World premier of a new video, "Spain" featuring Joe Deninzon (Stratospheerius), Rachel Flowers, & Alex Skolnick (Testament). Premiers this Friday @9PM EST. Hope you can tune in!
On October 2, 2021, when the late great John Goodsall from Brand X fell ill, Stratospheerius was asked last minute to headline ProgStock. Joe made a spontaneous decision to play a song with his friends Alex Skolnick and I. "One of the perks of being a jazz musician is that you can walk into a room anywhere in the world, jump on stage with people youâve never met who may or may not speak your language, and weave together a spontaneous concert based on a shared musical language. We decided to play âSpain,â a song we all knew well." Without any rehearsal, and Alex and Rachel meeting each other for the first time on stage, magic was created.
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My Thoughts on the Passing of Taylor Hawkins
I thought Iâd like to share with you one of my inspirations for my album Bigger On The Inside. Along with progressive rockers like King Crimson and Keith Emerson, Iâve always enjoyed listening to contemporary rockers, even experimental groups like Nine Inch Nails, John Mayer, and The Foo Fighters. When I learned about the unexpected passing of the Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins at only 50 years old, I was very shocked. Iâm not just thinking about his musical legacy to the band, but the close friendship he had with Dave Grohle.
Around 2017, my friend Brian from Seattle recorded me their documentary, Back and Forth. It opened up with Daveâs contribution to Nirvana, a band I was fascinated by, and I covered one of their songs. After Nirvana, Dave decided to make an album where he played all the instruments himself. Once the Foo Fighters became a full band, they struggled on finding players. They would come and go, and a lot of drama would happen. Then, they heard Taylor play with Alanis Morissette, another artist I love listening to.
After Taylor joined the band around 1999, he stayed with them until now. Dave was right there when Taylor awoke after an OD experience, before they made what I consider to be my favorite albums by them: One By One, with songs like âAll My Life,â and âTimes Like These,â and Wasting Light (which was created during that documentary), with the songs âOne Of These Days,â and my personal favorite, âI Should Have Known.â
For my rocking album, I wanted to express my love for this music, especially during the gigantic finale in âToo Muchâ with the backing vocals, and the full on rocking instrumental section in âLove Today.â I wouldnât have written those songs, or played my drums on the keyboard without Taylorâs important contributions to rock drumming. Along with players like The Whoâs Keith Moon, and Led Zeppelinâs John Bonham, Taylor brought a lot of exciting energy to the Foo Fightersâ sound. Itâs hard for me to believe that time catches up really fast.
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Two of my favorite people here...
Even if you aren't a Stickist, this is why you should always go to the Guitar Merchant Stick Nights! You never know who might end up playing music together, or what they might pull out of their hat.
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