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Ed Sheeran on The A Team's Ivor Novello success

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:10:00 GMT

You might expect award-winning, million-selling singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran to be doing the rounds in arenas and on festival stages these days. However, yesterday saw the star take to the stage in the intimate surroundings of Bristol Fleece in aid of the One25 charity.

We caught up with Ed for a forthcoming issue of Total Guitar magazine and asked him how it felt to win best song musically and lyrically for his hit single The A Team at last week's Ivor Novello awards.

"That's the one award that as an artist I've always chased," Sheeran admitted. "I expected to get it a lot further down the line in my career, so to get it for the first song I released was a fantastic feeling.

"It's a room full of people that I admire and look up to who voted for me to win it… it's the perfect award for any artist. I'm honoured to have it."

For much more from Ed Sheeran, pick up Total Guitar magazine issue 230, on sale 9 July. Total Guitar is now available on Apple Newsstand (US readers click here).

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Adele wins two Ivor Novello awards

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:50:00 GMT

Adele has won two Ivor Novello awards at a ceremony in London this afternoon. The singer was named songwriter of the year, while Rolling In The Deep, the first single to be taken from her second album 21, was confirmed as the most played work of 2011.

The Ivor Novellos are designed specifically to recognise songwriting achievements. Other winners at the 2012 ceremony included Ed Sheeran for The A-Team (best song musically and lyrically) and PJ Harvey for Let England Shake (best album).

Also taking home prizes were Lana Del Rey and her British songwriting partner Justin Parker for Video Games (best contemporary song), Take That (outstanding contribution), Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp (outstanding song collection), Siouxsie Sioux (Ivors Inspiration) and Mark Knopfler (lifetime achievement).

Gibson announces new Sheryl Crow Southern Jumbo Special Edition acoustic guitar

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:57:00 GMT

Gibson Acoustic and Sheryl Crow announce their second collaboration with the release of the Sheryl Crow Southern Jumbo Special Edition. This new Southern Jumbo is the most advanced acoustic-electric Southern Jumbo available.

Click here for a gallery of the new Gibson Sheryl Crow Southern Jumbo Special Edition

In 2010, Crow modified her entire live acoustic guitar line-up with the same new and advanced pickup system used in the Gibson Jackson Browne model released earlier that year. After an extensive in-studio comparison of guitars and pickups, the idea for her Southern Jumbo Special Edition was born.

Crow's new Southern Jumbo is built for power and projection with wider X-bracing on the red spruce top. With mahogany back and sides, the combination of wood and pattern bracing gives this SJ a dynamic and responsive tonal range unlike any Southern Jumbo Gibson has built. The acoustic-electric version of this guitar has the same incredible stereo pickup system used in the highly-acclaimed Jackson Browne Model.

Traditional appointments like Ivroid Waverly tuners, vintage Gibson script logo and banner decal, a hand-beveled pickguard, bound fingerboard and a custom classic sunburst finish, result in a beautiful guitar with a classic appearance. The onboard electronics unleash a new level of acoustic performance capability never before achieved in an acoustic pickup.

"Having tested many internal pickup systems on many guitars," said Robi Johns, project director with Gibson Acoustic, "we've discovered a new realm we never thought possible for live performance natural sound. This guitar, combined with this pickup system, can change the way players interact with their instrument on stage. It's very exciting. Our goal is to get to the point where, as a player, you forget that you're plugged in."

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Interview: James Morrison talks songwriting, soul and his album The Awakening

Thu, 03 May 2012 16:38:00 GMT

James Morrison plays an Avalon acoustic in Australia, April 2012. © TRACEY NEARMY/epa/Corbis

British singer-songwriter James Morrison caused a sensation in 2006 when his debut album, Undiscovered, made him anything but. His smooth, effortless voice sounded like a fresh update on Steve Wonder, propelling pop-soul gems like You Give Me Something and Wonderful World to the top of the charts.

Morrison followed up that smash with 2008's Songs For You, Truths For Me, a critical and commercial triumph, which included top 10 hits You Make It Real and Broken Strings (the latter a duet with Nelly Furtado). Last year, the Brit Award winner made it three for three with The Awakening, a deeply personal work that has already yielded the chartbreakers I Won't Let You Go and Up.

Having just begun a sold-out US tour, Morrison sat down with MusicRadar to talk acoustics, his guitar influences, how he writes and demos, and all things soul.

You play in so many different sized rooms. How do you go about getting a good acoustic guitar sound night to night?

"I admit that I'm not the most technical person. I just like what I like, and that's a warm, crisp sound to my guitar. I think a lot of it comes down to what kind of guitar you play and what pickup you use.

"For the last six or seven years now, I've used a Fishman pickup. It's got a nice warm tone – really full, really musical. You can batter your guitar and it won't distort too much, which is important for me because I play with my hands a lot – I don't really play with picks.

"I've got an Avalon guitar – that's the company that used to be Lowden. They come out of Ireland, and they're like these folk kind of guitars. You can pick 'em, you can strum 'em – they're quite good. I used to Gibson Hummingbirds, and I was quite happy with them, but I got a newer one and it was a bit… I don't know, I just didn't like it. The older ones are good, but they're not as reliable on stage as the new ones. And because I don't want to break an old Hummingbird on tour, I decided that I like the Avalons now."

You haven't talked much about your guitar influences. Growing up, which players made an impact on you?

"It's weird, really. All the really good guitar players – Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, or even Bert Jansch or John Martin – I love all those people. But I didn't start out thinking that I would be a guitar player. In the beginning, I played the guitar so I could sing. I mainly concentrated on my voice.

"I'm learning on the guitar all the time. Just last night, I sat around jamming, learning my scales, doing that whole thing. I kind of piece it all together, but I can be quite stubborn. I want to learn all the scales, but I want to work it out my way. It's taking me a lot longer than it should, stupidly, but for some reason my brain just remembers it better if I do it myself and relate it to things I've played."

What made you gravitate towards the acoustic guitar?

"Well, I love the electric guitar, but I never felt like I could get good enough on it to really sort of 'own' it in a sense. If you plug an electric in, you'd better be able to fucking rip it up, you know what I mean? I could never do that confidently. I mean, I can sit in my room and rip out a lead and really enjoy it, but on stage is a different thing. I'm getting there, though."

What about other acoustic fingerstyle singer-songwriters, like James Taylor or Donovan? Have you listened to them much?

"Yeah, yeah! A lot of those guys have an influence over what I play, sometimes subconsciously. I do like players who cross the line between folk and soul. I try not to play too much funk sort of pastiche guitar and all that. I tend to listen to people who do really good licks and chords. I think that's why I like Stevie Wonder, as well. No only is his voice so amazing, but some of the chords and inversions he does, they're unbelievable."

More than a few great singers have said that they fell in love with their own voices very young [Morrison laughs uproariously] – they're not boasting, but rather, they knew early on that they were meant to sing. From your laughter, that probably wasn't the case with you.

"No, no, it wasn't. I don't know, it's a weird thing. I used to record my voice when I was younger and play it back and think, Aw, I could've done that better. I was maybe 10 or 11, and I taped myself in my room on a little tape cassette recorder.

"Actually, it's always something I've been paranoid about – not paranoid but worried. I always want my voice to be better than what it is; I always to have more range and a clearer voice. It's something I'm constantly working on. But I've never really felt like, 'Yeah, my voice is sick!' [laughs]

"Some nights it all comes together and the gig is amazing – I sing well and execute all the notes, the ad libs and bits – but that's a momentary thing. My voice is my voice because of the music I love. If I'm close to that music, then I'm going to be singing well."

What was your agenda going into the new record? In an interview last year, you said you were sick of singing ballads.

"I just wanted to get rid of all the preconceived ideas about me – but not worry about it too much, either. My main goal was to come out of the studio with an album I could be proud of, and if it didn't do well, I'd still feel the same way; to make a proper record that people could put on and not categorize as 'pop' or this or that – I wanted to people to just 'get' it.

"I was going for something that was more classic soul/folk. I wanted it to be live, I wanted it to be personal. Just the fact that I lost my dad and had some other things going on in my life, it made me reassess what I was doing musically. So I wanted it to be a record for me and not to fulfill any idea of what it should be."

How do you write? Do you have a set way, or is there no way?

"Usually, the best stuff that I write – what I feel is the best stuff, anyway – is when a feeling comes over me. You know when you just look out the window late at night? Your mind is searching for things, you want answers… I don't know, but it's like that. I just play my guitar and hum a melody, and if something happens, I'll get a rough structure together, some chords, and I'll let my subconscious ramble out lyrics."

The novelist Richard Peck once said, "We don't write what we know. We write about what we wonder about."

"Yeah! Exactly. All the best songs are ones you don't have to think about – they just kind of write themselves. But those kind of things don't come very often."

Do you make elaborate demos? Also, what kind of system do you work with?

"I used to do elaborate demos, but I found that it got in the way with trying to imagine it in the studio. You get that 'demo-it is' thing where you can't get past the demo. Now, I keep everything really simple: acoustic guitar, a vocal, maybe some keys and bass. That's the thing I try to do – write it and put it down in a simple way without all the production.

"Depending on who I'm working with, I've been using Pro Tools and Logic. I just try to get it in the pocket. On my second album, a lot of the demos got screwed over, the songs got missed, because the demos were either too produced or the sounds weren't right."

Singing with Jessie J on the song Up, was that always the idea?

"No, not really. It was a very personal song about my dad, and I wanted strings on it. Towards the end of making the record, the song sounded too prog-rock. It was a little slow, and it didn't have the impact I wanted – it didn't glisten. Mark Taylor remixed it, and he put a female vocal on it. He said he wanted it for the harmonies, but he put her on the verse and suggested that maybe I do a duet.

"I wasn't too sure about it. I had already done a duet on Broken Strings, and I kind of wanted to get away from that. But then I heard it, it sounded good, so I started thinking of who I could put on it. Jessie J was one of those people who immediately came to mind. Adele's amazing, and if Amy were still around and wanted to work with me, that could have been nice.

"I kind of like the difference between our styles, me and Jessie. She's very R&B/pop, and she's an icon, whereas I'm more of a singer-songwriter. It's a good mix, really."

Playing Hamburg, Germany last March. © Ulrich Perrey/dpa/Corbis

Slave To The Music has some really cool electric funk guitar. Is that what you heard when you wrote the song?

"No, not at all. In the beginning, when I wrote it, it was more half-reggae, and it had like Indian strings. When I listened to the demo, it sounded really wrong. I wanted it to be not too poppy, a little more tribal. It took on a new thing when we got in the studio, more stomping and funk feeling."

Growing up, you listened to the classic soul singers – Otis Redding, Al Green. Is there anybody good now? [Morrison laughs] Anybody new that you like?

"That's good – 'anybody new?' [laughs] Yeah, I like Jamie Lidell, and then there's Gavin DeGraw – he's got a sick voice. Amos Lee, he's pretty good, and so is Daniel Merriweather. Amy Winehouse is definitely one of my favorite female vocalists of all time.

"You know, it doesn't always have to be that sort of black R&B voice. I like singers with emotion, people who you believe, who aren't pretentious. There's a guy called James Vincent McMorrow, and he's a bit folky, sort of like Bon Iver. I really like that style, as well. Anybody who can engage you, who is urgent – as long as they're revealing something, that's what does it for me."

BIMM announce Peter Grant Memorial Scholarship

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:17:00 GMT

BIMM Principal Vaseema Hamilton explains, "BIMM have created this scholarship in memory of the one of the most influential figures of the modern music industry."

The scholarship will be linked to the Music Industry Management BAHons qualification being run at BIMM Bristol from September 2012. This course as with all BIMM programmes is vocational and designed to act as a springboard into employment.

Mark Clayden BIMM Bristol College Manager explains, "We have designed the Music Industry Management BAHons to support up and coming young professionals eager to make their mark in the music industry. Training students in all areas of this ever changing industry including: Live Event Management, Retail, Promotion, Record Labels, A&R, Working With Musicians, Finances and Music Law."

Touched and honoured

Peter Grant's daughter, Helen Grant, added, "My father would have been both touched and honoured that this scholarship has been created in his name. He was a great inspiration to many people in the business, not only on the management front, but in the way he looked after his artists in his own, infamous way! A charismatic personality coupled with great humor, means he is never far away. This is a long overdue accolade. Never forgotten"

Peter Grant, best known as the manager of Led Zeppelin, also worked closely with Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, the Animals and the Yardbirds, to name a few. In 1996, The Music Managers Forum (MMF) award for outstanding achievement in management was renamed the Peter Grant Award, in his honour.

The Peter Grant Memorial Scholarship will cover approx £16,000 of course fees across the three year undergraduate programme.

To find out how to apply for The Peter Grant Memorial Scholarship call 0844 2 646 666, email info@bimm.co.ukor visit www.bimm.co.uk/bristol

Interview: David Gray on songwriting

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:30:00 GMT

Doyen of the impeccably crafted acoustic torch song, David Gray is widely regarded as one of the UK's finest singer-songwriters.

He took a break from writing tracks for his next album to chat to us.

Do you have any tools you need around you when you're writing songs?

"Just a guitar or piano. I generally write the rhythm and the chords first, then find the melody, then the lyrics - I write in that order 90% of the time. The music is generally first, then I have to find the lyrics to fit."

Do you draft and redraft, or do the songs come out fully formed?

" Each song is different. The lyric-writing is usually the exhaustive part for me, but it's not always that way - sometimes it could be the production, sometimes the arrangement if you can't quite get it right.

"Some songs you go back to again and again - you know that there's something there. As my songwriting has developed I have sometimes written around a sound or things that have happened in the studio, where a sound might be very integral to the song, or the song might be born entirely of it.

"Some songs are written easily, but you never know when the spanner is going to fall into the works. Sometimes the spanner never arrives, but even some of the best, most successful songs can have a difficult birth.

"I haven't done a great deal of collaborating, but it can definitely yield some interesting results."

"I'd say it's usually the lyric-writing that I dread - it can feel like being given extra homework! That's especially true if you really want to say something; if I write a song and it doesn't hold the meaning well enough for me, it'll just fall off my map and will stop being something I ever play or sing.

"I've got numerous tracks like that scattered across various albums – songs that, for whatever reason, didn't have enough going for them. So the lyric has to be good – things that are too brittle or twee tend not to last. It's worth the extra effort if you have a tune that you think adds up to something to try and get the best possible lyric to fit."

Most people see you in a traditional singer-songwriter role - does it take a lot of work to marry the lyrics and music?

"That's my default setting - basically, the songwriting has to stand out. That's what I think about music production too - the song has to sound big on just the basic rhythm instruments and the voice, so you don't feel you have to throw lots of crap at it to make it sound convincing.

"If it sounds big just with the basics, everything else you add – the beat, the bassline, the piano, whatever – will make it sound huge. That's all you need.

"When I listen to the early Dylan records, he's so beguiling and the ideas and play of words are so interesting that it just pulls me in like a magnet. It doesn't want for anything."

Having collaborated with people like Orbital in the past, is that a writing avenue that interests you, when a new element is added to your songwriting?

"It can be very interesting because unexpected things happen. Anything that breaks the monotony of staring at a blank piece of paper and at yourself, anything that might make something happen that you wouldn't have predicted, is at least to be tried. But of course, these experiments tend to work with varying levels of success.

"Paul Hartnoll did a brilliant job remixing Please Forgive Me, then when I sang on the Orbital track, the track was already done and I had to sing over the top of it - it wasn't like I could work any new ideas into the music.

"I haven't done a great deal of collaborating, but it can definitely yield some interesting results. Now that I'm staring at making a 10th studio album, maybe I've got more of an eye for something that might change the formula and allow something different to happen.

Could you give us an insight into how your hit song Babylon was written?

"It started off with the guitar figure that you hear at the beginning, which was originally more complicated than what you hear now. I'd got a certain distance with it - I think I'd written the first line and a bit of the chorus, then I put the song to one side.

"It began to click when I simplified the chorus and it became what it is now, with the little bridge just before the chorus and the actual 'Let go your heart, let go your head' lyric. As a result of that minor victory of the arrangement I thought that I might as well try and write the rest of the song.

"The point where it really turned into something was when the production kicked in. Iestyn Polson, who worked on the record with me and Clune, had started to work with vocoders and different weird little samples of things.

"Straight away, from the very first sample we were playing along to, we had this weird clicky beat that Iestyn ReCycled and filtered - along with a vocoded piano and the acoustic guitar, it immediately had this really strong identity.

"I feel like I need to do something differently to shake the whole thing up."

"I hadn't really taken the song seriously until then, and that's when we put the guitar parts down over the fairly bare backing track and recorded the vocals. As I say, I hadn't thought too much of Babylon up to that point - unlike a song like Please Forgive Me, which arrived in about an hour and where I realised something important was happening because it doesn't happen like that very often.

"I generally write more verses than I need, so with Babylon, I trimmed it down and threw a couple of the verses out. Sometimes that process feels quite hard at the time if you love a particular line or phrase, but if it works out afterwards, you get over it pretty quickly."

Would you say that your writing methodology has changed much since you recorded White Ladder?

"With the new stuff, I'm staring hard at the whole thing at the moment - maybe more than is healthy, because I feel like I need to do something differently to shake the whole thing up. I don't know what that is yet, though, and the problem is that the answer doesn't come to you while you're sitting on your arse - you've got to be actually doing it! If you basically just keep 'doing', small ideas will come up that suggest another way which you might try following.

"I'm just writing at the moment, and I've got a huge pile of things that I've got to write lyrics for. One thing I've been trying to do this time is to write a lyric first and then fit the music around it, which is like feeling my way in from the other side - just to see what happens, really. I've had some good results with it, so I'll persevere."

Any other songwriting tips you can share?

"Understatement. We live in a world of ludicrously high drama verging on hysteria. There's so much over-writing, over-singing and over-producing. As is proved by Adele's success, it doesn't have to be that way.

"Try and make the simplest elements as powerful as possible rather than looking for a gimmick. Don't try and 'fix it in the mix', writing-wise - just try and get it right without over-writing. And keep at it - the more writing you do, the more good stuff you'll do."

David Gray's songwriting talents can be sampled on his recent album, Foundling, available on IHT/Polydor Records.

For all the advice that the recording singer-songwriter needs in 2012, check out Computer Music Special 52 - the Singer-Songwriter Production Guide.

Interview: Donovan on his hits, The Beatles, Dylan and pop stardom

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:20:00 GMT

All of Rock Hall Of Famer Donovan's hits and more are on a new collection, The Essential Donovan. © WALTER BIERI/epa/Corbis

"It was a wonderful evening," Donovan says of last Saturday's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, during which he was honored along with Guns N' Roses, the Beastie Boys, Laura Nyro, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and others. "There's awards shows and concerts, but no night is truly like that one. I'm deeply honored to have been part of it."

Much of the talk surrounding the Rock Hall's 2012 class has focused on Guns N' Roses - more specifically, on Axl Rose, who declined to be inducted. Sitting down in the screening room of New York City's swanky Core Club, Donovan offers his own assessment of the situation: "It did seem as though the audience was upset by him not being there. Personally, I think he should have shown up."

The folk-pop troubadour, looking nowhere his 65 years of age, is in great spirits - his overall beatific countenance makes one wonder if he's truly has a bad day, ever - and during the course of our conversation, he talks easily of Dylan, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. But the difference, of course, is that these are no mere historical figures to Donovan. These are friends, comrades - he was there when it all happened.

More than that, he was their equal, one of the most original and transfixing voices of the 1960s. Aided by producer Mickie Most, the music that Donovan Leitch created mixed folk, blues, pop, rock and beat poetry on an avalanche of hits like Sunshine Superman (featuring a pre-Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page), Hurdy Gurdy Man, Season Of The Witch and Atlantis - all of which are featured on the just-issued two-CD set The Essential Donovan (Epic/Legacy).

Donovan reflected on these tracks during our interview, a conversation which also covered topics such as pop stardom, the singer's supposed rivalry with Bob Dylan, how he came to teach The Beatles fingerstyle guitar and the role of the poet in modern culture.

You refer to yourself as a poet. But as a poet, how groovy was it to be a pop star in the '60s?

"Well, it was the poet in me that wanted to put the poetry together with popular culture. That was my mission in what we used to call 'the underground.' Before that, it was called 'bohemia.' In bohemian circles, we were very aware that poetry was missing from popular culture. In the '40s and '50s, that was the mission of beat poets – that was Rexroth, Kerouac and Ginsberg, Burroughs and McClure.

"They thought if poetry was returned to popular culture, with that would come meaningful lyrics, and with that, the poet's place in society would be returned. And that was dangerous…"

Why is that?

"Because the poet is the voice of the people. And when the poet presents certain ideas, two phrases in one poem can alter a generation's view. So poets have always been feared, and controlled, and jailed… and sometimes killed.

"My father read me all the great poets, and when I was a teenager, I loved the songs of social change – Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. But when I was 16, I realized that it wasn't enough for me to sing these songs of social change, peace and brotherhood and meditation for people in the folk clubs, poetry circles and art schools. This would have to go to the millions of young people let loose upon the world with the Baby Boom. I would have to take it to TV and radio and the mass audience.

"And it was easy! [chuckles] It was – because I loved Buddy Holly, and I loved The Everly Brothers, and I loved jazz and folk and blues. Now, what was it like to be a pop star? As I said, it was easy – because it was easy for me to be photographed. Part of being a pop star is image. I'm told by many of my female fans that I was the poster on their bedroom walls. But if I only had that – the image and the beauty and the curly locks – I would have been a 'normal' pop star, one who comes and goes after one hit record.

"No, I was more than that, although I was certainly a pop star. I was comfortable with it all. Coming from art school, I had a great sense of style – as did The Beatles and the Stones – and I enjoyed projecting that. Image, attitude, great music and great lyrics – that was the '60s."

Donovan in 1965. The sticker on his guitar was a variation of Woody Guthrie's, which read, "This Machine Kills Fascists." © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS

How did you learn fingerpicking? Who did you listen to in the early '60s?

"Well, at first I couldn't fingerpick at all; I used to flatpick. But I would sit in front of Jack Elliot, who was a student of Woody Guthrie before Dylan – this was when Jack would come to England - and I would watch him play. A few guitarists taught me the fingerpicking style.

"But I needed to know the actual clawhammer, which was from the banjo… There were only a few people doing the clawhammer in the folk clubs, and I would sit and watch them. When they saw what I was doing, they would turn their guitars away and give me the finger, as if to say, 'You're not learning it from me; you have to learn this for yourself.' You couldn't learn it that way.

"Into town one day came a guy named Dirty Hugh – he was called Dirty Hugh because he never bathed. But he was a beautiful man and he had a guitar, a Martin dreadnaught. He could fingerpick. I asked him, 'Will you teach me?' And he did."

Let's talk about Bob Dylan. In the documentary Don't Look Back, it seemed as if there was a rivalry between the two of you. But you were cool with each other, right?

"It did look like there was a conflict, didn't it? But not really. [laughs] I didn't hear Dylan first, I heard Woody. My cap and my harmonica was a Woody Guthrie thing. But one day, my pal Gypsy Dave called me and said, 'There's this other guy, Bob Dylan. I've just taken a record from my girlfriend…' We sat down and listened to The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan – it was just like Woody Guthrie. It was amazing! That was my introduction to Dylan.

"I met Buffy Sainte-Marie and Joan Baez at a folk festival – I was a young man, and these were young girls, and they played guitar, and I fancied them. [laughs] When Joan Baez heard me play guitar – I had already had a couple of records out – she smiled. She couldn't believe it. She said, 'You have to meet Bobby.'

"That May, the magical summer of '65, was when we met at the hotel. When the film came out, it looked as if there was a conflict. Dylan or Donovan? Stones or Beatles? It was played up: oh, Donovan is a copy of Dylan. But we were both taking from Woody. I absorbed a couple of Dylan's styles and tried them out, like any artist would. But I realized that he was drawing from a very heavy Celtic, British-Irish tradition."

Mickie Most's production of your work was quite revolutionary - and very successful. Jimmy Page played on Sunshine Superman. What was that like working with Jimmy?

"It was wonderful. It's important to remember that I wasn't a band; I was a singer-songwriter and solo artist. Bands write riffs between the members. When I met Mickie Most, I had met my great partner in sound. See, I knew the sounds, the parts I needed to hear. Mickie listened to my songs, and I told him what I heard. He said, 'Stop. You need an arranger.' So he introduced me to John Cameron.

"John would work them out with me, the arrangements. He'd write down the parts, everything I heard and talked about. So Jimmy Page came to the Sunshine Superman session and was given the music. Now, he's not in The Yardbirds, he's not in a band, this isn't jamming – he's a session guy, and he's learning parts. This was a jazz-fusion of rock 'n' roll. Jimmy learned the parts, but he was free to do what he wanted. And I loved it. Jimmy is a master. I was so lucky to have him on my record."

Season Of The Witch is a heavy blues song. [Donovan nods and smiles] What did you think of what Al Kooper and Stephen Stills did with it?

"That was the second cover I had heard of it; the first was by Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll. It now would become a Hammond organ player's dream come true. When I heard the Al Kooper and Stephen Stills Super Session version, I loved it. It was fantastic! At the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame the other night, I ran into Billy from ZZ Top, and he leaned in to me and said, 'By the way, man, we used to do Season Of The Witch in our show.' It's really something, all of these covers."

Hurdy Gurdy Man was directed at the Maharishi. What did you think of how John wrote about him in Sexy Sadie?

"See, many people talk about John and whether he was disillusioned with the Maharishi. It's clear to those of us who were there, and John realized it, that there was a Rasputin in The Beatles' camp, and that Rasputin was Magic Alex. Alex didn't like the relationship John had with the Marharishi.

"The fame The Beatles had was 10 times what everybody else had, even mine. It was unbelievable. At this time in India, John was leaving Cynthia, he had lost his manager, the audiences were mobbing The Beatles… the band's well-being was threatened. John had learned meditation, but all it took was one suggestion from Magic Alex that the Maharishi was bad, and that turned John's head around. The truth was, Maharishi wasn't bad, and he wasn't having affairs with the female students. John wrote those things, and he kind of regretted them later."

During your time with The Beatles in India, you taught them fingerpicking. How did that come about?

"I didn't know at the time that I would be showing the three main songwriters in The Beatles – John, Paul and George – fingerstyle. They had spent so much time in Hamburg absorbing so much music. They were so brilliant, and they knew music so well, but one thing they didn't learn was the combinations of the folk-blues-classical-flamenco-New Orleans-jazz progressions.

"In India, I sat around playing the guitar. I never stopped. I felt naked if I didn't have the guitar. Ringo used to say, 'Donovan, you never stop playing the guitar, do you?' [laughs] One day, John said, 'How do you do that? That fingerstyle, that picking, will you teach me?' So I showed him. And Paul would stand around, he'd steal a look and then he'd walk away into the woods. He was listening. A smart boy, our Paul. And from that, he wrote Blackbird.

"John came up with Julia and Dear Prudence. And George liked the chord progressions, and under that great shadow of John and Paul, he came up with While My Guitar Gently Weeps. It was a great pleasure to pass these styles on. That's why The White Album is so fantastic... and so acoustic."

Backed by youngsters at the Isle Of Wight Festival, 1 September 1970. © Bettmann/CORBIS

Atlantis is famous, of course, in that it featured spoken word. There weren't many songs like that at the time.

"Very few. There was the one Richard Harris did. What was that…?"

MacArthur Park.

"Yes, there was that. And there was The Green Berets. Spoken word isn't usually done in pop, but that's what I felt. I learned from reading poetry as a kid how to do that."

What did you think of the use of Atlantis in the movie Goodfellas?

"People ask me about that. I embrace the use of my songs in film, TV and commercials – you reach so many people that way. When I was asked about the use of Atlantis in a Martin Scorsese movie, I said, 'Whatever Martin wants to do, he can do.' A song of peace in a violent scene… it's the juxtaposition that works. I don't condone violence, and the scene shocked many of my fans. But it shows the futility of violence."

You said that it was easy to be a pop star in the '60s, but was it ever difficult in that you felt your message wasn't getting across, the people weren't really listening?

"The fact that the songs came to me… and Dylan has said this… I think that writers have a skill to create circumstances to create. To imagine that the songs can be popular is difficult. To imagine that your fame can be super like The Beatles or The Stones or Dylan or me is difficult. But you do wish to communicate. If you do communicate, and if you do achieve super fame, you lose your private life. That is hard.

"For The Beatles, it was dangerous, even fatal. They lost their private lives altogether. For me, the difficulties weren't in wanting to communicate, it was in doing so at a time when we became heroes and heroines… and we became victims of our fame."

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: See Joe Bonamassa perform Ball Peen Hammer live

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:49:00 GMT

At: Guitar Center with Nic Harcourt is a podcast series that that delivers unique music, and the stories behind it as told to host, Nic Harcourt.

The series features both exclusive performance videos and audio podcasts of these interviews that aim to tell the stories of the artists, their background, their music and more.

Check out the video above for an exclusive Joe Bonamassa solo acoustic performance of Ball Peen Hammer from At: Guitar Center With Nic Harcourt. The full interview is available in an audio podcast here.

In addition, you can download Slow Train from Joe's Live At The Beacon Theatre DVD here for free in MP3 format. Aren't we good to you?

Visit At: Guitar Center with Nic Harcourt online for more great performances from the likes of Alabama Shakes, Tim Armstrong, Jimmy Cliff and many other artists.

Interview: rising pop star Andy Grammer on writing, demoing, street performing

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:15:00 GMT

With hit singles and high-profile tours, Andy Grammer is leaving the busking world behind. © Radko Keleman/ZUMA Press/Corbis

Pop singer-songwriter Andy Grammer has scored a couple of big-time radio hits with his breezy, feel-good, self-help anthems Keep Your Head Up and Fine By Me. But it wasn't long ago that the former New Yorker, who transplanted himself to California a couple of years ago, was showcasing his talents for much smaller audience shares as a busker on the streets of Santa Monica.

"Street performing can be a great teaching ground and a barometer for what you're doing," Grammer says. "It's rough and unforgiving at times, but it can be wild and fun and a real open canvas for your creativity."

And profitable - at least on some days. "You can make money," says Grammer, "provided you put your time in and really learn how to work it. One day I sold 100 CDs – at 10 bucks a pop, that was pretty sweet."

With three headline tours behind him since the release of his self-titled debut album last year, Grammer is now a pro at handling bigger crowds and stages. He's currently on the road again, opening for Gavin DeGraw and Colbie Caillat, and in a couple of weeks, he'll be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Kenny Chesney, Kris Kristofferson, John Hiatt, Amy Lee, Shooter Jennings and Lucinda Williams, among others when he performs at We Walk The Line: A Celebration Of The Music Of Johnny Cash. "I'm still pinching myself to be playing that show," he admits. "I'm going to put my heart into it and do my best."

MusicRadar sat down with Grammer to talk about the fine art of street performing (we even got him to expand on his recently Tweeted Top 10 tips for buskers), his process for writing and demoing, and how Johnny Cash and Rihanna both fit into his musical landscape.

Why did you start busking? Was it out of total necessity?

"I'd say so, yeah. You need to be growing and getting better, and in LA, it's so hard to get bookings. You literally have to pay clubs to book you. It's pay to play, and then you only get 30 minutes. That's no way to get good.

"So I decided to get out there to do my thing, to play for as long as I wanted and to make money to pay the rent. The Beatles played at strip clubs in Germany all night, and that's how they got good. I would think about them when I was out in the street. I would sing for six, eight hours a day. Santa Monica was my Hamburg.

How did street performing affect your songwriting?

"You want to write a song that gets people's attention. If you can get people to stop and turn their heads, then you're onto something. I found that playing covers was helpful to my songwriting process because it taught me what worked and what didn't.

"Take Sunday Morning by Maroon 5. For whatever reason, folks would literally stop in their tracks whenever I played that song. That told me that, not only is a great song, but it's the type of song that works when I sing it.

"There's two things that are tough when you're trying to be a songwriter: Number one is, how do I write a great song? The second thing is, how do I write a great song that's right for me? Street performing was important because it allowed me to study songwriting by playing and singing for people and seeing what got reactions.

"Whenever I played Michael Jackson, nobody stopped. Go figure. But if I played Sunday Morning by Maroon 5, everybody stopped. It didn't take long for me to tell myself, 'All right, I need to write five songs like that.' So what happens is, you write a bunch of terrible ones till you get the good ones. My album is a bunch of street-tested songs that people liked."

Did busking affect your guitar playing? One would imagine you'd play harder and get in people's faces more.

"Sure, absolutely. Busking builds you up in all those ways – your guitar playing, your crowd presence, your banter between songs. It's funny because once I had enough people standing around to see me, I had to dial it down performance-wise and not wring people's necks. I was in attack-mode so much of the time. But it's better to have to turn that off than to turn it up."

How exactly do you write? Do you do it every day, or do you simply wait for inspiration?

"If were giving advice to somebody, I'd say to write every day. On the other hand, that's not what I do. I tend to me an all-in-type of guy, so I get in a zone to write and then that's all I do. I'll spend eight hours doing nothing but chasing that one song. That's what works for me."

How do you demo? What kind of a setup do you have?

"I stretch GarageBand to its limits – that's what I do. [laughs] With GarageBand, I can definitely get my point across. I'm not a producer yet, so it's probably cool that I can't take things too far. When I get with a producer, there's still an element of 'Let's do this together.'

"I hope that in my career I can get good enough where I'll be able to do it all by myself. I think that's probably the most efficient way to work."

What's the story behind the song Biggest Man In Los Angeles?

"See, I'm a wannabe rapper. I love hip-hop. So one day I was walking up and down the Santa Monica pier, just coming up with these rhymes about my situation. Even though I'm not a rapper, I was pulling hip-hop influences and trying to put them over my acoustic guitar playing.

"Doing the street performing thing, there's so much to pull from lyrically. Everything in that song is something that happened to me. The balloon guy really was mean to me. There was a monkey there when I was singing. It's all true, and I told it in a hip-hop kind of way."

On your live EP, you do a very cool cover of Rihanna's We Found Love. What made you choose that song?

"We knew that we wanted to do a cover that would get everybody to freak out at shows. Finding the right one is a lot harder than it seems; a lot of effort went into it. We never did a dance song before, and that one worked out well. It's a beautiful song. The response to the way we do it has been awesome."

You're going to play the tribute to Johnny Cash pretty soon. Was he a big influence on you?

"I don't think you can get away from Johnny Cash if you tried. Anybody who picks up an acoustic guitar and sings and tries to tell stories in their songs, Johnny Cash is there in some way. You have to respect the man. When he sang a song, it became a Johnny Cash song. He was able to get into your heart through the somber door, which I don't necessarily do that well, but I think there's a hint of his attitude that we can all take something from. I'm really psyched to play this show. I can't wait."

OK, let's go through your tips for buskers. Maybe you can expand on them a little bit.

"Sure. Go for it."

All right, these aren't exactly how you Tweeted them… Number one: "Work out a unique cover tune." We've talked about that a bit already…

"Covers work so well. If you can give somebody something they know already, and then if you can get them to sing with you, they are invested in you. You're providing them with a service, whereas before they were providing you with a service by listening to you."

Number two: "Once you have a crowd of 10, make them cheer."

"Yes, because they will scream and make noise, and you can double your crowd fast. Keep building excitement. You can go from 10 to 50 people if you work the situation."

Three: "Location, location, location."

"That's right. It's important to be at a place where there's a lot of foot traffic, so that when you do put out the bait of a cover, or if you do make everybody cheer, it makes a difference."

Number four: "Make a tip jar that encourages people to purchase CDs on their own while you're playing."

"What you have to do is make a top jar that actually says, 'Make change. I trust you.' Set up a situation where transactions can take place but you don't have to stop."

Five: "Put love into your street stage." Production values – nice.

"Yeah, but it's hard to go out and spend $100 on a carpet when you're working with such a small budget. I might not have even made $100 that day. Still, it's important to make your area something cool to look at. Getting people's attention is almost like attraction a squirrel: everything has to be very safe and comfortable and inviting."

Six: "Make friends with those louder than you."

"You can have break dancers next to you getting all kinds of cheers and claps – it can be tough to compete with something like that. Or maybe a hip-hop group will turn their music up really loud. You can't try to out-loud them, because then everybody's going to get louder. So go over to them and say, 'How about you play for 30 minutes, then I'll do 30 minutes.' It makes things non-competitive, and everybody wins."

Number seven: "Shorter sets. Fifteen minutes and stop to sell CDs."

"Nobody is coming to hear your 90-minute concert. And the fact is, you might really only have 30 minutes of material that are really great. So pick your best 15 minutes and keep doing that set over and over."

On keyboards, Grammer performs at the Best Buy Theater in New York City, Sept 2011. © Brian Hineline ./Retna Ltd./Corbis

Number eight: "Don't beg."

"Some people do that, and it's a turn-off. You're not going to get somebody to buy your $10 CD if you beg. You might make a dollar out of pity, but people will buy your CDs if you're really talented and there's magic in what you just did. If you beg, it sucks all the magic out."

Number nine: "Get there early."

"This goes back to location. A lot of the time, all the good spots for foot traffic will be taken early. You have to be hungrier that everybody else and stake your claim. So get there early and pick the best spot. That's your concert stage for the day – make it count."

Number ten: "It's not them, it's you."

"If people don't like what you're doing, it's not their fault. I've seen people perform, and at the end of their set they'll say things like, 'Man, you people suck today!' You can't do that. If you're not connecting with the crowd, it's up to you to figure it out."

Last question: You're playing big shows now, getting nice tours, doing TV appearances – would you ever go back to busking just to keep your chops up?

"Uh… no. [laughs] Because I'm working so hard in other areas, whenever I get some time off, I try to just relax. And the thing about busking is, it's really fun, but it's sort of like working the in the mailroom: once you get promoted and you get your own office, you never want to go back again."

New guitar gear of the month: review round-up (April 2012)

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:32:00 GMT

Every month MusicRadar's industry-leading sister magazines - Guitarist, Computer Music, Total Guitar, Rhythm and Future Music - publish the world's best independent and in-depth music-making gear reviews.

This is a collection of electric and acoustic guitars, amps and effects - all of which have been tested meticulously by either Guitarist or Total Guitar in recent months and published on MusicRadar throughout March 2012.

Flick through this month's picks and follow the links to read each product's full review.

Watch footage of the first annual National Learn To Play Day

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:20:00 GMT

Last Saturday (31 March) saw Music For All's first National Learn To Play day, on which musical instrument shops across the country hosted free 'taster' instrument lessons for members of the public.

The video above gives a taste of the hugely successful event held by Absolute Music at its new studio complex in Wallisdown, Dorset.

For information about future events and projects from Music For All check out their website.

Preview: A Story Of Six Strings by Stephen Arnold

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:41:00 GMT

A leader in the art of sonic branding, Stephen Arnold and his Dallas-based company Stephen Arnold Music have been making music for the world's leading news organizations, television networks and advertising agencies for decades, but with the publication of his first book,A Story Of Six Strings, the world's 'most heard, least known' composer shares his extraordinary collection of rare guitars and the personal stories they tell.

Driven by the powerful photography of Chris Fritchie, A Story Of Six Strings has garnered praise from the likes of Dan Rather and rocker Steve Miller.

Visit the official A Story Of Six Strings website for more, but first click onwards to see some wonderful images from the book.

Musikmesse 2012 video: Yamaha Limited Edition A Series acoustics

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 18:57:00 GMT

FRANKFURT MUSIKMESSE 2012: We check out Yamaha's new SRT preamp-loaded, limited edition A3 electro-acoustic in translucent black.

Limited to just 200 pieces worldwide, the guitars are expected to hit the UK in May-June 2012.

Visit Yamaha Guitars for more.

Musikmesse 2012 video: AddString - fit an extra string to your acoustic guitar

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:37:00 GMT

MUSIKMESSE 2012: One of the more intriguing guitar products in Frankfurt this year is AddString, an innovative new accessory that enables you to fit an extra steel string to your acoustic guitar.

Why would you want to do this? Well, Martin's HD7 Roger McGuinn signature acoustic includes a seventh octave G string which captures some of the chime and jangle of a 12-string without the associated tuning issues from which most 12-strings suffer.

The interesting thing about the AddString is that it allows you to add an octave G to almost any steel-string acoustic without drilling or serious modification, and also includes a clever way to clip the additional seventh string out of the way when it isn't required.

Hands-on

Inventor Harald Gillis explains how it all works in our video, but our first impressions after a few minutes of use is that AddString works very well indeed.

AddString doesn't look too intrusive and the only permanent modification required is to cut a shallow, barely visible groove in your guitar's nut to accommodate the extra string. There's even a handy tool included in the kit to help you do this.

Sonically, the octave G brings a genuine 12-string character to proceedings, and it's a genuinely pretty tone with a real flavour of 1970s Americana.

Visit AddString for more.

Free nationwide music lessons: seven days to go

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 08:48:00 GMT

National Learn to Play Day, offering free musical instrument lessons to the public, is only seven days away. Its organisers, the charity Music For All, can now announce a huge range of free nationwide activities with support from rock stars and music organisations.

Just confirmed is comedian Al Murray, giving free music lessons at Chappells of Bond Street, London. Several local mayors (Southampton, Bournmouth, Eastbourne) are also attending events.

Rock Stars

Rock stars already publicised as helping out include Ian Paice (Deep Purple), Whitesnake (Doug Aldrich, Brian Tichy, Michael Devin) and further artists just announced include Mark Brzezicki (Big Country), Ric Sanders (Fairport Convention) and renowned saxophonist, Snake Davis (Eurythmics, Take That, Paul McCartney, Beyoncé).

Almost 70 shops around the country are now taking part with new events confirmed in Nottingham, Metro Centre Gateshead, Eastbourne and Southampton. From samba bands, to brass bands, top buskers to acclaimed pianists, the general public will not only be entertained but provided with a golden opportunity to learn instruments themselves. Free lessons offered cover a wide range of instruments and styles and include electric and acoustic guitar, drums, ukulele, piano, saxophone, flute, trumpet, cornet, Bassoon, DJ Workshops, African drumming, singing, band jams and more!

Industry support

Support has also been flooding in from the music industry with brands as varied as Yamaha, Fender, Gibson, Roland, Korg, Marshall Amps and Peavey providing demonstrators, prizes, goody bags, discount vouchers and technical support. Other organisations such as UK Music and partners the Musician's union, Arts Council Take it Away scheme and MusicTeachers.co.uk have provided assistance, support and help in creating this exciting day.

National Learn to Play Day offers the perfect opportunity for members of the public to start playing or making the move back into music, no strings attached!

More music shops throughout the UK are joining in everyday, so to find out you're nearest shop please visit www.learntoplayday.com, for the latest up to date news and venue details.

Musikmesse 2012: live from the show floor

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:13:00 GMT

Welcome to our rolling Musikmesse 2012 gallery, in which you'll find the latest photos, hands-on tests and oddities from the show floor.

If you want to browse all of our Frankfurt coverage, make sure you check out our Musikmesse 2012 hub; for live updates from the team on the floor, keep it right here.

Musikmesse 2012: as it happens

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:07:00 GMT

Frankfurt Musikmesse is Europe's largest music equipment trade fair, and the 2012 show runs from 21-24 March. You can find all our coverage in our Musikmesse hub.

As usual, MusicRadar will be reporting live from the show floor. We'll be bringing you up-to-the minute news, pictures and videos of the latest product announcements from exhibitors like Fender, Gibson, Yamaha, Korg, Roland, Line 6, Peavey, Avid and many more.

If you want to keep track of everything that's going on, bookmark our Musikmesse hub or sign-up to our email newsletter for highlights round-ups.

Also, be sure to follow MusicRadar on Twitter and Facebook where we'll be posting live updates from the moment that the doors open.

Interview: John 5 takes on DJs, computer music

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:39:00 GMT

If anybody embodies the spirit of the saying, 'Dare To Be Different,' it's John 5. With his horror movie makeup, a resume that boasts names as disparate as k.d. lang, Ricky Martin, Lynyrd Skynrd and Rob Zombie, and a unique playing style that's more than a little bit country and a whole lot rock 'n' roll, the Telecaster-toting Mr. 5 is certainly his own man.

5 takes a typically broad approach on his new album, Gold Told Me To (due out on 8 May), which artfully mixes various shades of genres (industrial metal, dance rock, Spanish-style flamenco) in a strikingly bold manner: half of the record is acoustic, half is electric.

True to form, 5 is promoting his solo album, due out on 8 May, not with his own tour but by hitting the road with Rob Zombie three days later. "I just love to get out there," 5 says nonchalantly. "I like to shake people's hands and get their opinions about my record. Any way I can meet the fans, I'll do it. And I'll get in front of a lot of people playing with Rob."

MusicRadar sat down with John 5 recently to talk about God Told Me To, his thoughts on the current state of music, why he chose to cover Michael Jackson's Beat It and what new gear is rocking his world.

How do you challenge yourself conceptually these days?

"I do try to challenge myself and try new things. It's like that saying: 'If you're not busy living, you're busy dying.' Just recently, I got a chance to write a song for Rod Stewart's new record. I know his music very well, of course, but the idea of writing something for him was a big challenge. But I did it, it turned out great, and it's going on the record. That's pretty thrilling.

"Next, I'm doing the score to Rob Zombie's new movie, and that's something I've never done before – a film score. So that's something different for me. The idea is to never get stuck in a rut, but I don't think I ever have, really – it's not in me."

Is rock or metal guitar stuck in a rut these days? What bothers you about what you're hearing?

"I look at it a different way. I don't really get bothered by anything. What I do is, I look at rock guitar players and I say to myself, 'What is this guy doing? What does he have that can inspire me?' I try to see what other people are doing and take what they have and turn it and twist it into my own thing.

"So, no, I don't see a rut out there; in fact, I see tons of great guitar players. We probably had a lull a while ago, but people are playing guitar now more than ever, and they're putting down the DJ stuff. A few years ago, it seemed as though everybody was a DJ, but now they're buying guitars again."

"The only thing that frustrates me is the computers. We have this station in LA called KISS-FM, and all the music is done with computers. I just like… music! I like people writing great songs on guitar or piano or what have you. I miss people getting on stage with real bands and real instruments and expressing themselves that way instead of with computers and technology."

You grew up on country artists and guitar players. Do you worry that the kind of musical upbringing you had is becoming a thing of the past?

"Well, sure. And it's happening, too. You know, I do a lot of sessions, and I'll be in the room with a lot of musicians who got record deals and were making records a long time ago, and these are great musicians. I mean really great! But now I see a lot of bands where the musicianship isn't that great.

"I miss everybody being so awesome on their instrument. Of course, there's a lot of people who are incredible. But people aren't concentrating on their craft the way they should be. I wish that could change."

What do you think could spark that – the next Eddie Van Halen, perhaps?

"You don't even have to be Eddie Van Halen. Let's take The Eagles, for example. They're so good at what they do. They're not like Eddie Van Halen, but they are so great at their instruments. Whatever they play sounds so good. To do what they do – and some of their chords and voicings – that takes a lot of skill and years of practice.

"When somebody great comes along... like an Eddie Van Halen or like Adele, who has everybody going, 'Oh my God, isn't she amazing?' Because she is amazing! You can tell she's worked so hard at her craft. So I do miss that."

How did country music impact your rock playing?

"I was always intrigued by the pickers. To my ears, that style of playing sounded really interesting. This was when I was very young. I learned a little bit of it, but it wasn't until I joined k.d. lang that I got really into it.

"She had a multi-instrumentalist who could play violin, mandolin, guitar and lap steel really well. He inspired me to dedicate myself to a different style of music. I always loved country guitar playing and picking, but at that point I decided to seriously study it and incorporate it into what I did."

Since you played with k.d. lang, you've performed with mostly hard rockers – Rob Halford, Rob Zombie… If Taylor Swift called you to be in her band, would you be tempted?

"That's a great question. I would, because I love going into different styles of music. But here's the thing, and it's the God's honest truth: I love being in Rob Zombie's band. I guarantee you that I will be in Rob Zombie's band until he doesn't want to do music anymore.

"But yes, if Rob said to me, 'I'm going to hang it up,' then I'd probably want to go in a different direction. I probably wouldn't want to do a rock thing. I'd want to play for a Madonna or something like that."

Let's get into your new album. You took longer to record this one than past albums.

"The reason why was that I was on tour a lot. With each record, I try to change things up for the listener; I don't want to just do country and rock stuff. So I decided to make a record that was half electric and half acoustic.

"But not just acoustic guitar – I'm doing Spanish-style acoustic and knocking on it rhythmically and stuff like that. Plus, I'm using violin bows on acoustics, and you know… whatever I can do to shake things up."

Noche Acosador features pretty authentic-sounding flamenco guitar playing. Does the song have a particular story?

"It does, in fact. That title, Noche Acosador, was taken from [serial killer] Richard Ramirez – he was the Night Stalker. So it's Night Stalker in Spanish. [laughs] Stuff like that is interesting to me."

What kinds of acoustics did you use on the album?

"It's mostly a Martin D-28, which I've used for a long, long time. I also used a D-45. On Noche Acosador, you can hear the two guitars kind of talking to each other. Oh, and there's a nylon-string acoustic, too, but I don't remember which one that is."

Ashland Bump features more Spanish-style playing, but in a drop-D tuning.

"Yeah. On that song, I was inspired by some of the Spanish-style players who do very rhythmic things on the guitar. I tried to create that kind of vibe. I'm not paying homage to just any one artist, it's a lot of them.

"I tested that kind of playing out on tour with Rob Zombie during soundchecks, and everybody just stopped and looked at me like, 'Wow, that is really cool!' Everybody but Rob – he's always just like, 'Yeah, whatever. Let's get on with it.'" [laughs]

OK, let's talk about your cover of Michael Jackson's Beat It.

"I wanted to cover that song for a long time, even before Michael died. Of course, I love Eddie Van Halen, and I just thought, What a great solo. Dave – Roth – is a friend of mine, and he would always say, 'Eddie's been playing that solo forever.'

"That was interesting to me, and it got me thinking, Hey, I'm going to do my own cover of Beat It. It's such a world-wide song. You can go into any town around the world and say, 'Hey, you know that song Beat It?' Forget it – everybody will know it. I was dedicating it to Michael Jackson and paying homage to Eddie, as well."

You do what sounds like a note-for-note version of the solo. You don't depart from the original in any way.

"Well, I like to learn things, and the way I do that is by studying music. The solo to Beat It, it's one of the most incredible leads ever. I might have done it a little too close, but… I don't know. It's such a famous solo. For me to play it any other way would have been wrong somehow. A solo like that, you have to do it perfectly. I wanted to give it respect.

"I knew that when I recorded it, nobody could say anything about it – that's how right it is. It's almost like I took Eddie's solo and put it on my song. But nobody can say anything because it's so perfect."

You have so many guitars to choose from – your own Fender signature line of Telecasters among them. Electric-wise, what's on the album?

"I have a new gold Telecaster that I used a lot; it's my favorite Telecaster right now. It's a gold version of my John 5 Telecaster. I also used a red, white and blue John 5 Telecaster – it's kind of like my Buck Owens guitar; I call it the 'Buck 5.' I also used my main Tele, this John 5 black and silver one. I didn't use too many guitars, actually. For the Beat It thing, I used a Telecaster with Floyd Rose – I needed a Floyd for that."

Keeping in mind what you said about computers, has there been a new piece of guitar technology that's knocked you out recently?

"I love all the things you can get on the Internet, things like Amp Farm and all the modulating software. Those things are great for writing; they have such interesting sounds."

Have you made any changes to your physical guitar effects?

"The only thing that's blown my mind – and it's been around for a long time, I guess – is the [Electro-Harmonix] Bass Micro Synthesizer. It's the only piece of gear that makes people say, 'Holy crap – what is that?!' People lose their minds over the sounds it makes. I incorporated it into my recordings. Live, it's very sensitive; you have to finesse it.

"Actually, live, I'm very bare bones, because when I used to go to concerts, I loved to see bands just play – like AC/DC or The Who… or Van Halen. I could hear everything they were playing, and it's because their rigs were so bare bones, just Marshalls and maybe some distortion pedals. So that's what I've done live. I keep things simple because I love a simple sound."

Last question: There's a video on YouTube called 'J5 Shreds,' but it's the real you playing. Are you fearful of somebody doing one of those joke 'shreds' videos?

"Those things are amazing! [laughs] Oh my God, the KISS I Was Made For Loving You one? And there's a Slipknot one? Those are incredible. I love them."

Rockbottom Music to host grand reopening

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:19:00 GMT

PRESS RELEASE: Rockbottom Music which has been based in Croydon, South London for over 36 years, and still one of London's biggest music stores on two floors has its grand reopening starting on Wednesday 28 March 2012, with the members of Whitesnake making a guest appearance and signing in store from 5:30-6:00pm, followed by a show at Croydon's Fairfield Halls on the same day. The show is scheduled to start at 9:30pm and tickets are £12.00 in advance from the box office.

Following the civil unrest and rioting back in August 2011, Rockbottom along with Reeves Furniture and other business in the locale were heavily looted and severely fire damaged, and the shop has since been closed for extensive building and refurbishment work since then.

The shop is now ready for the 21st Century with a complete refit, including suspended trussing, LED lights, full wall display glass cabinets, and specialist guitar, amp, PA and drum departments, as well as specialist books and on site tuition. The new music production and recording department is now open.

Call the store on 0208 680 1042 or visit them at 68-70 London Road, Croydon, CR0 2TB (300 yards from West Croydon Station) for professional advice, sales and an unbiased, in-depth knowledge of everything musical.

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Information taken from official press release.

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VIDEO: make your own bacon guitar!

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:30:00 GMT

We've had guitars made from cigar boxes, gas cans, game consoles, satellite dishes - you name it. But a bacon guitar? That takes the cake. No, that's not quite right... But you know what we mean - that's pretty out there!

Which means right up our alley, really. Yes, folks, behold the bacon guitar. It used to be your garden-variety, nylon-string model, but thanks to some scissors, ingenuity and a whole mess o' cured meat - and in this case, we're talkin' bacon - it's positively smokin'! Well, the meat is smoked... Again, you know what we mean.

The above video, created by the designer of the bacon guitar, gives you simple yet detailed instructions as to how you can build your own such model. And there's even a tune, Bacon Loves Blues, which might sound good on any axe, but only a pork-covered beauty can render its thick, deep tones
with just the right amount of fat.

Should you decide to fashion your own bacon guitar, MusicRadar advises you to do so under cool climate conditions - warm weather will cause the meat to sweat, thus drawing flies - and in a safe area away from dogs and other meat-eating animals.

Rock stars support National Learn To Play Day

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:33:00 GMT

Music For All is proud to announce their National Learn to Play Day, which offers free musical instrument lessons to the public on 31 March 2012, will be supported by some of the UK's top rock stars.

With over 60 music shops participating nationwide, Music for All can confirm that drumming legend Ian Paice of Deep Purple will be calling into Drumwright in Reading to lend a hand. Elsewhere, Whitesnake's guitarist Doug Aldrich, Drummer Brian Tichy and bassist Michael Devin will be helping out at Sheehan's in Leicester.

Commenting on the day, Ian Paice said "Being given the gift of being able to create music is an incredible thing and most people don't allow themselves this pleasure. That's a shame. Try it, you could just make your life a whole lot more fun".

There are lots of other events all over the country including a special piano extravaganza by Markson Piano's at Foyle's Book, Charing Cross Road, London.

Pink Floyd's Nick Mason also commenting on the National Learn to Play Day said: "Learning an instrument isn't about becoming a star, anymore than learning to swim means you want to become a haddock... It makes friends, teaches you the real advantages of working with other people to achieve a common goal, and provides an enormous sense of sheer pleasure when almost any music is produced. I've been doing it for over forty year and still love it."

On National Learn to Play Day you will be able to experience free lessons on a variety of musical instruments, find out about local music teachers, meet staff from the instrument manufacturers and take advantage of many special offers. It offers the perfect opportunity for members of the public to start playing or make the move back into music, no strings attached!

More music shops throughout the UK are joining in everyday, to find out your nearest shop please visit the official site.

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Information taken from official press release, for more visit Learn To Play Day.

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New guitar gear of the month: review round-up (March 2012)

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:29:00 GMT

Flick through this month's picks and follow the links to read each product's full review.

The evolution of the singer-songwriter

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:52:00 GMT

The version of the singer-songwriter that we recognise today was born in the '60s - also the crucial era when women began to assume equal ownership of the sphere.

From the bedsits of Earls Court to the sun-drenched canyons of California, this new generation of singer-songwriters came of age at around the time of 1967's Summer of Love, and gave rise to a legion of superstars in the following decade.

The form seemed to die out amid the electronic-led sounds of the '80s music scene, but in fact it was merely laying low, changing shape and getting ready to stage a massive-scale comeback - one that pretty much nobody saw coming.

Today's singer-songwriters have one foot in the folksy traditions of their distant forebears, but the other is squarely planted in the brave new world of YouTube, Twitter and iTunes.

What follows is a whistle-stop guide to the evolution of the modern singer-songwriter. For more history and all the advice that the recording singer-songwriter needs in 2012, check out Computer Music Special 52 - the Singer-Songwriter Production Guide - which is on sale now.

NEXT: Woody Guthrie - This Land is Your Land

Bath Guitar Festival and Summer School 2012

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:54:00 GMT

IGF returns to the city of Bath this July for its 19th festival and summer school. The combination of workshops, concerts and jamming sessions has become synonymous with IGF and this year's line-up is as exciting as ever. Several new workshops make a debut including Guitar Lab and Guitar Techniques Presents.

Guitar Lab features nine masters of rock teaching eight techniques over three days. Each technique covered represents a diverse strand of rock from the blues-rock style of Gary Moore and Joe Bonamassa to the instrumental shred pioneered by Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani and everything in between.

Guitar Lab also explores key techniques featured in the new Rockschool syllabus. Tutors include: Steve Smyth, Jamie Hunt, James Uings, Steve Allsworth, Neville Marten, Stuart Ryan and Kit Morgan.

Guitar Techniques Live brings GT to life with five and a half days of intensive workshops delivered by Neville Marten, Jason Sidwell and Stuart Ryan, with Tristan Seume running a parallel acoustic strand.

The workshop structure is designed to teach songs from across the genres rock, funk, blues and country in a day and to perform them in the evening in front of a live audience.

IGF's Blues Workshop features Aynsley Lister and guest Matt Schofield two of the best British players in recent years. JoiningAynsley and Matt on acoustic blues and slide is one of the UK's best slide teachers Chris Eaton.

Clive Carroll presents the Fingerstyle workshop with special guests the Fingerstyle Collective: featuring Don Alder, Dan LaVoie, Justin King & Stuart Masters

Jazz & Beyond with Dario Cortese has become one of the most popular workshops in the history of IGF. "Dario is simply an exceptional player and his teaching is mind blowing," said Phil Castang, co-founder of IGF.

The IGF summer school concert pass includes access to the Sulis Sound Track Festival at Bath Racecourse featuring Jools Holland, Vintage Trouble and Matt Schofield. Places are limited this year and students are encouraged to book early.

Booking details:

www.igf.org.uk
info@igf.org.uk

Social media details:

facebook.com/international.guitar.foundation
twitter.com/theIGF