Accept

Accept is a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, originally assembled by former vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and bassist Peter Baltes. Their beginnings can be traced back to the late 1960s. The band played an important role in the development of speed metal, being part of the German heavy metal scene to emerge in the early to mid 1980s.
Following disbandment in 1997 and resurrection in 2005, they reunited in 2009 with former T.T. Quick frontman Mark Tornillo and released their highest charting album to date, Blood of the Nations.
They have sold over 27 million albums worldwide.

EARLY YEARS (1968 - 1982)
Accept's beginnings can be traced back to 1968 when Udo Dirkschneider and Michael Wagener formed a local band called Band X, which eventually changed its name to Accept. For many years Accept went through numerous line-up changes. This instability essentially kept the band on an amateur level, making sporadic appearances in festival concerts. Accept's professional career began in 1976 when they were invited to play at one of the first rock and roll festivals in Germany — Rock am Rhein. Following the festival the band were offered a recording deal. Their first recording was the self-titled Accept album, which did not achieve much commercial success.
The first stable line-up of Accept was composed of vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarists Wolf Hoffmann and Gerhard Wahl, bassist Peter Baltes and drummer Frank Friedrich. Friedrich and Wahl quit the band after the release of Accept and were replaced by Stefan Kaufmann and Jörg Fischer. This line-up the band recorded I'm a Rebel in 1980. The title track originally was written for AC/DC but never released by them. The album brought some media attention, the band being invited to make a televised appearance.
In 1981 the next album Breaker was released, and the band employed manager Gaby Hauke. Accept also joined Judas Priest's world tour and obtained attention outside of Europe for the first time.
Restless and Wild was released in 1982, although Jörg Fischer quit the band a short time before the recording took place. Jan Koemmet was hired as guitarist, but departed from the band before the recording of the album. Restless and Wild saw an evolution in the band's sound, which incorporated characteristics defining the genre later dubbed speed metal. Gaby Hauke was credited as "Deaffy" on two of the tracks.

MAINSTREAM SUCCESS (1983 - 1987)

Accept's next release, Balls to the Wall was in 1983, now with guitarist Herman Frank (ex-Sinner). The album was more conceptual, and included lyrical themes about themes politics, sexuality and human relationships. "Balls to the Wall" refers to slaves revolting against oppressing masters, "Fight It Back" is about social misfits fighting against conformity. All songs were credited to Accept and "Deaffy". Deaffy was manager Gaby Hauke's pseudonym as the band's lyricist, although she did not officially claim ownership until the band had broken up for the second time.
During a 1983 show in their hometown the band met Jörg Fischer by chance and on Hauke's insistence, Fischer rejoined the band. A world tour followed through 1984, including the Monsters of Rock festival.
Metal Heart was released in 1985. Produced by Scorpions producer Dieter Dierks, it presented the band's creative peak. Accept toured the world supporting the album, and documented the live shows with the live mini-album Kaizoku-Ban.
The follow up Russian Roulette was released in 1986. In 1987 Udo Dirkschneider decided together to embark on a solo career. Supporting this decision, the songwriting team in Accept wrote his entire solo album, released in 1987 as "Animal House" under the band moniker U.D.O.

DAVID REECE PERIOD AND FIRST HIATUS (1988 - 1991)

Parallel to work on "Animal House", Accept started to audition vocalists. The band tried out a few singers, including Baby Tuckoo singer Rob Armitage, whom they even featured in promo photos and metal magazine interviews, and also recorded demos with. However, American David Reece was chosen and this new line-up recorded and released Eat the Heat.
Accept's career came to a sudden halt when Stefan Kaufmann sustained a serious injury to his back mid-tour. He was briefly replaced by drummer Ken Mary for the remainder of the US tour. By the tour end by the end of 1989,the band decided that without Kaufmann, and differences surfacing with Reece, it was time cease its activities for the time being.

REUNION WITH DIRKSCHNEIDER (1992 - 1996)

The live album Staying a Life recorded in 1985, was released in 1990 as a souvenir from their career.
A few years later the ex members met with Dirkschneider and decided to relaunch the band with core members Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider and Baltes.
Comeback album Objection Overruled was released in 1993 and was a qualified success in Europe and the USA. A world tour followed, with another album, entitled Death Row, released in 1994. Kaufmann became unable to play once more due to his recurring back injury and Stefan Schwarzmann became temporary replacement.
Predator was recorded in 1996,in Nashville with Udo's long time (school)friend and producer Michael Wagener at the helm and with Michael Cartellone (from Damn Yankees) guesting on drums. Accept's tour supporting Predator, took in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, with their last concert in Tokyo, Japan.

SECOND HIATUS AND BRIEF RESURRECTION (1997 - 2005)

Between 1997 and 2005 all members continued working on their own projects. In 2005 Accept received an invitation from various European promoters for a short summer European Festival tour with Accept's classic line-up (Hoffmann, Baltes, Dirkschneider, Frank und Schwarzmann). These festivals turned out to be a stunning success, with the last show on 27 August 2005, in Kavarna, Bulgaria at the Kaliakra rock fest.
Asked in May 2007 if Accept were planning on writing and recording new material in the near future, Dirkschneider replied:

“	That would be a problem. You know, it's easy to play the old songs, because they already exist. Especially for me it was easier, because I still do those classics with U.D.O., but for some of the guys it was a bit harder. But everybody did a great job on stage. I understand that people want a new Accept album, but composing songs together would have been a disaster. That way we would destroy more than we would create. We have a good relationship now and it's best to keep it that way.	”
	— Udo Dirkschneider, Lords of Metal

On 14 May 2009 Udo Dirkschneider officially announced that he would not be participating in the rumoured Accept reunion.

REUNION WITH MARK TORNILLO (2009 - PRESENT)
At the end of May 2009 rumours again surfaced on a possible Accept reformation when bassist Peter Baltes revealed he spent a weekend at his house in Pennsylvania "shredding away" with guitarist Wolf Hoffmann. "Something amazing is in the works," Baltes explained. "As soon as I can, I'll let everybody know. Let's make the 'Metal Heart' beat again."
A coincidental meeting between Accept and former TT Quick singer Mark Tornillo at this informal jam session meant shortly after Tornillo was announced as the new vocalist.
A new album was written and recorded with Andy Sneap (of Megadeth, BLAZE, Exodus, Testament, Arch Enemy and Onslaught fame) as producer. Titled Blood of the Nations, it is the first original album in fourteen years.
The new line-up made their live debut on 8 May 2010 at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City, their first American concert in fifteen years.
On 21 May 2010 their video for "Teutonic Terror" was number 5 on the worldwide video charts in all genres on MySpace, topping such artists as Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Christina Aguilera. The video also topped the MySpace Global Metal Charts at Number 1.
On 13 June 2010 Accept opened for AC/DC in Stuttgart, Germany, and on 25 June 2010 headlined the Sonisphere festival in Romania and Turkey. With a set of over 2 hours,classics like "Balls to the Wall", "Metal Heart" and "Princess of the Dawn" were played along with the new album material. Blood of the Nations was released in Europe on 20 August 2010 and made a chart debut at Number 4 in the official German Media Control Charts, the band’s highest chart debut in their career.
Blood of the Nations was released 4 September in Japan, and 18 September 2010 in the United States. Accept spent 80 days on a summer tour traveling over 65,000 km and playing for over 450,000 fans. In October, the band appeared at the prestigious Japanese Festival LOUDPARK outside of Tokyo to 40,000 fans along Ozzy Osbourne, Motörhead and Stone Sour.
Within a month of the release of Blood of the Nations, Wolf Hoffmann told "Metal Asylum" ; "We are already thinking about and writing for the next record. We've all missed doing Accept and we realized we missed doing this. Of course we are not 20 years old anymore and not ready to do just anything to be successful, we're not that desperate. [laughs] We are looking to do what makes sense and that's fun."
According to bassist Peter Baltes, Accept will work with Andy Sneap again to produce the new album, which he hopes will be completed by early 2012. On November 13, 2011, it was announced that the album will be called Stalingrad and is due for release in April 2012.


Source: Wikipedia. 

Blues Story, 30 volumes collection (1998)

For those who want to learn or know a little of what is "the" blues.

The Slide Guitar "Bottles, knives & steel" (2008)

Pickin' On Zeppelin "A tribute" (2000)

Pickin' on Santana "A bluegrass tribute to Santana" (2000)

Breathe "The bluegrass tribute to the songs of Dave Mathews" (2001)

Gone Phisin' "A bluegrass tribute to Phish" (2000)

Tony Rice Unit "Backwaters" (1986)

Tony Rice Unit "Manzanita" (1979)

Tony Rice "Guitar" (1973)

Tony Rice

Tony Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from straight-ahead bluegrass to jazz-influenced new acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk. He is perhaps the greatest innovator in acoustic flatpicked guitar since Clarence White. Over the course of his career, he has played alongside J.D. Crowe and the New South, David Grisman (during the formation of “Dawg Music”), led his own groups, collaborated with fellow picker Norman Blake and recorded with his brothers. He has recorded with drums, piano, soprano sax, and with straight-ahead bluegrass instrumentation.

Rice was born in Danville, Virginia but grew up in California, where he was introduced to bluegrass by his father. He and his brothers learned a lot from hot L.A. pickers like the Kentucky Colonels, led by Roland and Clarence White. Crossing paths with fellow enthusiasts like Ry Cooder, Herb Pederson and Chris Hillman reinforced the strength of the music he had learned from his father.

In 1970, Rice had moved back to Kentucky where he played with the Bluegrass Alliance, and shortly thereafter, J.D. Crowe’s New South. The New South was known as one of the best and most progressive bluegrass groups - even adding drums and electric instruments. But when Ricky Skaggs joined up in 1974, the band recorded J.D. Crowe & the New South, an acoustic album that became Rounder’s top-seller up to that time. With Rice on guitar and vocals, Crowe on banjo and vocals, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Skaggs on fiddle and mandolin and Bobby Slone on bass, the band’s energy, as well as their instrumental and vocal drive have rarely been matched. 

Around this time Rice met mandolinist David Grisman, who played with Red Allen during the ‘60’s and was now working on some original material that blended jazz, bluegrass and classical styles. Rice left the New South and moved to California to join Grisman’s all instrumental group. As part of the David Grisman Quintet, Rice expanded his horizons beyond three chord bluegrass, studying chord theory, learning to read charts and expanding the range of his playing.  

In 1979, he left the group to pursue his own music. He recorded Acoustics, a guitar-oriented record, and then Manzanita which collected some favorite folk and bluegrass vocals. In 1980, Rice, Crowe, Bobby Hicks, Doyle Lawson and Todd Phillips formed a highly successful coalition, attacking bluegrass standards under the name the Bluegrass Album Band. This group has recorded six volumes of music.

Tony’s solo career hit its stride with Cold on the Shoulder, a collection of bluegrass vocals. With this album, Native American and Me & My Guitar, Rice arrived at a formula that incorporated his disparate influences, combining bluegrass, the songwriting of folk artists like Ian Tyson, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs and especially Gordon Lightfoot, with nimble, jazz-inflected guitar work. Simultaneously, he pursued his jazz and experimental “spacegrass” with the Tony Rice Unit on Mar West, Still Inside and Backwaters. 

Two highly regarded albums with traditional guitar virtuoso Norman Blake gained a great deal of acclaim, as well as two Rice Brother albums that reunited him with his younger brother, Wyatt. Tony Rice remains one of bluegrass’ top instrumentalists and singers, bringing originality and vitality to everything he plays.

Source: Tony Rice.com.

Rip Lee faz show no Santander Cultural - Porto Alegre

The son of famed bluesman Snooky Pryor, Richard covers 5 of his father's songs on his 1998 debut, Pitch a Boogie Woogie. Though his harpwork is often similar to his father's, but as revivalists go -- Richard still maintains his day job of 20+ years, as a carpenter for Southern Illinois University at Carbondale to focus on the blues -- he's fairly innovative. "His own compositions," Chicago Reader critic David Whiteis says, "show even more promise: on the driving shuffle 'Thank You Baby' he coaxes everything from wobbly ululations to raw shrieks from his instrument, and 'Push a Lot of Lovin', a roguish sermon on the finer points of two-timing, is a swampy back woods lope." 

Source: Center Stage Chicago.com.

Strenght In Numbers "Telluride sessions" (1989)

Strenght In Numbers

Strength In Numbers was a bluegrass supergroup formed in the late 1980s. The group featured Béla Fleck (banjo), Mark O'Connor (fiddle, guitar), Sam Bush (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (dobro) and Edgar Meyer (bass). They released their only album, Telluride Sessions, in 1989. The group, minus Fleck, played on "Nothing but a Child" from Steve Earle's 1988 album, Copperhead Road under the name "Telluride".
The catalyst for their progressive approach to bluegrass was Sam Bush's group, New Grass Revival, in 1971. In 1975 this group made their first appearance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival at the ski resort town of the same name in the Colorodo Rockies. Strength in Numbers met at subsequent festivals at Telluride in the late 1970s and 1980s.
The music of Strength in Numbers is influenced by the bluegrass virtuoso music of earlier artists Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass boys, and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Often the music of Strength in Numbers is referred to as "Newgrass" or progressive bluegrass. This music uses core bluegrass instrumentation with rhythmic features and solo playing styles of jazz.

Source: Wikipedia.

Steam Powered Airplane

Steam Powered Airplane is a four-piece bluegrass band based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The band plays the traditional acoustic instruments: banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, upright bass as well as occasional dobro and telecaster.

Three of the four players trade off on lead vocals (and sing in three-part harmony).

Tucker is a former Wyoming State Champion of Banjo, Guitar, and Mandolin.

Steam Powered Airplane has played diverse private and public functions like the Wake Forest University homecoming and the Grand Teton Music Festival's Music in the Hole. The band has opened for such notable musical acts as Bruce Hornsby & The Range and the Del McCoury band. They have also played gigs with John Densmore of the Doors and Mike Gordon from Phish.
Steam Powered Airplane was recently awarded third place at the internationally renowned Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

Source: Steam Powered Airplane.com.

Skillet Lickers "Old time fiddle tunes and songs from North Georgia" (1996)

Skillet Lickers

Proof that in-fighting and power plays among band members was not a practice invented by rock & roll groups, the Skillet Lickers were a prolifically talented 1920s string band that had "creative differences" through much of their career span. Originally formed as a backup band for fiddler and folksy-styled humorist Gid Tanner, the addition of fiddler Clayton McMichen took the band in another direction entirely. McMichen looked down upon Tanner's backwoods humor and musical style, preferring to take a more modern approach to the music by including jazz and pop influences, and he often downplayed the role of the banjo, as well as Tanner's high-pitched, comical vocals. Still, despite the creative differences, the Skillet Lickers operated on all cylinders throughout the '20s, recording for Columbia and gaining a reputation as one of the sharpest live bands of the time. After McMichen left in the early '30s to form other bands, Tanner kept the name and hired a revolving cast of supporting musicians to keep the ball rolling for another few years.