Whitesnake’s next album is likely to be called Flesh & Blood. A press release detailing new tour dates for David Coverdale’s veteran band says that Whitesnake “are currently in the studio recording their tentatively titled new studio album Flesh & Blood.”
It will be the band’s 13th studio LP and the follow-up to 2015’s - The Purple Album. It is not yet confirmed whether it be released in time for the band’s mid-2018 tour with Foreigner and Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening.
But will it mark the full debut of Gibson Les Paul-toting guitarist Joel Hoekstra as a writing member? In a recent interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Coverdale said: “We’ve never had such an immense amount of positive material. I’ve worked, for the first time as writers, with Reb Beach and with Joel Hoekstra. Because when Joel came in, we were doing The Purple Album. And not only do we have great Coverdale/Hoekstra and Coverdale/Beach songs, but we have the three of us combining.
“The songs are f---ing excellent,” he added. “We have 18 or 19 extraordinarily positive, potent, juicy classic Whitesnake songs from balls-to-the-wall to blues, to epics to ballads. It’s kick-ass. It’s definitely got me fluffed up.”
When ex-Night Ranger guitarist Hoekstra joined Whitesnake, he had Gibson Custom Shop build him two bespoke Les Pauls (one black, one white) with the “Whitesnake” 1987-style medallion inlayed in gold. “There is something cool about starting in a brand new band, and having brand new gear makes it all the more fun,” Hoekstra told Gibson.com. “There is a great history of amazing players coming through the band, so it’s always an honor to follow in their footsteps. I feel blessed.”
Read the Gibson interview with Joel Hoekstra.
