It has been a busy year for us, celebrating our 25th anniversary with some new songs, a cover of War Pigs and two more appearances on The Fox`s Den radio show.
What are we looking forward to in 2026? In the spring we (myself, Neil and the Pete Box) will be returning to The Fox`s Den for another session, which is always good fun and I get to stay up way past my bed-time!
There are also more new songs in the pipeline, with Kickin` The Sunbeams due for release in mid-January and Cyclone due for release in February or March. Further down the line expect songs about eagles, Merlin, and modern technology.
We are planning to support the release of each new track with a video, in fact Neil is currently putting together a very uplifting, sunny video for the new song. Hopefully it will add a dash of cheer during the cold dark weeks of January.
On that note I shall wish you a happy new year and may 2026 rock your socks off.
Only a few shopping days until Christmas, then we can all relax for another year. Well, not us, we shall be working on our next couple of recordings, ready to spring upon the world in early 2026.
The next scheduled release is Friday 16th January, and a new song written by Neil called Kikin` The Sunbeams. It is an up-beat, feel-good song to get you through the dark depths of winter. It may well have a debut on The Fox`s Den on Vixen 101 on Boxing Day, so tune and support all the wonderful new music that Bill will be playing.
We wish you all a relaxing break and all the very best for 2026. As always we really appreciate your support.
Keep rocking it old school.
Friday was another exciting day for us at PIG IRON HQ as our new track hit the streaming sites. The Illuminati is our first full band collaboration since 2021`s "One Song". It tells the story of that mysterious group who are still talked of in hushed tones around the world. It is already getting rave reviews including, "Sounds like the bastard offspring of Sabbath and Hawkwind!"
Last week was our debut on CMRS Radio One and Voodoo Radio courtesy of Bamlett and the Spark. We had a really good interview with presenter Paul, who asked about the origins of the band, the recording of our original material, influences and future plans. Hopefully that has sent a few old school metal fans our way, hello to you if you are one of them.
Talking of radio Neil, Rich and the Pete-box will be back on the Fox`s Den on Vixen 101 on the evening of Friday 24th October. Very much looking forward to playing some new tunes, some old favourites and a couple of significant cover versions.
Finally, Halloween will see the release of the video to accompany The Illuminati, produced by our very own Madbad Macnab. It is suitably dark and trippy, I think he had a lot of fun putting that together.
It is almost upon us – after a frantic few weeks of recording, mixing, mastering and preparing for release – our cover of Black Sabbath`s War Pigs will hit the streaming and download sites on Friday 5th September.
It has been a great experience to record this classic metal song, and we are very grateful to the publishers for giving us the go-head so quickly.
Ozzy and Sabbath were a very important influence on our band, and it has been fantastic to see how many people across the world were inspired by what they did. The love shown for Ozzy is incredible, long may it continue.
We will be making a return appearance on The Fox`s Den Show on Vixen 101 at the end of October, so no doubt we shall play War Pigs along with our own songs – perhaps one or two brand new ones.
Only two weeks after he took to the stage for the final time with Black Sabbath, Ozzy has departed this world . Only now are we realising the amazing effort and determination it took him to do that last show. Ozzy, we salute you and along with Tony, Geezer and Bill we thank you for changing the sound of rock and roll music forever.
I was reminded of local rock drummer and good friend of PIG IRON, Tivvy Stealer Gomersall. Despite being diagnosed with mesothelioma (as a result of the York carriage works failing to protect workers from asbestos in the 60s) he was behind his drum kit until a few weeks before he left us, over thirteen years ago. Like Ozzy, he left a big gap in the local music world and is still sorely missed.
We look forward to playing some of those great Sabbath songs again, and keeping the flame burning. There are plans being hatched for an Ozzy/Sabbath tribute gig in York next summer, and we have already put ourselves forward to play two or three tunes, watch this space for more on that.
In the mean time we hope, publishers permitting, to release our version of War Pigs as a small tribute to Ozzy and the rest of Black Sabbath. We shall continue to celebrate the best of British, old school rock and metal by keeping it at eleven.
So dig out your old Sabbath vinyls and turn it up, alright now!
It has been a busy month for the band - Rich, Neil and the Pete Box returned to Vixen FM (Fox's Den) to play a live session on Friday 16th May and the following Thursday night the full band hosted the Edinburgh Arms Jam Night in York.
We marked our 25th anniversary back in November with a special on Vixen FM, Rich chatted with presenter Bill Horncastle about the history of the band, the recording of Roc na Seann Sgoile and future plans.
The Jam Night saw the full band take to the stage for the first time in over a year, as Pete was making a rare visit to York for a reunion of his other band, Lost effect.
There are lots of new songs in the pipeline and we hope to make a start on recording them this summer. While we probably won't put them together as an album, they will be available on all our usual streaming platforms, so look out for news here.
Can you believe it, PIG IRON is turning 25 years old! On Saturday 6th November 1999 Me, Pete and Neil got together for a first jam session in my living room. We played a few songs that remained firm favourites in the set including Paranoid, Black Night and Breaking the Law. Here we are older, no wiser, the same line-up still playing those classic tunes (as well as some of our own).
We will be marking this anniversary with an appearance on The Fox`s Den on Vixen FM on Friday 8th November, with a look back over the years and playing some demos and live versions of our own songs. It has brought back memories of rehearsals in Richard`s barn, Pete`s shed and latterly, Dan`s Whiterooms (although we often go the black room, which felt much more metal).
Due to logistics it is unlikely we`ll be playing any celebratory gigs in the near future, but who knows, maybe next summer when we mark 25 years since our first proper gig. It`d be nice to dust off the amps and the kit and make some noise again.
Happy Halloween with a special shout out to Doreen and Stuart in Ripon. We miss those crazy Halloween gigs at The Magdalens. Keep turning it up to 11.
A very belated happy new year from PIG IRON HQ! The year got off to a quiet start, but that changed on Wednesday 13th March when myself and Neil went to see Judas Priest in Leeds with special guests Saxon. Those of you who have seen us live will know that songs from both bands feature in our covers set.
Neither of us had seen Saxon live before, and were blown away. As one of the stalwarts of NWOBHM they have been making albums and playing live shows since the late 70s and they still have it. Great sound, great set list, including a few of our favourites. Biff is such a good front man, clearly enjoying playing Yorkshire. The new album sounds fantastic too.
It is nearly 12 years since I last saw the mighty Priest live (on the Epitaph tour) and I was a little worried that they might have toned it down a bit. Not a chance, screaming twin lead guitars (although sadly Glen is no longer able to play live), thunderous drums and bass, and of course awesome vocals from the metal god himself, Rob Halford.
While the sound mix was not great (drums drowning out vocals for the first few songs) the performance was tight and the stage show was spectacular. The new songs (although they didn`t play many) sounded great. Unfortunately, thanks to the train timetable, we had to leave early. Not very rock and roll, sorry to admit.
If you haven`t heard the new Priest album, Invincible Shield, then I strongly recommend giving it a listen. There is an official video for the title track and Crown of Horns, both available on YouTube, given them a play. It has inspired me to get writing new material for PIG IRON and perhaps even getting a live show together for our 25th anniversary later this year. If Rob can do it at 73 years young, we have no excuse.