Hanging out at the Rabobank before Korn hits the stage - By N.L. Belardes

I was just hanging out at the Rabobank Arena prior to tonight's Korn concert. Last night I saw the Briggs and the Horrorpops over at Bakersfield's The Dome. I'll be reporting more on that drama in a future blog on ABC23's Buzz Bands.

In the meantime I just posted another Korn article on ABC23. This one is titled, "Korn Fever Hits Bakersfield; Album Still On Charts."

I interview Billboard Magazine, Bakotopia Magazine and provide this youtube video interview with fans at the Rabobank:



Those of you waiting for me to report about Yosemite Writers Conference, David Morell and Captain America might have to wait a few more days. Sorry about that. I don't want to post on Captain America until I get a few more photos...

I'm going to be adding a pre-concert slideshow to the Korn article today, and will post slides from the show tomorrow.

Korn article makes top CNN entertainment story - By N.L. Belardes

I was excited to find out Friday that my article "Untitled Korn Album Debuts At No. 2" made the top entertainment stories list on CNN.

Click here for CNN Entertainment while the link lasts. Not sure how long the story will be linked. I noticed the link Friday around 3 or 4 pm. I'm guessing it may last through the weekend.

Going from a local blogger duking it out in the online scene, to having a direct connection to CNN in the past month, has been part of an exciting journey into the media world. It's sort of a weird rags to riches story for any blogger to go through.

I'll be curious to see how much traffic will come to ABC23 through CNN. I'm guessing somewhere between 25,000-50,000 visits, but really can only guess. Could be double that.

Getting such links isn't just good for me as a blogger. Really, it's good for Bakersfield, the Bakersfield music scene, Korn and Brian "Head" Welch.

An interview with Brian "Head" Welch, ex-lead guitarist for Korn - By N.L. Belardes

I spoke with Brian "Head" Welch yesterday about his new book, "Save Me From Myself." We talked about spirituality, Bakersfield church leaders, his writing process and more.

His inspiring book recently reached the top 15 of the New York Times Best Seller list.

Here's an excerpt from my interview on ABC23:

Interview:

ABC23: First off, I want to say “Save Me From Myself” is an honest look at the reality facing many people today who are caught in the culture of drugs. Its rawness—though honest and inspiring—is filled with language and graphic drug use. What kind of feedback are you getting?

Welch: I’m getting some pretty good feedback. A lot of broken people are getting inspired by it. I’ve had no negative comments about the rawness and realness of it. It’s I think what people expected, you know. It could actually have been worse. If I wasn’t just trying to be real or tell my story; it could have been one of those tell all books. But I just wanted to tell my story…it’s inspiring people. Listen: Audio 1

ABC23: I have a few questions about the writing process. Now, some people write books, whether fiction or non-fiction chronologically. Did you start at the beginning? Or did you maybe write the second half first, or a bunch of parts simultaneously?

Welch: I think the preface in it I wrote last. But the story I wrote it all how it happened. I went way back and went chapter by chapter.

I just wanted to get the whole story to the people about who I am, where I came from, and I wanted to throw the whole Korn story in there too to about how we all met, because it’s interesting.

I wanted it to be interesting too. I think a lot of people go through what I went through inside and they don’t tell anybody. We have problems when we’re kids, with whatever, with friends, bullies, with life in general what we go through, with drugs, and we don’t talk about a lot of it it. And I wanted to talk about it. Listen: Audio 2

(Read the full interview and hear all 12 audio files)

Ex-Korn Member On NYT Best Seller List, Will Sign Books - By N.L. Belardes

I just posted this article on www.turnto23.com, "Ex-Korn Member On NYT Best Seller List, Will Sign Books: Brian “Head” Welch Reaches Top 20 On NYT, Will Have Book Signing For ‘Save Me From Myself.’"

Excerpt:

Brian “Head” Welch, ex-guitarist for rock band Korn will make a rare public appearance on Aug. 1 at Bakersfield’s Russo’s Books at the Marketplace. He will be at the store to promote his memoir, “Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story.”

Read the full article

Bakersfield band Korn releases new song on MySpace - By N.L. Belardes

Looks like Korn has a new album coming out this July... They're gearing up with the release of their song, "I Will Protect You" in a big MySpace release. It's a bit tame compared to past Korn songs: sort of Nu-Metal anthemish.

I dig the percussion...

Looks like no Bakersfield concert premiere for the new album as they're not going to be in town until late August.

The story of Korn's Jonathan Davis and a Buck Owens guitar - By N.L. Belardes

Jonathan Davis and Buddy Owens at Bakersfield's Crystal Palace
image by Joe S.

If I were a musician I'd want one. It's patriotic, colorful and a fine piece of craftmanship. I'd like to call it a Buck Special...

Buck Owens had one of his signature red, white and blue guitars made for Jonathan Davis of Korn at the beginning of 2006. He wanted to give it to Davis at that time. “That night Jonathan came in for dinner, but Buck was sick,” said an anonymous source. “So they waited for the right time…” It was a basic Buddy Owens night singing Buck Owens classics at Bakersfield’s Crystal Palace. “There was good energy, the whole Davis family was in there, brothers and step-brothers.”

“Toward the end of the show Buddy got him up there. Jonathan Davis said nice things about Buck Owens and Bakersfield. He mentioned that he always dreamed of getting one of those guitars as a musician.”

And he did.

Then Buddy tried to get him to sing but Davis wouldn’t do it—he politely refused. His thanks were really brief and he got off the stage.

The anonymous source indicates it may be a rumor that Davis brought guitar to the airport. He was flying to New York to be on MTV’s Unplugged. Was he going to use the trademark Buck Owens guitar on MTV’s classic show?

It wasn’t in a protective case and so he couldn’t take the guitar on the airplane…

Is this story true of Korn and Buck Owens true?

Maybe one of the readers of this blog knows the answer…


MTV Unplugged "Freak on a Leash" (Featuring Amy Lee)
Better quality MTV format

*Korn's Unplugged CD hits shelves on March 6th. You can pre-order here. More info on the unplugged gig featuring covers of the Cure and Radiohead. Track listing.