GuitarVibe.com

Get the Led Out!

Normally, I'm pretty skeptical of tribute CDs.  Who wants to hear a bunch of covers of classic rock songs that are usually inferior to the originals?  So I was pleasantly surprised --ok, more like blown away-- by a Led Zep salute called "Get the Led Out" issued by Bohemian Productions (BHP Music).   Bohemian Productions is an artist-run label headed by instrumental guitarist Brian Tarquin.  The label includes a range of prog-rock guitar virtuosos such as Chris Mahoney, James Ryan, Steve Morse, Allan Holdsworth, Zakk Wylde and others. 

"Get the Led Out" features a dozen classic Led Zeppelin tracks plus 4 bonus tracks featuring Jimmy Page.  What makes the CD really shine is that these are all instrumentals re-interpretations.  Now you might never have wondered what the heck Led Zep would sound like without Robert Plant, but if they were prog rock instrumental band as envisioned by Brian Tarquin, they would sound pretty amazing. 

Chris Mahoney starts the disk off with a rockin', stompin' version of "Whole Lotta Love" that is every bit as good as the original, but still has a unique flavor.  Other great cuts include "Moby Dick" by Randy Coven and Leslie West, "Dazed and Confused" by Brian Tarquin, an inspired acoustic version of "Kashmir" by Martin Winch, and another all-out rocker "Black Dog" by James Ryan.  James Ryan's guitar work is amazing and his solo couldn't be out-wah'd if you tried.  Some of the cuts like "Four Sticks" and "Friends" seemed a bit out of place to me, but that's probably got to do more with my own tastes and preferences than anything else.

I must admit, I had high expectations for the bonus tracks and was a little disappointed upon first listen.  Musically they are awesome; Jimmy Page's playing is as good as ever.  But three of the tracks have vocals by David "Screeming Lord" Sutch, and lets just say there's a reason Robert Plant did the vocals in Led Zep. Sutch's style is more suited to garage band than classic rock and he is clearly outmatched by the rest of the band.  Still as a bonus they're worth checking out.  And the final track, "Burn Up," with Keith DeGroot on vocals, is a great addition and an interesting musical departure for Page et al.  It would be interesting to get a few cuts from this session. 

"Get the Led Out" is a testament to the lasting power of Led Zep and the versatility of the music.  Overall, it's a must-have disk for Zepellin fans; and if you're a fan of prog rock, it's doubly good.  In an upcoming post, I'll take a look at BHP's "Guitar Masters" CD.

• Amazon: Get the Led Out
• Bohemian Productions:  Main

Boston: Summer Tour, New Vocalist

 

I still remember back in 1976 when a band called Boston came out of nowhere with a slate of hit singles: More Than a Feeling, Peace of Mind, Long Time...  Their self-titled first album became the best-selling debut in history, ultimately selling more than 17 million copies.  Boston's music was immediately recognizable with Tom Scholz's soaring melodies and huge guitar riffs combined with Brad Delp's dramatic vocals.  While the band was never prolific --it was 10 years before they released their third album --their music has never left classic rock radio.  Their 2004 release, Corporate America, was well received and included an updated, but still recognizable, sound, with vocal duties shared between Brad Delp, bass player Fran Cosmo and his son and guitar player Antony Cosmo.

Scholtz, an MIT-trained electrical engineer, recorded the demos for Boston's first album playing every instrument but the drums and chucked a career at Polaroid when the album started getting airplay.  Known as a perfectionist in the studio, Scholz racked up more then 3 dozen patents, including the Rockman family of amplifiers and effects.  Scholz is putting finishing touches on a re-mastered Greatest Hits collection and there's also the hint of a new studio album next year.

With the unfortunate passing of vocalist Brad Delp in 2007, it seemed as if another Boston tour was unlikely.  But things have now come together with Michael Sweet from Stryper and a relatively unknown vocalist Tommy DeCarlo, a dead-ringer for Delp's vocal style, who recorded tribute songs after Delp's death.

Boston will be on tour this summer with more than 40 dates in North America starting June 6 in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Many, but not all, of the gigs will be with Styx, another blast from the past. 

• Boston: Official Site, Tour, News, History,
• Other sites: Gonna Hitch a Ride, Wikipedia,
• Amazon: Boston, Greatest Hits, Don't Look Back, Corporate America
• USA Today: Amateur singer gets more than a feeling

Tonerider Pickups

I just learned about a fairly new company from China called Tonerider that specializes in vintage style pickups designed by Brad Ferguson as well as a new line of effects pedals.  I just recently put a new Seymour Duncan single coil pickup to replace the fairly weak EMG in my Steinberger Spirit and I wish I'd heard of Tonerider a few months ago.  I probably would have gone with their Classic Blues single coil instead.  Nothing wrong with the Duncan, but it would have been an opportunity to try something different.  They've also got "lefty" pickups coming on May 15.  Heck, I didn't even know there was such a thing!

Has anyone else used Toneriders?  The reviews look good, but right now there's not that many dealers stocking them.  Still, they appear to be well-designed and a good value.  Maybe I'll check out one of the effects pedals in the coming months.  Too bad I didn't know about these guys earlier.  Heck  I was on vacation in China last year; I could have done a factory visit!

• Tonerider: Main, Pickups, Effects pedals

Doug Marks on Starting a Band

Doug Marks, developer  of the Metal Method guitar course has a good article on "Starting a Band."  He gives some practical advice on finding band mates (one at a time), getting rehearsal space (on the cheap) and making sure that band members understand the business side of music.  As with all of Doug's advice, it's good information conveyed in a no-nonsense, easy to understand fashion.   

"To Start a Band good business sense is essential. I've always been good at the business of playing music. When I was in my first band, we were the least skilled group in town. Even though we were at "the bottom of the heap" as musicians, we were the most popular band in town. One of the reasons for our success was our business approach. We set goals and attained them using a step-by-step method"

BTW, if you haven't checked out Metal Method, you should. Don't let the name put you off.  It's a good basic rock guitar course.   There are also a range of other DVDs featuring speed shredder Michael Angelo Batio.

Also, this July 9, Doug is hosting a "Camp Metal Method" -- an evening with Michael Angelo Batio.  He'll be doing a one hour show followed by open Q&A.  It will be held at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center in southern California with tickets starting at $22.  Call the box office at 805-583-7905. 

• Metal Method: DVD Course, Starting a Band

Elvis Costello New Album

Elvis Costello is releasing a new album (yep, vinyl, not CD) called Momofuku (after a trio of New York restaurants) available as of today.  Not sure I get why he's releasing it on vinyl.  But who am I to question the bespectacled genius of 80's angry-young-man new wave.  Only, it's 2008 already and Elvis is not young anymore and frankly, I don't know why he's so angry about CDs.  Apparently he's mad that people are pirating music.  But good news: you can buy it as a digital download.

Costello is also touring with the Imposters and opening for The Police this summer.  I've bought tickets to see them both at Shoreline in the San Francisco bay area.  Frankly, I was disappointed seeing The Police last year, so I may live to regret it.

• Amazon: Momofuku, First 10 Years, Rock & Roll Music, Box Set
• Elvis Costello: Official Site, Unofficial Wiki, Tour
• Rolling Stone: Elvis Costello - Foodie?
• GuitarVibe: The Police in Oakland

My $169 Butterscotch Blond Telecaster

Following up on my purchase of a dirt cheap Squier Strat, I finally broke down and bought the guitar I've wanted for a long time: a beautiful butterscotch blond Squier Telecaster which I picked up at Guitar Center for a mere $169.  Hey, I'm a big spender and this was my splurge!  For under two bills, this is an amazing guitar.  As with most Teles, it's a bare bones, stripped down guitar.  Two single coil pickups, a simple 3-way switch.  But if its good enough for Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Strummer and Jim Babjak, it's good enough for me.

I found this Tele to be more comfortable than either the Epiphone SG 400 or the Epiphone Les Paul and I like the tone better than my $100 Squier Strat.  Of course, it all comes down to personal preference, but for basic rock and blues, I think the Tele tone is fantastic and versatile enough to cover a lot of ground.  It's got a comfortable neck  and the body is lighter than the average Gibson guitar.  Having bought 4 cheapo guitars in the last year, this is likely my last purchase for a while.  I've got guitars stocked around the country but the Tele is by far my favorite. 

As I've said before, Asian-made guitars have improved tremendously in quality in recent years.  So go crazy.

• GuitarCenter: Squier Affinity Telecaster Butterscotch Blonde
• GuitarVibe: Epiphone SG 400, Epiphone Les Paul,  Squier Strat

Once: Oscar Winning Song

If you missed the indie Sundance movie Once when it was out in its theatrical release, go pick up the DVD and make a stay-at-home date night.  Yes, you can argue that this is a chick flick, but it still captures the spirit of musical connection and the magic that can happen in song writing.  The movie tells the story of an Irish street musician, Glen Hansard (previously in the 1991 film The Commitments and from the band The Frames) and Czech pianist Marketa Irglova as they meet, perform together and fall in love. Seeing them craft the song "Falling Slowly" in a music store is like watching someone create a painting before your eyes.  You are drawn into the song with all of its emotion and everything else just melts away.  No wonder it won an Oscar.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are the real life duo behind The Swell Season.  The movie has some interesting parallels with their real life story though obviously it's done up in the context of a romance.  I won't spoil the film's ending, but it's a good story.  The soundtrack CD is also excellent. 

• Amazon: Once (DVD), Once (CD), The Swell Season

The Frantic

One of the hottest new bands to play at Austin's SXSW music conference last month was Chicago's The Frantic.  This is a high-energy balls out rock band with classic infectious pop melodies.  Still under 20 years old, these kids pay homage to some of the great power-pop bands of the 70's and 80's.  Their first album is called "Audio and Murder".  Their current tour takes them through California, Arizona and Illionois and parts of Michigan, Nebraska and Texas.  Check out the goofy YouTube video below...

• The Frantic: Web site, MySpace

My Dirt Cheap $100 Strat

In my quest to have guitars stashed at relatives houses around the country, I picked up my best bargoon yet: a $100 Strat in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Ok, it's a slightly used Squier model made in China.  But for the price, I think this is the best of my cheap guitars so far, with better action and playability than the Epiphone SG 400 or the Epiphone Les Paul.  Finding the right guitar wasn't easy though.  It took a couple of hours of trying out every cheap guitar in the area before I settled on this particular one.  And admittedly, you can buy a garden variety Squier Strat for around $200 new, but I decided to see how low I could go by buying used. 

My expectations were admittedly pretty low given the goal of keeping this on the low-end of the budget.  Since I was keeping this at my brother's place, it was likely to become the adopted guitar of my two young nephews who were graduating from Guitar Hero to real guitar.  But I'm quite impressed with the quality of this guitar.  It's got the classic Strat sound with three single coil pickups and an easy to play neck. 

Unlike the earlier Squier Bullets, the more recent Squier Strats are of decent quality and certainly a good value.  Of course, buying used has its risks.  You need to test out the guitar and make sure there's nothing wrong with the neck, action and electronics.  But if you don't mind spending an hour or two time trying out different guitars, you can sometimes get lucky.  You'll need to venture beyond the usual Guitar Center store in order to get a great deal. And if you're not comfortable testing different guitars, make sure you bring someone with you. 

I walked out of AZ Music with the Strat, a cheapo Behringer practice amp and a strap for a total of $150.  If you're looking for a cheap guitar, you could do a lot worse than a slightly used Squier Strat.  Especially if you've got kids who want to try out a real guitar. 

• GuitarCenter: Squier Strat Black
• GuitarVibe: Epiphone SG 400, Epiphone Les Paul

Best Gig Photos & Videos

   

In the last year I was lucky enough to see quite a few live gigs and capture some memorable moments with my trusty Canon G9 camera.  It's not the best camera in the world, but it's got a 6x zoom lens, works well in low light and has decent video capture.  Best of all, it fits in a jacket pocket and costs less than $500. 

I managed to get some decent photos and videos at shows by Lenny Kravitz, The Smithereens, Alan Iglesias,  Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, Pat "Jazz Butcher" Fish, Andy Walo and more.  Here's some my favorite photos from the past year as posted on PicasaWeb.

I've also put a couple of the best videos I shot on YouTube below.  I hope to get out to more gigs in the coming months and shoot even more photos and videos.