Part pop culture mag, part rock art carnival, part comic book, and all irreverent fun for serious fans, Royal Flush is an annual, collectible magazine known for its provocative humor, stylish design and innovative art, and this year’s issue is featuring none other than ROB ZOMBIE on its hallowed cover!

Rob stopped in at New York City’s Forbidden Planet in celebration of the release of the issue to sign some copies of the magazine as well as some copies of the latest release Hellbilly Deluxe 2.

Bandmates John 5, Piggy D., and Joey Jordison joined Rob for the signing and you can see footage of the band and anecdotes from the fans who waited hours to meet the guys, in the player below.

The gang will hit the UK in February 2011 for a UK headline tour- Zombie’s first in 12 years. Get dates and tickets from out Tours page. You can get the album now in all good stores or online. Point your mouse in THIS DIRECTION. you can grab it from iTines HERE.

Following a very special tour 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads, KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD and his band invited the blues legends featured on the previous run to join them at the House of Blues in Chicago to perform a mix of their iconic tracks alongside his own on what would become Live! In Chicago

The full-on live album is not only a celebration of the blues, but also a celebration of its famed musicians. Featuring the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – Noah Hunt, Chris Layton, Scott Nelson and Riley Osbourn – along with special guests and legends Hubert Sumlin, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Buddy Flett, Bryan Lee and Tommy Shannon, Kenny Wayne himself checks in in the video below to further explain who these guys are, what they brought to the performance, and how they inspire him. Watch it now, and go pick up the album now in iTunes- just HERE.

Kerrang will be taking some time with STONE SOUR when they return to the UK shortly for their tour with Avenged Sevenfold and they would like YOU to help them put the questions together for the interview.

Email it to- feedback@kerrang.com with ‘Corey Taylor’ in the subject header.

If you want in on the action, then get your email in STAT and try and think of something original!!

In other Stone Sour news, Shawn Economaki sat down and had a chat to SoundSphere about not only the recording of the album but also about returning to the UK and Europe.

“As much as I love playing at home, there’s just something special about when you’re over in Europe.” he says,

It’s time for another in our Gear Nerd series here at Roadrunner UK and seeing as how the guys are currently here in the UK, we thought it would be fitting to bring you our recent chat with ALTER BRIDGE guitarist Mark Tremonti about his guitar playing career and his current set-up…

Roadrunner Records: Was guitar the first instrument that you picked up and learnt how to play?
Mark Tremonti: My first instrument was the trumpet!

RR: Wow, so how did that come about?
MT: I was in grade school and we had a Music class where you had to choose an instrument. Everybody played the recorder and then you had to chose what instrument you where gonna play and I chose the trumpet, and I think I learned ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’- that was probably the most in-depth song I’d learned- and after that I just kinda lost interest a little bit.

RR: Wasn’t really your thing?
MT: It wasn’t my thing, no! I kinda get grossed out with the spit and the spit valve and all that! It was kinda gross!

RR: So when did the guitar come in to things? When did you first pick up a guitar?
MT: I first started playing guitar at 11 years old. I wanted to play for years before- I asked my parents to buy me one but they never did; not for a few years. So I finally found a friend who had a guitar (an imitation Les Paul) that he sold me for $10, that I played at first with my thumb on the fret board; I didn’t know how to play! [laughs] From then I just tried to write songs for years and years. I tried to learn songs by Black Flag and Bad Brains and Metallica as much as I could and it took a very long time cause I never really took guitar lessons you know, but um I’m glad I did it that way cause I developed my own ear!

RR: So you never actually had one lesson?
MT: I had one lesson, and they tried to teach me ‘Silent Night’ and I got bored with it. I told them and they said “well what do you want to learn”? And I said “a Metallica song! I want to learn Blackened”. And he said “er okay, I’ll bring that in to you next week”. So the next week came; he didn’t have Blackened ready for me so I said, “you liar!” [Laughs] And I quit! And that was my last guitar lesson!

RR: So which guitarist really inspired you to play?
MT: James Hertfeild / Metallica inspired me to get into the speed metal kinda stuff and Mustaine. In my early years I was just a metal head but as far as lead guitar, first I got into the shred stuff like Steve Vai, Vinnie Moore, Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani… As I’ve gotten older now I’m more into Robin Ford, Larry Carlton, Audley Freed, Warren Haynes, Blues Saraceno (I know he’s kinda shreddy as well), jeez, I could go on forever and ever! I just love guitar players, you know? I’m into Michael Schenker as well, Zach Wylde…but I’m trying to learn more of the bluesy side of the guitar playing at this moment.

RR: So the way that you learnt to play guitar essentially therefore was just listening to all your favourite music and favourite guitarists and just trying to emulate them?
MT: Trying to tackle it, yep! But I was always more of a songwriter more than I was a lead guitar player. That didn’t come until much much later.

RR: So when it comes to writing, as you’ve not had lessons, how did you start to put your songs together?
MT: I just did it! I mean I just felt the way they should go together and just…When I was young I saved up for a four track recorder and recorded my own songs and little by little you get better and better at doing it and see what parts fit together and you hear songs on the radio – how they go and you just kinda take notes. I just started writing my own songs! I did that for most of my life, you know, since I was 11 so I’ve been doing it for about 25 years now!

RR: So what was the very first band that you were in as a kid, and what kinda music did you play?
MT: Diversion was the name of the band, and it was a punk-metal band. Punk speed metal band! It was just real raw, dirty…Even now some of the songs would be pretty hip! The singer was a pretty raunchy kind of cool front man! But then there was another band in town- we were more of the sloppier punk band, and there was another band that was a little more…refined… Motley Crue type of cover. They were better than we were musically, but there were some of the guys in our band that were good too so we combined forces. Me, the drummer and the bass payer left our band and joined forces with the other band who had a guitar player and a singer. We formed a band called ‘Wits End’ and Wits End got pretty good! We went to the big studio in town and recorded demos and um, we recorded about 5 or 6 songs and those songs – somebody’s still got ‘em- some of them are pretty decent. But that was my 8th grade year and then freshman year when my parents moved me down to Florida and then nobody where I went to school played any instruments, so I bought a four-track recorder and that’s when I learned how to programme drums and write songs and try and sing them on my own! And that’s why I really became a song writer.

RR: so you said at the moment you’re kinda submerging yourself in blues and things like that. Are there any other styles, like other than rock and metal that have really influenced you over the years? And that you delved into?
MT: Yeah, blues and jazz. But see when I dive into…I don’t know everything there is to know about them. I tackle one song at a time! So, when I say Robin Ford, I know the hell out of ‘Up The Line’, I don’t know like his whole catalogue, you know? I never try and dive too much into one guitar player for too long; I like to learn a song or two of one, and then jump, jump around. I try and mix it up. I don’t ever wanna find myself sounding like another guitar player.

RR: So when you look back over your professional career, I’m assuming you’ve had quite a few endorsements. Who’s endorsed you in the past? Who are you endorsed by now?
MT: Main endorsement is Paul Reed Smith– I’ve got a signature model with them. I’ve been endorsed by Morley- I’ve got a signature Power Wah Morley Pedal. I’ve got an endorsement with T-rex pedals. I’ve got my signature Tremonti fazers, I endorse Dunlop Picks, D’Addario strings, Planet Wave Cables…oh someone’s gonna get mad if they get left out…! [laughs] umm… I think that’s about it you know!

Fender’s always been really cool to me too. Like, if I need anything from Fender, they give me a really good deal and they give me really good quality stuff! I use fender twins in my rig at all times and I’m a really big fan of – although I use PRS’s exclusively on stage- I still love Fender strats and telecasters, so I use those at home as well, but yeah, that’s about it for endorsements.

RR: So, run us through your set-up for your shows in the UK. What will you be bringing with you and how will you be setting things up?
MT: I’ll have my normal rig. Its got four 4×12 cabinets with two 65 twin reissue 2 by 12 combos, open-back combos…I have my dual rectifier head and my Bognor Uberschall head- that will be my rhythm tone and when I switch tones over to my clean tone, I go to my fender twins and I go to the clean channel of my ‘boogie’ and then when I go to lead tone, it switches over to my orange channel of my ‘boogie’ and its and I got a tonebone headbone pedal that switches the load from a cabinet from a head, to a two rack custom reverb signature head, where I do my leads and in that head I have an effects loop with the t-rex replica pedal and a overdrive pedal as well.

RR: So when you’re playing these shows, there’s bound to be kids in the crowd who will be looking up to you, and be like “I wanna be like Mark one day!” What advice would you give those budding guitarists?
MT: Just follow your passion you know? As far as the gear stuff goes, you don’t need anything fancy! You need one good amplifier, and not a bunch of pedals, just…It’s all about your fingers, not just going crazy trying to find the perfect tones. If you’re into being a good song writer, dive into it; try to write songs all day. If you’re just a guitar player, follow your passions, you know? Follow what you’re really into. Don’t let somebody try and teach you ‘Silent Night’! [laughs] If you don’t wanna play ‘Silent Night’ and you know if you wanna learn a Gilmore lead, learn it! You know, learn it by ear! Tab is confusing sometimes, ’cause a lot of the times it’s wrong, so try to develop your ear. Not having to rely on other people is a big, big key to success and developing your guitar skills.

Alter Bridge are currently on tour here in the UK in support of brand new album AB III, which is in stores now. Pick up the CD online HERE or grab it from iTunes- CLICK HERE.

Check out the others in our series, which include the likes of Joey Jordison, Slash, Zakk Wylde and more over at our FEATURES PAGE.

Las Vegas rockers TAKING DAWN have announced a return to the UK in Jan/February 2011.

After an exciting start to 2010, supporting labelmates Airbourne on their sold-out UK run, but also rock legends KISS on their massive UK arena tour, the band were last seen here opening the main stage at this summer’s Download Festival. Since then they’ve also gone on to do shows with Murderdolls and Slash in the US, and their video for ‘The Chain’ has been all over Scuzz TV, Kerrang! TV and Lava’s music channel in the UK. A timely return to Blighty seemed only appropriate.

Frontman Chris Babbitt is excited for the band’s return to these shores, enthusing; “If it wasn’t for the UK fans I’d be at the end of my rope, making swing music. We LOVE you fuckers and it’s about time we made it back across the pond to sex you up! B SHRED OR B DEAD! See ya soon!”

Tickets are on sale from Friday October 22nd. Full list of dates rack up as follows:

Fri 28th Jan – GLASGOW Garage – TAKING DAWN will be part of a special show – full details TBA/to follow

Sun 30th Jan – LEEDS Cockpit
Mon 31st Jan – LONDON Barfly
Tue 1st Feb – WOLVERHAMPTON Slade Room
Wed 2nd Feb – COLCHESTER Arts Centre
Thu 3rd Feb – PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms
Fri 4th Feb – NEWCASTLE O2 Academy
Sat 5th Feb – OXFORD O2 Academy
Sun 6th Feb – LIVERPOOL University

Taking Dawn’s debut album Time To Burn is in stores now. Pick up the CD HERE or pick it up from iTunes AT THIS LOCATION.

ROB ZOMBIE’S return to the UK after a 12-year hiatus has been met with a right ole ticket-buying frenzy!! As a result, Manchester’s show has been moved up to the Apollo, having sold out the original venue in a matter of hours. All tickets sold for the Academy are now valid for the Apollo.

The Manchester show will be the only show to move, but be aware that tickets for all other shows are nearly sold out, so don’t delay in picking yours up.

Rob and his band, featuring John 5 (guitar), Piggy D (bass) and Joey Jordison (drums) play a string of six dates this coming February, finally bringing their visually-arresting, high-octane, pyro-laden, monster stage show to UK shores. Rob is looking forward to the visit, saying “ I am thrilled to be finally heading back to the UK. I have been away far too long, but trust me it will be worth the wait. The band is in top form and completely ready to destroy.” UK fans can be assured the full Zombie spectacular is coming their way!! Don’t waste any time picking up your tickets because they’ll not hang around for long…

Full dates rack up as follows and you can pick up tickets online over at our Tours page:

Wed 16th Feb – LONDON Brixton Academy
Thu 17th Feb – MANCHESTER Apollo
Fri 18th Feb – NEWCASTLE O2 Academy
Sun 20th Feb – GLASGOW O2 Academy
Mon 21st Feb – LEEDS O2 Academy
Tue 22nd Feb – BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy

New album Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is in stores now. Pick it up from iTunes HERE or on CD AT THIS LOCATION.

METHODS OF MAYHEM mastermind Tommy Lee will host a LIVE online Q&A session tonight (October 20th) over at his Official Site.

The video chat will start at 7pm his time (over in LA) which means a 3am kick off tonight/early hours of tomorrow morning for us folks here in the UK.

After teasing fans with their incredible set at this year’s High Voltage Festival and the release of blistering new album ‘Order Of The Black’ (in stores now), BLACK LABEL SOCIETY are pleased to announce a string of UK dates for February 2011.

Tickets for the tour will go on sale at 9am on Friday 22nd October and will be priced

Next Tuesday- that’s the 26th October folks- ALTER BRIDGE frontman Myles Kennedy will be taking over an hour of ROCK RADIO, playing the stations listeners HIS choice tunes from 10pm (UK time). Be sure to tune in!!! You can do so right HERE online.

Yesterday afternoon Tom Russel of Rock Radio Scotland ran his interview Myles, which was recorded in Glasgow before the bands first show of their current sell out UK tour. If you missed the interview, it is now available online!

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW NOW!!

The band are in the UK in support of their brand new album AB III, which was released last week and entered the UK album charts at number 9! You can pick the album up now in all good stores or from iTunes HERE.

Yesterday AIRBOURNE checked in with an update from Uproar to fill us in on how touring the US has been going, and today we learn what the guys miss the most when they are on road in a second clip for their tour-bus.

They also fill us in about how much they love Wine Gums (which their Brit tour manager Mark introduced them to) and how much they are looking forward to coming back to these shores in December- and just what we can expect from the shows…

The shows rack up as follows and the tickets are on sale NOW! Pick them up online HERE.

Thu 2nd Dec – LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
Fri 3rd Dec – PRESTATYN Hard Rock Hell Festival
Sat 4th Dec – GLASGOW Barrowlands
Sun 5th Dec – BELFAST Ulster Hall
Tue 7th Dec – DUBLIN Olympia
Thu 9th Dec – MANCHESTER Academy
Fri 10th Dec – BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy

The band’s current album No Guts. No Glory is in stores NOW. Pick it up on iTunes for just