Another single from the upcoming Don Airey’s solo album Pushed To The Edge has been released. Moon Rising Continue Reading »

Globe and Mail writes that Bob Ezrin has renounced his U.S. citizenship and returned home to Toronto from Nashville. The paper quotes his motivation:

In the last few years, it seems as if America is split in half. The voices of a radical right have become so much louder. Conspiracy theories abound, people are armed to the teeth, and it’s just a different place than the place I went to.

Ezrin moved to Los Angeles with his family back in 1985. He became a U.S. citizen in 1990 in order to vote.

I was very engaged, very involved, very committed. I believed in the country and I believed in the American people, in spite of things like the Iraq War and the income inequality I saw growing, and in spite of the racism that was knitted into the fabric of American life. I still believed the goodness of the majority of Americans would prevail.

The paper notes that Ezrin had already made his decision to return to Toronto before Trump declared a trade war on Canada and insinuated about making Canada the 51st state, insulting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a “governor” in the process.

The article also lists Ezrin’s charitable activities — helping to distribute food from the basement of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in LA; serving as chair of the California Mentoring Partnership and Los Angeles Communities in Schools; co-founding with Edge (of U2 fame) Music Rising, an initiative to replace musical instruments lost in natural disasters. After the 2005’s Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, he produced the concert for reopening of the city’s Superdome. In a recent announcement of the Governor General’s Award, Ezrin was cited as “a generous philanthropist and a passionate advocate for music education”.

Thanks to The Globe and Mail for the info and quotes, and to Gary Poronovich for the heads-up.

A Glenn Hughes’ South American tour has just been announced for November 2025. The São Paulo date on November 16th has been on sale for a while, and listed in our calendar as unconfirmed. It is confirmed now, along with 10 more shows in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia, albeit the last one with an asterisk.

Curiously, the tour is billed as The Chosen Years in English, but local promoters advertise it as Turnê/Tour de Despedida, which in Portuguese and Spanish means The Farewell Tour. Take it with a grain of salt, it’s not the first time promoters took to gimmicks to boost sales.

Promo blurb reads:

The shows promise to be a dynamic, turn-back-the-clocks, two-hour live extravaganza homage to his illustrious career spanning 5 decades in music – including songs from Trapeze, Deep Purple, Hughes/Thrall, Iommi/Hughes and Black Country Communion – some of music history’s most seminal and influential rock and roll groups. Not only that, the shows will feature brand new music from Glenn’s upcoming solo album due for release in Summer 2025.

Glenn comments:

To all my fans in South America : This is a very special tour for me, and I’m thanking you for all the years of your incredible LOVE and support. You have my heart. I can’t wait to be with you ✌️

As well as Glenn on lead vocals and bass guitar, the touring band features Soren Anderson on guitar, and drummer Ash Sheehan.

Full details in our calendar.

Thanks to Coast to Coast and Daniel Bengtsson for the heads-up.

In this instalment of Tales from the Tavern, Ritchie Blackmore plays a tune that he heard in ’64 or ’65. That’d be 1564-65, presumably. Continue Reading »

The penultimate instalment of the freshly restored classic Gillan videos. This week, it is Long Gone Continue Reading »

Bob Ezrin is among the recipients of the Canadian 2025 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. This award recognizes artists who have “made an indelible contribution to cultural life in Canada and around the world”. The awards ceremony will be held on June 14, 2025, at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Bob Ezrin, O.C. – Music and entertainment producer, music education advocate and serial activist

In a legendary career as a music and entertainment producer and entrepreneur, Bob Ezrin has worked around the world on recordings, TV, film, and live event production with such prominent international artists as Pink Floyd, U2, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Rod Stewart, Andrea Bocelli, Taylor Swift, Alice Cooper, Edward Burtynsky, Kiss, Lou Reed, The Canadian Tenors, Aerosmith, Hollywood Vampires, Berlin, and Nine Inch Nails, among many others. One of the most highly respected and sought-after producers in the world, he is also a generous philanthropist and a passionate advocate for music education.

Congratulations to Mr. Ezrin on this well deserved honour!

Thanks to the NAC for the info.

A couple of items from the desk of our trainspotting department.

British TV series SAS Rogue Heroes is a WW2 action/adventure drama based on “mostly true” events. What it lacks in historical accuracy, it makes up in the entertainment value. And a very anachronistic soundtrack. Season 2, episode 5 features a convoy of said rogue heroes spiritedly driving behind the enemy lines to blow something up, accompanied by the studio version of the Highway Star. It was a big chunk of the track — from the main riff to just after Jon’s solo, then skipping to the end.

From the other side of the pond, an upcoming episode of a “tough guy in a pickle” series Reacher (season 3, episode 6) is titled Smoke on the Water. No further details yet. The episode is scheduled to be released on March 13, 2025.

[Update March 16]: Soap Central has an update on the Reacher S03E06, and it is chock-full of spoilers. Suffice to say, there is water, there is fire, and there is smoke in there.

Thanks to Mad Hatter and Kick Koopman for the info.

A piece in Ultimate Guitar goes all drooling over this guitarist’s take on Blackmore’s solo in Burn:

Here’s How Ritchie Blackmore’s ‘Burn’ Solo Should Sound in 2025

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What do you mean it ‘should’ sound like anything?” Of course, you’re right, Ritchie Blackmore’s solo section in “Burn” is the stuff of legends. Just listen to it, he really did a number on that guitar, definitely made it scream like never before (possibly). “Burn” simply stands out among Deep Purple’s songs because of how well the solo complements the energy of the other sections.

But, if for a second, we tried to imagine this solo in a new context, modernized to meet the standards of rock and metal music in 2025, we’d really have to open up our minds to the possibilities. Let’s not go too far and imagine some kind of proggy, techno-industrial nightmare spin. We could just imagine a shredder taking the solo to the next level.

Feel free to discuss. 😉

Credits:
Andre Nieri — guitar
Levi Clay — transcription

Continuing with the tidal wave of Gillan news, the 2011 documentary about Frédéric Chopin narrated by Big Ian has been recently posted on ’em intertubes. Due to the scarcity of archival footage of Mr. Chopin, we get to see a lot of the narrator, riding horse carriages and tractors, and even partaking in a village dance. Continue Reading »

It’s that time of the week — time for another freshly restored classic Gillan video Continue Reading »