By the end of the 1970s, Triumph (aka – The Rock and Roll Machine) were one of the biggest exports from the Great White North. There were better known bands at the time (see: The Guess Who and Rush) but for the record, Triumph were similar to, yet vastly different, than their Canadian compatriots. […]
Let us first clarify who Craig Frost isn’t. He is not related to Jack Frost. He also wasn’t a member of the Michigan band The Frost or the Swiss metal band from Zurich called Celtic Frost. At one juncture of his career, Craig Frost was a journeyman keyboard player on the Flint, Michigan bar […]
Okay, I now have further proof that 1967 was a long time ago. When Doug Ingle passed away on May 25, 2024, I told one of the kids at school I was going to do an Iron Butterfly tribute. It should not have surprised me when they asked, “Who?” I went through all the […]
In the last few months I was still playing in a band with three airmen from KI Sawyer Air Force Base, our bass player loaned me an album by a band called Trapeze. Lee said, “There is a song called Black Cloud on it I really want us to learn. As was my custom, […]
Love, love will keep us together / Think of me babe whenever / Some sweet-talking girl comes along, singing her song / Don’t mess around, you’ve just got to be strong, just stop / ‘Cause I really love you, stop / I’ll be thinking of you / Look in my heart and let love keep […]
This is our old friend Al Jacquez and his wife Judy – Al was put in the Michigan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Bay City in 2024. We have followed his career since Savage Grace, Measured Chaos, and most recently as a solo artist performing his ONE VOICE – ONE GUITAR set. The […]
The dawn of the 1980s had to be a revelation for Lita Ford. She was 22 years old, an outstanding but newly unemployed guitar player living back home with her parents in Long Beach, California. She had seen all the ‘lead singer drama’ she could tolerate before her old band, The Runaways, imploded. Lita […]
So much attention seems to be given to certain names in the music business, it is a wonder that the majority of artists out there even get the chance to get their music heard. All too often, some of the ‘big names’ in music put out sub-standard albums (in comparison to their own work) but […]
Everybody knows Eddie Van Halen invented a two hand guitar technique widely known as ‘tapping’. All one has to do is call up a video of Eddie shredding the neck of one of his iconic guitars and it is likely he will employ tapping in a solo. What is tapping exactly? According to Gunnar […]
Who is Bill? You know, Bill Szymczyk. Who? Bill Szymczyk (pronounced ‘/simzik/’ if you are wondering). Never heard of him? Maybe not by name, but if you have listened to recorded work by B.B. King, The James Gang, Joe Walsh, Eagles, The J.Geils Band, JoJo Gunne, Jay Ferguson, The Winter brothers (Edgar and Johnny), […]