Check it out!

The daily performance lineup for Rocklahoma has been revealed and single-day tickets will be available for purchase beginning Wednesday, April 17, at 10:00 AM CT at www.rocklahoma.com.

Rocklahoma–proud to be presented by Bud Light–will celebrate its seventh year May 24, 25, and 26 with a stellar rock lineup including Guns N’ Roses, Alice In Chains, Korn and many more. The three-day camping festival features the top current active rock artists and classic bands at “Catch the Fever” Festival Grounds in Pryor, Oklahoma.

The current daily performance lineup for Rocklahoma is as follows:

Thursday, May 23 (AXiS Campground Stage):
Triple 7, Bruce Flea, Searching for Sanity, Sleepwalking Home, Motortrain, Baron, Von Swagger, Rocker Lips, Drek, Kingshifter

Friday, May 24:
Guns N’ Roses, Bush, Papa Roach, Device, Ratt, All That Remains, Clutch, Escape the Fate, The Sword, Otherwise, Zero Crossing, Down & Dirty, The Last Vegas, Hessler, Bai Bang, Ruff Justice, London’s Dungeon, Fist of Rage, The Summit, Wanton Looks, Kicktree, Shotgun Rebels, The Kul, Mine Enemies Fall

Saturday, May 25:
Alice in Chains, Bullet for My Valentine, Skillet, Halestorm, Asking Alexandria, Big Wreck, Young Guns, We as Humans, O’Brother, Mindset Evolution, Gypsy Pistoleros, Rhyme, Sunset Riot, Wildstreet, London, Black Tora, Big Trouble, Sister’s Doll, Emerald City, Strikes at One, Well Hung Heart, Vilifi, For the Broken, EchoFuzz, The Chimpz, Memory of a Melody

Sunday, May 26:
Korn, Cheap Trick, Hollywood Undead, Steel Panther, Dokken, Motionless In White, Thousand Foot Krutch, Red Line Chemistry, Heaven’s Basement, American Fangs, Scorpion Child, The Glitter Boys, Nasty Habit, Mystery, Lynam, Switchblade Scarlet, Firstryke, Station, Ragdoll, Wicked, New Dawn Day, Unwritten Rulz, Framing the Red, Meganaut, The Bourgeois

Rocklahoma continues to offer fan-friendly ticket prices for the three-day-weekend rock event which features over 70 artists on four stages.

SINGLE DAY general admission tickets (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) will go on sale Wednesday, April 17 at 10:00 AM CT for $69 (plus fees).

THREE-DAY general admission tickets are currently available for only $125 plus fees and will increase to $150 plus fees on Wednesday, April 17 at 10:00AM CT.

WEEKEND VIP reserved tickets are currently available for as low as $350 plus fees and will increase to $380 plus fees. Quantities are limited, so get them while you can.

A select few WEEKEND FOUR-PACKs and GROUPIE PACKAGES remain, and ACTIVE MILITARY may purchase discounted general admission tickets at any time. The ROADIE PACKAGES AND ROCKSTAR PACKAGES are now sold out. For more information on the available packages, please visit the festival website.

For a detailed list of 2013 Rocklahoma ticket options, VIP packages and amenities, please visit www.rocklahoma.com. Camping tickets may be purchased by calling the Rocklahoma Camping Office at (866) 310-2288 or emailing info@feverfest.com. Campgrounds open on Sunday, May 19 and will remain open through Tuesday, May 28.

By Andrew Bansal

Maryland rockers Clutch released their long-awaited 10th studio album, Earth Rocker, on March 19.

The album, the followup to 2009′s Strange Cousins From The West, was produced by Machine, who worked with the band on their 2004 offering, Blast Tyrant.

I recently spoke to Clutch guitarist Tim Sult about the making of Earth Rocker, songwriting, his guitar tone and more. Read the full interview below (and check out an Earth Rocker tune in the process). Visit Clutch at their official website and Facebook page.

REVOLVER: It’s been four years since the last Clutch album, which represents the longest time between Clutch releases. Was there any special reason for the long break?

You know what, I don’t think we even realized it’s been so long between albums until we started doing interviews for this album. At least I didn’t, anyway. I guess between the time of Strange Cousins and Earth Rocker, we were touring a lot, and we also worked up a bunch of acoustic stuff as well. We went into the studio and recorded a few acoustic songs for the re-release of Blast Tyrant. So we were doing that as well, and I guess time just got away from us. We didn’t realize it has been this long.

Clutch often has been associated with various rock sub-genres, but Earth Rocker is more of a straight-up hard rock and roll album. Would you agree that’s a fitting description?

Yeah, that’s a good description. The album definitely showcases the hard rock side of Clutch, for sure. The focus is definitely always on writing good songs, but we took more of a hard rock approach this time. We’re pretty happy with the result.

It’s also a great-sounding album in terms of the production and mix. Do you feel there’s a naturally successful pairing of Machine [futureusgalleryproducer] with your heavier rock?

Yes, I think Machine’s production absolutely helps out that style of songwriting. That’s one of the reasons we decided to use him for this album; with him, the heavier, faster material really stands out, production-wise.

I read somewhere that the aim was to capture the live energy of the band onto the album. Do you think you’ve achieved that?

Yes, definitely. It captures the live energy of the band better than possibly any of our studio albums.

It’s also the kind of album where almost all the songs lend themselves to inclusion in your live sets. It has a natural flow to it, almost like a Clutch set list rather than a studio album.

I agree with you totally. Out of all the Clutch albums, this will be the easiest one to play live, and the most enjoyable. We’ll be adding a lot of the new songs to the set lists for sure, but we do switch up the set list every night so there could be some shows where you get no new material whatsoever, or something close to that. We switch it up so much that you never know what we’re going to play. Knowing us, we’ll just get sick of all the Earth Rocker songs within six months and start playing new songs, you never know [futureusgallerylaughs].

How would you say your guitar tone has changed — or stayed the same — over the course of 10 Clutch albums?

My guitar tone is definitely a work in progress. This time, I was going for something a little more distorted and heavier than the tone on the last few albums, and I think I managed to accomplish that, at least in maybe some small way.

In terms of songwriting, is it more spontaneous and organic or does it take a long time to create?

For the writing process of Clutch, we just usually get in a room together and start playing, really. Sometimes one guy will have the riff or we’ll just start jamming and once we settle on something, we’ll keep it. At this point, we can all get in a room and start jamming, and we start writing something right there. For the past few albums, it’s definitely been a very collaborative process with all four of us working together.

Here’s a very specific gear question. Damian Fanelli, an online editor at Guitar World and Revolver, told me he bought a Gibson Custom Shop 1960 Les Paul in Falls Church, Virginia — and you were its previous owner. Why did you get rid of that guitar?

Sometimes I just freak out and get sick of guitars and sell them just to buy another one. Those Les Pauls are so expensive. I’d love to keep them all around, but if I want to buy one, I pretty much have to sell one before doing that. He must have bought it at Action Music in Virginia. That’s the one I played on the Bakerton Group’s El Rojo album. Oh, you know what? Now I remember why I sold it. I used that guitar on the Live at The 9:30 Club DVD, and at the time I thought it sounded way too clean. I wanted to go for a heavier sound.

Damian used that guitar on stage with Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz of the Monkees earlier this month. So it went from Clutch to the Monkees in just over a year!

Interesting! The Monkees was probably the second concert I ever went to when I was a kid [futureusgallerylaughs]. I’m glad it went to a good owner, because that’s a pretty good guitar, and sometimes I regret selling that one.

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Andrew Bansal is a writer who has been running his own website, Metal Assault, since early 2010, and has been prolific in covering the hard rock and heavy metal scene by posting interviews, news, reviews and pictures on his website — with the help of a small group of people. Up till February 2012 he was based in Los Angeles. After that, he had to move to India, but is still carrying on his heavy metal endeavors with the same intensity.

UPDATE: The poll is closed. For the results, click here.

You really cannot fuck with Clutch. It’s been over 20 years since their formation, the Maryland quartet is more relevant and powerful than ever. Their music is used to soundtrack network television; they’ve recently toured with Black Label Society, Motörhead, and Thin Lizzy; and with their 10th full-length, Earth Rocker, they’re only further cranking up the power of their groove-laden psychedelic muscle rock. When asked about the record’s upbeat pace, frontman Neil Fallon puts it perfectly: “Touring with Motörhead definitely had an effect on us. You just realize what kind of music you want to be playing.”

REVOLVER The break between 2009’s Strange Cousins from the West and Earth Rocker is the longest you’ve ever taken. Why was that?
NEIL FALLON Touring and touring and touring. That’s how we butter our bread. So it was just about finding a couple of months that we could set aside. It’s hard to say no, especially when you’re playing for a new audience like we did on tour with Volbeat, because that’s what you have to do to expand your own. You can’t preach to your own choir. I think there are a lot of misconceptions about us. A problem we’ve had with major labels is them saying, “OK, what kind of music is this? Give it to us in two words.” We couldn’t do that. So they look to bands we toured with. We toured with Limp Bizkit, so they think, Oh, they must be nu-metal. None of it fits.

Clutch has recently been used in commercials for Left 4 Dead and spots for NFL football, as well as “The Regulator” being used in The Walking Dead. Why do people love your music as a soundtrack?
It’s hard to say. The Walking Dead was cool, because I’m a big fan of the show. It’s because we’re a riff-oriented band. A chord progression of C, G, and A sounds like C, G, and A no matter what you do with it. A riff has a signature sound and really connects with people.

Earth Rocker is a very fun, rhythmic record. The lyrics are especially weird this time around.
Strange Cousins was a dark record for me, so this one is more upbeat. I prefer to write songs with the mindset that they’re short stories. That way, I can sound like an expert on a subject, even though I know nothing about hot rods, or aliens, or the Yeti. It’s just a great topic to riff on.

The new album seems to have some political and religious overtones to it. I’m thinking “Mr. Freedom” and “The Face.”
With “Mr. Freedom,” I wanted to write a song about people who think of politics as religion, and vice versa. I think that was done because a lot of the writing on this album was done during this last election cycle, and it’s impossible to get away from it. And for “The Face,” there was a time, when this band started, where rock and roll was special in a way. These days, rock and roll has become a lifestyle marketing tool. These days, it’s “Here’s the band loading their gear, and they can do it because they have an American Express card.” That cheapens it. People forget that at one point, rock and roll was a huge threat to mainstream culture—they were burning records, calling it the Devil’s music. That’s what I wanted to point out—you can’t take it for granted. Once you start taking it for granted is when it starts to die.

Check out “Earth Rocker” off Earth Rocker below:

Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, Korn, Bush, Three Days Grace, Stone Sour, Papa Roach, Volbeat, Cheap Trick, Bullet For My Valentine, Lamb Of God, Skillet, A Day To Remember, Buckcherry, Halestorm, Hollywood Undead, Device (with David Draiman), Steel Panther, All That Remains, Asking Alexandria, Sevendust, Sick Puppies, Pop Evil, In Flames, In This Moment, Black Veil Brides, Clutch, The Sword, Ghost, Red, Biffy Clyro, Deuce, Middle Class Rut, Big Wreck, Otherwise, Red Line Chemistry, Oleander, Young Guns, Thousand Foot Krutch, Mindset Evolution, Tracer, Beware Of Darkness, Heaven’s Basement, American Fangs, Love And Death, Gemini Syndrome

“We’re really looking forward to returning to Rock on the Range with a batch of brand new killer Alice tunes to play for everyone!” says Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains.

“Head is back!!,” Korn singer Jonathan Davis comments. “Rock On The Range is going to start it all off!! Get ready, we are going to hit it hard!!”

“Bush are thrilled to be playing Rock On The Range with such great bands,” Bush frontman Gavin Rosdale says. “We look forward to seeing you all out there.”

“This massive lineup has scratched our seven-year itch!” says Gary Spivack, co-executive producer of the event for Right Arm Entertainment. “Getting Soundgarden for their first Ohio play in two decades and having seminal acts Alice in Chains, Korn, Volbeat, and Papa Roach return along with bands new to Rock On The Range that include Smashing Pumpkins and Bush, and everything in between—the spectrum of rock n roll is covered…three days of constant energy. Rock On The Range is truly where rock lives.”

“Our goal with Rock On The Range is to constantly create new and interesting ways to expand the event and give even more value to our fans,” comments Joe Litvag, co-executive producer of the event for AEG Live. “In 2013, we’ve added a comedy tent within the site that will be curated by The Funny Bone comedy club. Having a slate of incredible, up-and-coming comedians to riff on the rock experience will be a great change of pace for the weekend. The site layout is also changing dramatically in 2013 to create better event flow, to add more interactive fan activity to the festival, and to allow even more people to experience the higher caliber of talent on the second stage this year.”

“It surprises me that we’ve come up with such a hard-hitting album at this point in our career,” Clutch guitarist Tim Sult recently told Guitar World. “I think it’s definitely, song-wise, the most intense, riffy, in-your-face experience yet.”

Earth Rocker, which is set for a March release, saw the band reunite with producer Machine, who last worked with the band on 2004′s Blast Tyrant.

The band have launched a new website at EarthRocker.com where they promise regular updates of photos, videos and audio clips from the recording of their new album.

“Last minute overdubs are fun. Harmonicas, tambourines (yes, we use those), claps, the odd backing vocal,” says frontman Neal Fallon. “Recording can be monotonous, so those unintended moments can be a lot of fun. It’s kind of like kindergarten music class, but with beer. And sometimes the spontaneity of a last ditch idea breathes a lot of life back into a song that we’ve been beating up for weeks on end. A looming deadline can be a great muse!”

The follow-up to 2009′s Strange Cousins from the West already has a good deal of common one classic Clutch recording, according to Fallon. “It has a lot in common with Blast Tyrant in that Machine’s production techniques are really unique. It differs from Blast Tyrant and a lot of other Clutch records in that, overall, the songs are faster and concise.”

Clutch will hit the road in January in support of their new album, kicking off the Earth Rocker World Tour overseas before bringing it back to the U.S. in March. Dates for the European leg of the tour have already been announced and can be found below.

Clutch Tour Dates

With Lionize and Monstro
10/31: Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop – Tickets
11/1: Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop (Sold Out – Rescheduled from 5/13)
11/2: Joliet, IL @ Mojoes – Tickets
11/3: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall (Sold Out – Rescheduled from 5/12)
11/4: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall – Tickets

Holiday Tour With Mondo Generator, Saviors and Wino
12/26: Washington DC @ 9:30 Club – Tickets
12/27: Asheville NC @ The Orange Peel – Tickets
12/28: Lexington KY @ Buster’s Billiards & Backroom – Tickets
12/29: Columbus OH @ Newport Music Hall – Tickets
12/30: Sayreville NJ @ Starland Ballroom – Tickets
12/31: Worcester MA @ The Palladium – Tickets

Clutch Earth Rocker World Tour
1/21: Press Day in London, UK
1/22: London, UK @ Islington Academy – Tickets
1/23: Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg – Tickets
1/24: Press Day in Paris, FR
1/25: Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie – Tickets
1/26: Stuttgart, GER @ Universum – Tickets
1/27: Munchen, GER @ Backstage Club – Tickets
1/28: Press Day in Berlin, GER
1/29: Berlin, GER @ Lido – Tickets
1/30: Press Day in Cologne, GER – Tickets
1/31: Cologne, GER @ Luxor – Tickets
2/1: Brussels, BE @ VK – Tickets
2/2: Hamburg, GER @ Logo – Tickets
2/3: Copenhagen, DK @ Amager Bio – Tickets
2/4: Press Day in Oslo, NO
2/5: Oslo, NO @ Parkteateret – Tickets
2/6: Press Day in Stockholm, SWE
2/7: Stockholm, SWE @ Tyrol – Tickets