Farewell Vinnie Paul

Vinnie Paul has died at the age of 54. This is according to the Facebook post below via Pantera. No cause of death is given.

This one is a shock to me. As you can imagine, there is a mass outpouring of affection from metal stars and fans.

I just woke up in Belgium to the news that my friend Vinnie Paul has passed away. Another metal hero taken too soon. Say hello to Daryl for me. Rest In Peace, my dear friend. @Pantera @hellyeahband #vinniepaul

— Dave Mustaine (@DaveMustaine) June 23, 2018

Rock in peace Vinnie Paul
Say hi to brother Dime from all of us
We love you . Wish you were still here. Gone too soon man . Thanks for the music. And more importantly 30 years of non stop friendship. How rare is that In this business? I'm really gonna miss you 💕 pic.twitter.com/LUY41pzC0l

— Sebastian Bach (@sebastianbach) June 23, 2018

Terribly saddened by the news of Vinnie Paul’s passing. Vinnie was a beloved fixture in the rock and metal communities and we will miss seeing him out on the road. His impact on heavy music is immeasurable. Rest In Peace Vinnie, condolences to your family, friends and fans.

— Alice Cooper (@alicecooper) June 23, 2018

Vinnie was a great friend. My heart is aching. My prayers and condolences go out to his family, band and crew. Godspeed my friend. #VinniePaul pic.twitter.com/lY8JdvveBE

— Bret Michaels (@bretmichaels) June 23, 2018

#Rip Vinnie Paul , A monster of a drummer and always the life of the party !! Thanks for all the good times and the hospitality at The Clubhouse in Dallas . A true Rock N Roll Spirit that will be truly missed . pic.twitter.com/HXq1cPS3BU

— matt sorum (@mattsorum) June 23, 2018

Great Weekend Playlist

Happy first official weekend of summer! I took a vacation day from work because I'm pretty fried. It's a little overcast in my part of the world right now, but it's early. I'm hoping to hit the pool later. Maybe I'll check out this special metal playlist on Spotify. It was shared by Frontiers - I have to say this looks like a lot of great music. Enjoy your weekend.

Remember This? (I Don't)

Happy first day of summer! I came across this on YouTube last night... a shout out to BBG! from Dee Snider. I have no recollection of this, but I must have posted it at the time. YouTube tells me the clip is from 2009, which feels like a lifetime ago now. At any rate, this was a pretty cool find!

Stay Hungry (25th Anniversary Edition) by Twisted Sister (2009-06-30)

Slash Announces Tour, New Album

This is cool news. Slash, featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators will release a new album this year AND tour. The album will be called Living the Dream and will be released in late September. Slash sure has been busy on the road. But as the Guns n' Roses world reunion tour winds down - he'll be right back out there, playing for fans of his solo work. Here's the details:

Tour dates:

Sep. 13 - Whisky A Go Go @ Los Angeles, CA
Sep. 15 - The Van Buren @ Phoenix, AZ
Sep. 16 - Kaaboo Del Mar @ Del Mar, CA
Sep. 18 - The Depot @ Salt Lake City, UT
Sep. 19 - Fillmore @ Denver, CO
Sep. 21 - Paradise Cove Margaritaville @ Tulsa, OK
Sep. 22 - Winstar @ Thackerville, OK
Sep. 24 - Stubbs @ Austin, TX
Sep. 26 - House of Blues @ Houston, TX
Sep. 28 - Louder Than Life @ Louisville, KY
Sep. 29 - Four Winds Casino Resort @ New Buffalo, MI
Oct. 01 - Wellmont Theatre @ Montclair, NJ
Oct. 02 - Fillmore @ Silver Spring, MD
Oct. 04 - Casino Rama @ Rama, Canada
Oct. 05 - Pier 17 at South Street Seaport @ New York, NY
Oct. 06 - Mohegan Sun @ Uncasville, CT
Oct. 09 - Paramount @ Huntington, NY
Oct. 10 - Electric Factory @ Philadelphia, PA
Oct. 11 - House Of Blues @ Boston, MA
Oct. 14 - Aftershock @ Sacramento, CA

Slash - Autobiography

Last Night, I Found An Enigma

I lived through my massive work event, which I ultimately moved indoors - due to heat - with the help of approximately 40 or so staff members over the course of about 8 very active working hours. Then the big event went off without a hitch and fun was had by all! I never want to do that again, ha!

One of my event elements included a steel drum player. He played traditional Caribbean music and then every once in a while would drop in a pop song. I loved when he played Bruno Mars - we danced! During my long cleanup, he stayed a little while to entertain the staff... and started taking requests. Me, being punchy at this point, said "Let's hear some metal!" to which everyone I work with groaned. So I said, "Ok, play some 80s hair metal!" and everyone cheered, seriously. So the amazing steel drum player looked at me said "I don't know what this is" and I said, okay, "Play Def Leppard."

Him: "Who is that band?"

Me: "Def. Leppard."

Him: Spell it.

Me. I did so.

Googling ensues.

Him: "Did you know they have a song called - "

Co-Worker: "Pour Some Sugar On Me."

Him: "How did you know that?"

Me: "Can you play it?"

Him: "Give me a second."

Literally one minute later, this man who had never heard of Def Leppard - let alone the band's most famous song - was looking at a drum tab and started playing. It was basically incredible. I've never heard a steel drum version of "Sugar" before, but I swear it was epic. When he packed up to leave, I thanked him for his hard work. He promised me to look up more songs by Def Leppard and to came back and really kill it for me. I'm kinda pumped. Plus, I've never met someone that's never heard of Def Leppard before, so that was sort of life altering in a way. It reminds us about our world view, perspectives and being open-minded to others. This amazing drummer knows way more bands than I do, I'm sure. We can always learn from others if we just let ourselves be open to new experiences, cultures and people.

'Crazy From The Heat' (And Monday)

Happy Monday. I'm running a work event today that will be outside. It's nearly 100 degrees in southern Ohio, so I'm pretty concerned how it will turn out. Plus I'll be working about 12 hours in that heat, so that doesn't sound fun either!

I saw Tommy Lee feuded with his son Brandon on Instagram for Father's Day. That's pretty sad. Laura Bush penned an op-ed about the Trump policy of ripping kids from their parents at the border. That's even sadder. You can't request asylum until you are into a country's border. To then snatch a tiny child and shove it into a tent in 100+ Texas heat alone? Monstrous.

I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart.https://t.co/he1uw1E96A

— Laura Bush (@laurawbush) June 18, 2018

I worked all weekend on various projects. I don't think I've had my music on in four straight days. I went heads down at my desk last Wednesday, just trying to slam some stuff out. I popped on Def Leppard's Hysteria and just got some stuff done. That's always my work go to when I need to focus. I think it's because I know the album so well, I just sort of make it background noise at this point instead of active listening.

Since I'll be setting up hundreds of chairs and tables for today, maybe I'll pop on music for everyone to enjoy while work. "Crazy From The Heat" seems like a good plan! Here's something random: a video for the casting call of the "Crazy From The Heat" video clip:

And the actual clip, of course:

David Ellefson Announces Dates For Basstory Tour

Happy Father's Day to all the dads! I hope you have a rocking day. 

From my inbox:

Grammy Award Winning Megadeth bassist, author, entrepreneur, and Metal Icon David Ellefson has announced the first dates for his BASSTORY tour, a series of limited and exclusive "Storytellers" dates, starting 9/21 in Portland.

Dubbed “Basstory: An Intimate Evening of Riffs and Repartee with David Ellefson”, the show combines solo bass performance with David’s celebrated brand of storytelling, as he recounts intimate details of his struggles and triumphs in the name of Rock N’ Roll.

BASSTORY will also include special VIP meet and greets, exclusive merchandise, and more.

Says Ellefson, “I have always done clinics, and a few years ago did an amazing spoken word tour in Australia to support my book My Life With ‘Deth, and have always welcomed the opportunity to be able to meet and connect with fans on a more intimate level. These important parts of my professional life converged to create BASSTORY. Not only will fans get to hear some of their favorite bass riffs, but the stories behind them. It’s not often I get to get into small, intimate Rock clubs, the way this all started, and I’m excited for fans to get to experience this show.”

Tickets and limited VIPS are available for purchase at davidellefsonbasstory.com

BASSTORY DATES: 
9/20 Portland, OR - Dante's 
9/21 Spokane Valley, WA - The Roadhouse 
9/22 Fife, WA - Louie G's 
9/28 San Antonio, TX - Fitzgerald's 
9/29 Houston, TX - BFE Rock Club

My Life with Deth: Discovering Meaning in a Life of Rock & Roll