NEW YORK (Skid Row Official Website) - Multimillion-selling hard rock band Skid Row is set to explode in 2003 with an impressive string of projects including the upcoming release of the long-awaited studio album 'Thickskin,' a documentary DVD about the making of the album and a fully packed summer tour schedule with
Poison and Vince Neil and headlining shows.
Vocalist Johnny Solinger, guitarist Snake Sabo, guitarist Scotti Hill, bass guitarist Rachel Bolan and drummer Phil Varone are thrilled with 'Thickskin.' It will be released independently in the United States on Skid Row Records this summer in either July or August; details are still being finalized.
" 'Thickskin' has been two years in the making. We're very excited about this, especially since it's the first Skid Row record for Johnny and Phil," says Bolan. "It took a long time to record due to the fact that we had to do it in short bursts because we were touring a lot the past several years. We were on the road with Kiss and then we did the Rock Never Stops tour last summer.
"We were writing while we were on the road, and then when there was a tour break we'd write some more and then record. It required a lot of hard work. It was kind of like learning to drive in the middle of a demolition derby!"
Skid Row kept working on the new songs that the songwriting core of Bolan and Sabo composed, and even debuted some of them live.
The 12 songs on 'Thickskin' include: "New Generation," "Ghost," "Swallow Me (The Real You)," "Born a Beggar," "Thick is the Skin," "See You Around," "Mouth of Voodoo," "One Light," "I Remember You Two," "Lamb," "Down from Underground" and "Hittin' a Wall."
'Thickskin' is a vicious, aggressive album with a contemporary vibe, yet it maintains the killer melodic hooks that made earlier albums like 'Skid Row' and 'Slave to the Grind' and their songs "Youth Gone Wild," "I Remember You," "18 and Life" and "
Monkey Business" all monster hits.
"We didn't consciously strive for a modern sound, nor did we intentionally try to copy what we've done in the past. 'Thickskin' turned out naturally. We still listen to everything just like we always have -- whatever's new out there and the old albums by our favorite bands that influenced us in the first place," Bolan explains.
Two years in the life of Skid Row are chronicled in the DVD 'Under the Skin - The Making of Thickskin.' It's scheduled for release in May and it will give fans a tantalizing taste of 'Thickskin.'
"A friend of ours named
Fabio Jafet worked for CBS News and won a lot of Emmys and he had the idea about making a documentary. He covered everything from when Johnny joined the band, to the Kiss tour, to the making of 'Thickskin.' He shot 40 hours of tape over two years and condensed it for a one-hour DVD," says Bolan. "He was around quite a bit, but after awhile you forgot he was there.
"On this DVD you get interviews and some previews of the 'Thickskin' CD as well as footage of us in the studio. In a way, it ends up kind of like a music video. There is a lot of great bonus footage too. It shows us out of our musical environment."
For all the latest Skid Row news about 'Thickskin' and 'Under the Skin - The Making of Thickskin' visit www.skidrow.com.
Upcoming tour dates with Poison and Vince Neil include:
Friday, May 23rd Mankato, MN Midwest Wireless Center
Sunday, May 25th Tinley Park, IL Tweeter Center
Wednesday, May 28th Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
Friday, May 30th Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
Saturday, May 31st Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
Sunday, June 1st Columbus, OH Germain Amphitheatre
Tuesday, June 3rd Toronto, ON, Canada Molson Amphitheatre
Wednesday, June 4th Darien Lake, NY Darien Lake PAC
Friday, June 6th Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheatre
Saturday, June 7th Maryland Heights, MO UMB Bank Pavilion
Sunday, June 8th Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
Tuesday, June 10th Burgettstown, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion
Wednesday, June 11th Hartford, CT Meadows Music Theatre
Thursday, June 12th Poughkeepsie, NY The Chance (Skid Row only)
Friday, June 13th Wantagh, NY Tommy Hilfiger/Jones Beach
Saturday, June 14th Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
Sunday, June 15th Mansfield, MA Tweeter Center
Tuesday, June 17th Toledo, OH Promenade Park Stage
Friday, June 20th Columbus, NE Twister Bar (Skid Row only)
Saturday, June 21st Sioux City, IA Sioux City Auditorium
Tuesday, June 24th Casper, WY Casper Events Center Arena
Thursday, June 26th Boise, ID Big Easy Concert House
Friday, June 27th Idaho Falls, ID Sandy Downs
Saturday, June 28th Missoula, MT Western Montana Fair
Thursday, July 3rd Universal City, CA Universal Amphitheatre
Saturday, July 5th Las Vegas, NV Hard Rock Hotel - The Joint
Sunday, July 6th Santa Clara, CA Redwood Amphitheatre
Friday, July 11th Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
Saturday, July 12th Englewood, CO Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
Wednesday, July 16th Corpus Christi, TX Concrete St. Amphitheatre
Friday, July 18th Beaumont, TX SETEC Amphitheatre
Saturday, July 19th Spring, TX C.W. Mitchell Pavilion
Sunday, July 20th Dallas, TX Smirnoff Music Center
Thursday, July 24th LaCrosse, WI Rockin' The Ridge
Friday, July 25th Dubuque, IA Dubuque County Fair
Saturday, July 26th Goddard, KS Wheatland Jam
