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LEATHER LEONE Returns With SLEDGE LEATHER Debut

May 7, 2012

In absence for more than two decades, we embrace new material from Leather Leone (CHASTAIN, RUDE GIRL, MALIBU BARBI) and drummer Sandy Sledge (RUDE GIRL, MALIBU BARBI, WARBRIDE, WEAPONSVAN) in their new project SLEDGE LEATHER.

The SLEDGE LEATHER debut album, "Imagine Me Alive", was inspired in 2010 when Leather Leone called Sandy Sledge to collaborate on the Ronnie James Dio track "Egypt" for a demo tribute recording. Due to the overwhelming response for more material, SLEDGE LEATHER was born and were confirmed for Germany's Keep It True festival in April 2011.

SLEDGE LEATHER entered the studio in 2011 to record "Imagine Me Alive", engulfing the listener in an onslaught of heavy metal with 11 cohesive tracks that resurrects a classic heavy metal sound with DIO's former bandmembers Scott Warren (keyboards),and Jimmy Bain (bass).

"We wanted to finish what we started with RUDE GIRL in the '80s — straight-up heavy-ass metal," Sandy Sledge explains, "This album truly shows the different ways that Leather's voice can create music."

Leather Leone comments: "It's great for me to finally have a huge say in what's written and how it's written. With Sledge, I feel like it's writing with a soulmate — same beliefs, same ideas — because we are writing what comes to us naturally and what comes to us naturally is HEAVY music. This is metal. It's just 'metal.' Heavy, metal."

Respected industry friends Mike Varney and Monte Conner comment on SLEDGE LEATHER.

"Sledge and Leather are the most powerful team of female rockers on the metal scene today," says Mike Varney, founder of Shrapnel Records.

"Leather sounds as great as she ever did and kicks even more ass than she did in the '80s!,” says Monte Conner of Roadrunner Records.

SLEDGE LEATHER's album lineup includes Leather Leone (vocals),Sandy Sledge (drums),Matthias Weisheit (guitars),Scott Warren (keyboards/orchestration),and Jimmy Bain (bass).

"Imagine Me Alive" is currently available from the band and soon through all online outlets.

A new audio interview with Leather in which she talks about the making of "Imagine Me Alive" has been been posted at RockOverAmerica.com:

* Interview Part 1
* Interview Part 2

A five-minute preview of the forthcoming concert DVD from SLEDGE LEATHER , can be seen below. The footage was filmed at last year's edition of the Keep It True XIV festival, which was held April 29-30, 2011 at Tauberfrankenhalle in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany. Performing alongside Leather at the show were MALIBU BARBI drummer Sandy Sledge, bassist Betsey Stephens and guitarist Brett Baugh (who has since left the group). The setlist contained a lot of CHASTAIN classics, songs from Leather's solo album and brand new songs.

A review of the forthcoming DVD can be found on the RockOverAmerica.com web site.

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