Dunlop is now shipping its newly designed Tortex TIII picks.
Marking the 30th anniversary of Tortex picks, the Tortex TIII combines the tone and feel of Tortex material with the speed and precision-enhancing Jazz III tip. The Tortex TIII picks are available in standard Tortex gauges;.50mm, .60mm, .73mm, .88mm, 1.0mm, and 1.14mm. Learn more at jimdunlop.com.
Saga Musical Instruments, USA distributor of Burns electric guitars and basses, is proud to announce the new Dream Guitar Limited Edition and Sonic Limited Edition guitars. The Dream nas gold-colored hardware including Burns’ proprietary locking machine heads. The body is Alderd with a figured maple top and the neck is figured maple with pearloid binding. The guitar’s multi-ply pickguards are black over white laminated plastic. It uses three Burns Rez-O-Matik Noiseless pickups and the Burns Rez-O-Tube vibrato. The Sonic Limited Edition guitar has a maple neck with Burns’ Gear-o-Matik truss rod and rosewood fingerboard. The alder body is contoured, and along with the two high-output Burns Tri-Sonic pickups controlled by one Volume and one Tone pot, and a three-way selector. It uses a Burns Rez-O-Tube bridge. Learn more at sagamusic.com.
After The Allman Brothers play The Beacon Theater each weekend in March, some of the band’s side projects, collaborators, and associates, along with surprise guests, will jam with the performers each night at The Iridium.
The Iridium will also play host to Duane Allman’s "Layla" Les Paul, a ’57 goldtop model was his primary instrument on the first two Allman Brothers albums, concerts, and perhaps most significantly, Derek & the Dominoes’ <em>Layla</em> album. Surprise guests will play the guitar at the midnight shows, and fans will be able to snap photos for a $20 donation, with proceeds split between The Big House (home of the Allman Brothers Band Museum in Macon, GA) and The Les Paul Foundation.
The schedule for the after-hours performances is:
Allman Brothers Midnight Aftershow Schedule:
March 11: Devon Allman’s Honeytribe
March 12: The Yonrico Scott Band (featuring Allman Brothers bassist Oteil Burbridge and his brother Kofi)
March 18: The Funk Summit featuring Leo Nocentelli (The Meters), Bernie Worrell (P-Funk), Fred Wesley (James Brown, P-Funk)
March 19: Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band (featuring Allman Brothers drummer Jaimoe)
March 25: Col. Bruce Hampton and Pharaoh Gummitt (featuring Duane Trucks)
March 26: Hubert Sumlin Band
For more, visit theiridium.com
The 2011 Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase will be held October 22-23 at the Bearsville Theate in Woodstock, New York. The event is an alternative guitar show, featuring fine, contemporary, handmade acoustic guitars and stringed musical instruments, exhibited by their makers.
Entering its third year as a public event, the Woodstock Invitational has attained a reputation as a "small and prestigious" national guitar festival with an international reach. Promoting the art of lutherie, The Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase is a low-key, laid-back event for the community of acoustic stringed-instrument builders, players, collectors and aficionados. Fine, handmade acoustic instruments such as these are not usually available in music stores or other retail environments. This is a rare opportunity for the public to see, hear, play, buy or commission custom-made instruments – the finest examples of the luthiers’ art – gathered together in one place. Meet the builders, discuss custom instruments, and hear some fine music. Classical and flamenco and steel-string guitars – flattops, archtops, manouche, resonators, hybrids – plus mandolins, lutes, ouds, ukuleles, banjos, violins and bows will be on display in the Bearsville Theater. Vendors Annex right next door to the Bearsville Theater in Todd Rundgren’s old Utopia Soundstage, including fine wood dealers, parts and tool suppliers, string and accessories manufacturers, decorative inlay and custom finish artists, publications and instructional materials, and our Sponsors, plus a Special Exhibit of rare and significant historic, vintage and contemporary instruments loaned by major collectors.
There will be live music, including luthier mini-concerts, demonstrations and special appearances throughout both days, by some of the region’s finest musicians, in the Bearsville Theater Lounge, included in the price of admission. There is also a series of instructional clinics and workshops for players, plus seminars and colloquia for builders, by separate admission. There are associated concerts of acoustic music featuring internationally known artists. Performers at previous Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcases include Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Vicki Genfan, Vic Juris, John Sebastian, Happy Traum, Ara Dinkjian Trio, Julian Lage, Bill Keith & Mark Patton, Kinloch Nelson, Paul Asbell, Frederick Hand, and more.
Learn more at woodstockinvitational.com.
Guitarist Steve Wariner has launched a series of short instructional video clips on his website, showing how he plays songs from his new CD, <em>Guitar Laboratory</em>, demonstrating licks and showing guitarists how to capture its sounds.
"I had a great time making this record and experimenting with different guitars, tones, amps and styles," said Wariner. "I thought it would be fun to share some of what I did with other musicians out there."
Released on February 8, <em>Guitar Laboratory</em> has earned stellar reviews, including this from the Dallas Morning News: "Steve Wariner is the warmest of guitarists. No matter what six-string he’s playing or what musical genre he’s attempting, the Indiana-born picker coaxes his fingers into producing a clear, soothing and warm guitar tone."
Wariner is featured in the April issue of <em>Vintage Guitar</em>. For more, go to stevewariner.com.
The Fender Center and Blues Kids of America will present Fernando Jones’ Blues Camp June 27 through July 1 at the Fender Center Kids Rock Free school in Corona, California.
The experience will give student musicians ages 10 to 18 an opportunity to learn and play America’s root music. This week-long camp is free, and students will receive professional instruction in the hands-on, user-friendly environment at Kids Rock Free.
Jones was born in Chicago and taught himself to play guitar when he was four years old. Currently, he’s a bandleader, Blues Ensemble director at Columbia College (Chicago) and a lecturer focusing on music pedagogy and literacy improvement.
For more on the camp, visit fendermuseum.com.
Ricky Skaggs has announced the first dates of his 2011 Treasure Chest Tour, which will feature songs old and new, including a mix of Skaggs’ classic country hits as well as a collection of his famous bluegrass tunes. The tour kicks off in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, on March 18, with additional dates to be announced in the upcoming weeks.
"I think fans will really love the fact that I’m taking a full country band out on the road to do ‘(Honey) Open That Door,’ ‘You’ve Got a Lover’ … ‘Uncle Pen,’ ‘Highway 40 Blues,’ and things like that" explains Skaggs. "We’ll be able to do those with the country sound and then do the ‘blazing bluegrass’ that we’ve been known for since ’97, and then do those new songs from Mosaic. I think it’s going to be a great show, a great tour, and people are getting really excited about it, so we’re excited about it."
For more, go to rickyskaggs.com.
Eastwood Guitars and Randy Bachman have collaborated on the new Airline Tux Deluxe guitar.
Bachman plays the Airline Tuxedo model, and recently pitched the idea for Airline Tux Deluxe, which captures a ’60s vibe with multi-ply binding, flamed maple top and back, and black sides. Technical changes include a Zero-Fret, upgraded tailpiece and custom coil-tapped pickups, giving the player a choice of 70% or 100% of the P-90 output levels.
To learn more, visit eastwoodguitars.com.
Forty-five years after their groundbreaking show and hit singles took televisions and record players by storm, original Monkees members Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork have announced a tour. An Evening with The Monkees – The 45th Anniversary Tour launches on June 3 at Atlanta’s Chastain Park and rolls through more than 30 cities before concluding July 15 in Los Angeles. These shows mark the first live performances by the band in a full decade, and are sure to draw yet another generation of fans to their mix of music and comedy.
"We need to share this music once again as people want to hear music from times that made them happy," said Davy Jones. "The records are being played all the time. And, the fans are still there… So, we’re going to do it." Micky Dolenz added, "I’m looking forward to getting back together with my old buddies for some good ol’ rock and roll." Peter Tork concludes, "Each one of the tours we do is more fun than the one before."
For more, go to facebook.com/MonkeesTour.
Renowned blues guitarist Eddie Kirkland "Gypsy of the Blues" was killed Sunday morning after his car collided with a bus in Florida.
The 88-year-old Kirkland was born in Jamaica and raised in Alabama. He recorded and toured with John Lee Hooker for several years and was the former band leader for Otis Redding.
According to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol, at approximately 8:30 a.m., Kirkland attempted to make a u-turn in front of the bus at the intersection of U.S. 98 and Oak Park Boulevard in Homosassa.
Kirkland was flown to a nearby hospital but died a short time later. The bus driver and 13 passengers on board were not injured.