The Day in Rock Digest for 1/21/11: In the wake of drummer Mike Portnoy's departure, Avenged Sevenfold has added ex-Confide drummer Arin Ilejay to their line-up (touring, for now). Here's the official word: "We recently asked several friends who knew Jimmy [Sullivan] and his style, and also knew our music and each of our personalities to suggest drummers to tour with us starting this year." moreJunkman from Vintage Rock sat down with Chris Cannella, Product Manager for Eddie Van Halen's company EVH Gear, at the Winter NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show held last weekend in Anaheim, CA at the Anaheim Convention Center. Aside from running through the EVH product line, Cannella said that "we're going to see a lot more of Ed this year … hopefully by the summer" and winked at the camera. Check out the chat here
Slash, Stone Temple Pilots and Saxon are among the confirmed bands for the third annual Big Night Out! festival, set to take place March 11-12 in Singapore at Singapore Indoor Stadium. more
Airbourne's super rare EP 'Ready to Rock' (only 1000 printed in 2004) is up for auction on eBay to raise funds for Matthew Leone of Madina Lake, after a show of heroism and bravery landed him with brain swelling, multiple surgeries and a hefty hospital bill without medical insurance to cover it. more
Steven Tyler launched an all new website (www.steventyler.com) coinciding with the American Idol's premiere this week. The site features exclusive photos, video, and a personal welcome message from Steven to his fans.
Fish and Steve Harley will be on the bill for the Acoustic Festival Of Britain. more
The Alex Skolnick Trio (Testament) returns with its fourth album, "Veritas", on March 29. The 11-track album contains nine original compositions, a cover of Metallica's "Fade To Black" and a bonus remix of the song "Bollywood Jam" by Jay Sustain and Nik Chinboukas more
Comeback Kid, Title Fight, and The Carrier will team up for some Canadian shows in late-March and early-April. more
School of Rock's tribute to KISS takes place on January 22nd and 23rd at the Cat Club in West Hollywood, California. more
Oh, Manhattan will be touring the Southeast with The Murder And The Harlot. more
Bat Kinane of Glyder - who announced they last October that they were disbanding after six years together - has revealed plans to reform the band with a brand new lineup. more
The Wonder Years, Man Overboard, and Handguns have lined up a brief March tour more
The Rotted have entered Parlour Studios to record the follow-up to 2008's "Get Dead Or Die Trying". Production duties are once again being handled by Russ Russell (Napalm Death, Dimmu Borgir, Evile). more
On this day in 1978, The soundtrack album Saturday Night Fever started a 24-week run at #1 on the U.S. album charts. It went on to sell more than 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling soundtrack albums of all time.
On this day in 1997, 'Colonel' Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager and agent, died of a stroke in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 87. Born Andreas van Kuijk, Parker was a Dutch immigrant who changed his name as soon as he arrived in the U.S. Parker never applied for a green card and feared deportation his entire life. Find out what else happened on this date in music history here
