Basslines and Protest Signs is Brett Callwood’s column looking at the intersection of music and politics. This week breaks down some of the best anti-authority anthems.
Basslines and Protest Signs is Brett Callwood’s column looking at the intersection of music and politics. This week talks about conservative musicians.
Darrin chats with a combustive Rex Brown, former bassist for the metal band Pantera (no solo).
Forget the stage, it’s been almost a decade since Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez – a.k.a. 75 percent of ’90s grunge icons Alice in Chains – have even been in the same room. Sure, they’ve jammed with each other in various permutations since Alice last played a show together (a 1996 taping of MTV’s “Unplugged”), but never all three together. So when they announced that they’d be taking the stage again this month, it had to be for a good reason. “We all saw what happened with the tsunamis in Southeast Asia. It was such an overwhelming tragedy,”… Read more »
With the metal world still reeling from the shocking murder of Dimebag Darrell Abbott, it seems that a second Damageplan album might be in the works. Damageplan’s manager Paul Bassman recently told Billboard.com of a nearly completed recording that the band had laid down just prior to Abbott’s death. Bassman also mentioned that according to Abbott’s brother, Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul, the band have every intention to get the music to the fans as soon as possible. It’s not known how much material was completed or when the album may be released. When Abbott was killed, Damageplan were touring behind… Read more »
Los Angeles – To his eight Grammy nominations and slew of No. 1 singles, R&B singer Usher has added the honor of most-shipped U.S. album of 2004 for “Confessions,” according to year-end certifications from the Recording Industry Assn. of America. With 8 million units shipped to retailers (but not necessarily sold through to consumers), the set is the highest-certified album in the star’s catalog. His previous best was 1997’s “My Way,” which is six times platinum. Usher also picked up three honors under the RIAA’s new digital awards program. “Yeah!” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, which spent 12 weeks atop… Read more »
If you came anywhere near a radio this year, it should be no surprise that Usher’s Confessions was named the most-shipped album of 2004. The Recording Industry Association of America gave the singer credit for shipping (but not necessarily selling) 8 million copies of his third album, two million more than his six-times platinum My Way from 1997, according to Billboard magazine. The smash single “Yeah!” also took honors in the RIAA’s digital-awards program, earning a digital platinum certification for more than 200,000 downloads. “Burn” and “My Boo” were awarded digital gold for more than 100,000 downloads. Country star George… Read more »
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Mourners attended a funeral Saturday for one of the four victims of a nightclub shooting, a fan of “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott who a witness said had tried to save the heavy-metal guitarist. While most concertgoers rushed for the exits after Abbott was shot by a longtime fan of his former group, Pantera, Nathan Bray jumped up on stage, held Abbott and tried to perform CPR, said Adam Vanover, 45, of Bellefontaine. “When (Bray) looked up at the shooter that’s when the shooter shot him,” Vanover said. Witnesses and police said a group of people tried to help… Read more »
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The man who shot former Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and three other men to death at a nightclub was obsessed with the heavy metal band and made bizarre accusations against the group, a one-time friend said. Nathan Gale apparently believed Pantera musicians were trying to steal his identity and the lyrics to songs he had written, former friend Jeramie Brey told The Columbus Dispatch in Friday’s editions. Gale, 25, charged the stage Wednesday at a show by Abbott’s new band, Damageplan, and gunned down four people including Abbott before a police officer shot him to death.… Read more »
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A nightclub shooting that left four people dead, including a heavy-metal guitarist, has concert bookers and bar managers wondering whether fans will grumble less the next time they’re patted down or directed through a metal detector. Scott Stienecker, for one, thinks it will. “It’ll be a whole different feeling, I bet.” Stienecker’s PromoWest Productions owns two Columbus concert halls larger than the Alrosa Villa, where 25-year-old Nathan Gale gunned down “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and three others before a police officer shot him to death. Caroline O’Toole, though, and many of her fellow managers doubt Wednesday’s violence will… Read more »
