Music News & Notes

Kiss Decides to Cut First LP Since 1998

It has been announced that, beginning next year, the iconic rock and roll band KISS will hit the studio to record their first new album of material since 1998’s release “Psycho Circus.”

Even the reluctant bassist, Gene Simmons is on board although his opinions about the music industry are well documented.

“The record industry is in such a mess,” he told Billboard in November of 2007. “There is nothing in me that wants to go in there and do new music. How are you going to deliver it? How are you going to get paid for it if people can just get it for free?”

But with Paul Stanley producing and in complete control of the project, it will be an exciting new avenue for the rockers to explore.

“I would consider doing it if I could do it the way I wanted to do it,” he explained, adding that his 2006 solo album “Live To Win” confirmed how he’d “like music to sound that I’m a part of. To do another KISS album, I would not e willing to compromise my point of view perhaps as much as I have in recent years.”

Still unresolved is just how the band will distribute the new album which will feature longtime members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons alongside guitarist Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer on the drums.

KISS is also expected to embark on a North American tour at some point in the New Year, but no dates have been announced at this time.



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John Fogerty Returns with “Blue Ridge Rangers” Project

Seminal ‘swamp’ rocker and former Creedence Clearwater Revival front man John Fogerty is putting the finishing touches on a new project appropriately called: “John Fogerty: The Return Of The Blue Ridge Rangers.”

The Blue Ridge Rangers were originally a one-man band in which Fogerty released a set of country and roots cover songs. Although the Blue Ridge Rangers concept allowed Fogerty complete artistic control (he played all the instruments), this project will be different, as he explained to Billboard.

“I’ve known for years that if I ever did a Blue Rangers album again I sure didn’t want to play all the instruments. I had long felt that was probably something that was wrong with the first album.”

The project was recorded during a 10-day session at Village Recorders in Santa Monica, California, with T-Bone Burnett and Lenny Waronker as co-producers. Among the musicians contributing to “The Return Of The Blue Ridge Rangers” were Greg Leisz, Dennis Crouch, Buddy Miller, Kenny Aronoff and Jay Bellerose. The set includes fifteen songs that were recorded from a list of about forty titles that Fogerty, Burnett and Waronker had assembled.

“My pre-requisite was that I didn’t want to get into the realm of trying to be really hip and obscure,” explained Fogerty. “I’ve seen people get really out there, and it’s stuff nobody’s heard of or maybe it’s stuff nobody wants to hear of. For me it just had to be a good song, a great song, ‘cause great songs will carry you a long way.”

Fans of Fogerty and of the classic rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival can expect a quality release, although there has been no definitive release date.



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Decemberists’ New LP Is Concept Oriented

Indie-Pop rockers the Decemberists new album from Capitol Records should arrive in stores near the end of March 2009. The 17-track effort will chronicle a twisted love triangle, mixed with fantasy, with a woodland queen playing very heavily into the storyline.

However, this is not the first time the Portland, Oregon Indie-Pop crew has waded into the concept album territory. Its predecessor, “The Crane Wife” (2006) included a retooled Japanese fairy tale as its central theme.



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Indigo Girls Team With Vanguard For New Album

The Indigo Girls have started their own label to release their next album. "Poseidon and the Bitter Bug" is due March 24 from IG Recordings, with distribution through Vanguard.

The double-disc set includes the album as well as a second all-acoustic version, the latter featuring the bonus track "Salty South."

"It's basically like two perspectives of the same song," group member Amy Ray told Billboard of the Mitchell Froom-produced project. "It gives everybody both sides of the equation."

The Indigo Girls spent most their career on Epic before shifting to Hollywood for 2006's "Despite Our Differences."