Bladen's Christmas CD; Seger to tour?

BLADEN IN STUDIO, MIXING CHRISTMAS CD
Rusty Bladen is in the mixing stage with his upcoming Christmas release, a set of holiday and Christmas songs, recorded with producer Dane Clark over the past three weeks.

The record has a decidedly rock and roll sound, and twists songs you may have heard thousands of times into new pieces of work that have a unique american rock sound.

A couple of tracks that are in the set include an unnamed orginal that rocks like Tom Petty during his heyday, and the classic Winter Wonderland.

Clark, the drummer in John Mellencamp's band, plays on the recordings and fit this project into the schedule before he hits the studio himself, focusing on playing with his boss, as Mellencamp is apparently set to work on another record beginning this fall.

Mike Petrow is engineering, and the band recorded the tracks with minimal overdubbing; most of the music was recorded as live takes with the musicians playing at the same time (ain't is sad more records aren't made this way?) rather than adding tracks one-by-one. It lends a live, joyous, happy rock and roll feel to the sound.

Thanksgiving is the tentative release date. Look for a radio push, as, after hearing some tracks, you can't help but think this is the kind of material that would fit perfectly with the always-popular xmas tunes that radio stations roll out each holiday season. Almost every song could sit comfortably next Springsteen's Santa Claus is Coming to Town or Mellencamp's I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, or even the Eagles' Please Come Home for Christmas.

More to come...

SEGER ALBUM OUT - GOOD BLOG LINK
It sounds good. It rocks. It is a return of one of my faves. Interesting comparison between Seger and Springsteen in this blog. Worth a read, really. And talks of his tour as if it is a done deal. And we hear it is.