guy”
“Apathetic”
“Grave”

(Video contains uncensored profanity)

ZZ Top teaming up with Jeff Beck, Heart’s Ann Wilson for three shows in Texas this September

June 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

ZZ Top has added three new shows to their 2022 Raw Whisky Tour, all taking place in their home state of Texas in late September and featuring Jeff Beck and Heart frontwoman Ann Wilson as special guests.

The concerts are scheduled for September 23 in Del Valle, September 24 in Dallas and September 25 in the Houston suburb of The Woodlands. Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Friday, June 24 at 10 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com. Pre-sale tickets for members of ZZ Top’s Tres Hombres fan club are available now.

ZZ Top launched the Raw Whisky Tour in late May, and with the addition of the three Texas shows, the band now has over 40 confirmed upcoming 40 dates. The trek celebrates ZZ Top’s new Tres Hombres whiskey brand as well as the group’s forthcoming album, Raw, which will be released July 22.

As previously reported, Raw was recorded at the historic Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, in conjunction with the famed blues-rock trio’s 2019 documentary, That Little Ol’ Band from Texas. It features ZZ Top’s classic lineup — singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and late bassist Dusty Hill — playing an intimate set of songs from their back catalog.

Meanwhile, the shows with ZZ Top are Beck’s first announced U.S. dates for 2022. He recently announced that he’ll be releasing a collaborative album with actor/rocker Johnny Depp titled 18 on July 15.

Wilson has been on tour supporting her latest solo studio album, Fierce Bliss, which was released in April, but she announced via Twitter on Tuesday that she had to postpone her remaining June concerts because four crew members tested positive for COVID-19. Her trek will resume in July.

Check out ZZ Top’s full tour schedule at ZZTop.com.

Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé among most popular artists played at weddings

June 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Wedding season is here, which means brides and grooms are putting together their wedding playlists. So, what songs are the most popular this year? Look no further than Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran.

Hitched said in a press release it based its data on public Spotify playlists with the words “weddings” and “first dance” in the titles and compiled the 100 most popular songs. Furthermore, they looked into the top artists and found that Ed appears in 689 wedding-specific playlists.

Bey features on 307 playlists, but her “Perfect” duet with the British redhead is far and large the most popular wedding day song. In all, it appeared on 350 playlists and is the most popular first dance song of 2022.

The second-most popular wedding song is Elvis‘ “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” while Ed takes up third place with “Thinking Out Loud.” Coming in fourth is Bruno Mars‘ “Marry You,” while Jack Johnson and Luke Combs tie in fifth with their versions of “Better Together.”

Also appearing in the top ten are John Legend‘s “All of Me” in sixth, Whitney Houston‘s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” in seventh and Christina Perri‘s “A Thousand Years” in ninth.

Of course, what’s a wedding without throwback tracks? Turns out Spice Girls‘ “Wannabe” is the most popular 90s track after appearing on roughly 70 playlists. TLC‘s “No Scrubs” came second with 42 adds, while Britney Spears‘ “…Baby One More Time” is third.

When it comes to the artists themselves, we already said Ed takes the first-place wedding cake. In second is Bruno, with 311 playlists adding him to their rotation, while Beyoncé claims third. Also appearing on the list are John Legend in fourth, Jason Mraz in sixth, Christina Perri in eighth and Elton John rounding out the top 10.

‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ wraps up on Disney+ today

June 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(SPOILERS) On Wednesday, the season finale of Obi-Wan Kenobi drops on Disney+. The final episode pits both Ewan McGregor‘s titular Jedi hero against Hayden Christensen‘s Darth Vader and finally shows fans more of what Luke Skywalker has been up to since the series began.

Unfortunately for young Luke, played by Grant Feely, Moses Ingram‘s Inquisitor Reva survived her run-in with Darth Vader in the penultimate episode, and she tracks the boy to the home of his adopted Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, played again by prequel stars Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse.

For Ingram, her new character has already inspired fans to immortalize her as Star Wars fans are wont to do: cosplaying as her Jedi hunter. “It’s wild,” she admits to ABC Audio. “I’ve already started seeing pictures of people who are building out their suits.”

She adds of the show’s success on streaming, “It’s crazy because when we were making it, it just was like this just little bubble of us, and everything was a secret and no one knew anything. And so the idea that it’s about to belong to the people, you know, who it was made for is like, ‘Wow.'”

For Christensen, playing Darth Vader again for the first time since 2005’s Revenge of the Sith has been “incredible.”

“I loved it,” he enthused to ABC Audio.

“You know, just the nature of coming back and getting to do more with this character has been really exciting for me. But we’re seeing a new side of Vader, a very brutal side of Vader. And you know, that’s just good fun as an actor.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

This is how Thomas Rhett enjoys his tequila

June 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Thomas Rhett is now an expert on tequila since launching his own brand, Dos Primos. And there are a couple ways he enjoys the liquor.

Thomas launched Dos Primos, which means “two cousins” in Spanish, with his cousin Jeff Worn in 2021. One way he enjoys the tequila is by pouring it over ice and topping it off with a spritz of an orange peel, a splash of Topo Chico mineral water and a dash of lime.

But when he’s feeling fancy and is ready for a cocktail, the hit singer will concoct an original recipe that features a homemade rosemary syrup that combines simple syrup and a sprig of rosemary, topped off with some sparkling grapefruit juice.

“That would be my favorite way, if I’m doing a cocktail, to make it, for sure,” Thomas says, calling the recipe “fire.”

Learn more about Dos Primos via its website.

For June’s Black Music Month, The Isley Brothers speak about the importance of Black music

June 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The Isley Brothers were among the list of stars inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame last Thursday, and ahead of their nostalgic performance of past hits at the ceremony, they talked with ABC Audio about the importance of Black music.

“So much of the music, in terms of its foundation, comes from Black artists,” said Ernie Isley, who was joined on the carpet by his brother Ronald Isley.

“You look at the Isley Brothers catalog — I mean, you could do a party and just play Isley Brothers music because of the songs,” he said. “In addition to having the Isley Brothers, you’d have The Beatles, you’d have Aaliyah, you’d have ‘I love it when you call me Big Poppa,’ you’d have Ice Cube, all sorts of artists that lean on our catalog.”

The Isley Brothers, a soul and R&B family music group from Ohio, has a catalog that spans more than eight decades and features hits like “Twist and Shout,” “It’s Your Thing,” “That Lady” and “Fight the Power” and top-selling albums like Between the Sheets.

As for which song the duo is particularly proud of producing, Ronald said, “Each and every one of them,” while adding that “Shout,” the band’s first record to make the Billboard Hot 100 chart, is the one most likely to be played at weddings.

Last week’s induction ceremony saw a performance of “Shout” by Ernie and Ronald, who said it “feels great” to be honored after 65 years of music.

50th anniversary vinyl reissue of Jethro Tull’s 1972 album ‘Thick as a Brick’ due out in July

June 22, 2022 by WDNY Radio

A 50th anniversary vinyl reissue of Jethro Tull‘s classic 1972 concept album Thick as a Brick will be released on July 29.

The reissue will offer a recreation of the original album’s unique packaging, which featured a 12-page broadsheet newspaper that included fake news articles, a crossword puzzle, a connect-the-dots puzzle and more.

The half-speed-mastered LP, which features acclaimed prog-rock studio whiz Steven Wilson‘s 2012 mix of the album, can be preordered now.

Thick as a Brick, which featured one long, continuous song, was released in March 1972 and became Jethro Tull’s first album to top the Billboard 200 chart, spending two weeks at #1 in June of that year.

The concept behind Thick as a Brick is that the album’s lyrics came from an epic poem written by an 8-year-old boy named Gerald Bostock, a character created by front man Ian Anderson.

The newspaper, dubbed The St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwell Advertiser, was written by Anderson and two of his Tull bandmates — keyboardist John Evan and bassist Jeffrey Hammond — and includes a review of the album itself.

You can check out a video of Anderson showing off the vinyl reissue at Jethro Tull’s official Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the long-out-of-print deluxe 40th anniversary CD/DVD version of Thick as a Brick will be made available again on October 7 and can be preordered now.

The CD/DVD set includes stereo and 5.1 surround mixes of the album by Wilson, the original mix and a book featuring a recreation of the newspaper, an interview with Anderson, rare photos and more.

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