When you look at SLASH's guest appearances, the artists he's done work
with are well known: Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, Cheap Trick, Carole
King, Sammy Hagar and so on. Brian found mention of a guest appearance
with Elan. She's an unknown, unsigned artist, 19 years old and working
on her debut album. She's lucky enough to snag SLASH who can give her
some great music, good advice and a burst of publicity. SLASH appears
on the title track, "Street Child". Elan says that SLASH heard about her
through a friend, listened to "Street Child" and called. Usually record
labels or artist friends make the approach. SLASH listens to the music
to see if there is somewhere his guitar fits and adds to the original.
Elan also managed to get Counting Crows' Immerglunk, Sparklehorse's
Weatherhead and Cracker's Lowery...an impressive array for a debut album.
Her brother is a former A&R executive from Warner in Music. This gives
Elan a hefty leg up on industry contacts. Her brother produced the album
while Elan does songwriting, piano, guitar and drums. The album "Street
Child" will be released as an indie on Jan's Silverlight Records in May.
Recording was done at Capitol Studios in LA among others. Elan wrote 100
songs for the album and is using 12. This is one to look for but debut
albums can be great (Appetite) and some not so great.
Hopefully, SLASH and the other guys and her brother have helped to create
one that's memorable. This covers most of the publicity release, but it
is spreading around the net. Here's where Brian (thank you!) first saw
the press release:
Next we have the motion picture information. Robert Evans is a great friend
of SLASH's. Isn't it amazing the number of artistic and musical people
SLASH knows?
Here's the "Love Theme from The Godfather"! SLASH and this beautiful music
are up for a Grammy. Let's hope SLASH is in the audience the night of the
awards. This is an audio mpg.
And here's our favorite GNR show track in video:
Hope you enjoyed all that background, and we'll be putting the video in
our SLASH Videos section and the Grammy nominated song in our Soundtracks
Section in the SLASH Discography.
Two magazines had some small mentions of SLASH recently. Rolling Stone
had a short article, "Rock Against War", in the February 20 issue. Jackson
Browne performed and SLASH joined him "on a nuclear version of Bob Dylan's
'Masters of War'." Also from RS on their online newsletter, they
plug Ron Wood's Far East Man DVD due out February 4 with guest
appearances by SLASH and Andrea Corr. Spin magazine has a picture
of Axl on its cover with the text "Guns N'Roses. The End?" They say that
Axl's future may lie in his past, and hopefully (their words) he will find
time to at least talk to SLASH, Duff and Izzy. "It could well be that they
are the only people left who can understand a word Axl says."
Want some cash back on those GNR, Snakepit and all other CDs you may have
purchased in a record store? If you bought them between 1995 and December
22, 2000, you're eligible to submit a claim worth up to $20 in an out of
court settlement of a class action suit charging price fixing on the part
of certain music distributors and stores. All you have to do is go to the
site, answer three easy questions about your buying habits during that period
and submit the claim. Sit back and wait for your 20 to roll in. Settlement
organizers are launching a public awareness campaign, and the final date to
apply is March 3, 2003. It's not a scam and
obligates you to nothing more than receiving your portion of the settlement.
Check out the site if you need more details. Here's where you go to sign
up:
Mike Matijevic is the latest vocalist to announce that he's being considered
for The Project. Mike added some lyrics and vocals to four tracks and is now
waiting to hear from SLASH and Co. Although some artists are unknown to us,
there is always someone out there who knows their work. Rui says Mike is
an amazing singer, and he did some tracks on the Rock Star movie
soundtrack from 2001. He sings on all the Steel Dragon tracks, and he does
a great job according to Rui. In fact Rui believes him to be the best singer
around, better than Axl or Sebastian Bach! A friend of ours that is a current
GNR and Axl fan says, "[Mike] has a range that is off the scale, yes, better
than Axl. His stage presence is phenomenal, and he had a major rock star
look and attitude". That's certainly reassuring! Thanks, Rui! Ismar is in
Croatia but doesn't know about Mike. Mike left for the US at age 6 so that's
not too surprising. Ismar says he knows four people of Croatian descent in
the music business. One is Johnny G. from SLASH's Snakepit! Krist Novoselic
of Nirvana was born there. REM's Michael Stipe has similar links. Matijevic
is in good company, too. Thanks, Ismar!
For interested guitarist, we have an article for you on the digital Gibson
guitar. It's fairly complicated but keeps you up to date. After reading it,
we are almost positive that SLASH would never want to use this! He will
be in the Keith Richards category they site here! The article is on the
EE Times (Engineering and Technical Managers) site. Everyone can get through
at least the beginning and see if you think guitarists are going to want
a digital Les Paul! Thanks, Ray, for sending this in. Be a current guitarist and give this a look:
There's another singer announcing an audition with The Project. The
Project is the unofficial name for the Duff/SLASH/Matt/Izzy band. Check
The Project for band history. They're
seeking a vocalist, and the newest singer to throw his mic in the
ring is Mike Matijevic, frontman for Steelheart. Mike has completed
his audition which was to put down vocals on four instrumentals given
him by our guys. Mike is said to be waiting for results of the audition
and obviously, to see if he'll be doing more with them.
If you haven't
heard of Mike Matijevic, he was born in Croatia in 1964. There are a
number of Croatian fans out there, so maybe we'll pick up some more
information. Mike sang even as a young boy. At 6, he moved to the U.S.
and settled with his family in Connecticut. At age 11, Mike discovered
Led Zeppelin, and he became a rock singer and fan. Mike was putting
together Steelheart at the age of 16. He suffered a major head injury
onstage when a lighting truss he was on fell over. It took quite a while
for him to be in condition to perform again. The best known and some
say best album is Wait. If you'd like to hear Mike, you can try
some tracks on CDNOW:
Sanyi is from Hungary, and he's sent in a correction and a story about SLASH's Blues Ball. He
was there at the concert in Budapest in 1996. This was the very first
appearance of Blues Ball. His girlfriend told him that SLASH was at a local
bar in Budapest the night before the show, so he went right over and got
to meet SLASH, Johnny G., Bobby Schneck, Teddy ZigZag...everyone. SLASH
was kind, cool and loved talking to people...especially other musicians.
Later they decided to leave the bar and asked Sanyi to join them. They
went to a stripclub, then another and back to the first. Not only
did Sanyi get a pick and autographs, the guys asked him to come backstage
the next night! He hung out with the band; they were really happy because
the show was great. It was their first time with this lineup, and they
were really pleased to have had such a good show. The day after, Sanyi
and friends picked up James Bradley Jr. and took him to their rehearsal
place, and they jammed and played a lot of songs. SLASH was off doing
publicity, and he was missed, but Sanyi had a great time. Thank you, Sanyi!
From Hungary to China...SLASH has the best international fans! Aga
lives in China and had his girlfriend sent us some news from there
when he was really busy. He's still busy, but he's home for the
winter vacation with Spring Festival coming soon. Although he knows
we don't have that holiday here in the US, he wants to say "Happy New
Year" to SLASH and every SLASH fan all over the world! Thanks, Aga!
A few days ago, Aga was looking for something enjoyable on TV, and
he found an introduction of MTV on GNR in the channel Tianjin2 (Aga's
hometown). The background music was "Don't Cry", and they put together
some GNR videos:"Don't Cry", "Estranged", "November Rain" for the
introduction. It was a nice program but on much too late! Get some
rest, Aga, and thank you!
Ben, as far as we know, is from the US. Once again Ben was watching
MTV, and he got to see that special called "Testimony"..about rock
in the past 20 years. They went through some eighties and nineties
groups, spending maybe 30 seconds on each. But when they got to GNR,
the segment was at least 5 minutes long. Mostly they talked about
Axl, but they did talk to SLASH for a long time using several excerpts
from some past interviews. The hosts said there were very few groups
who got attention while Guns N'Roses were big time and a heavy
influence on rock and roll of the nineties. Thanks, Ben! Let's see
a little serpentine!
Steve Lukather has a short article on his site about the forthcoming Yardbirds album
that SLASH played on. Steve says Birdland will be released April 22.
This is the band's first studio release since 1968's Little Games.
The Yardbirds are putting the finishing touches on the recording right
now. The two remaining founding members, Chris Deja and Jim McCarty, are
joined by these Yardbirds: Gypie Mayo, John Idan and Alan Glen. Jeff Beck,
a former member, is part of the group as well as guitar heroes Steve Vai,
SLASH, Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather and Jeff Baxter with vocals by Johnny
Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls. SLASH is on track 10, "Over, Under, Sideways, Down".
The album is not yet available for presale ordering.
They do have one presale order album, but it is not Birdland so
be careful what you order. Sounds terrific with all that talent.
Another SLASH appearance album we're waiting for is Santamental.
This is a Steve Lukather Christmas project due out last fall. Due to
some distribution problem, the album is held over till fall 03. The album
is a jazz-rock cover album of classic Christmas songs. It's almost entirely
instrumental. Lukather says it's a pretty funny album with traditional
standards really mixed up. He says the album sounds like a big band based
on Weather Report, Frank Zappa and Van Halen. Steve wanted the album to
be a real classic, so the packaging is important. It will come in an
8-panel digipack and feature behind the scenes CD-Rom video. Let's hope
for some SLASH clips on that. If you'd like to hear two tracks from the
album (NOT SLASH), we'll give you the link for that. This is Sammy Davis
Jr on "Jingle Bells" and Edgar Winter on "Winter Wonderland":
You have to click Albums in the left column, then find the Santamental
album cover and click that to get to the tracks.
Before Christmas, Camp Freddy put a memorabilia item up for bid on ebay.
All the band members and guests signed this drumhead. The sale was to benefit The
Mission, a homeless shelter in Los Angeles. It was such a good cause plus
SLASH had signed it, and it was a one of a kind item. There were quite a
few bids, but we got it! Here's a picture of Billy Morrison handing over
our money order to the head of The Mission. Our luck is usually not great
on ebay, but we're happy to have this and to have contributed to a worthwhile charity.
Billy says to standby for more news on Camp Freddy. It's coming!
Gail Worley, former Metal Edge editor sends out a newletter now and
then, and in this one she did her favorites of 2002. One group was "Rocker
Boys Who Rocked My World in 2002", and she named Matt Laug (ex-Snakepit)!
Gail really likes Matt as do all of us who had a chance to meet him. Gail
says, "Thanks for the Margaritas (and, well, you know)". We'll try
to find out more from Matt on that one.
There's a new interview with Gilby Clarke on the Bravewords site. Gilby
talks about playing live and a lot about his work as a producer. Seems
that Gilby really enjoys this work. There's also a discussion about a
new album. Gilby doesn't really seem to care if the albums he makes sell
large or small. He likes to play, and he likes to record. For more
information:
If you missed the VH1 progam,"Celebrity Pets Unleashed", it will be on
again this Wed., Jan. 29 at 3pm ET (2pm central). SLASH is part of this
show with his snake, and we've heard that it's worth seeing. Maybe not
so much worth seeing is the snide MTV show, "No Hit Wonders" about big
rockers that didn't make it on their own. SLASH's Snakepit is one of
the bands they look at. It's on 1/28 at 2pm ET. GNR is part of "Rock
Stars Do The Dumbest Things" on 1/28 at 6:30pm ET and 1/31 at 7:30pm ET.
This is a VH1 show. On 1/28 is "Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV" with
GNR. It's on at 10am ET on MTV2.
The Project picked up some more publicity; this time from Rolling Stone
online. It happened at the Sundance Film Festival in Colorado. (see
Wednesday's news below). They talked with Duff and Matt this time (where's
SLASH?) who gave them a good overview of the Project and where it stands.
Some news to us is that they are giving a date of fall for the album where
SLASH formerly put it at mid-year. Getting this vocalist is obviously a
part of that. But they do have 50 songs ready...is this the first double
CD debut album? No, but it would be great to hear even the music of a few
right now. So you can read this at your leisure, here is the url for the
interview:
Perla sent us a note about the gifts and all the notes we sent to her
and SLASH after London was born. Two great CDs including one
called "Music for Dads" and two nice board books were given from all of
us. She wanted us to know
that London is a very lucky baby to have so many well wishers. Perla
says that London is a really good baby who takes airport travel just
fine. (likes to tour like Daddy). If you're keeping up with his stats,
last time at the doctor, he weighed 19 pounds and was 27" long! He's
added some fruit baby food to his diet, too. He's able to roll over
by himself and is starting to sit up on his own. He's discovered his
feet and stuffs his toes in his mouth. And guess which music is big
with London? The Rolling Stones! Mick! Mick! Mick! or maybe it's
Keith! Good to see the little guy is doing well and having fun. Thank
you, Perla, for the London News! When does he get his own web site?!
Ben was watching VH1 recently, and the Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary
Tribute show from New York has made it to VH1. SLASH was there for two
shows. The second was on September 10, 2000; and the next morning the
terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center. But the show Ben was
watching was from the night before, and everyone looks happy. Ben said SLASH
was great on the songs he did. So if you haven't seen that tribute show,
watch for SLASH at about the end of the first hour. Thanks, Ben!
There was an article on the Entertainment online site dealing with the
divorce of Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton after two years of
marriage. Her second marriage, his fifth. They connect to SLASH in that
they bought his Beverly Hills mansion for $3.8 million. Soon after they
took possession, the marriage fell apart. That beautiful home with the
Snakepit studio now stands empty with Thornton living in a hotel and Jolie
also in a hotel plus a home she bought in the Far East. Could we get the
studio back?
SLASH really likes to play with Nile Rodgers and Chic. When the song
"Saturday Night Fever" had its 25th Anniversary last year, Chic was
part of the celebration. Nile enlisted SLASH to put in a guest
appearance on "Le Freak". Here is a photo we just received.
Nile and SLASH were joined by surprise guest Montel Williams, seen here
with SLASH and the Chic ladies.
Speaking of pictures, how did you make out in identifying the rockers
in the Hard Rock Vault opening picture. It's on Wednesday's news below.
Here's who they are, left to right: SLASH (GNR, Snakepit, etc.) Duff
(GNR, Loaded), Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue), Brian Johnson (AC/DC), Dan
Donegan (Disturbed), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Steve "Fuzz" Kmak
(Disturbed), Simon Kirke (Bad Company), Don Bernstine (from the Hard
Rock Cafe), Al Jardine (Beach Boys), Erik Estrada (O-Town), Trevor
Penick (O-Town)and Dan Miller (O-Town). Big group!
Road Crew sent us SLASH Secrets from the NBC web site, and these are
really funny. This is from an old appearance by SLASH on the Late Night
Conan O'Brien Show. They do a comedy bit called Secrets where celebs
sit down and tell jokes that are supposed to be deep, dark secrets they
have never told anyone before. These are NOT real Secrets...the celeb
takes the truth and makes something funny out of it. Here are some
SLASH Secrets:
I got the name SLASH because I used to work in a grocery store, and I
was in charge of reducing prices for really big sales.
If I ever go bald, I'll kill myself.
The original name for Guns N'Roses was Roses N'Guns, but that just
sounded stupid.
I once asked Axl why he left the E off his name. He started crying and
said he thought he spelled it right.
Almost every night I have a dream where one of my pet snakes eats all
those boys in Hanson.
Someone once asked me what I liked better-kittens or puppies. And I
said, "It's a tie, man." They said-too close to call? I said, "No, man,
too cute to call."
An anagram of Axl Rose is oral sex. Why do I know? Because when I'm not
playing music, I love solving erotic jumbles.
Originally, I wanted to call the band Guns N'Robots. I still believe that
if we had just called ourselves Guns N'Robots, we'd still be together.
That SLASH is too much. Thanks, Road Crew.
The Sundance Festival has been going on since Jan.16 and ends Jan.26.
Sundance showcases the best of independent film...over 3000 are submitted
and 125 selected. Robert Redford is the founding father; and there are
film previews, parties and musical entertainment. SLASH and Duff are there being part
of the musical entertainment. SLASH was at The Levi's Lodge where he had
his picture snapped with the beautiful Jessica Lange. On Jan. 21 was a big
SLASH event. He played at the Prey for Rock & Roll party at Cisero's.
Prey for Rock & Roll is one of the selected films, and it stars
Gina Gershon. She stars as the leader of an all-girl band trying to make
it in L.A. SLASH was there getting the place to really rock. There was
a lot of interaction with Gershon as she sang, danced and got her picture
taken with SLASH. Have a look at SLASH and Duff rockin' and Gina singing above, SLASH with Jessica
Lange, Slash with Gina Gershon.
Speaking of pictures, here are a few more pictures of SLASH at the
Hard Rock Vault opening in Florida. This is a big rock memorabilia place.
It seems fitting that some famous rockers were there. Duff, Nikki Sixx,
Bo Diddley, and Dee Snider were snapped with SLASH. Nikki Sixx looks
differently, but it's been awhile since we saw him. Check out SLASH's
hand in the picture with Duff and Nikki! And Dimebag Darrel makes an appearance. How about that last
picture with all the rockers? We'll let you have a chance to name them all!
Nightrain is a UK fanzine, and the ninth issue is out! This is a
fanzine with information on the new GNR and all the projects of the original
members. This issue includes in-depth gig reviews and interviews for the
new GNR, all the latest news and rumours about the current GNR and the
ex-members. Artwork, letters, opinions, penpal information, merchandise,
trading addresses and much more are found in its pages. This is a fanzine
that is well written and interesting. Get your copy now! For more information
on content and buying a copy of Nightrain, email Ian Lei at
IanLei@aol.com or visit the website at
Jeff Pilson, ex-Dokken bassist talked about The Project in an interview
on Roadrunner Records' Blabbermouth section. He claims he's heard some
of the band's music, and it's killer! Here's what Jeff had to say:
"In the same interview, Pilson offered his views on ...
the new band formed by ex-GUNS N' ROSES members Slash,
Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, claiming that he has heard some
of the material recently written and recorded by the latter group. "I know
someone that they are possibly interested in for a singer," Pilson said.
"And I have to tell you what, the two songs I have heard are just killer.
Absolutely killer. It is as close to the old GUNS 'N ROSES without sounding
like a copy. The songs were very high-energy, sort of got the 'Appetite...'
vibe to it. Of course, this is with the vocals that my friend put on the
songs, and I have no idea who they will use as the singer for the project."
He further says there will never be a band for him like the original GNR!
You have to think way back for this one. Sammy Hagar was forming a super
group including Neal Schon, Dean Castronovo (Journey), SLASH (bon vivant
and man of the world) and Van Halen's Michael Anthony on bass. We had
never heard what they actually did till just now. The band completed
two great songs, "Vertigo" and "Peeping Through A Hole". Sammy is hoping
to have these on a movie soundtrack. According to Sammy's website, the
group sounded like a combination of Led Zep, Van Halen and Tool! Anyone
have more information?
About that PAL version of the Ron Wood/SLASH video Far East Men,
we have word from Daniel that you can get this from www.eil.com on the
net. They have a lot of rareties, but they can be expensive. They have
other GNR videos also, mostly in PAL as they are in the UK. Hope this
helps!
Another holiday is coming up, Valentine's Day! Tell your favorite guitarist
how much you think of him, and you can tuck in a small one for Baby London.
No need for candy or boxers with hearts or a nose ring with a dangling
cupid. Just send a card! Here's the address so you have plenty of time to
get it there by February 14:
SLASH
5664 Cahuenga Blvd.
Suite 246
North Hollywood, CA 91601
Stuart lives in the UK where the Ron Wood London DVD is available already.
This is the show where SLASH was a guest, and he does appear on the
Far East Men DVD. Stuart says it's very good and definitely worth
getting. Since it's a DVD, there are some extras, and Stuart says there
is a long behind the scenes and backstage extra. You can see SLASH and
Perla (pre-pregnancy, we think!)in the dressing room along with interviews
with Ron and some of his band. Some of the rehearsal is also included.
On the negative side, the concert footage is not the complete concert.
For example, "Little Red Rooster" and "It's Only Rock and Roll" are
excluded. Another problem is that the music is sometimes out of sync
with the pictures which can be really annoying. Stuart still recommends
it. It has SLASH footage, and that's what we want! Thank you, Stuart.
This next item was sent in by Londrino who is enjoying the high 90 degree
temperatures in Brazil. Right now it is 7 degrees where we are, so we
are thinking of setting up a branch in Brazil. Londrino says that SLASH
is on the cover of the Brazillian edition of Guitar Class! It's
been a while since he's been on a cover, so we'll let you have a look
in a minute. When you get to the cover, click on SLASH (you wish!), and there's
an article in Portugese. However, it could be useful to the guitarists
since it has a bunch of midis and files to download. This is SLASH's
second time on the cover, and the last was October 2002. Thanks, Londrino!
A lot of international fans have searched in vain for the old GNR videos. They are out
of print, so you have to get them used or be lucky enough to find a store
with a copy or two. It can be done! Luis is from Santo Domingo. He
recently went to a CD store and there spotted all the GNR VHS videos.
Luis said it seemed impossible to find these where he lives. He especially
likes "November Rain" and SLASH doing the theme from The Godfather.
Luis says these are his favorite videos and very valuable to him. So
keep looking! This is the original GNR, and you'll love the videos although
it does make you kind of lonely for that lineup. Note that Amazon.com has
all the videos for sale in NTSC format. Thanks, Luis!
Mario, self-described as SLASH's best Italian fan, was checking out the
Dunlop site and found some new SLASH information. There was also this
nice picture of SLASH and Adam Day, SLASH's guitar tech. Here's what
the article has to say:
Slash Update:
Even though he is not playing in the new Guns and Roses. Slash has been a busy man. Recording
and playing with various artists is just a few things he has been up to. Locked up in a studio in
North Hollywood, CA with fellow ex GnR members Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and
Izzy Stradlin. The guys are currently writing tunes and auditioning singers for a future unamed
band.
Slash is a long time friend of Jimmy Dunlop and one of the true endorsors of Dunlop. He still
uses the DCR-1SR Rack Wah in his rig. "I really like the sound of the rack wah. The
Parametic EQ enables me to find the sweet spot and shape the wah tone the way I like it."
explains Slash.
Both Slash and Guitar Tech Adam Day help out the Dunlop R&D department. Recently, both
of them helped with the development of the new MXR Distortion pedal
(Due out at Winter NAMM).
Slash
DCR-1SR Rack wah
MXR 10 Band EQ (Custom Shop)
Tortex 418 1.14 Tortex Picks
Adam Day
Formula 65 Complete Guitar care kits
Dunlop 5430 Gutar Finishing Cloths
Thanks, Mario!
Here's some funny news from a member of The Project! Auslin said he was
watching cartoons the other day, and Nickelodeon had on "Slime Time Live".
Duff was on! Why, Duff? Auslin says that Duff really looked good...till
he got hit with a pie! HA! Thanks, Auslin!
So many people have expressed an opinion on who should be the new vocalist
with The Project. If you want to post your opinion on the net, go over to
KNAC where this online survey is waiting for your choice and comments.
Some suggestions are totally unlikely (Barbra Steisand, Vince Neil) and
some sound like good ideas (Mike Monroe, Sebastian Bach). If you're
interested, here's where to find the survey:
While you're freezing in your town, here's SLASH in Florida! Yesterday,
SLASH was working the red carpet at the grand opening of the Hard Rock
Vault which opened at the end of last year for customers. Celebs came
for their special showing on Jan. 16. The Hard Rock Vault is an
interactive rock and roll memorabilia in Orlando, Florida. This way
you can see Mickey and the Hard Rock Vault while on vacation. While
you're there you can see Jim Morrison's leather pants, Elvis's and
Elton John's capes, B.B. King's "Lucille" guitar, Dee Dee Ramone's
guitar and leather jacket, Buddy Holly's horn-rimmed glasses, Bruce
Springsteen's Born To Run jacket and boots, Eric Clapton's
guitar...and much more. There are thousands of items to see. We don't
know if SLASH's clothing and guitar are here or not. It costs nearly
$16 dollars admission; but if you are into rock memorabilia, it's a
good price. The Vault is located on International Drive in Orlando.
So, this is what SLASH and his wife were doing yesterday. Those on
the East Coast were wishing they were there!
Here's some good news! When SLASH was in London doing that short tour
with Ron Wood in 2001, a video was made. It's been out in the UK for
awhile now, but the format was PAL which can't be viewed by the NTSC
players in the U.S. Now the video, titled Far East Men, is coming
out on DVD in the U.S. The release date is Feb.4. You can preorder this
from Amazon.com now, and it's priced at $18. (Please go to the home page
and find the section about ads...this helps to keep this site running.)
Far East Men runs 112 minutes. SLASH and Andrea Corr are guests.
There are covers of the Stones, John Lennon, GNR and the Faces. This
particular show was from the Shepards Bush Empire venue in London in
November 2001. Since it's a DVD, there are some extras: backstage
footage, interviews, a gallery of Ron Wood's artwork and more.
Haris says he was watching VH1's "100 Moments That Rocked TV", and
number 21 was a cool GNR reference. The clip shown had Homer Simpson
saying, "I thought I had an Appetite for Destruction, but all
I wanted was a club sandwich." Yea, Homer! We don't like to hear of
a nuclear power plant employee having that kind of appetite, but trust
Homer to always put food and beer first. Thanks, Haris!
Here's some more SLASH and GNR TV mentions. These two for SLASH are
and have been reruns. In case you missed them, VH1's All Access presents
"Rock & Roll Weddings" with a nice clip of SLASH and Perla being married
in Hawaii. It's on 1/25 at 6pm ET. The second is not so nice. This one is
on MTV2 Ultra Sound, and the title is "No Hit Wonders". They say that this
is about "rock & roll artists who longed to be heroes but ended up zeroes."
Well, those of us who saw the Snakepit shows don't agree. The show is on
1/26 at 9pm. Moving along to GNR, these are more reruns. On 1/17 at 11:30pm ET,
MTV's Ultra Sound has "Shake-Ups and Break-Ups" about when big bands have
unpleasant break-ups. It's also on MTV2 on 1/18 at 10:30am ET as well as
1/24 at 12:30am ET. "Rock Stars Do The Dumbest Things" (how about SLASH
signing away the rights to the GNR name?) It's on 1/17 at 11:30pm ET on VH1.
Same channel on 1/18 at 6:30pm ET, 1/21 at 2:30am ET, 1/23 at 10:30pm ET.
On 1/18 at 4pm on MTV2, there's "Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV". This
two hour special covers significant moments of rock over the past 20 years.
It's also on MTV2 on 1/25 at 2am ET and 4pm ET. "MTV 25 Loud" is also
airing on MTV2. This is a look at the top 25 videos of all time. "November
Rain" better be on! The schedule is 1/19 at 3pm ET.
As you know, it wasn't SLASH at Paul McCartney's recent show. It was that
old look alike (?) Howard Stern. It got people to thinking about Paul
and his big contribution to GNR, "Live and Let Die". Here's what SLASH
had to say, and we thank Brian for sending this in:
"It's one of those songs that Axl and I have always loved. It's always
been a really heavy song, but we'd never discussed it and didn't know
that each liked it. We were talking one night about a cover song and
that (LALD) came up, and we're like, 'Yeah! Let's Do It!'. So I went to
rehearsal with Izzy and Matt and Duff, just to see whether we would
sound good playing it, and it sounded really heavy".
Axl's comment here is that he rented the movie and thought it sounded
like "WTTJ". We didn't think we were good enough to get it right,
but we were. SLASH does most of the string arrangements on his guitar
with a harmonizer.
SLASH says, "It's actually heavier when we play it live than it is on
the record because of the horns and synthesizer. Live it's got more
bottom to it".
Axl finishes up with saying it's like Tom Wait meets Metallica. It's
working really well, and it sounds like us. Everybody that hears this
says it sounds like the perfect song for GNR to do.....and it is!
We're still so proud of SLASH for being nominated for a Grammy for "Love Theme From
The Godfather"! SLASH's nomination is in the category of Best Rock Instrumental
Performance. The version we're all aware of is the live version SLASH
played during the Illusions tours. This version is a studio version and
is just beautiful. It's found on the soundtrack of The Kid Stays in the
Picture although it is not on the motion picture. This was a special
gift from SLASH to Robert Evans who liked it so much that he put it on the
soundtrack of his movie. We've gathered up some information so you are
ready for the Grammys Feb.23. First of all, here's where the Grammy
complete information is:
and be sure to note that this first picture will take you on a voyage through
Robert's life. Click almost anything to find some interesting information.
Notice that most of the past January news is now found in the archives
below. Normally, just one week of news is kept here. The rest is in the
archives to make downloading more quickly. There are years and years past
there also in case you want to make a big study of SLASH history!
Brian sent in some additional information on the Iraqi War Demonstration.
SLASH was part of this...not marching, but playing. We named Glenn Hughes
of Deep Purple as being there. Brian says Glenn is also with Black Sabbath.
And another musician with SLASH was Jane's Addiction's drummer, Stephen
Perkins. Someday we just have to ask SLASH if he was there mostly for
the music or mostly to make a political statement. As many of you have
said...it's fine but it doesn't seem like SLASH! Here's a few more
corrections/additions from awhile back. We're not always right, but
we always try to make your corrections. First is from Andreas who has
some info on the old House of Blues show where SLASH played with Les
Paul. In the News, the date was given as 11/06/02. The date Andreas
has is 04/28/98, and it was a show for the HOB anniversary. Teddy
ZigZag was there, too. Thanks, Andreas. There was an Entertainment
Weekly magazine, issue #682, November 15. There was some SLASH
mentions in the magazine as we recall. Lisa says the picture with
Elijah Wood and Liv Tyler on the cover was actually taken in her own
country, Italy, December 2000. Thanks, Lisa. Eische says that Nils
Ruf interview with SLASH was not an interview but a comical series.
Nils was not fired because of his attitude toward SLASH but because
the whole station was folding. He was one of many that were handed
their walking papers. Eische says SLASH looked comfortable throughout
the piece with Nils and "Granny", but a real interviw with SLASH by
a woman on a show called 2Rock was a lot worse and was no comedy. SLASH
is usually good at handling these kinds of painful interviews, but he's
human and sometimes the interviewer is too insulting. Thank you, Eische!
One of the songs SLASH guested on at the Camp Freddy free show was a cover
of "I Wanna Be Your Dog". Iggy Pop brought this song to the forefront.
SLASH and Duff and Matt all played on this one, but the camera seemed
focused on SLASH. And why not? When you listen to The Godfather theme and
to this one, they are so different, and SLASH just nails both of them.
Guitar hero! Would you like to see the video of this performance? Well,
check it out! And it will also be on the SLASH Video section soon.
Here's a cool article from the UK publication, The Guardian. Erik
sent this in. It's a long article but interesting. It's also just a month
old! People are still writing about the band. Mostly it asks the
question...is Axl through now? But there is a lot here about the original
GNR band. The story about SLASH is funny and sad. They said that SLASH
would be kidnapped every once in a while and sent to Hawaii to get off
dope. SLASH would be told he was doing an interview and when he showed
up, he was packed off for detox. Kind of funny! And kind of pathetic. We
are lucky to have SLASH with us. It's a good article, and thanks Erik!. Hope you enjoy it!
The picture at left is not from a sixties anti-war demonstration. It's
from L.A. last weekend where demonstrators sent the U.S. government a
big message...No War With Iraq! Many entertainment people were
onhand including Martin Sheen who gave a compelling speech. Some
musicians were on hand also...including SLASH! We've never known SLASH
to be the political type, but obviously here is a cause he wants to help
draw attention to. SLASH is seen here at right playing with Glenn Hughes
of Deep Purple. They played outside the Federal Building in L.A.
The demonstrators say they are patriotic Americans who
do not believe the government is right in its plan to wage war on Iraq.
No matter how you feel about the Iraq situation, you have to applaud those
who are willing to stand up and be counted. Thanks to Brian and Kimberli
for sending this in. Here's a full article about
the demonstration:
Solarcade is an as yet unsigned band that is starting to really make a
move out in the L.A. area. They characterize themselves as a rock band
with songs. Most recently you might see them at Border's Book Stores.
There's a great interview at the rocknworld site where they talk about
their influences. Lead guitar, Pomilla, claims SLASH as his influence.
When asked who turned him on to being a musician, here's what he says:
"Easy question. One Word. Slash. By the way, he is the coolest dude I have ever met.
Don’t get me started on his playing....ok, too late!! This guy is the one person that I
can honestly say changed my life. When I was younger and I saw him play
I was completely blown away. I thought it was so refreshing that in a time when
hot rod guitars were the thing here comes a guy with a Les Paul that would
later on revitalize its popularity. Slash did to the lead guitar what Michael
Jordan did to basketball in the late 80’s. He changed it from the screeching
solos to ballads like “November Rain”. I told you don’t get me started.... ".
There are more SLASH mentions in this article which is at:
We keep getting email that The Project's singer has been selected. The
rumors keep coming as long as the boards post the misinformation. In
the end, we expect one of the "finalists" to be selected; but until
SLASH announces the singer, just wait and see. It will be all over the
big music sites. Then, you'll know. Here's another rumor that is not
true. Gary Oseary wrote a book about 100 Jews Who Rock, and
he's included SLASH based on his first name. We asked SLASH's spouse
if SLASH was in fact Jewish, and she told us no. Not that SLASH has
any problem with people pegging him as Jewish; but for accuracy,
he is not. An Old Testament name is now always indicative of a particular
faith.
Here's that band that helped SLASH out with a loan of equipment when
Snakepit's trucker didn't make it on time to the first East Coast show.
Did SLASH refuse to go on? No, Bad Karma said...use our stuff...and the
band did. So look for these heroes on Jan.24 at Quigley's in East
Greenbush, NY and on Jan. 31 at Locomotion's in Cobleskill, NY. Bad Karma says
that is a show not to be missed!
Tom wanted to tell us about one of his SLASH-related prized possessions.
When SLASH was in Ireland playing with Ron Woods, he and his wife stayed
at Ron's. Remember, this was a SLASH fan landmark as it was here that
baby London was conceived. A friend of Tom's works at Ron's house
managed to get an autograph and a copy of the set list from SLASH. His
friend presented this to his buddy, Tom, who is still thrilled about it.
Thanks, Tom!
SLASH is nominated for a Grammy Award! There have been so many messages
come in that we know you are as excited and pleased as we are. The
nomination was in the category Best Rock Instrumental Performance with
his moving "Love Theme from The Godfather". The track appears on
the soundtrack for The Kid Stays In The Picture, a film based
on an autobiography of Robert Evans. This is the 45th Annual Grammy
Awards with eligible material from 10/1/2001 through 9/30/2002. There
are four other contenders with SLASH including Gov't Mule and Joe Satriani. The
Awards will be presented on Feb. 23 at Madison Square Garden in NYC and
will be broadcast on CBS from 8-11:30pm ET/PT. The Awards will be
broadcasted internationally as well. We're positive SLASH will attend.
This is his first nomination, and we hope there will be many more. Everyone
is hoping SLASH will win in February. There's some good competition there!
If we could do it, we'd award one to him now! Thanks to everyone who
contributed and wished SLASH the best.
Here's another SLASH musical appearance to anticipate. Last year we learned
that SLASH had guested on a forthcoming Yardbirds' album with the release
date given as Spring 2003. The release date is now April 22, and the album
title is Birdland. This is the first new album for the Yardbirds
since the sixties. There are two original members in the band plus three
new ones and a whole bunch of guitar gods guesting. The guest axemen
include Jeff Beck, SLASH, Brian May, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Jeff
Baxter. The guitarists contribute new licks to the old Yardbird classics.
SLASH plays on "Over, Under, Sideways, Down"! Here's the complete track
listing of Birdland:
I'm Not Talking
Crying Out for Love
The Nazz Are Blue (featuring Jeff Baxter)
For Your Love (featuring Johnny Rzeznik)
Please Don't Tell Me 'Bout the News
Train Kept a Rolling (featuring Joe Satriani)
Mr. Saboteur
Shapes of Things (featuring Steve Vai)
My Blind Life (featuring Jeff Beck)
Over, Under, Sideways, Down (featuring Slash)
Mr. You're a Better Man Than I (featuring Brian May)
Mystery of Being
Dream Within A Dream
Happenings Ten Years Time Ago (featuring Steve Luthaker)
An Original Man
Thanks to Richard in London for sending in all the information!
The auditions continue for the lead vocalist in The Project. Todd Kerns
is a Canadian entry, and we just got word that you can hear Todd for
yourself on his web site. We also got word from several Sebastian Bach
fans that Sebastian is also a Canadian. Sounds like we could get an
international band out of this! Here's where you can check out the
singing and phrasing for Todd. Sebastian...well, check out one of his
albums! Todd Kerns Sings.
Thanks to Joel for the Sebastian Bach information.
When SLASH played at Blender magazine's Blender Sessions at
Club Ivar, this was the show where Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie
Wood jammed to "Paradise City" with SLASH, Sebastian Bach, Perry
Farrell and Wes Scantlin. Guess who was in the audience? Mick!
Mick! Mick!, also known as Mick Jagger of the Stones. Mick escorted
his daughter Elizabeth. It's said the audience really rocked out to
"an all-star rendition of the Guns anthem, much to the delight of the
carousing crowd." And you wondered why it was a private show! Other
celebs were Jack Osbourne who did an Axl imitation during the encore
and "ruining perfectly good material", Matthew McConaughey, Chris Judd,
Nick Stahl, Leonardo DiCaprio who spent the night alone in the green
room for some reason, Drew Barrymore with fiance Fabrizio Moretti
of the Strokes and the rest of that band. Wonder if anyone wanted a
SLASH autograph?!
Haris saw MTV's Ultra Sound: Worst Band Breakups, and they have a mention
of SLASH's Project there. This is the one where MTV chacterizes the lead
vocalist search as "desperately seeking". If they were desperate, they
could take the 500 demo tapes and pick one at random. They also played
the new GNR on VMA 2002. Haris calls this "a failure, of course". Haris
saw the show again...different subject. SLASH and Duff were on accepting
an award for Guns (must be the American Music Awards), both were drunk
and SLASH used the f-word several times on national TV. Dick Clark turned
old, gray and angry overnight; and SLASH had to apologize on TV. SLASH
said he had no clue they were getting an award. He was just there hanging
out (at the bar) when the band's name was called. Unaccustomed as he was
at that time to public speaking, SLASH did try hard but it all fell apart.
He and Duff laughed and laughed. The Bad Boys of Rock! Come back!! And
Haris would like you to know that the GNR tribute band, Mr. Brownstone,
will be at Harper's Ferry in Boston, Jan.18, 9pm. Thanks, Haris!
This coming Friday, Jan. 17, we have tickets to see the Rolling Stones!
And a hotel room to crash in before and after with other fans! Since we'll
leave early and not return that evening, there will be no SLASH news this
Friday. Hey, we gotta go see Mick! Mick! Mick! We'll see all of you
next Monday. Send SLASH information in as usual! Thanks!
There was a cover story in epregnancy's about the new addition
to the Hudson household, baby London. They took some great pictures and
uncovered some interesting personal information on the pregnancy, the
new baby and how this all affects SLASH. We could not have shared this
with all of you without Jeannie who was kind enough to scan it in and
let us have a look. Thank, Jeannie! There are four large files here.
You may have to wait and then do some scrolling, but it's worth it. On
the magazine's home page, www.epregnancy.com, they say this is the
January issue. So it may be that this is just coming on to the newsstands.
They recommend Barnes and Noble as well as Border's. Our large grocery
store also carries this magazine but does not have the SLASH one out. Take
another look where you are and see if you can find it! The most interesting
item after seeing the nursery and London with SLASH was reading that SLASH
had gotten rid of his entire snake collection for the baby. He seems just
thrilled at being a dad, and there are all kinds of smiles and tender looks
to prove it. Enjoy!
Here's a chance to see SLASH and/or GNR on TV. On 1/7 at midnight ET
is MTV 25 Loud. It airs again on 1/7 at 10am ET. Both are on MTV2. Also
on 1/7 is MTV's Most Talked About Moments. It's at 10am ET on MTV. This
one is about the new GNR, we believe. Then on 1/9 on MTV2 at 10am ET
comes Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV. This is the original GNR.
It's on again on 1/10 on MTV2 at 7pm ET as well as 1/12 at 5pm ET.
Also on 1/9 is a repeat of Headbangers Ball Uncensored on MTV at
11:30pm ET and on 1/10 at 6pm ET (this second show is on MTV2). It's
shown yet again on MTV2 1am ET on 1/12.
Some general rock information...Gail Worley is one of our favorite
writers. At one time she edited Metal Edge. Now she's back
in print. She's writing for MK Ultra which she describes as
"the Darkest Rock & Roll Publication in the known universe"! Gail
has a couple of articles in this issue, interviewing Joey Jordison
of Slipknot and Murderdolls. She also takes on a couple of Ministry
guys. If this sounds like its right up your alley, you can find the
magazine at Tower Records. Check also for ReQuest where Gail
interviews "Canada's crown princes of idiot rock, Sum 41". One of the
Sum 41 guys claims SLASH as his hero and hopes to play with him one
day. No word from SLASH on this!
While SLASH is busy in the nursery and in the studio, one of the
Snakepit guys is on the road. Keri Kelli is taking the road with
LA Guns. Keri's going to be busy! He's a really nice guy who will
do autographs or just chat. Help pass the winter away with Keri:
Jan 30 - Sacramento Roadhouse, CA
Jan 31 - San Francisco Studio Z, CA
Feb 1 - West Los Angeles Fox Club, CA
Feb 2 - San Diego Brick By Brick, CA
Feb 14 - Reading Silo, PA
Feb 15 - Baltimore Thunderdome, MD
Feb 16 - W. Springfield Jaxx, VA
Feb 17 - Virginia Beach Hooplas, VA
Feb 19 - Buffalo Reservoir, NY
Feb 20 - Passaic Connections, NJ
Feb 21 - Brooklyn L'Amour, NY
Feb 22 - Berwick Pepper's Plex Arena, PA
Feb 23 - Centereach King's Club, NY
He also has a jam band show lined up for Jan 11th at San Diego Brick By
Brick.
While we're on Snakepit, Craig sent this in about Johnny G. Craig was
watching the film Minority Report (starring Tom Cruise) on DVD where they had some
extra information on the actors. Sweden's Peter Stormare has a band
called Blonde From Fargo, and the DVD mentioned that his bassist is
from SLASH's Snakepit. This is Johnny Griparic, of course. Thanks, Craig!
Gilby Clarke from Snakepit '95 and GNR is producing the new EP from
Kansas City-based rockers, The Gadjits, who recently signed with RCA
Records.
Jonah was at the KISW site, a Seattle radio station, and they were doing
the Top 999 rock songs of all time. GNR sewed up the #1 position with
"Welcome to the Jungle". They had a whole bunch of slots including:
#4 Paradise City
#28 November Rain
#30 Sweet Child O' Mine
#36 Mr. Brownstone
#106 Patience
#134 You Could Be Mine
#153 Live And Let Die
#179 Nightrain
#246 Don't Cry
#324 Used To Love Her
#353 Knockin' On Heavens Door
#399 Rocket Queen
#493 My Michelle
#499 Pretty Tied Up
Jonah made it through the first 500! Thanks for this, Jonah! And as
Jonah says...where is Axl's new GNR? Ummmm...their album will be out
someday!
Jerry sent in news of yet another vocalist trying out with The Project.
He says over the holidays he was hanging out at a friend's guitar store.
In walks Shawn Albro, lead vocalist for the band UPO. They talked with
Shawn about what UPO was doing, and Shawn said they were working on some
new material. Then, Jerry mentioned that SLASH was getting together a new
band and was looking for a singer. Shawn then said he'd been working with
some other bands while UPO is in hiatus, and SLASH is one of the people he
has been working with! Thanks, Jerry! If you'd like to see what UPO and Shawn sound like,
here's their site:
If you can translate French to English, one of SLASH's French fans is
in need of help. Camille has a site in French, and she would like to
make a bilingual site that English speaking visitors can visit and enjoy.
Contact Camille directly (French or English) at aintslashgrand@libertysurf.fr.
So you can see what needs to be done, Camille's site is at this
address:
One person replied to our request for GNR and/or SLASH related gifts!
Actually we got one too from the Build-A-Bear site. Although he is cute,
his resemblance to SLASH is...not much. So we will spare you that. Pictured
here is Mark's gift, a beautiful copy of Appetite for Destruction in
vinyl with the recalled rape cover. A beauty! How would you like to trade
a weird bear for that, Mark? Did anyone happen to see a 2003 Guns N'Roses
calendar? There's been one every year for a long time. Either they didn't
know who was in the band or Interscope went after them.
In December we talked about Steven's encounter with Dizzy Reed and Del
James and Dizzy's reluctance to sign Steven's Snakepit CD. We said that
Dizzy wasn't on there which is not true! Get out your It's Five O'Clock
Somewhere CD, and you'll see Dizzy in the credits and pictured on the
cover. Several people sent this in, and blbo318 pointed out that Dizzy is
listed for keyboards and backing vocals. He says he finds it funny that
Dizzy recently commented about how SLASH didn't want to move forward
back then, and yet he went along with SLASH on the first Snakepit album.
Dizzy also teamed up with SLASH and Michael Monroe on "Magic Carpet Ride"
from The Coneheads soundtrack. Try that one next time, Steven!
Back to The Project...another vocalist trying out is Travis Meeks from
Days of the New. Richard's from London in the UK (proud home of the
conception of Baby London Hudson), and he saw an interesting interview
with Meeks in the December (?) issue of Guitar World:
"Meeks collaborates with former Gunners.
Days of the New founder Travis Meeks has been recording demos with the new
band of former Guns n' Roses' members Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin and
Matt Sorum. 'Slash, Izzy, Duff and Matt have all been working on new
material that I have been blessed with the opportunity to hear and witness
recorded,' Meeks' business partner Jonathan Hay recently said. 'Travis Meeks
has been laying his vocals over the tracks they have submitted.
This is the best rock music I have heard since "Appetite for Destruction"
Hay continued in a press release. 'The new material has that vintage GN'R
feel that millions craved and loved in the late Eighties and early Nineties.
I can honestly say that as a witness, this band (tentatively titled The
Project) is back and better then ever. Travis Meeks and the remaining
members sound completely natural, comfortable, and astoundingly incredible.
Travis, like [GN'R frontman] Axl [Rose], is from Indiana. Both diverged from
their original bands. This is a match made among the stars with a sound that
is out of this world.'
It is presently unclear if Meeks will in fact officially become the lead
singer of the new band formed by the ex-GNR members or if their
collaboration will go no further than these demo recordings. In the
meantime, Meeks, who has been involved as a label executive for Distillery
Music Group LLC, has also been working on a new Days of the New album,
"Purple", due out next year. For more information, visit the group's
official web site at www.daysofthenew.com."
Bear in mind that no one has been selected at this time and demo tapes
continue to come in. If you know someone who is interested, have them send
a demo tape/CD to the address we use for fan mail. It is at www.snakepit.org,
scroll down to Fan Menu, click on Writing SLASH. Have them include a
telephone number and a regular postal address. SLASH does not use email.
Thanks!
