From Austin City Limits…

Anthrax has released the video for “In The End,” a song about lost heavy metal icon’s Dimebag Darrell Abbott and Ronnie James Dio. It’s from their new DVD/Blu-ray release “Chile On Hell,”  out now buy it here.

Country music lives!

Here is yet another video of a talented young girl doing a rock song on a stringed instrument that you would not normally connect with rock & roll, or in this case heavy metal.

This time it’s Michelle Kwan of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (not the figure skater from California) and the instrument is the guzheng. An instrument from China that features many strings and moveable bridges.

Here’s her take on Metallica’s “One.”

David Allan Coe’s daughter, Tanya Montana Coe has released the official music video for her debut single, “Silver Bullet” from her upcoming album. Thankfully it is not the type of garbage you would hear on what passes for “country radio” these days.

This past April, The Sunflower Jam charity put on a concert, Celebrating Jon Lord at the Royal Albert Hall, a night where some of the world’s biggest names in music came together to honor the life and work of the late, great former Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord.

Bruce Dickinson performing Deep Purple’s “Burn” at the Royal Albert Hall in London on April, 4th 2014.

Jon Lord sadly passed away in 2012. Just a few weeks before the release of the just finished remake of what is universally known as the first ever meeting of classical music and rock. The Concerto For Group and Orchestra. The same composition that Purple played live in 1969 at the Royal Albert Hall.

Considering the amount of respect, friendship and love expressed on any occasion by anybody who had worked, played or simply met Jon Lord, it is not a surprise that the 2014 Jam would be dedicated totally to his music. The night turned out to be a historical moment in rock music: A full orchestra, a director – Paul Mann – crazy enough to give wonderful arrangements to a repertoire going back and forth through fifty years of music, many old friends for an unforgettable night.

The Albert Hall sold out to the last seat…

Celebrating Jon Lord [Blu-ray], click the picture to purchase via Amazon.

For four hours Jon’s music was shining. Commotion, jokes, laughs and a lot of music came together by magic.

The result is the show you can now hear and watch.

The concert will be released on September 26th and will be available on Blu-ray, CD and digital download formats. Divided into three sets, with the third devoted to a performance from the current Deep Purple (Mark VIII) lineup.

The above clip is legendary Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson & Deep Purple Mark III bass player and vocalist Glen Hughes performing the Deep Purple classic “Burn.”

From back when MTV actually played music.

While listening to Spotify in my car on the way home from work I heard this song from an artist I had never heard before, thought the tune was catchy as hell. Well now I get home to find out the video is even better.

It features a cameo at the end from Bill Clinton’s attack dog James Carville and his wife Republican political talking-head and former Reagan & Bush staffer Mary Matlin.

This is the Buckeye State’s own Lydia Loveless, performing “Back On The Bottle” from her debut album during 2012’s South by Southwest Festival.

She gets labeled as “alternative” country, but as far as I’m concerned with a voice like that, she’s the read deal.

From her Bloodshot Records profile:

Blessed with a commanding, blast-it-to-the-back-of-theroom voice, the 23-year-old Lydia Loveless was raised on a family farm in Coshocton, Ohio—a small weird town with nothing to do but make music. With a dad who owned a country music bar, Loveless often woke up with a house full of touring musicians scattered on couches and floors.

When she got older, in the time-honored traditions of teenage rebellion, she turned her back on these roots, moved to the city (Columbus, OH) and immersed herself in the punk scene, soaking up the musical and attitudinal influences of everyone from Charles Bukowski to Richard Hell to Hank III.

Today on their face book page, the one time legendary Cleveland rock station turned crappy FM Talk station, WMMS posted the following question on their face book wall.

Do you remember which was the FIRST record/cassette/cd/mp3 you ever had as YOUR OWN?

For me it was Jon Bon Jovi’s first solo album, “Blaze of Glory,” the soundtrack to the film Young Guns II.

That was the summer of 1990.

I forgot how great that disc, err, cassette was…

Here’s a little known fact outside of hardcore metal-heads, sometime around 1984 or so, James Hetfield lead singer and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal legends and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Metallica was unsure about his singing abilities. He wanted to recruit John Bush of Armored Saint at the time and then later Anthrax to be their front man, so he could focus on guitar. No one except the guys in the band know for sure if Bush was ever even officially offered the spot, but now 27 years later at the Metallica 30th anniversary show here is what could have been.

Metallica perform “The Four Horsemen” off of their 1983 debut album “Kill ’em All” with Armored Saint and ex-Anthrax singer John Bush.

Recorded live at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California on December 7th, 2011 courtesy of YouTube user mathiasnielsen66.

Pepper Keenan is currently with Down finishing up their next album, and COC is out on tour and the rest of the guys are touring with the 3 piece Animosity-era line-up, with an album due out next spring. But fuck, this is one of the most underrated metal bands ever, I can’t can’t wait for another album from this version of Corrosion Of Conformity.

It’s VH1’s National Day of Metal and it just does not get any more metal then the band that created the genre.

Today on 11/11/11 at 11:11 Pacific Time, the forefathers of Heavy Metal held a press conference at the Whiskey in LA to announce that they are putting the band back together for a world tour and new album to be produced by Rick Rubin (Metallica, Slayer, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Johnny Cash).