A musical message that soulfully weaves hopeful tales of the complex path of life, and how we can summon inner strength to triumph in the face of adversity. “This record is about having faith in where we are headed, without forgetting where we came from,” says Joe Scorsone, aka FLINTFACE. It’s also the reason that his 2014 full-length album is called HOPE. FLINTFACE’s background can be traced to the streets of West Philadelphia, where, as the son of a minister, he was involved from a very young age in giving back to the local community. At the same time, sadly, he was a victim of abuse that set his formative years on a dark course of insecurity and depression. As an escape, he found solace in the healing powers of music and he never let go of his steadfast faith even as his family lost their inner city church and moved to the more rural environs of the Pocono Mountains. FLINTFACE’s musical journey formally began within that landscape, where he hosted weekly shows in a local barn and was soon going on the road with his younger brother. The duo built up a respectable following, but when his brother decided to pursue a different path Joe was left adrift. “It felt like I lost everything at that point,” he confesses. “The band fell apart, we had to cancel tours. I lost my place to live, and I ended up living in my car for a couple of months. I was doing construction at that point, and I’d sleep at construction sites or at a friend’s halfway house. It was a disorienting time. Security and family had all erupted for me, and I went down to nothing.” It was at that moment that Joe fully assumed his identity as an artist. While the band had toured under the name FLINTFACE, it was now time for Joe to embrace it as a solo artist. The moniker comes from a scripture, Isaiah 50:7, that reads, “I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.” “A friend encouraged me to go for it, and the name had never felt more perfect. It’s about finding hope when hope is very hard to find. There’s that tiny glimmer in the darkness. I wasn’t going to give up. I don’t want to preach. I just want to be a guy who tries to speak the truth and hopefully helps to empower others.” FLINTFACE immersed himself in writing music and in 2013 he entered the studio with notable producer Ross Hogarth [John Mellencamp, John Fogerty] to record what would become Hope. “Ross really finalized my sound. He helped me articulate who I am in music. I was finally able to communicate what I had always wanted to” says the artist. That message comes through loud and clear on the song “Army of Rejects”. Combining energetic instrumentation, classic-rock bombast, and a soft, soulful melody, the song is sharply infectious. FLINTFACE reveals, “I want to build a community of people that carry each other. That’s the Army of Rejects in my mind. The message doesn’t revolve around me. It revolves around the people and their stories. It’s about embracing who you are as an individual and being okay with it.” Elsewhere, “Ready For It” crafts an uplifting spirit with its chiming guitar lines and impressive vocal delivery. He adds, “It’s a reminder that everything is going to be alright.” With the nine soon to be classic songs on HOPE FLINTFACE has delivered a cohesive body of work that would be the envy of any new artist. Lyrically, these songs are the templates for a community that is battling through challenging circumstances, as every single song contains nuggets of truth that will resonate, inspire, and even haunt the listener. Ultimately though, everything comes back to the title of this collection, and everybody’s invited to join FLINTFACE on this journey. “It’s about the listener and the different things we all face in life,” he concludes. “It’s about always finding hope in those dark places. I want everyone to own these songs from their own point-of-view.” ### The talented musicians who are featured on Hope include Rami Jaffee (The Wallflowers, Foo Fighters), Tim Pierce (Jason Mraz, Bruce Springsteen), Randy Cooke (Eurythmics, Kelly Clarkson), Kenny Aronoff (The Smashing Pumpkins, John Mellencamp), Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction), Matt Rollings (Lyle Lovett), Matt Chamberlain (Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians), Cameron Stone & Loren Gold (The Who), Jessy Greene (Foo Fighters, P!nk, The Jayhawks). His touring band was handpicked from an array of east coast up and comers and includes Darrell Jones (lead guitar & backing vocals), Billy Sims (bass), Chris DeMas (drums), Devin Ortiz (rhythm guitar) and the lovely Beth Scorsone, who lends her beautiful voice to the harmonies. Washburn Instruments EA40SCE WD250SWCE www.flintface.com

Was born in 1983 in the North East of Germany. Started playing guitar with the age of 16 in a school band. Influenced and inspired by Metal bands like Pantera, Exodus, Judas Priest, Metallica, Iron Maiden and bands like Motörhead, Black Label Society or some Blues. In 2002 he formed COR. Played over 600 shows the last 12 years with highlights like the “Wacken Open Air 2006” or different shows at the biggest german punk festival “Force Attack”. In January of 2014 he toured 18 days and 10 shows with COR in Cuba as the first non-cuban band. Will release his 10th music album with COR in January of 2015. Release tour and many other shows for 2015 are planned. www.ruegencore.de

Avast, ye landlubbers! From the deepest darkest depths of eastern Scotland comes ALESTORM, a drunken band of pirates on an epic quest to drink your beer, steal your rum, and be the greatest damn band that ever did sail the seven seas! Describing their style as “True Scottish Pirate Metal”, Alestorm plays an infectious blend of modern folk and power metal with a unique piratical twist. After forming in 2006 and rapidly gaining a cult following in their local scene, the band signed to Austria’s Napalm Records, and released three groundbreaking albums; “Captain Morgan’s Revenge” (2008), “Black Sails at Midnight” (2009), and “Back Through Time” (2011). Now in 2014, hot on the heels of their recent live album “Live at the End of the World”, Alestorm are releasing their 4th full length album, entitled “Sunset on the Golden Age”. Prepare to have your mind blown with some of the catchiest Pirate Metal anthems you’ve ever heard, with tales of mythological creatures, epic battles, and swashbuckling action that’ll make you want to raise up a pint of rum and sing your heart out. Alestorm are coming to kick ass and chew gum. And they’re all out of gum. http://www.alestorm.net

Machinage was formed in Jundiaí, SP – Brazil in 2007 with Fábio Delibo (guitar and vocals) and Fernando Kump (guitar), since the beginning, with the proposal to play their own songs and soon join the band Vinícius Zanotello (bass) and Marcio Cardoso (drums). After almost one year, Vinícius Zanotelo decides to leave the band and Alexandre Momentel (bass) takes his place. With this line up comes the first opportunity to share the stage with the great Swedish band “Dismember”. In 2009 Marcio Cardoso leaves the band and Raul Pauleto (drums) joins them when the band consolidates their name in the scenario sharing the stage with great famous bands like: Sepultura, Angra, Almah, Torture Squad, Tim Ripper Owens (ex Judas Priest) among others. In 2010 another change in the line up, Ricardo Mingote gets the drums and some after Alexandre Momentel and Fernando Kump announce their leave but saying goodbye with a great performance sharing the stage the famous American band “Overkill” confirming the band’s great work. In the end of 2010 the band gets the endorsement from two of the most famous brand names in the world, WASHBURN and RANDALL to consolidate them as a great promise in the music scenario. Today Machinage is Fábio Delibo (guitar and vocals), Renato Lorenccini (guitar and back-vocals), Adriano Bauer (bass) and Ricardo MIngote (drums), and they are recording their debut album “It Make Us Hate” that is being produced by Tim Laud (Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy) which will be released in the beginning of 2011. www.machinage.net

Hailing from the blues capitol of Chicago, Stevie cut his teeth with the likes of blues/jazz great Pete Cosey (Miles Davis, Muddy Waters) before moving westward to Los Angeles in 1997. Continuing on as a hired gun, he wrote, recorded and toured with new rock groups from Warner Bros., Arista, and Wind-Up Records before landing a dream gig as half the guitar team (with Keith Nelson) for the platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated Buckcherry.

Born and raised in Igualada, Barcelona, he grew up surrounded by Jimi Hendrix and Rolling Stones guitar riffs. But he didn’t pick up his first guitar until the age of 14, learning his first guitar skills from Metallica to Red Hot Chilli Peppers. In 2008 he formed Crisix (formerly named Crysys) along with Javi, Juli, Requena and Mark. At the age of 17 won the prestigios Metal Battle from Wacken Open Air ’09. Since that moment  has written and recorded two studio albums; ‘The Menace’ (Kaiowas Records) and ‘Rise…Then Rest’ (Apostasy Records / Fair Warning) -#56 on spanish charts-, plus ‘Year Zero’ cover single from Bipolar Sessions #1 (RockZone Magazine special issue). He said goodbye to 2013 on a high note, being elected ‘Artist of the Week’ on the US tv show MTV Iggy and selling out the tickets in Barcelona’s Boveda Club as part of “Tour…Then Rest ’13/’14”. This tour will end with around 50 dates in Spain as Crisix is at this momento the miost demanded live metal band in their country www.crisixband.com

Gutbucket blues. Gypsy jazz. Back porch rock & roll. Cody Brooks plays it all, whipping up a raw, rootsy racket with a voice that’s as wild and roughhewn as the Tennessee backwoods. The music all started 20 minutes outside of Nashville, where Brooks’ childhood home was filled with the sounds of the nearby Marrowbone Creek and his parents’ 78 rpm record collection. He listened to it all: Tommy Dorsey, Robert Johnson, Hank Snow, Son House, Jimmy Hendrix. Brooks picked up the guitar as a teenager and began traveling, too, spending time in Oregon and the southwest before Nashville’s music scene lured him back home. There, before he could legally drink, he started playing gigs at the blues bars downtown, tossing in his own songs between covers by R&B singers and Delta legends. It was during one of those bar gigs that Brooks met Ken Coomer, an A-list session drummer and producer who’d cut his teeth keeping time for Uncle Tupelo and Wilco. Halfway through the set, Brooks asked the audience if anyone wanted to hop behind the drum kit. Coomer volunteered, kicking off a friendship that continued for years, eventually taking the two from the stage to the studio. The result of those studio sessions is Handshake, Brooks’ debut EP. Filled with overdriven slide guitar and industrialized drumbeats, it’s a record that tips its hat to the past while still looking forward. Brooks’ songs spin stories of revenge, anger, dirty love, clean breaks and the infamous time that a baby copperhead snake bit him on the arm, resulting in a three-day fever dream (and inspired songwriting session) while he lay in bed and sweated out the poison. Although still in his 20s, Brooks has lived the sort of life that’s more typical of someone from the previous century — a life of restlessness, of travel, of baths in creek water and makeshift beds in barns — and Handshake embraces that old-world vibe, updating its sound with the sneer of punk rock and the swagger of hip-hop. It’s music for Saturday night sinners, delivered with the sort of fire-and-brimstone fury that’ll attract a few Sunday morning holy rollers, too. “We wanted this record to shake the jaded,” says Brooks, who — along with Coomer — plays nearly every instrument on Handshake. “We didn’t want to sound safe. We’d run a cheap blues guitar through a hot amp to get an overblown sound, and we’d shake Ken’s entire trunk of percussion instruments to make this incredibly aggressive, trashy drum sound. We were embracing the songs, and we were embracing noise, too.” In parts of the Bible Belt, most friendships still start off with a handshake. This is Brooks’ handshake, his grand introduction to the public. He’s happy to meet you. You’ll be seeing more of him soon. Cody plays the  Washburn R360K Resonator Parlor guitar  and  R314KK Parlor guitar . codybrooksmusic.com

Guitar player in german band  MAD MAX  – worldwide recording artist for SPV/STEAMHAMMER. Recent album “Another Night Of Passion” released in march 2012 will be followed by a huge European Tour as the “Special Guest” of AXEL RUDI PELL starting april 20th 2012. Besides playing guitar Juergen is also writing lyrics for MAD MAX and several other major recording artists madmaxofficial.de

George Bokos is a Greek guitar player, composer, producer and engineer with 15 years of experience in the Metal/Rock music business. As a guitar player he was introduced to a greater audience in 2001 with his work with NIGHTFALL by releasing two studio albums with them. In 2005 he moves to legendary Greek band ROTTING CHRIST, with whom George became an active touring musician and performed in more than 500 shows around the globe till 2012 . During the”Rotting Christ Era”George performed all over the biggest European Festivals (Wacken Open Air , Graspop Metal Meeting , Summer Breeze and many more) , toured and shared the same Stage with Bands such as MALEVOLENT CREATION , IMMOLATION ,VADER , MELECHESH , HATE ,MYSTIC CIRCLE and many more. Ιn 2010 and in between touring , George recorded the first demo of STONE COLD DEAD as a way to express his own musical direction. Contrabass player Charis Pazaroulas (ex-OSTROBOTHNIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA) very soon joined forces and sharing the same vision with George . A unique element of Stone Cold Dead debut album is that three extraordinary drummers became part of the recording line-up, each in a different triad . George Kollias (NILE),Yannis Stavropoulos (NUKeLEUS) and Dimitrios Dorian-Vorskaath (ZEMIAL) gave their own special mark on STONE COLD DEAD is debut album entitled “Lava Flows”. STONE COLD DEAD’s distinctive sound is an amalgamation of extreme groove metal with rock and blues influences using some unique sonic elements such as bowed contrabass along with baritone guitars and 5-string bass. The vocal style ranges from melodic death growls to clean vocals -which were handled also by George -, balanced to achieve an aggressive yet melodic effect. “Lava Flows” is produced and engineered by George Bokos and will be released later this Year. As a Producer and Engineer George has more than 50 albums in his portfolio . Over the last years he has collaborated with Artists & Bands such as MELECHESH ,GEORGE KOLLIAS UNEARTHLY,WOLFHEART and many more from all over the globe, in terms of engineering , production or pre-production , mixing & mastering. George is well know for his dedication in producing and engineering over the years . Washburn’s acoustic comfort series is his go to when it comes for recording acoustic parts and it sounds fantastic! Gear: – Randall Rm1250 with – Blackface / Kh-1 / Kh-2/XTC/ Plexi / JTM / SL+/1086 / Super V modules – Randall 4×12 XL Cabs – Washburn Guitars Related webpages:   https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeBokos https://www.facebook.com/StoneColdDead https://www.facebook.com/grindhousestudioathens http://www.grindhousestudioathens.com   www.facebook.com/GeorgeBokos

The end of this road back to life and the start of a new GOTTHARD era is evident for the Swiss multiplatinum band with “Firebirth”, the new and moving album. It is the first studio album since the tragic death of the legendary frontman Steve Lee in a traffic accident in the autumn of 2010 and the first step in a new and much anticipated chapter for the band, together with their new singer Nic Maeder. In November 2011 Nic, born in Switzerland, who spent many years in Australia, accepted one of the most difficult and also one of the most exciting and emotional tasks in his life. Without a doubt, the first album together, “Firebirth”, will be a tribute to rock and roll as an experience of life. Strong, earthy, real! Together with the producers, Leo Leoni and Paul Lani – an American who had already worked very successfully with the band on the albums “G” and “Homerun” and who knows exactly what the Hard Rockers are about – GOTTHARD has produced in their own Yellow House studio in Lugano, Switzerland, a real jewel. “Firebirth” shows clearly the essence of the rocker soul and you sense that it is completely honest. The obvious enjoyment of the band in playing cannot be ignored and this gives the new songs an unmistakeable character. It is a rebirth of the zest for action with which they started twenty years ago to conquer the world. With around 3 million records sold, the exceptional band has set high standards in the past years. Every one of their 13 albums held the pole position in the Swiss charts. After the release of the album in June, they will start their world tour in South America and will prove their reputation as an excellent live band in the summer in all the important European festivals. Appearances like Bang Your Head in Germany, Sweden Rock, Graspop in Belgium, Gods of Metal in Italy or Masters of Rock in the Czech Republic are only some of the highlights, until late summer, when the band will give concerts in Asia and then in autumn a drawn-out Headliner hall tour throughout Europe. “Firebirth” will be released June 1st by Musikvertrieb (Switzerland) and Nuclear Blast/Warner Music (worldwide) and will write a new important chapter in the sensational career of the popular band, who had the strength and courage to withstand such an unbelievable tragedy, to keep looking forward and thereby to produce such real and honest music, and to let “Firebirth” come alive for them and the world. gotthard.com