KILL DEVIL HILL guitarist Mark Zavon is featured in a new interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com discussing his extensive career. An excerpt is available below:

UG: Was the JRZ SYSTEM your first serious attempt at playing original music?

Zavon: "Yeah absolutely, you’re totally right. It was about ’94 I think we got together and we had known each other. Like I said the drummer Todd Roberson and I had gone to high school together and we played in FALSE WITNESS and then the bass player had played in some rival bands around town and we knew him pretty well. His name was Troy Johnson and he had some demos I played on and I had some demos he played on. He played on the demo I sent to (Mike) Varney to get into the Spotlight column and so we all kinda knew each other from the scene. Omaha is kind of a small town with regard to the music scene at least so we had known each other and it was Troy’s suggestion to do an instrumental band. And at the time Vai and Satriani were going on and getting airplay so it seemed like a pretty viable thing."

UG: JRZ System dissolved and became STEPHEN PEARCY’s backup band?

Zavon: "Yeah, it was weird. At the time I was seeing this girl who was friends with Robbie Crane who was playing bass in RATT and they were looking for a guitar player. They were doing festivals with POISON that year and I went and auditioned and I guess it came down to two guys and Kerri Kelly wound up getting the gig and I didn’t. I was bummed about that ‘cause I’ve been a Ratt fan and they were my favorite band in high school. Warren DeMartini is one of my favorite guitar players as well."

UG: Very good guitar player.

Zavon: "Amazing. I remember his solo on the Invasion Of Your Privacy tour that spotlight solo he did? Oh my lord, he would just kill people with that. He was on fire. So I auditioned and came in second on that deal and I was like, 'Aw man, there’s nothing happening.' Then Pearcy got out of it and decided to do a solo project and was putting a band together and called me up. So I went down and met him at Mexicali in Studio City and we had lunch and he said, 'What do you think? Do you want to do this?' And I was like, 'Yeah. Cool.' He says, 'Do you know any drummers and bass players?' I’m like, 'As a matter of fact, I’ve kind of been playing with these guys for a long time.' So I called ‘em up and they were into it and basically we did two-and-a-half or three years solid with him. Those guys kept playing with him for a while afterward and even now I think Troy does some fly-outs with him here and there when Mike Duda is not in the band."

UG: Was that a good experience working with Stephen Pearcy?

Zavon: "Yeah, we did a couple of solo records. Stephen is great. That guy is one of a kind, man; a total rockstar. It’s really cool to get to work with a guy like that especially after growing up and hearing his voice and putting the needle back on all of those songs over and over."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Kill Devil Hill - also featuring acclaimed drummer Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL, DIO), bassist Rex Brown (PANTERA, DOWN), and lead vocalist Dewey Bragg - have confirmed a new string of tour dates for late this summer, beginning August 1st.

Dates include:

August

1 - Las Vegas, NV - Cheyenne Saloon
2 - Scottsdale, AZ - Martini Ranch
3 - San Diego, CA - Ramona Mainstage
5 - Oakland, CA - The New Parish
9 - Calgary, AL - Dicken's Pub
10 - Drumheller, AB - Badlands Community Center
11 - Red Deer, AB - The Vat
12 - Edmonton, AB - The Pawnshop
16 - Hamilton, ON - Corktown
17 - Toronto, ON - The Rockpile
18 - Montreal, QC - Underworld
19 - Quebec City, QC - L'Agitee
20 - Ottawa, ON - Mavericks
24 - Portland, ME - Port City Music Hall
25 - Greenwich, RI - The Rock Junction
26 - Clifton, NJ - Dingbatz
29 - Albany, NY - Bogies
30 - Rochester, NY - Montage Music Hall

September

1 - Long Island, NY - Revolution

More dates are expected to be announced shortly.

Kill Devil Hill released their debut album last week via SPV/Steamhammer. Shifting over 1800 copies, Kill Devil Hill landed at #9 on the Billboard Top New Artist Albums (HeatSeekers) Chart, #41 on the Top Hard Music Chart and #50 on the Independent Album Chart.

The Kill Devil Hill album is now available as standard CD, iTunes digital download, and Double Gatefold LP.

The standard CD features the following 11 songs:

'War Machine'

'Hangman'

'Voodoo Doll'

'Gates Of Hell'

'Rise From The Shadows'

'We're All Gonna Die'

'Time & Time Again'

'Old Man'

'Mysterious Ways'

'Up In Flames'

'Revenge'

In addition to the aforementioned tracklisting, the Double Gatefold LP features the bonus track 'Drawbridge', while the iTunes Digital Download comes with the bonus track 'Strange'.

The first official video from the self-titled debut, for 'Strange', can be seen below: