Guitarist Bill Hudson (Circle II Circle, Trans-Siberian Orchestra) is new guitarist for Udo Dirkschneider’s bands, U.D.O. and Dirkschneider. Guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen recently parted ways with both bands for personal reasons.

A message states: “We are very proud to announce that Mr. Bill Hudson from Brazil is the new guitarist of Dirkschneider/U.D.O.! Bill is based in the United States, but has already been in Pulheim a few weeks ago to join the songwriting session for our next album which we will start recording soon.

“Bill fits in, in every way, perfectly with us and builds a fantastic guitar team together with Andrey Smirnov. He is very experienced and has shared the stage with several known bands, most notably Circle II Circle, Jon Oliva's Pain and TSO for the last few years. It's not really necessary to talk about his skills, simply check it out on our next tour and you will see what we're talking about!

“After Kasperi left the band we have received many suggestions and applications from great guitar players from all over the planet. At the same time, we started getting hints from different and unrelated people in the business pointing straight into the same direction, telling us to check out this Brazilian/American guy. Once in Germany he convinced everybody from the get go and it was very clear that this guy had all the requirements to become the new band member.

“We are REALLY looking forward to kick ass even more so than ever before!”

Dirkschneider recently announced their plans to continue touring. A message from the band follows:

“Dear Fans, Friends and Partners,

“We want to let you know that we have decided to continue with Dirkschneider! Originally it was our plan to go back to touring with U.D.O. in 2017. But we have received an incredible number of emails and letters from fans begging us to continue with Dirkschneider, and as there are still so many (Accept) songs left to be sung, we have decided to bow to your demands!

“During the last tours with Dirkschneider, the audience had a lot of fun, and we as a band also had the time of our lives on stage. In fact, a whole lot of people in countries all over the world have been knocked out by these shows. Just check out all the media (especially from the US, where we have just finished a 5-week tour) and you will read the caption “tour of the year“ multiple times… We are thrilled by the idea of continuing and we are really looking forward to seeing you all again live on tour!

“Oh, we nearly forgot to tell you about possibly the most important point of all: From Oct 2017 on, Dirkschneider will tour with an almost completely NEW setlist. Of course, it will still contain only Accept hits, but this time with many different songs compared to the last tours."

Dirkschneider tour dates:

December
2 - Leipzig, Germany - Haus Auensee            
3 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle                   
5 - Hamburg, Germany - Grosse Freiheit               
6 - Hannover, Germany - Capitol                           
7 - Bremen, Germany - Aladin                                
9 - Osnabrück, Germany - Hyde Park                         
10 - Berlin, Germany - Huxley´s Neue Welt      
12 - Köln, Germany - Essigfabrik                        
15 - Tuttlingen, Germany - Stadthalle                  
17 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA                
19 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7   
22 - Geiselwind, Germany - Eventhalle                          
23 - Mannheim, Germany - Maimarkthalle Club

Tickets here.

Meanwhile, U.D.O. have started work on their new studio album, the follow-up to Decadent, released in 2015. Check out a video message from Udo below, and stay tuned for more details.