Brian McKinny

Music Insider Magazine October/November 2017

by Brian McKinny

BOBAFLEX is making quite the reputation for themselves as one of the hardest touring bands in the country, playing 154 shows in 2016. The band has built their reputation for high-energy live shows through their relentless touring. The McCoy brothers, front men Shaun and Marty —both on guitar/vocals — formed the band back in 1998 in their hometown of Mason, West Virginia, near Point Pleasant on the Ohio/West Virginia border.

This geography is important because the McCoy brothers are actually ...

Music Insider Magazine May/June 2017

by Brian McKinny

There’s nothing quite as exciting as the comeback – seeing someone with dreams, watching them decline, and then getting that second chance.

Scott Stapp’s career has been nothing short of the proverbial roller coaster ride, from a hard-earned, yet meteoric rise to international fame with his 1990’s multi-platinum rock band, Creed, to his much covered, very public bout with prescription drugs and alcohol, fueling a profound paranoia brought on by an undiagnosed condition of bipolar syndrome, Stapp had gone from being on top of the rock charts and on top of the world to being locked away in his own virtual prison.

Music Insider Magazine
September/October 2016

by Brian McKinny

Charlie Daniels will soon be celebrating his 80th birthday. That’s a big milestone for anyone to reach, even in this time of modern medicine, health and fitness gurus, and tofu burgers… But Charlie Daniels is celebrating his 80th birthday in a manner more befitting a man of his legendary stature, by hosting the 2016 Tennessee Volunteer Jam at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena in November, along with a few of his closest friends: Chris Stapleton, Travis Tritt, Kid Rock, Larry the Cable Guy, and many more special guests soon to be announced, as well as plenty of surprise guests popping in on the night of the show.

Music Insider Magazine
May/June 2016

by Brian McKinny

Blackberry Smoke, the down-home juggernaut from Atlanta, Ga. is on everyone’s music radar these days. From country to rock and blues, this band is getting noticed, and for all the right reasons. The band makes some of the best, authentic Southern music out there, and there’s no end in sight.

In-depth feature article and interview with Doug Robb, singer and guitarist for LA's Grammy Award-nominated band, Hoobastank.

TROY is a Midwestern rock band that formed in the small town of Pleasant Hope, Missouri in 2004, and has played with some of today’s top hard rock and metal artists, such as KORN, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Papa Roach, Puddle of Mudd, Smile Empty Soul, Trapt, 12 Stones, Skillet, and many more.

Before Rudolf (Rudy) Schenker founded the Scorpions in 1965, he was 16 and just another teenager from Hildesheim, Germany with dreams of becoming a professional soccer player. Forced to choose between playing soccer and playing guitar, he decided that the guitar would offer him the long-term opportunities he wished for in his life. His goal was never being the best or even fastest guitar player. Instead, he concentrated his efforts on becoming the best composer of original rock music that he could be. Honing and nurturing his skills as a composer has paid off for Schenker with numerous chart-topping hits to his credit and the credit of the band he founded, the Scorpions.

Guitarist Jeff Loomis has an all-encompassing passion for sonic vibrations of all sorts and styles. At one moment, his playing style is as savage and brutally aggressive as an MG-42 machine gun. The next moment his style is melodic and soars with the ecstasy of a Germanic Valkyrie screeching out a high C in a Wagnerian opera.

Vocalist of Finger Eleven Scott Anderson is a regular guy in most every respect. He likes to hang out with his family and friends. He loves playing games, especially board games that some people would consider pretty nerdy. Anderson is remarkably down to earth, very honest and quite genial, despite being a rock star with Finger Eleven, which achieved Gold status in 2003 for its self-titled album and is growing again in popularity as the band tours this summer and will continue touring next year.

Recently, when I spoke with Joe Bonsall, lead singer of the venerable country and southern gospel quartet, The Oak Ridge Boys, I have to admit that I was a little nervous. I’ve been a fan of theirs since the early 1970s. My mother and father were both really big fans of The Oak Ridge Boys, so it was only natural that my brother and I would be exposed to their music.

Speaking with Bonsall was as relaxed and natural as having a comfortable chat with your neighbor. His personality and charm are genuine, and not forced in any way. With Joe Bonsall, what you see is what you get, and that’s the way The Oak Ridge Boys have always approached their music.

John Poppo grew up in Long Island, N.Y., and even as a very young man, he had a plan for his life. As a promising young musician, he had decided that he was going to be the next Billy Joel or Elton John. At least, that was what he told his father one day, his life’s goal as a budding singer, songwriter and pianist. But life frequently has a penchant for steering us all in some rather unexpected directions, for however exceptional Poppo’s life was destined to become, life still made no exceptions for him, and life went about its business of diverting his best laid plans.

Poppo’s story is one of a man with a focused vision, whose confidence in his abilities, while being able to adapt to changing times and circumstances, has brought him to his incredible success within the music industry. It really is a story of the American music dream.

Most people don’t know that Dave Pirner started his career as a drummer in a punk band. A native of Green Bay, Wis., he moved to Minneapolis, Minn. as a teenager. By age 20, he had started playing drums in Loud Fast Rules, together with Karl Mueller (bass) and Dan Murphy (guitar) in the Minneapolis sub-punk scene.

Billie Pulera of Electric Revolution

Character is Power, a long road ultimately leading to redemption and a new lease on life.

Billie Pulera is, if anything, a survivor. He’s been a musician all of his life, following in the footsteps of his brother, who was a drummer in bands before him growing up. Pulera is a former addict, who has endured many tragic events that most of us wouldn’t wish on our worst enemies, and he’s come out that much stronger on the other side.

Vinnie Dombroski is very important to the history of rock and roll in Detroit, Mich. As the front man of no less than three working bands — Sponge, Crud and the Orbitsuns — his vocal talents and force of personality seemingly know no bounds. Unlike the city from which he hails, Dombroski is accustomed to making strong comebacks.

Arcane Saints are one of the most exciting new rock bands to come out of Australia since Silver Chair, Electric Mary, Midnight Oil, and INXS. Their latest EP, “In the Shade of The Juniper” being released worldwide on March 21, 2015, continues the Aussie legacy of musically diverse, hard hitting rock and roll; a legacy that is safe in the hands of singer, guitarist, and writer, Michael John.