Johnny Cash. Prince. Elvis Costello. Those aren’t the first acts that pop into your head when you think about the Jonas Brothers, the bubblepunk Disney Channel band that is currently making tween girls squeal as it tours across America. But Kevin, 20, Joseph, 18, and Nick, 15, insist those are the musicians that top their list of influences, along with some other unexpected names.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 11:59 AM
When Spinal Tap guitar god Nigel Tufnel gave a series of interviews to ostensibly promote National Geographic’s Stonehenge Decoded documentary, he also revealed his own controversial theories on the famous English archaeological site to interviewer Jim Piddock. Impressed by the production but still in stubborn disagreement with its findings, the Nige-ster summarizes the conclusions of his own long years of independent research.
Just remember three things: Dinosaurs, peat, and saliva.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 10:21 AM
It was a particularly weird story to begin with: In the midst of a mega-successful reunion tour, Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth was reportedly pulled over by Canadian police who spotted him driving recklessly near the small hamlet of Oakland, Ontario. Roth―or at least a guy who identified himself as Diamond Dave―told the officers that he was actually suffering from a severe allergic reaction to nuts. Frank Crytes, a musician who was also riding in the car when it was stopped, later told police the incident stemmed from the pair simply stopping for a doughnut―apparently one with nuts.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 4:51 PM
If the Black Keys said that they had invented the blues, their first five albums would support their claim. So would the kind of shows they used to turn in, captured with thundering accuracy on the 2005 DVD Live.
But the Black Keys have evolved. Their new album Attack & Release―out since April―ties the Keys’ mix of Iggy & the Stooges stomp and Mississippi hill country rumble to something more ambitious―an architecture of space, melody, and mystery that might alienate some of their fans. But now that the Keys have discovered dynamics, they’ve really got something cooking.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 4:48 PM
Gibson is extremely proud to announce an exclusive partnership with world famous guitar instructor Arlen Roth. Beginning Thursday, July 17, guitarists everywhere can visit Gibson.com for Roth’s free, firsthand instruction on the complete spectrum of guitar playing. A new online video lesson from Roth will become available each day, with every musical genre represented—rock, metal, blues, jazz, country, and alternative, among others.
A music lesson pioneer, Roth is the quintessential guitarist. An accomplished and brilliant musician—and one of the very few who can honestly say he’s “done it all”—Roth has, over the course of his celebrated 35-year career, become the leading authority on all things guitar.
Continuing to build on his tremendous musical legacy, Roth’s daily supply of music lessons on Gibson.com will be the most comprehensive lesson catalog available anywhere. And it’s all coming from the man who put music instruction on the map nearly 30 years ago.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 3:07 PM
In this excerpt from Tom Kolb’s core lesson on connecting pentatonic scales at GuitarInstructor.com, Tom shows you the position two pentatonic scale shape along with three sample licks. This is a quick and easy way to add variety to a solo and breakout of the standard pentatonic “box.”
Tom Kolb has taught guitar at the world famous Musicians Institute since 1989, and is a veteran of over 6,000 gigs and recording sessions. He has also authored numerous books and been the featured artist on many instructional DVDs published by Hal Leonard Corporation.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 12:03 PM
Backstory: Fresh off his three-year stint with Guns N’ Roses, Gilby Clarke was stoked with creative energy when he recorded this surprisingly tuneful solo effort in ’94. Looser and more freewheeling than his work in GNR, the album veers from Alice Cooper-style pop metal to riff-driven garage rock to country blues reminiscent of mid-period Rolling Stones.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 10:47 AM
Long before karaoke gave would be crooners the opportunity to embarrass themselves in public, a vintage series of instrumental records called Music Minus One allowed them to do it in private. Now, thanks to an anonymous source who leaked this tape onto the web, comes reverse karaoke―and the chance for the would-be Van Halen tribute bands of the world to save themselves the headaches of auditioning a faux David Lee Roth. It’s Diamond Dave’s original vocal-only track from the 1977 sessions that yielded VH’s classic debut album.
Just add your own Eddie, Alex, and Mike (or Wolfie).
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 9:26 AM
When I got word last week that Gibson had taken a bold step into the virtual world by officially launching its own Second Life Island―a popular computer game accessible through secondlife.com―I was intrigued enough to take a nice long stroll around Gibson’s eye-popping, guitar-centric virtual 3-D island. If you’ve never visited Second Life before, but you’re a big fan of Gibson, don’t be intimidated. Read on and I’ll give you the scoop on what to expect and how to get there. P.S., it’s free and really user friendly.
Monday, July 21, 2008 4:37 PM
The summer festival season rolls on. On Saturday, July 19 Village Voice’s seventh annual Siren Festival took place in Brooklyn, New York. As with every year this was rumored to be the final stand for the fest at this historic location before it is torn down to make way for condos and other urban developments. Thousands of rock fans converged on Coney Island for a long, hot (it was in the upper 90s!) day of music, margaritas, and all the Nathan’s hot dogs you could eat. Things got even hotter when Ted Leo DJ’d between bands.
Monday, July 21, 2008 3:03 PM
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