CYCLE OF PAIN ANNOUNCES NEW TOUR DATES

CYCLE OF PAIN ANNOUNCES NEW TOUR DATES


SELF-TITLED DEBUT STREETS APRIL 21


Cycle of Pain, brainchild of journeyman bassist John “J.D.” Deservio, has announced an April 21 street date for their upcoming self-titled debut, as well as upcoming tour dates to support the release. The album will be released on Reform Records/Rock Ridge Music. Cycle of Pain will be playing several local shows in February and will open for Black Label Society later this spring. All tour dates are listed below.

John “J.D.” DeServio’s career as a bassist can be defined only as formidable and impressive. His time spent with Black Label Society has taken him around the world and made him a sought after bassist for clinics from Japan to South America and back. But long before he began globetrotting, J.D. started out like most accomplished musicians, in the garage with a band and a bottle of Captain Morgan. Twenty-five years later, that same band has emerged as Cycle of Pain with an intense and diverse self titled hard rock album.

At 15 years old, J.D. began practicing his favorite Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and Scorpions tunes with good friends Joe Taylor (guitar) and Gregg Locascio (drums/vocals). Despite the many high profile moments in their careers (Lita Ford, Vinnie Moore, Drill, Rich Kotzen and many more), the old band has always aspired to record and tour together. Cycle of Pain later added Rich Monica (Tantric) on drums.

With J.D. and Taylor’s prior musical commitments, it took a lot for the old band to come together and record the 13 track album, which has already been lauded by many of Black Label’s biggest fans.

Though rooted in metal, the album’s 13 tracks delve into elements of funk, hip-hop, and soul, and they offer enough ammo to rock both in the clubs and on the radio. Cycle of Pain also features many guest performances by such credible names as Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy), Ray Luzier (Korn) Brian Tichy (Billy Idol), Sen Dog (Cypress Hill), Russ-T Cobb, Hugo Ferreira (Tantric), Marcus Ratzenboeck (Tantric), Clip Payne (P-funk), Burton (Fear Factory) & Russell Allen (Symphony X).

Taylor sees the band as a modern twist on the bands that originated metal. “I think we’re a band that is much needed in the scene today,” Taylor comments. “Cycle of Pain is basically what all of us are missing when we go to a show.”

The album will be released on April 21st, 2009, and Cycle of Pain will begin its tour that same day opening for Black Label Society.

“We’re part of a family tree that started with Black Sabbath,” adds J.D. “From there came Ozzy with Randy Rhoads, then eventually Ozzy with Zakk. Zakk started the whole Black Label thing, which I became a part of, and we’ve now reached the point where I have my own project in the same line of such huge names as Osbourne and Iommi, Rhoads and Wylde. It’s a good place to be in.”

Cycle of Pain Website


Cycle of Pain Tour Dates:
2/20 – Clementon, NJ - Cherrywood Rock Club
2/21 – Staten Island, NY - L’amour


Cycle of Pain w/ Black Label Society, Sevendust, and Dope:
4/21 – Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
4/22 – Corpus Christi, TX - Concrete Street Amphitheater
4/24 – Austin, TX - Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
4/25 – Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
4/26 – Tulsa, OK - Cain’s Ballroom
4/28 – Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
5/1 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
5/2 – Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre

Morrissey - New CD Today - Years of Refusal

Years of Refusal by Morrisey - Lost Highway Records

I haven't heard the whole album yet, but I think it is going to be another great album by Morrissey. You can listen to the track, I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris at Lost Highway Records.

I hope to photograph the Morrisey show when he plays at Hard Rock Live in Orlando, Florida on March 1, 2009. I photographed him in concert last year in Melbourne and it was a blast.

For Morrissey Tour Dates - Click Here




Steven

Gavin DeGraw to Release New Collection of Songs Entitled FREE, March 31st

Gavin DeGraw to Release New Collection of Songs Entitled FREE, March 31st

FREE Follows on the Heels of Platinum Singer and Songwriter's Self-Titled 2008 Top 10 Album

DeGraw Hits the Road for "Where It Began" Tour on March 27th



NEW YORK, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 31st, 2009, J Records' platinum recording artist Gavin DeGraw will release a new collection of songs, entitled FREE -- a raw, organic-sounding recording that showcases DeGraw's earthy charm and ever-evolving songwriting talent.

"My intention on FREE was to stay out of the way of the songs," DeGraw says. "We kept the production very minimal in order to get everything that lies between me and the audience out of the way. By removing all the bells and whistles, you really make room for someone to pay attention to the songwriting." As a result, DeGraw's freewheeling melodies, heartfelt lyrics and soulful, blues-tinged vocal performances are front and center, creating an intimate experience for listeners.

Performed by a crack band that includes guitarist Audley Freed (Black Crowes), bassist Andy Hess (Gov't Mule), drummer Charley Drayton (Keith Richards' X-Pensive Winos), and keyboardist George Laks (Lenny Kravitz), FREE, the 10-song set ranges from new songs that were completed in the studio, such as "Stay" and "Mountains to Move," to tunes that DeGraw wrote very early in his career that have evolved with him, like "Dancing Shoes" and "Glass." "Those are songs only my die-hard fans would know," he says. "I wanted to properly record them because they're special to my fans." There's also a cover of Chris Whitley's "Indian Summer," a powerful number that DeGraw includes on FREE as a way to draw attention to one of his favorite artists. "I wanted to expose Chris' music to my fans," DeGraw says.

To keep himself from over-thinking the songs, DeGraw recorded FREE in less than two weeks at the Brooklyn studio of his producer Camus Celli, who has worked with such artists as Tina Turner, David Byrne, and Arto Lindsay. DeGraw and Celli have known each other since working together on an early version of DeGraw's platinum-selling 2003 major-label debut CHARIOT. "I've been in the studio with several different producers so I already knew what I wanted," DeGraw says. "This was my opportunity to be involved in the production, and I knew Camus could get the sounds I was going for."

The trust he had in Celli and the collaborative spirit of their partnership freed DeGraw up to dig deep and tap into something he says he hadn't tapped into for a while. "This album reveals the honesty about my love of music," he says. "It isn't about the biggest, the strongest, or the loudest. It's about simplicity in its purest form. It doesn't sound like the big machine. It sounds like where you go to escape the big machine."

In keeping with the stripped-down feel of FREE, DeGraw will hit the road on March 27th for an extensive spring tour he has dubbed his "Where It Began" tour, in which audiences will be taken on a musical journey back to DeGraw's roots for a series of intimate full band and solo performances. "We'll take a similar approach to the live shows as we did on the album," he says. "This tour is all about creating that very close connection with the audience."

FREE is the follow-up to DeGraw's self-titled 2008 album GAVIN DEGRAW, which debuted at No. 1 on the digital sales chart and No. 7 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart last May, earning DeGraw his first Top 10 album. GAVIN DEGRAW spawned the hit singles "In Love With A Girl," which Billboard dubbed "a rocking homerun" and the gold-certified "We Belong Together."

Gavin DeGraw's upcoming tour dates are as follows:

3/27 Portland, OR, Aladdin Theater

3/28 Seattle, WA, The Tractor

3/31 San Francisco, CA, Great American Music Hall

4/01 Los Angeles, CA, El Rey

4/02 San Diego, CA, Soma

4/04 Detroit, MI, Public Concert Stage

4/05 Scottsdale, AZ, Martini Ranch

4/06 Albuquerque, NM, Launchpad

4/08 Austin, TX, The Parish

4/09 Dallas, TX, The Loft

4/10 Houston, TX, House of Blues

4/11 Oklahoma City, OK, Diamond Ballroom

4/13 Columbia, MO, The Blue Note

4/15 Chicago, IL, Park West

4/16 Decatur, IL, Kirkland Fine Arts Center

4/17 Columbus, OH, Newport Music Hall

4/19 Manchester, NH, Southern New Hampshire University

4/20 New York, NY, Highline Ballroom

4/21 Harrisburg, PA, Whitaker Center

4/22 Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts

4/24 Boston, MA, Paradise Rock Club

4/25 Reading, PA, Alvernia University

4/26 Alexandria, VA, Birchmere

4/28 Richmond, VA, The National

4/29 Knoxville, TN, The Square Room

5/01 Louisville, KY, Kentucky Derby Festival