We Will Rock You

Steve Hackett is probably best known for playing guitar in the groundbreaking progressive rock group Genesis. Joining the band in 1971 for the album Nursery Cryme, the guitarist stayed with Genesis through 1977’s Wind & Wuthering before departing for a solo career.

Hackett has since recorded a number of solo albums in a variety of styles, covering world music, Brazilian rhythms, classical, blues and more. In 1986 he formed the supergroup GTR with Yes guitarist Steve Howe, which lasted for one album. In more recent years Hackett has primarily focused on solo work.

In 2010 Hackett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis, and he recently released an album entitled Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth. Last month he performed at the High Voltage Festival in London, and he has announced an upcoming band project called Squackett which will pair him with Yes bassist Chris Squire.

Steve Hackett joins us on Long Live Rock to discuss his new album, tour, the High Voltage festival, Squackett, and much more!

Special thanks to Jo Lehmann for arranging this interview. Listen at this link or in the player below.

Nils Lofgren’s four-decade musical career has been an amazing journey that took an accordion-playing kid from the South Side of Chicago and placed him among some of the most important musicians of his generation.

Lofgren is probably best known for his guitar playing with Neil Young and his 25 years as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, but he is also a singer/songwriter who’s had a multi-faceted solo career. Eagle Vision recently released a DVD entitled Cry Tough, a collection of three different live performances Lofgren recorded for the German television show Rockpalast from 1976, 1979 and 1991.

Nils Lofgren joined us on Long Live Rock to discuss the new DVD, his upcoming solo tour, and to share some classic stories from his amazing musical journey!

For more information please visit www.nilslofgren.com

Listen to the interview in the player below or at this link.

Todd Sucherman has been the drummer in the superstar rock group Styx since 1996, when he joined the band for the hugely successful Return To Paradise reunion tour.

Since 1999 the group has kept up a dizzying tour schedule of 100 dates per year, released two studio albums, several live collections and DVDs.

Last year Sucherman was named #1 Rock Drummer in Modern Drummer magazine, and he released an instructional drum DVD entitled Methods and Mechanics.

Styx is currently rehearsing for a fall tour that will feature the band performing its classic albums The Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight in their entirety, and the group is also readying the release of Regeneration, an EP of re-recordings of some of Styx’ classic songs with the current lineup.

Todd Sucherman joins us on Long Live Rock to discuss the upcoming album and tour, his career with Styx, the state of the music business and more!

Listen in the player below or at this link www.blogtalkradio.com/longliverock/2010/08/16/interview-with-styx-drummer-todd-sucherman

Creedence Clearwater Revival is one of the most important and influential rock groups of its generation.Singer/songwriter/guitarist John Fogerty, guitarist (and brother)Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford lasted together just a few short years before the group’s famous implosion and subsequent decades of acrimony, but in that short time they released one classic after another like “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Down on the Corner,” “Fortunate Son,” “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” and many more.

After a break of many years punctuated by bitterness and lawsuits, as well as a John Fogerty-led snub at their own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford formed Creedence Clearwater Revisited, a new group that faithfully re-creates the old classics live. Since 1996 that group has been going strong, performing all over the world for three generations of fans who have grown up with the music as the soundtrack to their lives. Stu Cook joined us for Long Live Rock to discuss the highs and lows of his amazing journey with CCR, including a middle-of-the-night Woodstock performance and a TV appearance with a drunken Ed Sullivan!

Special thanks to Wendy at Hello Wendy PR for arranging this interview.

Listen in the player below or at this link http://www.blogtalkradio.com/longliverock/2010/08/09/interview-with-stu-cook-from-creedence-clearwater

     This is the second and final installment of my recent podcast interview with former Gentle Giant bassist/writer Ray Shulman.

     In this episode we discuss whether Gentle Giant is progressive rock; playing on the bill with Yes and Jethro Tull; rehearsing for Gentle Giant tours; playing with Black Sabbath; changing labels over the course of years; managing themselves later in their career; changing musical approaches to try and stimulate more commercial success; the grind of touring and the role it played in the band breaking up; reasoning behind not wanting to re-unite; Gary Green and Three Friends; writing with Kerry Minnear again; upcoming Gentle Giant releases; and the renewed fan interest in the band.

     Thanks once again to Ray Shulman, and special thanks to Anne Leighton of Leighton Media.

     To listen in streaming, simply click the play button in the player below. To download, right click where it says “Listen to the Interview” and save to your computer or disc. You can also download this podcast from iTunes by searching for “We Will Rock You” in podcasts.

Click to Download

     If you read this blog regularly, you already know what a huge Gentle Giant fan I am. Like a lot of other fans, I’ve always regarded the band as one of the most underrated of a particular era, so when the news came late last year that Gentle Giant was re-releasing its albums from the years it spent on Capitol Records, I was thrilled. Not only would this be a chance to get some great re-issues and bonus tracks, but I saw the opportunity to interview the band members and ask them all the questions I’d been holding onto all thse years!

     I started with lead singer Derek Shulman, then guitarist Gary Green, followed by keyboardist Kerry Minnear. Now it is my great pleasure to present this new podcast interview with Gentle Giant bass player/composer Ray Shulman. Ray, of course, is Derek’s brother, and at one time their brother Phil was also in the band, which made for an interesting working senario for all involved. Ray talks about the challenges of brothers working together in Part One, as well as the recent digital and vinyl re-releases; finding and working with the original master tapes; the alternate and live tracks on the digital releases; process of making band decisions; the best and worst of Gentle Giant; and the compositional process for the band.

     Special thanks to Ray Shulman for this interview, and to Anne Leighton of Leighton Media for arranging it. Stay tuned for Part two, which I will present on Tuesday.

     To listen to the interview, simply click on the play button in the player below. To download it, right click where it says “Listen to the Interview” and save it to your computer or disc. You can also access this podcast at iTunes by searching for “We Will Rock You” in podcasts.

Click to Download