‘It’s the same old crap’: Deep Purple alum Ritchie Blackmore’s hilarious preview of his forthcoming album

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Into a world of endless hype for every new project steps Ritchie Blackmore, whose band Deep Purple was recently announced as a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Asked about a forthcoming studio album from his subsequent group Blackmore’s Night, Blackmore was brutally, amazingly, hilariously honest.

Blackmore’s Night, a Renaissance and medieval-focused collaboration with the guitarist’s wife Candice Knight, issued its seventh studio project Autumn Sky two years ago. A live CD/DVD/Blu-ray project called A Knight In York, recorded in September 2011 and featuring the couple’s daughter Autumn, was issued this week in the USA.

Up next is a new studio effort, and Blackmore — who finished his third stint in Deep Purple in 1993 — tells Billboard magazine he has completed about 10 tracks. Even as sessions work continues, Blackmore’s Night will appear four times through early November: October 25 at Tarrytown, N.Y., October 26 at Stroudsburg, Pa., October 28 at Wilmington, Del., and November 2 at New York City.

[SOMETHING ELSE! REWIND: Glenn Hughes hints at the possibility of partial mid-1970s-era Deep Purple reunion with David Coverdale.]

The new tracks include “Troika,” inspired by a Russian folk song; an instrumental called “The Minstrel Hall”; and the Eastern European-infused “Dancer in the Moon,” which Blackmore admits is much in the same vein of his post-Deep Purple work with this new band.

“From my point of view,” Blackmore tells Gary Graff of Billboard, “it’s the same old crap that we’ve been doing for a long time. I’m not a person that goes in any direction, you know? I just play whatever I feel like at the time.”

As for Deep Purple’s nomination — along with Rush and Heart — into the rock hall, don’t expect the equally blunt Blackmore to attend: “Personally, I couldn’t care less,” he says. “I would never go. I’m not really a fan of that stuff. Considering some of the people that are in the Hall of Fame, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea, so I don’t care one way or the other, actually.”

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A Knight In YorkRitchie Blackmore\'s Rainbow [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]Autumn SkyShades 1968-1998

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