RED DRAGON CARTEL, the band led by former OZZY OSBOURNE and BADLANDS guitarist Jake E. Lee, has been rejoined by singer Darren James Smith. Darren's first shows back with the group will take place on September 6 and September 10 in California, followed by a tour of Japan that begins on September 15. RED DRAGON CARTEL will take the rest of 2015 off from touring to hit the studio and start recording. The second album from RED DRAGON CARTEL will be ready for release in the first few months of 2016.Earlier in the year, Smith told "The Shoe With Miles Schuman" Internet radio show about RED DRAGON CARTEL's infamous debut live show in December 2013 at West Hollywood, California's Whisky A Go Go, which was widely panned due to Darren's out-of-tune vocal delivery and seemingly inebriated state: "None of us were ready for that show. We all met in Vegas, we had, maybe, four days rehearsal, we rehearsed the night before until about 4 a.m., got up at 7, drove to the desert, got to L.A. around 4 in the afternoon, or sometime early in the afternoon, and there was fans there and paparazzi from the minute we got there. So it was overwhelming. And the amount of time I had us being the headliner until we were on, and just the lack of sleep, and really not knowing what my job really was. Nobody in the band, not even Jake, nobody told me what my job was. It was just, 'Go and do it.' So
I don't know what people want. I just thought they wanted kind of Ozzy and stuff like that, and they wanted a party, they wanted to have fun, but that's not what they want. And at the end of the day, man, on my own terms
I mean, I just said, 'Okay, if they don't want that, I'll do it the other way.' I didn't realize that people would think I'm trying to upstage Jake. I was not; I was just doing what I do. But I got a handle on it. And there was no feeling between me and the band. The next day, I just came back to the drawing board, and then that was that. The very next night, I changed the rules a bit and everything was fine. But, I mean, we just played there [again in November], we'll call it the 'scene of the crime,' and we had a great show, like a phenomenal show. [And there was] not word about it. So we were talking about it afterwards, and it's, like, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to us, was that I set myself up to fail. Because it was nonstop talk. And we do a perfect show, [and there's] not a word about it."Regarding the negative Internet criticism he received about the first Whisky show, Darren said: "Everybody's a warrior or a soldier when they're sitting on their couch, scratching their balls. I mean, people are so tough and brave when they're in the comfort of their own home, but half these people making comments have never stood on a stage. And the ones that have stood on a stage
A real musician wouldn't shit on a fellow musician. So the way I look at it is, if you've got something to say about a fellow musician, well, you're just a douchebag. [Laughs]"He continued: "I'll be honest with you, I don't read or any of that shit. I never go online and read about it
I mean, in the beginning I did and it was very hurtful stuff, and it did affect me, but at the end of the day, I know what I'm capable of, Jake knows what I'm capable of, and things have changed. And I get no complaints now. But at the end of the day, I'm still doing this for me. [There are] people out there that still don't like me, but you can't be liked by everybody. You can't go through life trying to please everyone. It's futile."Asked if thought he "redeemed himself" in the eyes of Jake's fans since the first Whisky show, Darren said: "Less than 24 hours later I did. And I really don't care. And as far as redeeming myself, I'm more comfortable on stage now than I've ever been, and I just had to figure it out for myself. And, like I said, as a band, we were not prepared to play the Whisky. I wish we had done some warm-up shows here and there and figured it all out. I hadn't been on stage fronting a band for that long, for the length of a show, which is also exhausting, I found out [laughs], thus the treadmill before I go on tour. But I had to figure things out for myself. And I'm human, and I'm fallible, and I'm capable of making mistakes, just like every human being is. And the people that were really cruel about it, I could give a flying rat's fuck about it I just don't care but the people that like it? You know, cool. Cool. That's great. I'm gonna do it regardless if people like it or not. This is what I'm born to do. This is what I do."RED DRAGON CARTEL recently played several shows with former JONES STREET singer Shawn Crosby. Rounding out RED DRAGON CARTEL's touring lineup were bassist Anthony Esposito (LYNCH MOB, ACE FREHLEY) and drummer Jonas Fairley.Crosby made his live debut with RED DRAGON CARTEL on July 9 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Prior to hooking up with Crosby, RED DRAGON CARTEL was fronted by Canadian singer Paul D'Eath (CITIZENS UNITE, MUSHROOM TRAIL), Chas West (Jason Bonham, LYNCH MOB, 3 LEGGED DOGG) and Michael Beck.Beck made headlines in April when he sang the lyrics to Osbourne's "Now You See It (Now You Don't)" while the rest of RED DRAGON CARTEL played "The Ultimate Sin" at their first show together in Miami, Florida. Beck later blamed the mixup on the fact that he "had no monitors at all" and he "couldn't hear anything."RED DRAGON CARTEL in March announced the departure of bassist Greg Chaisson, who exited the group because he could "no longer take any more time away from [his] regular job."RED DRAGON CARTEL's debut CD sold around 5,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 69 on The Billboard 200 chart. RED DRAGON CARTEL's setlist includes new material like the singles "Feeder" and "Deceived", as well as major hits from Jake E. Lee's glorious past: "Bark At The Moon", "The Ultimate Sin" and "Rock 'N' Roll Rebel" (all originally recorded by OZZY OSBOURNE), as well as "Shine On" and "High Wire" (BADLANDS).Video footage of RED DRAGON CARTEL with Darren James Smith performing in Dayton, Ohio:
RED DRAGON CARTEL (featuring Darren James Smith) 2014 promotional photo:
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RED DRAGON CARTEL (featuring Darren James Smith) 2014 promotional photo:
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