SHINEDOWN always delivers something new!!

I have a special secret for you!! If you want to hear snippets from Shinedown's new album, Amaryllis... read on...

I have been patiently waiting for the SHINEDOWN album, AMARYLLIS. Actually, I have been very impatient! I have loved all my Shinedown music for many years and had the opportunity to see them and meet them on several occasions.

I loved when they released their new song, "Bully". This band not only delivers great music but a message for those who have ever been bullied or who bully! That is right, listen up folks.... we are not going to take it anymore. This was personal for me since I remember dealing with bullying as a young girl in school and then unfortunately as the parent of a victim. Ryan was only in 1st grade when he started complaining of stomach aches and not wanting to go to school. It took us almost two years to get to the real cause of his nervous stomach; he was getting bullied and didn't know how to deal with it. See, Ryan was the tallest kid in kindergarten. In first grade, he towered over all the kids, we never thought of him as the victim and worried he would be a bully because of his size. He was a "gentle giant" and fell prey to the class bully. We tried to deal with the school for two more years and finally in 5th grade had enough and pulled him out. He then went on to another school in 6th grade and flourished. He is always the one to protect or speak up to someone who is getting bullied. So when this song came out, I was glad to hear it and it instantly became Ryan's and my favorite!!

We are excited to see Shinedown on the Avalanche Tour with Adelita's Way and New Medicine at the Regency Ballroom on March 28th!

So we went to buy our pre-sale tickets since we are members of the Shinedown nation and there it was; the cover of the new album AMARYLLIS.. But then when you click on it, you will be able to hear audio clips from the songs! What an ingenious idea! These guys are always on the cutting edge of delivering excellence in music and here they go again. LOVE the SNIPPETS and can't wait!!

Here is the link to the album cover... happy hunting/listening!!

~ Marisol

Win an autographed guitar from Adelita's Way

Would you like to win an autographed guitar from Adelita's Way??

I think you do! Well, Adelita's Way is putting on a Fan Photo Contest and the winner will take home an autographed guitar by Adelita's Way. What you have to do is go to their facebook page that has all the details, upload an app and share a photo of you and any Adelita's Way item. Share it and get the most likes and you win!!!!

Here is the link on the contest and happy sharing!! Good Luck!

~ Marisol
Win an autographed guitar from Adelita's Way. http://shar.es/fs8L3

RIP to one of the great Metal Guitarists, Mark Reale

Well, I heard the sad news of the passing of Mark Reale, founder and guitarist of the heavy metal band, Riot earlier this week. I was stunned since I had really hoped and prayed for his recovery from his coma resulting from complications with his Crohn's Disease.

Mark Reale was born June 7, 1955 and only at 20 created the band Riot which is still active today. In fact, in August 2011 they had completed the final mixing of their album hauntingly "Immortal Soul" and were soon touring. They were getting ready for another round of shows and Mark then suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage that resulted in a coma on January 11, 2012 in San Antonio, Texas. He remained in the coma and subsequently passed away on January 25, 2012.

Mark Reale was often dubbed the Metal Warrior or one of the most underrated heavy metal guitarists. He really was incredible when he played. He was an excellent composer and created timeless metal music which would be enjoyed by many years to come.

Mark's bandmates released the following statement shortly after his passing: "To friends and fans of Mark Reale and Riot, we are deeply saddened to confirm that Mark lost his battle with a lifelong illness. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated by Mark's family, friends, and bandmates at this difficult time."

My son Ryan who is 14 was familiar with Mark Reale and Riot. He of course got his interest in music at the young age of 7 or so. He had often listened to Riot's album "Fire Down Under" and instantly loved it. He was also hopeful for Mark's recovery from the coma and when he learned of his untimely death at 56, he quickly went to make his fan tribute video for Mark.

His song choice for the video is "Rain" by Riot and can be found on their album 'The Brethren of the Long House". It is a beautiful song and to see Mark's images throughout reminds us of what a great loss he is. But Mark's music will remain in our hearts as we pay homage to a great heavy metal guitarist!

Shine on Mark, Shine on!

~ Marisol

You can visit Mark Reale's webpage and leave your condolences or messages. www.MarkReale.com

Here is the video that Ryan made for Mark Reale.

David Rosales brings Hope and Love to feed your Soul with Smile.

SMILE by David Rosales.

Music that brings Hope and Love to feed your soul and make you Smile. That is how I can describe the romantic and beautiful debut record, “Smile” by David Rosales. David brings together a well crafted arrangement of songs that highlights love, loss and life after.

“Key to My Heart” is the first song I got to hear from the record and if ever there was a song where the vocals could touch your soul and bring the emotion of love to life, it is that of "Key to My Heart”. David’s vocals are like a safe haven for a warm heart and Olivia May’s vocals are the sweet touch of innocence wrapped in your arms.

David expresses himself eloquently through his deep vocals and his storytelling as heard in ‘Wedding Day” or “All that you Love”. In "Wedding Day" , we are given a glimpse into the special day with his captivating lyrics such as “pedal covered soft parade”. The romance of true love dance through the lyrics and sweep you off your feet. In “All that you Love”, they lyrics “I will see you all again, I won't leave you all alone, I'll be watching, I'll be there” gives a promise of peaceful comfort .

My personal favorite on this record is “Ponderosa Pine” which is a touching sentimental song that reminds us how quickly and fleeting time is and again David feeds your soul with his awakening lyrics of “Well, I've missed so much, please forgive me, Father Time won't take such pity”.

David is quoted as saying, ““Everything had to be completely genuine -- the lyrics, the sound, the vibe.” Well, he truly exemplifies this as all the songs bring raw honesty and heartfelt emotions to life. None more so than “Kiss Me”, a tale of love lost in an instant and the yearning to feel their touch and wonder if you can ever go on after the loss. The heartache and pain that one feels is insurmountable after such a loss and his tender vocals embrace your heart.

As David said, “I wrote this record without reservation and in the process a very personal story began to surface.” Listening to this record reminded me of my own personal journey of love and loss and led to quite a discovery of emotions and soul searching which revitalized my faith.

It truly is a work of art that provides a peaceful solace in a time when we are all hoping for brighter days. It will be hard to find another record this year that can match or challenge the passion that David Rosales gives us with “Smile”.

To find out more about David Rosales and his debut record visit:

BandCamp: http://www.DavidRosales.bandcamp.com

CDBaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/davidrosales

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DavidRosalesMusic

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Drosales

Official Website: http://www.DavidRosalesMusic.com

SMILE by David Rosales.

ALBUM/COVER (Photo) Dori Savino Lawrence

(Art Direction and Design) Chris Nagle.

Produced by Mark Renk

All Songs written by David Rosales.

David Rosales (Vocals + Guitar)

Olivia May (Vocals)

Zac Rae (Organ)

Vern Monnett (Dobro, Pedal Steel)

Mark Renk (Percussion & Piano)

Steve Abel (Bass Guitar)

Phillip Peterson (Cello)

Jeff Kollman (Nylon String Guitar)

Kevin Chown (Upright Bass)

Vinyls are back and I don't mean your couch!

I remember years ago when my oldest son Ryan was going through our CD collection and came across our box of Vinyl Records. I think it was maybe 4 or 5 years and he might have been 9 or so. He loved the big pictures and thought they were so "Cool" to hang on the walls of "his" garage. He was getting into Rock and Roll Music and had reclaimed our family garage as "Rockin' Ryan's Garage". His musical Man cave, cross that out, BOY CAVE. It had guitars on the wall, a seven piece Pearl drum set that he got from his cousin Elyse and stacks and stacks of CDs and music magazines on the shelves. The little Rocker was born.

He would listen to our Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt CDs but when he found this big box with these big pictures on it and we tried to tell him that is what we used to listen to for music, he thought the photos were so cool. We had organized lots of our CDs into these nice big black leather binders sorted alphabetically with the CD covers in front of the pockets. But here were these big record cases ranging from the 1970's to the 1990s. His favorites he picked out were Led Zeppelin; "In through the Out Door", Quiet Riot; "Metal Health", Guns 'n Roses; "Appetite for Destruction", Nirvana; "Nevermind" and Sonic Youth. These he took out and hung proudly on the garage walls. They would sit there for years and travel throughout the house moves, never to be opened and discover the LP inside.

Fast forward to November 2011, Ryan now 13, pulls out my old LPs and finds our old turntable that I have sitting around. He plays Guns n Roses and sits back and listens to the whole album. He then proceeds to pull out all the LPs and randomly plays songs from them. He has this look like he has discovered something special. He cranks up the speakers, he listens carefully and he then comes inside as if to tell us he has some very important news. He then sits down to ask what happened to Records? Why do we not listen to them if the sound quality is so much better and crisper. He goes on to tell us how he discovered new music on so many songs that he had heard hundreds of timees before. Stephen and I looked at each other and smiled, a big Cheshire cat smile. "Our son is a true music aficionado", we exclaimed! We knew long ago the difference of the sound quality and how as soon as CDs and Ipods were the norm, people had settled by replacing "quality" with "convenience".

Ryan had then demanded to replace his 1000+ CD collection with the Vinyl LPs. Of course after we told him how that might be impossible since many CDs do not come on LP version, we decided to take him to all of our favorite used record stores. These are the same stores he would go to in search of used CDs of 80's Rock, Glam, Heavy Metal Bands. Now he was in search of Vinyl and he was hooked. He first bought up all the "Motley Crue" section at Vinyl Solutions, our favorite home town record store. He now has a 200+ long list of his "Wanted" LPs and takes it with him whenever we shop in the city at Rasputin, Amoeba Records, The Last Record Store and of course online via ebay and craigslist.

For his 14th birthday in December, he didn't ask for a new guitar, or a new bass drum for his set, or a jacket from Forgotten Saints (that he asked for Xmas!) this time he wanted his own Record Player, not a USB turntable. His own Record Player with Speakers. The special thing was that my Mom gave Ryan my father's Record Player that he had in his house for many years playing his Bobby Darrin, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin Records. My father passed away in September 2011 and Ryan was very close to my father so when he got the record player he was doubly excited. To have a piece of his grandfather's history and be able to create his own history playing his favorite Vinyls, that was a dream come true. He has made us proud. So now, when one of his favorite bands comes out with a new CD, he checks their website to see if they have an LP of it. If not, he has begun emailing them with requests. The other day, we caught him doing a blind sound test with his friends playing Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil" on his record player versus his Ipod. Afterwards, his friend came in to tell us that he is going to ask his parents for one of those record player things.... Ahhh... so maybe all things do come back into style. Ryan now has over 150 LPs and is growing that collection strong. Now let me see if I can find my roller skates and pull out some Xanadu... well maybe not. Hope he never finds my brother's 8 tracks.

~Marisol

I couldn't finish this without listing my top 5 Records that Ryan found of mine:

5. Gary Wright "Dream Weaver" I think I stole this one from one of my older sisters. I loved the title song!

4. Def Leopard "Pyromania" - This whole album reminds me of my times cruising the El Camino in high school. Those were the days back in San Mateo.

3. Andy Gibb - "Shadow Dancing" - Still inside to this day is my handwritten note to Andy Gibb asking him to go to the Winter Formal with me. I never finished. I reread it and decided, I was such a dork!!

2. The Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers" I think this was one of my brothers, I think I almost felt like I owned "pornography" when I had this one hidden under my bed for years!

1. Eddie Money "No Control" This was my old life history rapped up on a record.

BlackBox 13 is hitting heavy with it's Rock

Several of you have asked for more information on a couple of the bands from my Top Ten Bands of 2011 List. I wanted to formally introduce to a Kick Ass Rockin' Band that hails from the city lights of Las Vegas.

As you know the saying, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas". Well if you get to see Black Box 13 you better not keep it a secret. This band is making headway fast in the hard rock scene even though they only formed in September of 2011. BlackBox 13 is Cory Kay, Joe Nassar, Joe Wiehl and Todd Turgeon. Talk about a perfect fit and jumping right into the fire. These guys definitely deliver. You have Joe Wiehl delivering powerful guitar riffs, Cory Kay with his pounding basslines, heavy hitting drumming by Todd Turgeon and top it off with the deep yet smooth vocals by Joe Nassar.

These four guys came together and immediately began writing their own songs. It is a collaboration that has quickly paid off since they were soon booked at several spots on the Strip shortly after their formation. So many bands struggle right out of the gate and it takes months to get a booking. Well, these guys made their presence known on the Vegas scene and word is quickly spreading about them.

It is refreshing to see a new band come out with a wealth of talent and energy that is easy displayed through their 3 song EP. I was excited to hear that they will be playing at The Whiskey in Hollywood on January 20th. This is right in the middle of the NAMM show that I will be attending and it will be quite a thrill. To be playing at The Whiskey during NAMM week is quite an honor. Last year, during the NAMM show, Steven Adler with Adler's Appetite played at the Whiskey. It is not only a time where other musicians go to enjoy and hang after long days at the Convention. If you are planning on going to NAMM, make sure to mark your calenders and be sure to get tickets early. I have a feeling these are going to go quick.

For more information on tickets for BlackBox 13 show at The Whiskey; click here.

So now that you know them, go get your fix of some good true rock and crank up some BlackBox 13.

~ Marisol

Additional information on BlackBox 13 can be found on the following sites:

http://Youtube.com/BlackBox13Band

http://reverbnation.com/BlackBox13

http://BlackBox13Band

http://facebook.com/BlackBox13

Photograph courtesy of Karen Mandell Photography