NEWS

Dear press & media,

next up in PR is an exciting AOR release from MARTY AND THE BAD PUNCH! The group’s second album entitled “Walk A Straight Line” will be released on February 21st, 2020 via Enghardt Media/ Edel and be available as CD, LP & digital. The album features a couple of illustrious guests incl. Bruce Kulick (Kiss), Tommy Denander, JK Northrup and Frank Pané (Bonfire). The PR for this release will start shortly. 

Band leader Marty Punch will host of a listening & signing session at Munich’s famous M2 Record Store on Friday, December 13th between 17.30 and 19.00 CET. Press & radio is also invited to join - please, get in touch with us for more details if interested!

A couple of singles from this album have been already released in advance – here comes video for the track “Universe” feat. Frank Pané: https://youtu.be/ovr85CuOfA4

Enjoy the music!

Birgitt

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Band: Marty And The Bad Punch 

Album: Walk A Straight Line

Out: 21.02.2020

Label: Enghardt Media/ Edel 

     

Marty Punch returns after his successful debut album „Moon Over Baskerville“, which was awarded with four awards at the German Rock & Pop Awards in 2015. The brilliant follow-up double album is called „Marty And The Bad Punch – Walk A Straight Line“ (EnghardtMedia) and will be released on February 21st, 2020. Also featured on the new release is frontman & singer David Cagle (JK Northrup/ David Cagle „That’s Gonna Leave A Mark“, MelodicRock Records).

„Walk A Straight Line“ is a time travel through the most beautiful time of Melodic & AOR Rock – the 80’s. In addition to beautiful ballads you can also find incredible AOR Rock songs and country anthems!

The album includes the 3 singles "Zakopane" (#1 Hit in Poland!) with Tommy Denander on lead guitar, the melodic rock anthem "Universe" with Frank Pané (Bonfire) on guitar and "My Demons" with Bruce Kulick (ex-Kiss / Grand Funk Railroad) on lead guitar (to be released Dec 13, 2019 as single).

Many international stars such as David Cagle, Sarah Straub, Robert Karasek, Martin Motnik, Carsten Enghardt, JK Northrup, Tommy Denander, Frank Pané and Bruce Kulick can be heard on „Walk A Straight Line“. The recording and mix was handled by Carsten Enghardt, and the final touches were given to the album by mastering engineer Dennis Ward.

Right now, Marty is working with Tommy Denander on a re-recording of the track “Better Be Strong” from his first album – with Robert Tepper, David Cagle, Steph Honde and Mick White as singers amongst others. This recording will be released for charity in the near future.

Line-up: Marty Punch (Guitars), David Cagle (Vocals), Carsten Enghardt (Drums), Martin Motnik (Bass), Robert Karasek (Keyboards)

Guests: Sarah Straub (vocal duet on “Feels Like Heaven”); Tommy Denander (lead guitar & solo on “Zakopane”), JK Northrup (guitar solo on “Southbound Train”, Voice over on “The Story Of The Making…), Frank Pané (guitar solo “Universe”), Bruce Kulick (lead guitar & solo “My Demons”

https://www.facebook.com/martyandthebadpunch/

http://www.martyandthebadpunch.com/

Aussie Theatrical Glam Rock Warriors, CROSSON, return with their uplifting new video/ single ‘Everyone’s A Star’ taken from their upcoming new album ‘Rock ‘N Roll Love Affair’. The video depicts CROSSON doing what they do best…. unleashing their electrifying, energetic, choreographed and  titillating stage show. The track was mixed by Duane Baron (Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, Poison) and mastered by Dave Donnelly (Whitesnake, KISS, Aerosmith).

“Rock ‘N Love Affair” comes crash landing from the stratosphere 27 March 2020 through Galaxy Records/ Melodic Rock Records. “

Check out the video for „Everyone’s A Star“ here: https://youtu.be/XTMN3wi8mM0

More links:

https://www.facebook.com/CrossonRock

http://crosson.com.au

This month with news from Autumn’s Child, The Ragged Saints & Easy Action

*****

::: AUTUMN’S CHILD release self-titled album in Europe on January 31st, 2020! :::

       

Mikael Erlandsson from Gothenburg is one of the best singers/songwriters in Sweden today. Between 2006-2018 he was the frontman in the Swedish super group Secret Service.

He has recorded five successful solo albums and together with the fantastic guitar player Andy Malecek from the successful German hard rock band Fair Warning he thought of putting a band together. Ian Haugland (d), Mic Michaeli (keys) and John Leven (b) of Europe-fame were asked if they were interested to join - which they did, and the band LAST AUTUMN'S DREAM was born in 2003. The self-titled debut album was produced by Claes Andreasson and was a great success.

Then the band went on releasing another 14 albums with different line-ups with great musicians like Jamie Borger (d, Treat), Marcel Jacob (b, Talisman) and they all had an impact of the band’s development. They toured Japan, England and Germany but decided to take a break in 2018.

Then Mikael formed this new group: AUTUMN’S CHILD. The line-up apart from Mikael Erlandsson: Jona Tee on Keyboard from Swedish melodic sensation H.E.A.T., Robban Bäck, former drummer of  Eclipse and currently with Swedish rock band Mustasch, Claes Andreasson from Swedish Westcoast/AOR band Heartbreak Radio. He also produced the first LAD album and “Winter in Paradise“ and “Saturn Skyline“ for LAD as well and finally on guitar: the amazing Pontus Åkesson from the prog rock band Moon Safari.

Audio video: https://youtu.be/ZgN2FYqGzQE

Release date: January 31st, 2020

*****

 

::: THE RAGGED SAINTS – second album called “Sonic Playground Revisted” in the pipeline! :::

      

After few years hiatus Finnish hard rockers The Ragged Saints are coming back with an old school 80’s hard rock influenced record. The album titled ”Sonic Playground Revisited” contains 10 new songs, and will delight not only The Ragged Saints fans, but also fans of bands like Whitesnake, Def Leppard and Ratt to mention a few.

Stylewise, the band continues its path without compromises. They didn’t feel the need to change too much. There’s a bit more keyboards and orchestration on some of the songs and little synth bass here and there, but it’s the same songwriting team so the style and sound are pretty much the same as before. Once again the studio was their sandpit, their own sonic playground.

Band has been working on the album on and off for number of years. It has been a working process since 2013 when the first demos came into being. But the start of recordings took another year due to personal issues and other projects, giving the band opportunity to distance themselves a bit and resume another perspective on the song material.

The Ragged Saints was formed in 2011 by guitarists Tomi Julkunen and Toni Bite. After writing bunch of songs they recruited like-minded singer Markku Kuikka, bassist Jukka Hoffrén and drummer Miikki Kunttu ”not to reinvent the wheel but to play melodic hard rock music we all have loved since the day one”. Shortly after forming they began working on their first record. Band’s well received and critically acclaimed debut album ”The Sound Of Breaking Free” was released in 2013.

New album ”Sonic Playground Revisited” will be released world-wide on January 31st, 2020 on AOR Heaven.

Release date: January 31st, 2020

Audio video: https://youtu.be/0lCMPZLTOls

Web: www.facebook.com/theraggedsaints

 

*****

 

::: EASY ACTION classic re-issue of “That Makes One” due on January 31st, 2020! :::

     

Rarely has there been such a drastic change of musical style than that made by the Swedish hard rock band Easy Action when it came to the recording of their second album ‘That Makes One’ in 1985. While the band’s debut LP (1983) was an ahead of its time glam classic, Easy Action had morphed into a slickly melodic AOR group on the follow up record.

Kee Marcello, who later on joined Europe, was approached by Peo Thyrén (b) from the pop punk band Noice which were considerably successful at the time to sing but eventually ended up as their producer. Not willing to live the destructive lifestyle of the band, Kee and Peo founded their own band: Easy Action. The name refers to Marc Bolan who is considered the biggest rock star by Marcello. The band recorded a mini-album and got themselves a multi-million dollar deal with Sire Records. Joining Peo and Kee in this early version of Easy Action were Zinny J. Zan (v), Fredrik Von Gerber (d, ex Noice) and Danny Wilde (g).

The band sounded like a blueprint for Mötley Crüe, Poison and the like and consequently wanted to go in a different direction with the follow-up. Several line-up changes came, most notably Peo eventually making way for Björn ‘Nalle’ Påhlsson and Tommy Nilsson being recruited to fill the vacant lead singer role after Zinny left. The journey together ended when Marcello was offered to join Europe - an offer to good to turn down.

Upon release in 1986 ‘That Makes One’ certainly gained its many admirers, but any success was short-lived due to Kee taking up that aforementioned offer from Europe to replace John Norum in November the same year to go on to record the ‘Out Of This World’ and ‘Prisoners In Paradise’ albums with the group. When that version of Europe went their separate ways, Marcello began a solo career in 1993 that continues to this day, alongside a lot of production for other artists.

The “glam rock variant“ of Easy Action reunited. Kee and Zinny J. Zan having recruited a first class team of players that included Simon Roxx (g), Micael Grimm (b) and ‘Grizzly’ Höglund (d) and played Sweden Rock in 2006. But the passing of Grimm in 2011 who was the driving force at the time ended the band activities, although some songs were written.

Yet in 2019 the “melodic rock version“ of the band got back together! Kee and Tommy, alongside Chris Lind (g), Björn ’Nalle’ Påhlsson, Björn ‘Grizzly’ Höglund and the band’s long-time live keyboard player Jörgen Ingeström reformed again earlier this year when Kee received another offer to play Sweden Rock. The band recorded a live DVD and presented themselves in excellent shape, for instance using no backing tapes and stuff.

This re-release is remastered by Chris Lyne and limited to 1000 copies. As a bonus there are rare b-sides “Eye For An Eye“ from the “In The Middle Of Nowhere“ single and “There Is A River“ from the “Talk Of The Town“ single. Liner notes and texts by Dave Reynolds.

Web: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Action_(band)

Remark: available only via www.aorheaven.com and ginza.se

Release date: 31st January, 2020

 

Italian female fronted band SECRET RULE will release their new album “Against” on February 21st, 2020 via Pride & Joy Music.

The track list looks a follows: 1. Spira Mirabilis, 2. Shades Of Humanity, 3. Rise Again, 4. Going Nowhere, 5. Digital Revolution, 6. Endless Promises, 7. Purgatory, 8. Against, 9. Deep Solitude, 10. Outsiders, 11. My Last Breath, 12. Don’t Let Me Fade

“Against” now is their fifth studio album. In April 2020, the Italian Heavy Metal band will support Brazilian Melodic Death Metal SEMBLANT on their European tour at the following dates:

02.04.20 • NAMUR (BE) • BELVEDERE 

03.04.20 • ROTTERDAM (NL) • Baroeg 

04.04.20 • PARIS (FR) • La Boule Noire

05.04.20 • WEINHEIM (DE) • Café Central

06.04.20 • LONDON (UK) • The Underworld Camden

09.04.20 • LISBOA (PT) • RCA CLUB

10.04.20 • MADRID (ES) • Nazca Music Live

11.04.20 • BARCELONA (ES) • Razzmatazz 3

12.04.20 • LYON (FR) • ROCK N EAT official

14.04.20 • PRATTELN (CH) • Konzertfabrik Z7

15.04.20 • BERLIN (DE) • Musik & Frieden

16.04.20 • KRAKOW (PL) • Klub Zaścianek

17.04.20 • BRATISLAVA (SK) • Randal Club 

18.04.20 • ROMA (IT) • Traffic Live 

 

www.secretrule.it

www.facebook.com/secretruleband

www.youtube.com/channel/UCl9d9mZQy34-vlcYlL0yNYA

 

The PR for this release will start in early January 2020. 

This month with news from Carl Dixon & Keen Hue!

Please note, that our office will be closed tomorrow (an holiday in Germany) and on Friday as well due to a business trip. Service back as usual from Monday, October 7th.

*****

::: CONEY HATCH frontman CARL DIXON releases new solo album “Unbroken” on November 29th, 2019! :::

Dixon’s solo debut ‘One’ (1993), appears to have been a pretty obvious move for a man of his standing (at least from the European perspective). Carl, born in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario had come to prominence in the early 80s as one of the frontmen for the critically acclaimed Canadian hard rock band Coney Hatch.

      

However, having released three albums between 1982 and 1985, Dixon had become pretty disillusioned with his career at that point; tired of the many frustrations that being on a major label (who don’t appear to care) brings on a touring band trying to get noticed. Ironically, as has been shown time and again, North American bands often appear to be curiously shielded from any success they may be achieving abroad. In Coney Hatch’s case there was another market out there bursting to embrace them in Europe, if only they’d known about it.

After focussing on songwriting for other artists for a while, eventually switching focus from North America, where Grunge was on the brink, to Europe, especially Germany, where Coney Hatch made a much bigger impact, Carl wouldn’t fully learn about it only until Coney Hatch’ performance at the 2014 edition of Firefest, England. 

’One’ features fifteen songs, one of them (‘One Good Reason’) a co-write with Brett Walker, another one (‘Taste Of Love’) Aerosmith meets Def Leppard flavored.

Dixon’s first wife Stella ended up adding backing vocals alongside e.g. Mark Santer (Santers) or Mike Shotton (Von Groove). It took a month of recording in four different studios especially focussing on how the guitars sound. The Canadian still is very proud of it and about the fact that people still remember the album.

After being with The Guess Who and April Wine for a while and a horrible car crash in Australia in 2008, he’s back with Coney Hatch leading to the 2013 record ‘Four’ and has released a couple of solo records since. Additionally, he’s having a brand new solo effort by the name of ‘Unbroken’ coming out soon on with he collaborated with Frontline’s Robby Böbel.

After the re-issue of the classic album “One” in October 2019, November sees the release of the first collaboration between Carl and Robert Boebel, a long-time stalwart on the German music scene with bands like Frontline and Phantom V, among many. The result is the new release, Carl Dixon UNBROKEN, a powerfully sung and performed album that reaches the heights of AOR Melodic Rock. Memorable hooks, strong melodies, great guitar playing and production, and drumming performed by Mark Santer (Santers) and newcomer Dylan Gowan (Vesperia, Cardinal Street).

Audio video in advance: https://youtu.be/uJIqg5pSHr4

Web: www.facebook.com/CarlDixonMusicPage/

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*****

::: KEEN HUE return with a trip back to their “Heydays” on November 29th, 2019! :::

On a summer´s day 1978, bass player Lars-Åke loaded his amp and speaker onto his bicycle trailer, heading for the first meeting and rehearsal with guitarist Åke and drummer Anders.

This was the start of KEEN HUE. At that time the band was exclusively playing covers from bands such as HURRIGANES and RAMONES. Three years later, the second guitarist Stefan and new drummer Peter joined the band. At this point they started to write their own music, influenced by acts like JUDAS PRIEST and BLACK SABBATH. As they were living in the same little village, the band was rehearsing almost everyday in the basement of Stefan’s parents´ house. When his mother started popping pills and his father’s hair turned white, they changed location. Next stop, Peter’s parents’ house.

      

Still rehearsing and gigging local venues, in the autumn of 1982, KEEN HUE also recorded and released their first 2-track single (“Spread Your Wings Of Fire/One Of Two“). The boys paid for it themselves and 500 copies were made. Another three years later, 1985, English record label Ebony Records signed the band for an LP. After the release of that album (“Ogre King“), the band had a good response from all over Europe and several countries around the world. Shortly thereafter, the band recruited bass player Kent so that Lars-Åke could focus on his vocals. The following years they did some touring in Sweden and in 1989 the singer Lars-Åke left KEEN HUE. After finding another frontman the band kept on writing songs and then released a CD in 1993 (“Juicy Fruit Lucy“). In the years to come, members changed but Stefan and Kent were still in the band, playing a lot, now under the name KEEN HUE-UNDER COVER.

Fast forward to 2018: Stefan came up with the idea to make new recordings of the old KEEN HUE-songs and contacted Lars-Åke, Åke, Kent and Peter. Everyone was onboard immediately recording the old songs with an updated sound. So here you are, 10 fresh songs written between 1981-1989. The HEYDAYS!

Lars-Åke "Plåtis" Nilsson, Vocals

Stefan Morén, Guitar

Åke "Krumme" Nyström, Guitar

Kent Jansson, Bass

Peter "Zeke" Ytterberg, Drums

Audio video in advance: https://youtu.be/lUEA3MafNi4

Web: www.facebook.com/Keen-Hue-137383786328216/

PR world-wide: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein!

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