NITA STRAUSS Will Use Coronavirus Downtime To Finish Her Second Solo Album

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Nita Strauss, the Los Angeles-based guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band, says that she will use the coronavirus downtime to complete work on her sophomore solo album. A number of artists have seen their concert dates drop off as they're either canceled or postponed in the wake of the global spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Earlier today (Monday, March 16), Strauss took to her Instagram to write: "L O C K D O W N With schools, gyms, restaurants and many more businesses closed and so many of us laying low for at least the next couple weeks, how are YOU going to use your time? "It's interesting to watch this all unfold... I can't remember another event in my lifetime that has literally affected everyone I know worldwide like this. I think it's important to remember that although things might be weird in the world right now, time at home does not have to be unproductive. "What's something YOU plan to do to use this time wisely? Post in the comments to maybe inspire more people to follow your example! For me- I'm going to be playing a ton of guitar and finishing my album." Strauss's upcoming disc, which is tentatively due in late 2020, will be the follow-up to her first solo album, "Controlled Chaos", released in 2018 via Sumerian Records. Last year, Nita told the Long Island, New York radio station 94.3 The Shark that she didn't have any reservations about putting out an album of instrumentals with "Controlled Chaos". "Everyone said that I had to put out some tracks with vocals — that was the vast consensus among the people in the industry," she recalled. "And I have to say I'm really glad that Josh [Villalta, Nita's longtime boyfriend and manager] and I stuck to our guns and I put out the album I wanted to make. Maybe I could have made more money if I would have made it more marketable, maybe I could have had more success and [gotten airplay] on bigger radio stations and what have you, but it wouldn't have been the album I wanted to make." The 11-track "Controlled Chaos" was a challenge to Strauss and an opportunity for her to reconnect with what inspired her to start playing guitar when she was just 13 years old. "Controlled Chaos" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart and No. 6 on the Hard Rock Albums chart. Nita's live show is mostly instrumental in nature, combining originals with covers. Strauss has been playing with Alice Cooper since 2014 when she replaced Australian musician and former Michael Jackson player Orianthi. She joined Alice in time for a mammoth MÖTLEY CRÜE tour. She was recommended to Cooper by the legendary rocker's former bass player and WINGER frontman Kip Winger.