Born Joseph Fidler Walsh on November 20, 1947, in Wichita, Kansas, Joe’s early years were shaped by music and tragedy. His mother, a classically trained pianist of Scottish and German descent, filled their home with melodies, while his father, Lt. Robert Newton Fidler, a U.S. Air Force pilot, perished in a mid-air collision over Okinawa in 1949 when Joe was just a toddler. Adopted by his stepfather at age five, Joe took the Walsh surname but kept Fidler as his middle name.

The family relocated frequently: from Columbus, Ohio, during his youth, to New York City at age 12, and finally to Montclair, New Jersey, where he attended Montclair High School. There, he played oboe in the school band and even tried his hand at football as a tight end before an injury sidelined him. Too young to enter clubs, young Joe would sneak bus rides to Manhattan to eavesdrop outside venues like the Bitter End and Peppermint Lounge, soaking in acts like the Lovin’ Spoonful and Joey Dee and the Starliters.

Joe picked up his first guitar at 10, mastering the Ventures’ “Walk Don’t Run,” which sparked his lifelong passion. Inspired by the Beatles, he joined the Nomads as a bassist in his late teens. After high school, he briefly attended Kent State University, majoring in English with a music minor, but the 1970 Kent State massacre profoundly impacted him, leading him to drop out after one term to pursue music full-time.

Walsh’s professional journey ignited in 1965 with the garage band The Measles at Kent State, recording tracks like “I Find I Think of You” for Super K Productions. In late 1967, he joined the James Gang as guitarist, replacing Glenn Schwartz. The band slimmed to a trio—Walsh, drummer Jim Fox, and bassist Dale Peters (replacing Tom Kriss)—and signed with ABC Records. Their debut, Yer’ Album (1969), was followed by James Gang Rides Again (1970) and Thirds (1971), spawning classics like “Funk #49” and “Walk Away.”

The James Gang gained traction opening for acts like Cream and the Who, impressing Pete Townshend with Walsh’s melodic style. They appeared in the film Zachariah and contributed to its soundtrack. Walsh left in 1971, feeling constrained, but the band reunited sporadically, including for President Bill Clinton in 1996, a 2006 tour, and tributes like the 2022 Taylor Hawkins concerts. This period showcased Walsh’s raw, riff-heavy energy, laying the groundwork for his influential guitar work.

Post-James Gang, Walsh relocated to Colorado and formed Barnstorm with drummer Joe Vitale and bassist Kenny Passarelli. Their self-titled debut (1972) and The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get (1973) were credited as Walsh solo albums, blending rock with experimental elements like synthesizers and Caribbean influences. The hit “Rocky Mountain Way” (No. 23 on Billboard) became a staple, featuring his signature talk box.

Walsh’s solo career flourished with albums like So What (1974), featuring Eagles backups, and the live You Can’t Argue with a Sick Mind (1976). But Seriously, Folks… (1978) delivered the satirical “Life’s Been Good” (No. 12), poking fun at stardom. Later works like There Goes the Neighborhood (1981), You Bought It – You Name It (1983), The Confessor (1985), Got Any Gum? (1987), Ordinary Average Guy (1991), Songs for a Dying Planet (1992), and Analog Man (2012) showcased his range, from hard rock to introspection. Hits like “A Life of Illusion” and “Ordinary Average Guy“ solidified his solo status.

In 1975, at producer Bill Szymczyk’s urging, Walsh joined the Eagles, replacing Bernie Leadon. His arrival infused the band with edge, evident in Hotel California (1976), where he co-wrote “Life in the Fast Lane” and delivered the iconic dual solo on the title track—ranked among the greatest ever by Guitarist and Guitar World. The album topped charts, with “Hotel California” becoming a cultural phenomenon.

*The Long Run* (1979) yielded hits like “Heartache Tonight” and Walsh’s “In the City.” After a 1980 breakup, the Eagles reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over, with Walsh contributing to tours and albums like Long Road Out of Eden (2007). Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001, the Eagles‘ success owes much to Walsh’s guitar prowess and songwriting. His transformation of the band’s sound from country-rock to harder edges was pivotal.

Walsh’s versatility shines in collaborations: slide guitar on Vitale‘s solo album, contributions to Randy Newman’s Little Criminals, and tours with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Herbs, and supergroup The Best. He played with the Party Boys in Australia and formed short-lived groups like Creatures From America. As a session musician, he’s appeared on countless recordings, earning praise from legends like Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.

Personally, Walsh has been married five times: to Margie (1960s), Stefany Rhodes (1971–1978, with daughter Emma who tragically died in 1974), Juanita Boyer (1980–1988), Denise Driscoll (1999–2006), and Marjorie Bach since 2008. He has four children and battled alcohol and cocaine addiction until sobriety in 1994. Politically active, he ran a satirical presidential campaign in 1980 and supported causes like veterans through VetsAid, founded in 2017. Health-wise, he’s dealt with attention deficit disorder and dyslexia, but remains active.

Ranked No. 54 on Rolling Stone‘s 100 Greatest Guitarists list, Walsh’s influence stems from his innovative rhythm playing, creative riffs, and “attack” sound via hot-wired pickups. He’s a master of slide, lead, and rhythm guitar, blending rock, blues, and experimentation. Influencing artists like Dan Fogelberg, Maroon 5, and George Thorogood, Walsh drew from icons like Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, and Duane Allman—who taught him slide technique.

His gear gifts, like a Les Paul to Jimmy Page and amp to Pete Townshend, shaped rock’s sound. As a songwriter, singer, and performer across bands and solo, Walsh’s humor, humility, and fan engagement—dedicating songs and taking requests—endear him. He’s a “genuine guitar hero” whose five-decade career inspires generations, proving versatility and personality define influence.

Happy birthday, Joe.

May your riffs continue to echo eternally.

Joey Rival‘s past involvement with various bands, including Rival Order, has provided him with the necessary experience to present a unique metal sound that blends different styles. Presently, he has released an iconic melodic extreme metal track titled “Rooted in Blood.” Let’s explore and headbang!

A grinding groovy riff and subtle melodic guitars are what welcome you right when you play Traumatic Reflections, as Joey Rival‘s writing skills shine in the way he took his time creating the hottest build-up for the verse’s brutality. Reaching the verse, Rival played a heavy riff with a powerful groove and brutal attacking vocals that’ll send you off your seat headbanging while he keeps on pushing towards a bigger and more open sound that reaching the chorus, gets its final shape. Joey Rival‘s full awareness of creating a hooking dynamic structure appears clearly in his writing style, he keeps on taking the listener through heavy dynamic shifts, keeping him/her focused and entertained using blasting riffs, diverse vocal delivery, pounding drums, multi-layered melodic sections, and deep atmospheric electronics without breaking his dark mood or compromising his dense sound.

Joey Rival managed to create a tune that kept me busy playing it over and over again, a tune that has everything a metalhead looks for from banging riffs to open-sounding relieving melodies and shredding solos, all in a solid energetic structure that says a lot about his clever writing. Will definitely be looking forward to more from Joey Rival, cheers, and keep on rocking!

• Hey Joey! First, I salute you for your original metal output guys! Well done! Tell me how you plan to work online and when the idea of forming an online band?

Thank you, As far as working this project as an online thing, it was something born out of my circumstances at the time. Funny thing is we were doing social distance before it was a thing. I and the other guys all have other projects, families, jobs or just responsibilities that were making the traditional way of doing a “band” difficult. I decided to go about it a different way and here we are making it work. This way of making music fit when shutdowns happened and didn’t hold back production.

• It was a tough time to release “Beginnings” during the pandemic, it was a motivational move for you guys, right?

Beginnings was done and planned to release just as the pandemic started and I had already started writing music for the follow-up release beyond the ashes as everything really swelled to crisis levels. The release was defiantly not where it could have been as a result and that motivated me to push harder for “Beyond the Ashes” Once that went into full affect it most defiantly had its influence on my metal state regarding my lyrical direction for the new material. I wrote as an escape through a lot of the ups and downs I was dealing with at the time, both personal and with the band. I used the project as a goal to focus on during the stress of everything else around me.

• Is being each one of you in a different country lacking to fasten the process of the band?

I will be the first to admit that us being spread out and working this in a distanced manor has its challenges. That being said I also feel excited that we are doing something different and maybe influential to others who may think they are limited in options for being creative and who they are creative with. I am thankful for the group I am working with and the input each person brings to the table. I would say it’s been a great process and the work flow we have set up makes it move in a stead way.

• So the process is that each one records at his own home, but who handles the final mix and mastering retouches for the whole project?

I have a close friend in Danymal Sound who I have known for quite some time and when the project started he was the first to come to mind. Once we have all taken care of our tracking and I have the rough mix, I send everything to him. Mastering was a recommendation by Danymal to use Andy Vandette who has worked with some big name artist and we were very excited to work with. I think based on what we could do without major backing, we achieved a great end result that I am happy with.

• Oh, god! 5 tracks EP and I love them all, which rarely happens for someone like me! I’m curious, what inspires you guys for early songwriting stages?

Thank you! That means a lot to hear. My writing process typically starts with the music first. I will find a riff I’m feeling and build on it. Throughout that process I am looking for the vibe of the song, what is it saying to me as far as the direction for the lyrics. Each song grabs me differently, emotionally and when I find what that is I run with it lyrically in that direction. My inspiration comes from all over and could be anything from what I may be going through, to a movie or other piece of art that sparked something in me.

• Beyond the ashes acclaimed by critics and fans alike. Tell your fans about how Dirk Verbeuren joined the Rival Order forces.

This was truly an honor to work with Dirk, someone of his talent and influence. He defiantly helped elevate these tracks to the next level. Just as we were getting into the production for this EP we lost our drummer Kurt Holtz due to availability issues. I had hit a wall for who would fill the spot and I took a chance and reached out, and to my surprise I got a reply. After some back and forth and checking out what I was doing musically he was on board. I couldn’t have been happier with what he did and having him with us throughout the mixing process to lend his expertise and opinions.

• ‘Another Life’ music video is one of my favorites in 2021. Are you planning to release another one soon?

Yes, most defiantly! For us doing this project the way we are, I believe content is key. We are always looking to do more music videos, play through, live streams, and really engage with the fans. We will have some lyric videos coming soon as well as others.

• Since a lot of bands have some fusion in their records these days, still, you prefer to keep it melodic death using old-school and modernizing techniques. Are you against music styles merging?

Defiantly not against it and I love hearing all kinds of creative things people are doing with their music. To me that’s the point of art and music, to be expressive in your own way. My style of writing and the Rival Order sound I guess can’t be helped with what I grew up listing to most and learning to play. I’m very much an old school kind of person but have a love for all types of music. I just write and play what comes to me and follow the direction the song takes me. But I love hearing how other groups write and all the different styles. Variety is the spice of life.

• I am wondering, you guys are very creative and original, still, you preferred releasing just an EP instead of a full-length one. Can you please elaborate?

Some of this decision comes down to time and money. Not having major backing and a set budget forces us to make certain decisions. We try to make the best possible choices without sacrificing the quality of what we are doing. We also have found for up and coming artist in today’s streaming world with demand for always the next thing, full length albums for us just doesn’t make sense at this time. More singles or Eps are much more feasible but some day would love to do an elaborate full length album.

• Finally, thank you for the chat and tell your fans about your 2021 plans, especially that the live scene isn’t active enough recently.

It’s always a pleasure and to the fans you can always expect that as long as I am able to keep writing I will keep putting out music for Rival Order. Someday I would love for us to make it to the stage but till that day we will keep bringing you more content, and more music. Now that Beyond the Ashes has finally gone live we will begin writing for the next few tracks and plan to keep pushing forward into the New Year.

⦁ Congrats guys on such an amazing single. Tell me more about the band formed back in 2019.

The group concept and name were something that came to me when I had seemingly given up on doing anything music-related. I had spent several years doing various projects the traditional way and one of the hardest things is getting the right people together, understanding the vision, and actually show up. So I decided to do things differently and made the group I wanted to achieve the vision. Had a great starting point with my bassist Lou and Kurt on drums, I already knew the voice that I needed for my writing style and to have made that connection with Chris and to hear it truly come to life was such a great feeling. For me the hardest part was nailing down the right lead player, Pat had worked with me for the first EP as I had still been searching for a full-time player. During final tracking with him for this new EP, I had a realization that no one would quite nail these parts the way he does so I asked about being a member, and here we are. Sadly Kurt had to back out during the middle of 2020 but I believe we got the right guy to take his place for this new release.

⦁ I noticed that you all rehearse and record online, was that process even before the COVID situation?

Yes, I started this project as a distanced thing, to begin with, because of the very reason I mentioned before about never finding the right people to work with, and sometimes your local options just aren’t there. It’s rather funny I had been doing it before the shutdowns so that had no effect on my progress. I would someday like to look back as one of the first groups doing things the way I am and not because of the pandemic.

⦁ you mentioned that it’s about “the struggle to be true to yourself and your art in the face of naysayers,” – does this about death metal acts or you discuss the topic in general?

So for me, the lyrics are a mixture of my view on the struggles to keep going as an artist and offering supportive words to anyone trying to achieve a goal in the face of adversity. It’s also a bit of an optimistic shout on my view for Rival Order, saying we are next in line, we’re here, listen! The cool thing about it is it’s also not specific to one topic and a listener can interrupt it in their own way. That’s the thing with music, it all hits us differently and for different reasons.

⦁ So do you think that the image of extreme metal is better than in the previous decades?

Absolutely, music has gone through so many changes over the years and constantly being pushed and pulled in new directions. Nowadays we have all been exposed to some very extreme and out-there styles so I like to think a lot of previous negativity around it has gone. For me that’s what’s so great about metal music as a whole, It has so much to offer artistically.

⦁ Next In Line is from your upcoming EP, does it discuss similar topics?

So the EP is called Beyond The Ashes and the overall thought process for that was written during most of 2020 and the tracks more or less reference a theme of battling personal demons, overcoming adversity, acceptance, and finding that will to keep going. Each song is uniquely its own yet follows this similar concept.

⦁ Although you are keen on the old-school death metal sound, you did impressive songwriting to add the modern metal arrangement. Tell me more about such a skillful songwriting process.

Wow, thank you for that. Oddly enough I never found or considered myself writing under a death metal style or trying to fit any style per say. I play what feels right and build on it as I try to let the song itself guide my decisions. I would have to lend credit for my style is influenced by a wide range of artists as I grew. I started with a cassette tape of Iron Maiden’s killers and years later found myself with my first Children Of Bodom CD. To me it’s all metal and all art, I could spend hours discussing my influence and the fact this music has gotten me through so much. I believe that is the basis of my style and who I am, creating a balance of aggression and melody to work together summing up a lot of who I am.

⦁ Dirk Verbeuren’s drumline took the track to an amazing different level. How did it happen and ask him to join?

In 2020 Kurt Holtz had to back out of the group for personal reasons. This definitely left me in a tough spot trying to figure out how I was going to complete the recording. I decided to start looking around and ended up emailing a few drummers and contacts I had made along the way. One of which was Dirk and I had taken a shot thinking I wouldn’t hear back. To my surprise I did and he liked the tracks. We discussed the project’s direction and what was needed, then before I knew it we were tracking. Working with Dirk on this release was an awesome experience and he is a pleasure to work with and obviously extremely talented. What we accomplished on these tracks definitely took things to the next level.

⦁ I loved Chris Clancy’s melodic singing style with his powerful growls. It seems like you’re not into brutal death vocal style, am I right?

Chris is exactly the voice I wish I had haha, and what I needed to perfectly achieve my vision. Typically my favorite style of growls has been in that brighter range as the majority of my influential years were spent in thrash metal. Don’t get me wrong I have a love for some deep vocals as well but I am more drawn to the brighter tone as well as singers who have that melodic ability.

⦁ Finally, when will you release your EP, and how you gonna promote it especially that the COVID effect still exists?

We planned release date of August 27th Before that in June we will release another single off the EP. Promotion is definitely its own beast and kind of a full-time job. Thankfully though online is where we spend most of our time. The band and its promotions started distanced and have operated as such. We use any of the outlets we can and are very thankful for the people out there that follow and support us.

You know, it’s been ages until I found a melodic death track that I really adore from the first riff. I have always been a fan of late ’80s/early ’90s metal bands, but I can’t recall that any groups caught my ears in the 2000s, until today when I listened to Rival Order‘s Next In Line.

The answer is pretty easy, imagine that I am talking about the original old-school death metal sound in a modern metal arrangement, impressive right? The vocals are pretty stunning because featuring Chris Clancy on vocals was a great choice indeed, his singing capabilities amazed me really and not like other death metal singers who just about brutal annoying voices, also, I should mention that the songwriter is like the film director, Joey Rival songwriting is pretty stunning and that what made a great sound lead guitar sounding by Pat Reilly and incredible bassline by Lou Hannoe. To complete such an extraordinary picture, I will add the outstanding Megadeth drummer, Dirk Verbeuren. Definitely, we should salute the sound mix by Danny “Danymal” Lee and the mastering process by Andy Vandette for giving THE BEST MELODIC DEATH METAL IN 2021. Feel it below and try to control your head!

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