Bobby Blotzer's Ratt add new guitarist and bassist

Bobby Blotzer
Bobby Blotzer (Image credit: Getty)

Bobby Blotzer’s Ratt have added guitarist Mitch Perry and bassist Brad Lang to their lineup.

The pair will join the band next month following the departures of guitarist Nicholas ‘Blaze’ Baum and bassist Bobbie Crane last week. Perry has worked with several bands over his career, including Talas, Heaven and Lita Ford, while Lang performs in hard rock band Y&T.

The new lineup also includes Blotzer’s friend, LA Guns ex Stacey Blades, who stepped in on guitar duties for their festival shows last weekend.

In the meantime, longtime drummer Blotzer has temporarily recruited Slash bassist Todd Kerns for August shows.

Blotzer says: “Starting September 3 and 4 onward will be the great Mitch Perry on lead guitar, Stacey Blades on rhythm and lead guitar, Brad Lang on bass, the awesome Joshua Alan still fronting and yours truly chopping wood behind the kit.

“All these guys are longtime road veterans from very well-known bands. We’re definitely looking forward to playing with them.

“As always, the shows over the weekend are a testament to the people that love Ratt music – as performed by us with intensity and with great replication, which puts emphasis on the integrity that Ratt music should be treated with.”

The drummer had previously hinted that there were some issues within the band.

Blotzer told ClassX Radio: “Men have to become boys. They’d better grow up real quick here, because there are a lot of sailors out there that would give their leg to go out on this ship.

“I’m so proud of us, but I also wanna see people having their act together on every level. That includes me, too. Nobody’s immune from what we’ve got to do out there.

“I’m doing all the work behind the scenes, and these cats, all they’ve got to do is show up and do their part.”

Former vocalist Stephen Pearcy also hinted at a potential separate Ratt reunion after he met former bandmates Juan Croucier and Warren DeMartini at the Los Angeles birthday party of former RIP magazine editor Lonn Friend last month.

But he suggested that he’d wait until the legal process over the band name has played out, adding: “Good things come to those who wait. And we’ll see what happens.”

Blotzer’s Ratt continue their Re-Invasion tour, with a number of US shows planned over the coming months.

Ratt Re-Invasion US tour dates 2016

Aug 18: Des Moines Iowa State Fair , IA
Aug 20: Lancaster Glass City Event Center, OH
Sep 03: Dubuque Mystique Rocks, IA
Sep 04: Akron Goodyear Hall Akron, OH
Sep 09: Allegan County Fair, MI
Sep 10: Hinckley Grand Casino Hinckley Amphitheater, MN
Sep 17: Roanoke Rapids Theater, NC
Sep 23: Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, NH
Sep 25: Moorhead Bluestem Amphitheater, MN
Oct 15: West Memphis Mid-South Great Steak Cook-Off, AR
Dec 02: Nampa Ford Idaho Center , ID
Dec 03: Spokane Arena, WA

Pearcy: 30 years of Ratt 'enough'

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.