Video footage of Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G. — well known in rock and metal circles for his work as Ozzy Osbourne‘s guitarist and as leader of his own band FIREWIND — performing at last night’s (Friday, February 19) Guitar Gods Festival in Miami Beach, Florida can be seen below.

As previously reported, Gus G. will embark on a mini North American headlining tour from April 15 to April 24.

Gus said: “I’m very excited to play my first U.S. and Canada shows in support of my new album, ‘Brand New Revolution’. I purposely decided to do select, VERY exclusive and intimate shows for my die-hard followers. I know it’s been long overdue and I hope to see you all there for some loud, hot and sweaty rocking nights.”

He added: “I will be playing mainly material from my two solo albums, but there will be some classic FIREWIND, Ozzy and BLACK SABBATH songs sprinkled into the set as well. These shows are not to be missed.”

The dates are as follows:

April 15 – Rock Island, IL – Ribco
April 16 – Westland, MI – Token Lounge
April 17 – Bradley, IL – The Looney Bin
April 19 – Clifton, NJ – Dingbatz
April 20 – Ottawa, Canada – Brass Monkey
April 21 – Toronto, Canada – The Rockpile
April 22 – Long Branch, NJ – The Brighton Bar
April 24 – Elmhurst, NY – Blackthorne 51

“Brand New Revolution” was released in Europe in July 2015 via Century Media. The CD was made available through Century Media in Australia and South America, Dismanic/eOne in North America and King Records in Japan. The cover artwork was once again created by Gustavo Sazes, who previously worked with Gus on the guitarist’s debut album, “I Am The Fire”, and also took care of artwork duties by such bands as ARCH ENEMY, KAMELOT and FIREWIND.

“Brand New Revolution” features guest vocal appearances by Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JOURNEY, TALISMAN), Elize Ryd (AMARANTHE), Jacob Bunton (ADLER, LYNAM) and Mats Levén (CANDLEMASS, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, TREAT).

“Brand New Revolution” was recorded with Jay Ruston (STONE SOUR, ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER) and mixed by Mike Fraser (METALLICA, AC/DC, VAN HALEN, AEROSMITH). Just as on “I Am The Fire”, the core of Gus‘s recording group consisted of Jo Nunez (FIREWIND) on drums and Marty O’Brien (LITA FORD) on bass.

In a recent interview with Guitar World magazine, Gus said that “Brand New Revolution” came together “almost like two EPs in one, because it was done in two sessions. The first session was done in L.A. with a band in a live room, with Jay Ruston engineering, and we caught that live energy and atmosphere and vibe. The other half, I came back to Greece and we did it the more traditional way for me, where the drummer lays down the tracks first and then I do the bass and the guitars. So it’s half and half.”

According to Gus, “Brand New Revolution” is, first and foremost, a collection of songs; in fact, other than the opening number, a dazzling display of technical ferocity called “The Quest”, there are no instrumentals on the record. “That’s really what I was going for,” Gus told Guitar World. “I’m actually getting a lot of pressure right now to put out an instrumental album, but I’m not the kind of guy who can write 10 or 12 of those. It’d probably take me 10 years to do a record like that. I like to write songs — I’m a band guy and I like to work with singers. I’m very old school. I just like three-minute, catchy songs. But they have to have cool guitar parts — that’s the difference. If you know how to write a great song and you can put a killer solo to it, to me, that’s it.”

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Fonte: Blabbermouth.net