With his new band's self-titled debut now in stores, Rock Star Supernova (tickets | music) guitarist Gilby Clarke is chomping at the bit in anticipation of his group's inaugural tour, which doesn't kick off until New Year's Eve.

"Obviously, all of us are really excited," Clarke said of he and his bandmates--drummer Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), touring bassist Johnny Colt (Train, Black Crowes) and newly minted vocalist Lukas Rossi. "We wish we didn't have to wait so long. We wanna start now. We're ready. The record's done. Let's go."

While Clarke, Lee and Colt are no strangers to the road, the upcoming tour (details for which are included below) will be the first major undertaking for Rossi, who scored his spot in the group after beating out a pool of other hopefuls, all of whom appeared in the second season of the CBS talent-search reality series, "Rock Star." The Canadian singer was crowned the victor during the show's late-September finale, during which he bested fellow finalists Dilana, Magni and Toby Rand.

"We always knew it was between Lukas and Dilana from day one," Clarke said. "They were the two that showed us something that was different. That's what we always said: 'We want a singer that's gonna take us places. We want someone who's different, someone we haven't seen before, something unusual,' and they both showed that."

After taking over his spot at the helm of Rock Star Supernova, Rossi headed into the studio with Clarke, Lee and permanent bassist Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica) to lay down vocals for the new album. The disc's Nov. 21 release date was already in place well before Rossi came on board, which forced the veteran trio to record most of the music prior to his arrival. Nonetheless, Clarke said that he, Newsted and Lee left ample room for Rossi to put his stamp on the set.

"We really wanted him to be a part of it," Clarke said. "We didn't wanna just say 'Insert singer here.' And we also [recorded] one of his [original] songs, in the end. There was a tune [titled 'Headspin'] that he did on the show that really blew us away."

Following his win, Rossi had no problem hitting the ground running when it came time to enter the studio, according to Clarke's account.

"He blew me away. I gotta tell ya, I was more impressed with him after the record was done. He did such a great job. And then, when it came down to him writing, he killed it, man. A lot of 'em were my songs ... I left the lyrics and the vocals open, and I was really impressed with what he brought to the table."

Though excited about the new album's release and the impending tour, Clarke and company were dealt a blow last month when Newsted was injured while trying to catch a 90-pound bass head that fell from atop his amplifier. The bassist suffered a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and bicep tear in the right, and the combination of surgery and subsequent rehab could keep him out of the band's lineup for up to nine months.

"All three of us have made a lot of sacrifices to do this, and we've all put a lot into this--Jason more than anybody, because Tommy and I live in L.A. [where the television show and studio sessions took place]," Clarke said. "Jason didn't live in L.A. He gave up his home and everything to be a part of this. And it just--man, what a bummer to put all this [effort] in and now you're out. It's like an injured pitcher who didn't get to pitch the season. It really bummed us out. There's not much you can do except to just go forward. I feel bad for him, and I also feel bad that we've gotta go on without him at this point."

Though forced to recruit Colton to take over on bass for the upcoming tour, Clarke said that the door is open for Newsted's eventual return.

"It's Jason's spot," he said, "and we'll just take it one [leg of the] tour at a time."

If Rock Star Supernova's gameplan is any indication, Newsted should have a band to return to whenever his recovery is complete; Clarke said the group is not a one-off, television-series tie-in.

"We put this together for it to be a new band," he said. "The TV show was secondary to us. It was a vehicle to get exposure for the band and to find a singer. This, to us, is a band. This is the first record, our first tour, and we're gonna keep going as long as we can."

 

source Live Daily