Archive for May, 2005
Ronnie Ciago’s drumming book is released!
by Joe on May.28, 2005, under Misc Items
The Bill Ward Band’s drummer, Ronnie Ciago, has a new book out! It’s entitled “A Natural Development In Drumming Technique”. As the title suggests, it’s about drumming technique, and this book will expand your knowledge of rudiments and can prevent you from injury in hands and arms.
If you’re an existing drummer, or an aspiring drummer, you should check it out. We have more information on this title, including cover art, further information, and ordering links available on this page.
In other solo band member news, Paul Ill & Ronnie Ciago both appear on the new album by Reeves Gabrels entitled “Rockonica”. You can also get information on this release on the same page as Ronnie’s book.
Bill Ward’s Audio Diary Available
by Joe on May.03, 2005, under Bill Ward
Bill Ward has left the States to head to England for rehearsals for the European Black Sabbath shows and Ozzfest. As a present, Bill has recorded an audio diary for you, his website visitor. The diary talks about a bevy of topics. Some of the topics he talks about are:
Bill’s radio show Rock 50, The start of Sabbath rehearsals, how he gets in shape for Sabbath’s drumming and his exercise regimen, some of the things he does offstage on tour, some of Bill’s favourite music, the other bands on Ozzfest, Ozzy’s bike accident and his recovery from that, what it’s like playing with Geezer Butler, updates on Bill’s new record deal, future things on billward.com, various Sab members’ solo albums, and of course the prospects on a new Black Sabbath album!
The entire audio diary entry is 21 minutes and 15 seconds long. You can download the file here. It’s an m4a (aka mp4) audio file.
https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary050305.m4a
(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)
You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file.
The plans are for Bill to continue these audio diaries once the Sabbath tour starts, so make sure and check back during the summer for more from Bill! In the meantime, download and enjoy Bill’s audio diary!
You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.
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Hi Everybody.
It’s Bill here. First off, I want to thank you all for the support you’ve given me throughout the years. I love to play– whether it’s playing drums in Black Sabbath, making music with my own band or working with other musicians, period. Being able to do what I love for my whole life, pretty much, has been an honour and privilege.
When I started playing in Sabbath, there was an energy of truth about us. We believed in what we were saying, the music we were making and the lives we were living. As time has moved on, I’ve nurtured and tried to save a lot of what I learnt playing in Sabbath. During the more recent years at the Ozzfest concerts, I’ve found myself immersed in the musical rewards of playing in such a unique and devastatingly, powerfully effective Metal band. Sabbath have been, and are, my greatest teachers, and I am forever grateful for the musical journey so far.
Today, I love what’s happening in music. I’ve been given the rare opportunity to play bands I like – Classic and newer Metal – on our Rock 50 radio show. These bands energize me.
I am humbled to know many of you. Music lives and brings and maintains life. Music has always brought me through.
Stay strong, safe and live. Enjoy the site.
Long Live Metal.
--Bill Ward
