November 3, 2020
Editor’s Note: Future U.K., who acquired Guitar Player, Bass Player, Electronic Musician, and Keyboard (as well as Guitar World and other former NewBay Media titles) in 2018, recently decided to remove much of GP‘s legacy content from guitarplayer.com. To the concern of many of the former editors who worked on the “player books,” this decision […]
Continue Reading→
October 12, 2020
The outpouring of grief — and the celebrations of his life — following Eddie Van Halen‘s passing on October 6 at just 65 years old are certainly understandable, appropriate, and warranted. Like Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen was a monumental gamechanger who by force of his own formidable talent and creativity transformed and retooled the way […]
July 8, 2020
It drives me crazy. And, as someone who talks to Elliot Easton from time to time, I know it rubs him the wrong way, as well. (Although he is always such the polite soul to ever register overt crankiness.) It’s that “thing” so-called musical-culture commentators often utter — that Elliot is one of the most […]
May 28, 2020
Johnny A and Signature Gibson guitar. It’s hard to determine who may have launched the first drive-in concert during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the largest debut of the car-concert concept may have featured the band Mirai in Ostrava, Czech Republic on May 15. Suddenly, there was hope for artists struggling to get back in front […]
February 2, 2020
Above Photo: Andy Gill (at left) with bassist Thomas McNeice after Gang of Four soundchecked before the band’s February 9, 2019 performance at The Chapel, San Francisco. Sadly and unexpectedly, the funky and innovative Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill passed away in London following a short illness on February 1, 2020. Gill was just […]
January 9, 2020
Not surprisingly, you run into legions of kick-ass guitarists at NAMM shows, but I have to salute the manufacturers’ booth-demo players, because that is one tough gig. You are at a music convention, after all, playing amidst the often-deafening chaos of tons of other demonstrators’ licks echoing all over the cavernous hall, and your audience […]
November 9, 2019
When Jennifer Batten, Gretchen Menn, and Nili Brosh first discussed the idea of doing a series of electric-guitar instrumental concerts, the trio’s comedic sass almost kept pace with the concert planning. One of the players ignited giggles by suggesting they should call the tour “She 3” to play off of Joe Satriani’s very successful—and predominantly male—G3 […]
November 6, 2019
Guardians of Guitar is thrilled to co-produce the San Francisco show of the Jennifer Batten–Gretchen Menn–Nili Brosh tour at The Chapel on November 6, 2019. GoG founder Michael Molenda will host the event. “This is quite an honor for me,” says Molenda. “I adore the power, creativity, and skill of all three of these guitarists, […]
September 25, 2019
I’m sure many fans of David Bowie and Robert Fripp are watching the news threads about Fripp’s struggle to be acknowledged by England’s PPL—a music rights, licensing, and royalty-collection company—as a “Featured Performer” on Bowie’s Heroes and Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) albums. Few music fans on the planet would dispute that Fripp was crucial […]
August 20, 2019
Guardians of Guitar‘s brand new imprint label on Mi5 Recordings/Universal Music Group has just dropped its first release—a ferocious digital single entitled “Junkyard Dogs” by 19-year-old guitar phenom JJ Savage. “Local music manager Brent Turner alerted me to JJ last year,” says GoG founder Michael Molenda, “and I was so impressed with his young, unbridled talent […]
July 26, 2019
Chronicle Books is set to release a masterful tribute to photographer Jim Marshall (1936-2010) on August 30, 2019. Entitled Jim Marshall: Show Me the Picture, the collection of Jim’s exquisite, vibey, joyful, and sometimes tear-inducing photos was put together by his long-time personal assistant Amelia Davis. Her professional and personal relationship to Jim was such […]
June 19, 2019
Presented in conjunction with the ongoing and pretty darn awesome Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock and Roll exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Andy Summers is bringing his similarly fantastic multimedia show to The Met on Saturday, June 22, at 6:30 pm. Entitled A Certain Strangeness, the one-man show promises to fuse […]
May 15, 2019
Guitar Guinness World Record Festival founder Leszek Cichoński (center) and Michael Jackson/Jeff Beck guitarist Jennifer Batten (far left) onstage before 7,423 guitar-wielding participants in Wroclaw Poland, May 1, 2019. [Photo by the author] Europe’s biggest guitar festival has broken the Guinness World Record for Largest Guitar Ensemble for the second straight year. Held annually on […]
April 8, 2019
Davey Williams was an adventurous guitarist who kept one foot in the blues while stepping off the edge. What is it about the blues that leads guitarists to innovate? Take Don VanVliet, aka Captain Beefheart, for example. His love and respect for the blues led to uniquely inspiring songs, often with outrageous slide playing. Alabama-based […]
March 19, 2019
Carlos Santana’s supreme love of music continues to inspire shifts and turns from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist’s muse. Although the unmistakable imprint of his guitar tone has remained a constant fingerprint, Santana has enthusiastically embraced different styles, different players, and myriad influences throughout his career—even jumping into impromptu jams from time […]
March 18, 2019
[Dale performing at the Viper Room, Los Angeles on June 2, 2018] Like his relentless and unstoppable guitar playing, Dick Dale liked to talk loud and fast and carpet-bomb listeners with flurries of ideas, proclamations, philosophies, health tips, things that pissed him off, and even, if you were lucky, smatterings of love and respect for those […]
March 9, 2019
In 1978, my first band manager was all over me to see Generation X at a club in San Francisco. I wasn’t into it for some reason, so I asked, “Why? What’s the big deal?” He said, “Because you need to see the singer Billy Idol, and truly experience what a rock star is.” Idol […]
March 8, 2019
Punk, a documentary about “the music, the fashion, the art, and the DIY attitude of a subculture of self-described misfits and outcasts” is set to debut March 11, 2019 on the Epix network. Directed by Jesse James Miller, the film is executive produced by rock legend Iggy Pop, fashion icon John Varvatos, and Network Entertainment CEO […]
February 28, 2019
Danny Kortchmar (at right) with The Immediate Family. Photo by Alan Kozlowski. People in the know are aware that many of the hits of the ‘60s,’70s, and ‘80s were crafted by “shadow virtuosos”—musicians who toiled almost anonymously in recording studios, taking embryonic songs that often had little more than a chord chart, and transforming them into […]
February 20, 2019
The recent news that Joe Satriani is set to release music from his San Francisco new-wave-ish band, The Squares, brought on a bit ‘o’ nostalgia. But first things first: Squares: Best of the Early 80’s Demos is due to drop April 5, on Satriani’s Strange Beautiful Music label. John Cuniberti, who was The Squares’ live and […]
February 13, 2019
Zal Cleminson, Sensational Alex Harvey Band Nurtured, informed, and emboldened by the guitar explosion of the ’60s, as the 1970s unfolded, so did the progression of transcendent guitarists—many of whom created the soundtracks of a generation. (Apologies for the cliche there, but it’s true.) Some of these players went on to solidify their legendary status, […]
February 8, 2019
Every since The Who released Tommy [1969], I have been obsessed with rock music deployed in the service of larger concepts. I adored rock and roll, of course, and I loved the fact some artists smacked down any notion that rock should stay in its lane and make music for kiddies at sock hops (or, […]
January 28, 2019
If you read our earlier post — you can see it here — you know that we presented 19-year-old JJ Savage with our 2019 Ronnie Montrose Rock the Nation Award. Now — thanks to this video footage by Dilly Brigs at the Ronnie Montrose Remembered Concert on January 25 at M3 Live in Anaheim, California […]
January 25, 2019
Let’s forget about Nita Strauss as a guitar player for a moment. Disregard the tours with Alice Cooper, the formative years with the Iron Maidens, and all of her manufacturer endorsements and signature models from companies such as Ibanez and DiMarzio. Instead, picture her as one of the mythic dreamscapes of America—a place where hard […]
January 23, 2019
JJ Savage, 19, has been selected as the 2019 recipient of the Ronnie Montrose Rock the Nation Award. The late Ronnie Montrose (1947-2012) was an avid and committed believer in mentoring young people about the joys of making music. His wife, Leighsa—along with former Guitar Player Editor in Chief and current Guardians of Guitar founder […]
October 1, 2018
Rick Springfield on Interpreting Blues for the 21st Century Yep. Rick Springfield is that “Jessie’s Girl” guy. So why should any guitarist look to him for advice on playing blues? My question, actually, is who wouldn’t want some creative intel from an artist who has charted some massive hits, released 19 studio albums, and […]
