In life and in art, Lorrie Morgan is enjoying a renewed resurgence of popularity.
Morgan continues to make new music, tour North America, and this weekend will celebrate her 30th Anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
On June 9, 1984, Morgan was inducted as a member into the invitation only institution.
“You can’t imagine how it felt the night I became a member of the Opry,” says Lorrie Morgan. “The first time I could really call this place home. I couldn't stop shaking or trembling or crying.”
That Saturday night, just 30 years ago, might have been Morgan’s first night as an official member, but it certainly wasn’t her first night at the Grand Ole Opry. Morgan grew up backstage at the Opry, the daughter of Country Music Hall of Famer George Morgan, a 26-year member known everywhere for his smash 1949 hit “Candy Kisses.”
Born in 1959, Morgan made her Opry stage debut early, introduced at the Ryman Auditorium by her proud father. “My little 13-year-old knees were absolutely knocking,” she recalls. “But Dad was standing there right beside me with big tears in his eyes, and those people gave me a standing ovation. I thought, ‘This is what I’m doing the rest of my life.’”
Watch Morgan perform “Something in Red” live from the Opry stage:
“This was a dream of my dad’s long before it was my dream,” Lorrie says. “I have all of this because of Dad. We’re very blessed to be a musical family here at the Grand Ole Opry. What more could you ask for?”
George Morgan died when Lorrie was 16, but she still carries in her heart two pieces of advice he left her: “Never say, ‘I can’t,’” and “Always remember your manners.”
Morgan’s vocal style, combining country sincerity and pop sophistication, really took off in 1989 with the emotion-filled hit “Dear Me.” She won a CMA Award in 1990 for her work with her late husband, Keith Whitley, the great country traditionalist who had died the year before. Her three subsequent albums — Leave the Light On, Something in Red, and Watch Me— all sold more than a million copies.
She has released hit after hit in a distinctive style steeped in passion and believability — “I Guess You Had to Be There,” “What Part of No,” “Except for Monday,” “Something in Red,” “I Didn't Know My Own Strength,” “Half Enough,” and others.
Throughout her career, Morgan says, she has thought of the Opry as home.
“The Opry gave me my start in country music,” she says. “It’s a place we all need to go from time to time to remember why we're here and what gave us the opportunity to be here.”
The three-track EP includes a new song, one song from their previous album Gospel, and one from their recently released album, Oh, Common Life.
All proceeds from purchases of the EP will go to Alternatives For Girls, a Detroit organization that aims to help homeless and high-risk girls and young women avoid violence, teen pregnancy and exploitation.
They aim to offer support, resources and opportunities to be safe, grow strong and make positive choices in their lives.For more information on the organization, please visit: alternativesforgirls.org
To purchase the acoustic EP from Fireworks, click here.
Here a track from the EP below:
The band has also announced a string of upcoming show dates with Young Statues and Better Off.
The run will kick off on July 11 in Grand Rapids, MI at The Stache. Full schedule of dates can be found below.
July 11 Grand Rapids, MI - The Stache
July 12 Iowa City, IA - The Blue Moose
July 13 Minneapolis, MN - The Garage
July 15 Indianapolis, IN - Irving Theatre
July 16 Louisville, KY - The Vernon Club
July 18 Richmond, VA - The Camel
July 19 Altoona, PA - The Archway Center
July 20 Jamestown, NY - Renaissance Center
In the new July issue, we sit down with guitarist and producer Jimmy Page as he prepares to release newly remastered recordings and rarities from Led Zeppelin's vault. Read how Page remasters his band's brilliant catalog and takes the opportunity to open and share their personal archives. Plus, GW explores the numerous package options and formats in which the new Zeppelin remasters are available.
Then, Guitar World features Ace Frehley. The legendary Kiss guitarist is clean, sober, engaged to a pretty blonde and enjoying life- much to the chagrin of some of his former bandmates. He speaks with GW about his healthy attitude, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame debacle and his upcoming solo album, Space Invader.
Later, we ask 26 guitarists — including Kirk Hammett, John Petrucci, Mikael Akerfeldt and Yngwie Malmsteen— to tell us about the album that changed their life and put them on a musical fast track.
Finally, we focus on the history of Taylor Guitars. Forty years ago, Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug built their idea of what an excellent acoustic guitar should be. Today, Taylor Guitars is the definition of excellence for players everywhere.
PLUS: Sean Ono Lennon, Down, the Strypes, Albert Lee and much more!
Five Songs with Tabs for Guitar and Bass
• Led Zeppelin - "How Many More Times" • Ace Frehley - "Rip It Out" • OneRepublic - "Counting Stars" • Avicii - "Hey Brother" • Born of Osiris - "Follow the Signs'"
I can’t even begin to tell you how much I dig the first song from Goodnight, Texas’ new album, titled “A Bank Robber’s Nursery Rhyme.”
An Americana romp that’s brimming with clever lyrics and a catchy banjo-based twang, “A Bank Robber’s Nursery Rhyme” appears on their sophomore release, Uncle John Farquhar, due out August 5, 2014.
Full of fortune-seeking mischief all for the sake of getting the girl, “A Bank Robber’s Nursery Rhyme” exemplifies the band's signature storytelling style of songwriting that was first introduced on their critically acclaimed debut A Long Life of Living (2012).
"’A Bank Robber's Nursery Rhyme’ is about that wide-eyed feeling of invincibility when you're in pursuit of a nice big piece of the pie. The song has something of a Bonnie and Clyde vibe, with less violence,” shares Patrick Wolf. “The riff comes from a ditty from several years ago that had been wandering in the ether in search of lyrics. Once the concept took shape, Avi and I put it together in one sitting. Ironically, this is the probably the first lead riff I ever wrote for a banjo. I play it with a flat pick though, like a guitar."
Check out “A Bank Robbers Nursery Rhyme”
The duo of Avi Vinocur and Patrick Dyer Wolf, who are core songwriters of Goodnight, Texas, initially met in San Francisco. Wolf moved across the country to Chapel Hill, North Carolina but the two continued to collaborate and bonded over their mutual love of old wooden instruments and a vision of late nineteenth century blue collar America.
The two decided to name their cross-country musical collaboration after the tiny Texas panhandle town of Goodnight which is the exact mid-point in between their two homes (San Francisco and Chapel Hill)
This new album, Uncle John Farquhar is a deeper mediation on the bands fascination with the turn of the century era working class America. The album was conceptualized as a scrapbook.
The songs are inspired from personal experiences as well as stories and letters uncovered from digging through books, archives and their own personal family history.
Two of the artifacts collected from Patrick Wolf's great, great grandfather John Farquhar, for whom the album was named, include a sermon John delivered on the passing of Abraham Lincoln and several letters he wrote home after visiting a hospital just outside of Gettysburg just days after the famous tide turning battle. These items have not only inspired the songs but have been incorporated into the album packaging.
Americana is arguably an overused term at the moment — but what sets Goodnight, Texas apart from the pack is its richly imagined, full-color stories. Their songs transport listeners from the battlefields of the deep south to a saloon full of hard-drinking but good-natured regulars to the nervous feeling in the stomach of a poor boy about to ask for his girl’s hand in marriage.
Uncle John Farquhar showcases this talent perhaps better than ever, with the two songwriters’ styles playing off each other to great effect, balancing a wry sense of humor with an obvious respect for the ghosts of this country’s past.
Below, check out this recently posted (February 11) video of a YouTube dude — FamilyJules7x— playing a mighty fine guitar cover of one of the many Super Mario Brothers RPG themes.
FamilyJules posted a lot of info with the clip, including:
"I decided to use the PRS [for rhythm guitar] since the song was in C# minor, and it gave me the option to hit the VI chord as a low A power chord, which was helpful.
"I'm starting to really be able to bring out the bass after countless comments that I need to 'turn it up.'
"I'd like to quickly address that I've seen that comment on numerous videos by home recording artists and I have to assert that anybody who thinks the solution to hearing bass in a mix is to just 'turn it up' has probably never done this sort of thing!
"Getting an instrument to be heard better doesn't involve simply 'turning it up' as much as carefully applying EQ on tracks to create head room for that instrument when dealing with multi-track recording."
Gear used on this recording:
Lead Guitars: Schecter Damien FR
Rhythm Guitars: PRS SE Custom 7 String
Bass Guitar: Ibanez Soundgear SR405QM
Classical Guitar: Cordoba C7
Ocarina: STL Zelda Tenor
Drums: Toontrack Superior Drummer
NAMM opens its doors to musicians, songwriters, and sound and staging professionals on Music Industry Day, Saturday, July 19 from 10AM-4PM at Nashville’s Music City Center.
Music Industry Day offers a once a year opportunity to demo new gear from hundreds of brands, attend workshops designed to further careers in music, check out live music, and network with music industry leaders at an exclusive, trade-only NAMM event.
Two of country music’s hottest new artists will perform on NAMM’s Acoustic Nation stage presented in partnership with Guitar World’s Acoustic Nation.
Five-time Emmy-winning actor and recording artist Jonathan Jackson and Nashville-native singer-songwriter Greg Bates, who has the hit song “Did it for the Girl” will play acoustic sets in the afternoon.
In addition to live music and gear from hundreds of the biggest names in music products, Music Industry Day features workshops that cater to music pros looking to advance their careers in the business. Created by NewBay Media, these workshops will guide musicians on topics ranging from marketing to navigating endorsement deals and even a session on building the ultimate pedalboard setup.
Songwriting workshops will feature co-founder of the songwriter support group SongTown USA Clay Mills. Mills writing credit is found on #1 hits including "Beautiful Mess" by Diamond Rio and "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" by Darius Rucker. GRAMMY nominated songwriter of the year, Thornton Cline will lead a panel on ‘Hit Songwriting: Secrets of the pros.’ The Women’s International Music Network presents the She Rocks Showcase in the Round, highlighting female artists performing their own original music.
Round out Music Industry Day with a Kala-sponsored ukulele circle, and the REMO-sponsored drum circle. Instruments are provided, and participants need only bring their enthusiasm. A full schedule of Music Industry Day events can be found online at namm.org/musicindustryday.
Music Industry Day is the only day of the year that a NAMM Show opens to all music lovers. Musicians won’t want to miss this exclusive opportunity. Tickets for Music Industry Day at Summer NAMM are available online for advance purchase for $10, $20 at the door.
Almost three decades ago, Guitar World writer Steven Rosen brought together Les Paul and Eddie Van Halen for a quick chat. It would be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between the two great guitar innovators.
In the summer of 1986, Guitar Center opened a mammoth music store on Sunset Boulevard in the center of Hollywood. Eddie Van Halen and Les Paul were being honored along with several other musical giants, including Stevie Wonder and amp builder Jim Marshall, as part of the store’s opening celebration.
It seemed natural to take the opportunity to put Ed and Les together in the same room to talk about what they knew best—playing the guitar. The following is an excerpt from the story that originally appeared in the November 1986 edition of Guitar World.
EDDIE VAN HALEN When Leo Fender was doing his thing and you were doing yours, was there ever any competition?
LES PAUL No, not at all.
VAN HALEN Did you ever collaborate or talk about your ideas?
PAUL Absolutely. Leo Fender would come over, and so would his engineers. They saw the Log and some of the other guitars I had built. They saw it all happening. There was never any friction. It was just the opposite.
Here’s the story of how Leo really helped me: When I developed my first solid-body guitar in 1941, I took it to Gibson and they dismissed it. They called it that “broomstick with the pickups on it.” From 1941 to 1951, I couldn’t convince Gibson to do a damn thing about putting out a Les Paul guitar. Finally, Leo decided to come out with the Fender solid-body line, and immediately Gibson said, “Find the character with the broomstick with the pickups on it!”
And so they asked me to design a guitar. I thank Leo for coming out with his Broadcaster, because it woke Gibson up. Gibson was asleep and Fender was not asleep. That’s the way it goes. Fender was the first to market, but I was way, way out front.
VAN HALEN It’s kind of like the car business—Toyota woke up GM.
PAUL Sure. Sometimes you gotta wake somebody up, and sometimes I need some help from my friends. And I consider Leo Fender a very dear friend. To me, I am a Gibson man, but that doesn’t make any difference, because I also know exactly what Fender is all about.
VAN HALEN With my guitars, I guess I’m trying to bring together what you and Leo have done. There are things I’ve always liked about Gibsons and things I’ve always liked about Fenders, but neither one did everything that I wanted, so I’ve created a combination of the two. My guitar is essentially a Strat body with Gibson humbucking pickups.
PAUL I can’t always get what I want out of a standard Gibson guitar either. There are so many times that I’ll go into Gibson battling to win a point and come out with a compromise. The world is a compromise and so this is what you have to do. It can cost millions of dollars to retool and move something a quarter of an inch. I understand that some of my ideas would cost a fortune.
Another thing that comes into the picture is the preoccupation with how something looks. I’ve had executives veto an improvement because their wives didn’t like the way it looked. They’re not thinking about the sound.
VAN HALEN I’ve had that problem with companies I’ve worked with. I’ve had difficulty getting something the way I wanted it, because they claimed that other people want it a different way.
PAUL Which may be right and may not be right.
VAN HALEN Yeah, yeah, but if they want my opinion, then I’m giving it to them. I’ve had to say, “I don’t want my name on it if it ain’t the way I want it.”
PAUL I had a case where they put out a guitar without my blessings and I tried to make ’em stop! The funny thing is they didn’t stop it, and it turned out to be their number-one seller. [laughs] So you can be wrong. Gibson put out an SG, and it wasn’t with my blessings at all. They put the pickup in the wrong place, they made the body too thin, and there were a lot of other things I didn’t like.
So I said, “Clean it up a little bit, will ya, before you put my name on it.” So they took my name off of it and continued to make it, and it’s their best-sellling solid-body guitar to date. Sure, it’s a cheap guitar and it doesn’t sound as good as the others, but it’s a different thing. And it turned out I shouldn’t have said what I said.
VAN HALEN When you design guitars, do you design them for sound or cosmetics?
PAUL Sound. But don’t get me wrong, design is important.
VAN HALEN It’s got to look cool, but it better sound good.
PAUL Exactly. It’s nice to have both elements. I wanted the Les Paul to look good. That’s why we put that finish on it and made it with a [sculpted] top, so you could have that clean, violin look to the guitar. It makes it look like a Stradivarius, and you associate it that way, too.
VAN HALEN When you pick up a guitar, which guitar do you pick up?
PAUL I like the feel of my 1975 Deluxe the best. It’s actually a reject.
VAN HALEN Those are the ones I love. Got any extras around? I’m serious.
PAUL Yeah, sure.
VAN HALEN I’m serious. If it’s a reject and you like it, I know I’ll like it.
PAUL Well, not necessarily, because everybody has their own feel.
VAN HALEN I can guarantee you…
PAUL Everybody has a certain thing in their head of what they want to do and how to do it and their own technique. Everything about them calls for certain requirements.
VAN HALEN I’m getting the feeling from you that you go for the same goddamned fucking thing that I go for. It’s not the appearance of the goddamned thing. I don’t care if it’s a flametop or whatever. It’s the feeling of it and the way it sounds.
NOTE: The November 1986 issue of Guitar World featured ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on the cover. The photo above shows a portion of our March 1983 cover. To see a photo gallery of every Guitar World cover from 1980 to 1986, head here.
In late 2006, Topeka, Kansas–based acoustic guitarist Andy McKee burst onto the global guitar scene with a solo acoustic video of “Drifting,” a two-handed fingerstyle affair, oozing with percussive slaps, tasty taps and harmonic slaps. The video went viral on YouTube, achieving millions of views by early 2007. (Currently, the video is hovering in the 50 million views mark.) Prior to his cyber surge, McKee had already issued three solo acoustic guitar albums and been flying under the radar, making ends meet as a guitar teacher.
Today, with his “day job” behind him, and several more releases under his belt (solo records, as well as discs with Josh Groban, Lee Ritenour and Don Ross), he’s a literal “road warrior,” playing hundreds of concerts per year—including opening several shows for Eric Johnson and Dream Theater. Let’s take a closer look at what makes him tick, with an examination of “Drifting,” the song that started it all.
In “Drifting,” which the guitarist has stated was inspired by the great Preston Reed, McKee strings his Greenfield G4 acoustic in an alternate tuning referred to as DADGAD. This tuning makes it possible to fret power chords, like the G5 in FIGURE 1a, with a single finger. In McKee’s case, he uses “overhand” fretting to facilitate percussive slaps with the fretting hand (notated with an X on beats “two” and “four”) and other techniques (see the video lesson for this column at GuitarWorld.com). Over this type of groove, McKee taps a note on the G string (use index finger), holds it down, and plucks the top two strings with his ring (a) and middle (m) fingers.
A “Drifting”-inspired melody using this technique is shown (without the chords and smacks) in FIGURE 1b. Both parts are combined in FIGURE 1c—a pattern at the heart of the “in-the-style-of” figure at the end of this lesson.
FIGURE 2 depicts another percussive passage with the addition of fingertip taps on the face of the guitar (the 16th-note triplets with the stems pointing upward), similar to what McKee uses in the intro and outro to “Drifting.” For this figure, aim for rhythmic precision, focusing on the timing between the fingertip taps (the ring, middle and index fingers rolling in smooth succession) and body smacks, practicing until you can produce a sound like a marching snare drum roll.
Meanwhile, FIGURE 3 features two sets of harmonics: tapped—slap the “belly” of your fret-hand index finger across 12th fret to generate harmonics—and natural—touch the strings with your fret hand’s outstretched middle finger
As the Black Label Society’s leader (and Ozzy’s guitarist for more years than anyone else), Zakk Wylde has become infamous for his brew-tal riffage and lethal lead style.
Remarkably, though, he also has a soul-stirring softer side. Numerous acoustic-heavy offerings populate his catalog, including BLS records like Hangover Music Vol. VI and solo albums like Book of Shadows.
Many of them are highlighted by Wylde’s perhaps surprising vocal abilities, which include crooning not unlike Chris Cornell and the late Layne Staley (a strong contrast to his singing approach in BLS’ “bone-crushingly heavy” output).
What’s more, in almost Van Halen–like tradition (think “Spanish Fly” on Van Halen II), many BLS discs feature a fiercely shredded unaccompanied acoustic guitar solo. Add to this the fact that, just last year, BLS reworked an entire album (Order of the Black) into the all-acoustic The Song Remains Not the Same, and you may agree that it’s high time we honor the burly, bearded one’s fine acoustic guitar work.
“Darkest Days” is one of the standout tracks on The Song Remains Not the Same and features Wylde engaging in pick-style arpeggiation, not unlike FIGURE 1. Whereas some acoustic players might opt to go the fingerstyle route in such a setting, Wylde fills the soundscape quite nicely with picking—note the successive up/down strokes (a.k.a. economy picking) written above the TAB staff—and hammered-on chord ornaments. (He uses a similar approach in “Spoke in the Wheel,” on Sonic Brew.)
Of course, Wylde is a master at coaxing heavy riffs out of virtually any ax, and he doesn’t always keep it “pretty” when he’s digging into the strings of his Alvarez Yairi, Gibson Dove or Epiphone Masterbuilt acoustics. In “No Other” (Hangover Music Vol. VI), which informs FIGURE 2, heavy pick attacks, open-string drones and the frequent emphasis of the flatted fifth, or “Devil’s interval” (Bf in the key of E minor), combine to create a dark, moody vibe that’s more akin to Wylde’s trademark persona.
We’ll wrap up this lesson with a look at two of the unaccompanied acoustic guitar solo pieces in the Wylde discography. FIGURE 3, inspired by portions of “Takillya (Estyabon)” (Hangover Music Vol. VI), is a speedy finger-picked passage, featuring a descending line (sounded with the thumb, p) stated between plucks of higher open strings (using the index and middle fingers, i and m, respectively). Blistering guitar pieces such as this, as well as “Speedball” (1919 Eternal) and “T.A.Z.” (Sonic Brew), are a tip of the hat to Wylde’s influences, such as Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin and Carlos Montoya.
FIGURE 4 pays homage to “T.A.Z.,” copping some of the terrifying pick-and-fingers (or “hybrid picking”) techniques Wylde wields in the piece. Grip your pick between your thumb and index fingers (use downstrokes only), and pluck with your middle (m) finger. Focus on the first string pair used in the lick (beats one and two of bar 1) and perfect it. The remainder of this passage is actually the same pattern played on different strings and/or areas on the neck.
The title of this month’s column refers to the standard minor pentatonic “box” patterns that so many guitar players rely upon when soloing.
While they are valuable, they can be restricting if they represent the primary way in which one utilizes these scale patterns on the fretboard.
When playing in the standard box pattern, we generally play two notes per string. What I will do in this column is demonstrate a way to break free of the two-notes-per-string approach by combining it with three-notes-per-string patterns using sweep picking.
All of this month’s examples are played in the B minor pentatonic scale (B D E F# A). FIGURE 1 illustrates the scale played in a standard seventh-position box pattern. When playing the scale in this pattern, the index finger is used for all the notes that fall at the seventh fret, the ring finger frets all the notes at the ninth fret, and the pinkie is used for any notes at the 10th fret.
In FIGURE 2, I show how to break out of the box by starting the pattern using three notes per string, followed by a sweep across the low E, A and D strings, and a return to the three-notes-per-string shape. A similar pattern is employed across the D, G and B strings, after which I descend in the same manner.
Although I’m playing the same scale ascending and descending through two octaves as I did in FIGURE 1, this three-notes-per-string approach with sweeps allows me to create licks and soloing patterns that can be performed at a much faster speed than what would be attainable using the two-notes-per-string boxes. For the first three notes, I use alternate picking: down-up-down.
The last downstroke begins a sweep across the bottom three strings as I drag the pick in a single downward motion to sound the next three notes. The same picking scheme is then used across the D, G and B strings. On beat three into beat four, I use a pull-off to set up an upstroke sweep across the B, G and D strings, then perform a similar move across the bottom three strings.
The sweeps incorporated in this run represent three-string arpeggios, and a rather wide fret-hand stretch is mandatory for proper execution. I keep my fret-hand thumb squarely on the back of the neck so that my fretting fingers will remained arched throughout, allowing the maximum reach and physical comfort.
Now let’s start the pattern on the A string (FIGURE 3). A good way to practice these “shapes” is to break them into individual one-octave patterns. In FIGURE 4a, I play the patterns as 16th notes; in FIGURE 4b, I play them as 16th-note triplets.
Now let’s combine the low E string and A string approaches into a single run. In FIGURE 5, beats one through three represent the pattern starting from the low E string. At beat four, I begin the pattern from the A string, ultimately wrapping up with a descent back down to the low E.
In the final two examples, FIGURES 6 and 7, I demonstrate what I refer to as “monster runs” when using this approach. Eric Johnson is my primary inspiration for licks like these. In writing them, I attempted to create similarly breathtaking “sheets of sound” while remaining within the minor pentatonic structure.
Led Zeppelin and the ukulele might be an unlikely combination, but this rendition of “Kashmir” is on point!
The cover is performed by Bartt Warburton and James Hill, two ukulele players hailing from Australia and Canada, respectively.
Warburton and Hill not only do an excellent job of keeping the song’s groove in tact, but they nail Robert Plant’s vocal line too.
So who are these guys?
Hill is currently enjoying success with the release of his latest album Man With a Love Song, which blends jazz, bluegrass, old-time and folk influences with ukulele. Find out more at jameshillmusic.com.
Warburton, also known as Ukulele Bartt, has developed a series of instructional DVD’s and books devoted to learning ukulele. You can check them out, as well as many of his ukulele cover videos, at bartt.net.
When it comes to talent, age doesn’t matter. If you’ve got it, you’ve got it.
And there is no doubt that 16-year-old guitarist Andreas Varady has got it in spades.
And now we’re totally stoked to share his acoustic-based song, “Swing 42,” with you.
The song is from Varady’s upcoming self-titled debut due out August 5 on Verve Records.
This energy-injected, jazzy frolic showcase’s Varady’s amazing chops. And at only 16 we can expect that while the best is yet to come, this is pretty darn incredible!
“Swing 42” is a Django Reinhardt classic, and this version features the Varady father-son duo re-creating the dueling guitars that helped make them a hit on the European festival circuit.
Hear it here:
Varady blends the accomplished technique of Wes Montgomery, soulful voicing of George Benson and Gypsy swing of Django Reinhardt.
Guitar Player put him on its cover in 2012 and that summer he performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in front the festival’s legendary founder, the late Claude Nobs, and world renowned producer Quincy Jones, who has since taken Varady on as a protégé.
“Andreas is the complete package,” Jones said. “He’s a 360-degree musician whose knowledge and appreciation for all genres—from jazz and hip-hop to rock and pop—can be felt in his music.”
“Now that I’ve met Quincy, I’ve felt this whole big new thing has opened up,” Varady said. “He just has this positive energy and whenever I talk to the people at Verve, they also have the same positive energy. I’ve learned so much from working with all of them.”
David Foster, chairman of Verve Music Group, is equally enthused about working with Varady.
“There are a lot of ‘young guns’ out there, but what makes Andreas different is his mind-blowing maturity,” Foster said. “He thinks like a seasoned pro who has been doing this for 40 years and yet he brings a youthfulness to his music that is so refreshing.”
Varady’s omnivorous repertoire includes jazz standards, rock staples, pop selections (including a Justin Bieber tune) and Varady’s original compositions.
David Paich (Toto) produced along with Jay Oliver and Dirty Loops. Its cast includes keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, bassist Brian Bromberg, percussionist Paulinho da Costa and drummers Harvey Mason and Dave Weckl. Guests include Roy Hargrove on flugelhorn, singers Nikki Yanofsky, Kevin Ross, Drew Ryan Scott and Gregory Porter, who lends his commanding baritone to “Let The Good Times Roll.” Additionally, Nathan East, Steve Lukather, Steve Porcaro and Aleks Sever are featured musicians.
“Everything that I listen to is an influence,” Varady said. “I like AC/DC and I’ve always listened to old school hip-hop that has those cool chords and loops. You find things in their music that you can add to your vocabulary and you’re expanding the whole thing.”
Below, you can check out a pro-shot video of Metallica's entire two-hour-plus set from their June 8 headlining show at the Rock am Ring festival in Nurburg, Germany.
The four-day event featured a staggering number of bands, from Metallica to Iron Maiden, Nine Inch Nails and Avenged Sevenfold to Queens of the Stone Age, Linkin Park and the Offspring — and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Enjoy! And be sure to tell us what you think of their performance in the comments or on Facebook!
Last night, Jack White appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to discuss his new album, Lazaretto— and to perform two songs from the new disc.
You can check out one of the performances ("Just One Drink") below.
White last appeared on the show about a month ago with Neil Young. That night, the pair made live-television history when they recorded and pressed a cover of Willie Nelson's "Crazy" in White's sound-recording booth.
Lazaretto, White's second solo album, is out now on Third Man Records.
With more than 60 minutes of lessons, you'll learn how to combine sweep picking with fingerpicking, one-note-per-string arpeggios and hybrid picking double-steps.
Plus, you'll get access to:
• Zakk Wylde-style chicken pickin' techniques • "Jimi Hendrix-chord" arpeggio rolls • Hammer-ons, open strings, palm muting and note clusters • Wide-interval licks with string skipping • Legato seventh-chord arpeggios • Whole-tone and diminished scale runs • Blues organ licks
... and much more!
Please note: To access the written music for this DVD, insert the disc into your PC or Mac computer and browse the disc for the PDF.
Since their start in the early Seventies — when they were fixtures of Boston's vibrant music scene — Aerosmith have sold more than 150 million albums, garnered countless awards (including four Grammys) and have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
They’ve crossed musical genres with their signature song “Walk This Way,” while their most recent album, 2012’s Music From Another Dimension, debuted at Number 5 on the Billboard 200.
There have been ups and downs along the way, but perhaps no band defines success better than Aerosmith. So it only makes sense that Steven Tyler (vocals), Joe Perry (lead guitar), Brad Whitford (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass) and Joey Kramer (drums) would team up with another musical giant — Slash (along with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators) — for a summer tour like no other.
The new Aerosmith/Slash North American tour, Let Rock Rule, will start July 10 in Wantaugh, New York, and end September 12 in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
I recently spoke with Perry about the Let Rock Rule Tour. He also gave me an update on his next solo album and a first look at his new autobiography, Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith, which will hit shelves October 7.
GUITAR WORLD: Did you ever think that more than 40 years after the band’s formation we’d be talking about yet another killer Aerosmith tour?
No, I really didn't [laughs]. But in the bigger picture, I don't think anyone could have predicted that the business would have carried on as long as it did. We've seen a lot of changes in this business of rock and roll. We’ve seen it go from an underground meeting for a new generation of people to becoming a social revolution where the music became the theme (and sometimes even helped drive it). Then we watched the whole thing collapse and change with the way people receive their music. It's tough to say where things are going to go from here, but the good thing is that fans still want rock and new music. When we see the fans out there, they’re as excited as ever to see rock and roll in the flesh. It's the end of an era and a whole different world.
You recently said you play every show like it’s your last and that some nights might be better than others. How do you know when the band is really in a zone?
From the audience. We know they bought tickets to come see us and are counting on us to deliver the best show we can. It's about getting into that frame of mind and then letting the audience drive you. When the set list is working, production and lights, all of the things you sometimes take for granted when you go to a rock show. It’s years of experience and finding the right guys willing to put up with the ups and downs and pushing it to the edge. An Aerosmith show is about excitement. It's a train that's about to go off of the tracks but doesn't. It’s about getting you to that point and just about taking your breath away, and then moving on. That's how I judge a good show.
The first time you toured with Slash was on the Permanent Vacation tour with Guns N’ Roses. What were your initial thoughts of that band?
They were great and really made a mark in rock and roll history. It's a shame that whatever energy they saw in each other on that first record they couldn't sustain. They made a great record and could have been huge all around the world for as long as they wanted. But it takes more than talent and being in the right place at the right time to keep a band together. It's the reason I wanted to write the book. Not just to talk about how I ended up doing what I do, but also to give people insight into what some of the pressures can be and what has to be done to keep things moving. In spite of the personality crises, you have to learn how to deal with it and keep going. Then you can look back and go, "You know, we were literally just kids when we started trying to do what 10,000 other kids were trying to do. Now here we are 40 years later and — where's everybody else? [laughs].
What else can you tell me about your upcoming biography?
Aerosmith fans will get a kick out of it because there's a lot of stuff in the book that may come as a surprise. But what I'm really hoping is that people discover that it deals a lot about human nature and how people get along. You don't necessarily have to be an Aerosmith fan or a rock and roller to relate to or appreciate some of the situations we found ourselves in — and how we worked them out.
Can you tell me how you came up with “Walk This Way”?
I was always a big fan of R&B and blues and had a special affinity for the music that was coming out of New Orleans. I remember there was a band there called the Meters that was really laid back and funky that I was listening to a lot. I thought it might be interesting to see if I could find something that would be inspired by that kind of music.
One day at a sound check I had this tempo and rhythm going in my head and literally just started playing it. I remember Joey [Kramer] was on his drums warming up and I asked him to play a certain tempo (without being too specific) and the pieces came together pretty quick. Then we went back to New York and recorded it. It was a while before the lyric section came around, but it was really inspired by the Meters.
Back in the Eighties, rap and hip-hop was seen as sort of the “anti-rock." When Run-DMC approached you about doing "Walk This Way," did you have any reservations?
I didn't have any reservations at all. I saw hip-hop as being natural and the next step from the blues. There are so many similarities in the way it’s put together. It's simplicity and what it's based around. It's really about guys getting together and talking about their lives. It's interesting to see the links of the chains that go way back to the 1920s and Thirties and how songs today are still based on that music from the Delta. To me, it’s a natural evolution.
Can you give me an update on your next solo album and new Aerosmith music?
I've done five solo albums now and am working on my sixth. As it turns out, it's taken a little longer than I expected but it's all going to work out OK. After the book promotion I'll probably take a little time off and then finish it up. It probably will come out sometime next year. As far as Aerosmith goes, I'm not really sure yet. We've talked about it. It may turn out that we feel inspired and want to get back into the studio. We’ll see.
I know you’ll be speaking a lot about this in the book, but, as a musician, is there a highlight of your career that you feel is most memorable?
Its got to be that period where you realize that all of sudden the club that you've been playing in for years is crowded. Where at one time, the only people who were there were just your close friends and a small gathering of fans.
I remember we had been out of Boston touring around the mid-west when “Dream On” had been re-released and had gotten a lot of airplay in Boston. We came back and suddenly every place that we played was filled, from the theaters to even some of the bigger clubs. Over those next couple of months it was like, "Holy shit! This is really happening! People are listening to our songs!" After all of the time and work you put into it, that's got be the most exciting time for any band.
James Wood is a writer, musician and self-proclaimed metalhead who maintains his own website, GoJimmyGo.net. His articles and interviews are written on a variety of topics with passion and humor. You can follow him on Twitter @JimEWood.
You might recall that we've already posted a decent fan-shot video of Metallica's first-ever performance of "The Frayed Ends of Sanity" from the Sonisphere Festival in Helsinki, Finland.
Now, however, Metallica have released their own, professionally shot, clip of the historic May 28 performance.
The track is featured on the band's classic 1988 album ...And Justice For All and was — until May 28 — the only track from the band's nine-album back catalog that they'd never performed live in full.
"The Frayed Ends of Sanity" begins at about the 22-minute mark in the clip, which also includes rehearsals, "Enter Sandman" and a whole lot more. Enjoy!
Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of "Horse Heaven Hills," a new song by Chicago's Crow Moses.
The song — which was released today— is the title track from Moses' new album, which will be released September 9.
Horse Heaven Hills, which was produced by Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, walks the line between indie-blues and urban Americana, borrowing elements of experimental folk and broken-down orchestral music.
Today, GuitarWorld.com presents an exclusive clip of Animals As Leaders performing "Kascade" as part of the band's recent At Guitar Center with Nic Harcourt podcast.
The full interview portion of the audio podcast is available RIGHT HERE.
At Guitar Center with Nic Harcourt is an ongoing podcast series created by Guitar Center that delivers unique music — and the stories behind it, as told to Harcourt. The series features exclusive performance videos (like this one) and audio podcasts of these interviews that aim to tell the stories of the artists, their background, their music and more.
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has made little secret of his impatience with former bandmate Robert Plant for Plant's supposed hesitation regarding another Led Zeppelin reunion. But this apparent hesitation didn't stop Plant from singing some old Zeppelin favorites during his performance with his band, Sensational Space Shifters, at last weekend's Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands.
Plant performed "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You,""Whole Lotta Love" and "Black Dog" to an enthusiastic audience reception. He has been performing live with the band since 2012. Check out videos of the performances below.
