TESLA's JEFF KEITH Wins ANIMAL RESCUE FOUNDATION Award: Interview, Photos Available

TESLA vocalist Jeff Keith was presented the Evie Award by Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) founder / St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa at ARF's 16th annual Stars to the Rescue gala on January 6, 2007 at the Dean Lesher Regional Center in Walnut Creek, California. The Evie Award is given to those who display excellence in the compassionate care of companion animals. "It's probably the most special award I've ever gotten in my life," Keith commented after the show in an exclusive ZRock interview. Here are a few excerpts:

Jeff: We went to El Paso a couple of months ago to record, and then we went back there last month to mix the album. We did a covers record of a bunch of our favorite '70s songs. We're going to release the album, I think, in April. Tonight we did "Signs" and "What You Give" and a LED ZEPPELIN song called "Thank You". It's such a beautiful song. You can't go wrong with it. So that was the song I think they we're talking about. So it's not a new song.

ZRock: Do you have a name for the new project yet?

Jeff: Yeah. I don't know how much I'm supposed to be giving out, but I think we're going to call it "Real 2 Reel" ( R-E-A-L to R-E-E-L) because we did it on two inch tape, which nobody hardly ever does anymore. We wanted that warmth of the two inch tape. That way it's real. Because with ProTools, let's face it — you can make anybody sound like anything. When it comes to tape, you're recording whatever you're laying down, so you've go to feel it. We kept it real-like-live. We would do two or three takes and go in and pick the best take, maybe fix a little part here and there. Of course all my vocals were scratch — and then when I would go in to do the vocals, I would do the same thing. Sing through it like three takes and pick the best one.

ZRock: It's like the liner notes for "Mechanical Resonance" — "NO MACHINES."

Jeff: That's correct. That's exactly what it's all about. We take pride in being just a blue collar, blues-rock band, and we like to keep it as real as we can. Whether it's good or bad — it's real.

ZRock: I'd also like to get a little background on your latest experience involving four legged friends.

Jeff: When we went to do this covers record, we went to the supermarket the day after we got there. I saw this female dog. I could tell she was the mother of some pups — she was full of milk and just skin and bones. I fed her that afternoon and fed her that night. I went back the next morning and started investigating. And there, in this abandoned lot, on the other side of this short three-foot chain link fence, was this hole with six pups. So, we finished doing all the recording in seventeen days, and the band flew home on the day before Thanksgiving. I got a rental van and a 50-inch flat screen TV cardboard box. I got Cali and the six pups in the van and we drove from El Paso to California.

Read the entire interview, and check out photos, at www.zrock.com. Fans can also register to win an autographed copy of Tony LaRussa's book, "3 Nights in August", by submitting comments about their favorite TESLA song to [email protected].