HEAVEN & EARTH–the Los Angelesbased quintet who masterfully fuseelements of hard rock, blues and bits of classical on their acclaimed album Dig, which they toured Europe in support of throughout 2014–are back in the studio working on a new album(produced by Dave Jenkins and available via Quarto Valley Records) set to be released this fall (title and date TBA). In between writing and recording the new album,HEAVEN & EARTH
—Stuart Smith (band founder/guitarist), Joe Retta (vocals),Kenny Aronoff (drums), Lynn Sorensen of Paul Rogers/Bad Company (bass/vocals) and Ty Bailie (keyboards)–will make an appearance at the Väsby Rock Festival in Stockholm, Sweden on Saturday, July 17. Simon Wright (AC/DC, Dio) will be filling in on drums for Aronoff, the band’s regular drummer, as he’s currently on tour with John Fogerty.
Says Stuart: “We’ve been hard at work writing for the new Heaven & Earth album which has been a long process as we felt we had a lot to live up to after Dig. We spent 14 months crafting and recording the songs for that album–and after all the positive reviews and press, myself and Bruce Quarto, our record company president, felt that we had to bring out something equally as good or better. We’ve been aiming for the ‘better’ end of the bar we previously set.” Stuarts adds: “I’m pleased to say that we’ve got quite a few new songs that we’re really happy with and will be releasing a few teasers very soon. We’ll also be debuting a few songs off the new upcoming Heaven & Earth album at the Vasby Festival this month so we’re really looking forward to that. On a personal note I’d like add that I’m really looking forward to playing live for the first time my ‘Stuart Smith Signature Model’ guitar built by Aero3 Guitars. It’s been sounding amazing on recordings and rehearsals but I’m looking forward to blasting it out at a big festival.”
HEAVEN & EARTH connected strongly with music audiences on their 2014 17date European tour, garnering strong reviews along the way.
“Those in the venue witnessed a very special show in an intimate setting and such an opportunity won`t be available for long as the band are destined for much bigger venues.” (METAL EXPRESS RADIO)
“What a Night!…On the evidence of this performance, you should move on Heaven & Earth, not to miss them!” (ROCKTOPIA)
“Heaven & Earth may well have delivered one of the best shows of the year….A very special show by a hugely talented band” (THE NEWCASTLE CHRONICLE)
“The highly acclaimed quintet from Los Angeles have a created a fusion of Blues and Hard Rock with a touch of classical which contains everything you could wish for…power anthems, ballads and melodic rock rub shoulders in a rather potent mix” (THE BOLTON NEWS)
Cover Art – Glen Wexler
About HEAVEN & EARTH:
The origins of HEAVEN & EARTH align the band’s founder and visionary, Stuart Smith, with a rich lineage of rock’s most celebrated musicians. Kelly Hansen(Foreigner), Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow) and Kelly Keeling (King Kobra) all fronted the band at various junctures. Guitarists Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi) and Howard Leese (Heart, Paul Rodgers), singer and bassist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Country Communion), bassist Steve Priest (Sweet) and drummer Carmine Appice(Jeff Beck Group/Vanilla Fudge/Rod Stewart), among others, have each contributed their extraordinary talents to HEAVEN & EARTH’s first two albums: Heaven & Earth Featuring Stuart Smith (1994) and Windows to the World (2000).HEAVEN & EARTH‘s groundbreaking debut album, Heaven & Earth Featuring Stuart Smith, is considered a cult classic and brought Smith to the forefront of the guitar elite being compared in the press to Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore,Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page and garneringSmith the award for “Best Guitarist”and “Best NewCD” for three years running at the Los Angeles All Access Music Awards. In the summer of 2012, the guitarist set out to mold HEAVEN & EARTH into a worldclass recording and touring band which led to the recording of their new album Dig and now the future has never looked brighter for the band.