Mike Keneally fans everywhere had been eagerly anticipating the release of Scambot 2, Mike’s long awaited follow-up to 2009’s Scambot. Perhaps even more anticipated is the chance to see Keneally on the road with his two favorite compadres, Bryan Beller and Joe Travers, collectively known as Beer for Dolphins. Fans of MK&BfD will hear a bevy classic 90’s tunes from albums like Sluggo! and Dancing among more than a few other terrific surprises. It’s great to have this classic trio playing together again and boy-o-boy is it ever hard to make that happen! Mike has been quite the busy fellow working on a number of side projects not to mention recording and touring the globe doing nearly impossible things in Joe Satriani’s band.

And as if the splendor of MK & BfD live weren’t enough to stuff the pallet of the muso-cognoscenti, MK will be supported by the riff-crunchy stylings of the Travis Larson Band! Yes, Travis and crew, Jennifer Young – bass, and Dale Moon – drums, will be all over the place this fall in musical combinations  of which mere mortals could only dream!  Travis is putting the finishing touches on a new album soon to blaze brand new sonic frontiers. You’ll find all the details right here kiddies!

If you’ve read this far and are the kind of clever socially with-it people we know you to be then you’ve clearly been anticipating this next announcement.

Blue Mouth Promotions is distinctly honored to welcome Andy Timmons into our cozy little family of high-powered musicians. Andy is a true gem of a guy and the fact that he’s one of the world’s greatest guitar players is simply a bonus. We’re so gosh darned proud to work with Andy we just don’t know what to do with ourselves! Well, that’s only partly true. We’re proud for sure but we’ve also been busy working to get Andy out on the road this fall. Fans of Andy’s fiery rich tone will be positively giddy to know there’s a new Andy Timmons Band album just around the corner! We’ll put out the word just as soon as we can but you all should do your dead-level best to catch one of the shows. Andy will be welcoming the Travis Larson Band along for most of the ride because Travis is everywhere powering one of the hardest working bands known to man.

When you see the Andy Timmons Band, Travis Larson Band, or Mike Keneally and Beer for Dolphins live on stage, ‘gobsmacked’ may be a lasting state of mind.

Now, as if that weren’t enough to straighten out yer short-n-curlies, please also give a warm welcome to Teddy Kumpel. You may have seen Teddy almost anywhere covering half the planet playing guitar and singing background  for none other than Joe Jackson. But when on his own, Teddy wrangles a six-string in a way few others are capable by looping layer upon layer into a veritable guitar orchestra, a LOOPestra if you will. Check the show listings for when and where to catch Teddy’s fretboard acrobatics.

Shot live in Mexicali, Mexico, Shift Happens is available now in 5.1 surround. This CD/DVD combo package captures the Travis Larson Band at its hottest and features 17 songs, band commentary, and extra bonus features. Order your very own directly from http://www.travislarsonband.com or pick one up all across North America as TLB opens for The Aristocrats in July and August!

As Free Electric Sound prepares Tea Time For Punks — the explosive sixth album from French fusion trio, MORGLBL — to hit late this month, today a brand new track, “God Shaved The Queen,” has been released through PureGrainAudio.   Comprised of guitarist Christope Godin, bassist Ivan Rougny, and drummer Aurelian Ouzoulias,MORGLBL has become known throughout the cosmos for their exploratory energy and bizarre musical concoctions, their madcap jazz/jam metal fusion style virtually void of vocals, but their tunes communicating a language all their own. Having toured extensively around the entire globe, the band has successfully performed all over Europe, and has raided the United States, Russia, China and more, sharing the stage with the likes of Liquid Tension Experiment, Bumblefoot, and Umphrey’s McGee among countless others.   Now in their eighteenth year as a unit, MORGLBL prepares their thunderous sixth studio full-length Tea Time For Punks for release through Free Electric Sound, the instrumental subdivision of progressive rock/metal label group, The Laser’s Edge. These three virtuosos are well endorsed clinicians and have developed a following individually but when they come together the fireworks really start. Tea Time For Punks doesn’t deviate from the tried and true MORGLBL formula, just delivers it with more astounding creativity than ever, aiming to capture new fans through their new US label partner. Envision equal parts vocal-free fusion and crushing metal power chords, then inject a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humor, like Primus, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth and Frank Zappa in a high-speed blender, and you’ve got a grip on what Tea Time For Punks beholds.   The first single from Tea Time For Punks is playing at PureGrainAudio; swing by to check out the exclusive stream of “God Shaved The Queen” now atTHIS LOCATION.   Recorded during December 2014 — drums by Vincent Thermidor at Studio TF, guitars at Gnõ-Gnõ Studio and bass at Van’s Studio — Tea Time For Punks was mixed by Enzo d’Agostino at Elia Studio and mastered at Conkrete Studio by Mobo. Completed with artwork by Pierre Bernard and Peter Puke including a collage by Puke, Tea Time For Punks boasts over an hour of nonstop freakshow entertainment fit for virtually any open-minded rock fan. Free Electric Sound will release the album digitally and on CD worldwide on May 26th. Stand by for further music and info on the album to see release in the coming days.   Tea Time For Punks Track Listing: 1. Banjovi 2. Rood 3. Tea Time For Pu╠ênks 4. Chinese Buffet 5. Mariachi’s Burger 6. Untoon That Geetar 7. Far Tea Time 8. Treeball 9. God Shaved The Queen 10. Atomic Tom Mohawk 11. Big Ben Shaved The Queen Interlude   “Crazy French phenomenon Christophe Godin applies his nothing short of bonkers rock guitar abilities to this ferocious yet tongue-in-cheek display of post-Vai/Zappa composition and musicianship.  Jazzy it ain’t, but full of immense playing technique and cool tones it most definitely is.  Be afraid.” – Guitarist Magazine

The name Tony MacAlpine is synonymous with modern musical virtuosity. Whether performing as a solo artist, band member, session player, touring hired-gun, or as a producer,  MacAlpine continues to prove that he truly is one of rock’s most amazing and versatile musicians. He incorporates classical, jazz and fusion influences into the hard rock/metal genre on both guitar and keyboards.

These are the formidable skills TMac brings to his highly anticipated new album Concrete Gardens which drops everywhere on April 21, 2015.  Fans across the US will get the first chance to see Tony perform these new tunes.  Backing MacAlpine live once again are drum phenom Aquilies Priester and the king of snarling bass tone, Bjorn Englen.  Tour support is provided by BMP artist LoNero and a select few shows in the midwest include Hephystus.

Concrete Gardens will be available as a standard CD and in Special Edition form complete with a DVD performance of the entire album shot by EMG-TV.

Monday, June 8 in Phoenix, AZ at Pub Rock Live

Tuesday, June 9 in Albuquerque, NM at Low Spirits

Thursday, June 11 in Austin, TX at Saxon Pub

Friday, June 12 in Houston, TX at BFE Rock Club

Saturday, June 13 in McKinney, TX at The Sanctuary Event Center

Sunday, June 14 in Tulsa, OK at The Vanguard

Wednesday, June 17 in Columbus, OH at Rhumba Cafe

Thursday, June 18 in Indianapolis, IN at Birdy’s Live

Friday, June 19 in Chicago, IL at Reggie’s

Saturday, June 20 in Detroit, MI at The Token Lounge

Sunday, June 21 in Cincinnati, OH at The Mad Frog

Tuesday, June 23 in Pittsburgh, PA at Hard Rock Cafe

Wednesday, June 24 in Vienna, VA at Jammin Java

Thursday, June 25 in Philadelphia, PA at the North Star Bar

Friday, June 26 in New York, NY at the Iridium

Saturday, June 27 in Cambridge, MA at The Middle East.

The Aristocrats reveal the title of their third studio album:
Tres Caballeros
Plus: North America Summer 2015 Tour Dates Announced

“virtuosic, melodic, spontaneous, outrageous and fun” [Guitar World]

(photo by Mike Mesker)

Fresh off their wildly successful 2013-2014 Culture Clash world tour, The Aristocrats – by any measure the hottest new band in instrumental rock/fusion today – rewrote their own rules for their third studio album, Tres Caballeros, which is slated for release in late June.

After two fairly raw trio albums, guitarist Guthrie Govan (Steven Wilson, Asia/GPS), bassist Bryan Beller (Joe Satriani, Dethklok) and drummer Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, Joe Satriani) set up camp at legendary Sunset Sound studios in Hollywood, CA, where Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and Van Halen all recorded landmark albums.

The result: Nine new compositions of greater sonic depth and breadth than ever before, with unique textures and lush layering augmenting the band’s preternatural ability to improvise both individually and as a group at the highest levels possible. But not to worry – it’s all still tempered with a steadfast refusal to take themselves too seriously, and The Aristocrats are still having more fun than a fusion band has any right to have.

“We’ve learned a lot since we started this band – four years, three studio albums, two live DVDs and about a billion notes ago! – and I think our latest offering reflects this in all kinds of ways,” says guitarist Guthrie Govan. “The decision to road-test our new material in front of a live audience before commencing the recording process; the choice to record in a studio which had some thoroughly inspiring rock’n’roll ‘mojo’; our sudden urge to become more bold and experimental with overdubs rather than feeling any pressure to record exclusively in a strict ‘trio’ format… all of this has had some kind of positive effect on the way the new record came out. Plus, I think the material on this album is some of the most interesting stuff we’ve ever written for each other, so… here’s hoping our noble listeners will like the finished product as much as we do!”

The Tres Caballeros tour will bring the band’s new musical vision in trio form to stages across North America in their most ambitious jaunt yet. The Aristocrats will be supported by fellow rock/fusion power trio The Travis Larson Band.

Full details on each date can be found on the Aristocrats website calendar page. 

The Aristocrats
Tres Caballeros North America Tour – Summer 2015

Date                  City                              Venue

Mon 6-Jul         Sacramento, CA           Harlow’s
Tues 7-Jul         San Francisco, CA       Slim’s
Wed 8-Jul         Santa Cruz, CA             Don Quixote’s
Fri 10-Jul          Portland, OR                 Star Theater
Sat 11-Jul          Seattle, WA                    Studio Seven
Sun 12-Jul        Vancouver, BC, CAN   Rickshaw Theatre
Tues 14-Jul      Boise, ID                         Reef
Wed 15-Jul       Salt Lake City, UT        Club X
Fri 17-Jul          Denver, CO                    Quixote’s True Blue
Sat 19-Jul         Omaha, NE                    Slowdown
Mon 20-Jul      Des Moines, IA             The Gaslamp
Tues 21-Jul       St. Paul, MN                 The Amsterdam Bar And Hall

Thur 23-Jul      Milwaukee, WI             Miramar Theatre

Fri 24-Jul          Chicago, IL                   Reggie’s
Sat 25-Jul          Indianapolis, IN          Birdy’s
Sun 26-Jul        Cincinnati, OH             The Mad Frog
Tues 28-Jul      Cleveland, OH              Beachland Ballroom
Wed 29-Jul       Pittsburgh, PA              Hard Rock Café
Thur 30-Jul      Columbus, OH              Skully’s
Fri 31-Jul          Detroit, MI                     Token Lounge
Sat 1-Aug          Toronto, ON, CAN        Mod Club
Sun 2-Aug       Ottawa, ON, CAN          The Rainbow Bistro
Tues 4-Aug       Montreal, QC, CAN      Cafe Campus
Wed 5-Aug       Woodstock, NY              Bearsville Theater
Fri 7-Aug          Boston, MA                     The Middle East
Sat 8-Aug          New York City, NY        Irving Plaza
Sun 9-Aug         Philadelphia, PA           North Star Bar
Mon 10-Aug      Washington, DC           Jammin’ Java
Tues 11-Aug       Raleigh, NC                   Pour House
Thur 13-Aug      Charlotte, NC                Tremont Music Hall
Fri 14-Aug          Atlanta, GA                   Aisle 5
Sat 15-Aug         Nashville, TN                The High Watt
Sun 16-Aug        St. Louis, MO                Old Rock House
Mon 17-Aug       Kansas City, MO          VooDoo (Harrah’s Casino)
Tues 18-Aug       Tulsa, OK                      The Vanguard
Thur 20-Aug      Houston, TX                 Fitzgerald’s
Fri 21-Aug           Austin, TX                    The Roost
Sat 22-Aug          McKinney, TX             The Sanctuary
Mon 24-Aug       Albuquerque, NM        Launchpad
Wed 26-Aug       Phoenix, AZ                   Club Red
Thur 27-Aug       Mexicali, MEXICO      Teatro De Estado
Fri 28-Aug          San Diego, CA               Price Center at UC San Diego
Sat 29-Aug          Riverside, CA                Romano’s Concert Lounge
Sun 30-Aug        Los Angeles, CA            King King

We had a fantastic 2014 at BMP replete with terrific artists and concert tours.  So how do we top that in the new year?  Watch this space for new artists coming to the BMP family and a killer concert tour to be announced in the coming months.

In the meantime The Aristocrats brand new Culture Clash Live! DVD will be released on January 20th along with The Aristocrats Secret Show: Live In Osaka.  Hurry to The Aristocrats webstore to order your very own.  The first 1000 copies will be signed by Bryan, Marco, and Guthrie!  And if that’s not enough of a tease you can see a full song preview video exclusively hosted at Guitarworld.com.  Eat it up, kids!  See you all at the NAMM show!

Premiering at the New York ComiCon in October, the brand new Freak Kitchen animated video of Freak Of The Week from the new album Cooking With Pagans is gathering rave reviews.  The video was funded by a massive Kickstarter campaign that brought in over $140,000 and was spearheaded by animation guru Juanjo Guarnido (Blacksad, Disney) who quite possible takes the crown for being a Freak Kitchen super fan!  Guarnido’s awesome creation blends 3D graphics and traditional 2D animation into a thrilling video presented here for your viewing pleasure.  And remember to get your very own copy of Cooking With Pagans from the fine folks at LaserCD.com!

New Freak Kitchen album September 2nd!

The production of the forthcoming Freak Kitchen album is now wrapped up!  World wide street date: September 2nd!

Words from the Swedish Freaksters themselves:
The twelve frantic tracks are: Professional Help, (Saving Up for an) Anal Bleach, Come Back to Comeback, I Don’t Want to Golf, Once Upon a Time in Scandinavistan, Hide, Private Property, Sloppy, Ranks of the Terrified, Goody Goody, The Mathematics of Defeat and Freak of the Week.

Also, we are darn excited to say, an insanely cool animated video to one of the record tracks is being produced by none other than the genius Juanjo Guarnido of Blacksad and Disney fame (also very much responsible for the most groovy album artwork weíve ever had). A tremendously successfulKickstarter brought in no less than a $140,000 to finance the painstaking, yet rewarding, work of drawing an entire video, frame by frame. We are inextreme gratitude to each and every one helping out to make this stunning project come to life! The video will premiere at Comic Con in New York in October! For more news and updates, please visit the Juanjo Guarnido in the Freak Kitchen page on Facebook.

Order a copy for your own beefy mitts from the fine people at Laser’s Edge!

Fragmenting Shadows, the new pulse-pounding shirt-ripping jaw-clenching album from Hephystus is available now!  This album is packed with 14 tracks of fist-pumping melodic mayhem.  It’s metal made for the intelligent listener.  Get your very own copy direct from the band or through all the usual download sites.

“Is it really that good,” you say?  Well, you don’t have to take my word for it!

“Every single track on this album is full of emotionally powerful lead electric guitar.”  “The songwriting is intense…”  Mark Johnson, Sea Of Tranquility

Read the full review here.

Enjoy!

This Is Goodbye from Fragmenting Shadows.