The Great Southern Brainfart has issued a two-part interview with drummer Vinny Appice (KILL DEVIL HILL, HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, DIO). An excerpt follows:

Q: How did Kill Devil Hill actually come to be?

A: "Yeah. With KDH, this baby was started from scratch. The way it started is that I came off the Heaven & Hell tour and I had to have shoulder surgery. Right before the surgery I went over to my friend Jeff Pilson’s house who plays with FOREIGNER and DOKKEN. He’s a great engineer and he has a great studio so I recorded 13 drum tracks at different speeds and different feels and that’s what kicked this off. I had those drum tracks and when I finished, the next day the hospital said that they could get in Monday instead of having to wait a month so I went in and I came out. You’re supposed to be in a sling for six weeks and I couldn’t play drums or anything. I had these tracks so I started listening to them so I invited Jimmy Bain over and he played bass on some of the rhythms and I started getting ideas. I heard about this guitarist named Mark Zavon. He played with WWIII. He came down and started working on stuff with me and we jelled really well. As for singers, I had been getting a lot of Dio impersonators. I wasn’t looking for that because I wanted to move on to something different. Mark turned me on to a CD that Dewey sang on a song which was 'Hangman' and as soon as I heard it I said, 'That’s the guy'. We continued writing songs and when it didn’t work out with Jimmy we started looking for another bassist. I heard Rex (Brown - ex-PANTERA/DOWN bassist) was looking for something so I called him. I know him from when Pantera toured with Black Sabbath in Europe. I always loved the way he played. He has a bad ass bass sound so I sent him the songs and he loved them. We got together and we just continued writing. We didn’t try to sound like Sabbath or anybody really. That’s just what I came out. I like it heavy so we made sure we kept it heavy."

Q: I love that you didn’t try and make this a “supergroup” of sorts using all well known players.

A: "Thanks. Yeah, this is a real band. It’s not like we said, 'Ok, Rex will be good. If we can only get a ‘star’ guitar player like Tom Morello or something'. It’s not an “all star” band with me and Rex and other known people to get big money. Kill Devil Hill is a real band that I want to last. We all want this band to last. We want to go on an adventure together."

The full interview can be found at the following links: Part 1, Part 2.

Kill Devil Hill has added the song 'Up In Flames' to their Facebook band page. Go to this location to check it out.

The band recently checked in with the following update: "Hey Kill Devils! We're going out on the road with our friends in ADRENALINE MOB in May. We're starting up the first official KDH street team and we'd love for you guys to get involved. In return, we're giving away a pair of VIP Packages in each city.

The VIP Experience includes a pair of tickets to the show, a meet & greet with the band, exclusive merchandise and autographed items. All you have to do is help us spread the word about the tour. Go to our events tab, choose the event for the city nearest you and re-post, share, tweet, etc. Get as creative as you want, the crazier the better! Make sure you tag us in your posts so we can see what you're doing We'll choose the most active fan in each city to win a pair of passes to the VIP Experience!"

The tour, which kicks off on May 10th in Cleveland., will make stops in Dallas, Chicago and Orlando before wrapping up in Charlotte, NC on May 22nd.

The shows will feature Kill Devil Hill followed by Adrenaline Mob and then end in all out jam between the two groups.

Tour dates:

May

10 - Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
11 - Flint, MI - The Machine Show
13 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues
15 - Dallas, TX - Trees
16 - San Antonio, TX - Backstage Live
19 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
21 - Orlando, FL - House Of Blues
22 - Charlotte, NC - Amos' Southend