If you’re a regular listener to my live radio show, Author Assist on the Artist First Radio network, you know how the show works. Okay, sometimes I throw in a few surprises for my guest like making them sing, live on air and getting them to take part in a quiz, they knew nothing about.
Well, on the last show, Friday 8th April, I did two things I’ve never done before in the five years I’ve been on the air. I had a rant, and I cried. I’m not going to tell you what the rant was about or why I cried, you need to listen to the show and find out. As well as those two monumental occurrences, we have awesome music from Lola Black and her hit single Hot Enough. Live readings from two of my flash fictions from my Collection, Heads & Tales, and my wonderful guest, Teri M Brown, who also does a reading for you.
You all know that I dabble in lots of different fiction genres, one would think every genre would come with a different genre of music. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong!
No matter, if I was writing my YA fantasy duology, Illusional Reality, or one of the OUTLAW dark romances series, or even some poetry ( rarely ) I would always have music on in the background, or coming through headphones, as it helps me get lost in the world I’ve created.
And the genre of music? Those that know me well. \m/
I’ve never done a playlist in my books. I probably never will. I doubt my readers would care what I listen to when I write. But here’s a few, so you get the idea. Each song tells its own story, Epic shit!
This last one is very special to me. It’s the song that I used to sing when I sang lead in a rock band… back in the day. Yep, I could hit those F-ing notes!
Or as I like to call him, Darth Vader, and he holds his hands up to being a Star Wars Fan.
ACNH is a recording artist, rapper, hip hop artist, and a huge fan of Eminem who’s music also inspired him to make his own. And as soon as you listen to one of ACNH track’s you can hear the Eminem influence straight away.
Love for music always starts somewhere. It could be a Gospel Choir or rapper from the musician’s younger days. For ACNH it was sitting down with his nan watching musicals.
Poetry plays a huge part in starting him off as a rapper. He freestyles and enters rapping contests where you “politely” roast the person opposite you.
ACNH was a great guest to talk to. Our chat flowed, and we laughed while getting to know each other. We also found out that we both love of heavy metal music.
Here’s the full interview
And you check out his music and his social media platforms by clicking on this link.
Join me and my guests we go live, worldwide 1pm EST – 6pm UK. Listen Live
On this show, I’ll be chatting to Karen Ford who os a master financial coach and author of Amazon’s number one bestseller, Money Matters.
In the break I will be featuring the awesome UK indie rock band Salt Water Shakedown and their new song, Sign of The Times.
Salt River Shakedown have been playing the UK gig circuit for the past 4 years providing sheer ‘RAW AND FUZZALICIOUS BLUES’ that make crowds go wild!
SRS are ready to unleash their unique brand of sleek blues rock to the world! \m/
I’m a huge fan of the Athens based rock band GhostSeason. Not only is the opening and closing track of my radio show are songs from their awesome album Like Stars In The Neon Sky, but my book trailer for In Times of Violence also features one of the songs, War Of Voices from their album.
As you probably know, I live in Corfu Greece. Which if you know of your geography Athens in mainland Greece and it would be very difficult for me to see GhostSeason live.
They are about to leave Greece for a UK Haunting tour 2019.
19th July – Ipswich – The Black Horse
20th July- Swansea- Crowley’s Rock Bar
21st July – London – Fiddler’s Elbow
22nd July – TBA –
23rd July – High Wycombe – Pheonix Bar
24th July – Newscastle – Trillions
25th July – Northampton – The King Billy
26th July – Plymouth – Rock Bottom Bar
27th July – Felixstowe – Bands In The Sands
28th July – Sheffield – West Street Live
But lucky for me, I’m over in the UK at the moment and they are actually playing in what just to be my local bikers’ bar King Billy, in my home town Northampton. So I’m so frigging excited that I’m going to meet them and have the opportunity to listen to them live.
Watch and listen to this haunting acoustic version of Highway from their new EP From The Otherside.
Band bio
Ghost Season is a high energy Alternative Metal band from Athens, Greece.
Formed back in July 2013, Ghost Season was an idea spawned by Dorian Gates (bass). Within weeks Nick Christolis (guitar) joined to complete Dorian’s vision. The purpose was to create fresh, new material in patterns of Hard Rock and Alternative Metal music. Among the bands that inspire Ghost Season are Revelation Theory, Shinedown, In Flames, Disturbed, Crossfade, Pop Evil, All That Remains, Alter Bridge ect. The goal of the band is to play dynamic and vibrant music, bridging aggressive and melodic elements while keeping the focus on live energy and enjoyment.
Ghost Season completed recording their first EP release “Ghosts like Her”, which was released on September 2014 and received positive reviews especially in the US from fans and critics alike, while they were working at their full length album and scheduling numerous upcoming shows locally in Athens and around Greece. In September 2015, Hercules Zotos joined Ghost Season as their voice and Helen Nota sat on the drummers seat.
Late 2015, Hercules and the band went in the studio for the recording of their first single titled “Break My Chains” which was released on December 2015 as a first taste of their upcoming album.
The band signed with Pavement Entertainment and released their debut full length album “Like Stars In a Neon Sky” in January 2017 featuring the video “Fade Away”. The key in “Like Stars In a Neon Sky” is the participation of J.Loren Wince, vocalist of the American-based Alternative Rock band HURT, as co-producer giving also different directions and perspectives and getting involved in every single song.
2017 followed by the “Like Stars In An Eastern Sky Tour” in Eastern Europe and the “Like Stars In a Neon Sky Tour UK” in the United Kingdom.
In February 2019, with the recruitment of their new singer Tasos Lazarus and drummer Jerry Dzerefos, Ghost Season released their 2nd EP “From The Otherside” which contains acoustic versions of songs from their first LP “Like Stars In a Neon Sky” and 2 cover songs. With the success of the album “Like Stars In a Neon Sky” and hopefully the EP “From The Otherside” the band will continue down that same road of success and planning to release their 2nd full length album also in 2019. Ghost Season are standing firmly on their feet ready for the next chapter in their story. Keep your ears to the ground and prepare to be GHOST SEASONed! The band will be touring United Kingdom on their “The Haunting UK Tour 2019” starting July 19th 2019.
Iron Maiden in Paris (Bercy Arena) on July 1st 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Iron Maiden is notably the best rock band in the world. The band consists of six of the most talented musicians and song writers in rock!
What separates them from other great rock bands is sheer determination to give 100% to their fans. It’s never been about trying to make as much money as they can, or making records for air play; these guys love to play, sing, and entertain.
Steve Harris, who plays bass and writes the lyrics to many of the Maiden songs, founded Iron Maiden back in 1975. Even when band members dropped, and at one point there didn’t seem to be a band, fans stayed loyal. Steve never became disillusioned. Determined to keep the band going, he saw the magic even before we did.
As well as being one of the best bass guitarists around, if it wasn’t for him, Iron Maiden wouldn’t be here.
I salute him for his stubbornness.
Bruce Dickinson is lead vocalist and in my opinion IS Iron Maiden. He’s the front man for the band and his stage presence and vocal talent is awesome.
I confess I lost interest in Maiden when Bruce went off on his solo career, and Blaze took over vocals. Nevertheless, my love for the band returned when Bruce came back. It wasn’t that I was a fan of Bruce Dickinson, I was a fan of Iron Maiden with Bruce as lead vocals. I think many fans feel that way.
Nicko Mcbrain is the drummer and brings a comical presence to the band. He’s one of the best drummers I have ever heard. Have a listen to Where Eagles Dare.
Dave Murrey, Adrian Smith and Yannis Gers, play lead guitars. Acoustic, rhythmic, there is nothing these guys cannot play. What surprise me about this band is after all the numerous albums, they continue to create unique songs. Each guitarist comes up with their own riffs and lyrics, which gives new songs a fresh edge.
With any other rock band it might have been a mistake to have three lead guitarists. However, the songs as so epic, there’s plenty of melodies and riffs, and each gets a chance at their own solo. These guys work together like a well oiled machine.
Classics such as Hallowed Be Thy Name, Run to the Hills, Fear of the Dark, Can I Play with Madness, are rock classics that will never go out of style. Maiden still continue to play these songs in their concerts. The fans demand it.
Iron Maiden concerts are electric. After years of world-wide tours, the band hasn’t lost any of their energy or enthusiasm to play live. The stage productions are amazing, with lighting and theatricals that are second to none. Iron Maiden concerts are not to be missed.
The albums continue to get better. The songs are epic stories that take you on a journey through long, intricate riffs and great melodies. The bands talent continues to grow, as do their fans.
Fans are loyal to Iron Maiden because the band has never let them down. Continuing to release great albums and bringing their music to as many fans as they can with exciting, energetic live performances.
My favourite track at the moment, which I play repeatedly, is Journeyman. A haunting rock ballad with catchy lyrics I can relate to.
When I sit down to write, Iron Maiden is always playing in the background. The lyrics and melodies of their songs inspire me.
Many of the short stories in my new collection, Heads & Tales, are inspired from the Best of the Beast album.
When I’m asked in interviews about what inspires me to write; Iron Maiden always comes up.
Iron Maiden continue to travel the world via ED Force One, and playing sold-out concerts. The Final Frontier album reached number one in a record of 28 countries and sold 800,000 copies in the first week.
Explosive Writer 