The new Dead Daisies album is dropping in September, so it's good to get Doug Aldrich from the band on Talkin' Rock with Meltdown to tell us about it. Plus, they'll be playing the Machine Shop on June 11th, in Flint, Michigan. As far as song ideas for the new album, he said everyone chipped in. "We all, all we all were, brought different parts in different song ideas. And that's generally what we do with The Dead Daisies is we'll bring in ideas and then, you know, in this situation, Marty Fredrickson was producing and he's like an amazing songwriter in his own. So he had a couple ideas already ..read more

Mr. Big is on their "Big Finish" tour and makes a stop in southeast Michigan at District 142 in Wyandotte on May 30th.  Mr. Big From The Start Eric told me the entire story of how the band started after his solo career had seemed to fizzle out in the late 80s. He spoke of meeting Billy Sheehan, a guy who he didn't know about. It was interesting to hear how the pieces came together. New Mr. Big Drops On July 12th Eric had a lot to say about the upcoming album. Their 10th record Ten drops on July 12th. He told me how he and Paul recorded demos for all the songs. "We mapped it out perfectly ..read more

When I heard that Lzzy Hale had signed on to help the Skid Row guys for 4 shows, I was stoked! I was excited for the band, excited for the people who would see her sing live, and excited for Lzzy! After the first show was in the books, I texted Skid Row bassist, Rachel Bolan and drummer, Rob Hammersmith. Both of them were giddy with how the weekend went. That's when I decided to ask Rachel if he'd come on my Talkin' Rock with Meltdown podcast to talk about it. "We had one rehearsal before the first show, and she blew us away." - Rachel Bolan Rachel told me how the ball started to roll at produ ..read more

This is such an interesting listen. I'd never met or interviewed Chris before. He was so much fun to talk to! We talked about his new gig, at the University of Michigan. He's taking his lessons learned, and passing them on to a younger generation.  Of course, we had to talk about his time in Nine Inch Nails. He talked about the song "Closer" and how Trent Reznor spit out the lyrics to the surprise of Chris and the producer. He spoke of being inducted into the Rock Hall, Johnny Cash covering "Hurt" and more. There's so much we didn't get into, so Chris has promised to come back on in the f ..read more

I had the good fortune to speak with Slayer's Kerry King about his new solo album, From Hell I Rise, which drops on May 17th. What I've heard has been a brutal onslaught, like you'd expect! He told me why he chose that name for the album, there were other ones, but he picked this one, as it ends the album on track 13. He also told me about the flavor of the album. In case you haven't heard anything from it, I've included the two songs they've dropped from the album below. We also discussed how he got the members for the band, which includes Mark Osegueda (Death Angel), Slayer drummer Paul Bost ..read more

  I've never talked with Stephan Jenkins from Third Eye Blind, so I can check him off my ever-growing list of rockers I've interviewed. Right off the bat, we talked about touring, and how much he likes it. He commented on how concerts bring us together "That collective sense of feeling lets us know that we're not alone." You can see him and Third Eye Blind along with Yellowcard and A R I Z O N A on July 7th at Pine Knob Music Theater. We talked about a recent unplugged performance he did at an Emo club. "It was fun, man, it was fun," he said about the impromptu show. Third Eye Blind Teams ..read more

Taylor Roberts from Taproot/Riding With Killers joins me on Talkin' Rock with Meltdown.  We started off talking about RWK. He explained how the band formed, talked about their debut record "Full Circle" and more. He said they've done some pretty big shows, but it's time to get that band out to the forefront. "We're really getting ready to launch this band in the right way," he told me.  He talked to me about being a fan of Taproot, and finally becoming a member of the band. He spoke about how he ended up in Detroit through a member of the band, coming from Mississippi. When I asked T ..read more

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has a lot going on. between concerts, family, and getting high-powered muscle cars delivered to his house, his plate is full! I ran into Kenny a few weeks back in Nashville. I posted about that trip and a little about running into Kenny, here. Onto what Kenny has going on. He'll be playing at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in Detroit on May 17th. For tickets, click here. Kenny doesn't always hang out in Nashville, his home, but he did a few weeks back. I ran into him two nights in a row, at two comedy shows, so we talked about going to those shows. As far as ..read more

Don Jamieson's latest comedy album is No Sleep 'Til McSorley's. Once again, he's modeled his latest album after a famous rock record. This time around it's Motorhead's, No Sleep "til Hammersmith. He explains why he chose that pub, and how he got permission to use the famous album cover. On the album, Don takes on many social and rock topics. It's a skill that he has where he can meld both worlds without sounding preaching or like he's taking sides. "Is there an underlying message to it? Of course there is" Don said. As far as who he takes shots at on the record, he said "Everybody gets it on t ..read more

What a pleasure to have James "JY" Young in the studio to talk all things Styx, and more. The upcoming "Renegades and Juke Box Heroes" tour features Foreigner and John Waite. They'll be playing Pine Knob on June 15th. We talked about a lot of topics. Playing in the band with great musicians like Tommy Shaw, and Lawrence Gowen. Where does Styx live in the music world...Rock or Progressive Rock? JY answers that question. "It's hard to define us because a lot of the stuff is prog. But, ya know, some of the ballads are pretty much straight-ahead rock ballads." That led to how JY got into music. Ho ..read more