All bands strive to have their singles put on the radio for the masses to hear.  The more potential fans that hear the single the bigger the fan base grows, once the fan base gets bigger, then a tour can happen.  If a local band goes on tour with a national act, then there is the potential for that band to become the national act that they strive so hard to become.  The only way that you will be able to even fathom hearing your favorite local band on the radio is to get out there see a show and become a fan.  After you have become a fan,

tell your friends about the bands you see and make sure they go to a show.  Bands will submit their music to radio stations and the only way that they can get played is if you and your friends request them.  The more requests a radio station receives for a local band, the more likely they are to become the next national act we can all be proud of.  Maybe you will get to hear one of these bands on the radio.

None Like Us is a female fronted Jacksonville band that can hold an audience.  The night I seen this band play it was the first time they took the stage at DJ & Gina’s in Summerfield and the minute the band started a crowd began to form at the front of the stage.  That crowd never left the entire time this band was on stage, which says something about them.

Sky Burns New is a brand new band featuring dual singers.  This was only their second show ever.  This band came off as a cohesive unit, which, in turn, bodes well for this band.  With their well written songs, this band is bound to take over the scene and fast.  Get to a show as soon as possible before this band blows up.

Nullified Silence is a hard hitting, kick ass, purely unadulterated metal band.  With memorable guitar riffs, and hard hitting drums this band will transport you back in time to the old days of metal.  If you like the way metal used to sound, then it is in your best interest to check these guys out as soon as possible.

Last Minute Stars has the essence of Rage Against the Machine.  This band will make you think that you have already heard them on the radio.  Their sound is one that is very popular on today’s radio stations, and, in fact, you could picture them playing to a national audience while they are on stage.

With bands like this in our local scene, there are bound to be some breakout stars.  These bands will soon rise to fame and then you can say, “Hey, I know that band.”  All the local fans just wait for the day they hears their favorites on the radio.  Some of us get just as excited as the bands themselves and that always means a celebration is on order.

word by: Harmony Statler

Having just returned from an overseas tour with KISS, Las Vegas’ Taking Dawn is excited to announce a string of tour dates with legendary rock icon Slash.

With a sound that is both fast and fresh, Taking Dawn successfully uses the 80’s sound to create a foundation for their thoroughly modern take on the genre: shredding, soloing and incorporating sophisticated melody into their metal. Time to Burn is an artful fusion of their bygone influences with contemporary skill and playful “screw you” attitude.

Having long been inspired by artists like Bon Jovi, Skid Row and of course, Guns N’ Roses, it makes sense that the band is more than just a little excited to be going on the road with the godfather of guitar, Slash.

The band recently shot a video for their unique take on Fleetwood Mac’s classic, “The Chain,” with director Ramon Boutviseth (Trivium, Dream Theater) in Las Vegas.

Tour dates are below:

8/29 @ The Warfield Theatre, San Francisco CA

8/31 @ Belly Up, Aspen CO

9/1 @ Ogden Theatre, Denver CO

9/2 @ Voodoo Lounge, Kansas City MO

9/5 @ Pabst Theater, Milwaukee WI

9/6 @ Surf Ballroom, Surf Lake IA

These dates will be followed by another tour that will be announces shortly.

“ZOMBIE, The EP Comic,” a limited-edition, traditional-sized comic book based on the fictionalized adventures of rising metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada, bundled with the band’s upcoming “Zombie EP” (Ferret), will be available at retail exclusively at

all Hot Topic stores for $9.99 beginning August 24. The Zombie bundle can also be ordered on the band’s website – fans can pre-order the bundle at http://tdwp.merchnow.com/products/118686 and http://tdwp.merchnow.com/products/118685.

The 14-page “ZOMBIE, The EP Comic,” was written by JL Bourne who penned “Day by Day Armageddon – A Zombie Novel,” considered one of the best zombie novels ever written, and tells the story of five combat soldiers, armed with a hi-tech arsenal, on a perilous, top-secret mission in a harrowing world infected with zombies. “ZOMBIE, The EP Comic,” was illustrated by Kevin Mellon, noted for his 2007 book “GEARHEAD” which is currently in development as a major motion picture.

“We thought doing a comic book as a companion to the ‘Zombie EP’ was a natural and fitting idea,” said the band’s vocalist/frontman Mike Hranica, whose concept for a zombie-themed disc was rooted in his having read “The Zombie Survival Guide” by Max Books late last year. “We love that “ZOMBIE, The EP Comic,” is not a CD-booklet, but a full-sized, stylized, superhero comic book that stands on its own.”

The Devil Wears Prada is currently on its “Back to the Roots Tour,” playing some of the biggest venues of their career, and multiple nights as some of the smallest – 25,000 screaming kids one night, and 250 hot and sweaty fans the next. The “Back To The Roots” tour, in partnership with Rockstar Energy Drink, kicked off last month and will go through to the Labor Day weekend. Remaining dates are below.

JULY
28 SOMA Sidestage, San Diego, CA*
29 SOMA Sidestage, San Diego, CA*
31 Heaven Fest, Union Reservoir, Longmont, CO**

AUGUST
2 The Door, Dallas, TX*
3 Emo’s Alternative Lounge/Inside, Austin, TX*
4 Emo’s Alternative Lounge/Inside, Austin, TX*
5 Rock The Desert Fest 2010, Midland, TX**
8 Summer Sonic Festival, Marine Stadium, Tokyo, Japan**
11 Orpheum, Tampa, FL*
12 Orpheum, Tampa, FL*
13 The Social, Orlando, FL*
14 The Social, Orlando, FL*
15 The 7 Venue, Atlanta, GA*
17 The Brewery, Raleigh, NC*
18 The Ottobar, Baltimore, MD*
19 The Ottobar, Baltimore, MD*
20 First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA*
21 First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA*
22 Highline, New York, NY*
23 Gramercy Theatre, New York, NY*
25 Harpers Ferry, Boston, MA*
26 Harpers Ferry, Boston, MA*
27 Crocodile Rock, Allentown, PA*
28 Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH*
29 Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH*

SEPTEMBER
4 Revelation Generation @ Revelation Farms, Frenchtown, NJ**

* headline dates
** major outdoor festivals

Brazilian metallers ANGRA are set to release their album “AQUA” October 12, 2010 in North America on SPV/Steamhammer. This is ANGRA’S first new album in four years, following up their 2006 release “Aurora Consurgens”

The album will be available in four formats: a limited edition digipak that includes a bonus CD featuring acareer spanning overview of the Edu Falaschi era, a standard jewel case edition, a double LP edition that includes 3 bonus tracks, and it will be available as a digital download.

ANGRA guitarist Rafael Bittencourt recently spoke at length about the concept and recording of “AQUA”:

“Here we are again. Doing what we love the most, which is to bring our music to the world. That amazing feeling of having our ideas spread among the fans like seeds that will be growing, as people get more involved with the album. Finally, after four years of no work released, we are bringing what in our opinion is one of our best pieces ever composed. “AQUA”.

There is a very interesting guideline to the play. After reading the text a few times we’ve discovered that the element water is the main character of the story. It changes in cycles, transforming itself; transforming things around it, representing the wrath in the surges, then the forgiveness in the calm. Everything happens after a huge storm that took place on an island shore. While the wild waters are coming from above and below, a ship and its crew are fighting to avoid a shipwreck.

Maybe by coincidence, this year we had strong storms that caused floods, landslides and other problems to many Brazilian cities. We could see that the same thing was happening in different countries almost at the same time injuring and killing people. It seems that the waters are representing a time of change. The upcoming of the Age of Aquarius, the apocalypse, the prophecies about 2012 and other matters were flying around our conversations.

We wanted a title that would describe in a very concise way, that concept. “AQUA” is the Latin word for water and summarizes the whole idea behind the Shakespearean play and our feelings at this remarkable moment.

The Tempest is also a very mysterious and unique work from Shakespeare. It was the very last play that he had written and it is full of personal statements. Every time you read you discover some new aspect of the construction or some hidden curiosity within the lines.

The story is about a king named Prospero and his Daughter Miranda. They were left exiled on an island that was supposed to be a wasteland. The Island was not so deserted and they’ve built a life together with the magic creatures of that very enchanted place. Prospero plans revenge against his betraying opponents and raises, by means of magic, a huge storm upon the ship that carries them. He finally forgives the evil acts of his enemies when he realizes that those acts haven’t harmed him like they were intended to.

So, the water is representing the coming of Prospero’s maturity and all the transformations and cycles that led him to that point. We were also going through a lot of renovation processes and we wanted to express the idea of being renewed. Letting go of bad feelings and thoughts is a common theme between this Shakespeare’s text and “AQUA”. The Tempest helped us to describe more clearly our emotions at this moment.

Although this album sounds very different then our previous album “Aurora Consurgens”, there are not many musical differences between “AQUA” and our last three albums. We tried to keep the idea of combining metal with progressive, classic, Brazilian, ethnic, pop and many other styles. The big difference is that this time we were really hit by inspiration. So we wrote almost thirty good songs, and we ended up picking the best ten out of the big list. All the atmosphere of companionship and teamwork was captured in the tracks. We really helped each other on every detail and that’s what made the songs so powerful and special.

Another important difference is that the drummer Ricardo Confessori is back in the band. This was only possible because, after the recording sessions of the Bittencourt Project’s Brainworms where he performed on a couple of tracks. Since then, we have regained our trust and friendship. We had a few rehearsals with ANGRA where he jammed around songs from the old and new era of the band. Also, we presented some new ideas for him to arrange and he showed that he had kept his creativity and graceful musicianship. We had good laughs remembering things we’ve done together in the past and how the Brazilian-mixed kind grooves were a very significant quality of our pre-Rebirth Era.

So, “AQUA” represents where we are now. And we hope that it will be remembered as one of our great classic albums, because it was done with great passion, focus and dedication. We expect that every detail of these carefully crafted new songs may help you out through your own times of change. So, get prepared to dive deep into an ocean of new sensations and float away with the various liquid atmospheres that keep changing as you listen through and it will always keep changing as you listen to it more times. Welcome to the revolving waters of “AQUA!”
CURRENT LINE-UP:

Edu Falaschi – vocals
Kiko Loureiro – guitars
Rafael Bittencourt – guitars
Felipe Andreoli – bass
Ricardo Confessori – drums

The Godfathers of Swedish modern metal, SOILWORK, have uploaded the video clip for the song “Deliverance Is Mine” to the bands Myspace page http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=105994975. The track comes off SOILWORKs brand new studio album The Panic Broadcast, and was directed by Ivan Colic (EX DEO, TYPE O NEGATIVE, UNLEASHED) and produced by Stanimir Lucik!

The brand new IRON MAIDEN video for ‘The Final Frontier’, the title track from the band’s forthcoming album, can now be seen HERE.

The longest-running, most successful partnership in the history of rock takes flight again, CARLOS SANTANA and Clive Davis, CCO of Sony Music Entertainment, collaborate on the brand new concept album, Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time, arriving in stores September 21st on Arista Records. The album was co-produced by Carlos Santana and Clive Davis with tracks produced by Matt Serletic and Howard Benson.

Working from their collective encyclopedic knowledge of rock, Carlos Santana and Clive Davis devised a list of guitar-centric titles – and then invited a Who’s Who of guest vocalists to perform on every track. Singers range from Chris Cornell (on LED ZEPPELIN’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’), Pat Monahan (on VAN HALEN’s ‘Dance The Night Away’), Chester Bennington and Ray Manzarek (on THE DOORS’ ‘Riders On The Storm’), Rob Thomas (on CREAM’s ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’), Scott Weiland (on THE ROLLING STONES’ ‘Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’’), Chris Daughtry (on DEF LEPPARD’s ‘Photograph’), Gavin Rossdale (on T. REX’s ‘Bang A Gong’) to rapper Nas (on AC/DC’s ‘Back In Black’), veteran Joe Cocker (on JIMI HENDRIX’ ‘Little Wing’) and more.

A very special dedication to George Harrison comes together on Guitar Heaven…, with ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, featuring singer india.arie and master cellist Yo-Yo Ma. “Listening to the song,” Olivia Harrison told Carlos, “it made me jump for joy and cry at the same time.”

Along with these stars, Carlos offers “supreme validation and compliment” to his full-time band for their work on Guitar Heaven…, their first entire full-length studio album recording together. Band members who join him on the album include Dennis Chambers (drums), Benny Rietveld (bass), Karl Perrazo (timbales), Tommy Anthony (rhythm guitar), Freddie Ravel (keyboards), Andy Vargas (background vocals), and Raul Rekow (Congas). Bill Ortiz (trumpet) and Jeff Cressman (trombone) also appear on the record.

According to Nypost.com, Beavis And Butt-Head – the show that celebrated the slacker way of life and helped make MTV into a network that did more than just play music videos – is coming back.

The move to resurrect the hugely popular 1990s animated anti-heroes has been rumored for several days. But yesterday, sources at MTV confirmed that a new batch of Beavis And Butt-Head episodes are in the works. The show’s minimalist animated style is also expected to remain intact.

The return of Beavis And Butt-Head will be a backdoor means for MTV to return to showing music videos – something the network was founded upon but abandoned in the last decade.

The two characters’ lives revolve around watching TV and eating nachos. Beavis typically wore a blue METALLICA t-shirt, while Butt-Head was usually seen wearing a gray AC/DC t-shirt.

Series creator Mike Judge, who’s also creating the new episodes, voiced both characters.

MTV officials had no comment yesterday.

Judge is “not commenting at this time,” his publicist said.

The cast of Broadway play Rock Of Ages, including special guest – TWISTED SISTER’s Dee Snider, performed on last night’s (July 14th) edition of America’s Got Talent. Check out video footage of the performance HERE: