I spoke with Rik Emmett earlier today and thought it was so good I didn't want to wait to post it. Yes, I know I posted an interview already today (with Gene Simmons), but it's my podcast, and I make the rules!

Obviously, I had to ask Rik about the tour and putting the band back together with some help from Phil X, Brent Fitz, and Todd Kerns. He was all about talking about that, Mike Levin not playing any of the shows, and the "Summer of Canadian Rock Trios" with Rush getting back on the road in 2026.

Then, it's a classic interview with Fred Durst and Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit from 2010. This interview aired on WRIF but was never posted online, so here it is. It's cool to go back and listen to how the guys split and got back together. There are also some other cultural references, including a social media interaction with Neil Diamond. You may or may not recall that.

Enjoy these two interviews.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's always a thrill to talk with "The Demon" Gene Simmons of KISS. The dude is a rock icon, and he's coming to UWM Field in Utica on September 20th, along with Derek St Holmes and Kaliedo.

Gene was gracious with his time as we spoke for thirty minutes about his upbringing, recently turning 77 years old, his solo band and KISS, and lots more.

What's the best non-musical financial decision he ever made? How have he and Paul Stanley remained so tight over all these years? How much unreleased KISS material remains in the vault? Those are some of the questions Gene answered along with his thoughts on his son's band, Stanley/Simmons, touring with RUSH, and much more.

Give the interview a listen, then grab your tickets to see Gene at the USPBL Fall Music Classic at UWM Field in Utica, Michigan.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Battle Axes: A Hard Rockin' History Of Pointy Guitars is the book out now by Canadian author/musician Sean Kelly.

Talking with Sean was a blast! I'm not a guitar player, but I've seen a few in my life. Many with "pointy" guitars. Sean briefly dug into the history of how guitars got pointy and who played them. He showed off some of his own (the video will be posted next week) and his favorites.

Sean is a Canadian musician who's played with the likes of Nelly Furtado, Cooney Hatch, Honemoon Suite, and many more. He's been around a guitar or six, and tells great stories of getting some meg-rock stars to contribute to the book, some misses, and everything in between.

This is a fun conversation. Go grab the book wherever you buy books; it's out now!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Great to reconnect with Phil Collen of Def Leppard. If you didn't know, he has some other projects outside of his main band. One of them is a band called Man Raze. Back in May, they dropped their Lock, Stock & Barrel (Complete Recordings 2008-2011) Phil tells me about that, along with another project he's in called Crossbone Skully with Tommy Henriksen of Alice Cooper, and the great Mutt Lange.

As he brought that up, I had to ask him about the impact that Mutt had on Def Leppard. Let's just say that Phil gave Mutt a LOT of credit for their success.

We talked about new music, upcoming tours, residencies, and lots more.

Thanks to Phil for the time and to you for listening.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Legendary drummer Matt Sorum joins me to promote the live album honoring Paul Rodgers and Geezer Butler. Here's the list of rockers on the record, Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), Charlie Starr (BlackBerry Smoke), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver), Robert DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots), Stevie Salas (Mick Jagger), Mike Mangan (The Cult), and Paul Ill (Alicia Keys). And let me say, the record sounds as good as this line-up!

Matt told me about forming the Adopt the Arts Foundation and what it's meant to him. He was thrilled putting the musicians on stage, and more excited after hearing the finished product. So much so that he decided to put it out on vinyl. You can pre-order the album now with the info below.

In the intro, I accidentally said the album is available for pre-order on the 13th. That's false; it started on the 3rd. Get yours today!

PRE-ORDER ALBUM HERE

Title: Sound & Vision Live

Format: Limited-edition all-star double vinyl album

Pressing: Limited to 2,000 copies

Price: $99.98

Pre-Sale Begins: August 3, 2026

Record Release Celebration: September 13, 2026

Online Availability: Exclusively through Experience Vinyl

Beneficiary: Adopt the Arts Foundation

For album information and online ordering, visit Experience Vinyl.

For event and foundation information, please visit Adopt the Arts.

We did talk about his time in Velvet Revolver, GNR, and The Cult as well. Matt's an open book as we discussed many topics, and he's very easy to talk to.

Go grab a copy of this killer album...let's sell it out for the kids!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tyler Connolly and his band Theory of a Deadman are hitting the road for the Dead/Seven tour, touching down in southeast Michigan at the Fillmore on August 23rd. First, though, Tyler and I have a fun conversation about all things Theory.

The boys are releasing an E.P. titled Part 1: Funeral Songs. Three songs have been released from the album already, with three unreleased so far. He told me about the plan to drop the second part next year.

We talked about Abby Road, early NHL predictions, navigating today's crazy music listening habits of the fans, and lots more. One thing I found fascinating that I'd never heard before was how the song Bad Girlfriend became a single. After all these years of knowing the guys, I learned something new.

That's just for starters on this episode of Talkin' Rock!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Great to speak with Rikki for the first time. He and his band Rockett Mafia are coming to the Token Lounge on August 29th to play your favorite Poison songs, including the entire Look What The Cat Dragged In album for its 40th anniversary.

I didn't know it, but Rikki is a big paranormal fan, as am I. We talked about that as he has a YouTube series called Legend Tripping, where he takes you to scary places across the country.

We discussed his upbringing in mid-Pennsylvania, the beginning of Poison, moving to Hollywood, and the early days. He told me about times in the band when the grunge movement took over, as well.

He's got a new book coming out in September called Ghost Notes-My Life In Poison. Rikki told me about that and that fact that publishers wanted them to write a book similar to The Dirt from Motley Crue.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wow! This is a fun interview. As a matter of fact, we had so much fun that we're going to do it again because we barely broke the surface of the band's rise to fame.

Bones tells great stories of gigging around the metro Detroit area. How did Jimmie get started, and what influenced his love of music? "Well, way, way, way, way back, man, long before you were born, I saw this band on the Ed Sullivan show debut, and they were called the Beatles. And I kind of, I think I was maybe five years old. And I can't say it blew my wig back, because my mom used to shave my head back then, like this really 60s brush cut. But it kind of, yeah, did that to me, you know. And then later on, I saw the Rolling Stones on there and a lot of the other British invasion bands. So that had an impact on me."

That was just the beginning. From there, Bones told me about his path through the Detroit ranks to meeting Kid Rock. The White Room Studios is where their paths crossed, and they've been bandmates ever since. That's the extremely short version; listen for the full version of events.

As I said, there's too much to post here. This is a fun listen down the musical Detroit rabbit hole.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.