Blackmore’s Night will release their new album — All Our Yesterdays — this Fall via Frontiers Records. It will come in a variety of formats:

• standalone CD
• digital download
• CD/DVD Deluxe edition: includes full album on CD, and a DVD with music videos for the title track and Will O’ The Wisp, plus an extensive interview with Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night on the making of the album;
• 2LP vinyl edition with gatefold sleeve
• Box Set Limited Collector’s edition: includes CD/DVD deluxe edition, 2LP, a t-shirt (L size only), a poster, and a lithograph.

CD, CD/DVD and digital downloads will be released on September 18, with LP and box set to follow on October 16.

Press release blurb continues:

BLACKMORE’S NIGHT vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Candice Night says: “There’s a theme to ‘All Our Yesterdays” chosen songs that focuses on the attitude of living in the present, and looking toward the future, because we are, indeed, enriched by our past. My main theme and inspiration has always been nature and folklore from around the world.”

Candice Night and Ritchie Blackmore’s lives and creative journeys have taken them through different characters and songs from a variety of times in history. That is part of the attitude in the song “Where Are We Going from Here”, about a traveling minstrel’s journey through life and age.

The title track (and also the first single and video), “All Our Yesterdays”, echoes the sounds of Candice’s Russian roots, while a new song written by Germany’s George Hesse is an old-style, fiddle-driven instrumental with the Welsh title “Allan yn y Fan” (meaning “Out There”). Ritchie’s heritage includes family from Wales.

The album also includes stunning instrumentals: the acoustic guitar piece “Queen’s Lament” and the dramatic “The Darker Shade of Black” that spotlights violin and guitar.

Elsewhere on the recording, “Earth Wind and Sky” is a delicate ode to nature. “The Other Side”, a latter-day folk dance joins two jigs that Candice sings: “Coming Home” and the supernatural-themed “Will o’ the Wisp”.

“All Our Yesterdays” gets further inspiration from Candice and Ritchie’s home town, where they take part in community folk nights during which the neighbours share guitars and songs, and sing melodies that have come from a variety of times in their own history. That’s how they fell in love with songs of various radio formats of years gone by. The album includes the Linda Ronstadt hit “Long Long Time” (penned by Gary White); the Mike Oldfield song “Moonlight Shadow”; and an inspiring Maypole Dance treatment of Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe”.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Roger Glover’s production work will be honoured during Soundedit’15 — the 7th International Festival of Music Producers and Sound Designers, to be held in Łódź, Poland, this October. He will receive The Man with a Golden Ear award for “entirety of achievements in a domain of music production”. He will share the honours with Sir Bob Geldof and Polish musician Wojciech Waglewski.

The awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, October 24, during the final festival gala at Klub Wytwórnia in Łódź. This event will be open to the general public and tickets are on sale. The show starts at 7pm, with awards scheduled between 8:30 and 9pm.

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

German website meinAnzeiger.de has an interview with Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night that concentrates on the fact that they are actually touring over there and have a new album coming out:

How can people imagine a day in the studio with Ritchie and Candice? Who is the boss?
Ritchie Blackmore – We don’t have a boss. I would say the situation is democratic but that word has been misused in the last 10 years. We usually start around 3pm because we are night people. I sometimes have a vague riff and melody then we take it from there. I then put it by Candice and we see if it has potential. We usually just do la-las and figure out the melody. The next stage is to do a mapping vocal and I do a rhythm track so all of our songs actually start off with la-las until she comes up with the lyric line that represents that scenario. We work through to usually 1am.
Candice Night – I am usually running the kids to their activities and doing the household stuff and then in between all that I find time to do music. Usually I need to write the lyrics while I’m in my car doing errands or after I put the children to sleep. Typical working mom 🙂

Could you imagine an album in a different language? I heard you do speak some German as well?
Ritchie Blackmore – I do speak some German which comes in handy when I am eavesdropping on German people who think I don’t understand. But we have only ever done a couple of songs in German and 1 in French and 1 in Greek. We are still thinking of doing an American record but i don’t have enough hip hop cliches down yet.

Read more in meinAnzeiger.de (scroll down the page for the English version of the interview).

Thanks to Cameron Hons for the info.

In anticipation of the Blackmore’s Night visit to Paris Olympia, French newspaper Le Parisien has published an extensive interview with Ritchie and Candice. Bear in mind that everything Ritchie says in an interview has to be taken with a generous pinch of salt. And twice so when it comes from a reverse translation. That being said, his most interesting talking points were:

• There will be a comprehensive career retrospective DVD documentary out some time later this year. He has not seen it as he doesn’t like to watch himself on the screen.
• Yes, he’s got an itch to play some rock’n’roll again. He will scratch that itch by doing 3 or 4 shows in June 2016 playing Purple and Rainbow tunes with a rock band. JLT will not be a part of this adventure “and he does not know it yet”.

Thanks to Rock Voorne for the info.

Our Purple calendar has been updated. A whole bunch of new Whitesnake dates in Connecticut, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri had been added to this summer US tour.

Glenn Hughes has announced a 10-gig UK tour in October.

And last, but not least, Ian Paice will make an appearance at a festival in Italy this weekend.

More details you-know-where.

John Whittingdale, the newly appointed UK Culture Secretary, has revealed in a recent interview to The Telegraph that he is a Deep Purple fan:

I love TV, I love film, I love music. I always have done. My tastes in all of them are pretty broad. I occasionally think about what might be my top 10 records and it ranges from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet to Deep Purple’s Knocking at Your Back Door.

I do have a love of rock music – I’m seeing AC/DC in a couple of week’s time.

I’m going to the Roundhouse tonight. I went there for something called Sham’s Last Stand which was Sham 69 when I was about 22. I went to see the Buzzcocks there, I’ve seen Deep Purple there.

As Ian Gillan once said, “it seems that not only policemen but presidents too are getting younger”.

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

Two live releases from the Now What! tour has been announced by earMUSIC.

In the press release, Roger Glover writes about the albums:

One band, two crowds, two countries – a tale of two cities indeed. From Germany’s Wacken Open Air Festival, one of the biggest metal festivals in the world – and a city unto itself – to Japan and the stately Nippon Budokan, the most revered venue in Tokyo. Each with its own distinct personality.

Wacken is a success story beyond par, starting out humbly by two friends in a field in rural Germany and becoming one of the best organized and attended metal festivals ever. We were most impressed by the facilities, security, backstage, camping… in fact the whole production was superb.
As was the crowd, an awesome sight from the stage, generating a palpable sense of occasion. In the sunset, we were treated to a great welcome from the sea of tattoos and black leather facing us.

Festival crowds are unique because most people are there for the occasion itself rather than for any particular band. For us that is always a welcome challenge and a chance to connect with many who may never have seen us before. But the real stars are all in the audience. Thank you, Wacken.

By way of contrast, the Budokan is a temple of peace (except for the infamous occasion when all the seating was destroyed). “Made In Japan” was partially recorded there and we’ve played there many times since. For such a large space, the acoustics are excellent; this special building never ceases to impress.

On this particular evening, we came in at the back door, climbed the cool, marble staircase and entered the familiar dressing room. Feeling like we’re the only people in the building, it’s hard to believe there’s even an audience out there.

But there is, young and old, sitting patiently or chatting quietly – the embodiment of civility. It’s almost like the respectful hush one might find in a cathedral. But they’re here to rock. And rock they do. They may be quiet while they’re waiting but far from shy during the show. They gave us an unforgettable evening. Thank you, Tokyo.

“From The Setting Sun… (In Wacken)” was filmed by 9 HD cameras at Wacken Open Air Festival 2013. The show will be available in 3D on Blu-ray. Apart from the 3D Blu-ray, this show will be released as 2CD+DVD and 3LP gatefold.

“…To The Rising Sun (In Tokyo)” has been filmed by 12 HD cameras at Nippon Budokan, Tokyo in April 2014. This show will be released on regular Blu-ray, 2CD+DVD and 3LP gatefold.

Both shows are released on August 28th, 2015.

The audio of both shows was mixed in Hamburg, Germany by Eike Freese and Alex Dietz (Heaven Shall Burn) with the supervision of Roger Glover.

Thanks to Lutz Reinert and earMUSIC for the info.

Edel will be re-releasing Rapture of the Deep, Now What?! and Live Tapes as a 3CD box set on June 26. This box contains no new material, so perhaps the only redeeming feature is price: under 19 Euros. Yep, you’ll be able to pick up 3 albums on the cheap if you happen to have been in a coma for the last 10 years.

Thanks to Lutz Reinert for the heads up.

Yesterday, June 9, Whitesnake played a gig in Glenn Hughes’ neghbourhood — Beverly Hills, California. You can guess what happened.

And before you start speculating — no, Whitesnake is not making a stop in Long Island on this tour. you-know-whom will be in Munich when Whitesnake plays in Long Island. Still ain’t happening.

Nick Simper has a new CD out. It’s called De La Frog Conspiracy and he recorded it togethre with his long time collaborators, the Austrian band Nasty Habits. The CD contains 11 tracks of original music. These are not Mark 1 covers. It can be ordered by contacting the band through their website.

Thanks to Robert Löhr for the info.