NEW “BUSH” ALBUM. LOU GRAMM SAYS FOREIGNER IS MISLEADING FANS. NEW JIMI HENDRIX PARK BEING BUILT.
Reformed British alternative rock band BUSH new album, “The Sea Of Memories”, is scheduled for release on September 13. Recorded with producer Bob Rock (AEROSMITH, METALLICA), the CD is the seminal band’s first studio effort in 10 years and the first to be made available via BUSH‘s own imprint, Zuma Rock Records, through an exclusive partnership with eOne Music.
The cover artwork for “The Sea Of Memories” was created by popular Los Angeles street artist Retna and can now be seen below.
About the album, singer Gavin Rossdale says, “When making music, you have a choice to repeat what you’ve done or move on. It would’ve been safe to just rework (1994’s debut album) ‘Sixteen Stone’ over and over, but what kind of life would that be? When you’re driving down the road, you’re focused on what’s in front of you; you don’t really think to keep checking in your rear view mirror. I like the idea of art changing, developing and morphing.”
Video footage of BUSH performing its new song “The Sound Of Winter” on the July 21 edition of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” can be seen below.
“The Sea Of Memories” captures the electricity and trademark intensity of classic BUSH delivered in a setting that’s fresh and alive. Songs like “The Sound Of Winter”, “Heart Of The Matter” and “All Night Doctors” are propelled by heavy guitar and hypnotic beats, simple song structures and sublime textures.
BUSH was reactivated after a nine-year hiatus following the release of the group’s 2001 album, “Golden State”. Singer Gavin Rossdale told The Pulse of Radio that he had just come off the road from touring behind his 2008 solo record, “Wanderlust”, and started to work on some new music when BUSH suddenly came back into the picture. “I went right the next day off of tour into the studio to write, and it just dawned on me that really kind of the weakest link in doing these songs was maybe bringing it under my own name,” he said. “I felt that the solo thing was cool, but it was more by default than design, and I really was just thinking, ‘Man, this should just be — why is this not BUSH? I mean, this is crazy.'”
Rossdale formed a band called INSTITUTE and released one album with them in 2005 after BUSH went on hiatus, then released his solo project in 2008.
The current BUSH lineup includes original drummer Robin Goodridge, guitarist Chris Traynor and bassist Corey Britz. Traynor replaced original axeman Nigel Pulsford in 2001 while Britz has stepped in for Dave Parsons.
Former FOREIGNER singer Lou Gramm has accused the current version of the band of “misleading” the fans and “false advertising” by recruiting a singer, Kelly Hansen, whose delivery so closely mimics Gramm‘s performance on such classic songs as “Cold As Ice”, “Waiting For A Girl Like You” and “Feels Like The First Time”.
When asked by Spinner.com if it’s strange to know that he is being “replicated,” in a sense, at FOREIGNER‘s current concerts, Gramm replied, “It is. It totally is. But what’s stranger to me is that, as I’ve learned talking to people who see those shows, is that in many cases the audience, especially if they’re younger, don’t even know it’s not the original lead singer. In FOREIGNER‘s case, as I understand it, the singer was actually trained to deliver pretty much exactly everything as I did it, note for note. If I were in the audience and learned that while I was there, I’d get up and leave. I think when the band name remains the exact same, but something as important as the lead vocal is different, it’s misleading. It’s like false advertising.”
According to AllMusic Guide, Gramm was sidelined with several health issues in the late 1990s. He was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor on the eve of the band’s planned Japanese tour in 1997, and the surgery that followed damaged his pituitary gland. After a year of rehabilitation and radiation treatment, the singer made a full recovery and resumed touring in 1999. He split with FOREIGNER once again in 2003, however, preferring to tour in support of his solo material instead.
Fan-filmed video footage of the current lineup of FOREIGNER performing the song “Urgent” on July 21, 2011 at the Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah can be seen below.
Butterflies and guitars, flowers and music, sun and water, and creative use of color are reflected in the final design concept of Jimi Hendrix Park to pay tribute to the legendary Seattle rock star.
Compiled from three initial concepts, the final design was unveiled for the community and the public at the third and final public event on Wednesday, August 10. The evening celebration of the collaborative design process included a presentation and formal unveiling by consulting landscape architects from Murase Associates, and an opportunity for the public to make final comments.
The three-month design process solicited ideas from the community and generated at a brainstorming session in May, focusing on images and icons that define and articulate Hendrix‘s legacy. Dozens of comments from community members have advocated intimate gathering spaces and performing opportunities, adequate connections to surrounding neighborhoods, functional walkways and seating, and colorful plantings. Scott Murase said the design concept incorporates a variety of landscape and structural elements inspired by Hendrix’s writings, music and art that will transform the Central District park into a living tribute to the Seattle native.
Before becoming a park, the property served as a parking lot next to the old Colman School, and now is a swath of turf adjacent to the Northwest African American Museum.
The non-profit Friends Of Jimi Hendrix Park is leading the development process, which envisions a space that will motivate youth and others to achieve in music and art, and strengthen the cultural pulse of the Emerald City as a primary focal point for multi-cultural events, gatherings, and activities for the community.
Funding for the design work and construction of the park development comes from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy, which awarded $500,000 to the project last December, and from a $76,000 Neighborhood Matching Fund grant. Fund-raising activities by the Foundation, such as benefit concerts and online donations, will raise matching private money for park development.
The mission of the Jimi Hendrix Park Foundation is to create a community space inspired by the electrifying music and story of Jimi Hendrix — a gathering place for individuals of diverse backgrounds and ages — to celebrate cultural heritage, experience community pride, and enjoy innovative educational programming in partnership with the neighboring Northwest African American Museum.
In 2006, Seattle Parks and Recreation renamed the 2.5-acre neighborhood space Jimi Hendrix Park, with the goal of turning it into a community gathering space honoring the Seattle-born artist’s extraordinary life and musical legacy.
For more information, visit www.jimihendrixparkfoundation.org.
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