British rock band Slam Cartel released their debut album ‘Handful of Dreams’ in 2011. Since then, the band have gone through a few changes and played a seemingly endless stream of gigs. REAL GONE caught up with guitarist Damo Fawsett to discuss his influences, as well as the band’s past, present and future. Bringing a few insights into the world of a hard-working band – as well as Zeppelin-y tangent – a lengthy chat ensued…
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Blackmore’s Night (featuring Ritchie Blackmore and Candace Night) have announced a run of live dates for Europe. The dates will see them visit Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic during the summer.
With the seventies drawing to a close and with three successful albums released under the Rainbow moniker, the ever-restless Ritchie Blackmore looked to make changes. In a quest to push Rainbow towards a more commercial and radio-friendly direction a big shake up occurred, resulting in the departure of three of the band’s five members. While Cozy Powell retained his position on drums, a quest for a new bassist saw the appointment of Blackmore’s old Deep Purple mate Roger Glover, while the role of keyboard player was filled by future Ten/Deep Purple member Don Airey. Certainly the most devastating loss was that of Ronnie James Dio, who supposedly had no interest in Blackmore’s new vision for the band. Since a talent like Dio’s comes along once in a lifetime, perhaps other musicians would have fought to reach a compromise; but in any band featuring Ritchie Blackmore, Blackmore’s decision is final.