Gibson/Baldwin
Moves and Grooves

The Thorns to 'Fly' with the Chicks

The Thorns will open for the Dixie Chicks on their upcoming European and Australian tour dates, to kick off Sept. 5 in Oslo, Norway. As mentioned in the cover feature, The Thorns are a rootsy new trio of singer/songwriters comprised of Shawn Mullins, Matthew Sweet and Pete Droge. While abroad, the trio will play some Euro club dates in Oslo, Copenhagen, London and Amsterdam and also plan to tape an episode of the British television show "Top of the Pops 2." Their self-titled album, released May 20, debuted at No. 62 on The Billboard 200 chart. The Thorns just finished touring stateside with The Jayhawks.

John Ratzenberg of "Cheers" to host "Made in America" segment on Gibson

John Ratzenberger, the loveable character "Cliff" the mailman of "Cheers" fame, will host an episode on Gibson Guitars for the program "Made in America" on the Travel Channel. Ratzenberger was also the voice of "Ham" the piggybank for the movie Toy Story. The Travel Channel will begin taping the half-hour program in Nashville on August 28th, and the segment will feature Gibson Custom, Gibson USA and the Original Acoustic Instruments (bluegrass) divisions.

Chris Isaak plays 'wicked' show at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium

Offbeat funnyman and sharp dresser Chris Isaak, host of "The Chris Isaak Show" on cable channel Showtime, rocked the house at the "Mother Church of Country Music," Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, on Saturday, Aug. 2. Isaak played his white custom ES-345 with Bigsby vibrola and Varitone throughout most of the show, but also strapped on an ES-295 while sporting a mirror ball suit (an amazing sight gag) and strummed a J-200. Lisa Marie Presley opened for Isaak, performing songs from her debut album, To Whom It May Concern. To read a complete review of the show, go here. Next month's Gibson/Baldwin Player will have full features with Isaak and Lisa Marie Presley's musical director, Michael Lockwood.

Lynyrd Skynyrd cuts tour dates with Sammy Hagar

Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd have again come off the road because of guitarist Gary Rossington's medical problems. Rossington, 51, who underwent quintuple bypass surgery in February, has been ordered by his doctors to go on house rest for at least three weeks following a mild seizure brought on by medical fatigue. Rossington is a founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and has two Gibson Custom signature model guitars, the Gary Rossington Signature SG and Gary Rossington Signature Les Paul, based on his guitar Bernice. The band was coheadlining Sammy Hagar's "The Party of a Lifetime" tour, and have pulled out completely, but will make those shows up at a later date. "We're hopeful that Gary will have a speedy recovery and look forward to performing in the near future," Skynyrd lead singer Johnny Van Zant said. If Rossington's condition permits, Skynyrd will return to the road Aug. 23 in Omaha, Neb. in support of their latest album Vicious Cycle.

Kelly Jones of Stereophonics featured with his Gibsons in Guitarist magazine

Lead singer/guitarist Kelly Jones of UK alternative rock band Stereophonics is pictured on the cover of the month's Guitarist magazine with his Les Paul goldtop. In the article Jones speaks at length about his LPs, SGs, J-150s and especially his ES-336. Stereophonics new album, You Gotta Go There to Come Back, will be released stateside on Aug. 10 and is currently at No. 4 on the UK charts after nine weeks.

Michael Feinstein and legendary tunesmith Jimmy Webb to bow new album

Baldwin artist Michael Feinstein is collaborating with one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Jimmy Webb, on a new album to be called Only One Life. The stellar project will be released on the Concord label October 7 and showcases some of the greatest popular songs ever written, including "These are All Mine," "Skywriter" and "One Life." Feinstein and Webb recently did an interview at The Hit Factory in New York City at Gibson/Baldwin's entertainment relations office. The interview will be included in a special enhanced compact disc. For the interview, Feinstein sang and Webb played on two Baldwin SF10 Artist Grand pianos. Webb has written such hits as "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Up Up and Away," "MacArthur Park" and "The Highwayman." Feinstein, a four-time Grammy nominee, is in the process of launching his own record label, Feinery Records. To see two slideshows and streaming audio of Feinstein and Webb, go here.

Kenny Brack unplugs at NAMM and rocks the Firestone Indy 200 in Nashville

Multi-talented Swedish driver Kenny Brack, the 1998 IRL champion, jammed out with his high energy rock band the Subwoofers on Saturday afternoon, July 18 on the IRL stage at the Nashville Superspeedway. All four local Nashville television stations plus national and international media covered the Saturday afternoon concert with Brack and his band members being interviewed after the performance. He was one of the fastest drivers in qualifying for Saturday nights Firestone Indy 200 Indy car race, and took sixth in front of a sellout crowd. Brack also found time to stop by Gibson's booth at the NAMM trade show to play a couple of songs for excited onlookers. For more about Brack, go to: www.kennybrack.com.

Ted Nugent plays Custom Shop Party, checks out Les Paul's "Log" replica

The 'Motor City Madman' Ted Nugent, author of the cookbook Kill It and Grill It, was in Nashville Thursday, July 17 for the Gibson Custom Shop VIP press and artist party, an annual event that kicks off the Summer NAMM trade show. Nugent headlined the entertainment for the evening from the stage in the back lot behind the Custom Shop. During a previous tour of the facility, he took the time to check out a special replica of Les Paul's "Log," the famous 1941 homemade solidbody electric guitar. The replica was built to honor Paul's performance in Nashville at the All-Star Guitar Night, presented by Gibson.

Cleveland Pole Les Paul revs up drivers at Cleveland Grand Prix

Gibson Guitar's Custom, Art & Historic Division presented a one-of-a-kind custom Cleveland Grand Prix Pole Les Paul guitar to the pole winner, Sebastien Bourdais. The race took place over the July 4th holiday. The CART race at Cleveland is in its 22nd year. The presentation was made at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, the site of the Cleveland Grand Prix.

Nokio of Dru Hill checks out Gibson's New York Entertainment Relations offices

Rapper Nokio of the band Dru Hill stopped by the Hit Factory, Gibson's New York E/R office, to check out the guitars prior to their engagement in South Africa, where they played for 70,000 people. Their latest album, Dru World Order, is on Def Jam Records. Hill is pictured playing his LP Voodoo.

Baldwin Guitars and Amplifiers in Vintage Guitar magazine

Vintage Guitar magazine has a historical article this month that talks about companies who purchased musical instrument companies in the 1960s. Baldwin, at that time, purchased Burns guitars in London, and began manufacturing Baldwin Guitars and Amplifiers. To read the complete article, go here.

Back Issues