SKID ROW’s DAVE ‘SNAKE’ SABO On Band’s Upcoming Album: ‘Everything Sounds So Good And So Fresh To Me’

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo has confirmed to Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio that the first single from his band's new album will arrive later this month. The group recorded the LP in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, RUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS, among many others. "We're excited about it, obviously," Snake said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It's a record that's been taking a while to do. But the prospect of working with a guy like Nick Raskulinecz was just something that… You go along in this business and all of a sudden it gives you a gift. And that gift was Nick. And Nick is someone that we had a high regard for before we even met him. His resume speaks for itself. I just never realized how talented of a musician he is, a producer, a songwriter, an engineer. He's proficient in so many areas. It's not like he's a jack of all trades, master of none; he's a jack of all trades and master of all. It's pretty wild. And being in a room with a guy like that, he's constantly challenging you, but not in an abrasive, condescending way at all; more like in a very encouraging way, like, 'Come on, dude. You got this. Let's go further. I know you've got more in you.' And you find yourself going, 'You know what? I do. And we do.' And we wanna collectively push as far as we can go to make the song and the performance something that he goes, 'Yeah. That's it.' You wanna please the guy. And at this stage of our lives, in our careers, it's really rare that you get to meet up with somebody like that who has such a positive influence on you. It really shows you — it helps you to see who you are at your core. And that worked for us as individuals as well as collectively." Sabo continued: "Sitting in a room, everybody jamming together and having him walking around the room and listening to everything that we're doing and then throwing out ideas and trying out ideas, that just spurs creativity; it's infectious. And all of a sudden everybody's coming up with [ideas], like, 'Why don't we try this?' And everyone's involved in the process. And it's so creatively satisfying when you're all building toward something that's greater than the sum of the parts, if you will. And then to hear that come to fruition in the recording of it, everything sounds so good and so fresh to me. "Everybody says that about their records, though," Snake added. "No one's gonna sit there and go, 'Wow. We just made a shitty record.' But for me, this process was so valuable. To me, as a creative musician, as a songwriter, as a guitar player, as a person in a band, it was tremendously, like I said, challenging, but really, really satisfying in so many ways. And to have a growth spurt in the 36th year of your band is pretty amazing. Usually all the growth is gone by then. And so this was a well-needed and well-timed collaboration." Last month, Sabo told The Music Universe that SKID ROW's new album is tentavily due on September 16, with the first single set to arrive "around the second [or] third week of March." SKID ROW's new effort will mark its first release with South African-born, British-based vocalist ZP Theart (DRAGONFORCE, TANK, I AM I), who joined the band in 2016 following the departure of Tony Harnell (TNT, STARBREAKER). Unlike 2014's "Rise Of The Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two" and 2013's "United World Rebellion: Chapter One", SKID ROW's forthcoming release will be a full-length record. SKID ROW's new LP will be released via earMUSIC, the recorded music label of German entertainment group Edel AG which boasts a roster of global artists including DEEP PURPLE, Alice Cooper, BABYMETAL, THUNDER, STATUS QUO and many more. SKID ROW previously collaborated with several outside songwriters on its new material, including Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR) and Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger of HALESTORM, a group that covered the title track of "Slave To The Grind" on its "ReAniMate: The CoVeRs eP" in 2011. SKID ROW also worked with songwriter-for-hire Marti Frederiksen, who has previously collaborated with AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, Jonny Lang and Sheryl Crow. As previously reported, SKID ROW has replaced QUEENSRŸCHE as the support act on the rescheduled dates for SCORPIONS' "Sin City Nights" Las Vegas residency. The run of shows, which was originally slated to take place in July 2020 and was later pushed back to May 2021, will now happen in March-April 2022 at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Last August, SKID ROW celebrated the 30th anniversary of its classic second album, "Slave To The Grind", by performing it in its entirety at The Amphitheater at Rolling Hills Casino And Resort in Corning, California.