It all starts with a conversation. As a music journalist, it’s hard not to be star-struck over some of the people whom I’ve had conversations with — Toby Wright immediately comes to mind, …
On a brisk, late winter evening in the middle of February, I am driving along the winding Ozark mountain roads on my way to Springfield, Mo. to interview the singer of one of the …
Conquering Dystopia
by Brian McKinny
Guitarist Jeff Loomis has an all-encompassing passion for sonic vibrations of all sorts and styles. At one moment, his playing style is as savage and brutally aggressive as an MG-42 machine gun. The next moment …
The Scorpions — Unplugged in Athens
by Brian McKinny, senior editor, Music Insider Magazine
Before Rudolf (Rudy) Schenker founded the Scorpions in 1965, he was 16 and just another teenager from Hildesheim, Germany with dreams of becoming a professional soccer …
Preserving and expanding a legacy
by Brian McKinny, Music Insider Magazine
Few names in the annals of rock music history have as much reverence attached to them as Jimi Hendrix. His career and body of recorded work are the stuff …
‘Audiodacity’ and ‘Aftershocks’
by Brian McKinny
Many guitarists have attained legendary status throughout modern musical history. Some are gone forever but not forgotten — Jimi Hendrix, Danny Gatton, “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, Duane Allman, Stevie Ray Vaughn. Thankfully, others are still …
by Brian McKinny
Blacklist Union isn’t really a band so much as it is whatever singer Tony West decides it is. With two previous CDs in the can, and his latest project, “Til Death Do Us Part” just released, Tony …
by Brian McKinny, senior editor
Vinnie Dombroski is very important to the history of rock and roll in Detroit, Mich. As the front man of no less than three working bands — Sponge, Crud and …
Sprung Monkey is an alternative/nu-metal band from San Diego, my own hometown. I grew up there, and have nothing but fond memories of it. I mean, who wouldn’t want to grow up in San Diego? The beaches, the weather, the …
