King's X re-issues, 'Gretchen Goes to Nebraska' and 'Faith Hope Love', now available via Metal Blade Records; band set to kick off west coast tour this month

Progressive masters King's X recently re-issued two of their classic albums, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska (1989) and Faith Hope Love (1990), via Metal Blade Records. Both available as a double vinyl, Faith Hope Love has also been re-packaged on CD with two bonus live tracks recorded in Cleveland in 1992. To purchase these limited re-issues, please visit: http://www.indiemerch.com/metalbladerecords/band/kings-x 

King's X's second full-length, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska, is based loosely on a short story by drummer Jerry Gaskill and is considered a landmark in the band's 30+ year history. Containing many fan favorites - such as the power ballad "Summerland", plus "Mission" and "The Burning Down" - Gretchen Goes to Nebraska also features the track "Pleiades", which is credited by guitarist Ty Tabor as being the genesis of the King's X sound when he presented the demo to the other band members a few years earlier. Additionally, the album track "Over My Head" received considerable play on MTV and radio, and ultimately set the trio up for broader success on subsequent releases. 

The follow-up to Gretchen Goes to Nebraska - Faith Hope Love - was released the next year in 1990 and landed in the Billboard Top 100, thus becoming the band's highest charting album at the time. Led by the radio single "It's Love", King's X also hit #6 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart - their highest chart position! To-date, Faith Hope Love is still King's X's most commercially successful album, reaching gold status in the USA. 

This month, King's X will embark on a west coast tour in support of these classic albums (and more!), with Kings of Spade joining them on the run. See below for all dates. 

King's X tour dates

w/ Kings of Spade

Feb. 25 - Reno, NV - Psychedelic Ballroom and Jukejoint

Feb. 26 - Sacramento, CA - Crest Theatre

Feb. 27 - San Jose, CA - Rockbar Theater

Mar. 1 - West Hollywood, CA - Whisky A Go Go

Mar. 3 - San Juan Capistrano, CA - The Coach House

Mar. 4 - Ramona, CA - Ramona Mainstage *

Mar. 5 - Corona, CA - M15 *

*=no Kings of Spade 

King's X online:

http://www.kingsxrocks.com

https://www.facebook.com/KingsXFanPage

Jerry Gaskill on This Weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 254 - Love And Scars

The last time we spoke with King's X drummer Jerry Gaskill ( https://www.facebook.com/JerryGaskill ) he was just starting on  a solo album. Now it's done and as promised he's back to talk to us about it. On October 30th Jerry will release "Love And Scars" on Rat Pak Records. You can order that right from the label at http://www.ratpakrecordsamerica.com/jerrygaskill or use the link on FocusOnMetal.net. Also this week I welcome Roch, one of the hosts of Radioactive Metal ( http://www.radioactivemetal.org/ ). It was great to finally get him on the show to do a bit of metal discussion. 

Track of the week is from Thundermother ( http://www.thundermother.com/ ), a hard charging group of ladies from Sweden who just released their second disc "Road Fever".

In case ya missed it Focus on Metal is now part of a new network The Blast Syndicate. So point your browser to http://www.blastsyndicate.com/ and Get Blasted!

Get the this episode from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or on iTunes.

You can hear us Tuesdays on Platinum Rock Radio and be sure to check their schedule because we usually get a repeat run during the week.

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Pure Rock Radio & Metal World Radio

Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites.

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

RPR set to release Jerry Gaskill (King's X) "Love and Scars" featuring Billy Sheehan, Phil Keaggy and more!

Love and Scars is the long awaited sophomore release from legendary King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill and is by far his best work to date! Featuring Billy Sheehan, Phil Keaggy, Earl Slick, DA Karkos, Andee Blacksugar and a host of other notable musicians, Love and Scars marks the completion of a long musical journey that started almost a decade ago.  Enduring a series of personal tragedies along the way, including two heart attacks, and losing all his possessions in Hurricane Sandy, Jerry remained steadfast and true in his belief that music heals all. “It’s been a long time coming and I’ve had some heavy obstacles to deal with, but the record is finally ready and I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished!” says Jerry. Love and Scars also spotlights Jerry’s vocal and songwriting talents as he passionately pours his heart out into each and every song, putting to music all of his triumphs and tragedies of the last decade. The lyrical content of this album is simply about everyday life the way I see it and I hope that people will be able to relate to it on some kind of personal level”, says Jerry.  It quickly becomes evident within the first few seconds of this album that Jerry is highly influenced by his own band King’s X, as well as some of his earlier influences like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and Grand Funk Railroad. “Drummers don’t always get the opportunity to showcase their full songwriting capabilities, but Jerry raises the bar and delivers a very solid offering with Love and Scars”, says Rat Pak Records owner Joe O’Brien. Jerry Gaskill Love and Scars features Billy Sheehan, Phil Keaggy, Earl Slick, DA Karkos, Andee Blacksugar, John "JD" DeServio, Bob Burger, David Parks, Matt Gray, Matt Farley, John Farley, Topher Nolen, Joey Gaskill and Virus. Official release date for Jerry Gaskill Love and Scars is Friday October 30, 2015. Pre-order now at: http://ratpakrecordsamerica.com/jerrygaskill TRACK LISTING: 01 FAR AWAY 02 THIS PICTURE 03 NO MORE YESTERDAY 04 HYPOTHETICAL 05 WAKING UP 06 NEVER EVER KNOW 07 SANDY 08 PATTY'S SONG 09 PARADISE 10 SAD 11 GIRL IN THE WAREHOUSE 12 GOODBYE SONG Listen to Jerry Gaskill “Far Away” on soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/rat-pak-records/jerrygaskillfaraway Produced and mixed by DA Karkos. Mastered by Kurdt Vanderhoof of Metal Church PRE-ORDER YOUR EXCLUSIVE BUNDLES AT: http://ratpakrecordsamerica.com/jerrygaskill

King's X reissues available now on CD and vinyl

Progressive masters King's X have re-released two of their classic albums! "Gretchen Goes to Nebraska" and "Faith Hope Love" are both available now via Metal Blade Records on indiemerch.com/metalbladerecords. "Gretchen Goes to Nebraska" and "Faith Hope Love" are both available as a double vinyl. Additionally, "Faith Hope Love" has been repackaged on CD with two bonus live tracks recorded in Cleveland in 1992!

The band's second studio album, 1989's "Gretchen Goes to Nebraska," is based loosely on a short story by drummer Jerry Gaskill and is considered a landmark album. The album contains many fan favorites such as the power ballad "Summerland", "Mission", and "The Burning Down". The song "Pleiades" is credited by Ty Tabor as being the genesis of the King's X sound when he presented the demo to the other band members a few years earlier. Significantly, the song "Over My Head" received considerable play on MTV and radio, and ultimately set the band up for broader success on subsequent albums.

In 1990, King's X released "Faith Hope Love". At the time, it was band's highest charting release and it broke into the BILLBOARD Top 100. Led by the radio hit "It's Love", King's X garnered well deserved success on the U.S. singles chart hitting #6 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, their highest chart position. "Faith Hope Love" proved to be King's X's most commercially successful album, reaching gold status in the U.S.

http://www.kingsxrocks.com

https://www.indiemerch.com/metalbladerecords 

Jerry Gaskill on This Weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 201 - Jerry Gaskill

On this very special edition of Focus on Metal we FINALLY run the interview we did with Jerry Gaskill of Kings X back in 2013. Apparently it took a heart attack to get us off our asses in respect to running this one. Thanks again Jerry for a great chat and get well soon.

Keep up with the world of Jerry at: http://www.jerrygaskill.com/

Grab it now from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, or on iTunes

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

The Focus on Metal, King's X special with Ty Tabor is now available.

Episode 175 - King's X Special

All of us at FoM are psyched to bring this exclusive talk with Ty Tabor in which we go through the entire history and studio output of King's X.

Keep up with the band at http://www.kingsxrocks.com/

Keep up with Ty and get all your King's X merch at http://molkenmusic.com/

Grab it now from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, The Cast Iron Ring or on iTunes

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.