Great long interview with Ed over at Spinner.com in which Ed talks about his sobriety and how it has affected his playing. Booze worked on him to the point where it became the necessary rocket sauce that allowed him to visit that place where he felt most comfortable playing: It takes me a good hour [...]

Guitarbalooga favorite Pat Metheny appears on vibraphonist Gary Burton’s new CD, Quartet Live, along with Steve Swallow on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums. These guys have a long history together. The origins began in 1967, when bassist Steve Swallow hooked up with vibes player Gary Burton. A few years later, in the early 70′s, [...]

Heaven and Hell is the latest reincarnation of Black Sabbath with legends Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinnie Appice. That’s concentrated heavy metal thunder right there. And they’re on tour this August after releasing The Devil You Know this April: AUGUST 7 Vancouver, BC Thunderbird Arena On Sale 5/9 8 Seattle, WA [...]

Oo, baby. This one looks like it might be a doosey. Anvil!: The Story of Anvil has all the makings of a great rock documentary. Anvil is a band you’ve probably never heard of, but you should have (click to preview Anvil’s music). The Canadian metal band released their first record (Hard n’ Heavy) in [...]

Finally, we get to hear a couple full-length Chickenfoot tunes. Satriani’s got a pretty heavy-duty guitar sound that I dig. And now, without further ado, I give you…Chickenfoot: Soap on a Rope Down the Drain

Just some afternoon gypsy-jazz goodness from the amazing Joscho Stephan Trio:

It seems like every day a new great review of the Zappa Plays Zappa show comes over the wires. I’ve written about them before, and I’ll write about them again. They’re a must see if you love Zappa like me. According to the ZPZ website, they’ve got just a few west-coast US shows before heading [...]

If you told me I’d one day be writing a post about sickly-sweet pop-and-rollers the Jonas Brothers here on Guitarbalooga, I’d have laughed in your face. But, it’s my job to report on all good things guitar and, well, I figure this counts. The JoBros‘ signed guitar — an Epiphone Casino in Cherry Red — [...]

Word on the street (with, um, “the street” being MusicRadar.com) is that Spinal Tap is back in the studio. Here’s a cryptic quote from bassist Derek Smalls: “We’ve never recorded the song we did at Live Earth, Warmer Than Hell, and I think they [Spinal Tap] are trying to revisit their old success. Not that [...]

The original Mr. Big, Eric Martin (vocals), Billy Sheehan(bass), Paul Gilbert (guitar), and Pat Torpey (drums), are reuniting for a tour of Japan. From a popular Heavy Metal radio show in Japan: “Hello, this is Paul Gilbert, and you are listening to Koh Sakai, on Burrrn presents Heavy Metal Syndicate. Mr. Big is back together. [...]

There were rumors earlier in the month about Zep recording and touring in 2009, but, alas, it seems that won’t happen. According to Jimmy Page’s manager: “Led Zeppelin are over,” he added. “If you didn’t see them in 2007 [at London's O2 Arena], you missed them. It’s done. I can’t be any clearer than that. [...]

Yesterday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their 2009 inductees. First on the list? None other than Jeff Beck. I’ve been a fan of Jeff’s for years, almost as long as I’ve been playing guitar. My favorite all-time guitar solo is one he laid down for the Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi [...]

Queensryche’s guitarist Michael Wilton has laid down all the guitar tracks for their new CD, American Soldier, due out this April. Via Blabbermouth.net: Due in April 2009 via Rhino, QUEENSRŸCHE’s twelfth studio album, “American Soldier”, is a concept effort which finds the band once again tackling some heavy subject matter, this time focusing on telling [...]

Greg Prato, author of a recent Tommy Bolin biography, interviewed guitarists K. K. Downing and Glenn Tipton from one of the great metal bands, Judas Priest, on GuitarSite.com. Priest released a concept album last year entitled Nostradamus. With the recent release of their double disc set, Nostradamus, Priest has now gone where few metal bands [...]

I got a kick out of this article about Noel Gallagher from the band Oasis. I think we’ve all felt like this at one time or another: I like to play that guitar. I have to stare at it while I’m playing it because I’m not very good at playing it. Hmm. Seems humble. But [...]