Mick Underwood Passed Away

July 29, 2024

One of the most unassuming legends, Mick Underwood, died yesterday, July 28th, at 78 years of age. “I’m just a drummer,” he said during a long conversation we had eleven years ago, because that was how Mick saw himself: having played in such prominent ensembles as EPISODE SIX, QUATERMASS and, of course, GILLAN, to name but three, Underwood was more concerned about his musicianship and his then-latest- and, as it sadly turned out to be, last – project, GLORY ROAD. Still, without this modest Englishman a huge chunk of British rock would not have sounded the same.

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THE DICTATORS Are Back With BÕC Drummer On Board

July 29, 2024

It’s been more than four years since THE DICTATORS promised to return with a new full-length record, a belated follow-up to 2001’s “D.F.F.D.” which contained the ensemble’s late ’90s material and the veterans’ first album to feature a new line-up. Joining original players, bassist Andy Shernoff and guitarist Ross the Boss, are BLUE ÕYSTER CULT drummer Albert Bouchard and FRANKENSTEIN 3000 vocalist and rhythm axeman Keith Roth, the two scene stalwarts replacing former band members who passed away in recent decades and adding their own touch to the forthcoming platter.

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Devon Allman And Guests Capture Florida Skies

July 29, 2024

A few years ago Devon Allman put his solo career on hold in order to work with other scions of his father’s primary ensemble, Duane Betts and Berry Duane, but now the time has come for the American musician to pick up where he left off with “Ride Or Die” in 2016 and serve up another strictly personal album. Harking back to Devon’s debut, “Turquoise” from 2013, his fourth platter, titled “Miami Moon” and scheduled for release on August 16th, six days after Allman will have turned 52 years of age, is to feature quite a few guests to further elevate the young veteran’s performances.

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THE BEVIS FROND Reissue Live Album With Alumni Of Classic CAMEL And HAWKWIND

July 27, 2024

On first glance, British indie-rock stalwarts THE BEVIS FROND don’t seem to have much in common with prog of yore, yet, given the ensemble leader, multi-instrumentalist Nick Saloman’s proclivity for psychedelia, it’s hardly surprising to hear cosmic passages on the collective’s albums. What can surprise many a follower of this genre is the fact that at a certain point the band were a trio in which Saloman’s voice and guitar were accompanied by a fantastic rhythm section: bassist Ade Shaw and drummer Andy Ward, the former famous for his late ’70s stint with HAWKWIND and the latter mostly known for his tenure with CAMEL early in the same decade, who may have not appeared on together on any of Nick’s studio records, but graced the world’s stages for some time.

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Rick Wakeman Turns YES Classics Into Sonata

July 26, 2024

You can take Rick Wakeman out of YES, yet you can’t take YES out of Rick Wakeman. The legendary ivories driver has been finding new ways to interpret his former ensemble’s classics for decades now, from reimagining familiar pieces for the deceptively titled “Greatest Hits” in 1993, to 2002’s "The Yes Piano Variations" and beyond, to his London Palladium concerts where “The Yes Suite” was premiered. Still, the Wakeman wizardry continues, so October 4th will see the release of “YesSonata”: a vinyl-side-long in which 30-odd cuts from Rick’s former collective are corralled into a single tapestry.

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