Last year American rockers Every Mother’s Nightmare (EMN) released “Grind”, their first album in fifteen years, and founding-member, singer Rick Ruhl was my guest on the Friday NI Rocks Show. EMN have now re-released their third album “Smokin Delta Voodoo” which initially appeared in 2000. The new re-packaged and re-engineered version of the album was released on 8th June via HighVol Music and includes four additional demo tracks. I’ve played tracks from the original version on the Shows many times over the past 8 years and the new version of “Delta Voodoo” was featured on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 15th June.
Read more: NI ROCKS Recommends "Smokin Delta Voodoo" by EVERY MOTHER'S NIGHTMARE
“My Soul To You” is the latest blues rock album from Finnish guitarist Ben Granfelt and it was released on 15th June via A1 Records. Granfelt will be best known for his time with the Leningrad Cowboys and Wishbone Ash, but his solo albums, where he takes on the role of lead vocalist, have also gained him an international following. This is his 16th solo release since 1994. I included the title track on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 1st June and “Weight of the World” on the Show on 22nd June.
Read more: NI ROCKS Recommends "My Soul To You" by BEN GRANFELT
I had the pleasure of recording an interview with singer Amanda Somerville back in May 2015 and one of the things we talked about was the first Trillium album. She’d indicated that a follow-up album was one of her main priorities and hoped that it might appear late in 2016. In reality, she has been rather busy and the second Trillium album, “Tectonic”, was only released by Frontiers on 8th June. I included the track “Shards” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 25th May and “Full Speed Ahead” on the Show on 15th June.
Read more: NI ROCKS Recommends "Tectonic" by AMANDA SOMERVILLE'S TRILLIUM
Supergroup Sons of Apollo released their debut album “Psychotic Symphony” last October and recently completed an extensive tour of North and South America. Their European tour kicks off on 22nd June and includes a show in Limelight 1, Belfast on 3rd July. The band features Mike Portnoy, formerly of Dream Theater on drums, Derek Sherinian from Black Country Communion and previously Dream Theater on keyboards, Jeff Scott Soto from W.E.T. and formerly Journey on vocals, Billy Sheenan from Mr Big on bass and Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal on guitar.
Bumblefoot is probably best known for his time in Guns n Roses, but he was also involved in another ‘supergroup’, Art of Anarchy, and has released many solo albums. I spoke to Bumblefoot via Skype on 20th June while he was in London preparing for the European tour. We chatted for about 35 minutes about Sons of Apollo, the new album, Art of Anarchy, his solo work and much more. That interview can be heard on the Friday NI Rocks Show for 22nd June along with tracks from Sons of Apollo, Art of Anarchy, Guns n Roses and his latest solo album. You can listen to it on our MixCloud page - https://www.mixcloud.com/NIRocks/interview-with-ron-bumblefoot-thal-on-the-friday-ni-rocks-show-on-22nd-june-2018/