Last Friday, April 8th, the ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO (featuring TESTAMENT and former TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA guitarist Alex Skolnick) held a release party for their new album Veritas. Alex offers the following recap:

"Words cannot describe what a high it was. The venue felt like a classic speakeasy revamped for 2011. The balloons were a swirly red/orange color that conjured up the Veritas artwork perfectly. People from all walks, long time friends and fans of the band and a party atmosphere made this an event that everyone had to agree was inspiring. I was proud just to see so many great people having such a nice evening- the music was almost secondary. Almost.

The venue, Tammany Hall, is a brand new, cozy Lower East Side club (which, as many were quick to point out, feels hip and classy without being trendy or pretentious), yet we felt the intensity that we did last year supporting Rodrigo Y Gabriela at large venues such as Radio City Music Hall. We played the album Veritas almost in its entirety, including several original tracks we’d never played live before (‘River Lethe’, ‘Flection’, ‘Path Of Least Resistance’). The reaction to this new music of ours was magical

Earlier in the night, we’d had the most awesome support acts. Mamie Minch is a blues/roots/Americana guitarist/vocalist who kicked things off with her intimate solo performance. Following her was the Tin Pan Band whom I’d discovered in a NYC Subway station. I was blown away. This Bourbon St. flavored acoustic ensemble added a ton of fun to the atmosphere, including a clarinet player who, in the middle of his screaming solo, climbed down from the stage and walked across the bar (in a very unique way, it was metal). The TPB’s sound reminded me of watching a classic Woody Allen film.

Immediately after our set, we announced something we’ve been keeping under wraps for sometime now - the ‘Bollywood Jam’ music video (I can’t wait to post a blog about that and a link. Shouldn’t be too much longer ). It was our secret plan all along to premier the video on this night. But first, a minor technical snafu with the venue’s giant projection TV.

This caused a ten minute delay, giving us the chance to do one more song, one which at this point is an old ‘chestnut’ for us: ‘Detroit Rock City’. I’d always had a fantasy of the audience singing the melody of the guitar solo, so I asked them, just this once, to indulge me. It was beautiful, so much that I have a feeling they won’t be the only audience asked to sing that part.

The rest of the night was one of those storybook moments. With these two mamoth projects, the Veritas album and ‘Bollywood Jam’ video finally done, it was time to celebrate. The plan was for everyone to reconvene downstairs in the second bar of the club to make way for the what happens every weekend night- the upstairs becomes a DJ dance club. But as it turned out, the people at our event far outnumbered those who showed up later, so the owners decided to keep our party where it was. (Besides, our crowd was great for the venue’s upstairs bar profits!).

As the DJ started his tracks, some female friends of ours started dancing on stage. Next thing you know, the guys in my band join them, as did I. More people ran up on stage and started dancing and soon, people on the floor- everywhere except in the ’safety zone’ (the bar, of course). It was a full on dance party that lasted ’till 4am. Some of the DJ’s tracks were awful (Kesha), some were awesome (Jackson 5) but we didn’t care, everyone just danced. It was all about the moment. At one point, someone requested SLAYER and lo and behold the DJ had a track in there - we formed a tiny but brutal mosh pit to ‘Reign In Blood’.

The next day, I had to be on location for a documentary shoot (more info on that later). I was hurting a bit, not from drinking but from lack of sleep. But it was beyond worth it."

The Alex Skolnick Trio has two upcoming shows:

April

26 - Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY

May

30 - Iridium Jazz Club - New York, NY