NEWS: Bryan Beller releases live DVD
PRESS RELEASE
BASSIST/COMPOSER BRYAN BELLER RELEASES WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE CONCERT DVD
Live DVD documents the sole west coast show of Beller’s debut 2010 tour and includes numerous special bonus features
NASHVILLE, TN (April 29, 2011) – Bassist/composer and sideman extraordinaire Bryan Beller (Dethklok, Steve Vai, Mike Keneally) has released his solo project’s first live concert DVD, Wednesday Night Live. An up-close-and-personal 4-camera document of the Beller band’s one-night-only 2010 show at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles, the DVD is a serious statement from an artist who’s quickly establishing himself as one of the elite bass playing and compositional voices in the rock/jazz fusion scene today.
The DVD shares a basic running order and band lineup with the live CD of the same name, but also includes special features such as between-song dialogue not present on the CD, additional videos from previous shows with an expanded lineup, interviews with each of the band members, a rare live video of the impossibly difficult “See You Next Tuesday” from the very first Bryan Beller Band gig ever, and four new remixes of studio tracks from Beller’s first album.
NEWS: MXR Vintage Distortion + giveaway
The MXR Distortion + is the legendary pedal that Randy Rhoads used with Ozzy Osbourne. My guitar teacher had one and I freaking loved that thing. I’ve vowed to get one myself some day. I still haven’t checked that one off the list but maybe you can, if you enter Jim Dunlop’s MXR Distortion + giveaway. Check out this snippet from the Jim Dunlop blog:
We got a GREAT Friday giveaway for you diehard vintage MXR fans out there. This week we’re giving away a vintage reissue of a Distortion +, yup its the tone that made Randy Rhoads famous. You won’t find this bad boy in stores because it’s still in pre-production! This is a special model that was meticulously spec’d, and recreated—hand-wired by one of our engineers. MXR Vintage fans – complete the vintage family before everybody else! Generally speaking we usually restrict our giveaways to USA only, but because this giveaways so rad we’re going to open it up to the world.
For details on how to enter, click here.
NEWS: Dream Theater names new drummer!!
If you don’t want to be spoiled, click here to view the video where Dream Theater completes their drummer auditions and announces their new member!
COOL VIDEO ALERT: Dream Theater drummer auditions
Thank you Roadrunner for changing these videos to allow embedding! Check out the Dream Theater drummer auditions! The final instalment is due at 11AM EST Friday!
Part 1
Part 2
NEWS: LA Guns ‘Sex Action’ tour cancelled but Guns play anyway! Back In The Day to the rescue!
UPDATE 1: NEWS FLASH: LA Guns will be playing at Back In The Day (Portland Hotel, cnr Russell & Little Collins Streets) instead, both tonight and tomorrow night, doors at 11pm, $25.
UPDATE 2: Co-promoter Shane Tester has posted the following on the Facebook page for Back In The Day as well as on his own profile: “Tour was cancelled for reasons beyond my control. Please direct all inquiries to Andrew Feder (the co-president of Intense Impact + the co-promoter on this tour + the financier) as due to the many recent circumstances beyond my control I have quit Intense Impact in complete disgust over these said events. Please email all inquiries to Andrew Feder. I will be releasing a statement on Monday as right now I am recovering in hospital from injuries sustained as a result of assault. Police are continuing investigations at my request.”
ORIGINAL STORY: If you’re planning on attending the LA Guns ‘Sex Action 2011′ tour of Australia (with support from Defryme and a mystery special guest band that never materialized), better contact your ticket retailer about a refund. It ain’t happening. Likewise if you thought you were attending the previously advised Metal Health 2011 tour featuring LA Guns, Warrant and Quiet Riot. Metal Health was cancelled after Warrant and Quiet Riot pulled out, and the tour was repackaged as Sex Action 2011. Which was cancelled and replaced with nothing. You probably wouldn’t know this if you checked out promoter Intense Impact’s website because the site still says the Warrant/LA Guns/Quiet Riot tour is still on. But it’s not.
The word on Facebook is that the promoter has allegedly been apprehended by the Australian Federal Police for alleged fraud. Allegedly.
If you would like to keep on top of the latest details, check out the Intense Impact Facebook here.
NEWS: Monkeyfest guitar tuition festival
UK Guitarist Festival ‘MonkeyFest’ Offers Guitar Tuition from Virtuoso Talent
New UK fest brings guitar tuition from the screen to the stage
26th April 2011
London, UK – MonkeyFest is a new UK-based music festival taking place from the 1st to the 3rd of July 2011 at Bisley Pavilion, Woking. Hosted by Rob “The Monkey Lord” Chapman – who is frequently YouTube’s UK #1 most-viewed musician, and is internationally acclaimed for his free online tuition – Rob is bringing guitar tuition from the screen to the stage at MonkeyFest.
MonkeyFest is a unique event combining tuition and performance, and with a line-up comprising of blistering shred guitarists, smooth classical artists and driving rock bands, it has something to offer everyone. Guitar heroes such as Guthrie Govan, Andy James and Alex Hutchings are confirmed to perform and teach alongside the likes of Godsized, Haken and Sons of Icarus topped-off with rising talent, including Ben Wilshire, Sammy Coulson and Adam Lee.
Serve the Servants: Unlocking the Secrets of Grunge Guitar
This week my feature article for Gibson.com is about grunge guitar – something I know a lot about since I was a guitar mag addict during the heady days of grunge. Here’s a teaser:
It’s now 20 years since the grunge revolution changed the course of mainstream music and made the term “alternative” into a buzzword (and a category on record store shelves). Arriving in the wake of a particularly technical epoch – both in terms of gear and guitar playing – grunge redefined what a guitar tone could be, and did away with the more histrionic guitar vocabulary developed during the preceding decade. Grunge may not have had an Eddie Van Halen or an Yngwie Malmsteen in terms of technique and instrumental excess, but the genre was never short of guitar innovators.
Click the link to read the rest! Serve the Servants: Unlocking the Secrets of Grunge Guitar
NEWS: Gibson counts down top albums of the 90s
Gibson.com is counting down the top 50 albums of the 90s, with contributions from yours truly. Check it out every day this week. What do you think will be #1? Heck, what are your personal top 50 albums of the 90s? I’m almost tempted to write my own personal list too. In the meantime here are the first two days’ worth of entries:
Gibson.com’s Top 50 Albums of the ’90s – #50-41
Gibson.com’s Top 50 Albums of the ’90s – #40-31
NEWS: Big Four, Ozzy film, Adler’s Appetite
Here are my latest news stories on Gibson.com. Check ‘em out!
Big Four Go Double Platinum on Concert Weekend
Jack Osbourne’s Ozzy Film Opens at Tribeca
Adler Recruits New Appetite Band Members
Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), Blunt, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Bandcamp or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com