LATEST ADDITIONS

’Tis the season for audio trade shows, and we’re gonna cover as many of ’em as we can firsthand! Our reporting from this past weekend’s T.H.E. Show New York (which was actually held in NJ) will be posting soon, but first up is the initial installment of Shanon McKellar’s experiences at the recent Toronto Audiofest, wherein she tells us about what she saw and heard there from Rega and MoFi Electronics, for starters. . .

Sometimes, we just wanna drop the needle on a good ol’ — or good new, for that matter — rock opera. Clearly, producer/guitarist/maestro-at-arms Daniel Cervantes must have gotten inside our head, for he and his SoCal classic/roots rock band, Mrs. Henry, have recently gone all-in on the concept with a truly sprawling 38-song, six side opus of epic proportions on Blind Owl Records that’s been earnestly dubbed Keep On Rising. Read on to learn more about the all-analog wonders of the 180g 3LP Keep On Rising box set, and delve into AP editor Mike Mettler’s interview with Cervantes about how it all came together. . .

Steve Stevens isn’t one for sitting still. As you probably know, Stevens is the longtime guitar foil for iconoclast British alt-punk rocker Billy Idol, who released a killer new autobiographical LP earlier this year called Dream Into It. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s interview with Stevens to see why sequencing for vinyl is of utmost importance to both him and Idol, how he got that “bullet blast” for his solo on “Rebel Yell,” and why European progressive rock became one of his key influences. . .