Black Cherry Reunite for One Night

Paul Black and his band Black Cherry will reunite for one night for a great cause. Snippets of the press release below:

"Black Cherry, one of Hollywood’s top bands of the late 80’s and early 90’s, will reunite for a one time show at the Viper Room in Hollywood as a tribute to their rhythm guitarist Curtis Grant, who tragically passed away after losing his battle with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at age 39. Black Cherry vocalist Paul Black said of the immensely popular guitarist “He was the heart and soul of Black Cherry. His enthusiasm for the band and his all around love of life was the main source of inspiration and motivation which kept us all rockin’.” The show will take place on Thursday, October 16, with Jet Boy and Gilby Clarke’s band Kill For Thrills. This will be Black Cherry’s first show in 16 years and will feature all original members Dave Walsh and Josh Blake on guitars, Scott Lipps on drums, Michael Stevens on bass and Paul Black on lead vocals.

After departing from L.A. Guns, Paul Black started Black Cherry with Scott Lipps in 1987. Curtis Grant became the band’s rhythm guitarist after Josh Blake left to form The Gutter Cats. Black Cherry’s first shows were opening for Jane’s Addiction, 45 Grave, Iggy Pop, and Lords of The New Church. Their one release Devil In You on Metal Blade records Street Survivors compilation received generous radio airplay and catapulted them to local fame. Lasting four years without a deal, they played their last show in April of 1992 at the Whisky A Go Go.

Curtis Grant relocated back to his hometown San Francisco, dedicating much of his time to family, his Native American heritage and community. He continued his music career by forming American Heartbreak with Jet Boy guitarist Billy Rowe. Drummer Scott Lipps went on to establish one of the top entertainment companies in the country, One Model Management in New York. He also has an all-star band in NYC called MARS. Bassist Michael Stevens moved to Maryland where he is raising a family and owns a successful scooter company called Scootertronics. He continued playing music with Tommy and the Love Tribe. Dave Walsh went on to a career as a guitarist for The Exies and has been busy as a songwriter. His music has been featured on SNL, MTV movie awards, Bad Boys 2, and Guitar Hero. Paul Black formed Sonic Boom with Jo Almeida and released Sun Down Yellow Moon. He has spent most of the last decade producing bands and composing movie soundtracks. After spending the last two years touring with his former band L.A. Guns, Paul has formed a new group with Jo “Dog” Almeida, Muddy Stardust and drummer Dennis Morehouse. They are scheduled to record an album for Alexis Records at the end of October.

Black Cherry is releasing a 7 song EP of studio recordings they produced during their time together. It will be dedicated to the memory of Curtis Grant. Ashes to Diamonds will be the first official release by the band and will be available at the reunion show along with other merchandise. All proceeds will go to Curtis Grant’s family."

Other than the Black Cherry reunion, the big news here is that Paul has a new band and is set to record a new album. Paul says the band doesn't have a name yet. 

Photo: Black Cherry, circa the Glam heyday on the Sunset Strip. Photo courtesy Paul Black. No copyright assumed.

Black Butterfly: The Bring Back Glam! Album Review

Los Angeles-based Buckcherry are back with a new album. Black Butterfly is available everywhere starting today. A mistake at a Washington, D.C. area record shop meant I was able to grab the disc early. Please believe Black Butterfly is a magnificent piece of Glam. In fact, Black Butterfly is easily Buckcherry’s best album to date. The release features these tracks:

Rescue Me
Tired Of You
Too Drunk...
Dreams
Talk To Me
Child Called "It"
Don't Go Away
Fallout
Rose
All Of Me
Imminent Bail Out
Cream

The songs on Black Butterfly are short, but they all pack a punch. I listened to the release about six times in a row before writing this review. With each listen, I found myself enjoying the album more and more.

You are probably already familiar with the song “Too Drunk…” After all, the band played it live all summer long on the Crue Fest tour and there is an official video supporting the song. Surprisingly, “Too Drunk…” is actually the weakest track on Black Butterfly. Yes, the album is just that good.

With this new album, Buckcherry provide a good mix of rock and sway. Sure, there are those familiar upbeat tempos with sleaze infused guitar parts. Then there are the marvelous slower tracks that show how the band has evolved over time.

Sometimes, bands decline in quality as fame comes knocking at their door. The exact opposite seems the case for Buckcherry. With 15 the band finally earned some hard-fought success. Beyond the platinum 15, it seems Buckcherry put forth more effort on Black Butterfly.

While I celebrate this entire release, I do have definite favorites on Black Butterfly. For my money, the strongest tracks are “Don't Go Away,” “Fallout,” “Imminent Bail Out” and “Rose.” In fact, “Rose” might be Buckcherry’s best single effort. It definitely has the traditional “Glam” sound of any song on Black Butterfly. A song about love, loss, music, the road – what else is there in rock n’ roll? Oh yeah, a great guitar solo. “Rose” has some good solo parts, too.

Please, do yourself a favor and buy Black Butterfly. Get the physical copy. Touch the liner notes. Read the lyrics.

Order a copy here.

High Winds = No XFest = No Power = No Internet

As I write this, it is just after nine at night. I've been home from Baltimore for six hours. I should be watching the headliner at XFest 13 right now - but I'm not. Oh no, severe wind like you wouldn't believe has swept through my area. 100,000 people are without power here in the Dayton, Ohio region. If you don't have power...you don't have cable. In my case, this also means no Internet.

I may snap.

Eric and I stopped to eat before going to XFest. We get to the venue and notice a mass exodus of people. As we were making the several mile drive from the airport to the concert grounds, I noticed the wind was literally picking my car up off the road. Great. Remember Rocklahoma? Remember both side stages collapsing? Yeah, I had visions of that all over again at XFest.

Back to the venue. We get to the festival grounds and see masses of people fleeing the area. Ok, so no one was running for their lives. But you know what I mean. Being the ever-brazen reporter, I fling myself out the car window and inquire what was happening. The show was canceled alright - because of high winds. I tried to get as close to the venue as possible. Both stages seemed to be standing against the massive wind gusts. 

Driving home was really fun. Nothing like that sinking feeling where you just know half your house is destroyed by an errant tree. Every street we passed was littered with debris: tree limbs, trunks and plain old garbage. Lots of cars lost battles against trees, too.

In the end, my neighbor's tree was down, blocking the street and some of my sidewalk. I got lucky.

Back to Starbucks. My husband and I drove around for what seemed like ages looking for a place with Wi-Fi. This stop at Starbucks marks the second time I've purchased Internet time for quick access to this website. When I'm queen of the world, free Internet for everyone!

Today was supposed to be a live review with photos of Buckcherry. I'm sorry I couldn't make that happen for your Monday coffee klatsch. This week I'll post a review of the new Buckcherry disc Black Butterfly.

A Week of Kix (and Friends): Kix Live in Baltimore

Kix are a Maryland band. Their shows are legendary around the land of Orioles and Ravens. I didn't anticipate flying east for the show, but everything worked out and I was in the audience at Baltimore's Rams Head Live last night. My husband and friends were with me, crunched against hundreds (thousand?) bodies inside the club.

I'm writing this in an airport terminal, just before 8 a.m., trying to get done before I board my plane to Ohio. Instead of going home like a normal person, I'm getting off the plane and going to an all-day Metal festival. I will try to sum up my excellent Kix experience in the time Northwest airlines has alloted me.

Seeing Kix in Baltimore was doubly special because I got the chance to visit with friends that live in both Maryland and Washington, D.C. Going to shows together is the ultimate bonding experience. Unfortunately, an overly slow Hard Rock Cafe put an immediate damper on my Kix experience.

Thinking Kix were playing at 11:30 or midnight, no one was too panicked about the super slow service at the restaurant. That is, until we arrived at the club and realized Kix were already playing - and it was 11 on the dot!  Apparently, Kix have never played that early. So, we arrive during the "The Itch" and I am immediately devastated. How could I spend all this money and travel this many miles and miss the beginning of the show? I tried to shove the depression aside for the duration of the set, but I'd be lying if I said I succeed. It is several hours later and I am still very sad.

Kix performed "The Itch," "For Shame," "Hot Wire," "Blow My Fuse," "Don't Close Your Eyes," "Cold Shower," "Red Light, Green Light, TNT," "Yeah, "Yeah, Yeah," "Cold Blood "Sex" and "She Dropped Me the Bomb." I guess this means I missed "Midnite Dynamite," "Girl Money," and "Same Jane."

As a band, Kix are workhorses. They are known for live shows and for good reason. In the past few months I've watched Kix live three times. Each time has been spot-on accurate. Even the hard songs, like "Don't Close Your Eyes" still sound like the recording after all these years. People, this is not an easy feat!  You can't fully appreciate the artistry of a Kix song until you hear the band live. It seems as if - all those Glam years ago - the band set out to write the best catalog of live songs possible. If you play to your strengths - and Kix are a strong live band - it stands to reason that the songs would be solid. The musical breakdown of many of the band's most famous songs lend themselves to both stagecraft and audience participation. Both are cornerstones of the Glam genre.

A funny part of the night was when singer Steve Whiteman became flustered during his very famous rap portion of "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." The rap changes with every live performance - but Steve seemed to really change it up last night. At one point he started laughing and exclaimed "I'm getting old!" The crowd didn't seem to mind. Such flubs make a live performance - and remind all of us that music is the epitome of humanity on stage.

I'm a sucker for choreography, and each Kix show provides some lovely stage moves courtesy of bassist Mark Schenker and guitarists Brian Forsythe and Ronnine Younkins. Drummer Jimmy Chalfant seems happy just keeping the rest of the band in check.

My expectations of being bumped and bruised during the show were realized. Still, it didn't matter because I was sharing an experience with hundreds of others who were in exactly the right place at the right time. From my estimations, just about everyone inside the club was a diehard fan - or learning to love the band based on their live show. When everyone around you is shouting the words to each song, you know you've found a Glam band that still connects with the crowd. Sure, Kix had a hometown turf advantage. Still, there were people in the crowd from all ages and backgrounds. Steve even addressed a 12 year old from the stage, saying the music is now "generational." I think that statement may be more accurate than any of us realize.

Will It Work? - SIXX: AM Edition

Recently, singer and producer James Michael  revealed  SIXX: AM will record a new album. I didn't think much of this at the time. Sure, it's good news and I dismissed it as much. Over time, I've started to wonder: what will a new SIXX: AM disc sound like?

The reason SIXX: AM and the Heroin Diaries soundtrack took-off is because of the "special project" element. Just three musicians - one of them a superstar - coming together to tell the story of addiction through music.

Nikki Sixx had a reason to create SIXX: AM. He wanted to tell his story through words and music. Understanding that not everyone would read his book, he gave fans an alternative to written words - and created a great album in the process.

Now, SIXX: AM announce plans to make a new album and I don't know if it will work. As time goes on, I can't help but worry more albums would cheapen the original output. Of course, I could be wrong. DJ Ashba and James Michael are great collaborators. With Nikki, I believe they have another great album in them. I just don't know if it will be as poignant - or successful - as the Heroin Diaries soundtrack. Then there's the issue of Nikki getting bored with his side projects, but that's another article entirely.

What are your thoughts on a new SIXX: AM album?

A Week of Kix (and Friends): Live Classic Album Review

Over the past week I've told you about some of my favorite Kix albums, videos and side projects. If you are new to to the band or only have money to purchase one Kix album - you must own Live. 

Kix Live was  was recorded at the University of Maryland and released in 1993. As you would expect, this live album features some of the band's best songs including "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah," "Hot Wire," "Rock n' Roll Overdose," "Sex" and "Same Jane." The major downfall to Live is the exception of "Cold Shower."

Despite the fact that I own quite a few live discs, I am not necessarily a fan. I think it's hard to capture the authenticity of a live show on a canned recording. Still, a few live releases succeed - and Kix Live is one of them. The excitement of the crowd seems pure and the album doesn't seem "doctored to death" after the fact in the studio.

You can purchase Kix Live here.

Tonight I finally see the band live in Baltimore. I feel like it's been a long week - and wait - for this day.

A Week of Kix (and Friends): Rhino Bucket Videos

Kids, I wanted to give you something for your Friday morning "stall-work-for-ten-minutes-by-reading-Bring-Back-Glam!-routine." To be honest, I'm tired. I'm in Washington, D.C. now...getting ready for the big Kix show in Baltimore on Saturday night.

Washington, D.C. is just about my favorite city. One of my best friends lives in the District - and I spent hours walking the streets with him. Now my feet hurt and I'm knackered. For now, I leave you with some live performances by Rhino Bucket. As you probably know, Brian Forsythe also plays guitar for this band, thus the Kix connection. After a good night's sleep in the giant bed in my historic hotel -- I hope to write a little more for your Friday.

Here's Rhino Bucket at Rocklahoma 2007. I didn't see this performance and I can't remember why, unless this was on the pre-party day. Whatever the case, it looks like I missed a rocking set!

Also from 2007 - Rhino Bucket in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Rhino Bucket do sound a lot like AC/DC - but I don't think they are a copy-cat band. I think RB just makes straight rock n' roll - not necessarily Glam, but definitely working class. Thoughts?