Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale Joins Trans-Siberian Orchestra Onstage in Ohio
The touring season has once again ended for winter-time staples Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The band plays a unique blend of metal and classical, with Christmas themes predominantly permeating their earlier work. On Dec. 30, the final day of the tour, the collective brought up Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale to sing "Forget About the Blame," a song she appeared on for their latest release, Letters From the Labyrinth.
The Hale-led version of the song is a bonus track on the album, but has gathered considerable attention due to the marriage of TSO's masterful, delicate songwriting and Hale's sultry voice. She was introduced onstage in Cleveland, Ohio where the band performed "Forget About the Blame" (video above) and the 1979 Ian Hunter hit "Cleveland Rocks" (footage below).
Throughout most of "Forget About the Blame," Hale is given the spotlight in the ballad-esque song. Slowly building on gentle guitar leads, the song reaches its apex when anthemic cord progressions collide with a tension-breaking melody and Hale's impassioned voice lets loose. Returning to the stage a few songs later for the finale, the Halestorm singer joined the band again to perform the ode to Cleveland. Upbeat and energetic, the cover is a perfect choice to not only close out the Cleveland show, but the tour as well, ending on a lighthearted note before the new year.
Speaking about how she came to guest on the album, Hale told Billboard, “In all honesty it was a complete honor and surprise to me. It kind of came through the pipeline that they were looking for my contact, so of course I’m like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ ‘Well, we have this great song and it’s a love song’ and, as [Paul O’Neill, Trans-Siberian Orchestra producer, songwriter] put it, they wanted somebody who had ‘the whiskey dust’ in their voice. They ended up coming to me in Nashville during our last little stint of time off and cutting it, and it was awesome, just an amazing group to work with.”
Letters From the Labyrinth was released on Nov. 13, 2015 and reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart.
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