Aug 22, 2014

The Foo Fighters have released an extended trailer for their new HBO show, ‘Foo Fighters Sonic Highways,’ which is set to premiere on October 17 at 11 p.m. on HBO.

The band's new album, also titled 'Sonic Highways,' will be released on November 10

In both sad and joyous news in the Grohl family it was announced that Dave Grohl's wife Jordyn, gave birth to the couple’s third daughter on Aug. 1. They named their third daughter Ophelia. She joins older sisters Violet, 8, and Harper, 5. Tragic news hit the family on Aug. 6 however, as Dave's Dad James passed away at the age of 75 after a battle with cancer. He was a respected journalist whose career spanned many years.

From his obituary: "Jim treasured his long and rewarding career in Journalism. He was an Award Winning Journalist that worked for various newspapers, including the Youngstown Vindicator and Columbus Citizens Journal. He then served as Capitol Reporter in Washington DC for the Scripps-Howard News Network. This tenure was interrupted by his service in the United States Army in 1961-1964, where he edited the Stars and Stripes Army newspaper in Stuttgart, Germany during the sixties.

Jim served as the Special Assistant to Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio. He finished his career as Senior Vice President of the U.S. Savings and Loan League and as a Political Consultant in Washington, DC.

Jim enjoyed his retirement each day by reading every major newspaper and critiquing the writers and content. He was a talented political observer who possessed the ability to call every major election with uncanny accuracy. An avid fly fisherman, a good trout stream provided his favorite recreation."

Condolences to Dave Grohl and his family for their loss, but fortunate Jim got to know that he had another Granddaughter before his passing. RIP Jim

Aug 13, 2014

Foo Fighters will announced the release date, track listing and album artwork for their eighth studio album. It is called ‘Sonic Highways: The Album, and is slated for a Nov. 10 release. The eight-episode HBO series ‘Sonic Highways’ will have its debut on Oct. 17 and air Fridays at 11PM ET/PT.

‘Sonic Highways: The Album’ has a runtime of 44 minutes and is available for pre-order now on CD and 180 gram LP formats. The vinyl will have nine different covers including eight variants each themed for ones of the eight cities where the album was created. ‘Sonic Highways: The Album’ was recorded in eight cities: Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Seattle and Washington D.C. Listen to a sample from the album at www.foofighters.com

'Sonic Highways: The Album' Track Listing
1. Something From Nothing
2. The Feast and the Famine
3. Congregation
4. What Did I Do?/God as My Witness
5. Outside
6. In the Clear
7. Subterranean
8. I am a River

May 15, 2014

Big plans for the Foo Fighters next album have been revealed, with the as-yet-untitled record arriving this fall through Roswell/RCA Records. The bonus is that is will be chronicled in an upcoming HBO series directed by Dave Grohl.

Grohl will expand on his Sound City film and look at iconic recording studios across North America where the Foos recorded for the new album. Studios featured in the series will include Nirvana/Page & Plant producer Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, Don Zientara’s Inner Ear studios in Washington DC – where Fugazi, Henry Rollins' first band S.O.A. and Grohl's pre-Nirvana punk rock band Scream recorded - and Rancho De La Luna studios in California, a site at which Queens Of The Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys and Mark Lanegan, among others, have recorded. Other studios in Austin, New Orleans, New York, Seattle and Nashville will be featured as well.

Grohl will also conduct interviews for the series, speaking with some of the artists who have recorded at each facility, including Kiss frontman Paul Stanley, Heart's Nancy Wilson, Joe Walsh from The Eagles and Dischord Records head honcho Ian MacKaye.

A press release for the series explains: “One song was recorded in each city, every song featuring local legends sitting in, and every lyric written in an unprecedented experimental style: Dave held off on putting down words until the last day of each session, so as to be inspired by the experiences, interviews and personalities that became part of the process.

“Each episode delves into the singular regional identity of each city-how each region shaped these musicians in their formative years, and in turn the impact those people had on the cultural fabric of their hometowns-ultimately celebrating their common bond: Every artist that appears in the show, regardless of genre or locale, started as an average kid with the universal dreams of making music and making it big.”

The as-yet-untitled series be a part of HBO's winter schedule, with the first episode of the series premiering on the eve of the band’s 20th anniversary.

Jun 22, 2013

Foo Fighters are among the artists who have donated their music to be used in a new documentary, Beach 119, which chronicles the lives of the residents of Beach 119th Street in The Rockaways section of New York City as they deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Watch the documentary below.

"This documentary is to give these survivors a voice to tell their story," says the film's co-director, Marcie Allen, in a statement. "Beach 119 is a story of humanity. Strangers came together in a time of need."

Included in the soundtrack are Foo Fighters' "Home," as well as The Gaslight Anthem's "National Anthem" and some original music by Staind guitarist Mike Mushok.

The poignant story follows a tribe of survivors from the Rockaway Peninsula in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. When the tides intruded and stripped this neighborhood of earthly possessions, its residents held tightly to their faith in humanity.

The documentary short chronicles one street's recovery while elsewhere everything is back to normal. Just 23.8 miles away from Manhattan, on Beach 119th Street in The Rockaways, neighbors joined together to deal with the trauma associated with cherished possessions lost. The residents were cut off from help with no power, water, gasoline or heat, for weeks after the storm. The documentary explores the story of the residents of Beach 119th Street coming together as a tribe of real life survivors, thankful to those who answered their pleas for help.

Feb 8, 2013

John Fogerty's much-anticipated album 'Wrote A Song For Everyone' will be released May 28th on Vanguard Records, his first for the label. The album is now available for pre-order on both iTunes http://smarturl.it/fogerty.iTunes and Amazon. Fogerty’s "Born On The Bayou" with Kid Rock, which was used by NFL Network in their coverage of Super Bowl XLVII fittingly played in New Orleans, can be heard in the album preview clip below.

'Wrote a Song for Everyone' tracklisting:
1. Fortunate Son (with Foo Fighters)
2. Almost Saturday Night (with Keith Urban)
3. Lodi (with Shane Fogerty and Tyler Fogerty)
4. Mystic Highway (John Fogerty solo)
5. Wrote a Song for Everyone (with Miranda Lambert feat. Tom Morello)
6. Bad Moon Rising (with Zac Brown Band)
7. Long As I Can See the Light (with My Morning Jacket)
8. Born on the Bayou (with Kid Rock)
9. Train of Fools (John Fogerty solo)
10. Someday Never Comes (with Dawes)
11. Who'll Stop the Rain (with Bob Seger)
12. Hot Rod Heart (with Brad Paisley)
13. Have You Ever Seen the Rain (with Alan Jackson)
14. Proud Mary (with Jennifer Hudson feat. Allen Toussaint and the Rebirth Brass Band)

Produced by Fogerty, one of rock’s most important artists and a national treasure who’s sold over 100 million records, 'Wrote A Song For Everyone' is a celebration of his iconic songbook and a collection of 12 classics and deep tracks from his remarkable canon of hits as well as two brand new songs, "Mystic Highway" and "Train of Fools." Fogerty performed alongside an array of today’s biggest superstars from the country, pop and rock worlds including Foo Fighters, Bob Seger, Keith Urban, Jennifer Hudson, Kid Rock, Brad Paisley, the Zac Brown Band, My Morning Jacket, Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert and more. The album also sees Fogerty teaming with an acclaimed new band like Dawes, who were eager to acknowledge the groundbreaking songwriter/guitarist’s titanic influence. Fogerty also recorded his classic “Lodi” with his sons Shane and Tyler Fogerty at Abbey Road Studios in London.

As Fogerty explains in a cover story in the current (January/February) “Legends” issue of American Songwriter: “I encouraged each of these artists to come up with their own vision of my song, rather than just redoing what I’d recorded in the past. I was hoping they’d have some different twist so it would be fresh, so I’d have to work, too. I wanted it to be something new.”

'Wrote A Song For Everyone' marks Fogerty's ninth studio solo album since disbanding Creedence Clearwater Revival. Mixed by Bob Clearmountain, it was recorded in Los Angeles and Nashville except for "Proud Mary" which was recorded in New Orleans with AllenToussaint and the Rebirth Brass Band. Fogerty recorded “Fortunate Son” with Foo Fighters at their 606 studio using "the" legendary Neve recording console featured in the #1 iTunes documentary Sound City. Fogerty has performed with the Sound City Players, the all-star band assembled by Dave Grohl to play the music created for the film and other classics, at recent shows at both the Sundance Film Festival and the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

John Fogerty will tour in 2013 and look for him to be at this year’s SXSW in Austin (dates/events TBA).