This weekend, hard rock and heavy metal fans will flock to Columbia, Maryland for the 16th edition of the M3 Rock Festival. Tonight (Fri, May 2nd), Sebastian Bach kicks off the three-day event with Snake Oil. David Lee Roth headlines tomorrow (Sat, May 3rd) with appearances by Accept, Winger, Slaughter, Steven Adler, Child’s Play, Red Voodoo, and more. The festival closes on Sunday with a long-awaited reunion of Stephen Pearcy and Warren DeMartini performing Ratt, Ace Frehley, Warrant, Great White, Lita Ford, Vixen, Spread Eagle, and Soundcheck Rock.

Ahead of the festivities, we had a chance to chat with Great White founder and guitarist Michael Lardie about their performance.

“It’s always great to play. We’ve been pretty lucky of late. We’ve been [playing M3] pretty much every other year, which is great for us. We’re doing a show up in Flint, Michigan. Got a travel day and then we’re over in [the Maryland, DC, Virginia area],” he tells us. “Obviously the fan base is, pretty perfect for our genre of music… And it’s cool to see everybody still doing it. I mean, that’s another thing that warms your heart, when you’re there and you’re doing the show with all the different bands that are there. it’s kind of like, wow, we’re still doing it. This is awesome.”

Lardie also discusses new music and more with us.

Check back for exclusive M3 coverage with reviews, interviews, and photos from the weekend.

California-based Great White is Lardie on guitar and keys, Mark Kendall on guitar, Audie Desbrow on drums, Scott Snyder on bass, and Brett Carlisle on vocals. Since 1982, the Great White sound has captivated audiences worldwide with crushing, blues-based guitar riffs and swagger that invokes an emotional high for anyone that listens. The band’s core writing team of Lardie and Kendall forged numerous hits over the years, and when Desbrow joined in ’85, the grooves hooked an amazing stride.

Four decades in and Great White enlists Brett Carlisle to take over vocal duties and lead the charge on hit after hit. That arsenal of songs include the Grammy nominated Best Hard Rock Performance hit, “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” Great White has sold over ten million albums worldwide, has six Top 100 Billboard hits, nine Top 200 Billboard albums, two platinum albums, and clocked the top of MTV four times.