Author: Editorial Team

Lex Legion is a brand new band comprised of old friends with incredible heavy metal pedigree. Comprising four-fifths of the classic late 1980s King Diamond line-up – drummer Mikkey Dee, guitarists Pete Blakk and Andy La Rocque, and bassist Hal Patino – the group is infused with the jaw-dropping vocals of Nils K. Rue (Pagan’s Mind). And let’s not overlook that their members also boast Motörhead, Scorpions, and Death on their collective resumes. 

Lex Legion‘s eponymous debut album is a single-minded, future-facing throwback of world-class hard rock/metal distinguished by tasteful, less-is-more arrangements, virtuoso musicianship, and relentless melody and harmony. Check out the album opener and first single, “Sleep Eternally,” below.

“Lex Legion is totally written the way we thought in the ’80s,” said Mikkey Dee. “We wrote what we wanted, and if you liked it, that was a great bonus. If you didn’t like it, that was fine with us, too!” 

Lex Legion was formed by Blakk and Dee, and completed by Patino, alongside La Rocque (a King Diamond constant since 1985, who also played on Death‘s seminal Individual Thought Patterns), and finally, Rue.

This is music for hard rock/metal fans, but also with a freshness and sense of excitement that only a debut album can capture. Lex Legion‘s members find themselves more musically accomplished than ever before, but now free of the egos of youth, and with friendship that comes with careers spanning more than forty years. 

Despite their impressive resumes (Dee is also a Grammy winner and both La Rocque and Hal Patino are nominees) and busy individual schedules, Lex Legion is a serious passion project that’s been gestating for a quarter century, until the time was right. 

Lex Legion‘s self-titled debut will be released by MNRK Music Group in June of 2026, with possible touring beginning the following year.

“It has elements of everything on the album,” said La Rocque. “The right tempo and the right kind of vocals, starting out like a fist in your face!” Rue’s soaring pipes and ominous harmonies are framed by Dee’s unmistakable powerhouse drumming, imaginative leads from both guitarists, Patino’s melodic basslines, and shifts of pace and tempo that will satiate fans of more progressive sub-genres.”

The second track and follow-up single “Gypsy Tears” (which arrives in May) seals the deal – eerie, rapturous, otherworldly, propulsive, and evocative, but also, straight-up driving, melodic metal. 

“This is totally unique. No one is writing this kind of music, and there’s a big hole for us to fill,” Blakk concluded. “Welcome to our new journey of friendship and hard rock!”

The post LEX LEGION – Featuring Classic KING DIAMOND MEMBERS & PAGAN’s MIND Frontman – Release Music Video For Debut Single “Sleep Eternally” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Multi-million streaming, UK-based collective President continue to exist at the intersection of heavy music, electronic experimentation, and cinematic atmosphere. Launching in 2025 and operating under the cloak of minimalism and anonymity, President have been cultivating intrigue with each single and live performance. Refusing to conform to the traditional structures of genre or identity, President prioritize intent over image.

Today, the band announces its upcoming North American 2026 headline tour, with support from Cenobia and Showing Teeth on select dates. Produced by Live Nation, the tour is set to kick off September 4 at Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville, making stops across the U.S in Chicago, New York, Toronto, Boston, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles. and more before wrapping up in Dallas at House of Blues on October 14. Fresh off their first-ever full U.S. run supporting Bad Omens, President will return this fall to headline venues across the continent.

Tickets will be available starting with an artist and Citi pre-sale in select venues beginning on Thursday, April 2 at 10 am local time. The general on-sale begins on Friday, April 3 at 10am local time here.

Citi cardmembers will have access to pre-sale tickets beginning Thursday, April 2 at 10 am local time until Thursday, April 2 at 10 pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit here.

Last week, President unveiled the new single “Mercy”, which is all about perfectly executed dynamics — mixing memorable melodies and heavier-than-granite riffs with gritty breakdowns. The result is another unforgettable anthem.

About the song, President say: “Throughout history, religion has been tied to profound division and loss. This song is a reflection on that reality, and a way for me to come to terms with what it means on a human level.”

Built to exist outside the noise, President are building something that invites deeper investment — designed to be discovered, not sold. President said it best, telling Revolver in a cover feature that “the music industry has elements of fast fashion to it these days. Things just come and go. Everything’s really quick. Everyone’s shouting for attention and there’s just so much noise, and it just becomes a fucking conveyor belt. [We] wanted to step back and not be a part of that. But if people are interested, and they want to enter into this world, we’ll grab them with open arms.”

The post PRESIDENT Announces 2026 North American Tour With Special Guests CENOBIA & SHOWING TEETH On Select Dates appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

British hard rock mainstays Deep Purple are heading back out on the road this summer, lining up a North American run with support from Kansas and Jefferson Starship on select dates.

The band will launch the tour on August 4 in Raleigh, North Carolina, before making its way across the continent. The run is set to conclude on September 12 in Sparks, Nevada, giving fans a solid stretch of dates to catch one of rock’s most enduring names in a live setting.

Tickets go on general sale this Friday, April 3 at 10 a.m. local, with various pre-sales beginning Wednesday (March 31).

With a catalog that spans decades and continues to resonate with heavy music audiences, Deep Purple remain a consistent draw on the live circuit. Pairing them with Kansas and Jefferson Starship adds a classic rock edge to the bill, making this tour a strong option for fans looking for a mix of legacy acts that still deliver onstage.

Deep Purple summer 2026 tour dates:

Aug. 04 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater *
Aug. 08 – Clearwater, FL – The Daycare Sound
Aug. 09 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Casino
Aug. 12 – Wantagh, NY – Jones Beach Theater
Aug. 13 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center *
Aug. 15 – Halifax, NS – Scotiabank Centre *
Aug. 17 – Laval, QC – Bell Place *
Aug. 18 – Toronto, ON – RBC Amphitheatre *
Aug. 19 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre *
Aug. 21 – Detroit, MI – Pine Knob
Aug. 22 – Salamanca, NY – Seneca Allegany Casino
Aug. 24 – Indianapolis, IN – Everwise Amphitheatre
Aug. 25 – Highland Park, IL – Ravinia
Aug. 27 – Prior Lake, MN – Mystic Lake Casino
Aug. 29 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre *
Aug. 31 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome *
Sep. 02 – Abbotsford, BC – Abbotsford Centre *
Sep. 04 – Lincoln, CA – Thunder Valley *
Sep. 05 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre *
Sep. 06 – Highland, CA – Yaamava Theatre
Sep. 08 – Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amp *
Sep. 10 – Las Vegas, NV – Planet Hollywood
Sep. 11 – Long Beach, CA – Long Beach Amphitheater
Sep. 12 – Sparks, NV – Nugget Event Center

*with Jefferson Starship

The post DEEP PURPLE Sets Summer 2026 North American Tour Featuring KANSAS And JEFFERSON STARSHIP appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

German progressive metal pioneers Vanden Plas are back with AcCult II, a new acoustic album set for release on June 12, 2026, via Frontiers Music Srl. To coincide with the announcement, the single “Far Off Grace”, along with an official video, are available today.

Andy Kuntz commented: “The single “Far Off Grace” exemplifies the unpretentious, pure, and at the same time artistic, multifaceted acoustic expression of all the songs on AcCult II. They say you can recognize a good song when it works even in a stripped-down version. Compared to the studio version first released in 1999, however, this interpretation opens up on top many new avenues of understanding”.

“It allows the song’s once bombastic beauty to blossom in the virtuosic interplay between Stephan Lill‘s exquisite guitar work, Alessandro Del Vecchio‘s shimmering grand piano, and Kuntz‘s vocals, ranging from sensitive to ecstatic – only to then be driven, by the unbridled power of an exceptional band with Andreas Lill on drums and Torsten Reichert on bass, to a hypnotically intensifying, furiously breathtaking finale”, he added. “This is far more than an acoustic version of a song; it is the ultimate reinvention of a classic in its own light.”

AcCult II is the highly anticipated acoustic sequel to Vanden Plas’ 1996 landmark album AcCult.

Stephan Lill explained how the album came to life: “When we released our first acoustic CD, AcCult, in 1996, it was special to us in many ways. For this release, we arranged songs from our debut album, “Colour Temple”, into new acoustic versions. And we did the same with songs by other artists or bands that didn’t necessarily fit our usual musical style. Ever since that release, we’d always had it in the back of our minds to produce another acoustic CD at some point. But then came tours, more regular CDs, many theatre productions we were involved in, and time flew by…”

“When Frontiers approached us with the idea of another acoustic CD, we knew that we had the time needed for it, and with the right songs, it could work. And we can now say, it worked out. We sticked with the concept of the first AcCult CD, and so AcCult II once again features acoustic versions of Vanden Plas songs, as well as two cover songs: “Nothing Else Matters” (Metallica) and “Boat on the River” (Styx)”, he continued. “We are more than happy that, exactly 30 years later, we can write the next AcCult chapter. And all Vanden Plas fans can look forward to a truly extraordinary release.”

Building on the innovative concept that first reimagined tracks from their debut “Colour Temple” in a stripped-down, unplugged setting, this new release revisits select songs from their extensive catalog with fresh acoustic arrangements, offering fans a completely new perspective on the band’s music.

In addition to reworked originals like “Far Off Grace”, “Holes In The Sky”, “The Ghost Xperiment”, and “You Fly”, AcCult II features inspired interpretations of classic songs by other artists, including Styx’s “Boat On The River” and Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”, blending reverence for the originals with Vanden Plas’ signature emotional depth and musical sophistication.

Notably, John Helliwell of Supertramp makes a guest appearance on saxophone on the album’s closing track, “You Fly”, adding a unique, melodic touch to the album’s finale.

The album showcases the band’s current lineup: Andy Kuntz on vocals, Stephan Lill on guitars, Andreas Lill on drums, Thorsten Reichert on bass, and Alessandro Del Vecchio on keyboards, whose synergy brings a nuanced warmth to each track.

With AcCult II, Vanden Plas demonstrates that their progressive sensibilities translate seamlessly into intimate, acoustic settings, creating a compelling experience that resonates both with longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Pre-order AcCult II here.

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Following the electrifying kickoff of their extensive European tour, metal legends Kreator are keeping the momentum alive with the release of a brand-new music video for “Loyal To The Grave,” the powerful closing track of their latest studio album, Krushers Of The World.

Showcasing a different side of the band’s signature intensity, “Loyal To The Grave” stands out as one of the album’s most memorable moments. Driven by a highly melodic approach and elevated by a soaring, anthemic chorus, the track captures both the aggression and emotional depth that have defined Kreator‘s enduring legacy. The accompanying video visually amplifies this spirit, blending striking performance footage with cinematic storytelling that underscores themes of loyalty, unity, and resilience.

Mille Petrozza on “Loyal To The Grave” music video: “The video was inspired by the movie The Crow this time. I hope you enjoy our little journey into obscurity as much as we do.”

Currently tearing through Europe alongside Exodus, Carcass, and Nails, Kreator have been delivering spectacular shows to fans across the continent. The tour continues through the end of April, cementing the band’s reputation as one of the most formidable live acts in metal.

Looking ahead, Kreator will take their explosive live show across the Atlantic this May, joining forces with Carcass and Cold Steel for a highly anticipated U.S. tour. With no signs of slowing down, 2026 is shaping up to be another landmark year for the band.

Krushers Of The World Tour tickets available here.

When Kreator‘s earliest incarnation formed under the influence of Kiss and Judas Priest in the early ’80s none of the above was thinkable. For young adults, Essen, back then a 600k-plus city in the Ruhr area, was a grim place. Unemployment rates were surging, houses had been blackened by smoke from factories and coal mines, for some alcohol and drug abuse were the only escape route from this dismal, post-industrialized backdrop.

Whereas Birmingham spawned Black Sabbath and undoubtedly became the legitimate birthplace of heavy metal, the bands associated with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal like Iron Maiden, Venom, Saxon pushed the genre with a street-fighting attitude, US artists such as Metallica, Exodus, Slayer, and Swedes Bathory intensified the style even more, and altogether concocted a dangerous brew Kreator poured down their throats in gallons. For today’s remaining founding members Mille and drummer Jürgen “Ventor” Reil, music was the way out from these dire surroundings, and provided an outlet for the frustration and contempt boiling in their guts. And Kreator went all in. Naive, chaotic yet utterly determined.

And they left their own mark on heavy metal history, radicalizing thrash and inspiring legions of musicians including Arch Enemy, Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth and Ghost, with Papa Emeritus joining a TV performance of “Satan Is Real” in 2017.

Their newest studio album, Krushers Of The World, shows a band that has lost none of its bite kicking off with the rabid aggression of “Seven Serpents.” It also tackles Petrozza’s love for horror flicks by paying tribute to Dario Argento’s Suspiria in “Tränenpalast” with extreme metal vocal coach Britta Görtz (Hiraes) adding her own vicious tone over dark yet catchy melodies. And of course, you shall have hefty doses of pure, thrashing aggression as well! “Barbarian,” “Deathscream” or “Psychotic Imperator” deliver your fix of merciless riffs, majestic leads by Sami Yli-Sirniö and some of Ventor’s fastest parts ever. Are you looking for powerful mid-tempo sections allowing bassist Frédéric Leclercq to shine? Then the monumental groove of the title track and stunning chorus of “Satanic Anarchy” will have you covered. Rounded off by a triumphant and — no pun intended — krushing production courtesy of Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, who previously worked with the group on Phantom Antichrist (2012) and Gods Of Violence (2017), Kreator returns in perfect shape.

In essence, Krushers Of The World is of course not a throwback to Kreator‘s past, it is furious, massive sounding and creative in its own right, gifted with a songwriting quality honed over years. It displays a band which earned its spot among the giants of the genre, and developed its youthful anger further into a professional, internationally successful, nonetheless intimidating creature. Krushers Of The World underlines the fact that fueled by the reflective look at their own legacy sparked by 2025’s Hate & Hope movie, Kreator nowadays appear more mindful of their early days while simultaneously progressing uncompromisingly, unstoppable in their search for new realms to conquer and new worlds to krush.

The post KREATOR Releases Video For “Loyal To The Grave” From Their Latest Album “Krushers Of The World” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

With the debut of Puscifer’s new comic book series, Tales From The Pusciverse, and two issues already sold out, the band shares an animated adaptation of “Tales From The Pusciverse #2: The Briefcase”, set to “A Public Stoning”, from their new album, Normal Isn’t.

The story centers on the longest running mystery in the Pusciverse: The Briefcase. For years, the object has appeared in Puscifer’s videos and photographs, prompting the recurring question among fans: “What’s in the briefcase?”

Written by Maynard James Keenan, “The Briefcase” features artwork by Marlin Shoop (Captain Action, G.I. Joe, Unprepped) with lettering by Jack Morelli (Afterlife with Archie, Peter Parker Annual, Marvel Comics). The animation for the “A Public Stoning” video was created by Raul Araujo and Chris Rubey.

“The Briefcase has been part of the Puscifer mythology for years,” Keenan notes. “Everyone wonders what exactly is inside. This issue doesn’t necessarily answer the question… but it moves the story forward.”

The new clip arrives as the band is in the midst of their Normal Isn’t North American tour, with dates this week slated for Asheville, Durham, Bethlehem, and Boston. Tickets are available here, and the full list of dates is below.

Puscifer’s new album, Normal Isn’t, is out now via Puscifer Entertainment/ Alchemy Recordings/ BMG.

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Rush made their first live appearance in over 11 years on Sunday 03/29, opening the 2026 Juno Awards in Hamilton, Ontario, with a performance of “Finding My Way” — the opening track from their 1974 self-titled debut.

It was the first time the band had appeared on a stage as Rush since the death of drummer and lyricist Neil Peart in January 2020 and the end of the R40 tour in 2015. It also marked the first public outing for their new lineup ahead of the Fifty Something world tour.

The reconfigured band features founding members Geddy Lee (bass, vocals) and Alex Lifeson (guitar) alongside newly recruited drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold. The Juno performance served as the live debut for this lineup — the first anyone outside the band’s camp had seen them play together.

Speaking in the media room after the performance, Lee explained the thinking behind the song choice: “You really can’t ask us what song to play,” he said. “If we have to choose one song, it’s almost impossible. We have so many. So we just asked management, and they said first song, first album.”

Lifeson was more succinct: “Also, it’s the only song we know how to play.”

The appearance had been teased by the band in the days leading up to the ceremony. “We want to let you in on something,” they wrote in a newsletter to fans. “Celebrate a special moment with Geddy & Alex.” The Juno Awards Instagram account added to the build-up by posting a photo of the band’s 1975 Juno for Most Promising Group with the caption: “What a promising year… 03/29/2026 at 8 PM ET.”

Rush have a long history with the Junos — they won Group of the Year back-to-back in 1978 and 1979 and have taken home 10 awards in total, including the inaugural Juno for best hard rock/metal album in 1991 for Presto.

The band’s last show as a trio with Peart was 08/01/2015 in Los Angeles, at the conclusion of the R40 tour. Peart retired from music shortly after and died six years ago following a 3½-year battle with glioblastoma. Lee and Lifeson confirmed in 2018 that the band had effectively disbanded.

In October of 2025, Lee and Lifeson announced that they would be reuniting for the Fifty Something tour, which quickly expanded from multiple nights in a few North American cities to an 86-date world tour.

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Black Label Society has released the official music video for “Ozzy’s Song,” a tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne, directed by Justin H. Reich of Three Thirty-three Creative. The track closes out the band’s new album, Engines of Demolition, released 03/27 via MNRK Heavy, the follow-up to 2021’s Doom Crew Inc., which also includes previously released singles “Name in Blood”, “Broken and Blind”, “The Gallows”, and “Lord Humungus”.

Speaking to São Paulo’s 89 FM A Rádio Rock, Zakk Wylde explained how the song came together. The music had been sitting in the can for the better part of four years, but the lyrics only came after Ozzy‘s death (via Blabbermouth): “I had the music written ’cause we’d been writing this album for the last three and a half years, almost four years,” he said. “We stockpiled all these songs. And I was really happy with the way the music came out. And then I figured that eventually I’ll finish the song.”

“But then after we laid Ozzy to rest, when we got back home, we took a break from Pantera [touring]. I sat in a little library room in our house. I just put the headphones on at about one o’clock in the morning, and I was looking at a book of Ozzy, and I just wrote the lyrics. And that’s what came out.”

The title itself was never really a decision. Wylde‘s wife, Barbaranne, had been playing the track on repeat in the car, and the working title became the only title it could ever have: “My wife would always be listening to it in the truck,” he said. “She’d be, like, ‘Babe, put on Ozzy‘s song again.’ So that was pretty much just the working title.

“People would always be asking, ‘I wonder since Zakk wrote a song for Dimebag [Darrell Abbott], and now we sing it for Vinnie [Paul Abbott] as well with “In This River” — I wonder if Zakk will write a song for Ozzy on the new album.’ So it’s only fitting. We just called it ‘Ozzy’s Song’. That’s how we ended up with ‘Ozzy’s Song’.”

Wylde also addressed the band’s decision to bring Ozzy‘s “No More Tears” into their current live set — a choice that traces back to his appearance at the BRIT Awards, where he performed the track alongside Robbie Williams, Robert Trujillo, Adam Wakeman, and Tommy Clufetos to mark Ozzy‘s lifetime achievement honour.

“I called the fellows up,” he said. “I said, ‘Man, we’ll put that in the set when we get back home before we go out and do the Engines of Demolition crusade.’ A little ode to the boss.”

Wylde first joined Ozzy‘s band in 1987 after sending the singer a demo tape and went on to play on virtually every Osbourne solo record through the decades, including No More Tears (1991), Ozzmosis (1995), and Black Rain (2007). He formed Black Label Society in 1998 alongside that work. Order of the Black (2010) and Catacombs of the Black Vatican (2014) both reached the top five on the hard rock album charts.

The post BLACK LABEL SOCIETY Share Official Music Video For OZZY OSBOURNE’s Tribute Track, “Ozzy’s Song” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Muse have announced an extensive North American amphitheater tour in support of their forthcoming tenth studio album, The Wow! Signal. Promoted by Live Nation, the run kicks off 07/05 at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in St. Louis, Missouri, and wraps 08/31 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Various pre-sales begin Tuesday, 03/31, at 12:00 p.m. local time; general on-sale opens Friday, 04/03, at 10:00 a.m. local time at this location.

The tour follows the band’s headlining slot at Milwaukee’s Summerfest on 07/02. From St. Louis, the run moves through cities across the United States — briefly crossing into Canada for dates including the Festival d’été de Québec — before closing out the summer on the West Coast. Bloc Party and Portugal. The Man will provide support on select dates, with The Temper Trap appearing on all shows.

The Wow! Signal was announced last week alongside lead single “Be With You”, backed by an official video directed by Nico Paolillo and starring Ella Balinska. “Be With You” debuted as the No. 1 Most Added at Alternative Radio, entering at No. 29 and trending toward the Top 20, with three million global streams in its first week.

The album’s title draws on one of the more enduring mysteries in the history of radio astronomy: a 72-second burst detected in 1977 originating from the constellation Sagittarius, with a bandwidth and intensity that pointed to a possible extraterrestrial source. The astronomer who identified it circled the signal’s now-famous sequence — “6EQUJ5” — and wrote “WOW!” in the margin of the printout, giving the signal its name.

Before the single, Muse released the With You docuseries on YouTube, gathering fan stories filmed during the Will of the People tour. The band also returned to the road in 2025 for a summer festival run that included stepping in for Kings of Leon at Madrid’s Mad Cool.

VIP packages are available via this location and include premium tickets, access to the pre-show Unravelling VIP Lounge, exclusive merchandise, and early venue entry, among other options depending on the package selected.

07/02 — Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest [^]
07/05 — St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater [][~]
07/07 — Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Music Center [][~]
07/10 — Tinley Park, IL @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre [][~]
07/11 — Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center [][~]
07/13 — Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre [][~]
07/15 — Toronto, ON @ RBC Amphitheatre [][~]
07/17 — Québec, QC @ Festival d’été de Québec [^]
07/18 — Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center [][~]
07/22 — Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center [][~]
07/24 — Saratoga Springs, NY @ Albany Med Health System at SPAC [][~]
07/25 — Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater [][~]
07/28 — Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion [][~]
07/29 — Camden, NJ @ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion [][~]
08/10 — Charlotte, NC @ Truliant Amphitheater [x][~]
08/12 — Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre [x][~]
08/14 — Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion [x][~]
08/15 — Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater [x][~]
08/18 — Greenwood Village, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater [x][~][+]
08/20 — West Valley City, UT @ Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre [x][~]
08/22 — Ridgefield, WA @ Cascades Amphitheater [x][~]
08/23 — Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre [x][~]
08/26 — Wheatland, CA @ Toyota Amphitheatre [x][~]
08/27 — Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre [x][~]
08/29 — Chula Vista, CA @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre [x][~]
08/31 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl [x][~]

• [^] festival
• [*] support from Bloc Party
• [x] support from Portugal The Man
• [~] support from The Temper Trap
• [+] non-Live Nation date

The post MUSE To Bring The “Wow! Signal” Album To North America This Summer: “An Era-Spanning, Revolutionary Space-Tacular” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd is marking three decades of Ledbetter Heights the way it deserves: by going back in and recording the whole thing again.

The 30th anniversary re-recording of his 1995 debut arrives 05/08, and to mark the announcement Shepherd has released lead single “Deja Voodoo” across all streaming platforms. A national tour celebrating the milestone is already underway, with the band playing the album in full each night — something that, remarkably, never happened even during the original release cycle.

“This is the album that put me on the map, and I still enjoy listening to it because my goal has always been to make music I want to listen to,” Shepherd says. “Unfiltered and straight from the heart.”

The original Ledbetter Heights came out when Shepherd was 18, recorded while he was still splitting time between high school in Louisiana and sessions in Memphis. Signed by Irving Azoff at 16, he wrote or co-wrote the majority of the material — no small thing for a teenage blues guitarist at the time. The album was named in honour of a historic neighbourhood in his hometown of Shreveport, paying tribute to blues legend Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter.

It moved quickly. Ledbetter Heights went Gold within months and earned Platinum certification by early 1996, spending 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart. Guitar World ranked Shepherd the third-best blues artist in the world at the time, behind only B.B. King and Eric Clapton.

The re-recording doesn’t attempt a reinvention. The 12-song sequence is intact, and Shepherd returned to his original 1995 rig for the sessions to keep the sonic foundation consistent. The differences are ones of craft rather than concept: arrangements are more considered, the guitar work more deliberate, and the performances shaped by three decades of playing these songs live.

“Before I could identify with the lyrics, I always could identify with the feeling of the blues,” he says. “When you pour your heart out, everyone can feel that.”

One notable change: “Riverside” has been significantly reworked, slowed down, and smokier than the original. Everything else keeps faith with what was there.

The biggest shift, and the one long-time fans have apparently been asking about for years, is the presence of Noah Hunt on lead vocals throughout. Hunt joined the band in time for sophomore album Trouble Is… and has appeared on every Kenny Wayne Shepherd record since — but not on Ledbetter Heights. This re-recording closes that gap.

“I have had a lot of fans over the years wonder what Ledbetter Heights would have sounded like if Noah had been the singer at that time,” Shepherd says. “Now they’ll get their chance to hear it.”

Also returning is drummer Chris “Whipper” Layton, a founding member of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, who played on the original sessions. The album was co-produced with Jerry Harrison, whose work with Shepherd goes back to Trouble Is… and its own 25th anniversary re-recording.

“I met him when I was 15,” Shepherd says of Layton, “and every night when I turn around and lock eyes with him, I’m reminded of how incredible it is to be playing with him.”

The Ledbetter Heights 30th Anniversary Tour launched 02/19 in Dallas and runs through spring 2026, with Jimmie Vaughan joining in Austin and Nashville, and Eric Johnson appearing in Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale. Each show runs two sets: the full album, then a second set drawing from Shepherd‘s wider catalogue.

Additional dates will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit here.

“Revisiting this album put me back in touch with the wonder and excitement of those days,” he says. “I didn’t know what lay ahead.”

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