Month: August 2010

Guitar icon and three time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Eric Clapton announced today that he will release his 19th solo studio album on September 28, simply titled Clapton.

Co-produced by guitarist and long-time collaborator Doyle Bramhall II, the album features an all star cast of musical collaborations starting with the legendary JJ Cale, drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Willie Weeks, and keyboardist Walt Richmond-and the sessions later added guests including Steve Winwood, Wynton Marsalis, Sheryl Crow, Allen Toussaint, and Derek Trucks.

Clapton created a collection that touches on everything from century-old traditional brass bands to little-known country blues to brand-new originals. The result is both relaxed and revelatory, and unlike anything the guitarist has done in his legendary career.

“This album wasn’t what it was intended to be at all,” says Eric Clapton. “It’s actually better than it was meant to be because, in a way, I just let it happen. It’s an eclectic collection of songs that weren’t really on the map-and I like it so much because if it’s a surprise to the fans, that’s only because it’s a surprise to me, as well.”

For more , visit ericclapton.com.

Jagermeister, the brand known for decades of involvement with rock and metals bands, continues to own the concert circuit with the announcement of the 2010 Fall Jagermeister Music Tour, North America’s biggest thrash tour in 20 years with the 1991 original "Clash of the Titans" lineup – Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. The brand’s 17th Music Tour will bring three of the hardest hitting metal bands in the world to one stage and will feature complete performances of Slayer’s much lauded Seasons In The Abyss album from 1990, Megadeth’s landmark 1990 album Rust In Peace, and the return of Anthrax’s singer Joey Belladonna. The tour kicks off September 24 and will play 20 venues across the nation.

"I’ve been working with Jagermeister since 2004 to try to make the first Jagermeister Music Tour Trifecta happen," said guitarist Kerry King of Slayer. "I always have such a killer time on the Jagermeister Music Tour, and this time we’re coming through with Megadeth and Anthrax so you know everyone will be on the top of their game for these shows." Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine adds, "It is a rush to finally be a part of the Jagermeister Music Tour!"

"Slayer has been a long time friend and supporter of the brand," says Bill Henderson, Senior Vice President Marketing and Advertising at Sidney Frank Importing Company, Inc. "Jagermeister has been sponsoring them since 2001 and named them as headliner of both the 2003 and 2004 Fall Music Tours. It is great to work with them again and know that adding Megadeth and Anthrax to the program will make this a tour to remember."

Dark Horse Records announced today the October 19th release of a limited edition deluxe box set entitled <em>RAVI SHANKAR GEORGE HARRISON COLLABORATIONS</em>. The release honors the sitar master’s 90th birthday.

<em>Collaborations</em> is a 3 CD and 1 DVD uniquely numbered limited edition box set. All compositions were composed by Ravi Shankar and produced by George Harrison over a period of 20 years.

The DVD is a rare concert performance of <em>Ravi Shankar’s Music Festival From India </em>recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1974. The albums include the acclaimed <em>Chants Of India (1997), <em>The Ravi Shankar’s Music Festival From India </em> (studio version 1976) and <em>Shankar Family &amp; Friends </em> (1974). The 56-page book includes a foreword by Philip Glass, a history of George and Ravi "in their own words" and rare photographs from both family archives.

"The personal and musical friendship between Ravi Shankar and George Harrison has been known and well documented for decades now. It was a friendship that was powerful enough to make an impact on the large, musical life of the late nineteen sixties and it reverberates, as clearly, even today" – from the Foreword by Philip Glass

In 1973 George Harrison signed Ravi Shankar to his Dark Horse Records label. The first joint recording project between George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, <em>Shankar Family &amp; Friends</em> brought together renown Indian classical musicians such as Ustad Alla Rakha, Lakshmi Shankar, and Shivkumar Sharma alongside Western jazz and rock musicians including George, Ringo Starr, Tom Scott, Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner and Billy Preston. One half of the album comprises instrumentals and songs, while the second half is a thematic ballet to a yet un-staged performance.

<em>Ravi Shankar’s Music Festival From India (live from the Royal Albert Hall) </em>was the first artistic event organized and sponsored by George Harrison’s Material World Charitable Foundation; bringing together a 17-piece Indian classical ensemble as well as a solo sitar performance by Ravi Shankar accompanied on tabla by Alla Rakha.

In 1997 George Harrison and Ravi Shankar again collaborated on an album. This time Ravi created music for ancient Sanskrit chants with the challenge of maintaining the authenticity of the ancient verses. Released in 1997, <em>Chants Of India</em> are timeless, Vedic verses chanted for the well being of man and mankind.

<em>Collaborations </em>is available on Dark Horse Records and distributed by Rhino Entertainment.

Alfred Music Publishing, the leader in educational music publishing since 1922, is proud to partner with National Guitar Workshop to release The Improv Series for guitar, featuring two new instructional books: <em>Pentatonic Soloing Strategies for Guitar</em>, by Erik Halbig, and <em>Modal Soloing Strategies for Guitar</em>, by Jody Fisher.

<em>Pentatonic Soloing Strategies for Guitar</em> takes the most common improvisational tool, the pentatonic scale, and shows you its almost limitless possibilities. It begins with standard major and minor pentatonic scales in the five basic positions and quickly moves into challenging pentatonic variations for string skipping and sweep picking. The book culminates with a series of substitution scales, including the rootless 9th, the half-diminished, and the whole-tone augmented pentatonic scales. A CD demonstrating all the examples in the book is included.

<em>Modal Soloing Strategies for Guitar</em> is a comprehensive, multi-faceted study of the seven major-scale modes. Start applying and understanding the modes through sample licks, extended solos, and play-along tracks. In addition, you’ll play each mode in all 12 keys, learn different types of fingerings, and even discover the formula for each mode and its relationship to the diatonic chord. Soon, you’ll be harmonizing the modes and deriving them by altering other scales. A CD with play-along tracks and demonstrations of all the examples in the book is included.

<em>Pentatonic Soloing Strategies for Guitar</em> and <em>Modal Soloing Strategies for Guitar</em> are now available for $19.99 each. Pick up your copies at a local music retail store, or buy them today at alfred.com.

Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience will celebrate the life and music of his father, Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. The oncert dates – timed to take place just after the 30th anniversary of his Dad’s passing on September 25, 1980 – will launch October 8 in British Columbia. JBLZE will kick off in the U.S. October 19 in Minneapolis and continue through late November, reaching major North American cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Montreal, Houston, Seattle, Vancouver and many others (see the initial dates listed below with more to be announced).

Bonham has teamed with Annerin Productions, the company behind "The Pink Floyd Experience" and "Rain, A Tribute to the Beatles." "I can’t wait," Bonham said. "I’m sure it will be an emotional night, especially the first time we do it in front of an audience, but it’s a commemoration of Dad’s life and my life with the music and the company of Led Zeppelin. And I’m really looking forward to doing it."

As Bonham and his band rock through Led Zeppelin’s catalog, a state-of-the-art sound system and light show will enhance their live performance onstage. Behind them, giant screens will display futuristic art and mood-setting historical video footage and photos. Learn more at jblze.com/.

For the first time in its near 30-year history, Slayer, the single most distinctive and radical thrash metal band ever, will see its ten American Recordings albums released as a limited-edition, high-end box set – <em>The Vinyl Conflict</em> (American Recordings/Sony Legacy). Ten albums on 11 discs, <em>The Vinyl Conflict</em> will feature the band’s entire Def/American Recordings catalogue: <em>Reign in Blood </em> (1986), <em>South of Heaveneasons </em> (1988), <em>Seasons In The Abyss </em> (1990), the double-record <em>Live Decade of Aggression </em> (1991), <em>Divine Intervention </em> (1994), <em>Undisputed Attitude </em> (1998), <em>God Hates Us All </em> (2001), <em>Christ Illusion </em> (2006), and <em>World Painted Blood </em> (2009). <em>The Vinyl Conflict </em>will be released on October 12, 2010; check Slayer’s website (www.slayer.net) or Amazon.com for pricing.

"Most longtime Slayer fans may not have these records at this point," said American Recordings’ Dino Paredes, "or their copies are completely beat-up, so to have the complete catalogue in this first-class presentation is terrific. For the newer fans, this is their opportunity to really get into this band the way that they could have if they were born 20 years earlier."

American/Sony Legacy invested a great amount of care into making <em>The Vinyl Conflict</em>, treating the albums the way they would treat a great jazz, classical, Bob Dylan or Miles Davis record, something that isn’t normally done for metal records. All ten albums have been re-mastered from the original analog flat master tapes and were pressed on the highest quality, 180-gram audiophile vinyl at RTI, the most respected pressing plant in the U.S. and among the best in the world. Lacquers were cut and re-cut several times to ensure the highest sound quality. The individual vinyl discs will come in a standard, clear inner sleeve to preserve the vinyl, are then housed in high-quality litho-wrapped jackets, and then boxed in a hardcover slipcase. Additionally, reproductions of the original LP inner sleeve artwork were converted to 12X12 inserts.

"The vinyl box is a real treat for fans, especially with today’s renewed and increased interest in vinyl," added Sony Legacy’s Adam Farber. "It’s been years and years since the Slayer vinyl has been in print – only the two most recent albums are currently available on vinyl, the rest have been out of print for years and very hard to find. These albums sound spectacular – they sound like you’ve never heard them before."

"Everything about <em>The Vinyl Conflict</em> – the look of it, the feel of it – it’s very strong, very powerful, very Slayer," added Paredes, "from the music to the dripping, bloody pentagram on the front of the box. It’s perfect."

The <em>Chicago Tribune</em>’s Greg Kot wrote that Slayer is "one of the great American rock bands of the last 30 years, forget about genre." Indeed, few bands come close to matching the intensity that Slayer – guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, vocalist/bassist Tom Araya, and drummer Dave Lombardo – bring to its live shows, having been named "Best Live Band" by numerous media outlets including <em>Revolver</em>, <em>SPIN</em>, and <em>Metal Hammer</em>. The band has received numerous nominations and awards, including four Grammy nods and two wins.

Slayer is co-headlining the first leg of the American Carnage Tour with Megadeth that kicked off August 11 and goes through September 4.

After being apart for more than 20 years, and with many years of gentle prodding by rock aficionados, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner are finally back together.

The men at the heart of legendary band Bachman-Turner Overdrive (who have sold 30 million albums and earned 120 platinum, gold &amp; silver discs worldwide) are set to release their self-titled studio album on September 7, through E1 Music in Canada and RBE Music/Fontana in the U.S. The album is stocked with anthemic new rock tracks – all penned by Randy Bachman and Fred Turner – that seamlessly fit alongside their classic hits "Takin’ Care of Business" and "You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet."

Bachman &amp; Turner were recently featured in <em>USA TODAY</em> for their remarkable return and new-found fitness (as well as their status among reunited 70’s/80’s acts.

"Recording guitar and playing guitar live are as different as night and day," states author Jon Chappell in the introduction to the new fully revised and updated edition of <em>The Recording Guitarist</em>. It is a fact anyone who has every tried to lay down tracks will attest to-when it comes to getting the right sound down on tape (or hard drive as is increasingly the case) there is a whole different ethos than on stage or in the rehearsal studio. So arm yourself with the essentials before you hit the record button at your next session.

Revised and updated with a heavy focus on the modern digital-recording techniques and processes now so prevalent everywhere from desktop home setups to top recording studios, author Jon Chappell provides an invaluable reference guide that should always be in arms reach of any six-string slinger or studio engineer! Chappell’s decades of experience as musician, arranger, and journalist make <em>The Recording Guitarist</em> is the most comprehensive course available on guitar recording and perfect for both home, studio, and classroom use.

Chappell takes readers through every step of the recording process; from selecting the right guitar to amps and speakers, micing techniques, doubling tracks, adding effects, tracking vs. mixing, a glossary of important audio and recording terms, and a detailed synopsis on how to dial in the sounds of 14 classic guitarists from Dimebag Darrell, Eddie Van Halen, and Kirk Hammett to Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Morse, and Sonny Landreth. Beyond that, advice from recording industry pros such as Carl Verheyen, Al Di Meola, Alex Lifeson, and Phil Ramone explain dozens of studio tips and tricks-digital delay cascade effects, capoing, setting up a guitar for slide, using multieffects processors inline and more-for players and engineers alike to keep in their arsenal. Hundreds of diagrams and pictures throughout leave no question unanswered.

Alfred Music Publishing is set to release <em>Playing Guitar in Jazz Band</em>, a practical guide for students and teachers of jazz guitar, by David Sinclair. <em>Playing Guitar in Jazz Band</em> is for beginning or intermediate guitar students interested in joining a jazz band and the ideal companion for music teachers who want to better understand the role of the guitar in their ensemble.

Playing jazz guitar can be challenging, as the chord changes are often complex, yet the guitar parts should remain simple enough to avoid detracting from the overall sound of the band. This book breaks down that process by substituting difficult chord shapes with more flexible voicings that are designed to sound good on the guitar. The method also teaches a wide variety of rhythmic patterns and uses authentic chord charts that are exactly like the ones you will encounter in real-life situations. A CD demonstrating the examples in the book is included.

<em>Playing Guitar in Jazz Band</em> is now available as a book and CD set. Pick up your copy at a local music retail store, or buy it today at alfred.com.

Buckcherry’s fifth studio album, <em>All Night Long</em>, their first since the band’s move back to Top Independent Rock label Eleven Seven Music, has debuted at #10 on the Top Billboard Top 200 Album chart and was the #1 Rock debut. <em>All Night Long</em> is winning rave reviews.

The band continues its Top 10 success worldwide as they debuted at #7 on the overall chart in Canada (their highest chart position to date there) and scored their first Top 10 chart positions in the UK at #6 on the Independent Albums and #5 on the Rock and Metal charts, respectively.

Fans can catch a live performance of the album’s raucous title track on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" this Thursday (August 12) on ABC at 12:05 a.m., ET/PT. The single has just broken in to the Top 10 of the Mainstream Rock radio chart, landing at #9 and is currently the #10 Rock song on iTunes.

Buckcherry is currently on the road playing select tour dates and will gear up for an extensive North American tour supporting Nickelback beginning September 14 in Nashville. Learn more at buckcherry.com.