INTERVIEW: Doug Aldrich on the Dead Daisies’ rocking return
Photo: The Dead Daisies recently released their Best Of album. Photo courtesy of David Pear / Provided by Chipster PR with permission.
The Dead Daisies have been going strong for more than a decade, and they have returned to rock out with their ever-increasing fan base. This year is shaping up to be a banner one for the rock ‘n’ roll band. They recently released a greatest hits album, simply called Best Of, and they are about to kick off an expansive new tour. The first dates are scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 22 at Mickey’s Black Box in Lititz, Pennsylvania, and Wednesday, Aug. 23 at the Landis Theater in Vineland, New Jersey.
In some ways, the Dead Daisies are a supergroup, bringing together the musical talents of many awesome players. In other ways, this is a rock ‘n’ roll band with a welcoming policy of always leaving the door open for past performers. For example, this year’s lineup includes the return of John Corabi, perhaps best known for his time in The Scream and Mötley Crüe. He’s also one of the subjects in Paramount+’s new limited series I Wanna Rock: The ’80s Metal Dream.
Joining Corabi, who rejoined the band after Glenn Hughes’ departure, will be Michael Devin, formerly of Whitesnake; David Lowy, formerly of Red Phoenix and Mink; Doug Aldrich, formerly of Whitesnake and Dio; and Brian Tichy, formerly of Ozzy Osbourne and Foreigner. Devin is the newbie, but a longtime friend of Aldrich’s.
“We’re really excited,” Aldrich said in a recent phone interview. “Obviously, to get John Corabi back is really exciting. It’s like putting on a pair of old jeans or something that you know you love. We missed John. We were blessed to get Glenn Hughes, but we’re really happy John’s back.”
The guys have been rehearsing these past few weeks, and Aldrich said they are ready to go. After their tour-opening dates in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the band heads to Canada for a few weeks, and then it’s on to Oregon, California and Nevada. The year finishes with several gigs in Japan and throughout Europe.
Aldrich, a well-respected guitarist who has been in the business for decades, was called by the Daisies in 2015. At first, they were looking for a temporary replacement for Richard Fortus, of Guns N’ Roses fame; the guitarist had become injured in a motorcycle accident. At the time, Aldrich was on the road with Hughes, so he was already committed. He politely declined the Daisies’ offer.
“I couldn’t let Glenn down,” Aldrich said. “He’s my friend, so I told the Daisies, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t do it.’ They got someone else. I recommended some people, and then later in the year, they said, ‘Listen, not to go any further, but Guns ‘N Roses is going to get back together. Slash and Richard are going to play guitar, and we wanted to know if you wanted to join the Daises. We’re going to make a record. We’d like to make a record with you and make a fresh start.’ That’s how it happened. We got together Jan. 24, 2016, and started writing.”
Over the years, the Dead Daisies have been active with writing and recording new albums. Previous releases include Radiance, Holy Ground, Burn It Down and Make Some Noise, among others. Being in the room with these talented musicians has been a thrill for Aldrich, especially during the rehearsals and songwriting process.
“What I will say is it’s super-rewarding because I learned a whole new technique again to writing, which is being more open and more inviting to other people’s ideas and trying to see other people’s ideas through,” he said. “When I joined Dio back in the early 2000s, that was like joining a family. Then when I joined the Daises, I got that feeling again. It was really a group of people that all were trying to look out for each other, and that’s how it is. Even though there have been changes, we always try to do everything as a team, which I really like.”
Although the final set list for the upcoming tour is being kept a secret, it doesn’t take a crystal ball to realize that the gigs will lean on the new Best Of album. In fact, the selection and order of the songs on the album are essentially a readymade set list, Aldrich said.
“We were trying to have the Best Of album be one of the set lists that we can do,” the guitarist said. “It’s got a little taste of everything, including two brand-new songs that we had never released [‘The Healer’ and ‘Let It Set You Free’]. They are brand new to our fans, but they were recorded when we did the Radiance album. They just didn’t go on the album — not because they aren’t great, they were just different. We were looking for a different sound maybe, but they’re really cool. And I’m glad they’re coming out, but that Best Of is kind of a live set list that we’re going to stick to. And then we got some surprises, and we reworked a couple of those older songs, too. So we’re really excited about songs like ‘Miles in Front of Me,’ which sounds completely different now.”
For Aldrich, recording with the Daisies has been one of the highlights of his storied career. “Playing live is fun, and traveling is fun and stuff,” he said. “But my favorite thing is being in the studio and creating. There’s nothing like it because you’re sitting on something that [no one] in the world has heard, and you’re just trying to make it come to fruition, and take a bud and turn it into a really nice full-on flower, a daisy. That’s the funnest time for me — creating.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Dead Daises’ new album is called Best Of, and they kick off their months-long tour this week with dates in Lititz, Pennsylvania (Mickey’s Black Box on Aug. 22) and Vineland, New Jersey (Landis Theater on Aug. 23). Click here for more information and tickets.
