UP AND COMING BANDS & GUITARISTS

Jun '25 (edited) • Jam Session

asked for some new bands and guitarists to listen to. I listed quite a few, and many of them are using a new marketing trick to get new fans… free CDs (just pay for shipping). I promised a post with links and a few bands I didn't mention in that comment. Here's that post. Be forewarned… there's a lot here. You can lose time on this post. I did somewhat writing it because I kept thinking of more relatively unknown 80s rock bands whose albums I had at one time (I sold that collection for pennies on the dollar — there were something like 10 milk crates full of records). But they took up a lot of space and they were rather heavy. There was no sense moving them around the country or even across town (we've moved seven times since 2007) when I no longer had a turntable to play them.

— Samuel Cristea (Liliac)

— Daniela Villarreal (The Warning)

— Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper, Solo, Demi Lovato, The Iron Maidens, Femme Fatale, We Start Wars, and several other bands, and the official guitarist of LA Kiss, an arena football team owned by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley) — She's not unknown or up-and-coming, but if you haven't heard her, you need to. Listen to her solo albums, Controlled Chaos and Call of the Void to really hear her guitar virtuosity.

— Ali Handal (blues rock)

— Austin Ingerman (Gunshine)

— Ben Guiles (Small Town Titans)

— Tim Öhrström, Jonas Jarlsby (Avatar)

— Davin Loiler (Red Voodoo) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYPb4JeIF7L6HfOoFaG6xXw

— John Williams (Major Moment)

— Daniele Salomone (Lacuna Coil) — an Italian band that's been around since 1994, but never really caught on in the US.

— Max Kaiser (A Short Walk to Pluto)

— Luke Vanchure (Burn the Jukebox) https://www.youtube.com/@BurntheJukebox

— Richard Torrance (Jennifer Lyn and the Groove Revival)

— Ande Hunter (As December Falls) https://www.youtube.com/asdecemberfalls

— Jake Vaccaro (As the Structure Fails) https://www.youtube.com/@AsTheStructureFails

— Christian Thompson (Falling In Reverse) https://www.youtube.com/@FallingInReverse

— Courtney Cox, Nikki Stringfield (The Iron Maidens) https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%40theironmaidens

Good up and coming bands and artists that are offering free or discounted CDs (well most of them… some offers expired and a couple don't have one) that you should check out… If you have an Apple Music subscription you can download them free. Otherwise, they all should have songs on Spotify.

As December Falls (free CD offer expired)

Ali Handal (free CD offer expired)

Small Town Titans (free CD offer expired)

Jennifer Lyn and the Groove Revival (Not a free offer, but a discount on two CDs)

Casey Kearney (country)

Madi Ringe (indie pop singer/songwriter)

The AL1CE Project (not a free CD but some free merch and a $10 download credit if you join their fan club)

Herrick (country/folk)

This Island Earth (says the offer will expire soon)

Marlhy (Alternative rock) https://www.marlhy.com/fsh-sp1

Troy (two offers, take your pick)

Anthony Gomes (Blues and Rock)

Softspoken (modern post-hardcore) https://shop.softspokenmusic.com/wthboffer

Added Color (alternative rock)

Matt Steady (Celtic prog rock)

Kill Devil Theory (Christian Rock) (free CD offer expired)

Major Moment (alternative metal)

Dark Station (dark wave or darkwave — wait… WHAT?)

Manafest (Christian Rap/Rock)

Wild Fire (country duo)

Wild Fire (rock) (no free CD offer)

Wildfire (heavy metal) (no free CD offer)

A couple of those Wild Fire bands/artists are gonna have to change their name someday.

Now a few bands, artists, and guitarists you might have missed…

— Lacuna Coil — I mentioned them and linked to their YouTube channel above

— Saraya — their first album dropped in the early 90s… I think I got it through Columbia House (a mail order CD club that gave you some free CDs when you joined their club, then they'd send you a CD every month which you could keep and buy it or send it back). The bands namesake was named after the founder and lead singer, Sandi Saraya. Saraya wasn't the original band name, but changed it to Saraya a year or so before recording the first album. They disbanded in 1992. They never caught on, but are worth listening to. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=saraya+band

— Rodrigo y Gabriela acoustic guitar duo that plays all instrumentals with percussion. Hanuman is a fantastic song and be sure to listen to their cover of Metallica's Orion. They also did several songs for the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides soundtrack. I had tickets for a show in Las Vegas many years ago, but it was canceled. I still don't know why. I'd still like to see them in concert.

— Seis Cuerdas "Their music is flashy, romantic, unpredictable, rhythmically rich, and fresh. As composers and guitarists the brothers display an incredible technique mixing different styles from flamenco, rock, metal and classical." From their website seiscuerdas.net

— The Nightwatchman — you might not know him from this pseudonym, but you'll know him when you see him… The Nightwatchman is none other than Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, Prophets of Rage, Street Stree Sweeper Club, Audioslave, and The Atlas Underground. This is the singer/songwriter side of him. HIs songs are quite powerful in their messages and partly inspired by his childhood experiences. He also has a course on Masterclass (https://www.masterclass.com/).

— Stanley Jordan

— Vinnie Moore

— Tony MacAlpine

— David Chastain

— Paul Gilbert you may know him from the band Racer X

— Gus G played with Ozzy briefly… has a band called Firewind

— Savatage (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxy4Z6XF2t00cVSN0Qa55Uw) - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savatage)

— Trans Siberian Orchestra - You've probably heard of TSO, but you've got to see them live to really appreciate them. The ensemble was born out of Savatage. Their most famous songs are Wizards of Winter and Christmas Eve/Sarajevo. They combine rock music with a full string section performing and recording Christmas music, mostly originals, though they perform a few covers at the end of their live shows (at least they did when I saw them). They only tour during the holiday season. Their shows became so popular that they created two touring ensembles, one that tours the eastern US and one that tours the western US. They are also unusual as they started out playing arenas, never having played in small clubs, performed as an opening band, or had another band open for them. They've sold more than 20 million tickets and donated more than $20 million to charity. The first half of each show is usually their more mellow songs. After a short intermission, they return to the stage, turn up the gain, and rock the joint. Add in a spectacular light show, and you've just witnessed a concert like none other. My wife and I saw them in the early 2000s or mid 2010s (I can't remember). It was a mesmerizing show!

— April Wine — notable songs: Sign of the Gypsy Queen, Just Between You and Me, 21st Century Schizoid Man, Have You Seen Kay, I Like to Rock

— Autograph - Biggest Hit: Turn Up the Radio

— BulletBoys — Biggest Hit: Smooth Up In Ya

— Guiffria — Biggest Hit: Call to the Heart

— Honeymoon Suite — Biggest Hit: Just Like You

— King's X

— Kix — notable songs: Don't Close Your Eyes, Blow My Fuse, Cold Blood, Get It While It's Hot

— Quarterflash — Biggest Hit: Harden My Heart

— Scandal — notable songs: The Warrior, Goodbye to You

— Red Rider — Listen to Lunatic Fringe (Lunatic Fringe is often mistaken for Little Tit Bitch — my friend Lewis cracked me up with that on our way to see Van Halen on the 5150 tour in Birmingham, Alabama)

— Vixen — notable songs: Cryin', Edge of a Broken Heart

— Y&T — severely underrated even if Dave Meniketti is an asshole — notable songs: Summertime Girls, Mean Streak, Black Tiger

— LA Guns — notable songs: Kiss My Love Goodbye, Electric Gypsy, The Ballad of Jayne (written about Jayne Mansfield)

— Kingdom Come — Accused of sounding too much like Led Zeppelin

— Aldo Nova — listen to Fantasy

— Vandenberg - Adrian Vandenberg's band… Adrian Vandenberg currently plays guitar in Whitesnake, though it's touch and go if Whitesnake will make their final US tour. Seems David Coverdale has some medical issues.

— Giant — Biggest Hit: I'll See You In My Dreams

— Danger Danger — I've always found Danger Danger humorous… their two biggest hits are Bang Bang and Naughty Naughty.

— Bang Tango — Biggest Hit: Someone Like You

— Jackyl — They've grown on me over the years. Didn't care for them when I first heard them in the 80s. Used a chainsaw on one or more of their songs.

— Black N Blue — Tommy Thayer's band. Tommy was the Spaceman in KISS, replacing Ace Frehley when he left the last time.

— Britny Fox — notable songs: Girlschool, Long Way to Love

— Junkyard — notable songs: Hollywood, Simple Man, and Blooze (Blooze is kind of humorous)

— Tora Tora — Biggest Hit: Walking Shoes

— Keel — Biggest Hit: The Rght to Rock

— Rough Cutt — Founding guitarist was Jake E. Lee, who later played guitar for Ozzy (Bark at the Moon, The Ultimate Sin). Founding lead vocalist was Paul Shortino, who fronted Quiet Riot for a while after Kevin Dubrow's death.

— Femme Fatale — one of several bands Nita Strauss played in

— McAuley Schenker Group - One of Michael Schenker's bands after he left the Scorpions

— Helloween — notable songs: Halloween, I Want Out

— Hellion — I met the lead singer, Anne Boleyn, in the late 80s.

— Hurricane — Biggest Hit: I'm On To You

— Tangier — Biggest Hit: Ripcord, On The Line

— Killer Dwarfs — all the band members adopted the surname, Dwarf.

— Leatherwolf — pioneered the three guitar lineup in heavy metal

— Shotgun Messiah — notable songs: Heartbreak Blvd., Shout It Out

— Talas — Billy Sheehan's first band

— Lee Aaron — listen to Metal Queen

— Triumph — Notable songs: Rock and Roll Machine, Hold On, Fight the Good Fight, Somebody's Out There, Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh cover), Follow Your Heart, Spellbound, Magic Power, Lay It On The Line

— Black Label Society — Zakk Wylde's band, Robert Trujillo, current Metallica bassist, played bass from 2001 to 2003 — notable songs The Blessed Hellride, You Must Be Blind, Electric Hellfire, Suicide Messiah, Concrete Jungle, Crazy or High

Enjoy the music.

Stay Tuned…

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