One of the tours I've been most amped about for 2023 so far is the co-headlining run of The Charlatans and RIDE. Both are two of my favorites from the early-90s UK music scene, and each are currently on the road performing one of their albums in its entirety. For RIDE it's the 1990 shoegaze... Continue Reading →
Rockers We Want to See Back in 2023
The way the music popularity pendulum has swung in recent times, rock and roll is on the backburner in favor of country pop, dance, hip-hop and K-pop are way ahead. In fact, if there were a backburner to the backburner, loud guitars and heavy-footed drums would be there. Upstarts like Greta Van Fleet, Thundermother and... Continue Reading →
Brian Johnson Tells How He Wrote the AC/DC Classic ‘Hells Bells’
There's been a lot of talk over the years about how maybe Brian Johnson didn't pen the songs on Back in Black, the biggest selling rock record in history. The theories go that the lyrics were actually lifted from the notebooks of the late Bon Scott, who died just before the recording sessions for the... Continue Reading →
New Year’s Resolutions 2023: Some Recommendations for Your Favorite Artists
Welcome to this year’s edition of Rock Music Menu’s “New Year’s Resolutions for Rockers Who Need Them,” where we assist musicians with setting goals for the coming 12 months. It’s not an easy job, but one that begrudgingly must be done. Rockers, rollers and performers of all sorts are just like us: they make resolutions... Continue Reading →
Talking with Brian Johnson About ‘Back in Black,’ His New Memoir and AC/DC’s 50th Anniversary
It's not every day I get to sit and have a chat with the singer on the biggest selling rock album in music history. But Brian Johnson couldn't have been more engaging as we covered a multitude of topics during a recent interview which is now available to read over at Metal Edge. The AC/DC... Continue Reading →
Drab Majesty Talk Isolation, Sonic Evolution and Italian Food
Darkwave outfit Drab Majesty have been on my radar since hearing their song "Dot in the Sky" back in 2017. This year, I was able to see them twice live, interviewing the mastermind behind the curtain, Deb Demure between the shows. It was a bit of a journey for me in a way. Caught them... Continue Reading →
Iceland Airwaves, coolest music fest in the world, returns
Like virtually every other music festival on the planet, Iceland Airwaves was deeply affected by COVID-19. The event went virtual in 2020 and last year under the banner “Live from Reykjavík” with the latter a socially distanced hybrid across just four venues on a single night that ended with the country going back into lockdown... Continue Reading →
Beth Orton Talks About Braving the ‘Weather’ for a 617 Q&A
The worst part about interviewing Beth Orton was not being able to then see her perform on the tour I was interviewing her about. Unfortunately, I was traveling internationally while she was in town promoting the excellent album Weather Alive. her first in over six years. We had a good chat over Zoom though while... Continue Reading →
Back in the 617 Groove with Craig Finn from the Hold Steady
Several years back, I came up with the idea to shake up the traditional interview a little bit. A dirty little not-so-secret among musicians is they aren't really a fan of doing them, mainly because it's the same old questions that have been addressed ad nauseam. Enter the 617 Q&A , which is exclusive to... Continue Reading →
‘Dirt,’ the darkest album of the grunge era, turns 30
The Mount Rushmore of grunge is universally recognized as being made up of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. To debate would be absurd, as those four were the most popular, sold the most music and sprouted out of early ‘90s Seattle, ground zero of the movement. Upon closer examination though, a bit... Continue Reading →