Rock and Roll Road Trip

I recently interviewed legendary Kiss bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons about the new season of his hit reality show, “Gene Simmons Family Jewels.” We covered a lot of bases, but Simmons was particularly focused on talking about the troops – which no doubt inspire him. “Aside from my kids, nothing makes me cry except the United States…

We just got back from a road trip to the Sequoia National Forest. We stayed at the lovely Wuksachi Lodge, which features a fantastic restaurant, spacious rooms and makes you feel right t home in the woods – an amazing place. We drove a fair amount while there, one mini-road trip that featured about 15…

I recently spoke with Lou Gramm, originally the lead vocalist of Foreigner and today a solo artist. The piece will appear shortly on spinner.com, but I thought I’d share one of the questions here. You may know that Lou, in 1997, was diagnosed with a rare form of brain tumor. His survival, and his musical…

Recently, Candice Night, wife of the legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, sat down for an interview with me. Her story is fascinating – she actually met Blackmore as a radio station employee at a charity soccer game – the next thing she knew – Blackmore was falling in love with her (and vice versa). Today, she…

I interviewed Jim Kerr this week, lead singer from the band Simple Minds. We covered many topics, including his new solo album, “Lost Boy AKA Jim Kerr”. But I think my favorite story was the one he told about how the band came to record the biggest song of their career, “Don’t You Forget About…

Something special – recently I sat down at the home of Phil Collen from Def Leppard – he shared some of the new live album that’s coming out this week, “Mirrorball” – which includes three new studio tracks as well. More to follow once the album is released, but here’s a glimpse of our visit…

This weekend, Jeff Beck is up for no less than five Grammy awards (he’s got five under his belt already, and though he’s not keyed in on winning awards, he does seem to appreciate what they mean).  As I write my article on him, focusing on the special, kindred musical relationship he had with Les…

It isn’t every day one gets to sit down with an icon on  a par with Jeff Beck so today was a memorable one. I’ll be writing a piece in the next few days about it but here is a glimpse of our chat today – we’re talking about Les Paul – and the first…

Four decades after recording his emblematic song “Peace Train,” Yusuf Islam (also known as Cat Stevens) released “My People,” a free download available on www.yusuf.ae and digital platforms worldwide. The just-released single ‘My People’ also includes a unique chorus quilted together from the hundreds of voices sent in from across the globe by fans who…

Back in January, I interviewed Claudio Sanchez about Coheed and Cambria’s upcoming tour –  going back to their roots, playing ‘The Second Stage Turbine Blade’ in its entirety (along with a special acoustic set and an additional electric set). It was a for a Noisecreep.com piece I was writing and my son, a very serious Coheed…

Chris Epting
about

Chris Epting

A pop culture history aficionado, Chris has a lifelong penchant for documenting the exact sites where things both great and small occurred. As an author, Epting has found that unearthing and chronicling ""hidden"" locations offers him a challenge. What began as an inquisitive hobby soon developed into the writing and photographing of 18 books based on his discoveries, including ""James Dean Died Here…The Locations of America's Pop Culture Landmarks,"" ""Elvis Presley Passed Here, Even More Locations of America's Pop Culture Landmarks,"" ""Roadside Baseball,"" and ""The Ruby Slippers, Madonna's Bra, and Einstein's Brain: The Locations of America's Pop Culture.""

As an extension of his efforts to chronicle the unique, Epting joined Hampton Hotels for a sixth exciting year as national spokesperson and consultant for the Hidden Landmarks program in support of the brand's national ""Explore the Highway with Hampton Save-A-LandmarkÔ"" campaign (the program recently won the President's award).
Chris is a frequent featured guest on numerous radio and television programs such as National Public Radio's ""All Things Considered,"" ""The Savvy Traveler,"" ""Access Hollywood"" and FOX TV's the ""Best Damn Sports Show Period,"" plus radio and TV programs around the world.
He has contributed articles for such publications as the ""Los Angeles Times,"" ""Westways,"" ""Travel + Leisure"" and ""Preservation"" magazine, and hosts the weekly syndicated radio show, ""The Pop Culture Road Trip."" Chris's latest book, ""Hello It's Me…Dispatches from a Pop Culture Junkie"" will be released in July, 2010.
Chris lives in Huntington Beach, CA with his wife and their two children.

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