Orange Amplification Presents The Classic Rock Roll Of Honour in association with currencies.co.uk is proud to announce that rock legend Duff McKagan will be taking the helm of the prestigious awards show.

Having sold well over 100 million albums worldwide, the former Guns ‘N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver bassist is flattered to have been asked by the magazine to host the awards: "I'm pretty honored to have been asked to host this years' Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards. God. I hope I don't fuck it up..."

Musician, songwriter, producer, businessman and Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee McKagan follows an illustrious list of presenters that has included Alice Cooper and Gene Simmons. This year’s awards ceremony will see him presiding over the awards honouring the great and good of the Classic Rock fraternity.

Taking to the stage with their unmistakable sound of country rock will be the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Lynyrd Skynyrd. The Floridian rockers will be closing the show with a 25-minute set of their biggest hits.

Johnny Van Zant, Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman, says:  “It's great to see the band getting noticed in the UK, Europe and beyond. We've been working on spreading the band's music around the world and it's appreciated to see that the band and its legacy, is finally being recognised. I think my brother and the ones that have moved on would be proud. Not too bad for a little band from the Westside of Jacksonville, Florida!”

Already announced is the Texan trio ZZ Top who will be accepting the esteemed Living Legend Award.

Classic Rock is well into the voting process for the coveted reader-voted categories for this year’s Roll Of Honour and fans can cast their all-important vote now at
www.classicrockmagazine.com/awards.
The categories voted for by readers are:

Best New Band - Awarded to the best new rock band of the past 12 months
Ancient VVisdom
Casablanca
Chris Robinson
Brotherhood
Cory Branan
Ghost
Monster Truck
Phantom Limb
Tedeschi-
Trucks Band
The Civil Wars
Tracer

Band Of The Year - Awarded to the most exciting rock band of the last 12 months
Black Sabbath
Guns 'n' Roses
Joe Bonamassa
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Rush
ZZ Top

Reissue Of The Year Awarded to the best-embellished reissue of the last 12 months
Heart, Strange Euphoria
Howlin’ Wolf, Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960
Jethro Tull, Aqualung Boxed Set
Judas Priest, Single Cuts: The Complete UK Singles Collection
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Reissues
Pink Floyd, Reissues
Roxy Music, The Complete Studio Recordings
Small Faces, Reissues
Whitesnake, Box O’Snakes: The Sunburst Years 1978-1982
The Who, Quadrophenia, The Super Deluxe Edition

Film/DVD Of The Year
George Harrison, Living In The Material World Mission to Lars
Mott the Hoople, The Ballad Of Mott The Hoople
Pink Floyd, The Story Of Wish You Were Here
Rock Of Ages
The Rolling Stones, Some Girls Live In Texas
Searching for Sugar Man

Album Of The Year
Alice Cooper, Welcome 2 My Nightmare
Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball
Howlin Rain, The Russian Wilds
Joe Bonamassa, Driving Towards Daylight
Mark Tremonti, All I Was
Mastodon, The Hunter
Opeth, Heritage
Rush, Clockwork Angels
Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy, Apocalyptic Love
The Union, Siren’s Song
UFO, Seven Deadly
Van Halen, A Different Kind Of Truth

Event Of The Year - What was the most exciting talking point of the last 12 months?

Aerosmith kiss and make up
Black Sabbath reunite Download Festival 2012
Lou Reed and Metallica pool forces for Lulu
Queen work with Adam Lambert
Springsteen and McCartney get silenced at Hyde Park
Status Quo ‘Frantic Four’ reunite
Ginger Wildheart raises £250K for his new album

The Classic Rock Roll Of Honour is one of the most highly respected ceremonies of the music year and always attracts the biggest names in the world of Rock. Recognition at this must-attend event is the pinnacle of every musician’s career as they join the list of past winners.

This year’s awards will again be held at the legendary Roundhouse in Camden, London on Tuesday 13th November.

Australian rock band TRACER start their “Spaces In Between” UK tour on Wednesday September 26th at the Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton with special guests Virgil and the Accelerators.

Tickets are on sale from the 24 hour box office: 0844 478 0898. Tickets can be booked online www.thegigcartel.com.

Nominated as Best New Band at this year’s Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards, Tracer will be head to LA at the end of the year to record their next album with producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Silverchair, Cold Chisel).

The band recently replaced their bassist Leigh Brown with newest member, Pat Saracino. Says Tracer’s drummer, Andre Wise, “We'd like to thank Leigh Brown for his tireless efforts and massive contribution to the band. Leigh recently decided his musical journey with Tracer has come to end.”

During the upcoming UK tour, Tracer will perform special acoustic sessions with Kerrang! Radio in Birmingham on October 26th, Real Radio XS in Manchester on October 27th, and Real Radio XS in Glasgow on October 29th.

Tracer was recently voted third place in Planet Rock’s “Best New Band” listeners’ poll.  Over the past four months Planet Rock has played the singles Too Mucha nd Devil Ride, two songs taken from Tracer’s debut critically acclaimed album Spaces In Between.

Tracer has captured the excitement and adrenalin rush of rock’n’roll. Tracer’s sound embodies the same raw dynamics and edge to that of Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age and Black Sabbath.

With the release of Spaces in Between, Tracer has attracted rave reviews and interviews in Classic Rock (New Band of the Month), Total Guitar, Rock Sound, Guitarist, Fireworks and Powerplay.  Their video for Too Much has attracted over 50,000 hits on YouTube. In the tradition of three-piece rock bands like Rush and Muse, Tracer’s sound is the audio equivalent to Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now set inside the eye of a hurricane.

Eric Johnson, the celebrated American electric guitarist, hailed by Joe Bonamassa as “one of the greatest guitar players of all time,” returns to the UK in 2013 for a tour that kicks off at the London o2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Wednesday 3rd April. 

The 6-date tour will showcase material from his current album Up Close, as well as from his rich back catalogue, including the classic Cliffs of Dover.

Planet Rock will start at ticket pre-sale on Wednesday 26th September, followed by general on-sale date of Friday 28th September from www.thegigcartel.com and 0844 478 0898.

Eric Johnson is also a respected acoustic, lap steel, resonator and an accomplished pianist and vocalist. He’s best known for his diverse array of music genres evidenced by many different styles incorporated in his studio and live performances, including rock, blues, jazz, fusion, folk, New Age & country.

Guitar Player magazine called Johnson "one of the most respected guitarists on the planet.” His critically acclaimed, platinum-selling 1990 recording Ah Via Musicom produced the single Cliffs of Dover, for which he won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance (the track also appeared in Guitar Hero 3 – Legends of Rock.)

In 1996 he joined forces with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai for the original and legendary G3 tour that garnered a worldwide audience with the platinum selling CD/DVD.

Johnson’s best known for playing stock Fender Stratocasters and Gibson ES-335 electric guitars through a triple amp setup, consisting of vintage Fender and Marshall amplifiers.

He plays vintage Stratocasters but also his ‘Fender Signature Stratocaster’ model, which is one of the best selling instruments in the Fender catalogue. He also designed a Signature acoustic guitar that was released by Martin guitars.

Eric Johnson’s stature as one of the premier guitar players in contemporary music is his artistic trump card, backed by a Grammy Award and five nominations, platinum album, Top 10 hits like Cliffs of Dover, praise from critics and the esteem of his peers. The full range of his talents marks him as a gifted songwriter, dynamic live performer, singer, pianist, and song interpreter.

His myriad and distinctive musical gifts are vividly evident on Johnson’s current studio album, Up Close, released on his own Vortexan Music label. The 15-track disc finds the noted master craftsman cutting loose, roaming through variations on the rock, blues, pop, country and jazz genres,  pushing the dynamic range of his artistry, and mixing it up with such friends and peers as guitarists Jimmie Vaughan and Sonny Landreth, plus guest vocalists Steve Miller, Johnny Lang and Malford Milligan.

“I decided to let go a bit and allow things to happen and just go with the flow,” explains Johnson about his approach to the album. “That’s a direction that works better for any artist, and especially for me. I like my work to have a high proficiency, but I also want to go for the energy and magic of the performances.”

That vitality and vivid musicality brims from such hook-filled numbers as the hard-rocking instrumentals Fat Daddy and Vortexan and the driving vocal song Brilliant Room (sung by Milligan). Gem is splashed with bright and painterly six-string colors, Soul Surprise finds Johnson weaving a picturesque tapestry of both his guitar and piano gifts, and Arithmetic summons up a swirling and spectral kaleidoscope of guitars, keyboards and Johnson’s singing.

His early years and influences are explored on the Mike Bloomfield/Buddy Miles-composed blues song Texas (from the 1968 Electric Flag album A Long Time Comin’) on which Miller sings and Johnson’s and Vaughan’s guitars engage in stirring interplay, and Austin (sung by Lang), which looks back to his teens in his hometown as a budding player and avid music fan who would be allowed to slip under-aged into music nightclubs and “go sit in the back and listen to bands.”

On The Way is a delightful Texas meets Tennessee twang romp, and A Change Has Come To Me opens with a six-string nod to Jimi Hendrix (a prime Johnson influence) that carries through the track as it burgeons into a celebration of the pleasures of the deep and soulful groove. Interstitial instrumental snippets like the spellbinding Indian music-flavored opener Awaken and the dreamlike Traverse and The Sea and the Mountain plus Change (Revisited) weave the collection together. Johnson caps the CD with the uplifting grace note of  Your Book on which he and Landreth interweave their playing (including Johnson’s stately piano work) with emotive elegance.

The lyrical themes of reflection, emotional revelations, personal growth and fulfillment are underscored on the album by Johnson’s most daring, urgent, progressive and at times raw and fervent guitar work to date. With its sonic immediacy (thanks to a mix by engineering legend Andy Johns) and openhearted musicality and songwriting, Up Close truly lives up to its name as Johnson continues to forge fresh and compelling new dimensions of his artistry.

Johnson leapt to the forefront of contemporary music some 20 years ago as “an extraordinary guitar player accessible to ordinary music fans,” as the Memphis Commercial Appeal hails him, with his landmark million selling 1990 album Ah Via Musicom. Hailed as a record that reached near-classic proportions within the guitar community, it was preceded by dedicated groundwork as a live performer that marked him as a talent bound for great things. And it’s been followed by a diverse and fascinating musical journey that inspired The New Age Music Guide to rave that “Eric Johnson plays guitar the way Michelangelo painted ceilings: with a colorful vibrancy that's more real than life."

His achievements include being enshrined in Guitar Player’s Gallery of Greats and named one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century by Musician magazine amongst numerous other awards. He enjoys the admiration of many of his fellow players and has performed/ recorded with such notables as Chet Atkins, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and others.

He was tapped by Eric Clapton to appear at the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival and plays his second stint of the Experience Hendrix tour in fall 2010. He has paid homage in song to such players as Jerry Reed (“Tribute to Jerry Reed” on his album Bloom), fellow Texan Stevie Ray Vaughan (the Grammy-nominated track “SRV”) and Wes Montgomery (who Johnson saluted in his Ah Via Musicom song “East Wes”), and boasts both a signature Fender Stratocaster electric and Martin MC-40 acoustic guitar. "Cliffs of Dover" is featured in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as the final winning challenge. And in addition to his recordings, tours and DVDs under his own name, Johnson also plays with his side project Alien Love Child, which released an in concert album in 2000, Live and Beyond, that earned an instrumental Grammy nomination for the song “Rain.”

London o2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Wednesday 3rd April
Tickets: £30 / Box Office: 0844 477 2000
Doors 7pm/ Stage 8pm
Shepherd's Bush Green, London W12 8TT
www.o2shepherdsbushempire.co.uk

Thursday 4th April
Harrogate Theatre
Tickets: £25 / Box Office: 01423 502 116
Doors 7pm / Stage 7.30pm
Oxford Street, Harrogate, HG1 1QF
www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk

Edinburgh Queen's Hall 
Friday 5th April
Tickets: £25 / Box Office: 0131 668 2019 
85 - 89 Clerk Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9JG
Doors 6.30pm / Stage 7.30pm
www.thequeenshall.net

Manchester Royal Northern College of Music
Saturday 6th April
Tickets: £25 / Box Office: 0161 907 5555 
Doors: 7pm / Stage: 7:30pm
124 Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RD
www.rncm.ac.uk

Birmingham Town Hall
Sunday 7th April
Tickets: £25 / Box Office: 0121 345 0600
Doors: 7:30pm / Stage: 8pm
Victoria Square, Birmingham, B3 3DQ
www.thsh.co.uk

Salisbury City Hall
Monday 8th April
Tickets: £25 / Box Office: 01722 434 434
Doors: 7:30pm / Stage: 8pm
Malthouse Lane, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP2 7TU
www.cityhallsalisbury.co.uk

Eric Johnson – Official Website
www.ericjohnson.com

Eric Johnson - Facebook
www.facebook.com/OfficialEricJohnson

Eric Johnson - Twitter
https://twitter.com/#!/EJUpClose

Legendary progressive rock veterans FOCUS are set to release their new studio album FOCUS X on November 5 via Eastworld Recordings.With their unique progressive rock Focus manifested themselves at the start of the seventies as the most successful and the most appreciated of all the Dutch pop-rock exports.

The band is fronted by founder and musical genius Thijs van Leer. Their hits include the instrumentals, "Hocus Pocus", "House of the King", and "Sylvia", and their timeless albums include "Moving Waves", "Focus 3" and "Hamburger Concerto".

A new Focus era has arrived. There is a rejuvenated passion in the new compositions that adorn the new album "Focus X", which features a full scale Roger Dean painting on the cover.  Thijs van Leer commented “It’s a thrill to have finally completed Focus X; we are all ecstatic and looking forward to playing the new material on the forthcoming Focus X Tour.”  This album - and the following gigs - will surprise the loyal fans. They will hear once again all the classic Focus tunes and they will be surprised at the strength and depth of the new material. "Our music is evolution, not revolution", Thijs van Leer once said about the music of Focus.

After a comeback which resulted in the well received albums "Focus 8" and “Focus 9”, the band is now back on the frontline, with a fantastic line-up. Also back on the drums is Pierre van der Linden, who is internationally renowned for his rhythmic skills, and is still a defining factor in the Focus sound.  Bassist Bobby Jacobs, who stems from a well-acclaimed Dutch musical family and guitarist Menno Gootjes, who participated in Focus at an earlier stage, completes the band's current line-up.

Focus X is released on November 5 via Eastworld Recordings.

November 2012 ‘Focus X’ UK Tour Dates:

Nov 08 Buxton Opera House
Nov 09 Hessle Town Hall
Nov 10 Glasgow The Ferry
Nov 11 Hebden Bridge Trades Club
Nov 13 Wolverhampton Robin 2
Nov 14 Runcorn The Brindley
Nov 15 Barnsley Birdwell
Nov 16 Fletching Trading Boundaries
Nov 17 Tavistock The Wharf
Nov 18 Sutton Boom Boom Club
Nov 19 Milton Keynes The Stables
Nov 20 Chislehurst Beaverwood Club


LINKS:

http://www.focustheband.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Focus-the-band/197272485986

Black Country Communion, the Anglo-American rock group featuring Joe Bonamassa (guitar, vocals), Glenn Hughes (vocals, bass), Jason Bonham (drums), and Derek Sherinian (keyboards), today announced that their only UK concert at the Wolverhampton Civic on Saturday January 5th has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. 

Planet Rock Radio launched a 48-hour ticket pre-sale on Wednesday 19th September. Customers who purchased tickets will receive a full refund, however if you have any queries, please email [email protected].

The one-off concert was originally intended to be Black Country Communion’s only UK appearance in 2013. The band chose Wolverhampton due to their geographical and spiritual ties to the area (Glenn Hughes was born in Cannock, Jason Bonham was born in Dudley).

In 2011, Black Country Communion’s last studio album, “2”, scored the No.1 spot in the Official UK Rock Album Chart. The band’s upcoming third album Afterglow, produced by Kevin Shirley, will be released in the UK by Mascot Records on Monday October 29th

Black Country Communion: Official Website
www.bccommunion.com

Black Country Communion: Official Facebook
www.facebook.com/bccommunion

Black Country Communion: Official Twitter
http://twitter.com/bccommunion

Black Country Communion: Official Youtube
www.youtube.com/bccommunion

Flying Colors, the prog, pop metal rock band formed by ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, perform a rare one-off UK concert at London’s o2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Friday 21st September. 

Comprised of  Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (lead vocals, guitar), Steve Morse (lead guitar), and Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), the band will perform songs from their eponymous debut album.

Says Prog magazine of the debut album, “At every turn these guys both dazzle and demand your respect. Be it the playful nature of the lead opening cut Blue Ocean, or a dextrous bass fill from LaRue that lights up Forever In A Daze, Flying Colors sound amazing.” Meanwhile, Guitarist magazine describes the band’s sound as “Epic prog with a chorus of pop anthems.”

You can get your tickets here for their one off gig at The Shepards Bush Empire here: http://www.gigsandtours.com/Event/FLYING-COLORS/O2-Shepherds-Bush-Empire/637300

Check out the 'Making of' on the video below.

Following the news that their third album 'Afterglow' - released in the UK on Monday 29th October, supergroup Black Country Communion, the Anglo-American rock group featuring  guitarist/vocalist Joe Bonamassa, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes drummer Jason Bonham, and keyboardist Derek Sherinian, today announced that they will perform a one-show only UK concert in the heart of the black country, at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Saturday January 5th 2013.

This special concert marks Black Country Communion’s only UK appearance in 2013.
Given BCC’s geographical and spiritual ties to the area (both Hughes and Bonham were born and raised in the Black Country), when discussions arose about where in the world the band would perform this one-off show, there was only ever going to be one outcome.  The band is very excited to come home for this performance.

"I am a messenger, this is my prophecy,
I'm going back... to the Black Country"
- Glenn Hughes

In 2011, Black Country Communion’s last studio album, “2”, scored the No.1 spot in the Official UK Rock Album Chart.

Be the first to get tickets to this exclusive show. Do NOT miss the Classic Rock event of the year!

Planet Rock Radio will launch an exclusive 48-hour ticket pre-sale starting on Wednesday September 19th via their website, www.planetrock.com. 

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on a strictly first-come-first-served basis from 9am on Friday September 21st via the 24 Hour ticket hotline 0844 478 0898 & www.thegigcartel.com

Black Country Communion: Official Website
www.bccommunion.com

Black Country Communion: Official Facebook
www.facebook.com/bccommunion

Black Country Communion: Official Twitter
http://twitter.com/bccommunion

Black Country Communion: Official Youtube
www.youtube.com/bccommunion

On December 10, 2007,  Led Zeppelin took the stage at London’s O2 Arena to headline a tribute concert for dear friend and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. What followed was a two-hour-plus tour de force of the band’s signature blues-infused rock ’n’ roll that instantly became part of the legend of Led Zeppelin. Founding members John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were joined by Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham, to perform 16 songs from their celebrated catalog including landmark tracks “Whole Lotta Love,” “Rock And Roll,” “Kashmir,” and “Stairway To Heaven.”

Although 20 million people applied for tickets, the band’s first headline show in 27 years was seen only by the 18,000 ticket holders who were fortunate enough to have secured seats through the worldwide lottery.

The film of Celebration Day will see a worldwide theatrical release by Omniverse Vision on 1,500 screens in over 40 territories on October 17. The theatrical screenings will follow premieres in London, Los Angeles, New York, and other major cities. Tickets for the public screenings will be available on September 13 via www.ledzeppelin.com

Celebration Day will then be available in multiple video and audio formats on November 19 from Swan Song/Atlantic Records. Specific product details will be announced soon.

Led Zeppelin has also been selected as one of the recipients of the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors. The band is set to receive the Honors at the annual gala on December 2 in Washington, DC.

LED ZEPPELIN: Celebration Day Track Listing: 
1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Ramble On
3. Black Dog
4. In My Time Of Dying
5. For Your Life
6. Trampled Under Foot 
7. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
8. No Quarter
9. Since I’ve Been Loving You
10. Dazed And Confused
11. Stairway To Heaven
12. The Song Remains The Same
13. Misty Mountain Hop
14. Kashmir
15. Whole Lotta Love
16. Rock And Roll

Metalbox Recordings have now confirmed the release date of Stuka Squadron's sophomore album 'New Sound of War' is to be unleashed on the 19th November 2012.

2012 has been a busy and successful year for Stuka Squadron: the band has marched across the UK several times over, played their debut shows in Germany and Czech Republic, and written and recorded their second album. The band’s live Missions are attracting increasing numbers of enthusiastic and loyal Legions of Squadroneers and Stuka Squadron are now busy preparing for further live work. The first confirmed date for 2013 is at Hammerfest V.

The march continues!!

Do you want to write about music??  If the answer is yes then I am looking for you. I am looking for reliable and passionate writers to do album and gig reviews in and outside of London.

No experience is necessary you just need to be reliable, and passionate about music. Everyone has to start somewhere right? 

If this interests you and you want to give it a shot, then please email me on the details below with a brief paragraph about why you want to write and a sample album review of your choice. Length does not matter. 

Please email me at [email protected]

I look forward to hearing from you!! :)

Cheers and keep rockin'
Chelle x