SLIPKNOT ANNOUNCE TOURING BASSIST

Pseudo-psychos Slipknot have announced their touring bassist for the band’s upcoming 2011 performances.

Donnie Steele is to fill in for Paul Gray on live bass duties, and was the original guitarist in Slipknot. 

The band commented: ‘Donnie was in the band at the very beginning, and rather than get an outsider, we thought it would be a fitting tribute to Paul to play with someone from within the family. Donnie was great friends with Paul and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate his memory than with someone who was there with us at the very beginning. The eight of us are looking forward to being onstage again and honoring Paul’s legacy with our families in Europe and Brazil this summer.’

Slipknot are to perform at a number of festivals this summer, including  Sonisphere in the UK and Bulgaria, Belgium’s Graspop Metal Meeting and Brazil’s Rock In Rio.

Frontman Corey Taylor has revealed he is still unsure that performing live sans Gray is the right thing to do:

‘It was a big decision. There’s still a part of me that’s kind of on the fence about it. It all comes down to the band at the end of the day and how we handle it. And if we can come together as men and handle it the right way and do it for the right reasons — do it for the fans, do it for the family — it could be the first of baby steps to see what happens in the future. The wonderful thing and the worst thing about this band is that there’s no other band like Slipknot, so we handle things the way we handle it.’

Dummer Joey Jordison stated in late 2010 that he and other members of the band were already seperately recording demos for new material, which he hoped to commence recording in early 2011, but Taylor has disputed this, claiming he has ‘no plans’ to make a new album with the band anytime soon.

After the confirmation of the Sonisphere gig Taylor tweeted, ‘Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about the tour. But it’s for the fans, and for the family. We’ll see. I don’t know when I’ll be ready to make an album. Might not be for years. But we will definitely play shows. We’ll see what happens.’

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