BILLY JOE SHAVER plays The Coach House Apr. 24 and Stagecoach Apr. 29

There is a grit and glory to country music that is epitomized by the songwriting of Billy Joe Shaver, one of the original country outlaws who’s penned lyrics for Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley and many more. Shaver’s biggest achievement was the writing of 10 songs on Waylon Jenning’s 1973 album, “Honky Tonk Heroes” which is said to have started the country outlaw music movement of the 70’s.

The 75-year-old tour warrior will bring his talents to The Coach House on Apr. 24 to play a makeup date for last July’s cancellation due to a hip replacement procedure, before heading over to play the Stagecoach Festival Apr. 29.

Concert Guide Live had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Shaver prior to last year’s cancellation.

“We just keep on going. We take some breaks sometimes, but not much,” Shaver said. “We’re in Ventura now, then heading to LAX to catch a plane back to Austin. I may even have time for a shower.”

Though never claiming household name status, musicians like Kris Kristofferson, The Allman Brothers Band and Bob Dylan greatly admire Shaver and have recorded his songs. Dylan even immortalized Shaver in his 2009 song “I Feel a Change Comin’ On,” singing, “I’m listening to Billy Joe Shaver and I’m reading James Joyce.”

Musicians are born with talent, but have to learn the ways of the music business. Long before writing songs for country’s biggest and best, Shaver was a man with a guitar and some songs, playing small venues and learning the ropes of the music industry while taking advice when he could get it.

“Early in my life, way before I got to Nashville, I was playing a place and I was having real trouble with the sound system,” he said. “Well, I was having a rough time with it and I was kind of letting everybody know about it. Not too much, but enough that this fella (I don’t know who he was), he just come over and he motioned for me. I took a little break, and he took me outside and he said, ‘Man, I want to give you some advice and you can take it or leave it,’ he said, ‘it’s up to you’.”

“Then he said, ‘Whenever you’re playing a show make sure that you don’t let anybody know that you’re having a bad time because people didn’t pay good money to see you have a bad time. You’re going to have to act a little.’ And I did, I had to act for a long time, as long as those crap mics were around. I took his advice and I’ve been that way ever since. It’s not phony, it’s just that you’re trying to make everybody happy and that’s a good thing.”

Shaver’s had to use that advice many times, working through life’s adversities while always being a touring musician. His life story reads like a country outlaw song; it has its fair share of sadness and trouble, but always a bit of optimism to keep the train moving forward.

Shaver was divorced twice and married three times to the same woman, Brenda Shaver. In 1999, Brenda succumbed to cancer and within a year of her passing Shaver’s son and guitar player, Eddy Shaver, died of a drug overdose. That night, Billy Joe still took the stage and played a show at the advice of his friend Willie Nelson, knowing the only way to get through the tragic events was to play on. In 2007, he was charged with shooting a man in the face outside of a bar near his home in Waco, Texas and was later acquitted by a jury, pleading self-defense. Shaver later wrote a song about the incident titled, “Wacko From Waco” that details the entire event.

Shaver’s most recent album, 2014’s “Long in the Tooth,” is his first in seven years. His songs present a man feeling the ups and downs of being a bit older and a bit wiser.

On “Long in the Tooth,” Shaver maintains his authentic songwriting style that can be found lacking in some modern country music. In the album’s song, “Hard to Be an Outlaw” which he sings with his longtime friend Willie Nelson, Shaver writes, “Some super stars nowadays get too far off the ground / Singing ‘bout the back roads they never have been down / They go and call it country but that ain’t the way it sounds / Makes a renegade like me want to terrorize the town.”
Shaver doesn’t think writing an authentic song is too hard. “The way I see it, there ain’t no rules, thank God,” he said. “The way I see it is, if I do about three chords and the truth, that’s good.”

As for the future of country music, Shaver is optimistic.

“Oh, it’s gonna turn over, about every twenty years or so it turns over,” Shaver said. “When I wrote that ‘Honky Tonk Heroes’ album that Waylon Jennings did, everything turned around and everybody started singing that way. It was really honest and rough. A lot of people didn’t like it. They didn’t think it would help, they thought it would hurt the country music business because they were into these cheating songs and sequins and things like that… It’ll turn over; I’m making a prediction that it will. I’m a prophet, but I don’t make no profit.”

GHOST play Beach Goth 4 Oct. 24, The Mayan Theater Oct. 26, The Observatory North Park Nov.2

Ghost is the band your mother worried you would start listening to. Six masked, nameless ghouls play riffs so heavy and thumping that your hand reflexively turns the volume dial up.

Lead by Satanic anti-pope vocalist, Papa Emeritus III, tasked with overthrowing governments and churches, serenades you with lyrics that read like a manifesto for the decidedly damned heading on an epic journey toward darkness.

On Oct. 24 that road of ungodliness will lead followers to Beach Goth 4 at The Observatory Santa Ana, where the veiled group of Swedish musicians will be playing and leading the masses towards damnation through the power of rock-n-roll. The procession continues to The Mayan Theater Oct. 26 then to The Observatory North Park Theater Nov.2.

Papa Emeritus III and his nameless ghouls recently released the third Ghost album titled Meliora, but did not anticipate their presence and reach to become so renowned. “Initially it wasn’t really the plan, albeit that we had a high ambition with the band, especially from a live point of view,” a nameless ghoul said.

With the naivety of new musicians the band mainly hoped to begin playing festivals. “We thought you can make a record and as long as you have a record out you can basically just go around and do a few festivals every year and you can put on this big show and everything will be swell, but then we noticed you have to work your way up to that,” a nameless ghoul surmised.

Now, with more than one million likes on Facebook, an epic 63-date international tour underway, and rumors of iconic musicians like Dave Grohl donning a Nameless Ghoul mask and joining them on stage from time to time, the group has still been able to maintain perspective.

“I think that even though we’re obviously aware that it (the music) has taken us somewhere, it’s still very much a situation where we are just like, let’s just see if we can go a few steps further before we sort of pull the plug on whatever is going to end up happening,” a nameless ghoul said. “As much as that can come off as not living in the moment and not enjoying what you have, it’s mental survival in a way, not to get too caught up in the idea that this is forever.”

Behind their silver horned masks, make-up, black cloaks and demonic pope hats is a pretty reasonable and simple effect of their anonymity. Once off the stage, they go on to lead fairly normal lives without being tempted by the siren song of personal fame that can so often lead musicians down the truly dark path of narcissism. A nameless ghoul explains, “As far as popularity goes, I think that our anonymity or our unconventional way of not being profiled as personalities, I think that is a good change because almost every other band on the planet is hysterically profiling themselves as persons, to a point where it’s almost ridiculous sometimes.”

Being anonymous songbirds for the devil definitely grabs attention, but Ghost finds itself with a rapidly expanding devoted fan base thanks to their dynamic and melodic compositions. Songs like “Circle” or “Majesty” off their latest album meld soaring pop-esque vocals with chugging guitar riffs and swelling choruses. Meliora is a heavy metal record with chamber music interludes that would probably best be listened to live under the acoustics of a stained glass cathedral. Alas, this most likely will not happen anytime soon thanks to the whole satanic worship thing.

EAGLES OF DEATH METAL play Teragram Ballroom Oct. 19 and 23, Belly Up Oct. 21, Beach Goth 4 Oct. 24 photo: Chapman Baehler

Childhood friends, Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), comprise the quintessential rock band, Eagles of Death Metal (EODM), and write songs that induce an intoxicatingly urgent desire to thrash, sway, and most of all, boogie. This month they’ll release their highly-anticipated fourth album, Zipper Down, seven years after their last release. In connection with the new record, the band will head out on a world tour, making time for four shows in SoCal including two at Teragram Ballroom Oct. 19 and Oct. 23, Belly Up Oct. 21 and Beach Goth 4 Oct 24 at The Observatory.

EODM, who win the nonexistent award for best band name ever, got their start in 2004 with the release of their first album, Peace Love Death Metal, but the musical partnership of Hughes and Homme begins way back in the days of recess and bullies. It’s their long history that makes their songs so unique, as if you are eavesdropping on the inside jokes and stories of two old friends.

With only a week left before the release of Zipper Down, the hilarious and ridiculously entertaining frontman Jesse Hughes spoke with Concert Guide Live about touring, celebrating women and really enjoying this thing called rock-n- roll.

Concert Guide Live: When you’re touring, what do you like to do in the towns your visiting when you’re not actually at the gig?
Jesse Hughes: First thing I do when I get to any city is go for a five-mile walk. That’s the truth. Because the first three years of rock-n-roll, I started to notice that the whole world was looking like the walk from the back of the bus to the stage and I really don’t want to be the dude who comes to the end of this cool thing I’ve been doing and say “I never saw the Eiffel Tower the 800 times I was in Paris.” That isn’t gonna sit well…I don’t ever want that to be me.

CGL: Do you have any pre-show rituals?
JH: I like to walk right out of life onto the stage and what that means is, I don’t know, maybe I’m weird, I like people. I like hanging out with people and it’s more fun in front of the stage than backstage, so I hang out and try to greet as many people as I can before I go on stage. And then when I go on stage I literally am not lying, I literally can look at people and I can say, “I know you guys.” So it’s more like being in front of your friends than being in front of people that may not like you.

CGL: What’s a bizarre moment from a tour?
JH: Let me think of one that won’t become evidence. I mean, I’ve had some really interesting moments. We were coming back from Canada and at the boarder crossing, as the boarder cops were going through our bus with a meticulous fine-tooth comb, the aurora borealis appeared in the sky and we sat on the street observing and beholding the great wonder of the northern lights while officers of the Canadian law had not even a concept that it was going on, they were too focused on the drugs they were never going to find. That’s rock-n-roll, baby, that really is. You can literally go through rock-n-roll and not see anything, but if you just open your eyes you’ll see some pretty fucking amazing things.

CGL: How and when did your friendship with Josh Homme turn into a musical partnership?
JH: You know the first time you ever have a deep conversation on something you really love, it’s memorable, it’s epic to you. And the first conversations I ever had about music were with Joshua. He’s a great intellect and he’s also fucking hilarious, and he likes people too.

CGL: A recurring theme on your recently released album, Zipper Down, is women, and your love and lust for them. Why do you think women and that subject matter make for such good songwriting?
JH: I would only modify that question a little bit in that I celebrate the amazingness that is womanhood in general (and you could spell women in this instance w-o-m-y-n), that being said, girl, you got a mirror over there (with you)? Look at it and jump for joy cause you’re hot, you’re a lady, and that’s awesome. It’s a joyous thing, girl. Like, think about it. God made man and he’s like, “Alright, this is cool, but I’m gonna make something awesome now.” And it was girls.

CGL: And they deserve a lot of songs?
JH: Duh, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!” And I can’t think of anything more joyful. The two most joyful things I can think of are left breast, right breast.

CGL: What do you think is the best love song written for a woman out there?
JH: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” sung by Roberta Flack, that song makes me cry every time I hear it. I mean, I’m not even kidding you, every time I hear it. The musicality of that song, it’s so beautiful and there’s no denying the poetry of it. The man is in love, there’s no denying it, and it’s not just a lust or anything else, it’s epic. That’s a beautiful love song. That or ‘We Want Some Pussy’ by 2 Live Crew.

CGL: Do you have any advice for new bands that are just getting their start?
JH: Well, it’s really easy to make it in show business and my advice is have a really incredibly talented 6’5” redheaded biking monster superstar best friend who will open all the doors and stand on the playground with you when you fight the bullies. It’s not really like being in anyone’s shadow; it’s like making it in the shade.

Truthfully though, people only know what you tell them and you don’t use words when you’re telling people anything, tell them your amazing. My grandmother had the best phrase, she’d say, “You catch more fish with a net than with a line,” and I’d say, “What the fuck does that mean?” and she’d say, “Well son, when you’re hitting on a girl, you go up to her, you talk to her, that’s a line, but an attitude is something you say to the whole room and you’ll catch every fish.” And that’s really the attitude that prevails in almost any situation.

CHRIS HILLMAN and Herb Pedersen play The Coach House Oct.18

In music, there are the icons that are incredibly well known and credited with keeping music evolving. Then there are those whose names don’t ring with the greatest of ease, but whose songs we know the words to, whose writing started new genres, whose achievements are intricately woven into the fabric of rock-n-roll history. Chris Hillman, bassist for The Byrds in the 60’s and member of The Flying Burrito Brothers in the late 60’s and early 70’s, is one of those people. Credited with being an originator of country-rock music, Hillman’s influence can be heard in the musical stylings of bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Eagles, Wilco, Zac Brown Band and so many more. On Oct. 18, Hillman will bring his lengthy catalogue to The Coach House.

He began his music career playing with different bluegrass groups in rural areas of San Diego. “I was 18, I had a fake ID and I was playing all these hillbilly bars,” Hillman recalled. “I loved it and then all of a sudden a door opened for The Byrds and I really lucked my way into that job.”

Hillman was offered a gig with the newly forming band, The Byrds, as a bass player. Not knowing how to play the bass, he still said yes to the opportunity and became a member of the band’s first incarnation, which would also include Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby and Michael Clarke. The Byrds would go on to be known as America’s answer to The Beatles and record iconic songs like “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and “Eight Miles High,” the latter of which ushered in a new era of psychedelic music. “So You Want To Be A Rock-n-Roll Star” which was co-written by McGuinn and Hillman took the first steps into the genre of country-rock.

When Hillman left The Byrds in 1968, he teamed up with legendary lyricist Gram Parsons (who also briefly played with The Byrds in the later years) to form The Flying Burrito Brothers. Continuing the country-rock sound that had started with The Byrds, Parsons and Hillman wrote songs that expanded the realm of their budding style. The band never gained the fan base or commercial success that The Byrds had, but their albums have become cult classics in the music industry. Later Hillman would go on to have a successful career with the band Desert Rose and as a solo artist from the late 70’s through today.

What might most differentiate today’s music scene from what the industry was like when Hillman started his career is the difference in fluidity of bands. As Hillman notes, “It was the business, it was the music scene. You could work within that small, close-knit community. When you got on a record label, if you were good enough to get on a record label and you had the song, you had pretty much free reign to experiment and create. Now I look in on country music once in awhile and it’s really dreadful. It’s manufactured, it’s all image and the songs are insulting, the lyrics are all the same.”

Today Hillman is 71 and lives in Ventura, CA. Though he still writes and enjoys playing live, he’s not sure that another album will be in the works for him. “Am I chasing a career?” Hillman said. “I don’t think so.”

Whether another album comes out or not, Hillman has absolutely solidified his place in rock history. More than 50 years after joining The Byrds and beginning a lifelong career in music, Hillman’s performance at The Coach House is sure to be an inspiring and reflective show.

THE COATHANGERS return to Burger A-Go-Go Sept. 4 Photo: Jeff Forney

With less sugar and more spice fueling their raw and commanding music, The Coathangers will head to The Observatory on Sep. 4 for the second annual Burger A-Go-Go festival. The band, comprised of Meredith Franco (bass / vocals), Julia Kugel (guitar / vocals) and Stephanie Luke (drums / vocals), will bring their punch-in-the-gut assortment of songs to the stage and deliver what is sure to be an energy-packed performance. With four albums under their belt and another soon to be in the works, the trio’s music has reached a new level of refinement while maintaining its high-intensity punk origins.

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, The Coathangers originally formed as a quartet with the sole ambition of playing house parties and satisfying their insatiable appetite for fun. Without any previous experience playing music, the women grabbed gear, practiced a ton and started opening for bands like The Hiss and The Black Lips.

The band describes the music scene in Atlanta with a tenderness that is in juxtaposition to their hardline music. Supported by their Atlanta counterparts, their music quickly began to garner its own fanbase thanks to its raucous power. The Coathangers took the time to speak with Concert Guide Live and let us in on some of the fun that’s ensued since they first picked up their instruments.

CONCERT GUIDE LIVE: You’ve played Burger A Go-Go in the past. What is the event like as an artist? Are there any sets that you are looking forward to watching at the 2015 festival?
THE COATHANGERS: The event is always a blast, almost like a reunion of sorts because you get to see other bands you’ve played with in the past. As far as this year, we are stoked to see all of the amazing bands they lined up, really stoked for Cat Power!

CGL: What is one of the most bizarre moments that has happened at a Coathangers show?
TC: Ooof ha, well, recently when we were in Bulgaria, we played in this little square outside and the entire village came out, like grandma, grandpa, kids, homeless dudes, there were dogs and like maybe a handful of punk kids. While we were playing on this makeshift stage, they all slowly made their way up on stage with us dancing like maniacs, chanting, high fiving, it was madness but it was also one of our favorite shows of all time. There was also a shit ton of free whiskey at that show, so that probably helped.

CGL: How have your live performances evolved since you first started playing?
TC: Well they’ve gotten way better, that’s a biggie! We’ve also gotten a bit more serious, like no more balloons and cookies at shows, playing the correct amount of time, not a lot of talking between songs, we just wanna get the energy waaaaay up and try and keep it there.

CGL: Have you seen your fanbase change much over the years? If so, how is it different today than it has been in the past?
TC: I think for the most part our fanbase is pretty much the same, just bigger. Ha! We have fans that range from our friends’ moms to the kids in the “scene”. It’s really gratifying because we want everyone to dig the music and I think that’s what’s happening.

CGL: What is the Atlanta music community like?
TC: It’s great! Like one big family, everyone knows everyone and helps each other out with getting shows, merch, recording etc. Atlanta’s music scene can be looked over sometimes, but it’s really great. Everything from metal to indie to garage to soul to noise, good stuff.

CGL: Who are you currently listening to?
TC: I’m currently listening to Curtis Harding, King Tuff, CCR, Stooges, Fiend Without A Face…We listen to everything. I’m personally trying to catch up on older music I’ve missed out on, and it affects everything. I think that’s why although we are deemed “punk” or “indie”. We are a hard band to explain sonically, which I think is great. Mass confusion!

CGL: Your 2014 album Suck My Shirt definitely had a more refined feel, while maintaining the intensity of your previous three albums. Has your writing process changed at all over the years?
TC: It has. I think every album we try and step up our songwriting game, especially on the album we are about to record. We write a song then play it a billion times then go, “Well, what if we put the chorus as the intro? Or maybe shift that weird guitar part to the end?” Stuff like that.

CGL: Are you doing any recording currently? Any plans for a new album?
TC: We go into the studio to record our fifth LP Aug./Sep. and it’ll come out next spring, it’s gonna be some next level shiiiiiiit.

ROCKY VOTOLATO plays Casbah Aug. 20, Constellation Room Aug. 22 and more Photo: Amber Knecht

When Rocky Votolato steps out to greet fans attending his performance at The Constellation Room in Santa Ana on Aug. 24, they will see something rare for most current shows, one man and one guitar. No band, effects or gimmicks will join Votolato on stage, just his heartfelt, honest songs that perfectly capture the confusion and mystery of life.

Born in Texas, Votolato moved to the Pacific Northwest during his formative high school years. It was there that his love for music began, “I got up there and started going to punk shows and it was just such a vibrant all ages scene at the time,” he said. “I saw bands like Fugazi and Jawbreaker and I was really grateful to be exposed to everything that was going on.”

Encouraged by the Pacific Northwest’s flourishing music scene as well as local radio station, KEXP, Votolato began playing in bands and writing music.

“Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie and all those bands were just getting started,” he said. “Some of my first shows were Death Cab and there were so many people in that scene that I was a part of that went on to have really successful careers in music and I think it just kind of fed into the scene there. KEXP being there and supporting artists that didn’t necessarily want to be a part of the mainstream or had a more underground approach or a DIY approach was huge for me and for a lot of other bands. That’s something that helps fuel the fire.”

The influences of some of Votolato’s first shows are reflected in his music. Though his solo albums veer from his punk roots, they maintain an intensity that is personified in the music, a demand to heed the words being sung because they can start a revolution in your soul.

Using his own experiences as inspiration for lyrics, Votolato writes indie-rock/folk music that finds stability and harmony while navigating the tricky waters of intense emotions.

“The main thing is the lyrics for me, making sure that they are communicating something I want to and just telling stories and trying to capture something transcendent and beautiful that way,” he said.

His forthright lyrics and cradling melodies keep his career strong and steady. Fifteen years, seven solo studio albums and countless tour dates later, an unexpected discomfort with making music crept into Votolato’s mind.

“Trust that everything happening is perfect,” Votolato sings in the first song on his latest studio album, “Hospital Handshakes.” Those words carry extra meaning for the singer whose demons had him questioning his musical purpose. After suffering from a bout of depression that coincided with a lack of musical inspiration and writer’s block, Votolato found himself considering retirement from music for a more stable life. In the end, after taking time away from recording and touring, as well as seeking help with his depression, Votolato’s music came flooding back in a flurry of original songs that would end up being the tracks on his latest album.

“That whole experience was extremely difficult, but I think it was also a gift because it kind of clarified things for me and gave me a new perspective,” he said. “You know, just kind of not being so hard on myself and being a little bit less of a perfectionist with everything I did with my career and with my music and just trying to let things flow and have fun.”

As evidenced by his current tour schedule, jam-packed with cross-country dates, Votolato is back to doing what he loves most.

“Sometimes you need to get away from it for a minute and have perspective to know what you loved about it in the first place and go back to it with that original inspiration,” Votolato said. Votolato’s upcoming intimate shows in Southern California are sure to have attendees feeling his renewed creativity and passion.

Rocky Votolato is also appearing at Casbah Aug. 20, The Garage Aug. 24 and The Troubadour Aug. 25.

PAT BENATAR & NEIL GIRALDO play Belly Up Aug 4 and 5, Pacific Amphitheater Aug 6.

It’s been more than 35 years since Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo first began working together and released the album, “In The Heat Of The Night.” Now, to celebrate their timeless songs and musical partnership, the two head to Belly Up in Solano Beach on Aug. 4 and 5, then over to Pacific Amphitheatre Aug. 6 as a part of their 35th anniversary tour celebrating three-and-a-half decades of music, collaboration and love.

“We figured we’d better do an anniversary tour now before we got too old to remember which damn anniversary it was,” Benatar said.

Benatar and Giraldo’s partnership began in 1979 when Giraldo (who also goes by the nickname, Spyder) was brought in as a guitarist to work on a young, relatively unknown, Benatar’s debut album. With the help of Giraldo, Benatar’s music took on a power and forcefulness that would become her signature sound. Her first album included the rock n’ roll anthem “Heartbreaker” and had listeners everywhere aching to hit the same searing, mezzo-soprano vocals as the fierce Benatar. The album was the beginning of Benatar and Giraldo’s musical partnership, rock n’ roll love affair and eventual marriage.

The hits persistently poured out from Benatar and Giraldo’s collaborative relationship. They managed to continually push their music to supreme quality and in 1980, Benatar’s second album, “Crimes of Passion,” (which featured the single “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”) went five-time platinum.

“We have been each other’s champion since day one,” Pat said. “We have tremendous respect for each other as people and artists. Spyder has always pushed me out of my comfort zone and I reel him in so humans can understand what he’s talking about.”

Their collaborative artistry continued to cement their place in rock n’ roll history. A year after the release of “Crimes of Passion” Benatar and Giraldo became the first female and guitar player, respectively, to appear on MTV with the video for “You Better Run.”

For Giraldo, the pair’s achievements lie in their ability to be completely honest with one another and in their determination to exceed the boundaries of averageness.

“We are not satisfied with just being mediocre and we challenge that by being truthful about the creation of music,” he said. “We can say we don’t like something to one another and it doesn’t hurt our feelings. It’s also hard work; we are not lazy and I believe you have to reinvent yourself everyday, expect greatness and never quit.”

With Benatar’s nine Grammy nominations and four consecutive Grammy wins for Best Female Rock Performance in the early 80’s, it’s impossible to dispute the success of this vibrant couple’s collaborative maneuvers.

Though Giraldo may never have seen the same amount of spotlight or celebrity status as his wife, his influence runs deep in the iconic songs of their shared music. Entwined with Benatar’s soaring vocals are the dynamic arrangements of Giraldo. His guitar finds a zen-like balance in those timeless tunes, always there to provide a tasty riff when needed most, but confident enough to let Benatar’s vocals take the lead and allow lyrics like, “Before I put another notch in my lipstick case, you better make sure you put me in my place,” to be branded forever in the minds of the countless who listen.

“A great song has many elements and they have to all line up — lyric connection, tempo, treatment, recording the ghost on the track…on and on,” he said. “I’m grateful and thankful for the success we have received from many of those songs.”

Their music has always had the ability to be a soundtrack to life. Whether listeners need a moment to feel desperately in love, relentlessly heartbroken or ruthlessly rebellious, there is a Benatar/Giraldo song that is bound to hit the mark.
With their huge catalogue of timeless tunes to choose from, Benatar and Giraldo continue to tour and perform with energy, vigor and glee for their adoring fans.

“We’ve been really lucky…” Benatar said. “The audiences are still so enthusiastic and are different every night. We go out there ready for anything, which makes it a lot of fun.”

The couple continues to support one another both musically and romantically more than 35 years after first meeting and their collaboration continues today. “As for where we’re going next, musically…who knows?” Benatar said. “Spyder always has something up his sleeve.”

Love may be a battlefield, but Giraldo and Benatar are certainly masters of harmony.

The new LIVE “35^th Anniversary Tour” is available now at iTunes, Amazon and your favorite music retailers!