Hailing from the fertile musical ground of New Jersey, guitarist Fred Gorhau has been a constant fixture on the New Jersey/New York metal scene for over twenty years. Though steeped in the long tradition of '80s power metal, for the last six years Gorhau has been spreading his wings musically and geographically as part of the Yuletide rock ensemble, The Wizards of Winter. Dan Roth at Music & Art Interviews caught up with Fred as he and the band are rehearsing for their upcoming 2016 holiday tour. Fred talks about his history with The Wizards and what it's been like working with many of the former members of Trans-Siberian Orchestra as well as being managed by metal legend Jon Zazula. He also discusses his long association with the power metal band Exxplorer, his current work with Dark Sky Choir and Living Colour's Corey Glover.  

DR:  Starting with the 2013 tour, you caught the attention of many of the legendary fan-favorite performers who were part of TSO for many years. So far, five former TSO members (Tommy Farese, Tony Gaynor, Michael Lanning, Guy LeMonnier and Joe Cerisano) have toured with you. What have they brought to the table? Have you enjoyed working with them?

FG: "I have enjoyed working with them, for sure.  One of the main things they brought to us besides their talent was their experience.  Not all of the Wizards members had a touring background.  The former TSO guys were all there on those early TSO tours and they had gone through it with them, so they helped us navigate what to expect a bit.  They also helped us with some of our live sound expectations. Most bands tend to speed up a lot of their songs when playing live.  Tommy Farese in particular helped us realize that we need to slow down the TSO songs a bit because of how the sound comes back at the audience in the larger theaters we were have been playing. If you play it too fast, the audience winds up hearing a mish-mosh, especially with two keyboards, two guitars, flute, violin, and the rhythm section, not to mention the multi-part vocals - there is a lot that can get lost and by slowing it down just a bit, it helps it to be a bit more audible to the audience."

DR:  You also have been playing guitar for Corey Glover of Living Colour.  How did you get involved with him and his band?

FG:  "I met Corey at NAMM and we hit it off pretty well.  He is pretty busy with Living Colour right now - they just kicked off a European tour with Alter Bridge.  But when he does his solo stuff, I get the call. His solo concerts are a blast. Typically we will do "Cult of Personality", "Middle Man", a bunch of songs from his solo repertoire and usually throw in a couple covers. He is such an incredible singer."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Wizards Of Winter, have announced that as of today, 2016's holiday tour will now feature three former members of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra with the recent return of lead vocalist Guy LeMonnier.

Hailing from Grand Rapids, MI, LeMonnier has performed and toured professionally with TSO and can be heard on their album Beethoven's Last Night, as well as the Wizards Of Winter albums The Wizards Of Winter and The Magic Of Winter. In addition to his work as an accomplished stage actor, LeMonnier has also appeared on several popular TV shows - including Gotham, Broad City, Quantico, Power and the newest Netflix series Iron Fist - as well as commercials, voice-overs and independent films.

LeMonnier states, "I had the fortune of meeting the Wizards Of Winter in 2013, and I found a group of musicians and friends that quickly became family. The excitement on that stage for their craft and their love for the audience is awe-inspiring and I'm thrilled to be back with the pack to rock the nation this holiday season."

Aiming to top the success of their 2015 tour - which saw them perform their brand of theatrical yuletide rock to thousands of performance attendees and grabbed the attention of mainstream media such as Entertainment Weekly and Yahoo Music - the Wizards Of Winter are adding even more 2016 holiday tour dates! The ensemble will perform at venues this upcoming November and December in several eastern and central US markets.

The Wizards Of Winter recently announced further expansions to their ensemble cast, including the addition of Ted Nugent bassist/vocalist Greg Smith, former Trans-Siberian Orchestra vocalist Peter Shaw, seasoned vocalist Shawna Mehall and accomplished violinist Jenn Hamilton.

Wizards Of Winter tour dates:

December
1 - York, PA - Strand-Capitol Perf. Arts Center
2 - Binghamton, NY - The Forum Performing Arts Theatre
3 - Scranton, PA - The Theater at Lackawanna College
4 - Plymouth, NH - Flying Monkey Performance Center
7 - Parsippany, NJ - Parsippany High School - Benefit Concert
8 - Tarrytown, NY - Music Hall
9 - Munhall, PA - Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead
10 - Collingswood, NJ - Scottish Rite Auditorium
11 - Easton, PA - State Theater
15 - Kalamazoo, MI - State Theatre
16 - Waukegan, IL - Genesee Theater
17 - Milwaukee, WI - Northern Lights Theater (Potawatomi Hotel & Casino)
18 - Turtle Lake, WI - St. Croix Casino Turtle Lake Event
22 - Hagerstown, MD - Maryland Theater

Check back for more performance confirmations and ticket links here.