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The paperback aviator

A Steve Morse biography is about to be published by Wymer. It is called The Aviator: The Life and Music of Steve Morse and is due out on May 16, 2025. [Updated May 12]

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King of Dreams director passes away

Filmmaker James Foley, who directed the King of Dreams video off Slaves and Masters, has passed away at the age of 71 following a year-long battle with brain cancer. His work included acclaimed films and shows, such as Glengarry Glen Ross, House of Cards, Billions, Twin Peaks, as well as numerous music videos — mostly […]

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Bubble in your beer

Them restored classic Gillan clips, they’re still coming! Here is Mr. Universe as performed on the BBC show Rock Goes To College on February 23, 1981, and complete with Bernie Tormé’s guitar solo. Now all cleaned up and restored by the latest wonders of technology.

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It’s absolutely fine to be nuts

The band has broken the lull in public appearances by speaking to Brazil’s 89FM A Radio Rock. Enjoy some out of the left field questions and equally quirky answers.

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Blackmore’s Night in Long Island Hall of Fame

Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night will be inducted into the Long Island Music And Entertainment Hall Of Fame. The induction event will take place on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at 7 PM. Location is the LIMEHOF museum, 97 Main Street in Stony Brook, NY. Candice will perform 3 songs from her new solo album Sea […]

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The iconic guitar sound

Get My Guitar blog profiles Ritchie Blackmore, including his sound, influences, top 5 tracks, technique, and historical equipment. While our regulars probably won’t find anything new there, it can be recommended as a well written introduction for the uninitiated. Fans often note that Blackmore’s playing is not just about technical prowess—it’s about emotion, storytelling, and […]

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While their guitars not so gently weep

In a true family tradition, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai started a new project called the SatchVai Band. Today, May 6, 2025, they have released a single called I Wanna Play My Guitar. And just to keep thing in the family, they got Glenn Hughes to sing on it.

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Pretty much the first take

Bass Player magazine has an interview with session player extraordinaire Lee Sklar. And he thinks that working on Billy Cobham’s album Spectrum with Tommy Bolin, among others, was a highlight of his 2,000-album (by the latest count) career. What are some of the moments in your career that you think of as outstanding? “Stratus with […]

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It did remain a side project

Louder Sound reprints online a Classic Rock interview with the members of Black Country Communion, conducted on the occasion of their second album release. The interview was originally published in the Classic Rock magazine issue #160, dated June 2011. What began as a brief side-project for Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian […]

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Guitar heroes and guilty pleasures

Classic Rock online has a short, but informative interview with Simon McBride. From the first music he remembers, to the song he’d want to play at his funeral, it’s all there. The best record I’ve made The Deep Purple record [2024’s =1]. It’s not every day you get to be a part of history. For […]

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Not to stress much about it

Vintage Guitar magazine publishes online a short interview with Simon McBride that originally appeared in the September 2024 print issue. Did you adapt your style to Deep Purple, or was it already a good fit? I think part of the beauty of Deep Purple over the years is they never really had a fixed “sign.” […]

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Earth was shaking, they stood and stared

There’s a new, very unofficial remaster of California Jam. The video was cleaned up and upscaled, which is laudable, but the audio stays pretty much the same. Which is regrettable, as in our humble opinion it is the sound that’s the weakest link of the recording.

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Democracy in the sixteenth century

A radio interview with Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio from November 1975, where they discuss the new band they are starting.

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Good to see you vertical

Some time in 2019 Ian Paice visited his colleague Lee Kerslake, who was filming a documentary about his musical career and battle with cancer. Lee passed away in 2020.

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Don Airey in Classic Rock

Classic Rock magazine has an interview with Don Airey in their latest issue (#340, with Fleetwood Mac on the cover). We don’t have many further details at the moment, apart from the blurb: Q&A: Don Airey The Deep Purple keyboard player, go-to session guy and solo artist on his new album, touring, Purple, Blackmore. If […]

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See what you want to see

Another clip from the series of restored and upscaled classic Gillan videos. This is Unchain Your Brain from the BBC TV series Rock Goes To College, as performed live at Oxford Polytechnic in 1981. The video has been cleaned up nicely, sadly the sound is the same muddy affair as before.

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Confidant and wardrobe consultant

Candice Night was interviewed by eonmusic, and in between some things that have been discussed previously, the last Rainbow incarnation came up. Finally, I wanted to touch on Rainbow’s shows in 2016, and onward; that must have been special for you, to help make that all happen. One hundred percent. I absolutely loved doing that […]

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Not perfect, but evocative

We’ve already mentioned on these pages that there’s a new book out that might be of interest to our readership. It is called Deep Purple From 1984: every album, every song, written by Phil Kafcaloudes, and published by SonicBond. The book is pretty much what it says on the cover — it is every post-reunion […]

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Hard of hearing, anyway

Blackmore’s official channel has posted an interview done in December 1975 by one named ‘Ronnie Die’ in the description, and who sounds suspiciously like Ronnie James Dio.

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Not minding that you don’t get any sleep

Issue 49 of the Rock Candy magazine (the one with Black Sabbath’s Sabotage on the cover) has a page-spread interview with Don Airey. It is short, and sweet, and rather interesting. Don reveals that he is fond of travelling on tour buses, and even sometimes forgoes the Purple’s executive jet just to join the roadies […]

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