CATEGORIES

Robben Ford Purple House

In The World Of Blues Guitar, There Are A Million Great Players Yet Few Standout Head And Shoulders Above The Rest Like Robben Ford. Robben Was One Of The Very First And Most Influential Players For Me Personally Since I Was A Young Boy. We Both Grew Up In The Same Rural Area In Northern California’s Coastal Mountains Just Above San Fransisco. He’s A Hometown Hero To Many That Live Here.He Has Given Back To Our Community Greatly Over The Years With Free Local Performances And Even Did An “artist In Residence” Stint At Our Local Junior College (Mendocino College) For A Semester Years Ago. His Brothers Are All Fantastic Musicians As Well And They All Played Together On And Off For Decades As The Ford Brother’s Blues Band. The Amount Of Natural Musical Talent That Runs In The Blood Of The Ford Family Is Astounding To Me. This Assignment Was Finally My Opportunity To Pick The Man’s Brain One On One About His Guitars, Amps, And Pedals. Robben Recently Relocated To Nashville Tn And Is Looking Forward To Spending More Time In The Studio And Less Time On The Road. His Latest Album, Purple House, Was Recorded Much Differently Than His Previous Efforts And You’ll Find Some Very Interesting Information About How He Found The Right Guitars And Amps For This Record Inside This Interview.I Think Many Of You Will Be Very Surprised To Learn That His Telecaster And Dumble Ods Are Nowhere To Be Found On Purple House! This Was A Shock To Me And I Think That It’s A Great Lesson We Can All Learn From The Maestro: Remain Flexible And Always Experiment Even If You Have A $150,000 Holy Grail Dumble Ods That You Need To Put On The Shelf Because It’s Not Working For You!

Michael Schreiner: Modern Day 19th-Century Luthier

I Once Had A Sick Guitar. Not Just Any Guitar, Mind You. This One Is Truly Special. My Instrument Was Made By The French Builder, René Lacôte, In 1823. Paul Pleijsier In The Netherlands, A Classical And Electric Guitar Player, Also A Researcher Of 19th-century Guitars, Tells Me That Although There Is A Substantial Number In Existence, He Has Cataloged And Documented Only 84 Of These Instruments.By The Early 1800s, Paris Had Become A Center Of Instrument Making And Many Of The Ateliers Churning Out This Newly Popular Instrument Modeled Their Construction After The Instrument’s Coming From Lacôte’s Shop. Of All The Great Instrument Makers Living In Paris At That Time, It Was René Lacôte Who Was Dubbed The “stradivarius Of The Guitar”. He Was A Student And Apprentice To The Famous Pons Family Of Instrument Makers. Joseph Pons, Born In 1776 And Son Of Cesar Pons, Was Commissioned By The Wife Of Napoléon, Empress Marie Louise, To Make A Guitar For Her Favorite Court Musician, Mauro Giuliani.The Many Lacôte Guitars Remaining Today Are All Different, A Fact That Reveals The Master’s Constant Quest To Improve Performance And Playability, Through Developments In Manufacturing Technique, Innovative Features, And Rare Materials.I Found My René Lacôte At A Dealer In Rochester Ny. I Tried About A 6 Or 8 Other 19th Century Guitars, Many Without Labels, And Even A Panormo. You Might Call Panormo The London Rival Of Lacote. The Lacôte Was Not In The Greatest Shape, The Victim Of Numerous Dismal Repairs, And Sporting A Poorly Matched Spruce Patch Under The Bridge. This Was The Result Of A Repair Needed After One Of The Owners Tried To Use Steel Strings On An Instrument That Was Made To Be Played With Gut Strings. The Tension Of The Steel Strings Pulled Off Not Only The Bridge But Most Of The Wood From The Soundboard Below It. It Wasn’t Pretty.

Kevin Eubanks: From East To West

“Music Is Like A Back Stage Pass To Everything”Understanding, Timing And Audiences, And Comedy And Music, Kevin Eubanks Reveals How Truth Is A Pathless Land In The Pursuit Of An Ever Unfolding Career, As A Multi-Dimensional Guitar Player.

Gem Picks: Made In The USA

Gem Picks Was Founded In 2016 In Providence, Rhode Island By Guitarist And Bassist Nick Pagano As A Manufacturer Of Gem-shaped Guitar Picks. After Completing A Lengthy Run Of Live Performances The Year Prior, Pagano Began Looking For A Diamond-shaped Guitar Pick With The Hope To Use Something Novel-looking And Different From The Ordinarylooking Plectrums Commonly Found Throughout The Industry. After An Extensive Search, Which Led To The Discovery That No Such Pick Existed, Pagano Immediately Began Designing And Manufacturing The First-ever Diamond-shaped Guitar Pick. Once Obtaining All Necessary Intellectual Property Rights, Gem Picks Was Officially Launched To The Public In January 2017. Using Social Media, Primarily Instagram, As Their Main Promotional Platform, Gem Picks Continues To Grow And Reach Players All Throughout The World. Since Its Launch, Gem Picks Have Made Their Way To Customers In Every Country (That Can Receive Mail) As Well As All 50 U.s. States. With Four Distinct Gem-themed Models, Gem Picks Heads Into The Future With Plans To Develop More Products Containing One Simple Goal: To Help You, The Player, “express Yourself In Richer Ways’.

Gildas Dasviken Absolute Luthier

Coming From A Long Line Of Engineers, He Has Been Working In The Corporate World, And He Has Had A Strong Interest In Building And Customizing Instruments. “dasviken” Comes From The French Dialect “breton” From Brittany (Brittany). Gildas Found It On An Antique Wedding Ring That Read “a Tao Feal Das Viken” (Yours For Eternity). His Books Are Inspired By Classics From The Past And Inspiring For Generations To Come Dasviken Also Builds Pedals And Cabinets, All Of Which Abide By One Of My Favorite Quote Of His “Can You Tell Me About The Acoustic And Sonic Quality Of Plastics? No? Me Neither.”

Temple Of Boom

An aggressively powerful car stereo can literally blow your hair back if you feed it a tune with enough thumping bass. But cranking the volume on a cheap set of Craigslist subwoofers risks eardrum- assaulting distortion. A custom setup based on these components will shake the ground under your tires while preserving the essence of the new Post Malone (or the old Public Enemy).

Gwen & Blake To Secretly Say I Do!

Private backyard wedding – With big bash to come

Carrie Underwood - Divorce Shocker!

Just 13 days after giving birth to her second child, sources say, the country music queen is ready to call it quits on her long-troubled marriage.

Diva Taylor Is Bride From Hell

Taylor Swift wants a wedding extravaganza to rival Meghan Markle’s royal nuptials, sources said!

iHeartradio Launches A Broadway Channel And Digital Hub

Fans of show tunes are getting another place to get their fix now that iHeartRadio has launched a Broadway channel and online hub.

Who Was Lil Tay?

The making, and marketing, of a 9-year-old meme machine.

Zoytoven's Talent Is Getting The Recognition It Deserves

Atlanta’s Zaytoven has earned his place as a worldwide music icon

Weed Puts Miley Wedding In Jeopardy!

Liam’s sick & tired of her toking.

Dolly Turned Back On Dying Kid Brother!

Floyd was like son to her – until she forgot about him.

Blake & Gwen Make It Legal!

Lovebirds run off & wed in low-key Reno ceremony

Elton John Going Deaf!

Decades of loud shows take awful toll

Spotify To Musicians: Let Us Be Your Label

The company offers artists a best-in-class cut of their streaming royalties, but its program is a work in progress.

Beatles Release New Video For ‘glass Onion' On Apple Music

The Beatles have released a new music video on Apple Music for their 1968 song, “Glass Onion.”

Tyler The Creator, Why Big brands Trust This Wild card

Tyler, the creator is an exuberant rap star and a thoughtful polymath working across fashion, animation and film.WarnerMedia, Nike, and sony have hopped aboard. Are you ready to ride?

Becoming Chris Cornell

Years before he was minted as a proper platinum-selling star, the late Soundgarden frontman tore off his thrift-store T-shirts and wailed like Robert Plant, transfixing a fledgling Seattle scene with little use for rock gods.

Life's Been Good To Niall (So Far)

A year-and-a-half ago, Niall Horan was basking in the shrieks of One Direction superfans. Now, with the group in limbo and his mates making moves in everything from R&B to acting, “the cute one” is painstakingly crafting an album as a California rocker — and hanging with astronauts, Selena Gomez and (yes) the Eagles. All while staying truly hashtag-humble: “I’m a simple old soul, me”

Jennifer Nettles: A Star Goes Back To Her Roots

Four years after Sugarland’s split, Jennifer Nettles is supporting Hillary and advocating for female artists (bro country be damned): “It’s in my blood”

How Jazz Saved Hip-Hop Again

The story of two South Los Angeles music scenes and Kendrick Lamar's genre-bending album To Pimp a Butterfly.

Meet the First Superstars of the Beyoncé Generation

Meet the first two superstars of the Beyoncé generation.

Twenty One Pilots on Their Musical Bromance and Fleeting Fame

Twenty One Pilots have blown up at top 40 radio, sold out massive arenas and even drawn the ire of millennial-bashing columnists with an unapologetic mashup of suburban angst, rap and reggae. But to Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, all that matters is their bond - with each other and their (millennial) fans. “It probably seems like two good-looking guys making pop music. But really it’s just the opposite.”

Can Big Data Discover The Next Pop Star?

Online music hub ReverbNation is discovering talented artists by mixing big data with human curation.

A Guide to Escaping the Algorithms and Your Own Musical Ruts

A guide to escaping the algorithms and your own musical ruts.

How Halsey Became the Voice of Her Generation

The 21-year-old singer/songwriter/social media sensation has an out-of-nowhere hit album and a surprising sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, but that hasn’t kept her from (over)sharing every detail of her life with her hyper passionate followers, from her history of mental illness to her love of boy bands and Bernie Sanders: “I talk to them like real f—ing human beings”

The Resurrections of David Bowie

What made him one of rock’s most potent lyricists. 

The Re-Education of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

How do two white guys from Seattle atone for coming out of nowhere to commercially dominate hip-hop? As Macklemore & Ryan Lewis return after a turbulent four-year absence, they’re determined to speak out on race — and, perhaps, sacrifice mega-success entirely.