trying out for bands and looking for work, so where should I start? Well, my bros from BLACK WATER RISING have been making headlines with their lawsuit against the New Jersey Devils. Yes, the hockey team! It turns out the Devils have been using BLACK WATER RISING’s song “Rise” as part of their pre-game video for their home games at The Rock in Newark, NJ. Though the boys from BWR were really excited about it, the song was used without the band’s consent, and they weren’t even credited for the use of the song during the video. This is a big no-no in the copyright world, and since singer Rob Traynor is well-versed in the copyright laws, he decided to go after the big fish, who really tried avoiding him at first, hoping that the little local band would go away. Rob seems to have stayed on the Devils front office and now there’s a 30-Million Dollar lawsuit on the table against the New Jersey Devils. As local and unsigned bands, I feel we need to unite and support BLACK WATER RISING on this because this can happen to any of us who have music under lock and key, supposedly protected at the Library of Congress. Big companies like the New Jersey Devils get paid for what they do, so it’s only fair that we performers and songwriters should get paid for what we do and not be taken advantage of. Show BLACK WATER RISING your support on their facebook page.

A few weeks ago, Hurricane Irene affected many of us in different ways. I, for one, was lucky enough to escape with a little water in the basement, but the guy that I interviewed a few weeks ago, former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach didn’t fare as well. It turned out, Bas’s home of 21 years near the Red Bank, NJ area washed away. Sebastian wrote on his facebook page that the reservoir adjacent to his house overflowed, snapping a bridge in half and sending it right into his garage, knocking the house right off of its foundation. Sebastian went onto say that in his basement, which was flooded; he ended up losing a ton of original KISS and SKID ROW memorabilia that was irreplaceable, and that really saddened him. He was happy that his kids and ex-wife were safe, but he also went on to say that it could’ve been a sign that it was time to move on to greener pastures and leave his New Jersey life in the past. His greener pastures meant moving to Los Angeles like he always wanted to do. After reading this on facebook, I felt pretty sad for Sebastian, especially with his new CD “Kicking and Screaming” coming out, this was the last thing he needed, but the thing that I felt worst about, was all the memorabilia that he lost! That just sucks! Don't forget to listen to my internet radio show CHIGGER RADIO ON blogtalkradio.com/chiggerradio