ALL ACCESS LIVE with GUITAR PHENOM JOEL HOEKSTRA

New York guitarist Joel Hoekstra currently plays for Whitesnake and Trans Siberian Orchestra. Joel is also well-known for his work with: Cher, Night Ranger, the Broadway show Rock of Ages, his fill in work with Foreigner, Accept, his annual sets on the Monsters of Rock Cruise, recording projects like Revolution Saints, Iconic, viral collaboration videos with the likes of Dino Jelusick, Arnel Pineda, Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan and his acoustic shows with Brandon Gibbs. Exhibiting a knack for music education, he has also been a frequent columnist for Guitar World Magazine, taught at Musician’s Institute, Rockstars of Tomorrow, Guitar Workshop Plus and often been a counselor at Rock N’ Roll Fantasy Camp. Over the years, Joel has released 3 instrumental solo albums and 3 critically acclaimed albums with his side project Joel Hoekstra’s 13! Most recently he was the guest guitarist on Dancing with the Stars (Hair Metal Episode) and played with Cher at her Rock N Roll Hall of Fame induction and the SNL 50 Homecoming Concert.

We chat about Joel’s new record “From the Fade”, scheduled for release February 27, 2026. Pre-order the album here.

JOEL HOEKSTRA OFFICIAL SITE

ALL ACCESS LIVE WITH METROGNOME FOUNDERS NIC YANARIELLO and PAUL ANTHONY TROIANO

Metrognome was founded in 2011 as Puddletown Studios by touring musician and Rumblefish artist Nic Yannariello. Nic’s professionally touring band was illegally using a self-storage space as a band rehearsal space. Like countless other bands across the country, they couldn’t find a safe and reliable place to store their gear and rehearse. Seeing that countless other bands in Portland, Oregon had this same problem, Nic rented a warehouse and designed it just like a self-storage facility, but made it available exclusively to musicians and bands. The first location was fully leased before renovation was completed and the next 7 locations quickly followed on an annual basis to keep pace with demand… Fast-forward to 2022 and Puddletown was operating 8 leased locations, all full, with a paid waitlist and strong profit margins.

Recognizing that there was high demand and low supply in cities across the US, in 2023 Nic teamed up with Rumblefish founder, music-industry veteran and multi-exit entrepreneur Paul Anthony Troiano to focus on expansion. Nic and Paul re-branded Puddletown to Metrognome and spent 2023-24 significantly upgrading the brand, company operations, product offering and customer experience. Target markets across the USA were identified and a pilot of the upgraded model & product was rolled out in Portland at the company’s first owned facility – Mt. Tabor (MG9). The pilot was very successful, achieving 100% occupancy with a paid waitlist in less than 60 days. The location is now the most sought after facility by musicians in Portland and sets the tone for our national expansion.

METROGNOME OFFICIAL WEBSITE

ALL ACCESS LIVE WITH OUR LADY PEACE’S JASON PIERCE

Jason Pierce is a Canadian drummer, producer, and songwriter, best known as the touring and recording drummer for the rock band Our Lady Peace. Born in London, Ontario, and based in Toronto since moving there at age 19, Pierce began playing drums in 1989, influenced by his parents’ work as sound and lighting technicians in the music industry. Over his career, he has contributed to more than 100 recordings and toured globally in arenas and stadiums with a diverse array of artists, including Paramore, Justin Bieber, Evans Blue, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Nick Carter.

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ALL ACCESS LIVE WITH TRIXTER’S STEVE BROWN

Brown was born and raised in New Jersey destined to live a life submersed in music. The mostly self-taught artist picked up his first guitar at nine years old and never looked back. Brown began his lifelong love affair with live performing at the ripe old age of 12, when he became a regular on the voltaic New Jersey rock scene of the 1980s. At 12 years old, he began writing music, lyrics and founded his first band, Trixter. It wasn’t long before Steve led the mighty Trixter to a record deal with MCA, sold out arena tours and lived every aspect of the rock and roll dream.

In his 40-plus-year career, Brown has sold millions of records worldwide (RIAA certified gold album), written three Billboard Top 100 singles, starred in three No. 1 MTV videos, and shared the stage with the likes of KISS, Journey, Alice Cooper, Scorpions, Poison, Cheap Trick, Styx, Boston, Night Ranger, Rick Springfield and Tesla. As not only a master guitarist, but as an accomplished songwriter, singer, engineer, producer, and performer. Brown has become one of the music industry’s most sought-after and entrusted talents. From personal endorsements by Eddie Van Halen to churning out original music for some of television’s most popular hits, to regularly hitting the stage with an ever-growing list of rock and roll greats, Steve Brown is in constant demand. Steve’s newest endevour is Always Jovi — the ultimate Bon Jovi tribute experience that brings the anthems, energy, and excitement of one of rock’s most iconic bands to the stage with unmatched authenticity and passion.

ALL ACCESS LIVE with KATHRYN GRIMM

Award-winning recording artist KATHRYN GRIMM, who has been accused of being “Hendrixian”, “Phenomenal” and other grand superlatives is a Voice, Guitar, Bass and Songwriting powerhouse. Don’t let her diminutive size fool you – she is huge on talent and gusto. Her humbleness belies her profound skills that she’s honed since childhood. Kathryn’s beginnings were in Seattle but she blossomed in Los Angeles in various ensembles, including the notable “Group Therapy” alongside the tremendous Jeff Buckley. Kathryn now resides in Portland Oregon where she performs with her many projects.

YELLOW SNOW’S MIKE DiBIASE JOINS ALL ACCESS LIVE WITH KEVIN RANKIN

In November, Yellow Snow unveiled their much-talked about album, ‘Volume 1’ which features fun and must-hear renditions of holiday classics and original compositions. And along with the album’s release comes their next single/video, for the track “Man in Red.”

“‘Man in Red’ was the first original Christmas song we wrote,” explains Yellow Snow’s creator, composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and vocalist Mike DiBiase. “When it was finished , I said to myself, ‘Now this is exactly the sound I’ve always wanted to create for this project.’ I also think that since it was an original song, I could approach it from a completely new direction, and I had nothing to stick to in terms of melodies, arrangement, or sonic palette. It was a clean slate to go as outside of the lines as I wanted to.”

“Which also got me thinking, ‘Why not approach all the songs this way?’ I realized I could use the original composition as a template or a work tape, and then complete it however works best for the song. Sonically, everything came together once we merged these big, in your face guitars with the attitude and grit of the horns, courtesy of Curt Ramm and Bill Holloman. This is the sound of Yellow Snow.”

The “Man in Red” music video can be viewed via this link https://youtu.be/o2Zj0TZKplc, while the ‘Volume 1’ album can ordered via https://found.ee/yellowsnow.

For years, Rhode Island-born DiBiase — a lifelong musician and EMMY ® Award-nominated audio post production talent by trade — had “gifted” family and friends hard rock Christmas songs. He decided to bring them to the stage at a Rhode Island club in 2007 for the live debut of Yellow Snow, packing the house and donating a portion of the proceeds to various charities.

He annually headlined shows throughout the ensuing years stirring up a level of cult fandom among the initiated. The music also quietly took on a life of its own as DiBiase’s original song “Giddy Yup, Santa Claus” landed a high-profile sync on The CW’s Riverdale.

Armed with the framework constructed by DiBiase and his bandmates (Matt Baird, Al Diaz, Franklin La Barbara, Denise Gouvin, Jason Berndt, and Chris Piccirillo), he decamped to Nashville in order to finish recording what would become Yellow Snow’s full-length debut LP, ‘Volume 1’.

OFFICIAL YELLOW SNOW WEBSITE

J. ROBERT SPENCER JOINS ALL ACCESS LIVE

J. ROBERT SPENCER is a 2009 recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Shenandoah University. He is also a Tony Nominated Actor/Songwriter living in Portland Oregon.

J. Robert is best known to Broadway audiences when he was cast as the original Nick Massi in the Tony Award and Grammy Award winning show “Jersey Boys”. After performing over 1,300 shows in Jersey Boys, J. Robert would next be cast as Dan Goodman in the critically acclaimed and Pulitzer Prize Winning Broadway musical “Next To Normal.” His performance earned him a 2008-2009 Tony Award Nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. He was also nominated in 2008-2009 for a Midwest Emmy Award for Best on Camera Performance by a Leading Actor for his work on Sony and PBS production of Handel’s Messiah Rocks.

As a voiceover artist, he voiced the lead role of Sieta in the Critically Acclaimed and Award Winning Japanese Animated movie, “Grave of the Fireflies.”

In 2007, he was an Executive Producer with Wood Media Films for the environmental documentary titled, “On Coal River”. The Documentary was the official selection of Silverdocs, Camden, Hamptons, Chesapeake and New Orleans Film Festivals and 30 other festivals worldwide.

J. Robert has performed concerts as a solo artist with the Houston Symphony, Boston Pops, Detroit Symphony, Nashville, and Carnegie Hall. For the last 13 years J. Robert has toured the country and performed over 1,200 concerts with his singing group, “The Midtown Men – Four Original Stars from Broadway’s Jersey Boys”. The group has toured all over the country including Canada, Mexico City, and Beijing. The group also filmed their concert and a documentary for PBS titled, THE MIDTOWN MEN – LIVE IN CONCERT, and is available on all digital platforms and blu ray/dvd.

Bobby’s been leading his role in Next to Normal’s tremendously successful run in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the residency to wrap shows by Thanksgiving 2025.

SWISS METAL ARTISTS CHAOSEUM JOIN ALL ACCESS LIVE WITH KEVIN RANKIN

CHAOSEUM is a Swiss Nu-metal / Metalcore band formed in 2018 in Lausanne.The band has released four studio albums and one acoustic album. Their latest studio album was released on September 19, 2025. They present themselves as a band with music that blends various influences and an uncommon visual aspect. In 2020, Chaoseum gained notoriety particularly due to their song “Smile Again,”which reached over 13 million views on YouTube. The band is composed of CK Smile (vocals), Valery Veings (guitar), Kevin Sink (guitar), Greg Turini (drums), and Finn Broker (bass). The group is currently preparing concerts to promote the release of their upcoming album.

A DISCUSSION AMONGST FRIENDS: THE RETURN OF RUSH

After a decade-long hiatus, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have decided to return to the road, enlisting phenom Anika Niiles on drums to fill the role of one rock’s arguably greatest drummers. Neil Peart will be honored in their return, and many of my friends are rabid Rush fanatics… so we’ll be gathered together in a spirited forum to discuss the return – our feelings, excitement and reflections. Join me and Rod Morgenstein, Jason Bittner, Joel Stevenett, Dan Pred and a plethora of other Rush fanatics!

ALL ACCESS LIVE WITH JFELL MASTERMIND JASON FELLMAN

The man behind JFell’s Tribute Band empire, Jason Fellman returns to All Access Live with Kevin Rankin to chat about the legacy of the Mother of All Tribute Festivals: Harefest, the forthcoming FlannelFest and the debut of Seattle Retrofest.