MIKE TRAMP Announces New Album 'Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III'; Shares 'Cherokee' Single
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Respected Danish vocalist and guitarist Mike Tramp will release a new album, "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III", on September 19 via Frontiers Music Srl. As was the case with "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. I" and "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. II", the upcoming LP once again sees Tramp re-imagining select cuts from his former band WHITE LION.
To celebrate the announcement, the lead single "Cherokee" is out now, accompanied by a lyric video, available here.
Mike comments on the track: "Revisiting 'Cherokee', one of the first songs [founding WHITE LION guitarist] Vito Bratta and I wrote in 1983, was so amazing, I always loved that song, and the new version only confirms what a great song it still is."
Tramp, the unmistakable voice and principal songwriter of WHITE LION, concludes his heartfelt trilogy with "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III", a powerful and deeply personal tribute to one of the most iconic bands of the 1980s melodic hard rock scene.
Tramp speaks on how this series of recordings came together: "For me, the point of re-recording the old classic WHITE LION songs was all about letting the audience know how the band would sound if they come to see us live. Bringing the sound up today and away from a world no more.
"When I started with 'Vol. I', I must admit, I never thought I'd do 'Vol. II' and now 'Vol. III'," he continues. "But having done it all now, makes all the more sense to me. If I have to be active playing WHITE LION in 2025 and onward, there's got to be a natural progression in every way. That is exactly what this trilogy is all about."
In this final installment, Tramp revisits and reimagines ten more essential songs from the WHITE LION catalog, bringing them back to life with the passion, perspective, and authenticity that only decades of experience can deliver.
Once again backed by his trusted bandmates — Marcus Nand (guitar),Claus Langeskov (bass) and Morten Hellborn (drums) — Tramp offers fresh but respectful renditions of these classic tracks, capturing their spirit while elevating them with a more refined, seasoned sound.
From the raw defiance of "Fight To Survive" to the cinematic power of "Warsong" and the infectious rhythm of "Radar Love", this album is both a celebration and a reawakening.
Standing as more than a simple re-recording project, "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III" is the emotional conclusion of a trilogy — a journey through time, memory, and music that connects the past to the present with integrity and fire.
"Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III" track listing:
01. Dirty Woman
02. Warsong
03. Fight To Survive
04. She's Got Everything
05. In The City
06. If My Mind Is Evil
07. Cherokee
08. All Burn In Hell
09. Don't Say It's Over
10. Radar Love
In a January 2025 interview with Australia's Heavy, Tramp was asked how he has managed to keep his voice in shape after all these years. Tramp, who turned 64 earlier that month, said: "You know what? Obviously, you will recognize that it's the same singer, but it was very important for me that the growth of Mike Tramp through all the albums that I've done and the touring and the traveling became… Let's say, in reality, [WHITE LION] had not broken up. There would have been a natural progression. Vito Bratta and myself, which, of course, were the foundation of WHTIE LION, the songwriters, already knew that when we recording 'Mane Attraction', our fourth album, our last album. If you go back, you will already see that we were making the first step towards prog rock, where we wanted the band to go. We were going much more towards bands like JOURNEY, KANSAS or STYX and whatever bands would have come. We wanted the band to be a band of music and little by little, the hair would become less important. So, with my albums that have gone on, my voice has naturally just changed bit by bit a year. So when I reintroduced the WHITE LION songs, I definitely cannot sing them in the same key. So once we refurbished them and once we found the new key to the songs, I also went out there now with the knowledge of knowing that I wrote those songs 40 years ago. I wanted to sort of say, 'I'm gonna sing them a little different.'"
Asked why it was important for him to recreate those songs, Mike said: "Yeah, without any disrespect to myself and the band that I started, I personally cannot stand listening to the versions from that time. I was in a completely different place. So, for me to play these songs again, I had to find something that felt new and fresh, even though it was the same thing. So by singing these songs again and changing the keys of the songs, it's almost like they became fatter and fuller and not so gung-ho. We were so fast and singing so high and flying in the air. Now I'm going up to the mic stand and I'm fully in control. I used to run out on stage with WHITE LION and started screaming at the audience, and the band would look at me, 'He's gonna collapse in 10 seconds.' [Now I'm] going out fully confident and saying, 'We're gonna play these songs now for the sake of music.'"
Tramp spent most of 2024 and the first half of 2025 touring the U.S. and Europe with his band MIKE TRAMP'S WHITE LION, which doesn't included any other members of the original WHITE LION group.
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)
