Backstage with Douglas McLean is very pleased to offer this remarkable conversation with Legendary Heavy Metal Rock Blues Guitarist Jack Starr sharing insight into the making of Jack Starr's Burning Starr, 'Souls of the Innocent', released on Global Rock Records, on July 15, 2022.
You can listen to the entire interview and music HERE
Turn up the featured song as loud as you can !!
Jack, a co-founder of influential and beloved metal band Virgin Steele (Jack has a great story about how a couple of the guys in Metallica told him at a music festival in France that they really liked his song Children of the Storm, which was on the first Virgin Steele album), has been a household name in the metal scene for decades and has always surrounded himself with exceptional musicians. Jack also helped Queensryche get their first record deal back in the day.
The current lineup of Burning Starr, who all play on the new album, includes the sensational vocals of Alexx Panza, thunderous drummer Rhino (ex-Manowar) and Jack’s longtime pal and bandmate, bassist Ned Meloni (who previously played with UFO’s Paul Chapman and former Rainbow/Deep Purple singer Joe Lynn Turner) on bass.
Souls Of the Innocent continues Jack and the band's commitment to true U.S. style power metal, with Panza continuing the band’s legacy of discovering and showcasing great vocal talent within its ranks.
Starr, a native of Paris, France, emerged from the New York City rock and metal scene in 1981, forming, together with drummer Joey Ayvazian, vocalist David DeFeis and bassist Joe O’Rielly, the first incarnation of the now legendary metal band Virgin Steele.
The band was selected in 1982 by Shrapnel Records to appear on the label's compilation album U.S. Metal Volume 2. The song Starr sent in for the compilation was "Children of the Storm.” After only two albums, 1981’s Virgin Steele and Guardians of the Flame , released in 1982, Starr left Virgin Steele in 1983 because of musical differences with DeFeis.
In 1984, Starr started his solo recording career with the album Out of the Darkness, featuring former Riot vocalist Rhett Forrester, members of The Rods and former Rainbow drummer Gary Driscoll. It was released in Europe by Music for Nations and was picked as one of the best albums of the year by the music magazines Kerrang! and Metal Forces. Starr changed the name of his band to Jack Starr's Burning Starr and between 1984 and 1989 he produced both solo and band albums; five solo albums and four band albums.
The music on those albums is classic American eighties metal, a style that has garnered the band a devoted worldwide fan base including a great deal of respect from many musician peers within the metal community. In 1989 the band dissolved and Starr joined short-lived bands like Strider and Smoke Stack Lightning.
In 2006, Jack, a huge blues fan, formed a self-titled blues band before reforming Jack Starr’s Burning Starr in 2008. Global Rock Records will also be reissuing between 2022-23 eight classic back catalog releases from the band including:
Rock The American Way (1985)
No Turning Back (1986)
Blaze Of Glory (1987)
Burning Starr 1989 (1989)
Burning Starr V - The Strider Project (1991)
Burning Starr VI - Under A Savage Sky (2003)
Land Of The Dead (2011)
Keep The Metal Burning - Live In Germany 2013
Jack Starr’s Burning Starr is preparing to hit the road to promote Souls of the Innocent so be on the lookout!
FEATURED SONGS:
Demons Behind Me
Ships In The Night
All Out War
Souls Of The Innocent
Winds Of War
You can listen to the entire interview and music HERE
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jackstarrsburningstarr