I’m sad to report that Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton has died:
Asheton was found at his home in Ann Arbor this morning, according to police.
A cause of death is yet to be confirmed, although initial reports suggest that Asheton died of a heart attack.
Zoom is set to release the H4N portable recorder. The H4N is the next generation of the H2
These things make for a great way to record shows. Remember the days of lugging around those bulky shit-sounding cassette 4-tracks that could only record 2 simultaneous tracks anyway?
Emagazine has an interesting piece about so-called sustainable tone-wood production (sitka spruce, mahogany, rosewood, etc.):
Bob Taylor, cofounder and president of Taylor Guitars, says it’s a simple function of “More people, more goods and a higher rate of harvest than regrowth.” And, he says, “We need good, quality wood.”
That’s why Taylor and competitors Gibson, Fender, Martin and Yamaha guitars have banded together with Greenpeace in what they’ve dubbed the “Music Wood Coalition.” Their goal? To encourage sustainable logging practices of sensitive species so that guitar manufacturers can continue to have access to the woods they need, and to protect old-growth forests from over-harvesting.
Not so sure they need to get Greenpeace involved given their clout as manufacturers, but I digress.
Martin has done a wonderful job with this in recent years. I recently acquired a Martin DX1 (by accident really)
USA Today has a new video interview with Ed about his new $3000 EVH Wolfgang. This guitar is unique in the sense that it’s been road tested by Ed on his 2007-2008 tour and allegedly incorporates many of the things that Ed has learned about guitars over his long career.
Love this:
And there were those Ed-isms employed to try to explain his complaints, if poorly. “Ed was always saying, ‘It needs to sound more like nut butter,’ ” Bruck says.
Check out this vintage pint-sized shredder (and playing a double-neck no less):
The guitar half of the Collins Kids is Lawrence “Larry” Collins from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Quite a player. And so gosh darn enthusiastic!
Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton will be appearing on stage together at two shows…in Japan. Bummer for us, great news for anyone in Japan. More about why this is so cool:
Both guitarists have roots in the Yardbirds, that blues-tinged British band that also lists Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page among its famous alumni. After the Yardbirds’ hit “For Your Love,” Clapton exited the band in 1965 out of protest of the group’s move from the blues to a new pop sound. Clapton’s replacement, ironically enough, was Jeff Beck, who was fired from the band in 1968 before they ultimately disbanded. Jimmy Page formed a band in late 1968 called the new Yardbirds, but you more than likely know them by the name Led Zeppelin.
Rock in those days was so incestuous. You know what I mean?
Apart from Johnny Cash, I’d never really heard of bands gigging in prisons. But it’s happening across the pond. And some musicians are giving guitars to prisoners:
Billy Bragg feels so strongly about what prison is meant to do that he founded a charity called Jail Guitar Doors (named after a Clash song) to provide guitars for prisoners. “As musicians, we all understand how music can help you transcend your surroundings,” he says. “That is especially important in a prison, where the individual is often reduced to little more than a number in a greater machine. If we are trying to get people to reflect about why they are there and come to terms with what they have done, music might help to get to the root of that.”
Learning guitar has a funny way of focusing you on positive things and ultimately teaches you life skills that have nothing to do with guitar, like discipline and lifelong learning. Who knows? Maybe it would make a difference.
Esquire has some quotes from the great guitaris/inventor Les Paul. My favorite?
Last time I saw Count Basie, he was in a wheelchair. They wheeled him up onto the stage, he sits down at the piano, and he gives the downbeat, and that band played like they were in heaven. And right in the middle, the band cuts. He had to take one hand and put the other on it, and he comes down with one note. And it was the greatest note I ever heard in my life.
Now that’s dedication to your art.
This excellent story makes me wonder why more companies don’t choose to treat their employees better, especially around the holidays. All I got were nasty-grams about the dire consequences of (gasp!) assuming the day after Christmas was a freebie and reminders that I’d forgotten to cough up $50 for the annual Christmas party mid-winter celebration the company won’t pay for.
Each year at Crispin, Porter & Bogusky, the holidays are always celebrated a little bit differently! This year was no different and the communications agency has created an innovative website far from what one would expect at a time when the rest of us were wrapping up our years. Crispin sent out 900 guitars to its offices around the world and gave its employees the chance to let their imaginations and musical spirits run free.
Where do I send my resume?
Blabbermouth is reporting that German producer/guitarist Siggi Schwarz is auctioning off an autographed Dean Flying V used by Michael Schenker (UFO, Scorpians) during the recording of The Michael Schenker Group’s In the Midst of Beauty. The link to the EBay site takes you to EBay Germany. Not sure how that would work from the States…
Anyway, here’s Michael for those of you who don’t know:
I’m going to be moving the blog to guitarbalooga.com over the course of the next few hours, so please hang in there until the switch is done!
Update: Jan. 4, 2009
The guitarbalooga.com domain is taking longer than planned to make it into the DNS table, so the switchover is postponed.
In addition, I managed to hose the post pages for a few hours. Sorry! Things should be okay again.
Just started reading this excellent new biography
Update: Jan. 4, 2009
Bio of Keith on YouTube. God, I love that site.
I don’t know about you, but sitting in a room playing over a (probably) lame blues progression in front of 22 other guitar players sounds like it would stupendously horrible. But, I guess that’s what they’re doing across the pond:
The man providing this startling reveille is called Michael, and he comes from Aberdeen. He has flown here to attend one of the increasingly popular Guitar Break weekends and is limbering up in his room for the day ahead. By 10am, he is sitting in one of the conference rooms with 22 other men - obviously - who have come here from all over the country for a two-day immersion in the art and technique of playing blues-rock guitar.
Sounds okay. Then this:
During the first day, everyone is invited to step up and improvise over a blues sequence in A minor, with the three experts immediately providing a critique of the performance.
Um, no thanks!
