On Monday (8/28), an injunction grounded any additional production of a movie recounting the tragic October 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash that claimed the lives of band members Donnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines as well as Cassie Gaines, the sister of Steve that was touring with the group as a background singer. Filming of Street Survivor: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash had violated an oath surviving band members had taken in the late 1980's to never exploit for profit the misfortune without first obtaining their approval. Former drummer Atrimus Pyle evidently side stepped that agreement.
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David Bowie: A Life, a new bio about the iconic Rocker due September 12, delves into some of the complicated family dynamics that influenced him as a person and an artist. The book, written by Dylan Jones, the author and Bowie fan who previously wrote the highly regarded When Ziggy Played Guitar: David Bowie and Four Minutes that Shook The World, digs into some of the family factors that figured in Bowie becoming the artist he did. His youth was spent in a home life frought with troubles, many of them stemming from mental instabilities of members of his mother's family. One aunt was administered a lobotomy and another died in her 30's after having been committed to mental hospitals. His schitzophrenic half brother was hit and killed by a train in an apparent suicide. Bowie once said, 'One puts oneself through such psychological damage trying to avoid the threat of insanity, you start to approach the very thing that you're scared of.' 
Drummer Neil Peart's reluctance to continue recording and touring is not shared by Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. Eddie Trunk is of the opinion that drummer Peart is '...out. I think he's done, done, done' but contends Lee and Lifeson are energized and look forward to making more music. But recent rumors that the former Rush guitarist and its bass player and primary vocalist were forming a band together but without Peart are being discounted by a source with access to members of the Canadain power trio. Donna Halper, a radio personality that was an enthusiastic supporter of the band in its early years, has informed Society Of Rock that Lifeson told her there is no truth to rumors that he and Lee have or intend to work together musically. 
A number of U2 fans received some unexpected snail-mail over the last few days. A letter from the band seems to be promoting a new track titled Blackout. Silhouettes of a young boy and girl holding hands obscure much of the text. The next U2 album, Songs of Experience, is expected to be released December 1..jpg)
Ted Nugent's recent claim during a radio interview that he hasn't been nominated for the Rock Hall Of Fame because of his political opinions drew a counterpoint from David Crosby. The CSN/CSN&Y member took to his Twitter account to contend Nugent hasn't earned consideration for the Cleveland museum because he "...just isin't good enough". Nugent returned fire on his Facebook page with the following rant. "Everybody knows that David Crosby is an evil rotten soulless punk that has criminally poisoned his bloated carcass his entire vapid life. I couldn't be more proud that such an uncaring dirtbag hates me while he competes with Michael Moore to see who can go the longest without hygiene. Zombie-boy would hurt himself if he tried real rock & roll like mine. Let's all pray he can form a syllable before his borrowed liver fails. I laugh at his pathetic slovenliness as I wrap up the greatest ultra-fun tour of my life."
We'll have a lead track from the next U2 album early in September, but he full Songs of Experience album won't get released until December 1. The three year span since the last album, Songs of Innocence, saw the goup make several false starts in the studio before settling on a direction to take the project in. Adam Clayton describes this as an album that conveys the band's evolution. 'Songs of Experience is going to be taking everything we've learned in the last 40 years and consolidating them into one piece of advice'.
Ronnie Montrose ranks as one of the musicians most admired by fellow guitarists but underappreciated by music fans. Several fine players pay tribute to Montrose on 10 X 10 the album he began recording when he died five years ago. Working with with Styx and Kiss veterans Ricky Phillips and Eric Singer on the project, Montrose planned to feature 10 other musicians he had high regard for. Phillips committed himself to getting the album completed to honor Montrose. The release drops on September 29 and will feature Sammy Hagar (a member of Ronnie's self-named band) Joe Bonamassa, Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, Deep Purple mainstay Glenn Hughes, Aerosmith's Brad Whitford, Styx veteran Tommy Shaw, Toto's Steve Lukather and more. 
The widow of Chris Cornell hopes a statue of her late husband she has commissioned will help fans and the city he loved honor him. Cornell died shortly after performing a concert in Detroit last May. His death was ruled a suicide, but his wife believes that her husband's state of mind was skewed by a drug relapse and that he '...did not want to die', adding, 'If he was of sound mind, I know he wouldn't have done this.'
Lynyrd Skynyrd is losing some tour dates so Gary Rossington can get treated for blockages in an artery. The guitarist and sole remaining member of the classic Skynyrd lineup has had recurring heart problems in recent years. The original announcement from the band did not specify which member was ailing or the nature of the illness. After false rumors developed suggesting that Johnny Van Zant had suffered a heart attack, the band issued a denial and identified Rossington as the one needing medical attention. The procedure is considered relatively low risk but does require a period of rest for recovery. The tour is scheduled to resume Friday 
The Toronto International Film Festival has landed the first screening of Showtime's Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars. The movie will premier during the fest in September and is slated to be available on Showtime itself in 2018. The film takes a very personal approach to unveiling details about a quite private and somewhat reclusive guitar legend. Clapton himself speaks to some of difficult periods of his life, including a far from harmonious childhood, his struggles with substance abuse and the tragic loss of his young son. Clapton's up front approach to the project allowed producers to sort through a considerable amount of archived material and media, and were even given access to personal letters and diaries.
