Monthly Archives: May 2012

  Music distributor John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd. and Paul Brett donated a signed prototype Vintage Paul Brett Signature guitar to a charitable auction held May 18 to benefit the Search And Rescue unit of “C” Flight, 22 Squadron, based at RAF Valley in Anglesey, Wales. The unit flies helicopter search-and-rescue sorties and has been [...]

ZZ Top will release their first new studio recordings from the band in nine years.  Texicali, a four-track digital collection, offers a preview of the group’s full-length album, as yet untitled, that will be released late this summer or early fall. Those purchasing the four songs will benefit from a pro-rated discount on the purchase of the full [...]

C.F. Martin & Co. is set to release four new models – the DCPA1 Plus, the GPCPA1 Plus, the OMCPA1 Plus, and a new GPCPA2 Mahogany.The Performing Artist Series PA1 has Fishman F1 Aura has three pre-blended image/pickup presets improve “plug and play” ease, while the programmability of the original F1 Aura. The GPCPA2, from [...]

Doc Watson, the iconic country and bluegrass guitarist/performer who helped popularize the flat-picking playing style, passed away May 29 at a hospital in North Carolina. Watson had been hospitalized after falling at his home, and died in hospital after undergoing abdominal surgery. He was 89. Born Arthel Lane Watson in Stoney Fork, North Carolina, he [...]

SOS: Save Our Studio – A Benefit Album, a compilation album to benefit The Compound Studio will be released today in digital format. Established in 2001 in part by chief engineer and producer Anthony Arvizu as a partnership deal, debt has been threatening to shut down The Compound Studio in recent months. In its attempt to stay [...]

The O2 arena in London was stage for the gathering of some of the UK’s most notable, and charitable music icons. The “Rockwell” event brought together the likes of Robert Plant, Tom Jones, Joss Stone, as well as Lulu, Razorlight, Beverley Knight, Escala, and Dan Gillespie Sells. The evening culminated in the final song that [...]

Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, the original girl guitar company, welcomes to its artist roster Kathy DellaValle, a guitarist, bassist, and vocalist with a combined sound of pop, blues, country, and folk with soulful vocals and great harmonies. In addition to being a solo artist, Kathy is the bassist and vocalist for The Look, a band she [...]

Robert Seth November, the founder of McKenzie River Music, died May 22 of cancer. He was 56 years-old. November was born March 27, 1956, in Montclair, N.J., to Milton and Bernice Siegel November. He is survived by his wife, Susan Truax; and a brother, Lee. A memorial service is planned for a later date.  

Steve Vai will release The Story of Light, a new solo album of original material, on August 14. The 12-song set continues a conceptual narrative arc begun on his 2005 album Real Illusions: Reflections. The Story of Light follows the journey of a man driven mad by grief, intertwining tragedy, revelation, enlightenment, and redemption. Although it is largely instrumental, [...]

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today selected 25 sound recordings that will be preserved as cultural, artistic and/or historical treasures for generations to come.The voices of former slaves, the sounds of Native American culture, the creative wordplay of “Rapper’s Delight,” Donna Summer’s electric 1977 hit and the only surviving recording of a stage icon [...]