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NOVEMBER 12th 2005 Well, the Arise Records reissue of Sentimetal is still ago but it looks like Wet Music in Brazil is backing out for now. Other news, I started writing new vocal tunes, so I'm currently working on TWO new albums. The instrumental CD "Loss 4 Words" is temporarily on hold until i figure out who I can get to guest star on it and write some new tunes. The new vocal CD tentitively titled "Puppets In Symmetry" has FIVE songs completed, and let me just say I'm happy to be writing new stuff after many years of nothing I'm very excited about the new material. I think it's some of my best writing, and it's way heavy and dark! SEPTEMBER 14th I'm very proud to anounce that "Sentimetal" has been licensed to Arise Records in Spain and sub-licensed to Wet Music in Brazil. AUGUST 17th The "SELF INDULGENCE IS A VIRTUE" DVD is done!!!!!!!! release date TBA. Also - SENTIMETAL has been remastered. Bigger, fatter, louder! It's sounds so much more monsterous than the original release. To make it more appetizing I added 3 bonus tracks. They are 4-Track demos of Jeff Scott Soto singing "Highway To Nowhere", "Mental Ward" and "Act Of Sympathy". His versions of these GS classics are worth the price. AUGUST 11th EXCRUCIATING PLEASURES GETS A MAKEOVER! The SHUT "Excruciating Pleasures" CD art has undergone a facelift folks. Since no progress has happened with the SHUT band, and since it's basically a Gary Schutt solo album anyway - the artwork has been revamped as a GS solo albums. The art is pretty much the same but the SHUT band logo has been replaced with the GARY SCHUTT logo. The SHUT band website will be SHUT down. LOL!! JULY 31th Wow, 2 updates this month. Miracle! 4 songs are done for the new instrumental CD. Also for the first time since Sentimetal there will be other people guest on this album! When it's confirmed I'll announce who will be on it. The SIIAV DVD is near completion. For a while it looked like I might not finish it do to a crashed hard drive which had all of the captured DV footage. But luckility all the DVD files were on a different drive. So the DVD project was still intact even thoughi Icouldn't go back and re-edit anything if I had too, but that's OK because I'm happy with the way it is. It seems to be there's always been a major computer problem near the end of every major video project I've ever worked on. Soto's QUEEN DVD had something go wrong near the end, I can't remember what but it scared the shit out of me. I had a hard drive failure near the completion of the Talisman DVD which completely freaked me out because I had worked on it for a little over a year! Those damn hard drives. Remember people... BACK IT UP!!!!! JULY 27th 2005 Recording started on Monday the 25th for my first instrumental CD "Loss 4 Words". Tracks for the title track are done already. I'm very excited about this. This wil be my first real new CD in about 3 years. And this is the first album of mine that will be recorded entirely DIGITAL!!! S'about time!!! There will also be an accompanying DVD with footage from JemFest and 420 Park Place solo performances. While I'm working on this I'll try to finish the SIIAV DVD as well. MAY 25th 2005 It's official. My sincerest oppologies to all my fans that I will not see you on future JSS tour. Ultimately, It was my decision to depart from this upcoming tour to further concentrate on my solo career. Here is what JSS posted on MelodicRock.com today: GARY SCHUTT DEPARTS THE JSS BAND: This statement just in from Jeff Scott Soto: "It is with regret I announce the departure of Gary Schutt from my solo band who has decided to pass on continuing with me on future tours. I have known Gary for over 13 years & our friendship is more than intact, this was a mutual decision based on things he is currently pursuing which I back him 100% & wish him nothing but success in reaching for, he will be missed by all. With this, I am proud to announce working again with an old colleague of mine I haven't played with since just before meeting Gary in a band called Slam back in '91, Chris McCarvill. Chris was always 1 of those guys I worked with once that I always swore to work with again & he has agreed to come aboard beginning with the shows this summer. Chris is a slamming bassist, vocalist & great friend who will fit right in with us, preserving the essence of what I & my band work hard to deliver each time. I'm looking forward to getting back out there again, just now working up all the additives to top last years' show! All the best, JSS." UPDATE MAY 2nd I will be touring with up n' coming singer DAIZE SHAYNE for two weeks at the end of May. Check out her website for song downloads and tour dates. I'll be playing guitar on this, NOT BASS!!! WOOHOO!!! UPDATE APRIL 15th I will be headlining Friday night at JEMFEST 2005!!! I go on at 10:00 P.M. and will be doing songs from my up-coming guitar instrumental CD and songs from my past CD's. Also TomMcdyne and Shawn Gregory are scheduled to guest with me. Mike Martin is opening for me, he's supposed to be real good! He the new guitar player for Chris Jehrico's band FOZZY. All info on the gig can be found at www.Jemfest.com. hope to see you there!! UPDATE MARCH 9th This is the official announcement prior to the mass e-mailing when the items aready to purchase, so you lucky people who actually bother to check this page will be the first to know. Three, count 'em THREE, brand new Gary Schutt items will be available in the GS Store soon. Item #1 - "B-Sides Myself" is a compilation of songs that didn't make it on Sentimetal, Playthings and Pleasures. Plus original 4-track demo versions of stuff and the web available version of Death On Two Legs. item #2 - "Dramatically Acoustic" has very cool acoustic arrangements of some of your favorite GS tunes, plus 2 brand new songs and one cover. Item #3 is in the planning stage at the moment - "Self Indulgence is a Virtue" DVD. Since the Playthings DVD will sit on the shelf for a while due to not knowing the proper channels to get the rights for the one Journey songs and the footage from the movie "Parents". SIIAV will have all the Playthings videos minus "Act Of Sympathy" and the Sentimetal videos. But it will have alot of other stuff like old Berklee footage of "Don't Come Crying to Me" , "Mental Ward"and the GS version of the "Therapy" video. So when the Playthings DVD is legal it will be worth getting for all the OTHER bonus stuff it has on it. I'm making up for not releasing anything these past few years. ENJOY!! UPDATE FEB 14th (Happy Valentines Day) Unfortunately i learned today that a very talented musician that i had the privelige of jamming with on my originals back when i lived in L.A. in '93, had passed away. Wes Wehmiller was definately an amazing bass talent. We were at Berklee at the same time but I barely met him there. It wasn't till L.A. that i got to play with him. then about 4 years ago I got tickets to Duran Duran at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater because my old Berklee drummer, Joe Travers was playing with them. Come to find out when i bought the tour program that Wes was too. I got to see them both backstage after the show and had a great time catching up. Didn't even care that Simon LeBon was 5 feet from me. Recently I saw him briefly at the NAMM show. More on Wes... http://cglass.vinu.edu/mp/mpnews.html and http://www.bryanbeller.com/wes/ UPDATE FEB 1st 2005 Happy late new year everyone! Wow it'sbeen a while since my last news. Let's see - The Untouchables is doing well, the Talisman DVD is finally done & I need to go drummer shopping again for SHUT. Two weeks ago I performed at the PEAVEY booth at the NAMM Show with up-n-coming singer Daize Shayne and the band consisted of Ken Tamplin, Ed Roth, Jimmy Paxson, me on bass (again!) and special guest Doug Aldrich. Good times!! UPDATE JUNE 20th The keyboardist for the HUNKS OF FUNK (Jon Cocio) was kind enough to ask me if i was interested in joining his new side-project-cover band, months ago. After playing our first gig in May we knew it was gonna take off. I'm very excited to be apart of this band. All the guys are super cool and bring alot to the plate. Official website with calander is already active - click HERE!!! UPDATE MAY 18th 2004 The recent 2 week JSS tour was another successful adventure. Due to the overwhelming response of me singing "I'm In Love With My Car" at the Queen Convention I plan on recording the song for a 3 song CD that will include my older version of "Death on Two Legs" and one more song that i havent decided on yet. UPDATE MARCH 23rd 2004 I will be one of the three judges at this years GUITARMAGGEDDON at the Guitar Center in Tampa. It will be every Tuesday starting mid March and running through early April. For all details visit www.guitarcenter.com UPDATE JANUARY 20th 2004 (from MelodicRock.com) JEFF AND NEAL ROCK NAMM!: Well, Jeff Scott Soto and Neal Schon rocked the NAMM convention this weekend! The guys jammed for 30 minutes and had a ball. Reports in over the weekend speak of a very impressed crowd and Neal was heard talking up the talents of JSS around the room that night. The pair had only just met that day. Let's hope there is more to come. Eric Ragno from Takara sends in this report from the Jeff Scott Soto/Neal Schon performance: "Andrew, I wanted to take a break from this weekend's NAMM festivities to thanks you for getting the word out about tonight's late-breaking performance. The convention is still going strong, and there have been a host of amazing performance over the past few days. However, nothing could prepare us for the thrill of watching the legendary Neal Schon take the stage with the ever-popular Jeff Scott Soto. The two shared some remarkable chemistry, which was amazing to watch from the side of the stage (where I took several pictures that I will upload in the next few days). Jeff's band (Gary Schutt - bass, Alex Papa - drums) was very tight, and laid down a nice foundation for some extended jamming (and awesome soloing) by Mr. Schon - who was incredibly friendly, and smiled all evening. The set list was short, but showcased both Neal's phenomenal fretwork and Jeff's stunning vocal acrobatics. With extended solos and audience participation, the set lasted just over half an hour, and included the following Rock & Roll (Led Zeppelin), Separate Ways (Journey), Superstition (Stevie Wonder), and a tasty blues jam leading into a full blown, audience sing along of Lovin/Touchin/Squeezin (Journey). The crowd was filled with diehard fans, who went wild at the opening notes of Separate Ways! Among the attendees in the packed house were Bobby Rondinelli, Carmine Appice, Robert Mason (Lynch Mob), Jack Frost (Seven Witches, Savatage), Glen Sobel, and members of Vox Tempus. UPDATE 11/17/03 Well, finally back and re-settled in at home from the 2 months of driving around Europe with the JSS band again. "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." There, summed up. On this trip we played in England, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium and Germany. A huge THANK YOU to all the fans, first of all for showing up, secondly for those who supplied us with CD-R's of pictures they took, and thirdly to the new friend that we made. Also, the next time we come back to Europe i'll try to have more GS merchandise to sell. Time constrainst and an over packed bag only enabled me to bring the 12 copies of "Excruciating Pleasures" that i had already printed up. They sold out in 2 weeks. SHUT is still looking for a drummer!! You can now see me playing around with the HUNKS OF FUNK. The time has come for a change. DISCO INFERNO lasted a whopping 7 years and had a phenominal Saturday st Storman's Palace for most of that run. But in recent years I felt the peak of the band had come and gone, gigs started to get diminished and i looked elsewhere for income. more details in the update below. Inferno is still giging, but come on out and support my new band and say "HI"!! UPDATE 8/04/03 Wow, it's been a while since my last entry here. First off, thanks to the few dedicated fans who call 97X everyweek to request a SHUT song on Local Motion!! The JEFF SCOTT SOTO "Live at the 2003 Queen Convention" DVD is finished and shipped out for replication. Check www.jeffscottsoto.com for availability. The main conert times in at about 2 hours and 13 minutes of pure classic and obscure Queen songs. The bonus tracks include a 6 minute photo gallery and 5 songs from the encore Sunday night acoustic set. And what would a JeffSoto/Shut Up Productions DVD be without a secret/hidden video. I'm not telling how to find it. If you know the link page, it will be listed there. While we're on the subject of the Queen DVD, i was in the process of puting the thing together and it occured to me that we (the JSS band) didn't credit our endorsers! I knew Jeff was endorsed by Shure, Howie had Line6 and a bunch of others and Alex had Paiste. I had none, so I wanted to see how many I could by the time the DVD had to be done (in less than 2 weeks!) So I sent e-mails to various companies that I use and respect, telling them who I am, who I tour with, what productsI use and that I would like to put your company name on the DVD credits. I immediately got a response from Behringer saying "Yes". Very cool, I love thier V-Amp's!! Seymour Duncan asked for a package so I overnighted them a GS goodie bag. Got a responce from Peavey telling me to fill out the enclosed form and send us a package. So I did that. So It was coming down to the time where I had to have the credits finalized and I only got the OK from Behringer. So I listed my endorsements as Behringer, Seymour Duncan and Peavey. I (and Jeff) figured "what's he worst that can happen?" The day after the DVD was done I got the OK from Seymour Duncan and an e-mail from Peavey saying they got the package but that they couldn't play my DVD at the office, he was gonna get back to me. So, still waiting to hear from Peavey. I really hope they come through, that would be soooo cool to have all three I listed. Ibanez and Fender, look out!!! Other news: I am leaving Disco Inferno. Well, I'll be gone for 2 months on the JSS tour, but when I get back I will be in a new cover band. I've been friends with the guys in The Hunks Of Funk for a few years now, especially the guitar player, Chris. We share musical tastes and are both MAC enthusiasts (spelling?) About a month and a half ago Inferno was only giging one night a week after loosing our Saturday night of 7 years. So I spread the word that I was available for anything to keep my bills paid. Shortly after that Chris told me they fired thier singer. "D" had alway been cool to me but I always thought the band would be better with a guy that can really sing. He asked if I would help out for the week while they figure out what they're gonna do. Chris took over the lead singer spot and I cover on guitar. About a week went buy, things were said, comments expressed and... they offered me the gig. I continued to play with them on my off nights from Inferno and thought about it for a week. I weighed the pros and cons of both bands, discussed some issues i would have with the hunks like leaving once in a while to tour with Jeff. So... In my need to grow as a musician I gave my notice to Inferno. They understood and took it very well. I jokingly refer to the departure as "I need to date other bands!!!" They do alot of the same songs Inferno do but different arrangement and some in different keys, and a array of other songs from Eminem to Limp Bizkit. Plus I get the freedom to not wear a wig and stretch out with my soloing again since the Hunks don't play with tracks. I was able to step in with no rehearsal because of my wealthy knowledge of cover songs and my ability to find missing vocal harmonies and just follow my ears. I'm looking forward to playing with them full time when i get back from Europe and I wish the Inferno guys the best. UPDATE 4/13/03 I have been granted the opportunity to complete the Jeff Scott Soto LIVE AT THE GODS 2002 DVD, and I must say it looks amazing and will have a ton of extra goodies, including a hidden video. At the end of April me and drummer Alex will be playing with Jeff Scott Soto again in the U.K. for a couple shows spanning 2 weeks. I will be playing bass once again. At the end of the little tour we will be playing a 2 1/2 hour set at the annual Queen convention!! So for the next 2 weeks till I go I will be cramming my brain with Queen bass lines!! AAAGGHHHH!! Here's the itinerary: While in the UK, Jeff & the band (Howie Simon, Gary Schutt & Alex Papa) will be doing a few JSS shows in the Midlands area (Liverpool, Birmingham & Crewe) with a great Queen tribute band, Queen Rocks, as support act. May 1 - The Brook, Southampton May 4 - Cavern Club - Liverpool May 5 - The Robin - Dudley May 6 - The Bierkeller - Bristol May 10 - Queen Convention UPDATE 1/12/03 Ah, the hell with it. I'll spill the beans now. I've been threatening two surprise products by the end of last year. Well, as new (paying) projects keep coming up... These are my goals for this year, besides a decent record deal for the SHUT album. Sit down first. Ready? Sometime this year (if time permits) GARY SCHUTT-PLAYTHINGS THE DVD with bonus videos including 2 songs from the Gasoline Alley show Jan 2002 that guest stared Jeff Scott Soto, "Stranded" and "Seperate Ways". Also my first full-on guitar instrumental GARY SCHUTT - LOSS 4 WORDS VOLUME 1 which will be a 2 disc set, one CD and one DVD. The artwork is already done and parts programmed. So there ya go. Now wait patiently, like I have been to be working on these. Oh yeah, not to mention the long awaited concept album too, maybe 2004 for that one. UPDATE 10/24/02 I know alot of you are patiently waiting the new SHUT CD, well - so am I!! It's being mastered by the same guy that mixed and mastered Jeff's new solo album so it will be worth the wait! Also, two big surprises to be added to the GS collection by the end of the year. Stay tuned! UPDATE 8/6/02 Currently editing 2 music videos for Jeff Scott Soto. So the new SHUT CD that is near completion is on hold till the vids are done. Jeff's new CD "PRISM" comes out around November. Alex, the drummer for Inferno played all over it, I have 2 guitar solos, and there's many special guest players too. I'll be playing bass for the tour at the end of the year. UPDATE 7/1/02 The track lineup for the new SHUT CD is complete but the songs are not at the moment. Two brand new songs have been written this past week to go along with the one new song from last month, and i decided to take "Mental Ward" off the concept album (the other CD i was working on) and put it on this one. For a grand total of 12 songs with 8 from the original Pleasures CD, 3 brand new never before heard songs and one old/new song. Warn the labels, I'm about to attack!!! SHUT WORLD is officially open!!! UPDATE 6/10/02 The GODS 2002 concert was a huge success. I think we were traveling more than the actual stay in the UK. We had three days of intense rehearsals, flew "across the pond" Friday morning, arrived Saturday morning, pre show party Saturday night, show Sunday evening, flight out 5:00 am Monday morning then home Monday evening. But I'd do it again because I laughed my ass off the whole time. The guys in Jeff's band are like brothers, we're all so similarly goofy it took the stress off of everything. Eric Martin and his band were really cool, so were the guys from Bailey's Comet. UPDATE 5/14/02 Click here for the detail of the Gods 2002 concert. UPDATE 4/26/02 OK, here it is. The Gary Schutt version of "Excruciating Pleasures" is no more since the new "band" project will have that title and most of the same songs. The new band will be called SHUT. A web site will be up soon with a picture of the CD cover and MP3 teasers to download. Progress for the new CD is going smoothly and I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. So far 6 songs are finished, one is brand new. I hope to have 12 total with 2 more new songs. In other news, I will be playing bass and acoustic guitar withJeff Scott Soto for a show in Europe in June. Check Jeff's site for details. From what I gather it's a Monsters of Rock type event and we'll be playing along side the likes of Hardline and Honeymoon Suite. SWEET!! And it will be filmed for a posible DVD. UPDATE 4/10/02 In this ever-changing world of the "music business" i've been doing alot of thinking, research, soul searching and talking to other people. Since nothing big has broken yet for the Excruciating Pleasures CD I've decided to re-invent it. I need to make it the best commercial metal album it can be. I'm keeping some songs, deleting others and writing new ones. Also I'm still indecisive about possibly using a band name too. I wanted GARRISON bacuse it was the closest thing to my name. Taken. Then I wanted FUBAR. Also taken. Now it's a tossup between PLAN B (which all the .com's are taken) and the old reliable GSP (Gary Schutt Project. All .com's also taken). The album title might change too depending on the cover. I always thought Excruciating Pleasures was a cool title and fit the theme of the songs perfectly. So this means that the progress of the concept album I was working on for the past year and a half is on indefinate hold until I finish the new one. It should be done before May. UPDATE 1/25/02 Another "not to be missed" show happened last night at the Alley. Jeff Scott Soto got up to sing on "Stranded" which he originally sang on my 1994 release "Sentimetal". Then at the end of the night he got back up with Alex (the drummer from Inferno) and did Journey's "Seperate Ways". And the entire evening was filmed for possible live video/DVD. It was a magical evening and if you weren't there, ya shoulda been!!! UPDATE 12/21/01 Last nights show at Gasoline Alley was one not to have been missed. If you were there, thanks for the support!! If you weren't, you missed a one of a kind show. I'll explain. Chaz, my bass player, called me early on in the day to tell me he had sprained his left wrist. So rather than cancelling or making Chaz try to play (and risk further injury) I spent the whole day remixing a bunch of songs without vocals and guitar so I could do a solo act. I told my drummer what happened and that he wasn't gonna play either. I thought it would look stupid as a drummer and guitarist with bass on track. So it was me and a mini-disk player. And it went over!! This gave me an opportunity to play some new songs that I don't do with the band. This was the set list: Tom Sawyer (Rush), Someone New(GS), Psycho Bitch(GS), Mental Ward(GS), Loss For Words(GS), Crave(GS), Without You(GS), Therapy(GS), Overture(GS), Wish You Dead(GS), Over The Mountain(Ozzy), Permanent Damage(GS), Seperate Ways (Journey). UPDATE 11/12/01 I just completed a video for the song "Therapy". It's a very dark themed video with some spooky imagery. Kinda along the lines of how the "Act Of Sympathy" vid came out. UPDATE 11/4/01 As most of you know I perform in a disco tribute band on the weekends. Last night the DISCO INFERNO show at Storman's Palace was full of surprises. My old friend, Adam Kole (a.k.a. "Shredfest") was in town. He hadn't seen us at our full element before. So he meets the guys in the band and we're all hanging and drinking and bullshittin. Then in the middle of the second set my attention was called to the side of the stage where our sound man is. So I strut over (like Flash often does), and I notice a familiar face there. Jeff Scott Soto had showed up out of nowhere to celebrate his birthday with us!! We all got ripped! For the last set, Jeff sang on "We Are Family" and played bass on "I Want You To Want Me" then Jeff and Adam jammed with us on "Play That Funky Music". A night to remember!! What a night not to have a camcorder handy! UPDATE 10/26/01 Last night's gig at Whisky Joe's started out rockin with our new (small) light show and a bigger attendance than the first show. As you know (or might not) the club's stage is outside and there's always the chance of rain. Well, 50 minutes into our 2 hour set it started to drizzle. So rather than taking the chance on it getting worse we tore down immediately. I had just put on my brand new Ibanez 7-string to play "Crave" and we had to stop. My appologies to everyone who was there. Other news - recently I discovered a better guitar tone to record with so I've been redoing all the guitar and bass tracks on the songs I recorded for the new CD. Right now there are three songs that are officially done. As more become finished I will post a page with track listings and details. UPDATE 9/5/01 For the past year I've been programming and laying down tracks for the next CD. It's going to be a concept album, possibly 2 discs. It's a project I've been working on since 1992. I released an early version on cassette through my mail order catalog way back then. After I finished "Playthings" I started re-writing songs, storyline, dialouge and new songs that are now ready to be re-recorded and finalized. I'm very excited about it and I can't wait to finish it. UPDATE 8/31/01 I cut my hair off!!!! UPDATE 6/10/01 It's finally done!! After a year in the making, the "Playthings The Video" is finished!! I'm very proud of this project and thankful to all who helped in the creation. It's got a bunch of music videos with songs from the "Playthings" and "Sentimetal" CD's. There's behind the scenes stuff, guitar wars, up close looks at guitar solos and more!!! A definate must have for your GS collection! Click on the video picture to the left for more information. |