For Jim Madonna having faith in God, and a love for music is simply a part of his life. But it was his passion for music and the close friendship of his cousin James Fricano that brought his life to where it is today.
Fricano was a musician, and played bass guitar but worked in construction on the side, and it was then that he brought Jim on board as a tile setter. They were together so much that when James Fricano went into the studio as a bass player on the .38 Special Album titled song “Wild Eyed Southern Boys” and the Dakota Album “Runaway”; the sparks really ignited his passion for music to a whole new level.
Madonna went on the road with his cousin as a stage hand to help out with many of the concerts they performed while Fricano played in the band “The Force”. The band on one occasion shared the stage while playing in New York with Benny Mardones in ‘1980’.
Eventually their journey ended through no fault of their own. But they never lost touch with one another. The ‘Good ole Days’ was always a good part of their conversations!
Then the day came that changed everything in Jim Madonna’s life with an unexpected turn. A call from Fricano’s family came with the tragic news that his cousin James had died. He was beyond devastated.
Fricano was more than cousin; He was his best friend. They shared so much more than friendship together in so many aspects of their lives.
A few years later, God started showing Jim that he wanted to use the desires in his heart, and his passion for music in a mighty way… But he had to let go of the hurt he had deep within him from the loss of his cousin.
In letting go of this hurt…It restored his Faith!
God began showing up in ways that made it clear that He had a plan for him, and where Jim needed to be… and that was his passion for music!
Getting involved on Facebook was the stepping stone that began opening opportunities in the music industry through genres of music.
His original intention was to provide interviews from Indie to Mainstream in the “Rock” genre only. But realized how many of the artists he was communicating with were not only heavily impacted by so many changes in the industry and the economy, lacked the funding to promote themselves… that it might be time to step out of his comfort zone and explore all genres of music.. which is now where he is today.
In Loving memory of James Fricano “Champagne Jimmy” (RIP)
Donnie Vie; one of rock’s biggest secrets who has been crafting melodic power pop and rock
songs for over 30 years. He and his band were instant critics’ darlings with a debut record that
soared up the charts generating two long playing MTV hits, a “Top Pick” from Rolling Stone
Magazine, and inciting numerous TV and radio performances with repeat invitations from David
Letterman and Howard Stern.
That band was Enuff Z’Nuff, and led by Grammy Nominated, Don
nie Vie’s songwriting sensibilities and distinctive melodic vocals they continued on to make
some truly great records. Over those years, Donnie has amassed over 25 albums’ worth of songs
and decades of live shows to his name, both with and without his former band. Now a solo act,
Vie continues his songwriting and performing under his own name, and recently completed his
solo tour of Europe in the summer of 2015.
Rolling Stone Magazine described Donnie’s writing skills as “Beatle-esque pop songcraft and
ripping hard rock”, whereas Billboard Magazine says, “If there is such a thing as false
advertising in rock & roll, then Enuff Z’nuff is one of its textbook examples. Packaged in garish
peace-glam attire by their record company, the group was wrongly lumped in with the
disposable pop-metal bands of the late ’80s rather than appreciated for the truly gifted power pop
act that they were.”
Though Enuff Z’Nuff was inaccurately portrayed from the beginning, Vie’s first, hard rocking
fan base is still his strongest. The members of this cult-like following recognize Donnie’s
musical genius and embrace his poetic nature with its signature hooks. His supporters remain
some of his most faithful, loyal and enthusiastic out there, and it is these fans who say “[These]
songs will stand the test of time because his songwriting and melody are magical.” – Marcel
“Mars” Groeneveld from HardRockHaven.net
Friends since the 4th grade, and writing rhymes ever since, JV and TEEJ take their skills to the next level with Stay Fresh: The JV & TEEJ Project. Thick beats and melodic tones laced with vivid rhymes and concepts take listeners on a journey.
Having taken a short hiatus from recording together, and each doing a solo
project, JV and TEEJ find themselves back together to release their 3rd album as a duo. Creating a strong buzz in their hometown and garnering attention from local DJ’s and Radio Stations, Stay Fresh looks to be the best release to date.
No strangers to live performances and large crowds, they are known to captivate their audience. Non-stop energy and crowd involvement have kept JV and TEEJ at the top of all venues in and around NY’s capital region.
Their latest concept of “music on a mission” has inspired JV and TEEJ to do what they love, and give back to the community that has supported them. That is why a portion of all musical proceeds from Stay Fresh will be donated to the Schenectady City Mission’s back pack program. A program created to help ensure that Schenectady City School kids go home on the weekends with something to eat. Two down to earth guys looking to share their talent with anyone who listens.
Defcon Zero isn’t just Corroded’s first new album in five years – it’s also their first release for Despotz Records, which has opened brand new possibilities for Corroded and given them the firepower to further strengthen their position – both nationally and internationally – picking up right where ‘State of Disgrace’ left off without missing a beat.
“The goal with this album is the usual – complete world domination!” exclaims singer/guitarist Jens Westin explains with a hint of mischief in his voice. And while we’ll never know if he’s taking himself completely seriously with that statement, the way the band approached the material on Defcon Zero gives good measure that his words way very well ring true. The band spent 6 months holed up in Ninetone Records studio self-producing the new album (aside from “A Note To Me” which was produced by Pontus Frisk), delivering eleven tracks of pure aggression combined without losing any of their melodic approach. “We worked solely within the band this time as we entered this process, with only some raw ideas without any preconceptions. From there on everybody contributed. The creative process was based on our live performances and we had tremendous fun while recording.”
As far as the lyrical content on Defcon Zero, Westin expresses, “When it comes to the lyrics I want everyone to make up their own opinion to what the songs are about. I think that you can compare it to reading a book, and after that look at the screen version. You are mostly a bit disappointed because the characters don’t look like they did in your own mind.”
In the past, the band brought focus to themselves by creating music for the globally popular video game Battlefield and writing background music for the television show “Expedition Robinson” (aka “Survivor”). “It’s almost impossible to understate the importance of these two possibilities that we had in terms of PR. When it comes to “Expedition Robinson”, we went from absolutely nothing to a household name in Sweden. And the same goes for Battlefield play4free but in a much broader spectrum in terms of countries and exposure.”
Jeff started out in Las Vegas with a band called Liquid Skye who wrote and recorded a full length album and have done shows withe Slash, Joan Jett, and U.F.O. . Brad, Rob, Sean and Dave were collectively known in Tucson as Nightfall Ave. with a respective following in Tucson, and have played with everyone from Queensryche to U.F.O. They later joined forces in 2015 to create SCARE CARD.
The five have a common goal of writing, recording and playing great rock and roll. In our short time together, we have opened for Jack Russell’s Great White, Bang Tango, Slaughter, Bret Michaels, Lynch Mob and we were direct support for Red Sun Rising.
We recently finished and released our 5 song EP and did a huge CD release show at the Rialto Theatre in Tucson, AZ, We’ve had some radio play and were featured on the test department on KFMA as well as performing live (acoustic). We play in Tucson and Phoenix and we are planning shows in California and the West Coast circuit.
With each new metal/trash band that hits the scene comes the challenge of standing out in a segment characterized by cookie-cutter style and classification. Equally problematic is an at times harsh and abrasive vocal style that might be described as an “acquired taste” at best. The significance being that a good percentage of metal/trash bands all end up sounding the same. The rare exception is in which a metal/trash band blends thrash with some sort of other form of music/melody. The latest group to get in on this metal/trash renovation, and perhaps start the wave and convey “old school” roots to a modern spherical freshness, is Tucson, Arizona’s TRIBULANCE.
Hard hitting, no-nonsense metal with a “go big or go home” attitude, TRIBULANCE displays an aptitude equal to any national act on the scene today. Thriving on an energetic live show, dynamic stage presence, complete with stage props, hard hitting music, and an image to boost, TRIBULANCE will stop at nothing to prove they have what it takes to be taken seriously in the Metal/Heavy Metal/Trash world.
Reborn in 2012 from the ashes of 1998, (TRIBULANCE got its start in 1995 with its top 10 debut full-length album “Trial and Tribulations,” and disband in 1998 after industry shortfalls) original founding members Michael Vidal, Sal Flores, and Gino Silva recruited drummer Brandon Lee, picked up the pieces where they left off a few shorts years earlier and have hit the ground running. Little doubt is left by TRIBULANCE as to its metal/thrash roots in that its interspersed throughout their highly anticipated 2017 release “The Aftermath of Lies.”
In a world of one hit wonders; credit TRIBULANCE for a strong production on an independent release. “The Aftermath of Lies” stands out as one of those rare albums to merge the all-out aggressive with pleasing melody. Their “old school” trash moments are balanced by the groups engaging songwriting and varied vocals of Michael Vidal, who complements the heavy nature of TRIBULANCE’s music without coming across overbearing.
Often compared to, or similar as Judas Priest, Disturbed, Megadeth, Sacrament, Sevendust, and a few other heavy hitters, look no further than the opening song “Oblivious” on their upcoming release “The Aftermath of Lies” for any sort of conclusion. If interested in a joining of the aggressive and the melodic, what we have here is an unambiguous as it gets tease! Upholding an attacking presence directly out of the gate as chugging heavy thrash riffs, gutsy bass, thunderous blast beats accompanied by solid bass drum patterns, shouting backing vocals, and a powerful vocalist who at times crosses melodic and other driving vocal styles upon the traditional metal aesthetic that any fan of Halford would be proud of, TRIBULANCE is one band to keep an eye on.
TRIBULANCE is one of those rare bands that merge all out aggression with pleasing melodies, all while upholding their metal/trash roots.
“We believe in staying true to who we are and where we came from!” says drummer Brandon Lee. “I think what makes us who we are is we all come from different music backgrounds. While we’re all rooted in metal of some sort, it’s our individual tastes that lends its way into what we produce as TRIBULANCE.”
While playing shows around the Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona area is critical in maintaining and building a fan base, TRIBULANCE has set their sights slightly higher and are gunning for the world. Working on national
press, and worldwide distribution, TRIBULANCE is gearing up for big things with the highly anticipated sophomore release “The Aftermath of Lies” due out in May 2017. Stay Tuned…
PRESS:
“A very talented group of guys, an act who literally blew me away at a recent show, with both their live performance, style, and approachable nature.”
-Cult-
“Everything was entirely competent with these guys, and every one of them was expressive, moved around, had interesting riffs, great songs, and even brought a light show.”
-AngryMusicMag-
“Mike Vidal brandishes an amazing set of pipes that any fan of hard rock/metal can appreciate.”
-Thydemonbescribblin.com-
“They’ve got some big stuff coming their way…”
-Sneaky Pete 92.1 KFMA-
“The ‘Aftermath of Lies’ mix is crisp enough for proper separation of instrumentation, while mastering provides enough polish, but not so much to take away from the bands inherent energy.”
Award Winning Vocalist/Songwriter Jim Crean is a recording/touring musician for well over 35 years.He has fronted many Regional and National Recording artist’s .He has won numerous awards 2013,2014 & 2015 Best Original Male Vocalist.In 2015 he was inducted in the Night-Life Hall Of Fame Lifetime Achievement award’s.
Crean released four Solo album’s on Major Label’s.Most Recently He released The highly anticipated new album titled “Insatiable” on Carmine Appice’s label Rocker Records .
Jim Crean “Insatiable” features a who’s who of Iconic Legendary All-Star musicians such as Carmine Appice (Rod Stewart/Ozzy Osbourne/Vanilla Fudge/Cactus/Pink Floyd/Blue Murder) Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath/Dio/Heaven & Hell/Derringer/John Lennon) Mike Tramp (White Lion/Freak Of Nature) Phil Lewis (LA Guns/Girl) Frank Dimino (Angel) Martin Slott (Push) Jimmy Bain (Rainbow/Dio) Tony Franklin (The Firm/Blue Murder/Whitesnake) Robby Lochner (Jack Russell’s Great White/Rob Halford’s Fight)
Crean is the Vocalist for the Award winning 2014 & 2015 Popular Tribute Band Hair Nation.He is Also the Lead Vocalist for the National Band The Appice Brother’s.
Pulling their name from a newspaper headline that read: “Lucid Flies into the Record Book,” about astronaut Shannon Lucid, melodic prog rockers Lucid Fly founders Nikki Layne (vocalist) and Doug Mecca (guitarist) were obviously onto something very unique from the start.
Starting their musical journey in Orlando, FL, they steadily built a strong and loyal following throughout the Southeast and Midwest through constant touring; the band cut its teeth performing throughout the region on a regular basis and working their way up to larger clubs along the way, as well as expanding their fanbase out to Atlanta and Austin, amongst other cities. In 2005 they released their debut Ep, ‘Adapting to Gravity,’ which was met with overwhelming praise from fans throughout the region.
2007 arrived and Layne and Mecca realized that they had taken things as far as they could in their hometown and surrounding areas and decided they needed to uproot, setting their sights on the West Coast. “We wanted to jump into a more challenging scene where many musicians went for the sole purpose of taking their music further. A change in scenery seemed to fit our ever-changing way of songwriting, and we were looking to try that outside of our home comfort zone so to speak,” says Doug. “We really wanted to be where the caliber of musicianship was known to be top-notch and where there is more opportunity in general,” adds Nikki.
Los Angeles, CA to be exact.
Leaving the Sunshine State for The Golden State, the duo landed in the city that has spawned millionaire rock stars and has broken the souls of so many others. Within two months they met seasoned drummer Aaron Ficca and they were off and running. Culling a new band together, Lucid Fly v2.0 began setting LA on its collective heel, hitting local venues such as the legendary Key Club and Roxy as well as the iconic Viper Room, and releasing ‘The Escape Stage’ in 2009. The Ep was met with fan and critical praise, further reinforcing the band’s faith in themselves. “The bar was definitely higher in LA across the board, as far as talent, ambition, showmanship, experience, and the level of performance. We’ve taken all that in as part-education part-inspiration to elevate everything we had done before, and to truly find our voice in our creative process,” clarifies Nikki.
In 2011, the band started experimenting with new material and began developing a new way of writing together, all the while doing a short stretch of stripped down performances to refine their new ideas. “We learned to use technology to manipulate our live ideas and then bring them back into the rehearsal room,” says Doug. “We were working on our more current sound which started to show a little on ‘Stasis.”’
2013-2014 saw Lucid Fly playing around Southern California as well as hitting Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Las Vegas and prepping what would become 2015’s ‘Stasis’ EP, this time adding Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus and Twelve Foot Ninja) and Adam Barber (Sevendust, Alter Bridge), who both mixed ‘Stasis,’ to the band’s team.
Lucid Fly was also hand picked by Mike Portnoy to participate as part of 2014’s “Progressive Nation at Sea” cruise, performing on the New Millenium Stage alongside 16 other artists, which was a huge shot in the arm for the band. Layne and Mecca reflect back on that cruise: “It was our first international gig, an amazing 4-day musical vacation, full of nonstop live music, food, sun and like-minded music lovers – we made some new friends for life. It was truly an unforgettable experience playing alongside amazing bands like Animals as Leaders, Periphery, Riverside, Devin Townsend, Jolly, The Dear Hunter, Anathema, Jon Anderson and many more!”
With new full length album, Building Castles in Air the band self-produced and recorded in several studios throughout Southern California and Oregon, as well as their own home studio in Los Angeles. “Making all the decisions proved to be tough as it allowed us to explore more than ever before, which meant we had to have the discipline to reel it in and complete what became the biggest recording project by far to date,” explains Doug. They discovered that some of the major differences included the fact that none of the ten tracks on the album had been performed live and time was a major factor, as was budget, of course. “Luckily we had quite a bit of help courtesy of our amazing fans and a very successful IndieGoGo campaign,” relates Nikki. “We had 100% access to Flabbey
Road Studio to do everything possible in a week. It had a great big room so we focused on all the drum tracking. Guitars were done in the home studio, then bass and vocals had to be scheduled around the crowdfunding campaign. Then a final pass with overdubs and editing gave us more input and time to finish these songs than any previous Ep. It was also the first time we tracked and edited ourselves for much of our own recording! How’s that for stressful? Haha.”
They once again turned to ARIA-nominated Savell to mix and master the new album. “He’s brilliant when it comes to mixing and we love his taste in everything he’s had his hand in,” says Nikki. “We went much deeper than we ever did before, layering in ambience and sounds and space, and we knew we could trust that the final mix would come back with everything in its perfect place.”
With Building Castles in Air, Lucid Fly moves the bar a bit higher, challenging themselves more, both musically and emotionally, than they ever had before. Hitting off with “Billowy and Broken,” (about finding a silver lining in life no matter what you may be going through) after which the band launches into “Circles Into Squares,” which touches on self-expectations and where you are at the present time with these ideals, while the album’s first single, “Visions of Grandeur” takes the mantra “If you can dream it, you can do it” to a whole new level. Regarding the album as an entirety, the band says, “We wanted the music to tell the story, through more than just the words. Sonically, we experimented a lot with guitar and vocal tones, dynamics, and layers to capture some of the contrasting themes throughout the album – introspection, melancholy, longing, daydreaming, transformation, and a sense of hope and optimism.”
Drawing influence from artists as varied as A Perfect Circle, TesseracT, Journey and Pat Benatar allows Lucid Fly to open up a bit and not necessarily be pegged as a prog rock only band. “There is definitely never a shortage of musical inspiration out there, and every time we are in creating mode we try to approach things differently in some way.” says Doug. “On this album, musically we definitely stretched our use of time signatures and experimental arrangements, which gave the vocals an added level of playroom but also a challenge to create a listenable and deliberate melody. The tools we used, in particular the Fractal Axe-Fx, gave us an additional palette of sounds to write with, essentially adding another instrument to the band. Ideally we’d love to add another player live and take that idea even further.”
The band says, “Since the beginning we’ve had a drive to express a style unique to Lucid Fly. That same ongoing passion to create fuels a future of music waiting to be written, recorded, and performed for years and ideally, decades, to come.”
Dallas, TX has a rich musical history dating all the way back to the likes of T-Bone Walker and Robert Johnson, two of the most influential bluesmen ever to walk the planet. In more recent years artists such as Meat Loaf, Pantera, Edie Brickell, Norah Jones, Sugarbomb and Hellyeah have kept the city’s musical legacy vibrant and alive. Now add melodic hard rockers Three Lane Road to the fold.
Formed in 2014 as a studio project for singer / guitarist Wayne Brito’s musical output, the band became a live entity in March of 2016 when they played their first show at Dallas’ The Underpass. The band has since shared the stage with Joe Lynn Turner, Junkyard and Bang Tango. The Joe Lynn Turner show was actually a night put together to honour the fallen Dallas police officers at the han ds of a sniper in July of 2016. “It was a great honour to be included in that show, “Brito relates. “We were more than happy to be able to pay respect to the men and women of our law enforcement agencies.”
Pulling Steve Musket from a former band and discovering both Davis and Geisel from ads, the quartet initially had no plans to actually play out, instead, concentrating on getting the performances possible in the studio. However that changed when Dallas music fans began insisting Three Lane Road take their act out of the studio and onto the stages of the city’s venues. The band is rounded out by supplemental keyboard players and an occasional guest guitarist in live situations.
Drawing influence from top arena rockers of the most successful era in rock music – 70’s and 80’s acts such as Journey, Bon Jovi, Dokken and Skid Row – Three Lane Road deliver the material on their self-titled debut Ep with a recipe equal parts melody and power. Recorded at Empire Sound in Carrollton, TX with producer, Alex Gerst (Beautiful Disaster, Fair To Midland, Flickerstick, etc), the nine song effort is comprised of material mostly written by frontman, Brito.
With “melodic rock” no longer being the red headed stepchild of the music world, Three Lane Road’s self-titled effort and TLR Records / Vanity Music Group debut screams with hooks and over the top melodies easily relatable to fans of their hard rock heroes. Kicking off with first single, “I Want” – about the ever popular, love-at-first-site boy-meets-girl scenario.- the band proceed to mow you over with “I’ll Fly With You” (looking for hope) before launching into the punchy “Strange Way,” “Time of Our Lives” (about living your life to the fullest as tomorrow is never guaranteed) and the hopeful “Dreams” before wrapping up with the anthemic “Lift Me Up.”
The self-titled Ep sets up a full length, as yet untitled, album due for release in early 2017. Brito says, “The idea is to get these six songs out there as an introduction to the band with the full nine song album, which is in production now, set to come out in January or February. We’re using the Ep to get people excited about the upcoming full length album and to introduce the band to a worldwide audience.”
Why the name ‘Aittala’? (pronounced ‘eye-tah-la’) Simple. A name was needed and Eric’s last name seemed like a good choice. It’s ambiguous and doesn’t lend itself to any specific genre like some band names tend to do.
The music crosses many metal genres; it’s hard to put it into just one category. The sound infuses elements of classic heavy metal, doom, progressive, power, thrash and hard rock with lyrics drawing inspiration from the darker side of the human condition. The Aittala sound has been cited for being unique which is no easy task in the metal world.
Eric formed the first version of Aittala in 1991 while living in Holland. With fellow American Tim Mannon on vocals, Dutch drummer Ed Vereijken and Dutch bassist Jon Doe (while his first name is Jon, his last name has been forgotten with time, so he’s become ‘John Doe’), the band played numerous shows around the Dutch metal scene.
With the release of the 3-song EP Selling Heaven in summer of 1993, Aittala opened for such bands as The Gathering and Sadist. But as the band and the demo started to create a buzz in the underground Dutch metal scene, Eric had to leave the country.
Over the next decade or so, Eric played in numerous bands and lost focus on Aittala.
Near the end of the 00’s, Eric decided it was time to refocus his efforts on the Aittala brand. In 2009, Aittala released Bed of Thorns; the first full-length album. Bed of Thorns was an eleven song downward spiral; a deep, dark look into the human condition. While the songs are guitar heavy, the album is more experimental and keyboard-laden. Even though the album had mixed reviews, Bed of Thorns laid the foundation for the classis Aittala sound.
In 2011 the second full-length album, Haunt Your Flesh, was released. It built on the momentum of Bed of Thorns and took it up a notch in production and song writing. Haunt Your Flesh was a ten song, guitar-driven journey that explored themes of tormented lives, Armageddon, control and redemption. Haunt Your Flesh was widely praised by critics for its original sound; something that is difficult to do in this day and age.
In 2014, Effigy was released. This third full length release consisted of 10 songs; 7 brand new hard and heavy Aittala songs along with a ‘re-imagining’ of the 3 songs from the Selling Heaven EP.
The seven new songs that make up the bulk of Effigy were heavier and more guitar driven but kept the unique Aittala sound.
In 2016, the band’s fourth full-length album entitled American Nightmare was released. American Nightmare consisted of 10 brand new songs that returned to the more diverse song writing established on the first two full-length albums.
The current line up of Aittala consists of Gary ‘Zeus’ Smith on drums and Andrew Sullivan on bass. They continue to write, record and tour to bring Aittala to the masses.
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