The East Coast punk rocker was first drawn in by the "pure malevolence coming out of the speaker" and Eddie's ability to make "pure evil with a guitar."
Remembering PG's resident bass ace—a one-of-a-kind friend and dad, and quite possibly the world's most loud 'n' proud David Lee Roth fan.
We're heartbroken to share the news that longtime associate editor Rich Osweiler—Premier Guitar's resident bass ace—passed away early this April at far too young an age. Rich worked in guitar publishing for 20+ years and was known throughout the industry for his easygoing nature and verve for life. His love for music, bass, guitar, skiing, scuba diving, biking, and everything in between was only exceeded by his matchless dedication as a dad. Everyone at PG loved Rich. He was unflappably positive, professional, kind, charming, dependable, and funny.
I met Rich in 2005 when I joined the staff at Acoustic Guitar magazine. We worked in separate departments, but right away he was one of the people I took to most. Like me, he was more of a rocker, and we became fast friends due in part to our mutual love of Van Halen. We stayed in touch off and on after I left AG, and then, within about a year of starting here at Premier Guitar, back in 2010, I ran into Rich as I walked out of the Anaheim Convention Center at the 2011 Winter NAMM show. As soon as I heard he was looking for something new, career-wise, the gears started working in my head. PG's editorial team was in desperate need of more hands, and I've always been a strong believer that knowing someone's character, personality, ethic, and work style is at least as important as anything else. I knew Rich was a stand-up guy, knew his personality would totally jell with our team, and knew his love of bass guitar would be a big boon to Premier Guitar as we expanded our bass coverage—plus, unbeknownst to me till then, he also had a journalism degree.
We brought Rich aboard as soon as we could after that chance meeting, and our team became faster friends with each passing day. Needless to say, despite knowing of some of his recent health issues, we were all devastated when we heard the news of his passing. None of us could believe it.
Everyone at PG loved Rich. He was unflappably positive, professional, kind, charming, dependable, and funny.
Because Rich worked remotely from his home in California, most of my interactions with him over the years have been via phone, Skype, or Slack. Though twice a year we'd get to hang a bit at NAMM. Favorite memories from those hangs include—after one of his many trips to the emergency room left him with a broken toe, foot, and/or ankle—seeing Rich haul ass around the convention center on one of those medical push-scooters. Because he was both kind of an adrenaline junkie and a bit of a klutz, Rich joked that the ER crew at his local hospital knew him by name. Apparently the klutziness subsided when it came to skiing, however. Friends who hit the black-diamond runs with Rich swear he was more agile on skis than on dry ground, fearlessly carving quick, elegant lines in the snow whether it was hard packed or waist deep.
Roth says, "Truth be told, Edward and I haven''t written a new song in 20 years."
Tokyo, Japan (January 13, 2013) -- In a new interview with Rolling Stone, David Lee Roth spoke out about his frustration with the direction of Van Halen.
Regarding the recent album and new material, he told RS, "I would certainly look forward to working with Ed on some new material, but we have yet to do that. Almost all of the music that you hear on our most recent album was written and demoed before the first album...truth be told, Edward and I haven't written a new song in 20 years."
He expressed similar frustration with the band's tour schedule, which has seen numerous dates cancelled and postponed, pointing out he's been back with the band for about six years and, "we have yet to travel to Europe, South America, Japan, anywhere outside of those basic 50 cities in the United States...I don't know where the Van Halen future lies aside from the States."
Roth's biggest frustration, perhaps, was in the absence of Michael Anthony. "It's a disappointment, just as not having a chance for a reunion of the original band...what we have at our fingertips is arguably one of the greatest high tenor voices ever – that was in Michael Anthony." He added that he's offered ways to make this happen, "But so far there hasn't been any response, so hope and faith are not actual tactics and strategies – they're strippers from Albuquerque."
Roth discussed an upcoming project with John 5 called, Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar & Grill that he says is an autobiographical "jukebox musical" in the style of The Book of Mormon with 15 songs they intend to take to the stage.
You can read the whole interview at Rollingstone.com