Following on from the acoustic Live in Leeds show and 2020’s Galactic Quarantine performances, the third of Devin Townsend‘s Devolution series, Devolution #3 – Empath Live In America (InsideOut Music) was recorded on the Canadian’s ill-fated tour of the US which had to be cut short due to the Covid pandemic.
MFTJ, a band featuring Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa, Joe Satriani, Devin Townsend), and Scott Schorr (Producer of Levin Minnemann Rudess, Levin Torn White, Tony Levin’s Stick Man) have released their self-titled debut album. Described as an “instrumental prog soup flavored with art-rock, hip-hop, hard rock and psychedelia”, its an inventive and fun release with killer musicianship. It’s out now to purchase and stream from Schorr’s Lazybones Records label and features Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) on a track. Check it out!Continue reading
Alex Winter (Bill and Ted 3, The Lost Boys) will finally premiere his long in the works Frank Zappa documentary at South By Southwest (SXSW) 2020, according to a published report by Rolling Stone. The festival takes place in Austin, Texas, between March 13th and March 22nd. Although Zappa has been the subject of many films, Winter’s movie is unique in that it covers the artist’s entire life; he had access to the Zappa family’s vault of uncirculated and rarely seen footage. The film will include commentary from Frank, his wife Gail, his one-time “stunt guitarists” Steve Vai and Mike Keneally, Mothers of Invention members Ruth Underwood, Ian Underwood and Bunk Gardner, and GTOs member Pamela Des Barres, among many others. Winter is known for his iconic roles in pop culture hits, but has also made several award-winning documentaries. He sifted through hundreds of hours of footage to make the picture. “Zappa was an extremely complicated and brilliant man who had as many detractors as he had fans,” Winter told Rolling Stone. “I hope that our audience finds him as captivating and significant an American artist as I do.”Continue reading
Devin Townsend will finally embark on a full-band tour of Europe to support his new album Empath (InsideOut Music) that released earlier in 2019. His solo band includes many contributors to the album such as Mike Keneally, Morgan Agren, Nathan Navarro, Che Aimee Dorval, Diego Tejeida and Markus Reuter. Watch the video from Devy below for the full announcement. Continue reading
In a series of tweets, Devin Townsend revealed he is nearing completion of his new album, Empath, due this spring via InsideOut Music. In addition to frequent collaborator Anneke Van Giersbergen (Vuur), Devy is working with Chad Kroger of Nickelback, Che Dorval, Mike Keneally, and others. He discussed the arduous process of making this album and how relieved he is that it is nearing completion. He also commented that the theme of the album is “anti-suicide”. Continue reading