STONE TEMPLE PILOTS

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SCOTT WEILAND Says STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
Reunion Is Imminent

VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland has told MiamiHerald.com that fans should be on the lookout for a reunion of his previous band, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, in the coming months. The singer made the announcement during an appearance this past Saturday (January 19) at an all-star gala event benefiting the AROD Family Foundation. The event took place at the Ritz Carlton hotel in South Beach, Florida. Hosts included Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and his wife Cynthia, who founded the non-profit organization to support programs focused on improving quality of life, education and mental health for families in distress.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS guitarist Dean DeLeo and bassist Robert DeLeo confirmed the band's split in 2003 following the release of the group's greatest-hits package, "Thank You".

"It was time to move on to other things," Dean told Guitar One magazine at the time. "Life and personalities and brotherhood took its course."

"Dean and [drummer] Eric [Kretz] and myself, I think, all feel a sense of sadness, relief, anger, melancholy about it," said Robert. "But to try and go and accomplish something with this band after we've already peaked is a bit cheesy. There's a cheese factor with guys hitting 40 trying to recapture glory.

"There's no way to go but out."

Weiland was expected to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom last Thursday (January 17), where his recent DUI case was to be continued. The singer was charged with driving under the influence of drugs after being pulled over by police in late November.

VELVET REVOLVER will begin a new U.S. tour on January 24 in Chicago, with dates confirmed through February 9.

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SLASH: SCOTT WEILAND To Play With
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS This Summer

John Benson of Billboard.com reports: After VELVET REVOLVER wraps a spring tour in support of its second album, "Libertad", frontman Scott Weiland will rejoin his former bandmates in STONE TEMPLE PILOTS for a handful of summer reunion shows, guitarist Slash tells Billboard.com.

STP broke up in late 2002; the band's last album was the previous year's "Shangri-La Dee Da". No other details have yet been revealed about STP's plans.

In the meantime, Weiland and his VELVET REVOLVER bandmates are still plugging away in support of "Libertad" with dates that run through early April. There's also the hope that recording for album number three could begin in the spring.

"I don't think anybody knew the second one came out," Slash admits. "We didn't promote it, for one. The first record I remember going out for three weeks on the road and just promoting, with (bassist) Duff (McKagan) and myself going to Europe, Japan and the States.

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Stone Temple Pilots Schedule More U.S. Tour Dates

The recently reunited Stone Temple Pilots have scheduled the following tour dates:

May 17 - Columbus, OH Crew Stadium (Rock on the Range)
May 18 - Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center (WMMR Event)
May 23 - Indianapolis, IN - Indianapolis Motor Speedway
May 31 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Garden State Amphitheatre (WXRK Event)
Jun. 01 - Mansfield, MA - Tweeter Center (WBCN Event)
Jun. 07 - Kansas City, MO - [to be announced] (KQRC Event)
Jul. 12 - Toronto, ON - Downsview Park (Edgefest)

More shows will be announced soon and will be made available at the band's official site

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STONE TEMPLE PILOTS: To Embark on Summer Tour

Mitchell Peters of Billboard.com reports that the recently reunited STONE TEMPLE PILOTS will embark on a full-fledged summer amphitheater tour.

Details are still coming together, but a source close to the band tells Billboard.com that STP will play more than 50 shed dates this summer and into fall, beginning with the Rock on the Range festival on May 17-18 at Columbus, Ohio's Columbus Crew Stadium.

Among the handful of other STP dates already announced are May 23 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the Indy 500 and the 2008 Edgefest on July 12 in Toronto.

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STP To Play JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!

The reunited STONE TEMPLE PILOTS will be the featured musical guests on ABC-TV's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on the Thursday, May 1 episode (which will actually air the morning of May 2 beginning at 12:05 a.m.).

Further details about STP's tour will be announced during an April 7 news conference at the Harry Houdini Estate in Los Angeles. It is still unclear whether the band will record new material.

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STONE TEMPLE PILOTS: To Record New Studio Album

According to The Associated Press, the reunited STONE TEMPLE PILOTS on Monday (April 7) revealed the details of their 65-city tour, set to begin May 17 in Columbus, Ohio. As previously announced, the trek will kick off with a headlining appearance at the Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio. [The exact cities and dates will be released shortly.]

"The story's not finished," singer Scott Weiland told The Associated Press. "There's more to be revealed and more to be told."

Guitarist Dean DeLeo said the band plans to record a new album after the tour, which is set to wrap in November.

The Grammy-winning rockers celebrated their announcement with a private show in the Hollywood Hills.

The band will make its first national TV appearance since reuniting on the May 1 edition of ABC-TV's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

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STONE TEMPLE PILOTS To Release DVD
Of HOUDINI Estate Performance

According to HardDrive Radio, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS plan to release a DVD of their April 7, 2008 private show at the Houdini estate in Los Angeles, where the band officially announced its reunion, sometime in the near future. There's no word on what other features might be included with the disc, or whether the band will also film shows on its upcoming summer tour.

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STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Hope To Hit Studio Post-Tour

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS bassist Robert DeLeo has told Billboard.com that new music from the group is not likely to surface until after the reunited rockers finish touring later this year.

"I think new material will come probably after this tour," DeLeo told Billboard.com. "I think the whole thing now is kind of getting back and re-acclimating ourselves to the songs that we know. I think that's gonna make for a better atmosphere and better performances ... instead of doing a new record.

"Then, after this tour finishes, I think we're gonna be in a position where we've gotten to know each other again, and I think it's gonna be time to hit the studio."

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Stone Temple Pilots: Issue Statement About Label Lawsuit

Stone Temple Pilots were deeply disappointed to see that Atlantic filed a surprise lawsuit against two members of the legendary band STP when they were in the middle of what were believed to be cordial and positive discussions about STP returning to the studio to make a new album after 5 years. Despite the allegations in the complaint, the band never threatened anything more than remaining away from the studio until equitable terms could be arranged. The precipitous filing of this action is yet another example of the difficulties facing artists in the new music environment, as relationships between artists and their labels fall further and further apart.

Eric and Scott have not yet been served and hope that Atlantic will allow cooler heads to prevail, and have the courtesy of shelving this action to permit negotiations to continue in a positive spirit rather than under a dark cloud of hostility. Should everyone operate in good faith, STP are certain that a new album from the band will be available soon. Should Atlantic instead pursue this scorched earth policy towards the band, the ultimate victims will be STP's fans, who will never be able to enjoy a new album from the group.


Stone Temple Pilots: Warner Music Group Sues Stone Temple Pilots

Reuters has issued the following report from Emily Chasan:

Atlantic Records sued two members of the alternative rock band STONE TEMPLE PILOTS on Thursday, accusing them of trying to prematurely end their recording contract with the Warner Music Group label.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, claims lead singer Scott Weiland and drummer Eric Kretz have threatened to stop performing under their contract and have indicated they would like to end the agreement unless Atlantic makes significant changes.

The record company said in the suit that while Stone Temple Pilots has already delivered six albums, it wants the group to record a seventh album and deliver up to two more if the record label decides it wants them.

The group, known for hits like 'Sex Type Thing' and 'Interstate Love Song', rose to fame in the 1990s and reunited last month for its first national tour in eight years.

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SCOTT WEILAND Unsure Of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS' Future

The Pulse of Radio reports that STONE TEMPLE PILOTS begins the final week of its six-month-long reunion tour on Wednesday (October 22) in Hidalgo, Texas, with the trek wrapping up on October 31 in Pelham, Alabama. What happens after that? Although the band has talked about making a new studio album, singer Scott Weiland told The Pulse of Radio he's not so sure that will happen. "I don't know where things are gonna go with STP," he said. "It was sad to find out that we're still in some way locked in a contract with Atlantic Records, which is a travesty, actually. If it ends up being that we have to, you know, make a certain amount of records for Atlantic in order to be free, then I don't know if I have that in me."

Atlantic Records filed a lawsuit in June claiming that Weiland and STP drummer Eric Kretz had threatened to stop performing and wanted to terminate their contract with the label unless it was changed.

The band issued a response saying that it was "deeply disappointed" to see that the label had filed the "surprise lawsuit" during the middle of "what were believed to be cordial and positive discussions about STP returning to the studio to make a new album after five years."

Atlantic stated in the suit that it wanted the group to record up to three more albums.

Meanwhile, Weiland will release his second solo effort, "Happy in Galoshes", on November 25 through his own Softdrive label, with a single called "Missing Cleveland" headed to radio two weeks earlier. The vocalist plans to hit the road behind the new disc in January.

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SCOTT WEILAND: 'Happy In Galoshes' Deluxe Edition Detailed

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS/ex-VELVET REVOLVER singer Scott Weiland will issue a deluxe edition of his second solo album, "Happy In Galoshes", through Best Buy. The two-disc set will feature 19 songs and a total of 88 minutes of music, along with a 16-page color booklet, a redemption card for a free Scott Weiland T-shirt, and an immediate download of the first single, "Missing Cleveland".

"Happy In Galoshes" deluxe edition track listing:

Disc One:

01. Missing Cleveland
02. Tangle With Your Mind
03. Blind Confusion
04. Paralysis
05. She Sold Her System
06. Blister On My Soul
07. Fame
08. Killing Me Sweetly
09. Big Black Monster
10. Beautiful Day

Disc Two:

01. Crash
02. Hyper-Fuzz-Funny-Car
03. The Man I Didn't Know
04. Sometimes Chicken Soup (Dig My Way To China To Find You)
05. Some Things Must Go This Way
06. Pictures And Computers (I'm Not Superman)
07. Sentimental Halos
08. Reel Around The Fountain (THE SMITHS cover)
09. Archangel
10. Be Not Afraid (hidden track)

"Happy In Galoshes", produced by Scott Weiland and Doug Grean (VELVET REVOLVER, SHERYL CROW, CRYSTAL METHOD), with select tracks recorded by Steve Albini, features a collection of songs that bring a revitalizing sound to Weiland's highly praised and unique musical style. The album also features several guest appearances including Adrian Young, Tony Kanal and Tom Dumont of NO DOUBT, who, along with Grean and Weiland, penned "Paralysis", which features Young on drums. "She's so Cold" was co-written by Gary Beers from INXS. The album also includes other standout tracks such as the dynamic "Missing Cleveland" and the catchy hooks of "Talk About Love".

"Happy In Galoshes" is scheduled for release on November 25 via weiland's label Softdrive Records and distributed by New West Records/ RED/Sony.

Weiland told The Pulse of Radio that "Happy in Galoshes" features a wide range of musical styles. "It's sort of a sonic trip. To where, I don't know," he said. "But sometimes it sounds like you're going into space, sometimes it sounds like you're alone in a dark room by yourself with absolutely no lights on."

The singer will perform on ABC-TV's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on November 26.

Weiland will hit the road on January 14 in Kansas City in support of the record.

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Scott Weiland's New Solo LP Is A 'Hodgepodge' Inspired By Marital Woes And Brother's Death

The last year and a half have been tumultuous for Scott Weiland.

In early 2007, Weiland lost his younger brother, Michael, to a drug overdose. Then, about a year ago, Weiland and his wife of eight years, Mary Forsberg, decided to separate (they are still in the process of getting divorced). And this past spring, after months of informed rumors, he parted ways with Velvet Revolver, only to rejoin his first band, Stone Temple Pilots, for a summer reunion tour of the U.S.

It wasn't long after STP reformed that Weiland ended up serving a brief stint behind bars for driving under the influence. And while December 5 will mark six years since Weiland has done heroin, he said that the dissolution of his marriage has tested his sobriety some and admitted that about a year ago, he had "a very short binge with coke."

Needless to say, it wasn't exactly a banner year for the beleaguered singer. But it's also been a productive time for Weiland, creatively speaking. While dealing with the heartache of his divorce ("It's a tough thing to hear," he said, "when your kids ask you, 'Daddy, why can't you come home tomorrow?' ") and mourning the loss of his brother, Weiland wrote songs. Actually, he wrote a lot of songs — more than 40 — and on November 25, Weiland will release half of them as the two-disc set Happy in Galoshes, his second official collection of solo material and the follow-up to 1998's 12 Bar Blues.

"Most of the heavy writing that was done for this record has been done [during the] separation ... between my wife and I," said Weiland, who is working on his autobiography with author David Ritz (who has previously authored books on Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye, among others). "In those moments of emotional desperation, [my recording] studio would become my home, really. It's a massive warehouse place that used to be a heavy-machinery factory, which originally reeked of thick machine oil. I've had the studio for about 10 years, and it's like my art studio. It's a place where I have gone for solace. It's like my church, in a sense. When people ask me if I have a hobby, a lot of times my answer is that I like to surf in warm water. I like to ski, if I have the opportunity. But really, I like to go to my studio and write music that I want to write, where there's no pressure to come up with a hit single."

For Happy in Galoshes, Weiland worked with producer Doug Grean, with select tracks helmed by Steve Albini. The record features guest appearances by Paul Oakenfold and No Doubt's Adrian Young, Tony Kanal and Tom Dumont.

"There's such a wide array of sounds and styles and textures on this album," he explained. "It's kind of like every style of music that I've ever been influenced by and fell in love with, from my childhood up until currently. So, at times, it's sort of a hodgepodge. I'm putting out what my experience has been, essentially, with Mary and with my brother's death. The record's got a few different vibes, and there's a lot of really atmospheric, beautiful and surreal-sounding songs on it."

Happy in Galoshes features 20 tracks in all, including a cover of David Bowie's "Fame," a song Weiland said he's always related to.

"Bowie's obviously my biggest influence," he said. "I'd say Bowie, Morrison, the Beatles and the Stones were the big ones. But Bowie, overall, has probably influenced me the most, on a musical and vocal level, aesthetically, everything really. The song kind of says something about all the experiences that I've had throughout my career, and kind of where I'm at today."

Weiland said he would like for Bowie to hear his take on the track, which is extremely loyal to the original.

"We share publicists, so I want to send him a copy of the song and write a letter to him," he said. "I am hoping the next time I'm in New York, if he's there, I'd love to meet him. He's probably the last of my real idols that I haven't met. I had drinks with Salman Rushdie a couple of weeks ago, which was absolutely mind-blowing."

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SCOTT WEILAND's Happy In Galoshes Premier On MySpace

SCOTT WEILAND (STONE TEMPLE PILOTS/ex-VELVET REVOLVER) is premiering his new solo album, starting today, at his MySpace page:

www.myspace.com/scottweiland

As previously reported, Weiland will perform on the November 21st episode of NBC-TV's The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Weiland will also guest on ABC-TV's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on November 26th.

On November 25th, Weiland will release the two-disc set Happy In Galoshes, his second official collection of solo material and the follow-up to 1998's 12 Bar Blues.