NITA STRAUSS shares video for 'The Golden Trail' featuring IN FLAMES vocalist ANDERS FRIDÉN
30-05-2023
ALICE COOPER guitarist Nita Strauss will release her second solo album, “The Call Of The Void”, on July 7 via Sumerian Records. The official music video for the LP’s latest single, “The Golden Trail”, featuring a guest appearance by IN FLAMES vocalist Anders Fridén, is now released.
Watch “The Golden Trail” below.
Regarding the album’s title, Strauss shared: “Have you ever been at the top of a high building and had the fleeting thought, ‘… I could jump right now?’ This feeling is sometimes called ‘The Call Of The Void,’ also known as ‘high place phenomenon.’ It’s not a suicidal impulse, rather the exact opposite — a subconscious decision to live your life, to step back from the ledge, and take control. As researcher April Smith aptly put it: ‘An urge to jump affirms the urge to live.’
“I wanted the follow-up to ‘Controlled Chaos’ to be exciting, new, and fresh, to take listeners to a new place and take myself somewhere new as an artist too. We have some amazing collaborations on this album with incredible musicians, as well as the instrumental guitar music that first inspired me to play.
“Some pieces of music come into the world gracefully and easily. This album is not one of them! ‘The Call Of The Void’ was born kicking and screaming, a labor of love for sure, but also of blood, sweat and plenty of tears. I couldn’t be more proud of the end result. Making this album helped me learn and grow so much as a musician and songwriter and I’m excited to finally unleash it on the world.”
Nita Strauss has recruited a vocalist named Kasey Karlsen to join her onstage during the guitarist’s upcoming “Summer Storm” tour.
In a Twitter message introducing Kasey, Nita wrote: “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Kasey Karlsen to the squad!!
“Kasey will be holding down the vocal duties on the upcoming Summer Storm tour starting next month!!”
Strauss added: “We needed someone fearless and versatile for this tour who could handle tons of different vocal styles, and if you’ve seen Kasey‘s videos you already know she can do it all. She is going to destroy these stages and we are beyond excited to have her with us!!”
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Kasey Karlsen to the squad!!
— Nita Strauss (@hurricanenita) May 17, 2023
Kasey will be holding down the vocal duties on the upcoming Summer Storm tour starting next month!! pic.twitter.com/sPCko79PKs
Karlsen has a half a million followers on TikTok where she posts vocal covers of such acts as SLIPKNOT, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, BRING ME THE HORIZON and ICE NINE KILLS.
The “Summer Storm” trek will kick off on June 13 in Nashville and wrap up on July. 14 in New Orleans. Support on the tour will come from LIONS AT THE GATE, the new band featuring former ILL NIÑO members Cristian Machado (vocals),Ahrue “Luster” Ilustre (guitar) and Diego Verduzco (guitar),alongside bassist Stephen Brewer (WESTFIELD MASSACRE) and drummer Fern Lemus.
On the collaboration with Fridén, Strauss said: “When I was first learning how to play guitar, IN FLAMES were my BEATLES, my first favorite band. Anders‘s iconic vocal style is burned into my mind! To write a song like this and have him sing on it, as a kid who grew up with IN FLAMES posters on my walls, is an absolute dream come true.”
“It was a lot of fun to collaborate with Nita on ‘The Golden Trail’,” added Fridén. “She’s an amazing guitar player and I can hear the history of metal flowing through her fingers.”
“The Golden Trail” is the fourth song Nita has released featuring a star guest vocalist, the first being the enormously successful “Dead Inside” which featured guest vocals from DISTURBED‘s David Draiman and saw Nita become the first-ever solo female to have a No. 1 hit at Active Rock radio. She also returned to her instrumental roots last year with the release of single “Summer Storm”, a fast-paced, emotive shred-fest. In October 2022, Nita dropped “The Wolf You Feed”, an epic headbanger of a track featuring the insane vocal talent of Alissa White-Gluz of ARCH ENEMY. This past March, Strauss released “Winner Takes All”, featuring a guest appearance by Alice Cooper.
Watch the previously released “Winner Takes All” (featuring ALICE COOPER) below.
Regarding the album’s title, Strauss shared: “Have you ever been at the top of a high building and had the fleeting thought, ‘… I could jump right now?’ This feeling is sometimes called ‘The Call Of The Void,’ also known as ‘high place phenomenon.’ It’s not a suicidal impulse, rather the exact opposite — a subconscious decision to live your life, to step back from the ledge, and take control. As researcher April Smith aptly put it: ‘An urge to jump affirms the urge to live.’
“I wanted the follow-up to ‘Controlled Chaos’ to be exciting, new, and fresh, to take listeners to a new place and take myself somewhere new as an artist too. We have some amazing collaborations on this album with incredible musicians, as well as the instrumental guitar music that first inspired me to play.
“Some pieces of music come into the world gracefully and easily. This album is not one of them! ‘The Call Of The Void’ was born kicking and screaming, a labor of love for sure, but also of blood, sweat and plenty of tears. I couldn’t be more proud of the end result. Making this album helped me learn and grow so much as a musician and songwriter and I’m excited to finally unleash it on the world.”
Earlier this year, it was announced that Nita would return to Alice‘s band for his 2023 tour.
The Alice Cooper North American tour, with an all-new show dubbed “Too Close For Comfort”, kicks off in late April in Michigan and continues through late September, including a handful of August stadium shows with DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE, followed by a co-headlining late summer “Freaks On Parade” tour with Rob Zombie.
Nita spent eight years playing with Alice before joining Demi Lovato‘s band last summer,
Strauss played her first full live show with Demi on August 13, 2022 at the Grandstand at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, Illinois.
Nita made her live debut with Demi on July 14, 2022 with a performance of “Substance” on ABC‘s Emmy Award-winning late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”.
Strauss had been playing with Cooper since 2014 when she replaced Australian musician and former Michael Jackson player Orianthi. She joined Alice in time for a mammoth MÖTLEY CRÜE tour. She was recommended to Cooper by the legendary rocker’s former bass player and WINGER frontman Kip Winger.
Nita also participates in health stimulation, with her Nita Strauss “BODY SHRED!” fitness challenge. From lifting weights to Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu and having her very own 90 day ‘Body Shred’ Fitness Challenge, she has built a community of support and accountability for music enthusiasts to get fit. She furthermore states she will never drink alcohol ever again, which she stopped in 2015. Nita was also the first ever female guitar player to have her own signature model at Ibanez Guitars.
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