Category: Newswire

Seymour Duncan announces the debut of LiberatorTM, the first universal Solderless Pickup Change System for guitar and bass. Liberator is a bare-wire Lockdown system integrated with a high-quality volume pot. With a Liberator-equipped volume pot installed, changing pickups no longer requires heating up a soldering gun-you only need a mini screwdriver. Since Liberator doesn’t require proprietary connectors, it works with nearly any manufacturer’s passive pickups.

Pickups play a key role in defining an instrument’s tone, output, responsiveness, and feel, and different pickups can change the character of an instrument entirely. Vintage-style pickups may convey classic warmth or twang while hot-rodded designs can produce much higher output, greater articulation, or enhanced harmonic response. All of these factors combined affect how an individual interacts with his or her instrument. Soldering pickups is an exacting procedure that can be time-consuming for experienced guitar techs and daunting for players who lack soldering skills. With a Liberator volume pot installed in a guitar or bass, replacing pickups becomes a quick and easy process for players and techs alike. Learn more at seymourduncan.com/liberator.

Guitars donated for the fourth and final lot of the NasH2O Auction include some played by Peter Frampton, Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, and more. Every guitar in the lot was played on tour, featured in music videos, accompanied an Opry debut, played on albums or are vintage collectibles owned by musical legends. There’s also the one-off Fender Lucite Esquire built exclusively for the auction and filled with water recovered from the flood, straight from the Cumberland River.

"We build a Lucite guitar every once in a great while, but I don’t recall seeing – or even hearing of – anything filled with water," said Mike Bump of the Fender Custom Shop. "And the fact that it is actual water from the flood… Well, I can say for certain nothing like this has ever come out of Fender."

The auction closes January 8. For more, visit nash20.com.

The new Zemaitis GZAT-100SUN is modeled after George Harrison’s Zemaitis acoustic, but scaled down to 23 1/2". The body width is 12.9" and it has a solid Sitka spruce top, Indian rosewood back and sides. Learn more at zemaitis-guitars.com.

Premier Builders Guild (PBG), a boutique guitar and amplifier company comprised of master builders, has acquired the Two Rock boutique amplifier brand. Two-Rock makes a full line of hand-built amps including signature models for John Mayer, Eric Gales, and Steve Kimock. It recently launched the Studio Pro, a 40-watt, small-chassis "portable" classic reverb/custom clean hybrid. Two-Rock amps will continue to be hand-built at the brand’s California workshop. Learn more at premierbuildersguild.com and two-rock.com.

Daisy Rock Girl Guitars founder Tish Ciravolo was recently honored as one of the first Searchlight Scholar winners from the Women’s Executive Leadership Summit at the University of Wisconsin School of Business.

"Tish’s work as a woman establishing her own unique company embodies the leadership spirit of the Summit," announced Tammy Thayer, Co-Founder of the Summit. "Her endeavors as a role model and educator for young women thrill not only myself and my fellow founder, Pat Alea, but many of our participants who are both executives and mothers with hopes for the futures of their daughters. We were delighted to recognize Tish’s work and are inspired by her success as a champion for young women."

The award recognizes women who have positively impacted others through the dedication, strength, and passion of their leadership. As Daisy Rock president, Ciravolo is honored for guiding her company to achieve immeasurable success by leading the charge in the girl rock revolution and helping to change the face of the music industry for women.

"I’m so grateful to be honored for our work at Daisy Rock Girl Guitars," remarked Ciravolo. "It’s such a privilege to be a part of something that can inspire girls of all ages to live out their dreams; not just music but in all walks of life."

For more on the Women’s Executive Leadership Summit, visit exed.wisc.edu/womenssummit.

Los Lobos have been nominated for two 2011 Grammy Awards; the song "Do The Murray" is up for Best Rock Instrumental, while <em>Tin Can Trust</em> is up for Best Americana Album.

Los Lobos has also been confirmed to perform "On Main Street" on "Conan," December 21, and will be touring with Eric Clapton on the West Coast in February and March.

<em>Tin Can Trust</em> is Los Lobos’ first collection of new original material in four years. For more, go to loslobos.org.

Two-time Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Beck’s first studio album in seven years, <em>Emotion &amp; Commotion</em>, has been nominated for five Grammy awards, including Best Rock Album, Best Rock Instrumental Performance ("Hammerhead"), Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals ("I Put A Spell On You" with Joss Stone), Best Pop Instrumental performance ("Nessun Dorma"), and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical (for Steve Lipson). Beck is also nominated in the Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals category for "Imagine," his collaboration with Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1 &amp; Oumou Sangare.

This marks the most nominations ever for Beck in a single year and makes him the most nominated artist in the Rock field in addition to being the most nominated British artist for this year’s awards. Beck has previously won five Grammy awards including a win last year for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for his rendition of "A Day In The Life."

"Wow, would have been honored to be nominated for just one for Emotion &amp; Commotion, but to be nominated for five is mind-blowing," says Beck. "Now all I need to do is win them!"

<em>Emotion &amp; Commotion</em> features a mix of tracks that finds the guitar virtuoso accompanied by a handpicked cast of talented musicians, as well as several songs accompanied by a 64-piece orchestra. Working with award-winning producers Steve Lipson and Trevor Horn late last year at Sarm Studios in London, Beck used a number of musicians to help create the album’s diverse sound including guest appearances from Imelda May ("Lilac Wine"), Olivia Safe ("Elegy For Dunkirk," "Serene"), and Stone (Grammy-nominated "I Put A Spell On You" and "There’s No Other Me").

Beck will release a new live CD and DVD <em>Rock ‘N’ Roll Party Honoring Les Paul</em> in February, documenting his intimate tribute shows from New York’s Iridum Jazz Club this past June. Beck will take the "Rock ‘N’ Roll Party" on the road for a short U.S. tour backed by The Imelda May Band and its enchanting singer Imelda May, who joined Beck on stage at the 2010 Grammy Awards for a spot-on rendition of Paul’s "How High The Moon."

Bonhams will soon offer for sale an Epiphone Casino signed by a rock legends Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Mick Jones, Roger Daltrey, Paul Weller, and Gary Moore.

The guitar will be offered during Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia sale on December 15, with funds going toPup Aid, an organization raising awareness about puppy farming.

Pup Aid 2010 was the brainchild of TV Vet Marc Abraham and the first-ever music festival and celebrity-judged dog show, held in Brighton, England, to raise awareness about the cruel industry of puppy farming in the UK.

Puppy farming is the mass-production of puppies purely for profit with no thought or consideration for the welfare or happiness of the pups, breeding bitches or stud-dogs. Poorly diseased pups are then removed from their sick mothers far too young and transported sometimes hundreds of miles to be sold from pet-shops, free newspaper adverts or like commodities on websites.

The Pup Aid Epiphone Casino joins an original Jimi Hendrix guitar and Beatles lyrics in a special music and entertainment memorabilia auction at Bonhams Knightsbridge.

Savannah Music Festival (SMF) announces the lineup for its 2011 season, an expansive city-wide, multi-venue program showcasing a wide array of internationally-acclaimed artists in more than 100 productions over the course of more than two weeks, March 24 -April 9. Held annually in historic downtown Savannah, this 22nd season of Georgia’s largest festival – described by The Times of London as "one of the best events around the world"- features numerous festival debuts and the return of several audience favorites from the realms of jazz, blues, Americana, international traditions, and classical.

"At our festival, indigenous southern genres like the blues, country and bluegrass provide a fascinating counterpoint for many other musical traditions from around the world – from jazz to West African music," remarks SMF Executive &amp; Artistic Director Rob Gibson. "This unique confluence of musical styles finds a home against the backdrop of Savannah, a place where the past hangs prevalently in the air."

The intermingling of musical genres is most evident in musical pairings and collaborations that are unique to the Savannah Music Festival. Jazz meets Brazil via Dianne Reeves and Chico Pinheiro; banjo and jazz piano combine in a premiere collaboration between B&eacute;la Fleck and the Marcus Roberts Trio; "African Interplay" features kora master Ballake Sissoko with cellist Vincent Segal alongside the Lionel Loueke Ensemble’s premiere of new music by producer/composer Robert Sadin; The Flatlanders share the stage with Junior Brown in "Giants of Texas Country"; and banjo also visits South India in Fleck’s performance with tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain and double-bassist Edgar Meyer. These artists take audiences on a seamless journey throughout the world’s diverse music traditions – not only across the festival’s schedule as a whole, but sometimes within one singular performance.

In addition to a wealth of eclectic and groundbreaking concert programming – which also includes a variety of classical debuts, chamber series and recitals – SMF gives attendees a chance to hit the dance floor throughout the festival with four themed dance parties: Cuban, Cajun, Funk, and Zydeco. For more, visit savannahmusicfestival.org.

PBS has announced that "Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan – In Session" program will air as a special on its stations beginning November 27 and throughout the month of December (check local listings). Grammy Award winning bluesman Robert Cray will serve as special fundraising host on the public television broadcasts.

In 1983, when legendary blues guitarist Albert King, then age 60, was joined by his disciple Stevie Ray Vaughan, then age 29, on a Canadian sound stage for the live music TV series In Session, magic took place. Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan In Session is not simply a television program: it’s a summit of two master musicians. The only known recording of King and Vaughan performing together, this is the concert that blues fans in general, and Stevie Ray Vaughan fans in particular, have been waiting for.

The audio recording of the performance went on to sell more than 325,000 units from two releases: the first in 1999, the second in 2009. On November 9, 2010, Stax Records, a division of Concord Music Group, released "In Session" as both a DVD and a deluxe DVD/CD combination.

The PBS special Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan – In Session contains the following songs: "Born Under a Bad Sign," "Call It Stormy Monday," "Texas Flood," "Pride and Joy," "Match Box Blues," and "Don’t Lie to Me."