Post by Katkick on Jul 8, 2008 7:56:02 GMT -5
Reality TV brings Sebastian Bach back to center stage
By CINDY WATTS • Staff Writer • July 8, 2008
Sebastian Bach hasn't spent much time offstage since his ejection from rock group Skid Row in the late '90s, but the stages have changed.
The singer reinvented himself on Broadway in 2000, with lead roles in Jekyll & Hyde and the touring version of Jesus Christ Superstar, among others.
Next he embarked on a television career, his small-screen credits including Gilmore Girls and a collection of reality shows: VH-1's SuperGroup, MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar (he placed third) and, come next month, CMT's Gone Country 2.
Tonight he's back in familiar territory, playing Sommet Center as part of Poison's Live Raw & Uncut summer tour. All of it, except the Rock Star star part, came as a surprise to Bach.
"I've done four Broadway shows, and I never in my life pictured that ever happening," said the singer.
"That was way out of left field. (Jekyll & Hyde) really started the whole TV career and the Broadway career. I locked in and I sang the material for Jekyll & Hyde, and they really liked it. . . . They gave me the gig right there. I was like, 'Right on.' Everything I got is from my voice."
He took the acting experience he gained during the musicals and parlayed it into a reccurring role on Gilmore Girls. He also applied his newfound theatrical knowledge to his music, incorporating strings and piano on his latest album Angel Down, which includes several duets with Axl Rose.
Going country
As for the reality shows, Bach sees them as merely a way to promote his solo rock career.
"I did the celebrity rap show on MTV, and my first response to that was, 'No,' " he said. "When I first started out in 1988 in Skid Row, they played rock 'n' roll videos, and they still play them a little bit but nothing like they used to. Now they cast us in these shows, and I get to pick the ones I want to do, which I guess is good. I picked ones that are about music."
And yet the reality shows have had their downsides. A liquor-drenched episode of SuperGroup in 2006 left many viewers wondering if the singer had a problem with alcohol use. It was a learning experience, he said, and one that will not be repeated on Gone Country 2 — at least to that degree.
"I discovered in that show that a little drinking goes a long way on television," he said.
"There's a time and a place for everything, and I learned that shooting a television show is not the time or place to get loaded. If you liked SuperGroup with me and Ted Nugent where there's a lot of drunken fights, you'll love Gone Country 2. It's not coming from me this time though. Well, maybe a little bit."
On the show, which debuts Aug. 15 on CMT, Bach and his housemates — Irene Cara, Mikalah Gordon, Jermaine Jackson, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lorenzo Lamas and Sean Young — live in a Nashville-area mansion for two weeks while they endure country lifestyle challenges and attempt to write hit country songs with some of Nashville's top songwriters. As in the first season, John Rich hosts the series.
"I get asked to do all these shows," Bach said. "I don't know why. I don't find it necessary to go on these shows and eat bugs or put my head in an aquarium with scorpions, but John Rich's show is a great show. I'm very proud of the three songs I wrote with my songwriters. That's really exciting for me. I got to room at Barbara Mandrell's mansion that's now owned by John's management, and Jermaine Jackson of the Jackson 5 was my roommate. Who thinks this stuff up?"
Back to rocking
So when Bach and his band arrive in Nashville today, the experience will be a bit of a homecoming for the New Jersey resident. He played country songs around Nashville as little as a few weeks ago, but he said it has been years since he's put on a full-fledged rock show in Music City. The last was at 328 Performance Hall, which closed in 2002. But fans shouldn't necessarily come to the show expecting to hear old Skid Row hits such as "I Remember You" or "Youth Gone Wild."
"Well there are no guarantees," he said. "I might do all old Skid Row songs. I might do none. I'm really proud of the new record, but at the same time if I'm playing a place as huge as Sommet Center, I want to give the greatest show I can. And I know there are certain songs people are coming to hear me sing, and I don't want to disappoint them. At the same time I have to sing what's in my heart. I live in 2008, not in 1988, and that's the way it is."
www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080708/ENTERTAINMENT01/807080315/1005/ENTERTAINMENT
By CINDY WATTS • Staff Writer • July 8, 2008
Sebastian Bach hasn't spent much time offstage since his ejection from rock group Skid Row in the late '90s, but the stages have changed.
The singer reinvented himself on Broadway in 2000, with lead roles in Jekyll & Hyde and the touring version of Jesus Christ Superstar, among others.
Next he embarked on a television career, his small-screen credits including Gilmore Girls and a collection of reality shows: VH-1's SuperGroup, MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar (he placed third) and, come next month, CMT's Gone Country 2.
Tonight he's back in familiar territory, playing Sommet Center as part of Poison's Live Raw & Uncut summer tour. All of it, except the Rock Star star part, came as a surprise to Bach.
"I've done four Broadway shows, and I never in my life pictured that ever happening," said the singer.
"That was way out of left field. (Jekyll & Hyde) really started the whole TV career and the Broadway career. I locked in and I sang the material for Jekyll & Hyde, and they really liked it. . . . They gave me the gig right there. I was like, 'Right on.' Everything I got is from my voice."
He took the acting experience he gained during the musicals and parlayed it into a reccurring role on Gilmore Girls. He also applied his newfound theatrical knowledge to his music, incorporating strings and piano on his latest album Angel Down, which includes several duets with Axl Rose.
Going country
As for the reality shows, Bach sees them as merely a way to promote his solo rock career.
"I did the celebrity rap show on MTV, and my first response to that was, 'No,' " he said. "When I first started out in 1988 in Skid Row, they played rock 'n' roll videos, and they still play them a little bit but nothing like they used to. Now they cast us in these shows, and I get to pick the ones I want to do, which I guess is good. I picked ones that are about music."
And yet the reality shows have had their downsides. A liquor-drenched episode of SuperGroup in 2006 left many viewers wondering if the singer had a problem with alcohol use. It was a learning experience, he said, and one that will not be repeated on Gone Country 2 — at least to that degree.
"I discovered in that show that a little drinking goes a long way on television," he said.
"There's a time and a place for everything, and I learned that shooting a television show is not the time or place to get loaded. If you liked SuperGroup with me and Ted Nugent where there's a lot of drunken fights, you'll love Gone Country 2. It's not coming from me this time though. Well, maybe a little bit."
On the show, which debuts Aug. 15 on CMT, Bach and his housemates — Irene Cara, Mikalah Gordon, Jermaine Jackson, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lorenzo Lamas and Sean Young — live in a Nashville-area mansion for two weeks while they endure country lifestyle challenges and attempt to write hit country songs with some of Nashville's top songwriters. As in the first season, John Rich hosts the series.
"I get asked to do all these shows," Bach said. "I don't know why. I don't find it necessary to go on these shows and eat bugs or put my head in an aquarium with scorpions, but John Rich's show is a great show. I'm very proud of the three songs I wrote with my songwriters. That's really exciting for me. I got to room at Barbara Mandrell's mansion that's now owned by John's management, and Jermaine Jackson of the Jackson 5 was my roommate. Who thinks this stuff up?"
Back to rocking
So when Bach and his band arrive in Nashville today, the experience will be a bit of a homecoming for the New Jersey resident. He played country songs around Nashville as little as a few weeks ago, but he said it has been years since he's put on a full-fledged rock show in Music City. The last was at 328 Performance Hall, which closed in 2002. But fans shouldn't necessarily come to the show expecting to hear old Skid Row hits such as "I Remember You" or "Youth Gone Wild."
"Well there are no guarantees," he said. "I might do all old Skid Row songs. I might do none. I'm really proud of the new record, but at the same time if I'm playing a place as huge as Sommet Center, I want to give the greatest show I can. And I know there are certain songs people are coming to hear me sing, and I don't want to disappoint them. At the same time I have to sing what's in my heart. I live in 2008, not in 1988, and that's the way it is."
www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080708/ENTERTAINMENT01/807080315/1005/ENTERTAINMENT
