Former and current members of JUDAS PRIEST, ALICE COOPER, OZZY OSBOURNE and SCORPIONS will play classic songs from their respective bands during a week-long tour of Russia under the banner ROCKSTAR.
May 19 – Krasnodar – Arena Hall
May 21 – Rostov – Tesla Club
May 23 – Voronej – Barac’o’mama Club
May 25 – Penza – Rock Park Open-Air Festival
May 26 – Saratov Tuz Hall
May 28 – Moscow – Rockstar Bar
A video interview with Owens in which he discusses the ROCKSTAR project can be seen below.
Carmine Appice asks rock ‘n’ roll addicts of all ages, “How does spending a few days of major face time with me and some of my most excellent, legendary rock ‘n’ metal hero friends sound?”
The groundbreaking drummer provides an answer in the form of Carmine Appice’s Rockaholics Metal Fan Camp — set for August 26-30 at Full Moon Resort in the heart of the “Forever Wild” Catskill Forest Preserve, just one half hour west of Woodstock, New York. Carmine Appice (VANILLA FUDGE, CACTUS) will be joined by “camp counselors” including singer/guitarist Eric Bloom (BLUE ÖYSTER CULT), drummer James Kottak (SCORPIONS), guitarist Eddie Ojeda (TWISTED SISTER), and renowned shredder Michael Angelo Batio.
Carmine Appice is known not only as a heavy metal progenitor for his visionary work with VANILLA FUDGE (and later CACTUS, the power trio BECK, BOGERT & APPICE, and others), but also as a tireless drum evangelist and educator through both his best-selling Realistic Rock Drum Method and decades of clinics. Rockaholics Metal Fan Camp is not so much a forum for preaching and teaching as an opportunity for shared social experience.
“I’ve been thinking about doing a drum camp forever,” Carmine explains. “Then while I was at NAMM, it hit me: ‘Hey, this can be way cooler than that — make it a fan camp for all rock/metal heads.’ So I cherry-picked some amazing stars to join me, and Full Moon Resort offered me a fantastic price package. What better way to reward the fans who have been so loyal for so long than to give them a once in a lifetime opportunity to spend ’round-the-clock face time with me and my friends? We’ll all be hanging out and having a great time.”
Rockaholics camp sessions will feature road warrior stories, musical performances by individual artists, question-and-answer sessions and more — ending with nightly jam sessions featuring the camp’s celebrity counselors. Also planned is the “Carmine Cookoff”, inspired by his “Cooking With Carmine” segment which can be viewed below. Additional details about the daily schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.
While the Rockaholics Metal Fan Camp will showcase Carmine‘s own flair for rock ‘n’ roll storytelling, he’s equally enthusiastic about the lineup of camp counselors that he recruited while attending the annual Winter NAMM Show in Southern California earlier this year.
“As I ran into my friends at NAMM, I asked different people in the rock and metal arena if they would be interested. And one by one I picked the best guys who were available,” Carmine says. “The guys who committed ROCK! They are some of the best in the biz. They are cool, personable rock stars who’ve been around for awhile and have seen it all. It’s gonna be a great time!”
Carmine Appice’s Rockaholics Metal Fan Camp offers a variety of pricing options, based on the variety of available accommodations. Packages are on sale now at this location, and start at just $795, including lodging, access to all gourmet meals, performances, and camp activities.
All activities will be held at Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York, which features an eclectic array of comfortable, rustic country-inn accommodations as well as tent camping. All accommodations are just steps away from daily camp activities. Guests can enjoy the spring-fed swimming pool, on-site access to the Esopus Creek, and explore the splendors of the Catskills on the nearby network of hiking trails. Dedicated to the celebration of nature, music and the arts, this one hundred-acre wonderland of mountains, fields, and streams is a world of its own.
Racine Stripe Productions is in the final production of a feature-length documentary on SCORPIONS drummer James Kottak. Described as “a true rags-to-riches-to-rage-then-riches story,” the documentary is slated for release this summer. A true survivor, Kottak has fought to remain a force in the fickle world of rock and roll, and despite tragedies and more than a few pitfalls, has survived with his humor, talent, and rock edge fully in tact.
In a 2010 interview with Sleaze Roxx, Kottak stated about his plans for after SCORPIONS‘ current farewell tour, “I’m constantly being asked to play on other people’s albums, [so] I presume I’ll be doing a lot more of that. I’ve been asked to do drum clinics around the world. I’ve never done that due to time constraints, but I will do some of that now. I’m just so flattered that people would like me to come in and talk about drums. I’m sure I’ll wind up playing drums full-time with somebody, but after playing with the SCORPIONS, playing with anybody, no matter how talented and gifted they are, would be like a step down. I love writing music, I love playing drums, I love all of it.”
Kottak was previously married to Athena Lee, the American musician, drummer and actress and the younger sister of MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee. They have three children together: Tobi (a girl), born 1991; Miles, born in 1993; and Matthew, born in 1997.
