WHITE WIZZARD spoiled by Trekkie photographer

With a brand new, hotly anticipated Star Trek film opening tonight in theaters across North America, you'd be hard pressed to try and walk 3 feet without seeing an advertisment for the film or hearing about it on tv, radio, the web or from someone else nearby. Star Trek seems to be on the minds of many these days, including WHITE WIZZARD mainman, Jon Leon, who says; “I enjoy Star Trek, but I wouldn't call myself a hardcore Trekkie like those guys in the documentary. I love the show though and thrilled to see if the movie is as good as people say it is.”

However, Star Trek caused an unexpected consequence for the band last weekend while attempting to complete a photo shoot. “So I'm sitting in traffic checking the email on my phone;” says the WHITE WIZZARD bassist, Leon. “No one (in the band) had heard back from the guy yet and we were all scrambling to get to the meeting spot with a bit less than hour to go to the time we'd decided to meet. I'm glad I checked my phone when I did because I saw that he e-mailed me at the last minute and said that he totally forgot that he had to go shoot the Star Trek premiere at Mann's Theatre and that we had to cancel our shoot.”

Needless to say, any normal person would be upset in such a situation, but Jon kept his composure and made sure that they got the photographer out to shoot them in the end. As Jon positively states; “We did the best we could with what little time we had. No time for wardrobe changes, but the guy got some good shots for us.” In the end it was win-win for the lively traditional metal heroes. They came away from what could have been a very frustrating situation with cool shots…and ice cream? “The guy was very apologetic for what went down and bought us some ice cream. He told us how he couldn't miss the shooting the Star Trek premiere for anything since he was a (self-proclaimed) heavy Trekkie. On his way out, he even gave us Spock's patented “live long and prosper” hand signal.”

EARACHE's newest signings, WHITE WIZZARD formed in 2007 and shortly
afterwards recorded their HIGH SPEED GTO demo, which only made it into
the hands of a few select fans. Following a brief period of inactivity, the demo fell into the hands of Earache Records and the “High Speed GTO” song was included on HEAVY METAL KILLERS, a compilation featuring 13 tracks from the best new
traditional-sounding heavy metal bands. The band have since regrouped
around band leader JON LEON with a new line-up. Earache is set to
release the HIGH SPEED GTO tracks as a mini-album this Summer, with the band
working towards a full album due later in the year.

Check out WHITE WIZZARD's video for the track “High Speed GTO” at

WHITE WIZZARD's 2009 debut is driven by catchy riffs that aim straight
for the hips and the heart. The band is lighter than the norm – there's a
nimbleness to the WHITE WIZZARD attack and genuine commercial hooks race
through all seven songs on the HIGH SPEED GTO mini-album.

For the latest dates and a sneak peek at what WHITE WIZZARD has in
store in 2009, go to www.myspace.com/whitewizzard

Catch WHITE WIZZARD on these dates:

Apr 17 2009
PALADINO'S
TARZANA, California

May 8 2009
ON THE Y SACRAMENTO
SACRAMENTO, California

May 9 2009
EL RIO
SAN FRANCISCO, California

WHITE WIZZARD was also just added to the lineup of next year's Keep It True XIII festival. Visit http://www.myspace.com/keepittruefestival for more info.