BLABBERMOUTH.NET
Former
NEVERMORE and current
ARCH ENEMY guitarist
Jeff Loomis has joined
Graham Bonnet's version of
ALCATRAZZ.
Bonnet announced
Loomis's addition to the band in a statement earlier today. He said: "The cat's out of the bag! It is with tremendous pride and excitement that I am announcing that
Jeff Loomis is officially the new guitar player of
GRAHAM BONNET'S ALCATRAZZ.
Jeff is a power-house of a musician, a brilliant writer and a great guy. His skills are unparalleled and I am thrilled at the prospect of recreating the magic of the early days of
ALCATRAZZ but with a modern, heavier sound.
"When I first heard
Jeff, I was astonished by his technique coupled with his great feel and incredible melodies. You can have a little taste of it on the upcoming
GRAHAM BONNET BAND album as
Jeff is one of our guests.
"Just to be clear,
Jeff is still an active member of
ARCH ENEMY as I am still with the
GRAHAM BONNET BAND. More news coming soon."
Jeff commented: "I'm super excited to be working with
Graham Bonnet. I've been a longtime fan of his vocals and lyrics for many years, and it's going to be an honor to craft some amazing music together and play some select live shows.
"I want to let you all know I'm still a very active member of
ARCH ENEMY and will be seeing you all on the road very soon with them."
Graham's version of
ALCATRAZZ is not to be confused with the band featuring original members
Jimmy Waldo and
Gary Shea, along with new vocalist
Doogie White (
RAINBOW,
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN,
MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST), drummer
Mark Benquechea and guitarist
Joe Stump, which released a new single,
"Turn Of The Wheel", earlier this month.
"Turn Of The Wheel" came out six months after
Waldo,
Stump,
Shea and
Benquechea issued a statement saying that would be joined by
White for all their 2021 touring. Just a month earlier,
Bonnet said that he was "no longer affiliated" with
ALCATRAZZ's manager
Giles Lavery." At the time, the other
ALCATRAZZ members shot back, saying that they were "still represented" by
Lavery and blasting
Bonnet for "dictat[ing] to us who our collective or individual manager may or may not be."
Not long after,
Bonnet released a statement via his social media in which he said that he "will still be recording and performing with
ALCATRAZZ. I am the founder and main songwriter and have been since the band's inception in '83." He added that he will "be announcing the incredible new
ALCATRAZZ lineup in the spring" and promised to take the new band on the road.
Bonnet's comments naturally created confusion within
ALCATRAZZ's fan base, prompting him to issue a follow-up statement explaining his position.
Graham wrote: "When my manager resigned in June [2020], I asked the band collectively if they would be interested in touring to support the new album. They informed me that they were only interested in touring if my former manager was included. No one was 'fired,' we just parted ways. As that signaled the end of this version of
ALCATRAZZ, I immediately began to seek new players for yet another new
ALCATRAZZ line-up.
"I have performed with other versions of
ALCATRAZZ since the demise of the original band, this was just the first time I played with any original members and the first time I recorded using the name
ALCATRAZZ. The day my manager resigned, he also removed me as admin of the '
Graham Bonnet and
ALCATRAZZ' band
FB page so I was unable to let fans know what was happening until recently when
FB returned my page.
"The first misunderstanding happened when I posted on the band page that '
Graham Bonnet and
ALCATRAZZ' were no longer associated with
Giles Lavery management. When I said that, I wasn't referring to the recent line-up. They had already informed me months earlier that they would only tour with my former manager and to me, that meant that they had quit. My reference was to my new version of
ALCATRAZZ. I have no plans to relinquish the name
ALCATRAZZ and I expect that they don't either. This is an old story, bands break up and there becomes two versions. I'm not bothered by it. I've toured with
Doogie the past few years with
[MICHAEL] SCHENKER FEST and he is a good friend and a damn fine performer. In my opinion, there is no such thing as too much music. People can listen to one or the other or both versions and choose whatever they like. I'm not interested in squabbling over a name, I'd rather just make music."
When
Waldo,
Stump,
Shea and
Benquechea announced that they were working with
White, they vowed to put on "an explosive live show featuring all of the
ALCATRAZZ classics that you know, plus added selections from
Doogie's work with
RAINBOW and
MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST/
TEMPLE OF ROCK."
Waldo,
Stump,
Shea and
Benquechea's version of
ALCATRAZZ has launched a
Facebook page where they will be posting all their news going forward.
Hi all! Graham here. The cat's out of the bag! It is with tremendous pride and excitement that I am announcing that Jeff...
Posted by Graham Bonnet on Tuesday, June 8, 2021