Shadowing Practice: Ronnie Montrose Remembered: Ken Mary (House of Lords, Fifth Angel) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hey it's Junkman from VintageRock.com here on the red carpet at Ronnie Montrose Remembered in 2017
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and to my right we have drummer Ken Merry.
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How are you man?
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I'm doing very well.
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How are you?
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Good, good.
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Glad you can make it here tonight.
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Thank you so much.
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You know a lot of people who remember Ken from bands like House of Lords
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and a few other ones just you know just a shredder here you know He knows what he's doing, you know.
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Tell us about any Ronnie Montrose memories you might have.
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Well, I mean, obviously everybody remembers that first record with Sammy Hagar.
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I mean, I think all of us, when we grew up, it was kind of a formative record for us.
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Songs like Space Station No. 5, Rock Candy.
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I mean, just incredible music.
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I saw Ronnie play a number of times.
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Fantastic guitarist.
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I mean, the songwriting, amazing songwriting.
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I'm not going to say anything that probably everybody
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that does We're all gushing today Everybody's going to say the same thing But really, truly, musically Just one of those records that Stands the test of time That people,
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in terms of rock industry people Will always look back on As a record that really was
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Almost what you'd say A foundation for heavy metal For everybody that followed it Absolutely,
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and then everything that he did afterwards From the Gamma records to everything else that he did.
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He just had such a big plethora of styles, you know.
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But yeah, we always remember the first time you hear everything, you know.
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It's like your first bike, your first girlfriend or anything like that, you know.
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You just never forget, you know.
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So what's happening for you for 2017?
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Well, it's going to be a very interesting year.
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I was just talking about this with a friend of mine out here.
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One of my high school band, Fifth Angel, which is, because we were on Epic Records for two albums.
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Your high school band was on Epic Records?
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Yes.
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Cool.
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Kind of a cool thing, yeah.
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At the time, Michael Jackson was on Epic Records, so it was the biggest record label in the world.
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And the band has a pretty massive cult following in Europe, so we're headlining a festival that's sold out.
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It's called the KIT Festival, the Keep It True Festival.
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It's right outside of Frankfurt, Germany.
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Wow.
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And so it's gonna be the first time we've played together in a very long time Well, that's cool.
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I don't want to say how many years.
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I mean the first time we played together in a hundred years
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So it's a it's really gonna be a lot of fun
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and we're looking forward to it It's a great festival and
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and the band played at one one time before
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and I think 2010 And I wasn't able unfortunately to attend
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that and I've seen some footage and the crowd was singing along the words to every song.
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As they do in Europe and we love that.
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It was really cool.
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Everybody knew every song all the way through.
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I was going I don't even know these lyrics
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and they know the lyrics so it was it should be a good thing.
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So then we have a new Northern Light Orchestra album coming out.
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That project for anybody that doesn't know what
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that is it's a Christmas project and it features great amazing players from bands like Kiss, F.
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Leopard.
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I mean the list is a massive list.
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And Ken Merritt.
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Well, I'm on there, yes, and I also produce it.
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Well, there you are.
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So you can blame me if you don't like the sound of it.
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So that's going on.
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I mean, there's just a tremendous amount of stuff.
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So hopefully it's going to be a good year.
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It's been a good NAMM for you so far as well?
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It's been a great NAMM show and connected with a lot of people
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and a lot of companies I hadn't talked to in a long time.
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So a fantastic NAMM show.
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Well, nice to see you again, Ken.
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I appreciate you coming and talking with us here.
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Thank you so much for talking with me.
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VintageRock.com, and enjoy the show tonight.
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It's going to be a blast.
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Great.
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Dan Junkman from VintageRock.com with Ken Merritt.

Who Is This Video For?

This video is perfect for intermediate English learners aiming to improve conversational fluency and cultural understanding. It fits those practicing IELTS speaking or casual dialogue, as it features natural, unscripted exchanges with real-world topics (music, memories, career updates). The pace is moderate, making it ideal for shadow speech practice—repeating phrases aloud to mimic rhythm and tone.

Words & Idioms Worth Stealing

  • Shredder: A skilled musician (especially a guitarist/drummer). Example: "He’s a shredder on the drums."
  • Gushing: Speaking with great enthusiasm. Example: "Everyone’s gushing about the concert."
  • Plethora of styles: A wide variety of styles. Example: "The artist has a plethora of styles in their work."
  • Cult following: A dedicated, loyal group of fans. Example: "The band has a cult following in Europe."

How to Get the Accent Right

Focus on the speaker’s casual, conversational tone. Notice how "kind of" and "you know" are used to soften phrases—common in American English. For improve English pronunciation, practice stressing key words in sentences like, "It was kind of a cool thing" (stress "cool"). Use shadowing by pausing the video and repeating short segments, matching the pace and intonation. This helps with natural flow, critical for IELTS speaking practice. A shadowing site can enhance this by letting you record and compare your speech to the original.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.