Category: Newswire

Guitar-pickup manufacturer Sheptone’s new Jazzbucker is a custom humbucking pickup that will fit into a Jazzmaster guitar without modification. It uses butyrate bobbins, rough-finished Alnico magnets, 42-plain enamel wire, and standard pole spacing.

To give insight as to what drives Shep’s pursuit, he states "My philosophy is simple…pickups should be transparent and allow the primary tones of the wood to come through. It is a wooden instrument after all. If you really listen to those classic riffs and tones that we all know, you can hear the wood and that is the key. While some secondary tone is inherent to each pickup’s design, the job of the pickup is to respond to the players’ touch (dynamics), enhance the natural harmonics and overtones that accompany each note, and transfer this "voice" to the rest of the signal chain."

For more, visit sheptone.com.

C.F. Martin & Co., D’Addario & Sons, Samick Music Corp., Godin Guitars, KAMAN, Levy’s Leathers, Luna Guitars, Paul Reed Smith, American Music and Sound, Washburn Guitars, and Peak International are partnering with NAMM grantee Guitars in the Classroom for a two week celebrity-signature studded online auction! The auction also marks a first collaboration between Guitars in the Classroom and the Playing For Change Foundation whose mission is connecting the world through music by providing resources to musicians and their communities around the world. GITC and PFCF are calling this auction "Playing For Change & Education." It will run from October 24 through November 7. Learn more at PlayingForChangeandEducation.com.

Fretted Americana is now in the electronic production business with the release of its new Evil Robot guitar amplifier. The first production run of 100 pieces, all made by hand in the USA, are now available for order.

Inspiration for the new Evil Robot comes from the 1959 Tonemaster Troubadour 214 amplifier, built by the Chicago based Accordion Company. Originally produced for accordion amplification, it quickly became a favorite of guitar players, sought after for its tone and its ability to create a controllable vibrato. An original Troubadour found its way to Fretted Americana through guitarist Phil X and it quickly became a favorite of customers. After receiving countless offers on the amp, Fretted Americana made efforts to not only to duplicate, but to improve upon the original. This work led to the creation of what is now, the Evil Robot.

The Evil Robot is a Class A, 18 watt, 1 x12 combo guitar amplifier constructed of Baltic Birch. The cabinet is a semi open back and houses a 16 gauge steel chassis and one 12" 8 ohm handmade speaker. Internally, all assembly is point to point hand wiring and includes hand wound, ear tuned transformers made exclusively in the USA. Cosmetically, the amplifier features a custom vintage brown vinyl, classic gold mesh grille cloth and a heavy-duty, vintage style black handle.

Keeping with the vibe of the original, the instrument control panel has two separate high and low gain inputs with individual loudness controls and a master tone knob. The foot switchable vibrato utilizes two separate potentiometers: one controls the speed and a second controls the intensity. Completing the panel is the on/off switch, red LED power light, remote speaker jack, screw cap fuse holder and a three way slide switch for additional tone control.

Learn more at frettedamericana.com.

Before the Grateful Dead, the Warlocks, and even Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions, Jerry Garcia played in the Black Mountain Boys, a band he formed in the early 1960s with the exceptionally talented Sandy Rothman and David Nelson. Together only a short time, they played the kind of bluegrass, country, gospel, and old-time music that swept through coffeehouses coast-to-coast in the post-Beat, pre-Beatles era that Garcia called: "the folk scare."

The trio came together again in 1986 to form the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band with John Kahn (upright bass), Kenny Kosek (fiddle), and David Kemper (drums). The group’s brief but glorious arc spanned more than two dozen shows in 1987 and 1988, which mostly featured them opening for the Jerry Garcia (electric) Band.

The beloved group is spotlighted with a newly remastered version of 1988’s long out-of-print <em>Almost Acoustic</em>, the sextet’s sole release, and the much awaited arrival of its sequel, <em>Ragged But Right</em>. Each will be available November 16.

<em>Almost Acoustic</em> presents a sprightly selection of performances recorded during shows at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles and The Warfield in San Francisco. The album’s 14 tracks include tunes popularized by the likes of Jimmie Rodgers ("Blue Yodel #9 [Standin’ On The Corner]"), Tex Logan ("Diamond Joe"), and Mississippi John Hurt ("Spike Driver Blues.") Also featured is "Ripple," which was written by Garcia and longtime Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.

Encouraged by the album’s warm reception, Rothman produced a successor titled <em>Ragged But Right</em> that has remained unreleased for more than 20 years-until now. Its 14 songs double the JGAB’s official canon with additional selections from the Warfield and Wiltern shows, but the bulk of the performances come from the band’s historic "Thirteen Magical Nights" run on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

<em>Ragged But Right</em> includes the band’s soaring harmonies and impeccable playing on Leadbelly’s "Goodnight Irene," country music legend Charlie Monroe’s "Rosa Lee McFall," and the country hit "I Ain’t Never" written by Webb Pierce and Mel Tillis. The set also showcases the group’s unique take on traditional songs such as "Two Soldiers," "Bright Morning Star," and "Deep Elem Blues," a song that crept into the Dead’s set lists on occasion. While the title track’s history dates back to the early 1900s, the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band plays a version popularized by George Jones.

Due to many fan requests and the great success of the DVD edition of <em>Joe Bonamassa Live From The Royal Albert Hall</em>, initially released last October, J&amp;R Adventures will release the Blu-Ray and Double CD editions on October 19, 2010. When Joe Bonamassa took the stage at Royal Albert Hall in May 2009, he fulfilled a dream he’d held since first picking up a guitar as a kid in upstate New York. The sold-out concert – fresh off the release of his number one album <em>The Ballad of John Henry</em> – marked Bonamassa’s headlining debut at arguably the most prestigious concert venue in the world. "May 4, 2009 was a day 20 years in the making," says Bonamassa. "I have never been so honored in my life. It was truly larger than the sum of its parts."

This fall, Bonamassa will continue the second leg of his U.S. tour in support of his latest album Black Rock which was released in March 2010. It debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Blues Albums Chart and #38 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart. The tenth full-length solo release and eighth studio album of his career, the disc marks Bonamassa’s sixth collaboration with Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes, Aerosmith) as producer. The tour picks up in Springfield, MA on Nov. 11 and continues throughout the U.S. through March 2011. Dates in 2011 are TBA.

Bonamassa will also host five Blues In The Schools sessions with local middle schools and high schools for his show dates in Stamford, CT, Rochester, NY, Virginia Beach, VA, North Charleston, SC, and Greenville, SC. In an hour-long presentation, Joe will take students on a musical journey tracking the evolution of Blues music from the Deep South in the late 1800’s up through today’s different styles of Blues. He will include live performances, recorded music, slide presentations and informative narratives.

2010 has been a busy year for Bonamassa. Most recently, he has been splitting duties with his side project, the English-American rock supergroup Black Country Communion with bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Trapeze), drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin) and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Billy Idol, Dream Theater). The band released their debut self-titled album, also produced by Shirley, on September 21, 2010. It entered the Billboard Top 200 Chart at #53 and is getting rave reviews. MOJO gave the album four stars and Goldmine said it’s "Possibly, the best hard rock album of 2010."

The year kicked off with Guitar World dubbing Bonamassa "The Blues Rock Titan" and his song, "Lonesome Road Blues," was included in Guitar Hero V’s New Blues Masters Track Pack. He was also honored twice in Guitar Player Magazine’s June 2010 Readers’ Choice Awards winning "Best Overall Guitarist" for the first time and "Best Blues Guitarist" for the fourth consecutive year. On June 26, he played the main stage at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago.

Bonamassa averages 200 shows every year, almost always playing to sold-out and ever-larger houses, and with each gig, he comes more into his own as a virtuoso and a vocalist. As he heads back to the road in support of his new album, Bonamassa remains infinitely passionate about playing live, connecting with his audiences and making new fans along the way like Slash, who recently said, "Just saw Joe Bonamassa on Jools Holland again. He’s definitely my new favorite guitarist."

Bonamassa will release a new studio album in March 2011 on his own J&amp;R Adventures label.

For more, visit jbonamassa.com.

The new KnuckleBonz Ronnie James Dio Rock Iconz statue is a limited-edition figure, hand-painted, numbered, and with a certificate of authenticity. Licensed, approved, and endorsed by Wendy Dio and Niji Entertainment, a portion of all sales of it will be donated to the "Stand Up and Shout" Cancer Fund created in honor of Ronnie James Dio. Learn more at knucklebonz.com.

Robert Cray is joining the University of Missouri and the city of Columbia November 6 for a concert in conjunction with the Vincent P Gurucharri, MD foundation and its Cancer Survivor Concert Series. Cray will be joined by Billy D &amp; The HooDoos as the opener.

For more, visit concertseries.org.

TC Electronic’s H500 is a 500-watt solidstate head with the company’s TubeTone tube-emulation circuit and SpectraComp mulit-band compression, as well as separate four-band EQ.Three user-defined tone presets allow quick changes, and its integrated tuner allows for silent tuning on the fly. It also has an AUX In for CD/MP3 players, a headphones out that automatically mutes the drivers, and a balanced Line Out- XLR connector with pre/post switch. See more at tcelectronic.com.

Over the past 22 years Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam has blossomed into a tradition held each December in the guitarist’s hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. Bringing together both bona fide living legends and some of the best young artists touring today, Christmas Jam has raised nearly One Million Dollars to benefit Habitat for Humanity.

This year, the event will expand to two nights at the Asheville Civic Center Arena, Friday and Saturday, December 12 and 13 at 7 p.m. In addition The Annual Pre-Jam at the Orange Peel will take place on Thursday, December 11th. The Prejam show will be broadcast live on WNCW and at a later date on National Public Radio, select AAA and Rock stations across the country.

In addition to its evening concerts, The Christmas Jam By Day series includes daytime concerts, art exhibits, movie screenings and more taking place Downtown. Also, for those who want to actually be a part of the good that The Christmas Jam does for The Asheville Community, there is the "Before The Jam, Lend A Hand" volunteer week in which volunteers can work on the houses that have been made possible by the funds raised by The Christmas Jam concerts.

The event’s reputation as a marathon concert featuring stellar performances and collaborations will be bolstered this year with a line-up highlighted by the legendary Steve Miller Band and the debut performance of The Warren Haynes Band, along with an incredible array of musicians and bands.

Performers at this year’s event include:

Steve Miller Band
The Warren Haynes Band
Gregg Allman
Widespread Panic’s John Bell
Widespread Panic’s John "JoJo" Hermann
Drive-By Truckers
Umphreys McGee
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

For more, visit xmasjam.com/

Earlier this year, Jeff Beck won his fifth Grammy Award, then scored the highest <em>Billboard</em> debut of his 45-year career with the release of <em>Emotion &amp; Commotion</em>, his first studio album in seven years. Riding that streak, Beck performed at the Grammy Museum April 22, thrilling an intimate crowd of 200 with his mind-bending guitar heroics.

Atco Records will release <em>Live and Exclusive From the Grammy Museum</em>.For the show, Beck took the stage with Grammy-winning producer and songwriter Narada Michael Walden on drums, bassist Rhonda Smith and keyboardist Jason Rebello. The quartet performed eight songs in all, tapping the new album for four, including covers of "Corpus Christi Carol," Nessun Dorma," and "Over The Rainbow" as well as the Beck-Rebello-penned "Hammerhead."

The remainder of the set featured the soulful "Brush With The Blues" from 1999’s Who Else!; a stunning take on The Beatles’ "A Day In The Life" (a version of which earned Beck his 2010 Grammy); and a supercharged version of "How High The Moon," a jazz standard popularized by Beck’s hero Les Paul. The show ended on a poignant note with Beck’s signature version of The Impressions’ classic "People Get Ready," a song the guitarist recorded in 1985 with Rod Stewart.

Beck spent much of 2010 on the road, headlining a U.S. tour then joining Eric Clapton for a series of performances. He also appeared at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and Bonnaroo before finishing his U.S. tour at Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago.