Danielle Sariyan

An Interview With Dark Star Orchestra: Jeff Mattson On Keeping The Tradition And Magic Of The Grateful Dead Very Much Alive

Dark Star Orchestra has been treating fans to recreations of complete, originally highly improvised Grateful Dead shows, song by song in the same order in which they were first performed for the last two decades. In their 19 years the band has performed more than 2,600 shows, which is 300 more than the Grateful Dead did in their 30-year run.

I spoke with Jeff Mattson, lead guitarist/vocalist of the preeminent Dead tribute act, Dark Star Orchestra, ahead of their upcoming New Jersey show to discuss his connection to the music, his experiences playing alongside his musical heroes and what continues to inspire him night after night, year after year to pay homage to the legendary Grateful Dead.

An Interview With Kansas: Guitarist Rich Williams On Why There’s No Place Like Home On The Range And No Style Like Your Own The Aquarian Weekly. November 16, 2016

Kansas’ latest album, The Prelude Implicit, treats fans to 10 new tracks and two exciting bonus songs. The album, coproduced by the band’s new member, Zac Rizvi, alongside two of the original members, Phil Ehart and Rich Williams, brilliantly celebrates the vocal talents of Ronnie Platt and the musical prowess of David Ragsdale (violin), David Manion (keyboards), Phil Ehart (drums), Billy Greer (bass guitar), and both Rich Williams and Zac Rizvi on guitar.

The band boasts an extensive catalog of 20 albums, eight of which have gone gold, three have achieved sextuple-platinum and one has reached platinum status. After a 16-year recording hiatus, the legendary band is back and better than ever, with fans proclaiming The Prelude Implicit to be the band’s hottest album in decades.

An Interview With Protest The Hero: Rody Walker On The Wild And Unconventional Pacific Myth Experience

Protest The Hero released their newest EP, Pacific Myth, to fans via the subscription-based Bandcamp service this November. The Canadian progressive metal band composed of Rody Walker (lead vocals), Luke Hoskin (lead guitar, piano), Tim Miller (rhythm, guitar, piano), Mike Ieradi (drums), and Cam McLellan (bass guitar) is set to finish the year back on their home turf in Canada with an exciting end of year tour before kicking off 2017 on the August Burns Red tour. Protest The Hero frontman Rody Walker talked to me about the unorthodox releases of the band’s last two albums as well as their attempt to change the surprisingly stale image of progressive metal. We also discussed why despite the ease and popularity of digital downloads, vinyl still reins king and wax is not only back, but getting bigger every day.