Capitol/UMe celebrates the 20th anniversary of Bob Seger's Face The PromiseAvailable for the first time on streaming services, the Expanded Edition features four bonus tracks—"Time," "Little Jane," "Red Eye to Memphis," and "Let Me Try"—and is also available on 2LP black vinyl featuring a gatefold jacket and 12-page LP-sized booklet.

Newly remastered by longtime Bob Seger mastering engineer Robert Vosgien, the Expanded Edition includes the hit singles "Wait for Me" and "Wreck This Heart." Among the album's highlights is "The Answer's In The Question," Seger's duet with Patty Loveless. In 2023, Seger helped induct Loveless into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Originally released on September 12, 2006, Face The Promise marked Seger's 16th studio album. Acclaimed by critics and embraced by fans, it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA just three months later.

Twenty years after its release, Face The Promise remains one of the defining statements in Seger's catalog, reaffirming the songwriting, grit, and heartland spirit that made him one of America's most enduring rock artists.

Seger is an inductee of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The 2015 Billboard Legend of Live honoree's catalog has earned 13 platinum and 8 multi-platinum RIAA Certified sales awards, including his Diamond-certified Greatest Hits, which remains a perennial bestseller. Seger is Capitol Records' longest-tenured solo artist in the label’s storied history.

"With the new Face The Promise, Mr. Seger gets back in the game and sounds as if he hasn't lost a step. The first single, 'Wait for Me,' is a sweeping ballad, but much of the album … is a surprisingly hard-rocking effort." —The New York Times

"… this fine new album, a record that easily stands shoulder to shoulder with his albums, 'The Distance' and 'Against the Wind' … the songs are so rich—rising choruses crashing against majestic chords, bumper-sticker lyrics leaping out of the pounding rock—that 'Face The Promise' sounds like another Seger classic from the first moment. When it comes to real-life American rock heroes, the voice of the heartland and all that, Bob Seger is the real deal." —San Francisco Chronicle

"[Seger] has crafted a disc of straightforward, R&B-infused rock that owes much to the sound of his classics from the '70s and '80s. Seger is a master of the graceful, melodic, mid-tempo ballad, and his new tunes 'Wait for Me' and 'The Long Goodbye' are among his finest compositions." —Chicago Sun-Times

"The killer moment comes during the title track, a barreling piece of songwriting with spidery Duane Eddy-style guitar.… Seger offers more dead-on renderings of his Michigan-sired rock as though it's the hottest new style in town, burning significant rubber on 'Wreck This Heart' and ascending to heights of dashboard eloquence on 'Wait for Me.'" —Rolling Stone

"The Motor City rocker is still the same, rolling out sweaty arena anthems with no signs of rust or depreciation.… the champion of 'Old Time Rock & Roll' is making good-time rock 'n' roll with the same heartland hardiness." —USA Today

"The Midwesterner's new disc highlights his unadorned, plainspoken style, best experienced on rugged blue-collar ruminations like 'Wreck This Heart.' This is satisfying meat-and-potatoes rock." —Entertainment Weekly

"Now comes the long-awaited 'Face The Promise' … The new album is an authoritative song cycle filled with contemporary variations on classic Seger themes.…Face The Promise rocks with the same ferocious intensity that characterized his classic Seventies albums." —Guitar World Acoustic

Track Listing*

LP1 SIDE ONE

1.     Wreck This Heart

2.     Wait For Me

3.     Face The Promise

4.     No Matter Who You Are

LP1 SIDE TWO

1.     Are You

2.     Simplicity

3.     No More

4.     Real Mean Bottle (duet with Kid Rock)

5.     Won’t Stop

LP2 SIDE THREE

1.     Between

2.     The Answer’s In The Question (duet with Patty Loveless)

3.     The Long Goodbye

LP2 SIDE FOUR Expanded Edition Bonus Tracks

1.     Time

2.     Little Jane

3.     Red Eye To Memphis

4.     Let Me Try

* CD, Digital Download, and Streaming configurations are the same sequence of tracks.

50 years ago in the now-defunct Melody Maker periodical, I interviewed Bob Seger just after his Night Moves LP garnered platinum album status and a gold album for Live Bullet.

I had briefly encountered him previously in 1975 one night at a pizza joint in Hollywood on Sunset Blvd when he was at a table sitting next to me and my girlfriend Fran at the time. He was impressed when I rattled off the LP titles of his Detroit-based group The Bob Seger System, and that I knew Glenn Frey of the Eagles got his first recording studio job singing back-up and playing guitar on his hit single, “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man.’

We had a brief chat about the legendary Michigan music man Del Shannon. In 1964, Shannon produced a demo session for Seger, and then gave acetates of their work to Dick Clark. Del had been on one of the Clark American Bandstand-fueled tours in 1965. By 1966, Seger was recording for the Philadelphia-based Camero Records.  

I told him we’d schedule an interview in the very near future. A PR person at Capitol Records then subsequently arranged an interview for us.

I asked Seger how he liked Detroit as a musical/creative environment?

"That's where my friends are. That's where my family is. Detroit is where I get the news. I've been to every restaurant in Detroit," he laughs.

"I don't know if I could look that deep and say my lyrics or the music reflect Detroit. Everywhere else I see the inside of hotels and concert halls. I like the lifestyle of Detroit. The Motor City Madness. Ten Years ago it was one-tenth the size. There's room in the industry now for myself, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop.

The emergence of FM radio in the last Sixties has been Bob Seger's life-line to survival. In the last couple of years, a new Seger album or a single like ‘Night Moves’ is played months before the Gods determine who gets on the AM radio dial.

"Some good tunes start on the FM band and cross over to AM FM radio for rock stations is needed. More slots for people to be heard. People like myself, Bruce Springsteen, Graham Parker, Mink de Ville, Southside Johnny, Frankie Miller can be heard on the radio."

With Stranger In Town, Bob Seger and the Sliver Bullet Band have broken new territory. Not a concept album, a theme project or string symphony, it tackles other topics than roadwork, romance, and partying.

"I've written the first ballad I've ever done. When I say ballad, I mean a real slow song. You have to strive to break new turf. There's a song on the new album, 'Feel Like A Number', which is about alienation. And the title track is about fear and alter ego.

"'Brave Strangers' is about the end of a relationship. It's a motif I've ever done before. It was a challenge. We're knocked out by the tune and have been playing it in our show the last two months.

"There's a line in 'Brave Strangers', 'Radio blasting silly little love songs, we only listen to the beat.' And that's the key line to that song. That's the way it was back then. I write songs and want them to translate to the stage.

"When I write now, I tend to think about important things. Things that still excite me. 'Night Moves' was about youthful passion and the danger of letting that slip away. My songs are autobiographically rooted 'cause I'm not writing hypothetically. You work on a theme.

"Sometimes it's external, commenting about society. When you write a song that means a lot to you, you can put down 50 verses and pick the best ones. If you write fiction, it's a lot tougher to write it."

Live Bullet, a two-record set of live Seger songs, was issued over a year ago as a ‘holding action’ while Night Moves was still being finished. However, a year later the disc is still on full rotation on many major radio playlists.

Live Bullet is probably the best introduction to Bob Seger. The versions of ‘Beautiful Loser’ and ‘Travelin' Man’ on the live long player are classic gritty Seger. A fusion of Dave Van Ronk and James Brown.

"That night we played well. We deliberately played away from the 16-track machines rolling and to the audience. We were able to take more chances and work harder. I liked the idea of bringing in the audience and getting them involved.

"We also cut Live Bullet in our hometown. The people have heard the songs thousands of times. Sometimes you get careful in the studio and you can stretch out during a live performance. You take risks.

"There's a big influence of James Brown in the Silver Bullet Band. I used to see his shows years ago and modelled myself after him. He moves so well."

I remember when Seger was playing the Whisky A Go Go in 1973. He seemed clumsy and awkward doing the lead guitar chores. Shortly afterwards, he dropped his axe and concentrated on singing.

"A weight was lifted from my shoulder when I stopped playing lead guitar,” he admitted. “I started developing as a singer and concentrated on the performance aspect of my career."

Through the last few years, Seger has vacillated between Capitol and Warner Brothers Records, before signing a long-term pact with Capitol. The earlier Capitol regime, and to some extent even today, seems more at ease marketing Beatles and Beatles-related products than grooming new acts, and mainstays on the label. Was Bob ever discouraged during the lean years? There was almost a decade between top 30 singles (‘Ramblin' Gamblin' Man’ to ‘Night Moves’)

"One time I quit and even enrolled in college for about six weeks. It was after the Noah album in 1969. It resulted from having a big national hit with 'Ramblin' Gamblin' Man' and no follow-up. It was a simple loss of confidence. But I came back and stuck with it."

Seger has been a Midwest legend for years. And while the rest of the world discovers this fellow, Detroit and Cobo Hall are well represented on the live set.

"They are the best audience in the world. We could always headline in the Midwest years back. I even did a stadium show last year. This last time I was able to go out in public was in 1975. It's wonderful that the people know who I am, but I don't like the on-the-street adulation. Detroit audiences are the best to play for, but the toughest to please.

"The show we will do for England will be a bit longer than usual, and we'll incorporate some of the material we've been doing as early as the Bachman-Turner Overdrive tour of 1974: 'Heavy Music,' 'Bo Diddley' — some of the real early stuff, the things that helped us get our feet through the door."

I wondered if financial reward and/or Top 30 success made it easier or tougher to prepare for Stranger In Town.

"I've always made music. It's what I enjoyed, whether making money or not. I've been doing it for 15 years and successfully for the last three. The main thing money will buy for me is privacy. I was able to pay off all my debts, and my house is paid for.

"There's no guarantee something will happen when you sit down to write a song. It's the most frustrating thing in the world. You look at a blank sheet of paper, and you have to fill it up. The major differences in my songwriting now, as opposed to three or four years back, is if I really like a certain song, I'll work on that song really hard.

"I used to write a million songs, but I would put same amount of effort into each one. That's the only thing that's changed. If I'm really committed to a song, I'll work and work on it until it just can't be improved, and that's what I did on 'Night Moves', that particular song."

There's one subject that Bob Seger loves to talk about — Bruce Springsteen. "I've got an affinity with Bruce Springsteen, Graham Parker and Southside Johnny. We're rockers with blues roots.

"I've met Bruce a few times and really like him. It just fried me out to think that he had independently developed the same type of group out of New Jersey. I enjoy him because I see a lot of my approach in his work.

"The first time I saw him was in March of 1975 when Born To Run was released. I saw him in Ann Arbor. It was a phenomenal show. Blew my mind. Freaked me out.'

"I had already written part of the Night Moves album and the performance was an extra incentive to finish the rest of the tunes. I locked myself in a room for two weeks and finished the album.

"It was easier for me to finish up Night Moves when I heard Born To Run. Something signalled I wasn't alone any more. There's some one else who thinks like I think. The movie American Graffiti triggered another response and made me think back when I was a teenager. Break into new themes."

It's not unusual to hear some vintage Seger sounds over the Whiskey sound system of the Starwood's p.a. during a break in live action. In fact, a lot of the new wave and punk rock bands I talk to acknowledge Seger as an influence. Punk rock journals and fanzines are compiling definite discographies on Seger's history. Could Bob see his influence on the new wave?

"Yeah, I think Ted Nugent, and myself, have a link with the new bands. For the main reason that it's all pretty aggressive music. You won't see Ted or myself ever doing 'Bridge Over Troubled Water.'

"I'd imagine some of the new groups like my roots. I have a bond with the Fifties as opposed to the Sixties, where a lot of our big successes now — Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles — are basically influenced by the Sixties. A lot of the punk rock groups touch the primal attitude of Fifties rock music.

"I play very directly to my audience and need energy feedback from them. This seems to be a parallel to the new wave and their audience."

What's all the more likeable about Bob Seger is that after the hits he remains just as accessible, with an ear to the street.

"When you close yourself, you lose all contact. You have to meet your audience. I'm sensitive to reviews, and I'm sensitive. I have nothing to hide — it's all in the grooves."

(Harvey Kubernik is the author of 21 books, including 2009’s Canyon Of Dreams: The Magic And The Music Of Laurel Canyon, 2014’s Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll In Los Angeles 1956-1972, 2015's Every Body Knows: Leonard Cohen, 2016's Heart of Gold Neil Young and 2017's 1967: A Complete Rock Music History of the Summer of Love.   

Sterling/Barnes and Noble in 2018 published Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik’s The Story Of The Band: From Big Pink To The Last Waltz. In 2021, they wrote Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child for Sterling/Barnes and Noble. 

Otherworld Cottage Industries in 2020 published Harvey’s Docs That Rock, Music That Matters. His Screen Gems: (Pop Music Documentaries and Rock ‘n’ Roll TV Scenes) was published in 2026 by BearManor Media. Kubernik is working on a book on the Beatles for fall 2027 publication.   

Harvey wrote the liner notes to CD re-releases of Carole King’s Tapestry, The Essential Carole King, Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish, Elvis Presley The ’68 Comeback Special, The Ramones’ End of the Century and Big Brother & the Holding Company Captured Live at The Monterey International Pop Festival.     Harvey spoke at the special hearings in 2006 initiated by the Library of Congress held in Hollywood, California, discussing archiving practices and audiotape preservation. 

In 2017, he appeared at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in its Distinguished Speakers Series and as a panelist discussing the forty-fifth anniversary of The Last Waltz at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in 2023.)The post Capitol/UMe celebrates the 20th anniversary of Bob Seger's Face The Promise first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

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Assignments: Rene Erwin MataA&R, New York

Frontiers Label Group

Frontiers Label Group has announced the appointment of Rene Erwin Mata to A&R, New York, further strengthening the company’s growing international A&R network and commitment to discovering and developing world-class talent across the rock, metal, and alternative landscape.

“I’m looking forward to working with a team that shares the same passion for music that I do, and I’ve found that at Frontiers Label Group”, said Mata. “It's an exciting time for the company, and I'm eager to help discover and develop the next generation of artists while contributing to Frontiers' continued global growth.” 

For more, contact allie@thesyn.com.The post Assignments: Rene Erwin Mata first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

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In the Studio with Royal BloodThe Members: Mike Kerr, vocals, bass, keyboards; Ben Thatcher, drums, percussion.Produced by: Royal Blood; Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher.Recorded at: Royal Blood’s Brighton, UK studioThe Origin: Possessing a striking powers-of-ten perspective—hearing, then capturing, the spaces where smaller sonics are found and different frequency decades are transformed into massive, colossal sounds—the globally renowned riff-rockers, Brighton, UK-based drum-meets-bass duo Royal Blood wield a natural mastery over micro-to-macro sound-craft sorcery. This acoustic skullduggery arrives naturally for Royal Blood and thrives on a longstanding friendship and love for finding and magnifying these auditory pockets.

The result is a signature style, identifiable within the first few bars: dark and brooding, bluesy, heavy-hitting rock rhythms that rise and fall in accordance with vocal verses dripping with sultry snarls and bombastic boldness. Yet it’s the duo’s application of the inverse — breaking down the loud and creating space when a song calls for a more melodious sound — that reveals the true brilliance of their sonic subterfuge. This interplay creates a high-stakes game of margins for the duo, who consistently rewrite the rulebook on how to build a beat and know when, where, and why to place a sound, defying conventional compositional assumptions and dismantling all spatial bounds.

While the full details of Royal Blood’s inception are frequently glossed over — with many accounts pinning their trajectory around the duo’s 2014 self-titled debut, then matching it alongside their meteoric rise after the duo garnered the attention of iconic rock titans like Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age, and Foo Fighters — the truth beneath the mythos follows a more human path: a band pursuing its passion, fueled by a love of creating music, and ignited by the magic of performing live. By simply playing for the fun of it — by some strange twist of fate, they found success.

It was a dual hustle: slogging through the local underground lines of the London-by-the-sea music scene while finding studio time to follow a “what-if” impulse. Chasing wide-open audio dreams, they recorded murky melodies that sank deeply into dark harmonies, trying anything and everything. Listening closely to the instinct within, they maintained their two-piece dynamic, which augmented their synergy, ultimately emerging from a locked-down, soundproofed room with their four-track Out of the Black EP (2014). Its all-out rock-and-roll blues, heavily infused with their now-trademark infra-inverse-ultra frequencies, showcased the massive anthems “Little Monster” and “Come On Over.” Serving as precursors for what was yet to come, the early releases introduced the world to their supercharged output of sound, paving the way for the colossal hits that followed, ensuring everyone instantly knew that Royal Blood was here to stay — no need to “Figure It Out.”

After years of working within conventional studios, while also setting up their own personal recording environments — including an early stint turning the back of their tour bus into a recording space — Royal Blood’s sonic alchemy continued to evolve through the garage-rock heights of How Did We Get So Dark? (2017) and the sleek, electro-rock-funk frequencies of Typhoons (2021). This spatial transition eventually culminated in the duo working fully from their own Brighton-based studio, a creative milestone that became central to self-producing their fourth full-length release, Back to the Water Below (2023).

Having embraced their creative arc, yet in need of a brief respite away from the road and writing, Royal Blood stepped away for a bit — however, their urge to keep seeking all of those lost or not-yet-captured sounds lingered. Locking themselves away from the world’s external gaze, they returned to their sanctuary, their private tracking space, to let the music lead the way. Below, the affable lead vocalist/bassist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher strip away the studio mystique to detail how they found a new round of wild and supersonic sounds as they returned to the helm for their high-octane fifth chapter, Dead Company (Nov. 13th, 2026).

The Production: Ever attuned to the unpredictable energy of a room — from small clubs to massive venues — Royal Blood instantly tapped into that fritzed-out buzz during the recording process for Dead Company in their Brighton-based studio. This served as the subconscious catalyst for flipping the script on the traditional writing and recording process. Reflecting on this, Mike Kerr notes their artistic compass was beautifully simple: “to try to get as much excitement into the performances as possible.”

While Royal Blood touched the third rail in the midst of penning new material, one specific track exploded, giving the duo an immediate glimpse of the potential sonics on the horizon, sparking the energy they were seeking. Kerr recalls:

“I think 'Swallow the Bomb' was the first thing we wrote for the record. It just came out of the gates really, really hot. And I think we became excited about playing heavy and fast again… it set us on the trajectory for the record.”

That hard, driving momentum naturally began to shape a broader narrative. “After maybe another four or five songs in, I realized there was a theme that was subconsciously emerging,” Kerr says. “It was an all-in attitude. I think that helped me finish the record and work out how to fill in the gaps as the initial themes were all about perseverance, really, and the positives of having that relentless mindset. I was listening to what the music was telling me — it was all informed by the excitement.”

With that newfound adrenaline locked in, Royal Blood drew from the kinetic energy that always defined them, hammering out the material together as much as possible before officially hitting record.

“Because we wanted to play these songs live, it was just about running through these tracks together as much as possible before we started officially tracking — getting them to the point where they are ready for us to sit down and actually record,” Kerr explains.

In embracing this instinct, their signature approach of splitting open massive frequencies reemerged — but it was achieved completely without excessive studio layering, relying instead on the grit of their two-piece synergy.

“If we feel like a song requires more layers, we can become suspicious of it,” Kerr notes. “The goal for this record was, ‘how do we make things feel full and exciting with the minimal ingredients that we have?’ We wanted every track to feel completely untamed and wild, and to really come from that place. Anything we do add is subtle and effective, rather than being integral.”

To pull off this minimal, unlayered approach, the foundation of the tracking sessions fell squarely onto Thatcher. Armed with a deep familiarity with their Brighton room, the duo understood exactly how to extract the massive tones and dynamic punch desired. He explains:

“We know how to get a really good drum sound from that studio because we've worked there on previous records. It's not a massive room, but it's not small either — it has a high ceiling. Our engineer, Pete, knows the space quite well too, so we already knew how to extract what we wanted.”

That intrinsic comfort meant the most explosive, energetic takes could arrive almost instantaneously, bypassing the need for endless reps and replication.

“The most energetic drum take could be in the first three times of recording it,” Thatcher adds. “I think we had done so much work on the previous record with sound design and everything that it was all set up. But throughout the creation of this album, it felt like we wanted to do almost the opposite — to just play together and not worry about a perfect take. That letting go is what gave it the energy.”As this heavy, untamed energy surged through the tracking sessions, the duo faced their next psychological hurdle: knowing when to stop turning knobs and leave the songs alone. In a modern digital landscape, the temptation to endlessly rerecord a take or tweak a mix can easily become a trap. For Royal Blood, the beauty this time around lay in chasing the feels and prioritizing vibe over perfection. Kerr describes this mindset:

“It could be an endless process, and it could never be done really—you could endlessly be fine-tuning it. But the ethos that we were trying to embody on the record was that looking perfect isn't really what we're going for here. It was about energy and trying to capture something that was exciting and not overthought.”

That restraint requires a sharp intuition, knowing exactly when to step back before over-production spoils the magic. As Kerr explains, crossing that invisible line is often the only way to find their limit:

“So, there's just a moment where you think, ‘If I do anything more, we're going to make it worse.’ I think that's the feeling at times. You probably have to cross that line to realize, ‘Now, we're really making it worse.’ Also, you can sometimes trick yourself into thinking that it was too easy. You wonder, ‘We shouldn't be done by mix three; we should be getting to mix whatever.’ Many times you think you have to go through more processes, but sometimes you don't. Sometimes it's just the first or second thing you need to do, and that's it.”

Once the duo settled on the individual tracks, they turned their attention to the sequencing, an integral phase of Royal Blood’s album-crafting process. For Dead Company, the pair mapped out an auditory excursion framed by two distinct, unshakeable milestones: the title track and the final cut, “Closer,” with the frenetic energy of their studio journey filling the space in between. Thatcher describes the art of the sequence:

“I think some bits of music kind of already pick their place in the order, and it's up to you to challenge those positions,” Thatcher explains. “You kind of know what songs are going to feel good at the start of a record and what you want people to hear first, and then you want to take them on a bit of a journey. It's the same kind of journey you want to take people on with a live set list. There is definitely a method to it, but I think it's really important to challenge those methods and to change things up as well along the way.”

That willingness to shake things up meant constantly shuffling the middle positions to mirror the internal journey they envisioned. Yet, despite stress-testing the tracklist, the sonic bookends remained perfectly locked from day one:

“The very first order was almost the one that we went with, but we did change things around like, 'What if we start with this one instead?'” Thatcher notes. “But actually, the beginning and the end—the first song and the closer—were always in place, and it was just working out the journey in the middle.”

With the final arrangement permanently ordered, the duo is primed to unleash that same untamed energy captured during the recording process – right back on the stage. For Royal Blood, the entire record was also tracked to mimic a live environment. Kerr highlights one song that stands out as the definitive example:

“There's a track called 'Mother Never Told You,' which is probably the most brutal track on the record,” Kerr says. “And I think that's why we're really excited, particularly to play it live, just because it's absolute carnage.”

That hunger to translate studio adrenaline into live performance extends across the entire album. Injecting these brand-new compositions into their setlist brings a fresh physical charge to a live show. Thatcher describes the intense anticipation:

“There's a massive excitement that we're going to get from playing these new ones, just because we've been playing some of the older stuff over ten years now,” Thatcher explains. “There's always this new energy when you can see it, a new song, coming up in the set list. And there's always a bit of anticipation and a little bit of nervousness because our bodies are not quite used to having that muscle memory yet.”

Navigating those unmapped moments in the setlist forces the duo to stay razor-sharp, relying on pure focus to guide them through the demands of the new arrangements. As Thatcher notes, it is a high-stakes balancing act of adrenaline and discipline:

“So those moments for us are definitely in the set list where we can work ourselves up a little bit more,” Thatcher adds. “It's all about keeping it together and remembering to keep breathing before they come on. But they'll become like the others at some point, and they will just merge in.”

The band mirrors that live excitement through their thrill over the big reveal of the album's new imagery. Like so many elements of Dead Company that subtly surfaced along the way — unearthing fresh bursts of supersonic energy — the title and the artwork naturally did the same. In a striking twist of fate, it was the depiction of a beautifully designed, two-headed tiger that brought everything full circle. The image perfectly captured the dual-fronted energy that reflects the sonic synergy of the band, paying homage to their signature six-eyed tiger emblem — a piece of symbolism that once adorned Thatcher’s drum kit since their earliest days.

Kerr explains how this visual identity surfaced in an equally subtle way:

“‘Dead Company’ is the first track of the record. When we were working on the album artwork, we were just using the title and its corresponding dual-tiger imagery as a placeholder because we hadn't confirmed a final title yet. After about three weeks, we had almost forgotten that we hadn't even decided what the album was going to be called. I think we both just got so used to seeing the tigers and ‘Dead Company’ together that it felt like it had named itself. There's something about that title and the tigers together — it just seemed like the perfect marriage. It feels like a really good, full-circle moment, if that makes sense.

Thatcher adds a straightforward, definitive agreement: “Yeah, absolutely.”

Photo Credit: Edward CookeThe post In the Studio with Royal Blood first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

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Judy Collins at the Ford, Los AngelesWeb: judycollins.com

Players: Judy Collins, vocals, piano; Will Kjeer, piano

In 2016, this writer interviewed folk songbird Judy Collins and wrote that, “Collins performs about 129 shows each year and shows no signs of slowing down. She has a new book coming out next year, and she’s performing at SXSW this year, alongside new musical partner Ari Hest. The fact that she’ll be performing for a younger audience that may not be familiar with her work is exciting to one of folk’s all-time greats.”

Fast-forward a full decade and much of that is still true, though one key detail has changed: Collins is finally showing signs of slowing down. Of course she is—she’s 87 years old. She looks and sounds great, but age catches up with us all eventually. 

You don’t have to take our word for it; Collins’ tour this year was tagged Sweet Judy Blue Eyes Farewell Tour. Whether that means that she’s done with performing live altogether or just the arduous touring cycle remains to be seen. But on a gorgeous Friday in early August, The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, or The Ford for ease, provided the perfect setting to see Collins for potentially the last time.

The venue is stunning. Outdoors but just intimate enough, it’s like catching a show on the grounds of an old European castle. Meanwhile, the sound echoes beautifully off of the hillside. The Hollywood Bowl is across the street and that offers a bigger experience, but there’s something very special about a show at The Ford.

Maybe it was just the setting, or the celebratory mood around the place, but Collins seemed to float onto the stage before taking her place at the front and kicking off her set with her beloved version of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides, Now.” Her voice took a couple of minutes to warm up, but that opening number didn’t suffer. With Collins, it’s all about the feel, the emotion, and the love.

That said, by God can she sing. By the time she pours herself into Joan Baez’s “Diamonds & Rust,” she’s hitting the notes, giving us angelic vibes. Nobody can raise the hairs on the back of your neck quite like Collins when she’s in full flow, and she got there at the Ford. 

Her set weighed in at just 12 songs, though she was on stage for longer than you might think. Even after all these years, Collins appeared to enjoy herself immensely while performing, and she took her time. The grand dame of folk told jokes and got comfortable with an adoring audience, a crowd that was all-in from the start. Hanging on her every word, Collins’ congregation is quite happy to let her do this her way.

An acapella take on Bing Crosby’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is followed by two traditional numbers: “Barbara Allen” and “John Riley.” Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” meanwhile, is particularly timely right now.

We got Collins’ own “Spellbound,” before she sat at the piano for her beautiful “The Blizzard.” Still a lovely pianist, Will Kjeer stuck around and watched the show from the side, admiration etched on his face. It was great to see Collins enjoying the ivories.

Collins told us about a crush she used to have on the late, great Leonard Cohen before singing his “Suzanne.” Next came a change of direction, with Collins reciting some poetry from her recent Sometimes It’s Heaven book. 

The show ended with Collins’ impeccable version of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns,” and then a rousing “Amazing Grace” that saw show opener Bruce Cockburn join her on stage. 

The whole night was spine-tingling. Collins radiated warmth throughout, the songs were performed lovingly, and everyone left happy. 

Photo taken at Tanglewood by Hilary Scott, 

The post Judy Collins at the Ford, Los Angeles first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Tuboleta owner BeatHub buys out Chile’s BeLive to take 100% of Bogotá’s Movistar ArenaBeLive Entertainment retains 100% control of Colombiana de Escenarios, which runs the venue under a concession.
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UMG sues DistroKid for #AI tracks distributed (counted around 70%), new Suno v6 sounds worse than v5.5...this is the current #MusicBusiness

MAAT Digital 2BC Multicorr and RSPhaseShifter Plugins: Phase Analysis and Correction ToolsMAAT Digital is a professional audio software and hardware company founded in 2016 by pro audio veterans Friedemann Tischmeyer in Hamburg, Germany. MAAT stands for “Mastering Academy Audio Tools.” Audio engineers and educators established the company to prioritize uncompromising sound quality over flashy graphics. The team focuses on high-fidelity tools for measurement, equalization, and effects. Over 20,000 audio engineers use MAAT products worldwide. MAAT contributes to global broadcast standards through active work with the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) Ploud working group.

One of the very first things that student audio engineers learn about is the fundamental importance of both phase alignment and phase difference. MC examined two MAAT plugins concerning audio phase. The 2BC multiCORR plugin is a 31 multi–band correlation meter designed to detect issues in stereo phase. The 2BC multiCORR is a diagnostic tool and does not affect audio. The RSPhaseShifter plugin is a phase alignment tool, or phase rotator, that does affect audio. Note that this plugin is not what it sounds like—this is not a 1970’s style swirly modulation phase shifter effect a la Pink Floyd. 

The two plugins can be used individually or as part of the same workflow. Use 2BC multiCORR to investigate where problematic phase correlation issues are present across the frequency spectrum. If the problem traces back to similar signal paths, for example, the minute delay between a bass amp and bass direct track, the RSPhaseShifter plugin can be used to alter the phase relationship between the two tracks without changing the tracks’ time alignment or EQ.

MAAT developed the 2BC multiCORR plugin because a conventional broadband correlation meter can conceal frequency-specific problems. A mix may show acceptable overall correlation while individual instruments or frequency ranges are producing significant cancellation. The plugin uses MAAT’s trueLinear scale and provides stereo balance and broadband correlation measurements. Five monitoring functions, Left Only, Right Only, Mono, Difference and Flip, allow an engineer to investigate what is happening without leaving the plugin. The 31-band display is particularly useful at the bottom end, where phase problems can have practical consequences. The RSPhaseShifter plugin is a 64-bit digital implementation of the 2016 analog hardware, Phase Shifter W2324, and was developed in partnership with Roger Schult’s German Audio Lab. The design concentrates on the task at hand—manipulating and correcting phase issues without adding the noise and coloration associated with analog circuitry. The plugin changes phase relationships while leaving the signal’s amplitude response intact. That makes it useful when two microphones, layered instruments or parallel signal paths are interacting in ways that produce phase cancellations and tonal changes. RSPhaseShifter provides 13 frequency selections from 16 Hz through 4 kHz. 

A typical application might involve a kick drum recorded with multiple microphones. Instead of moving tracks in time, an engineer can use RSPhaseShifter to alter the phase relationship at selected frequencies while listening for changes in punch and low-frequency consistency. The same approach can apply to bass, acoustic guitars, piano, drum overheads, stereo microphones and subwoofer alignment. This is truly a plugin where listening is key. There are no buttons or lights to tell you when. Ultimately, it’s your ears that will tell the tale.

2BC multiCORR  $49 AAX Native, AU, VST 2, VST 3 or as a standalone application. RSPhaseShifter  $99 AAX Native, AU, VST 2, VST 3

maat.digital

The post MAAT Digital 2BC Multicorr and RSPhaseShifter Plugins: Phase Analysis and Correction Tools first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Tips From A Deathrock Lifer: Scarlet's Remains' Tony HavocWe asked Scarlet’s Remains drummer Tony Havoc to share advice for fellow musicians from his extensive experience as a member of multiple beloved LA deathrock acts. Havoc has been a fixture on the global deathrock scene for decades. Renowned for his powerful “tribal” drumming and striking, ghoulish image, he has also played for Voodoo Church, The Dirty Horror, and Fear Cult, among many others. 

But Scarlet’s Remains is Havoc’s proudest achievement, having released two genre-classic albums in the 2000s, toured Europe, and recently reformed with a vibrant new lineup. With Havoc not only drumming but also being principal songwriter and de facto bandleader, the female-fronted quartet has been performing on the West Coast and in Mexico since earlier this year and is currently recording a new full-length.

Practice & Pump

Havoc originally aspired to be a guitarist, until his dad suggested, “Everybody plays guitar – why don’t you get into the drums?” He fell in love with drumming and would frequently skip school to practice in the family home by day. He cites diverse influences including Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction, Wullie Buchan of The Exploited (especially on the Horror Epics album), and even Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee. 

“I like [Lee’s] showmanship. I don’t do any of that, but I appreciate it,” Havoc explains. “I like being in the back and sitting behind cymbals – I’m not an upfront, limelight type.” 

These days, Havoc is restricted to keeping his chops up on a practice pad at home and the one night a week that Scarlet’s Remains have at a Downtown LA practice space shared with multiple other bands. So, he takes another approach to maintaining his strength and stamina for the band’s frenetic live shows.

“It’s very good for a drummer to lift weights,” he offers. “You don’t need to be buffed and huge, but just to keep up the strength, because you don’t get to play your instrument every day the way a guitarist or bassist can.”

Do It Yourself Deathrock

“There’s a Minor Threat song that says ‘Make do with what you have / Take what you can get,’ and that really stuck with me,” Havoc recalls. “Because you can do it yourself. You don’t need anybody else. If you’ve got someone with money backing you, it’s a lot easier, but it can be done.”

True to this ethos, Havoc has learned to approach venues and promoters with a “package” of three or four bands already lined up, a particular night of the week in mind, and with an idea of the likely draw and the cover charge required for everyone to walk away happy. Upon first moving to L.A., he strolled into the famed Troubadour and did exactly that.

“When you approach a venue with a pre-made lineup, they don’t have to do anything except open their doors,” Havoc explains. “I think they appreciate that.”

Adapt & Survive

Like most semi-pro drummers, Havoc seldom gets to use his own kit on stage. Typically, he’s making do with a backlined kit provided by the venue, promoter, or one of the other bands on the bill. It’s a reality that Havoc is amazingly sanguine about, once again leaning into his “make do with what you have” punk ethic.

“I’ve played with cracked cymbals and cracked heads – I’ve kind of just gotten used to whatever’s thrown my way,” he says. “It takes about three songs to get used to a ‘foreign’ kit, but everyone’s warming up the first three songs, anyway.”

Typically, Havoc will bring his own kick pedal, cymbals (which venues often don’t supply), and an extra rack tom. “I’m a kind of ‘80s style drummer; I like two high toms,” he explains. “And the kits today usually just have one.”

When Havoc does get to play his own kit, it’s a Spaun set-up comprising a 22-inch kick, 12- and 13-inch rack toms, and a 16-inch floor tom (“I spend a lot of time on toms”). After years of choosing Zildjian cymbals, he now prefers Sabians simply for their sound. (Spaun Drums is a small Colorado-based company that manufactures all its products in the U.S.)

Dark Genre Realities

Havoc’s gateway to deathrock was the punk rock he first encountered as a teen, which has shaped his entire worldview and lifestyle ever since.

“I was raised by punk rock,” he mulls. “All my ideals, all my thoughts, my emotions – everything was learned through punk.” But there came a time when Havoc started encountering increasing racism, sexism, and homophobia in a punk scene that had been infiltrated by skinheads. Once he picked up a Christian Death record, he was sold on deathrock – an amalgam of punk, goth, and glam influences – as an adjacent alternative.

“In the deathrock scene, everybody was welcome. And I really, really like the idea behind that,” Havoc recalls. “Deathrock just seemed very wide open and there was so much you could do with it. Punk rock started to seem a little in a box.”

But, like any niche genre, deathrock is much more about passion than profit, and Havoc advises fellow subgenre musicians to be realistic about commercial aspirations. “If you’re going to do pop music, I mean you’re doing that strictly for the money. I get it,” he says. “But when you do a genre like deathrock, you’re doing it because it’s the music that comes out of your soul and it’s what you love to do.”

Havoc describes L.A.’s deathrock scene as much smaller than it was during Scarlet’s Remains’ original 2000s run, meaning sparse local crowds and scant revenue. (By contrast, the band experienced sold-out pandemonium at a recent show in Mexico City). But although he’s the band’s sole original member and wrote the bulk of its existing material, he splits everything equally with his bandmates, who also contribute funds evenly when required.

“What I get out of it is just for my soul, my brain, and my heart. That’s payment enough,” Havoc concludes. “Being in a room with three other people, when the music’s tight and everybody’s on and it’s connecting, that’s a really magical feeling that you just can’t get anywhere else.”

instagram.com/scarlets_remains_official

The post Tips From A Deathrock Lifer: Scarlet's Remains' Tony Havoc first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Assignments: Torben Müller at CelestionBusiness Development Manager

Celestion

Celestion has announced the appointment of Torben Müller to the position of Business Development Manager. Müller’s primary focus will be  identifying, exploring, and developing new opportunities for growth alongside Celestion’s valued customers and partners.

He is also responsible for serving many of Celestion’s international distributors, plus several key OEMs across pro audio and guitar.

“I look forward to being part of a devoted and dedicated team, meeting and working with our great partners and customers, and contributing to strengthening and growing the Celestion brand,” said Müller.

For more, contact john.paice@celestion.com.The post Assignments: Torben Müller at Celestion first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.