DPRP News Blog

Touchstone and Von Hertzen Brothers will mount a double-header tour of the UK in October.

The bands, both of whom appeared at the inaugural HRH Prog Festival in Rotherham last month, are regarded as two of the most dynamic up-and-coming acts on the circuit.

VHB are riding high with positive reviews for fifth album Nine Lives, released in March via Spinefarm Records. Meanwhile Touchstone are gearing up for the release of their follow-up to 2011′s The City Sleeps, which will be detailed ahead of the tour.

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Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre will embark on a solo band tour of England and the rest of Europe at the end of September.

He’s concentrating on Martin Barre’s New Day while his Tull colleague Ian Anderson focuses on his Thick As A Brick 2 project. The guitarist recently said: “Since Ian and I have been playing together for many years, we have a mutual respect for one another – both as people and as musicians.

“It’s a marriage of understanding and giving the other person space, and knowing that the history and catalog of Jethro Tull’s music was of our making.”

Barre heads out on tour after appearing at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention on August 9. He recently completed work on his fifth solo album and is negotiating over a release in the near future.

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One of the summer’s most highly anticipated tours, “Legends of UK Classic Rock”, will feature progressive rock legends Nektar, beginning in June 2013. After a bit of an absence from U.S. Stages, Nektar is sure to be a treat for concert-goers who will be fortunate enough to catch one of the shows!

Nektar founding member Roye Albrighton (guitars/lead vocals) says, “We can promise you high quality performances wherever we play. I know I speak on behalf of the band when I say we are all looking forward to it.”

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Rick Rubin has explained why he suggested Ginger Baker should play on new Black Sabbath album 13.

The producer came up with a list of names including the Cream icon after Bill Ward withdrew from the project. And even though Sabbath vetoed the idea, Rubin had a good reason for putting it forward.

He tells: “He was on the list I submitted to them. Certain people were dismissed outright by the band, based on having dealt with them on the past, or the baggage. It wasn’t always about drumming ability.

“He was on my list because I wanted to get someone who had grown up in the same world as them, and who jammed the way they did. There aren’t many of those people left. Most of them are dead.

“I was asking: who grew up listening to the same music as them? Who played in bands where they jammed back then? It’s a very different thing from the way hard rock and heavy metal drummers play today. That’s the kind of drummer I was looking for.”

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