It seems we were not alone in our idea of revisiting old treasures from the past to help pass the forced downtime of the pandemic. Guitarist Steve Vai is the latest of our rock inspirations to bring an old project to the world; Vai/Gash is a tribute to hi dear friend Gash who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1998 before the world got to hear his amazing voice. Recently virtuoso bassist Billy Sheehan reunited with his band Talas to release their music before their singer succumbed to cancer in 2021.
It is both poignant and inspiring to see the humanity of our musical heroes on display, paying tribute to the same kinds of relationships that we had with our own dear Matt. Part of what we've really worked to highlight in our mini rockumentary is it those relationships we form when making music together are somehow transcendent – part friend group part family and somehow some thing mysterious unexplainable and more. It can be fraught with turbulence in the pursuit of creative visions, but one thing common to all of these stories is that the passage of time makes us see the whole picture differently; especially when one of the key players is no longer here. Rock Time in Your Town is our chance to share our tribute and our story.
Like him or not, it's hard to name a more iconic figure in heavy metal and hard rock than Ozzy Osbourne. He's still making vibrant rocking music (check out "A Thousand Shades" with the late Jeff Beck's gorgeous guitar work from his Grammy-winning Patient Number 9 album below), but recently announced that he can no longer endure the rigors of touring. Ozzy's early solo work was a huge inspiration to us, and it is sobering to realize that time is marching on for all of us, and none of us are getting out alive.
Which means "do the things now, while you still can."
For more about our Rock Time in Your Town film project, please visit our IndieGoGo campaign page.
Hear “Busted”, from Vai/Gash, at YouTube.
Hear "Inner Mounting Flame", from Talas 1985, at YouTube.
Hear "A Thousand Shades" featuring Jeff Beck, from Ozzy Osbourne's Patient Number 9, at YouTube.