Former Giuffria and Dio guitarist Craig Goldy guested on the Friday NI Rocks Show recently; an excerpt follows.

Craig talks Dio Disciples:

"We have some more tour plans coming up and we’re also going to do an original album this year. We’ve already been writing for that and recording."

"We’ll be releasing new material and a song that Ronnie (James Dio) and I wrote prior to his passing that will eventually be released as well."

"It’s a special song. Not only is it the last song that he wrote and recorded, it’s the lyrics! When people do hear it, guard your hearts because it’s going to hurt. Parts of it where he talks about what he’s going through are just wow! It’s one of the proudest and saddest things that exists in my life." 

Craig talks Resurrection Kings:

"Now, the global marketplace is smiling upon '80s based music and guys like us who were only paid as side men can now actually create stuff and maybe be part of something. At the time it was Richie Blackmore’s time to call the shots in Rainbow, it was Ronnie’s time to call the shots in Dio and it was Tony Iommi’s time to call the shots during certain eras of Black Sabbath. Hopefully now there will be time for us to be able to enjoy the piece of pie they enjoyed. And at the same time, do it the same way they did. They didn’t do it for the money, they did it for the love of the music and money came with it. It wasn’t the ultimate goal. The bullseye that we aim for is to put together a great band and a great album. Then what comes will happen."

Check out the complete interview at this location.

"Livin' Out Loud", a video for the track from the self-titled debut album from Resurrection Kings, is streaming below. The album was released on January 29th.

Resurrection Kings is a new band centred around the talents of former Dio and Giuffria guitar player, Craig Goldy. Everything started with a set of demos he recorded with singer Chas West, a guy with an unbelievable set of pipes, who has worked with such bands as the Jason Bonham Band, Foreigner, Lynch Mob, Tribe Of Gypsies, and 3 Legged Dogg.

"It all started five years ago when Craig Goldy asked me to write together," says Chas. Out of those demo sessions, the song "Livin' Out Loud" strongly impressed Frontiers' President, Serafino Perugino. He then asked Craig to build up a project/band around that musical concept. He also suggested Sean McNabb for bass (Lynch Mob, Dokken , Quiet Riot ), while Craig brought in later former Dio band mate Vinny Appice on drums.

"Serafino wanted to make an album with famous musicians from the 80's and I was flabbergasted when he asked me to participate" says Craig Goldy. "We've all known each other for a long time and it was a pleasure to work with everyone - my God with Chas, Sean and Vinny that's a killer lineup!"

Frontiers in-house writer and producer Alessandro Del Vecchio (Revolution Saints, Hardline, Rated X) offered his services to the band and wrote (or co-wrote with Goldy) a few tracks to round out the material that was available. "He is a great songwriter, producer, musician and singer," says Goldy. "Some of the demo versions already had vocals and everything else, so all we did was learn the songs and then did them our way. When Sean and Vinny got a hold of these songs they really came alive and gave me automatic inspiration to write and perform on top of what was already written".

The resulting album is an impressive example of classic hard rock with a contemporary production and edge. Think Whitesnake 1987 mixed with Dio’s Dream Evil, with a touch of classic Led Zeppelin and Rainbow and you will not be far from the end result. This truly is an extremely strong record where the musicians were able to stretch their wings and their numerous fans will be incredibly pleased with the results.