By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

Headspace, a British progressive rock band consisting of five best friends, including keyboardist Adam Wakeman, just kicked-off a U.K. tour in support of their debut album, “I Am Anonymous.” It follows their 2006 EP “I Am….,” which was recorded just in time for the band to earn the honor of opening for Ozzy Osbourne during the European leg of Ozzy’s 2007 Black Rain tour.

In a recent e-mail interview, Wakeman, son of former YES keyboardist Rick Wakeman, said Headspace is excited about performing again after spending the last five years writing and recording their full-length album. They are thrilled to be getting the chance not only to perform, but to also reconnect with one another.

“The writing took place over many years purely because of our individual schedules,” Wakeman said. “I was on tour most of 2007/8 and 2010/11 with Ozzy, so a lot was done by sending ideas back and forth. I am very lucky to spend a lot of time with bands such as Ozzy’s or Sabbath and many other artists I really enjoy, I just felt that I never actually got to see some of my older friends and this gave us the opportunity to get together and work as a band on something for ourselves. This band is the sum of its five parts and everyone’s input is essential.”

The Headspace line-up includes Wakeman, plus Damian Wilson on vocals, drummer Richard Brook, bassist Lee Pomeroy, and guitarist Pete Rinaldi. Wakeman said he and Rinaldi got together as often as possible to collaborate and sent the rest of the band what they worked on so they could add their parts.

“Damian wrote all the lyrics and the majority of the melodies, plus a few acoustic sections, too,” said Wakeman. “‘Soldier’ was a finished song he bought to the table, but it was too ‘folky’ with major chords, so I just got him to sing the melody and played some different chords to make it fit with the band.”

From there, the album continued to evolve. During the process, Wilson and Rinaldi came up with the idea for a concept album, which encourages the listener to ponder his or her relationship with humanity and the mental battles he or she endures.

Wakeman said the concept can be analyzed by showing the connection with The Kübler-Ross model, commonly known as The Five Stages of Grief, a hypothesis introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ book, On Death and Dying.

“The Soldier in our story is reflecting on emotions from coming back from war and struggling to understand Man’s inhumanity to fellow Man,” said Wakeman. “He is also questioning religion in ‘In Hell’s Name,’ and in ‘The Big Day,’ he ends up on a plane on its final journey. ‘Heads were bowed – Hand’s clenched with fear,’ draws a beautiful image of people in the ‘brace’ position. Are they praying or just ‘bracing’ for the crash? At a time like that no one knows what’s going through your head. Is the search for a God futile and pointless, or is that where it begins?”

As is often the case with most prog-rock bands, many of the album tracks are lengthy, as one is 15 minutes long, and at least four others hover around 10 minutes. There are eight songs on the album.

“We don’t ever have any preconceived ideas about song length,” Wakeman said. “We had lots of time to reflect on sections and whole songs, and we recorded the whole album first to make sure it worked musically and lyrically. Then we re-recorded everything again.”

Wakeman said the experience was fulfilling and highlighted attributes of each of his band mates, noting that they are the “most talented musicians I know, and the people I would choose to spend time with, if I actually had any free time.”

Aside from their musical talents, he said Rinaldi brings clarity to a lot of situations and helps him with the business dealings for the band. Also, they have their comical sides, as well.

“Because we all know each other so well, there’s a lot of humor involved when we’re all together,” said Wakeman. “Lee and Rich are great fun to be around and Damo is the most random character I know, which is why he’s so good as a front man.”

Wakeman went on to say that some of the situations Damo gets into on tour are quite interesting, to say the least. He anticipates the remainder of their current tour to be no different.

“He was once late for a recording session at my studio because he was arrested on a bus after being wrongly pointed out as a robber,” Wakeman said. “Another time, he was thrown out of a bar and arrested for someone else starting a bar fight [and was] released with no charge. He just seems to find himself in the most bizarre situations.”

Touring with Ozzy, he said, is just as entertaining, as well as enjoyable.

“Ozzy is a true, old school rock royalty in my book,” Wakeman said. “He has the utmost respect for people and is the most genuine, honest person I know. What you see is what you get and that’s pretty rare in anyone and almost extinct in the music business.”

Another well-known musician in Wakeman’s life is, of course, his father. Having a highly talented keyboardist/composer like Rick Wakeman as a dad has put a bit of pressure on him, yet, he has developed his own notoriety through the years.

“When I was young and we toured and recorded albums together, there were people who just said, ‘He’s only doing that because his dad’s Rick Wakeman,’” he said. “But once I got a bit older and worked with a lot of other artists, I think people realize that I have my own career.”
He also said he father was and continues to be a huge inspiration.

“He’s the person I call with questions about the business that I need advice on, because chances are he has come across it in his long career,” Wakeman said. “I appreciate YES a lot more now than when I was younger. I swapped my YES albums for a football when I was eight.”

For Wakeman, he’s just grateful to be a musician. He said he loves being able to jump from one project to another so he never gets bored.

“I recently finished a film score for a British indie film called “Nothing Man” and then went straight on tour with Ozzy and Friends for the summer,” he said. “Then it was lots of press for the Headspace shows and album, and a recording session with a singer/writer from Nashville.

I have friends who gave up touring to just be writers or producers, but I know that I would really miss touring if I were to stop doing it. You can never replace the feeling of playing in front of a crowd and seeing people really enjoying a show.”

To learn more about Headspace or find out how to purchase their music, visit headspaceonline.com.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

 Music icon Al Green, 66, has been making what he calls “smooching music” for more than 40 years and, for the first time in his career, he’ll be performing at New Bedford’s Zeiterion Theatre this Sunday, Aug. 26. He anticipates the experience will be “Simply Beautiful.”

“You know Al and he is going to do what he do in New Bedford,” said Green, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who has sold more than 20 million records. “I want to feel what New Bedford is like. I’ve been to other cities in Massachusetts but I aint never been to New Bedford.”

Green not only is a performer but a Reverend, and is the pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s not far from his home which is located in close proximity to Graceland.

But this Sunday he’ll be bestowing his blessings on his musical fans by playing a medley of Motown songs from artists like Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, The Four Tops and The Temptations, plus his own biggest hits like “I’m Still in Love with You,” “Tired of Being Alone,” and “Look What You Done for Me.”

“I’m going to do all that good stuff,” Green said.

He’ll also sing fan favorite, “Let’s Stay Together,” a song so popular the President of the United States is familiar with it. In fact, to the surprise – and delight – of the crowd, Obama sang its opening lines at a rally in New York in January.

“He improved that in there – I didn’t know what he was doing but I thought it was kind of neat,” said Green, who was in the audience at the time. “I didn’t even know the President even knew my song but he sounded better than me. I said, ‘Oh, man. He’s going to put me out of a job. If he’s sounding that good I won’t be singing long.’”

All joking aside, Green has nothing to worry about – he’s been selling out shows during his current tour. So far, he said he’s having a “fantastic” time and finds it rewarding to look out into the crowd and witness people enjoying themselves.

“I can see that expression on their faces when I start to sing and they get into a finger-snapping groove-type thing,” he said.

In a similar way, Green hopes he has a positive effect as a preacher. While he knows a performer and a Reverend are different, he said they are comparable because they offer people a piece of his heart.

“A Reverend is a Reverend, a performer is a performer, and a show is a show, but it exemplifies the real life facts of the person that’s doing the show,” he said.

As for being a Reverend specifically, he appreciates the “significance” of it. He wishes more people would find the harmony he found.

“If everybody had significance of being a reverend you wouldn’t have some shooting in a theater about some movie that’s coming out,” he said. “Can you imagine all the lives that have damaged by this? It’s a show – it’s not for killings folks. If you have the tranquility of what we’re talking about then you wouldn’t be carrying an assault rifle around.”

Instead, Green is focusing on a few special things – creating new music, as he has an album in the works; as well as sharing love and happiness, both on and off stage.

“I dance, I pass out roses, I blow kisses, I hug people, I tell them that their love is worth something and that really are special,” he said. “You’ve got to think you’re wonderful. I think you’re wonderful.”

But that’s not all fans can expect from him at The Z.

“I’ve got 14 people on stage and we pack a tight ship,” said Green. “To all my Limelight fans, we kick butt out there.”

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center’s box office is located at 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, MA. Box Office Hours: M-F 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sat 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and one hour before each performance. Parking is free in an adjacent garage. For more information, visit http://www.zeiterion.org.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

After taking a five-year break between recording studio albums, the progressive rock band The Flower Kings recently released a new album, Banks of Eden, and Roine Stolt, the band’s founder, vocalist and guitarist, says it’s in full bloom. Also, the seeds have been planted for a 30-date European tour, which will blossom in September.

Stolt says the hiatus was necessary to recharge the band’s batteries and restore creative juices. It gave them the power to produce a bouquet of quality material.

“We were going on and on for years making new albums and tours and after a while you just lose without a clue why you keep doing it,” he said. “I think it is extremely important to make music for the right reason, and money, while important, shall not be the prime reason to go on. Now, we are back [and] hungry to set the TFK wheels in motion again. There is so much fun ahead of us and so much new music to be written.”

The band, which consists of Stolt, bassist Jonas Reingold, keyboardist Tomas Bodin, singer and guitarist Hasse Froberg and drummer Felix Lehrmann, began recording the album in late January at Varispeed Studios in Sweden.  It was recorded in the style of early progressive rock records, with all members playing live in one room.

“It was very important to actually play it together, just like all great bands and records from the classic era,” he said. “It’s about chemistry and interplay – a band that cannot play the music live in the studio will most certainly run into a problem once a tour comes up.”

While Pat Mastelotto of King Crimson, as well as Stick Men, played drums for several live dates with The Flower Kings in the past, the band sought a different drummer for a permanent slot in the band, as Mastelotto lives in Texas and the band is based in Sweden.

Instead, they made a more logistical choice when they hired Lehrmenn of Berlin, Germany.

“It takes only one hour to fly here from Berlin so it is all manageable,” Stolt said. “By the way, he is so much fun and a powerhouse drummer. I think it took me about five minutes to realize [Lehrmenn] is very lighthearted and passionate about his playing. He is a driven professional drummer with great confidence [and] that’s one of the things we were looking for.”

With Lehremenn on board, the band is looking forward to taking with them a vast catalog of songs on tour. Stolt promised fans will be treated to “quite a few” songs from the new album, plus “old favorites.”

“We could, of course, search for songs that are more obscure but in the end everyone is just looking for a good time,” Stolt says. “If I go see Paul McCartney, I’d rather hear him play ‘The Long and Winding Road,’ ‘Penny Lane,’ ‘Let It Be’ or ‘Live and Let Die’ than any obscure song from his vast solo material. I guess we’re just blessed to have really interesting and emotional material to play. We do not rely on a couple of single hit tunes; we rely on a multitude of rock symphonies.”

Following the tour, Stolt says he and the boys will start working on another album. He also said he sees the band doing an American tour in early 2013, with stops in Canada and Mexico. As far as anything else, he’s being a bit tight-lipped.

“The rest I’ll leave ‘open,’ as it’s more interesting to just wait and see where the music takes us,” said Stolt. “There is an awful lot of interest for the band at the moment. I can see great things happening in the near future.”

One thing Stolt is interested in talking about is the fact that the band openly embraces being categorized as a progressive rock band, as there are a lot of bands and musicians who refuse to associate with the progressive rock title.

“I’ve never thought of my music as ‘progressive’ until others said it was, but I’m OK as long as people know what the music is about,” he said. “I’d rather walk tall and be proud of being a progressive musician than hide. When people like Steve Wilson [of Porcupine Tree and Blackfield] say they were afraid of being tagged with the old prog bands I just find it sad and a bit opportunist. I’ve never made any excuses for my music or afraid to admit I once loved the music of Procol Harum, King Crimson, Yes or Genesis.  They were part of my musical upbringing, just like Hendrix, Deep Purple, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles [and] ABBA.”

On a lighter note, he says the music, coupled with the freedom to create whatever he wants, whenever he wants, is the best part about being in The Flower Kings.

“Plus, of course, the camaraderie being a band on the road – us against the world. It’s a powerful thing being in a ‘team.’,” he said.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

With the release of their fifth album this spring, it’s apparent that Canadian heavy metal band, 3 Inches of Blood, congealed their sound by listening to prominent acts that were born during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in the 1970s and 1980s, such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, UFO and Rainbow.

In fact, the five-member band said the title of their latest album, Long Live Heavy Metal, was inspired by Rainbow’s 1978 album, Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll.

For 3 Inches of Blood vocalist Cam Pipes, who said they recorded the album in Vancouver with producer Terri Murray, celebrating the music is what it’s all about. Through their music and live performances, Pipes said fans and newcomers alike can expect “high octane, no frills heavy metal.”

“We keep it simple, but we put on an energetic show,” he said. “We’re not going to fool you with unnecessary theatrics. We let the music speak for itself. It’s what we love to do and we’re able to convey that, so our fans get into it, as well.”

While he’s big into metal, Pipes doesn’t listen to his own music. According to him, once he finishes recording, the only time he hears his songs is when he’s gigging.

“I’ll listen intently when we’re mixing, but I tend to not even listen to the recording if I don’t have to,” he said. “I’d rather listen to what other people are doing.”

But, make no mistake about it. He has a lot of respect for the material he and the band write as a group.

“This is music that we love to play,” Pipes said. “I’ve played lots of different kinds of music over the years but it’s always been a mission of mine to make a living out of it. It’s my career, but it doesn’t feel like work.”

Although Pipes said the way they came up with their band name isn’t particularly interesting, it is humorous, as it stemmed from someone cutting themselves and exaggerating how much blood pooled up.

“Somebody heard those words strung together and said, ‘That would be a good band name,’ and it stuck,” Pipes said. “The more we sat on it, the more confident we felt about it. Once the songs came together, we were like, ‘OK. This really makes sense.’”

Originally formed in 2000, 3 Inches of Blood recently added bassist Byron Stroud, formerly of the band Fear Factory. Though Stroud didn’t appear on the album, he’s been touring with Pipes, as well as the rest of the band, including rhythm and lead guitarist/vocalist Justin Hagberg; lead and rhythm guitarist Shane Clark; and drummer Ash Pearson, since they released Long Live Heavy Metal on March 26.

Also, during the spring, 3 inches of Blood completed a six-week national tour alongside six other metal acts, such as Devil Drivers, Pending Doom and Retched, for the Metal Alliance Tour.

“Most of the bands could pull in a decent headlining tour of their own so I think by combining us the tour was that much bigger,” said Pipes.

After headlining a European tour, they’ll tour the United States in June before heading to their Canadian stomping grounds in July.

“I’m sure we’re going to be super busy through the year,” Pipes said.

To learn more about the band, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/threeinchesofblood.

BY JESSICA A. BOTELHO

With both a new solo album and autobiography in the works, Greg Lake, formerly of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, as well as King Crimson, is about to embark on a solo tour, called “Songs of a Lifetime.”

The 64-year-old rocker, who sings and plays guitar and bass, said he came up with the tour concept while writing his book, Lucky Man,” which chronicles his life from infancy, thorough his childhood and teenage years, his days with ELP, King Crimson and up to today.

“As I was writing, different songs would pop up as to being pivotal in my life and the idea just occurred to me of making a show of them,” Lake said. “For the last 40 years, I’ve shared this journey with the audience that has come to see ELP and King Crimson so I’ll be telling stories about how the songs came about. It’s an imitate show.”

Lake wants to engage the audience by allowing them to ask questions between songs. In fact, when he last toured with Keith Emerson, they let fans take part in a question and answer session during a performance.

“It was one of those things I wanted to do again,” said Lake. “I’ve performed rock and roll all over the world and although music communicates with people, it doesn’t give you the chance to actually exchange words with anyone in the audience. There’s a sense of excitement because you never know what we’re going to come up with it.”

During a New York show that Lake played with Emerson, a woman told them her brother was trained in classical piano. She explained that she used to lie underneath the piano when he was playing and pretend he was Emerson.

“The audience laughed at that point and I said, ‘Would you like to come up?’ She said, ‘yeah,’ and I asked Keith to play something while she was underneath the piano. The audience went wild. It was fun to see and I think they enjoyed seeing her get her wish come true.”

With a vast catalog of material not only from ELP and King Crimson, Lake, is set to perform music from his solo albums. He said fans should expect to hear his biggest hits.

“There are things that people want me to play and if I didn’t there would be trouble,” Lake said. “On the other hand, you think, ‘how do I pick songs that are not overly obvious?’ The answer is sometimes songs become timely and sometimes it’s timely to leave songs out. But, the show will be a mixture of things and there will be some surprises in there.”

Because he’s friendly with musicians throughout the country, Lake plans on inviting special guests in various cities to join him onstage. This, he said, keeps the crowd on their toes.

“Often someone will come in and play a song with me,” he said. “What it won’t be is a folk singer sitting on a stool with a guitar talking about being a legend. To be frank, it’s a challenge to do a one-man show. But, in reality, there will be a lot of stuff happening. I want it to have the feeling of a celebration.”

Lake said he feels listening to music as a group adds a “magical” element to live performances. In fact, he thinks music is best enjoyed with friends.

“Before the Walkman, music was a shared experience,” he said. “We would buy an album, sit down with our friends, listen to it together and look at the album together. But, when the Walkman came out, it became a solitary experience with your headphones. Now, it’s the iPod or the iPhone. Well, I believe it’s a shared thing and that’s what I like about this tour.”

In addition to sharing his music and stories, Lake also makes inquiries of other musicians. Former member of The Beatles, drummer Ringo Starr, is one of them.

In 2001, when he toured with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Lake asked him about his days with the Beatles.

“We used to fly with him on his private jet and he would just start telling stories because he’s got so many of them,” said Lake. “Right up until the last show they played at Candlestick Park they never had their own hotel rooms. They always used to go two to a room. It’s fascinating to look back.”

Speaking of The Beatles, Lake said that while many progressive rock fans cite, In the Court of the Crimson King, as one of the greatest prog rock records of all time and some even call it the first progressive rock album of all time, he disagrees.

“It was, in a way, original, but I don’t think it was the first progressive album ever made-Sgt. Pepper was before that and that was actually a progressive record. When we formed KC, there was a need to be original in the music business. When you’d hear a record then and you’d hear the first few seconds and know who you were listening to. All the acts had their own identity.”

At the time, Lake said, most English rock acts were drawing their inspiration from American music, such as blues, gospel, soul, rock and roll and country. King Crimson tried a different approach.

“We decided to draw our influences from European music,” said Lake. “We studied the greats that went before us and then made our own version from that cloth. That’s really how people learn. If you can emulate the greats you have a template to print over your own personality and individuality.”

But, that unique style is keeping bands such as King Crimson, ELP, Rush, and Yes, to name a few, to be excluded from the United States Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as the organization has shunned progressive rock acts. Lake thinks the Hall of Fame is making a mistake.

“They’re denying that progressive music exists in the history of rock and roll and that’s a very stupid thing to do,” he said. “You may not like it, but don’t deny it exists. Both the bands I’ve been involved in have been an influence upon American rock music. It’s undeniable. I’m not saying we’re as important of The Beatles but we were influential. I don’t lose sleep over it but it seems strange to me.”

For now, Lake is spending his time working on his solo album and autobiography. While he doesn’t like giving out release dates, he hopes to have them out next year at the latest.

“I started the album five years ago and it’s more than half recorded,” he said. “I never found the right time to release it and I think that time is coming close. The book is the story of my life and I’m not quite finished with it. It’s something I’ve been writing for a long time.”

Aside from making music, he’s busy collecting first-edition books in his spare time. So far, he has acquired nearly 100.

“The history fascinates me,” Lake said. “To me, they have a special meaning. I have the first edition of Mutiny on the Bounty written in 1745 signed by [Lieutenant William Bligh.] I have several books from the private library of Marie Antoinette and Nina France, as well as the first edition of Treasure Island.”

For more information about Lake, check out his website at greglake.com.

“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the show,” said Lake.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

Bassist Stanley Sheldon, who toured with English rocker Peter Frampton and appeared on the 1976 double live album, Frampton Comes Alive!, said he is looking forward to showing his New Bedford fans the way, as the two have reunited to celebrate the 35^th anniversary of one of the best-selling live albums of all time.

They will be gigging at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center on Feb. 14^th and playing the album in its entirety as part of a two-set, three-hour performance.

During a phone interview last week, Sheldon said they fondly reminisced about the experience on a bus ride from Nashville to Philadelphia.

“We were getting a little antsy on the bus and Peter pulled out this film that his father took 35 years ago that none of us had seen and we watched footage of ourselves playing,” he said. “It really brought back some great memories at that tour and to be out here doing it again is surreal. It never gets old.”

Originally, Sheldon said he opposed the idea of recording a live album. At the time, he felt that a live album would not have been a good move because Frampton was getting a lot of recognition for his studio work.

“That record took everybody involved by surprise,” he said. “We played it not knowing it was going to become so huge. How could you know? But, he recorded a live album with [his former band] Humble Pie so he knew what he was doing.”

While Sheldon and Frampton hadn’t performed together for more than 20 years, they re-connected in 2006 for Frampton’s Grammy Award-winning album, Fingerprints, as Sheldon collaborated with him for a song.

After drummer John Siomos and keyboardist and guitarist Bob Mayo, their Frampton Comes Alive! counterparts,  passed away in 2004,  Sheldon said there was talk about reuniting at that time but they decided to hold off since Frampton already had a steady bassist.

“It makes sense now because it’s the 35^th anniversary,” Sheldon said. “When he asked me, I didn’t hesitate.”

Recorded in San Francisco, Frampton Comes Alive! reached number one on the Billboard 200 a few months after it was released and stayed in the top slot for 10 weeks. It remained on the chart for 97 weeks and was the best-selling album of 1976, selling more than six million copies in the United States. Further, it was named “Album of the Year” in Rolling Stone’s 1976 reader’s poll.

“Peter and I have gone through so much in that amount of time,” Sheldon said. “But, it’s wonderful and feels really great. There’s a lot of affection between Peter and I and we express it more. You can see it when we’re on stage.”

In addition to performing with Frampton, Sheldon also played bass for Delbert McClinton, an American blues artist, in 2008.  He toured with McClinton, who he described as “awesome,” for more than a year.

“Playing with them was a feather in my cap,” Sheldon said. “I had been retired from music when he asked me to play, but he’s got one of the greatest bands out there.”

Also, Sheldon is credited as being one of the earlier adopters of the fretless bass in rock music. In fact, his expertise of the instrument led to his audition with Frampton and influenced the sound of Frampton Comes Alive!

“It’s like a violin or cello,” Sheldon said. “I played it very understated and straight and got the essence of the voice-like sound, which is unique. Bass players knew I was playing a fretless bass but hardly anybody else did.”

When he’s not playing music, Sheldon enjoys studying it. In fact, he spent the 1990s committed to Latin American Studies at the University of Kansas and traveled throughout Latin America. His focus included slave society of the nineteenth century in Latin countries and how its influence on the music continues to impact world music today.

“I was very interested in the Caribbean culture, especially Cape Verde, Puerto Rico and Brazil,” he said. “Those are my favorite regions so I wanted to go to those places and study the music of the societies that first introduced those rhythms. Traveling has been great. It’s nice to be able to take advantage of that.”

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

Business is good for the heavy metal band Megadeth because fans are sweating bullets for their thirteenth studio album appropriately titled “TH1RT3EN.”

Guitarist Chris Broderick, the former guitarist for the band Jag Panzer who replaced Glen Drover in Megadeth nearly four years ago, said he is pleased by the reaction of fans and critics alike. Still, he thinks it’s too soon to have the right to go insane about the feedback.

“I always wait until a little time has passed but I’m really happy that people are receiving it very well,” he said.

The album marks the last the band will make under Roadrunner Records and is the second in their history to hit stores on Nov. 1, as 1994’s “Youthanasia” was also released on that date. They are set to be killing it on the road with Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil for Gigantour, the critically acclaimed package festival they founded in 2005, which is the same tour name Broderick made his live debut with Megadeth on Feb. 4, 2008.

They will make stops in New England states such as Connecticut and Massachusetts and they will also perform in nearby New York.

While he doesn’t have a favorite place to gig, he said he enjoys playing for fans that are “over the top” and “very vocal” when he’s on stage.

“At the same time, there are fans that like to sit back and listen and that’s nice, as well,” said Broderick. Either way he said, “I can’t wait to go on tour. We’ll be doing four or five songs from the CD.”

According to Broderick, the CD came together “quite quickly” and they composed some of the material while on tour for the band’s last studio album “Endgame.” They worked with producer John Karkazis, better known as Johnny K, who previously worked with Disturbed, Sevendust, Machine Head and Staind, among others.

“He’s concerned about the whole aspect of the song and that’s really his strong point,” said Broderick. “It was really cool to work with him.”

In addition to “TH1RT3EN,” Broderick also recorded guitar parts on “Endgame” shortly after he came onboard. He thinks the new album is more diverse.

“‘Endgame,’ with the exception of a song or two, was pretty in your face,” Broderick said. “‘Thirteen’ pulls from ‘Endgame’ but also from every other Megadeth CD.”

In terms of guitar riffs, he enjoys tracks “Sudden Death” and “Never Dead” best. “Never Dead” can be heard in a trailer for the fantasy action video game of the same name. With the record business not being what it used to be, Broderick feels having their song in a video game is an alternative avenue to reach new fans.

“It’s a great way to get advertising for your music,” he said. “The video game almost gives the song an infinite number of music videos.”

In 1983, the year frontman Dave Mustaine founded Megadeth, the band probably never envisioned their music would be in a video game nearly 30 years later. For Broderick, he never thought he’d end up playing lead guitar for them.

“It’s such an honor to be able to play with such an awesome band,” he said. “I grew up following them and to be on stage with the guys is pretty amazing.”

But Mustaine said he thinks of Broderick as the greatest guitarist Megadeth has ever had and compared meeting Broderick to Ozzy Osbourne fusing with Randy Rhodes. Hearing that, Broderick said, is humbling and terrifying at the same time.

“It’s great that he thinks that of me but it’s like, ‘Wow. I have to live up to that,’” he said.

“The funny thing is the first year and a half that I was playing with Megadeth I never really had time to think about the position I’ve been in. Only now have I been able to relax and step back and feel comfortable with what I’m doing.”

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

NEW BEDFORD – It isn’t every day that three music icons take the stage to perform classic holiday favorites. But Eddie Money, Lou Gramm and Mickey Thomas fans will get the opportunity to have themselves a merry little Christmas with a side of rock and roll this Saturday, Dec. 3, as the singers will bring joy to the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center in New Bedford for the Jingle Bell Rock tour.

In addition to opening and closing the show as a trio, they will also play their own hit songs individually.

“Eddie did a holiday tour last year and thought it would be fun to take the concept and expand upon it,” said Thomas, who fronts Starship. “Eddie is such a great entertainer and sax player and it doesn’t get any better than Lou as a vocalist. It’s a unique experience to be able to go out and perform with them.”

Gramm, the former lead singer of Foreigner, agreed and said he is excited because he enjoys the holiday season, as well as New Bedford. Previously to joining Foreigner, he played in the band Black Sheep, which often gigged in the area.

“We were regulars there for a few years and met a lot of good people,” said Gramm. “I have an affinity for it.”

For the show, he said he is looking forward to performing “Jukebox Hero,” “Midnight Blue,” “I Want To Know What Love Is,” and “Hot Blooded,” as well as holiday hits like “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “Mary, Did You Know?”

Thomas is set to sing “Winter Wonderland” in the style of Annie Lennox, Elvis Presley’s, “It’s Christmas Time Pretty Baby,” and “Silent Night.” He’ll perform Starship songs “Jane,” “Sara,” “We Built This City,” and “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” which he originally recorded with The Elvin Bishop Band in 1976.

“We might do ‘Nothing’s Going to Stop Us Now,’ if we have time,” he said.

Thomas and Gramm anticipate the show will help people get into the Christmas spirit. For Thomas, his favorite thing about celebrating the holidays is cooking and being with loved ones.

“I enjoy getting the family together because I have to travel so much that there’s nothing I like better than being in the kitchen whipping up an exciting meal with some good wine and a football game,” said Thomas, whose specialty is seafood and okra gumbo. “That’s the happiest time for me.”

Gramm feels the same and said it’s a great time to catch up with family and old friends. He especially likes the camaraderie everyone gets into if they are appreciating Christmas “the way it was meant to be.”

“You put differences aside and celebrate the birth of the Lord,” he said.

Of course, they’ve each made wish lists for Santa. In fact, Thomas is confident he will be getting a set of golf clubs this year, as well as a few films. Action and adventure flicks such as “Scarface,” “Goodfellas,” the “Indiana Jones” trilogy and the “Godfather” movies are his favorites.

“I’ve been golfing for 25 years and it’s one of the few things that I can do to leave everything that I’ve been worrying about behind,” said Thomas. “You can empty your head. And I love watching movies almost as much as cooking so hopefully I’ll be getting some DVDs.”

Gramm is keeping his fingers crossed for a new pair of glasses, as the pair he has is in rough shape.

“One side is broken to the point where it’s taped on,” he said with a laugh.

He’s also hinting around for a set of new tires for his’68 Camaro Super Sport, one of his four muscle cars.

“I’ve been driving it more and more lately and the tires have seen the last of the road,” he said. “I’ve been into muscle cars since before I was old enough to drive. My dad used to take me with him when it was time for us to get another car and we would window shop and he taught me about the high performance cars.”

But before Santa and his reindeer lavish them with gifts, they will share their holiday cheer with New Bedford. If the tour is a success, they said they would be more than willing to carry the tradition on next year.

“If this works out we’ll definitely be doing Jingle Bell Rock again,” said Thomas. “We might even expand upon it even more.”

Thomas said Starship frequently performs private shows at which his “singer buddies” Mike Reno of Loverboy; Bobby Kimball of Toto; Jimi Jamison of Survivor; John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band join him on stage. He’s thinking about bringing some of those guys on board next year, as he is fond of touring.

“In the early days, I just wanted to be in the studio all the time,” said Thomas. “Now, I enjoy being on stage and connecting with audiences.”

In the future, Thomas said Starship will be releasing a new album in February or March, which follows his recent solo recording of all cover songs, “Marauder”, while Gramm said he and the Lou Gramm Band will be putting out an album by spring. Their latest effort, which came out in 2009, was a self-titled Christian rock recording.

“This one will be straight rock,” Gramm said.

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center’s box office is located at 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, Mass. Tickets are priced at $69.50, $64.50, $55, and $48. Box Office Hours: M-F 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sat 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and one hour before each performance. For more information, visit http://www.zeiterion.org.

Jingle Bell Rock