AUTHOR CHRIS AKIN AND THE CLASSIC METAL SHOW TO HOST MELODIC ROCK FEST 5 IN CHICAGO MAY 4-6, 2018
Arlington Heights, IL - Chris Akin, author of CAUSE & EFFECT: MOTLEY CRUE and one half of THE CLASSIC METAL SHOW, will act as host of the three day hard rock festival known as MELODIC ROCK FEST 5 at the Home Bar in Arlington Heights, IL on May 4-6, 2018 www.melodicrockfest.com.
The festival, which features rare US performances by Crazy
Lixx, FM, Boulevard, H.E.A.T. and more to be announced.
While attending the event, Chris Akin will be doing a book signing each day for his books CAUSE & EFFECT: MOTLEY CRUE, CAUSE & EFFECT: METALLICA, CALL ME CHRIS and LITTLE VICTORIES.
The Classic Metal Show, featuring Chris Akin and co-host Wendell Neeley, can be heard every Saturday live from 9pm to 3am EST at www.theclassicmetalshow.com.
About Chris Akin
Chris Akin is not the kind of person you would expect to write books.
Chris Akin is the kind of person you would expect people to write books about.
For over 20 years, Chris Akin has been a larger and louder than life character in the media ofone of the countries most major markets - Cleveland, Ohio. Chris has held a myriad of positions in the Cleveland media. He got his start in the media writing for the biggest free music and entertainment magazine in Cleveland - SCENE Magazine. Additionally, he was a regular contributor for magazines such as the short-lived BUZZARD BONE, the online zine BLOGCRITICS and Chicago's MIDWEST BEAT, to name a few. Never being satisfied, Chris soon decided that he would expand past those projects and start his own magazine. So he started MUSIC'S BOTTOM LINE; a no-bullshit magazine that challenged the Cleveland print medium to keep up as it became the most respected publication for pure music coverage. While the other magazines in town focused on selling advertising, MUSIC'S BOTTOM LINEkept it's bottom line focused on music.
At the same time, Chris took to the radio to become one of the most acknowledged and feared radio hosts in Cleveland. Hosting THE METAL SHOW on Cleveland's biggest radio station, 100.7 WMMS and then later at 92.3 WXRK, Chris found incredible success on the strength of testing every boundary that program directors, the FCC and just common decency would allow. Regularly in trouble with station management, but more beloved for their hard hitting style, THE METAL SHOW took the Cleveland Metal Scene by storm for well over a decade. Still, Chris needed more, so he went to the internet where his rebellious ways could go unchallenged, joining THE CLASSIC METAL SHOW and converting the show from a mostly music program to a ferocious, attacking show that had no guilt about anything.
Chris Akin was on top of the world with his radio and written ventures, but when you live that high on success for a lot of years, you generally forget to prepare yourself for any sort of fall whatsoever.
That fall came on June 22nd, 2012 when his wife of over 23 years left him and soon filed for divorce. Unprepared emotionally and completely unable to cope with a failure such as this, Chris quickly spiraled into an out of control depression, considered taking his own life, and through a lot of surprising circumstances, made the decision and found the way to change his life for the better.
LITTLE VICTORIES is the story of a shock jock's emotional struggles. It's a real world, raw emotional look at a year that saw not only a shattering divorce, but a rebirth of a person who had spent his whole life raging against everyone, everything and who purposely pushed every button to come off as the most powerful person in any room. It profiles the victories as well as the defeats; some of which are so sickening in emotional scope that they leave you questioning how his friends ever stuck around to see him through the tough times.
...and the friends? They are numerous, highlighted by a group Chris calls "The Core 9". This collection of 9 friends are who the book is truly about, as these are the people that saw through the blustery public facade of "Chris Akin" and challenged him at every turn to get better.
LITTLE VICTORIES is a definitive story about learning how much you hate things about yourself, and working hard to fix them. It proves that almost any change is possible if you truly want it. It showcases how far you can come, even in the most dire of circumstances. In short, it shows that no matter how bad things get, nothing is final until you quit on making it better. In Chris Akin's case, he never quit for a second.
While LITTLE VICTORIES showcases a side many might not expect from Chris Akin, he's gone back to basics with a brand new writing venture.
Dubbed as the "Cause/Effect" Series, Akin has decided to analyze and write a series of mini-books to look at many of the albums during his lifetime which changed the way his focus changed on the music business during this time.
The first book in this series is CAUSE/EFFECT: METALLICA. With this release, Chris Akin takes a look at one of the most iconic and polarizing releases in the history of recorded music, Metallica's self titled 5th release commonly referred to as "The Black Album". With METALLICA, the San Francisco quartet did far more than adapt their sound to the masses. They alienated their core audience, gained a far bigger audience full of casual music fans and changed the way commercial radio would be programmed while selling over 30 million records worldwide and establishing this release as the biggest selling album in Soundscan history. CAUSE/EFFECT: METALLICA does just what Chris Akin is known for, it tells the story of this time of transition as seen through the eyes of a diehard Metallica and fan of Heavy Metal.
Having found a love for writing over the course of writing LITTLE VICTORIES and CAUSE/EFFECT: METALLICA, Chris decided to write a book that was much closer and deeper to himself. Back in 1994, Chris was involved in a nasty industrial accident that left him badly burned. With over 69% of his body burned and 52% being third degree and needing skin grafts, it was assumed that he would not live long after this accident occurred. Following were diagnosis' that Chris would lose limbs and never walk correctly again. For Chris Akin though, that's nothing more than a challenge which, as he always does, he tackled head on. CALL ME CHRIS: A TALE OF HEALING, RECOVERY, SELFISHNESS AND RESOLVE was written merely as hand therapy at first. After discussions that never ended positively about publishing it, Chris not only buried this book, but the feelings it caused, away in his psyche for over 20 years. With the success of LITTLE VICTORIES, friends and family were quick to tell him, "that book was good, but you have to put out that burn book you wrote." With much prodding, Chris decided the time was right to revisit this horrible time in his life. Written over the last 8 months of 2015, CALL ME CHRIS graphically describes not only the accident he was in, but the treatment he went through in painstaking detail. It showcases things many people probably don't acknowledge, to go along with the things people do. Painful as it is, Chris focuses on how selfish he was in recovery, how it changed his mental approach to everything he did (and not always in a good way), and how ultimately he went on to become one of the biggest burn survivor success stories his doctors and nursing staff ever encountered.
Chris has returned with his second book in the "Cause/Effect" series. In this mini-book, Chris has chosen to remember back to the 1994 release of MOTLEY CRUE, by the band of the same name. As many may remember, this was their first release after vocalist Vince Neil left the band and was replaced with somewhat unknown singer John Corabi. The album was vastly different than anything Motley Crue had released previously, which caused a near instant divide in the band's fanbase. Many fans decided to abandon the band and follow along with the former vocalist. Still others felt like MOTLEY CRUE was the best album the band ever did. To say the least, MOTLEY CRUE was the most confusing release in the history of Motley Crue. It's still one of the most talked about today. CAUSE/EFFECT: MOTLEY CRUE looks back at this release through the eyes of Chris Akin, showcasing his personal experiences as well as many of the stories and rumors that were running rampant around the band at the time.
Connect and follow Chris Akin at:
www.facebook.com/chrisakinbooks
www.twitter.com/chrisakinbooks
Book Bio: http://www.chrisakinbooks.com/cause-effect-motley-crue
Chris Akin Bio: http://www.chrisakinbooks.com/about-chris-akin
