We seem to be seeing a lot of this lately: artists finally catching up and realizing that guitars and guitar accessories are beautiful. Here’s another example. From the Electro-Harmonix blog:
Robin Rose is a long-established painter specializing in ‘encaustic’ works, but back in 1979 he played guitar and synth for new-wave/punk band Urban Verbs (Warner) and [...]

Mormon crickets are a particularly nasty problem out west. Periodically, they band together in dense packs and march along, devouring all plant life in their path. They can stop traffic and will even scurry through your house. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about them:
The Mormon cricket exists in populations of relatively low density throughout [...]

Earlier this month, I posted a link to a wonderful article on the Modern Guitars site about your basic bread-and-butter jazz players. Today, I discovered another similar article by Dr. Matthew Warnock on classical guitar.
Though many of us know the basic history of the nylon-string guitar, and may own one and play it from time [...]

Creed’s original lineup, Scott Stapp (vocals), Mark Tremonti (guitar), Brian Marshall (bass), and Scott Phillips (drums), are reuniting for a new CD and summer tour. Visit Creed.com for the list of tour dates.
In its day, Creed was hugely successful. The band made 3 multi-platinum albums and sold over 26 million records in the US alone [...]

I’m proud to announce that Akismet, the software I use to deflect spam comments, has detected over 1,000 spam comment attempts! Not surprisingly, the number of spam comments detected increased by an order of magnitude since April 1. Why isn’t that surprising? Because I can’t believe this is a coincidence:
In an event that hits the [...]

A 10′ Gibson Les Paul statue created for charity was stolen from the front of Graze Restaurant in Orlando, FL. “B Creative” was painted by a local artist named David Brotherton. The statue was expected to sell for thousands and benefit a number of local charities.
Gibson, the benefactor of the statue, offered a brief period of [...]

Every year, Johns Hopkins University rewards a graduating senior who “has demonstrated excellence and the highest standards of proficiency in performance, execution, or composition in music, theater, dance, fiction, poetry, painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, film, or videotape” the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts.
This year, 23-year-old political science major Paul Eliasson won for his wood [...]

Another guitar destination: Opryland Resort now offers a guests a leased Gibson and a Pocket Pod:
What else would you expect in Music City? “This partnership with Gibson Guitars is one way we are hoping to add even more fun the our guest experience as we get back to our country music roots at Gaylord Opryland Resort [...]

Speaking of Dave Mustaine, Blabbermouth.net has an interview with Testament’s Alex Skolnick posted, and Dave came up:
The Quietus: Really? So you’re saying that Dave Mustaine, No. 1 in Joel McIver’s “100 Greatest Metal Guitarists” [book] came to you, No. 13, for guitar tuition?
Alex Skolnick: [laughs] “Well, I wasn’t aware of that, but yeah, I play [...]

Dave Mustaine checked in from the studio yesterday to update Megadeth fans about the band’s recording process. He has rather creative grammar:
“Droogies!
“It has been one month since I got home from the Priest Feast! And in that time, we have unpacked, repacked for Germany, unpacked, repacked for Anaheim, unpacked, went into the studio and started [...]

This article caught my eye on RollingStone.com today:
Fans who’d eagerly bought Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music when it came out in 1975 soon returned to their music stores in droves, demanding refunds and complaining that the record was broken. MMM is Reed’s most controversial record, the black sheep in his catalog: a 64-minute double album that consists almost entirely [...]

Speaking of Jennifer Batten (see the previous post)… She’s got a bunch of upcoming shows. Go see her if you get a chance. Her two-handed technique is unparalleled.
She’s another one of those guitarists I was introduced to with a little cutout record in Guitar for the Practicing Musician–I believe she played Giant Steps by John [...]

For your entertainment, here a couple of vids featuring people playing Flight of the Bumblebee really, really, f’in fast. I think to be considered even “competent” you need to do it at around 300 BPM.
1. First up is Tiago Della Vega, who played it at 320 BPM and may (or may not) have set a [...]

I’m not the sort of guitarist who gets upset by dings on my guitar. I like a little wear-and-tear because it gives my guitar a little personality and helps to make it my own. But, I may be in the minority about this because I’ve met plenty of people who care a hell of a [...]

In September 2008, solo jazz guitarist Martin Taylor released a duet CD, Double Standards, on which he accompanies himself. Premierguitar.com has a great interview with the master.
So what’s in a name? Martin Taylor. Martin. Taylor. It sounds almost as if he were given a sign at birth, a predestination to follow a path of the [...]