Producer/sound engineer Kevin Shirley (LED ZEPPELIN, IRON MAIDEN, AEROSMITH) has issued the following diary entry:

"The last few months have been a blast. We came to Santorini, which may be my favorite place on earth, to celebrate a landmark birthday of mine, at the end of June. All my siblings and my parents came from far and wide to celebrate with us, and after they'd gone, my wife's family visited - so a lot of fun was had by everyone. No work was done, and I really enjoyed the break, swimming in the Aegean, wonderful Greek food and spending time with all my kids.

In mid-July we went to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, to record and produce the live set JOE BONAMASSA played there, and at the request of the festival head honcho, Claude Nobs, we took some great Greek musicians to recreate some of the textures we had featured on Joe's Black Rock CD. It was a very cool show and it was a real trat to meet Claude and QUINCY JONES who I respect so much - he's a REAL producer!

At the end of July it was time to do some work, so my wife and kids headed back Stateside while I stayed in Santorini to begin work on Joe Bonamassa's next studio album at Black Rock studios, where we recorded Joe's previous album. Joe and I started with a little sidetrip to the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix, where we lavished in the pits and Joe got to do pics with some drivers and a grid walk before the main race. Then it was back to work - and Joe has been so hard at it with all his live touring, that new tunes were in very short supply.

Nonetheless, we've managed to conjure up eight great new songs (although one has been inadvertently erased by an engineer who's no longer with us!), so we've got seven and a half recorded songs that we're finishing up - and there are some gems in there!! Only another week or so here and I'll be back to begin a new album with another band in Los Angeles.

In the meantime, the new IRON MAIDEN album is just out - and looking like it's going to be the highest charting album they've had. I get my share of emails about things, both complimentary and insulting, but it's all part of the business, I guess. Some of the personal stuff is disheartening, but I suppose the passion is formidable.

Look out for my Iron Maiden studio diaries which I jotted down during the making of the album in the Bahamas earlier this year, which we'll soon be posting on the IronMaiden.com website (once Rod has edited out all the juicy bits, no doubt!).

Also out soon, is the BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION album, and I am really excited about this band, and this record - and even more excited that it looks like we'll be making another record sooner rather than later! It's out on September 21st."

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