SKID ROW Bassist RACHEL BOLAN To Release Debut Solo Album, 'Gargoyle Of The Garden State', In June
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SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan will release his debut solo album, "Gargoyle Of The Garden State", on June 12 via earMUSIC. The LP was produced by Nick Raskulinecz, who previously worked on SKID ROW's 2022 album "The Gang's All Here", and it will feature guest appearances by Rachel's SKID ROW bandmates Dave "Snake" Sabo (guitar),Scotti Hill (guitar) and Rob Hammersmith (drums),along with Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR),Nuno Bettencourt (EXTREME),Danko Jones, Steve Conte (NEW YORK DOLLS) and Damon Johnson (BROTHER CANE, LYNYRD SKYNYRD).
Bolan discussed "Gargoyle Of The Garden State" during a recent appearance on the "Rockstrap" podcast hosted by rock and roll comedian Don Jamieson and radio veteran /musician Keith Roth. Rachel said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It doesn't sound like SKID ROW. I'm doing most of the singing. I've got a few guests on there. Our buddy Steve Conte is singing a song. The first single Danko Jones is singing with me. And then there's another song that Corey Taylor sang. So there's that. Snake played a solo. Scotti played a solo. Damon Johnson played a bunch of solos. Nuno Bettencourt played a solo. Hammersmith played drums on the whole thing. It's a whole bunch of buds on there, and it's cool, man. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Nick produced it. He produced the [last] SKID ROW record, and every worth-a-shit Active Rock band that's out there, he produced. He's so great to work with because he is such a fan of music."
He continued: "When we did my solo record, I played most of the guitars, most of the singing, all the bass. I didn't do drums and I didn't do some of the solos, so most of the solos. So it was a whole different dynamic that way [from making a SKID ROW album with Nick], because he was just talking to me. So it made it go a lot quicker. Stuff didn't have to clear the committee's vote and stuff and shit like that. So it was cool, man. And to see him excited about something that I wrote again, it was awesome, man. It was a really, really fun process.
Asked if he is "doing any covers" on his solo album, Rachel said: "[I'm] doing one. I'm not gonna tell you [what it is]… I did it just for the hell of it because I heard it on the radio and I was, like, 'Man, I didn't know that was them.' And so I was, like, 'It's a cool tune.' And I was, like, 'I'm gonna completely change this — not change the chord structure or lyrics or anything, but I'm gonna change the vibe of it.' So I did it, expecting the band never to be heard from again, and then they were. And I'm, like, 'Oh, okay.'"
Rachel went on to say that he was "getting ready to shoot the first video" for "Gargoyle Of The Garden State", with plans to release the LP's lead single in the coming months.
During the "Rockstrap" chat, Rachel also talked about SKID ROW's ongoing singer search following the departure of Erik Grönwall nearly two years ago. The now-38-year-old Swedish-born musician, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021, announced his departure from SKID ROW in March 2024, saying that it had become increasingly "difficult to prioritize" his health and full recovery as the lead singer of the group.
"We have a couple of guys on our radar," Bolan said. "We've auditioned a few people, but we're gonna do a big, gigantic… We were just waiting for the new year to start. Not so much an open call, but there's a lot of people that wanna audition, so we're just going — us and management and our producer, Nick Raskulinecz, we're all going through each person saying, like, 'Okay, let's get in a room with this person. 'This person [is a] little too young or a little too green,' or 'they can't sing. Who told them they could sing?' You get that too. So we have a couple of guys on our radar that we're pretty excited about. So hopefully before the end of the year we'll be back out on the road."
When Keith noted that SKID ROW has had especially bad luck with securing permanent singers, Rachel said: "It's just one of those things, man. We had a really good thing going with Erik. I think the road was just too much for him, [with] his past health issues and whatnot, and it just didn't work out, which was a bummer… He fit right in, and the fans loved him."
Erik was SKID ROW's fourth frontman since Sebastian Bach's departure.
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)
