The Sound Of Madness

Hello.

I wanted to express my excitement and joy to the Blogosphere about the new Shinedown record "The Sound Of Madness". In my opinion, this is the band's best album to date. I have been listening to the album non-stop since last week when I purchased it.

As some of you know, I toured with Shinedown in early 2005 with No Address. I became friends with the guys and still stay in contact with Barry Kerch (drummer). Barry kept me posted about the album while the band was in L.A. recording, and he had told me that he thought this was the bands best album as well. Barry my friend, I could not agree with you more.

Shinedown has gone through some changes as far as band members since I toured with them. I do not think this has affected Brent's ability to write great songs with beautiful melodies and lyrics.

Good job guys.

6/21/2008 - AWESOME BIKER NIGHTS

6/21/2008 - Awesome Biker Nights - Sioux City, Iowa

This day was "officially" the longest day of the year, (a.k.a. Summer Solstice).

It sure did feel like it to me. Here is my recap of the day.

3:45 a.m. ET - Awake and depart for airport.

6:00 a.m. ET - Depart Jacksonville to Houston.

7:17 a.m. CT - arrive Houston
9:15 a.m. CT - depart Houston

11:19 a.m. CT - arrive Omaha

11:30 a.m. CT - Meet the band and start driving to Sioux City, Iowa

1:00 p.m. CT - arrive at hotel in Sioux City

2-5 P.m. CT - ****NAP****

5:30 - 6:30 p.m. CT - Soundcheck

8:00 - 9:30 p.m. CT - Showtime

10:30 - 12:00 CT - I watched NIGHTRANGER play.

2:00 a.m. CT - bedtime

The show was awesome just like the title of the concert. I had the opportunity to finally play a set of Ludwig Vistalites. This was a original set from the seventies. I had my tech slap a new set of heads on them and they sounded HUGE!!!!! I will definitely be playing these on tour soon!!!!

NIGHTRANGER was great. Pat is friends with the guys and he went out of his way to introduce myself and Rodney to the band. They were pleasant to hang with and they brought the house down!

Sioux City fans are fantastic! I look forward to coming back to rock again! Maybe next time I can get more sleep....yeah right!!!!

Ponce Inlet 5/22/08

Hello.

I forgot to blog about the last show I played w/ Pat Travers. Sorry. We played a package show with Rick Derringer at the Inlet Harbor in Ponce Inlet, Florida. Rick, Tommy and Charlie are pals of the band and they always put on a great show. The weather was a little damp, but the crowd did not seem to mind. During our set Pat's monitor blew up. But like PT always says "the Beatles didn't have monitors". I think that is a great way to put a positive spin on a negative situation. I'll stick to my in-ear monitors. All in all it was a good show.

If anyone has some pics from the show, please let me know.

I would like to thank the band, Joe Elgin (and his friend who's name I can't remember), Rick Derringer, Tommy Curiale and Charlie Frog.

Studio News

Hello.

I have been diligently working on two albums lately. The first. I have been working with Pat Travers and he is recording a new album this summer. The news is that the songs are coming together and we have a tentative July 1st date to begin working. We are going to be recording the album at a secret location in Canada. I am looking forward to getting started w/ Kirk, Rodney and Pat on what will surely be his best album in many years.

The second album. As you may know, I was in a band called No Address. The singer/songwriter from that band is Ben Lauren. Well Ben is working on his debut solo record and I will be playing drums & various other noise makers on this album. The songs are reminiscent of No Address before the record label made us change. I believe this will be a great record. I will keep ya posted. You can check Ben out here: www.benlauren.blogspot.com

Shows-Updates

Hello,



This is a long overdue blog. Typically I write these blogs after a show, kind of a show review from my perspective. But like I said this one is overdue.

• Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, FL 4/5/08

This was a show I have been looking forward to for some time fro two reasons.

Reason one. My brother from another mother, best damn roadie alive, king of the late-night get yer ya-ya's out, goofy-footed, Mirada driving, world famous JOHNSON lives on the west coast of Florida and he was coming out. As John describes the venue at Jannus Landin, "that's MY venue." Well, it's not really his, but I'm not gonna argue with him! It was great to spend some long overdue time with the JOHNSONATOR. Some of you might remember John as the only guy to keep me fed, alive and sane on the first No Address tour w/ Shinedown. He is a legend.

Reason two. I played Jannus Landing before as a opener for Crossfade and Seether. I thought it would be cool to go back and headline the venue. There was more debauchery and excitement backstage for the Crossfade, Seether concert, but there was more sanity backstage with Pat. At this point in my life I prefer sanity and responsible partying. Or as I like to say "I take my fun very seriously."

The show was a meteorologists dream. When we were driving in from Orlando we drove through some heavy thunderstorms. When we drove through the Tampa area the skies cleared for us and the sun shined on. As we were sound checking, I could barely see due to the sun blinding me. As the opening act (a S.R.V. tribute band) took the stage, the skies opened and dumped around 1 inch of rain. I believe it rained there entire set. The scary thing was the rain got on Kirk's pedal board. Didn't this just happen at the last gig? But his pedal board survived.

The show went on. My shoes were wet as I took the stage from walking through puddles, and my foot kept slipping off my bass drum pedal during the 1st song. In addition, because the humidity was around 100%, I dropped around 6-7 sticks throughout the show. But in general the show was great. Everyone seemed to have fun despite the wet weather.

It was nice to play the Jannus Landing once again.

Special thanks goes out to John "Johnson" Robinson, Monica Travers, Joe Elgin, Gary Lynn and RodNasty for the truck and trailer.

Houston, TX. 3/14/2008

Hello friends,

I played with Pat Travers this past Friday night in Houston, Texas. The following is a recap of the events.

• Wake up @ 6 am


• Arrive at airport

I had a direct flight from Jacksonville to Houston. I flew on a small jet and my cymbal bag would not fir in the overhead compartment...DAMN. So we took off and I quickly went into sleep mode. About an hour into my flight I noticed that I was FREEZING! I was sitting in seat 2A, which happened to be a window and an aisle seat combo, and apparently this seat was catching the draft from the front door.

So I landed safe in Houston about 10:30 am. I checked my voicemail to find a message from PT saying that his flight had been cancelled due to the storms that ravished Atlanta. No biggie. After all I was in Houston with my baggage and everything was o.k. So PT sent me the hotel info and contact info for the promoter. Don't ya just love Blackberry's and iPhone's.

I arrived at the Holiday Inn and proceeded to have a Chicken Ceasar Salad from the hotel restaurant. Then I went to my room for a little R&R. Later that afternoon I met up with my friend Jerry "Rock" Stark and his lovely wife Barbara, which was a good thing because they actually drove me to and from the gig. At this point the rest of the band had not arrived yet. Damn storms in Atlanta.

So we go to the gig. PT, Kirk and Rodney FINALLY arrived and looked like hell worn over! They had been up since 3 am, because they had to fly out of Orlando, and had been stuck in the Atlanta airport all day. To make matters worse, when their original flight was cancelled, the wonderful T.S.A. workers left Kirk's effects pedals in the rain. Kirk found that out as he was attempting to sound check...note the word attempting.

So now the concert is delayed. Do we see a pattern developing here? Luckily Kirk is from Houston so he called in a few favors and managed to borrow some effects pedals from his buddies. So alas, the show goes on.

We had a good show. Rodney was playing his NEW bass, and his amp sounded like a lawnmower with a fouled-out spark plug. I played a set of Yamaha's. I think they make better jet-ski's than drums! But everyone loved it, so all is well.

The concert ended and after packing up and driving back to hotel, I believe it was near 3am. It was then PT says to us, "Wake-up call at 5am". I thought to myself "you have to actually sleep to receive a wake-up call".

• Back to airport at 5:30 am


• Board plane


• fall asleep around 7am

ANOTHER 24 HOUR DAY OF ROCK!!!

I LOVE MY JOB!

March 7-8th Concerts

Hello,

I played 2 shows this past weekend with the Pat Travers Band. The first show was on 3/7/09 in Poughkeepsie, NY at The Chance Theater. This was a theater show (duh) which I have grown fond of playing. In particular I like the layout of the theater, a big stage, and an upper floor. From where I sit behind the drums it looks pretty cool. Also, most theaters that I have played are between 75 and 100 years old. The Chance Theater was built in 1912. Pretty amazing! I can only imagine the acts that have played there. We had a good crowd, and the show rocked!

The following night I played in Newport, RI at The Newport Blues Cafe. This was my anniversary gig w/ Pat Travers because the first show I ever played with PT was there over a year ago. The crowds in Newport are fantastic! We played to a sold-out crowd and the show rocked!

I would like to thank the fellows @ Babickz Guitars for all their hospitality and support.

I would also like to thank Rob @ The Chance Theater for making us sound great!

And a special thanks goes out to the PTB fans.....your the best!

Randy Lane