Here at Sputnik Towers, we get sent some pretty bad press releases.

Most of them are harmless enough – just things that nobody but the band and their immediate families would be interested in. A lot I’ll delete without reading. Some I’ll quietly seethe over for a while first. Hard rock bands tend to be the best at shamelessly taking advantage of natural disasters. New York indie bands tend to be the quickest to lash out an over-sincere cover version when a major musician dies. I thought I was immune to it at this point. Until today.

I know I’m basically doing the PR’s job for them here by reposting the press release verbatim. They might get mad at me for openly mocking their craft and refuse to send us stuff anymore. That would be a crying shame, because if they’ve got even one more release like this in their armoury then I might just actually explode, spraying litres and litres of hot, juicy amazoplasm all over the walls. I’ll be sure to put that one on Youtube.

Next week: Mikael Åkerfeldt exchanges emails with David Coverdale.

When Petrucci and James Unite

As a regular contributor to the LickLibrary, Andy James is no stranger to hosting interviews with some of the best Rock & Metal guitar players in the world. Zakk Wylde, Gus G and Judas Priest are among those recently grilled by a man who is already hot on their tails for joining that very list.

In a short space of time, Andy has secured endorsements from ESP, Blackstar and Rotosound, his YouTube viewing figures are fast approaching 2 million and he has acquired the official uniform of any self-respecting Metal guitarist; a good strong beard! On finishing his own self-titled solo album, he immediately hit the road with Sacred Mother Tongue on a headline tour of the UK, culminating in a storming 2nd stage appearance at DOWNLOAD, and is currently finishing their follow up album to the sensational Ruin of Man. (…and between you and I, wow. just wow.)

However, not even riding the crest of praise and rave reviews of his own album, could prepare Andy James for meeting John Petrucci.

Cited by Andy himself as one his “all time guitar heroes”, John Petrucci met with Andy prior to his performance with Dream Theater on Saturday, July 23rd at Wolverhampton Civic. Brushing off Petrucci’s vague recognition of having seen Andy before with perhaps a brief encounter at a festival, Andy continued professionaly until the penny dropped.

John Petrucci actually owns Andy James’ In the Wake of Chaos.

On hearing of this rising star, Petrucci found himself downloading his previous album from iTunes and as he puts all the pieces together, in front of a rather gob-smacked Andy, he reaffirms our mission statement for Andy James:

“You’re Andy James! You are a sick guitar player! …you’re insane.”

After downloading Andy’s new album from a demo CD Andy carries around with him, Andy was invited to watch one of the most anticipated music events of the year from the side of the stage.

The possibility of these two guitar virtuosos sharing the stage at some point in the near future is surely edging closer?

Now if YOU would like a copy of Andy James’ new album – just like John Petrucci did (sometimes these just write themselves you know!) – then you can download it now from iTunes or alternatively, get yourself a signed physical copy via Andy’s label right HERE.

“Big hooks, big riffs and a big heart …this record f*cking rips!” – Dom Lawson