Rick Brindle

The first hurdle seems to be age 27. Brian Jones died at 27 So did Jimi Hendrix And Amy Winehouse Jim Morrison, dead at 27 Same with Kurt Cobain And Janis Joplin But sure, others have made it old age, despite the insanity all around them. Ozzy and Lemmy spring to mind. And although Lemmy is no longer with us, he did manage a respectable innings before checking out. I suppose the grand daddy of immortal, drug addled rock stars has to be Keith Richards, 80 years old, and if not going strong, at least still going. As to how he’s survived as long as he has, who can really say. Maybe he’s not quite as wild as his image, or maybe he’s actually un-dead! Cold Steel on the Rocks We Are Cold Steel Cold Steel and the Underground Boneyard It's Not For Everyone

Some are, I suppose. Plenty are advertised as such. And if they’re not waterproof, there are all sorts of products that are advertised as making your boots waterproof. In my day, the British forces used the High leg boot. It wasn’t waterproof, but that didn’t stop you from buying waterproof boot polish and trying to make them waterproof. But if you couldn’t make your boots waterproof, the next best thing was to wear gore tex inner, which would at least keep your feet dry. And of course, this was a long time ago now. Maybe the newer types really are waterproof. Which is fine, but the trouble with being in the field, is that sooner or later, you’ll be wading through, walking in, or even hiding in a stream or river. If you’re putting an attack in, you can be damn sure your approach route will include some form of water course. And then, it won’t matter what boots you’re wearing, the water will come over the top. It’s probably fair to say that if you’re a soldier, it doesn’t matter how goo

  We Are Cold Steel,  the second novel in the Cold Steel trilogy is free to download from Amazon for a limited time. Get your free copy now! A day after their historic concert on the Caribbean island of St Clements, heavy metal band Cold Steel are heroes. Now, all they have to do is stay out of trouble and enjoy a well-earned holiday until they start work on their next album. Except that the owner of the recording studio hates all things Cold Steel. Except that Cold Steel’s record company has blackmailed the studio into accepting them. Except that not all reporters are as friendly as band manager Johnny Faslane’s girlfriend, Rachel Shaw. With a tight deadline, Cold Steel have to get the next album out before their tour starts. They can’t afford any delays, and Johnny has his work cut out keeping the band in line. Feral former soldiers, reporters with an agenda, cake-obsessed studio execs and international criminals all work their way into the mix as the band hurtle from one improbable

  My first author article is published in  MetalTalk   Cold Steel on the Rocks We Are Cold Steel Cold Steel and the Underground Boneyard It's Not For Everyone

  There is no one guitar for playing heavy metal, but there will be one guitar for you. All you have to do is find it. No one can find it for you, and all other people can do is tell you what works for them. Trouble is, what works for them, won’t necessarily work for you. A starting point is to think about the music you like, and the music you want to play. What guitars do those players use? But that’s really only a starting point. Check out the youtube shootouts between different guitars, consider how different pickups sound. And get yourself to your local music shop, and find out if your chosen guitar actually feels right. But it’s really down to you, and don’t expect to get it right first time, straight away. You’re on a journey of discovery, and it’s actually so changeable that you might find that exact right tone one night, and by the time you come back to your guitar the next morning, it’ll all sound completely different. But none of that matters. Know your guitar, love your guit

Cold Steel on the Rocks , the first book in the Cold Steel trilogy, is free to download from Amazon for a limited time. Get your free copy now! When the pirate Blackbeard buried his treasure, he could never have imagined that it would fall to the heavy metal band, Cold Steel, to come looking for it.Cold Steel, high-octane British rockers who came close to legendary status, until the release of their fourth album, when their excesses send them spiralling into terminal decline.Struggling small-time band manager Johnny Faslane, in the right place at the right time, lands the dream job of managing Cold Steel, and then has the seemingly impossible mission of turning the band around.Cold Steel’s singer, Maxwell Diabolo, claims to have a treasure map that he thinks will lead him to Blackbeard’s lost riches. With the band bent on a terrifying path of self-destruction, Johnny wonders if they will even complete the tour, much less get to the Caribbean to embark on a treasure hunt. Against all ex

  Abuse in the military is sadly alive and kicking. The dinosaur culture in the military is sadly a long way from becoming extinct. It's Not For Everyone Cold Steel on the Rocks We Are Cold Steel Cold Steel and the Underground Boneyard