(Newton, NJ) -- Heavy Metal guitar great Jake E. Lee is back. The former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist has resurfaced in a big way with Jake E. Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel. They’ve cultivated a focused, fresh, and fiery hard rock sound, embracing Lee’s classic style, while emitting a new kind of spark. This amazing virtuoso guitarist with his new band is on the road delivering a power performance at every stop. Don't miss Jake E. Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel when they rock the Newton Theatre on Saturday, July 18th at 8:00 pm.
Back in 1980 Lee was with San Diego hard rock band Mickey Ratt, which later became the popular metal band Ratt. Lee left to join Rough Cutt, who were produced by Ronnie James Dio. In 1982, Dio invited Lee to join his new band Dio, which he formed after departing Black Sabbath. Lee accepted, though his time in Dio’s band was short-lived.
After the death of Randy Rhoads, Ozzy auditioned lead guitarists, which is when Lee became his full-time guitarist for the next five years. He joined Osbourne’s band in late 1982 following the tour supporting the Speak of the Devil live album which featured Brad Gillis (Night Ranger) on guitar.
In 1988, Lee formed the blues-based hard rock band Badlands with vocalist Ray Gillen (Black Sabbath), drummer Eric Singer (who would eventually replace Eric Carr in Kiss), and bassist Greg Chaisson. The band released their self-titled debut album in 1989 and in 1998 the final Badlands album, consisting of unreleased live in-studio 24-track demos, was released.
Throughout most of the 1990s and into the new millennium, Lee kept a relatively low profile. In 2005, He released his first album in eight years entitled Retraced, which consisted of blues covers from the 1960s and ‘70s. In 2011, Jake appeared in the Beggars & Thieves video for the song We Come Undone. The following captions appear on the screen during Jake’s appearance: “Jake E. Lee is alive and well, living in Las Vegas” and “He would just rather play with Beggars & Thieves than deal with shady promoters and play Bark at the Moon 750 more times.”
Now Lee returns with his new band, Red Dragon Cartel. The band came about when old friend Ronnie Mancuso helped to coax Jake out of retirement. Ronnie, noted session guitarist/bassist, composer and producer for Beggars & Thieves, shared a studio space with super hot producer, engineer and mixer Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie). Ronnie and Jake, and Kevin’s son Kane, started writing songs based on literally hundreds of great riffs Jake had stored up from his years in seclusion. The new self-titled Red Dragon Cartel debut album was cut at The Hideout, produced by R. Bernard Mann (aka Ronnie Mancuso and Jake E. Lee) and executive produced, mixed and mastered by Kevin Churko.
The band is rounded out by a lucky few culled from over a thousand submissions to a “Jake E. Lee needs a lead singer and drummer” Facebook page. The lucky few are UK born vocalist D.J Smith, and Vancouver based drummer/vocalist, Jonas Fairley. The album also features stellar guest appearances from legendary vocalist Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, original Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno, Canadian rocker Sass Jordan, former Pantera bassist Rex Brown, Slash’s Conspirator’s Todd Kearns and Brent Fitz, Scott Reeder of Kyuss and The Obsessed and metal icons like vocalist Maria Brink from In This Moment and Five Finger Death Punch’s Jeremy Spencer.
The historic Newton Theatre, located at 234 Spring Street in Newton, NJ, was founded in 1924. Revitalized and fully renovated, Sussex County’s premier entertainment venue reopened in 2011 as a 605 seat capacity live performing arts center. With it’s rich history and diverse programming The Newton Theatre is essential to the buoyancy of New Jersey’s Skylands region. More information about The Newton Theatre may be found by calling 973-383-3700 or by visiting its website at www.TheNewtonTheatre.com.
