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Here's a cool article on pro skater Tommuy Guerrero and his new album ... you can also get some free MP3s too!! “Everything Hurts. Even My Hair:” Pro Skater Tommy Guerrero Gets His Bearing as a Musician (Free MP3s!) Time is not kind to professional skaters. For every Tony Hawk, there are countless washed-out ramp stars who are either in jail, hooked on crack, or begging for spare change at Fisherman’s Wharf. As far as occupational hazards go, it’s right up there with dentistry and truck driving. San Francisco native Tommy Guerrero not only survived a lengthy career in skateboarding—the Police Academy movies made his Santa Cruz crew the Bones Brigade world famous in the ’80s—but at 42 he has lasted in the business well past the average expiration date. Besides running his own company, Real Skateboards—which manufactures everything from decks and bearings to T-shirts and backpacks—the ................................. Please read the rest of this article here: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...ven%20My%20Hai/ Thanks for checking this out ... !

A very cool article on the Replacements' 1987 Album Pleased to Meet Me ... Torn and Frayed: The Story of the Replacements’ 1987 Classic Pleased to Meet Me Ah, the Replacements—their legend precedes them, and it goes a little something like this… From 1980 until 1986, the Replacements rose from the ranks of the thriving Minneapolis music scene to become one of the most beloved, frustrating, and notorious bands of the American indie rock movement that begat alternative, emo, and even alt country. Years of shambolic, inebriated, and totally thrilling, life-or-death performances in tiny bars, VFW halls, and house parties across the country earned them a near-fanatical fan base, and also the reputation of being the best and worst band in the world—a simultaneous title they could lay claim to in the same night, the same set, even the same song. From the maniacal and brilliant playing of guitarist Bob Stinson, who could simultaneously channel Yes, the Damned, and the Beatles into poetic non-sequiturs of guitar chaos, to the pure punk energy of his teenaged little brother Tommy on bass, the Stonesy gallop of drummer Chris Mars, and the staggering emotion of frontman Paul Westerberg’s voice and songwriting, the Replacements were a dysfunctional knot of musical misfits, and a band like no other. All more or less true, in a rock-critic-meets-deadline-who-cares? kind of way, and it can all be boiled down to this: There have been better bands, louder bands, and drunker bands, but there has never been a better, drunker, louder band ........................... PLEASE CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Feat...e%20Story%20of/ Thanks for checking this out ... !

Here's a great article on Uncle Earl and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones ... Lessons from John Paul Jones: What the Zeppelin Alumnus Taught Bluegrass Supergroup Uncle Earl Months before Alison Krauss was holding court with Robert Plant in sessions that would yield Raising Sand, all-girl supergroup Uncle Earl were holed up with John Paul Jones in a Tennessee studio, recording their sophomore album, Waterloo, Tennessee, under his watchful eye. Released on Rounder Records this past March, Waterloo contemplates loss, longing, and isolation with guest stars like Gillian Welch (on drums!), Tara Nevins, and Jones himself. Steeped in centuries of musical lore, the album employs shape-note singing, songs from the 1800s about Napoleon Bonaparte’s fall and exile, and reworkings of classics by Olla Belle Reed, A.P. Carter, and Bob Dylan. These songs fit comfortably with originals contributed by each Uncle Earl member, and the result is an album that seamlessly straddles old and new, expanding on the boundaries of the old-time genre in a compelling, contemporary way. Prominent players in the old-time, acoustic music revival, Uncle Earl is comprised of Kristin Andreassen, Rayna Gellert, KC Groves, and Abigail Washburn, world-class musicians who .............................. PLEASE READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Feat...0Paul%20Jones_/ Thanks for checking this out ... !

Here's a link to the story behind the legendary ZZ Top guitars ... Some of the most distinctive guitar sounds in the rock canon have come from the hands of Billy Gibbons and his legendary ’59 Les Paul, nicknamed Pearly Gates. A vintage car and guitar collector and authority (see his book Billy F Gibbons: Rock + Roll Gearhead), Billy Gibbons’ biggest claim to fame has been as ZZ Top’s guitarist. While always “bad and nationwide,” ZZ Top became tres of the most famous hombres in the world, thanks to their ’80s videos which featured―what else?―badass custom cars and guitars. The sight of Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill doing their choreographed moves, holding matching ............. Please read the rest of this article here: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Feat...d%20Rhinestone/ Thanks for checking this out ... !

Here's a link to a good article on recording guitars and miking amps ... In theory, the incredible advances in home recording thanks to digital technology—and conversely declining prices for such gear—put professional music production within the grasp of every musician. All too often, however, I encounter guitarists who are a few months into using their new computer-based “better than CD quality” systems and already on the point of utter frustration about not being able to get studio-quality results out of their gear. This new series on Gibson.com aims to help rectify that, and begins with this nugget of wisdom: however advanced the technology, you still need to learn some good, old-fashioned studio technique if you hope to record professional sounding guitar tracks. To that end, let’s start the series with one of the most basic and crucial realms of studio knowledge: microphone placement*. It doesn’t get much more basic than putting the ............... Please read the rest of this article here: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...0Miking%20Amps/ Thanks for checking this out ... !

Here's another link to the speech by Gates with some added stuff, including his Guitar Heroes jam with Slash! http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...ates%20and%20S/ Enjoy!

Here's a cool article on the new Nada Surf release due next month, along with a free MP3 of their song "See These Bones": Indie-Rock Act Nada Surf Transcend One-Hit Wonderdom (Free MP3!) Chances are you vaguely remember Nada Surf’s 1996 breakthrough hit “Popular,” but if you stopped following the band after that track had run its course, you’re missing out. Although they haven’t been able to replicate that song’s mainstream success, they’ve done something even better. In fact, over the past decade Nada Surf have been quietly crafting some of the most memorable indie-pop songs this side of Teenage Fanclub, culminating with their upcoming release Lucky, which hits the streets next month. Recorded in Seattle with producer John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Blonde Redhead), Lucky is the next logical step in Nada Surf's musical journey. “As the years have gone by I’ve felt more like a singer who plays guitar than a guitar player who sings, which is fine,” frontman Matthew Caws explains from a café in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, over a sandwich and ............ Please check out the rest of this article, and get your free MP3, at: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...20Surf%20Trans/ Thanks for checking this out ... !

here's a review of the Super Furry Animals new CD, which we thought was pretty good ... check it out: England’s Answer to the Flaming Lips? The Super Furry Animals Go Otherworldly with Hey Venus Welsh orchestral psych-popsters the Super Furry Animals―once described as making some of the “goopiest” guitar rock around―return to North America late this month on the heels of their recent release, Hey Venus. Released digitally in August, the album (with bonus material) will be available in brick and mortar stores in January. In the same vein as 2005’s Love Kraft, Super Furry Animals’ eighth release is again more of a full-band effort, with principal songwriter/frontman Gruff Rhys sharing songwriting duties with his cuddly compatriots. After the slower guitar rock of Love Kraft, Hey Venus marks a return to the upbeat sound of Super Furry Animals circa Rings Around the World (2001). Pop songs get juiced with a little bit of soul, all wrapped within a symphonic sense of pop experimentation and a Spectorish wall of sound. Thanks is due in large ............................ PLEASE CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...20the%20Flamin/ thank you for checking this out ....

The Year’s Best in Blues ... with free MP3 downloads too! None of the albums on this holiday gift checklist for roots music lovers showed up on Billboard’s pop charts, yet the blues remains one of America’s most enduring, influential, and supremely entertaining musical forms more than 100 years after its birth. The soul, depth, beauty, and adventurousness of these 2007-released CDs illustrate why. Our best blues picks for the year are: Bettye LaVette, The Scene of the Crime (ANTI-) This flashback to the classic Muscle Shoals sound is driven by LaVette’s dynamic silk-and-sandpaper singing, which turns numbers like "Jealousy" and "You Don’t Know Me At All" into epic soul testimonials. Upping the ante, LaVette teamed with gritty Southern rockers Drive-By Truckers, whose spare, muscular playing ................................. PLEASE READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...Blues%20%28%29/ Thanks for checking this out ....

Michael Bloomfield left this world a bit early ... this is a good article that looks at how he became the blues legend he is .... Born Under a Bad Sign: The Short Life and Deep Blues of Michael Bloomfield On a snowy New York night in 1965 a young, wiry guitarist named Michael Bloomfield followed Bob Dylan into Columbia Records’ studio on Seventh Avenue carrying a caseless, snow-covered Telecaster. Bloomfied knocked the snow off his guitar, wiped it dry, plugged in, and revealed a glimpse of his genius. It was quite an entrance—both literally and figuratively—to the session that would yield “Like a Rolling Stone,” one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever recorded, and to Bloomfield’s influential, brilliant, and chaotic musical career. “I had been invited by Dylan’s producer Tom Wilson to come watch the session that day,” recalls rock legend Al Kooper. “Naively, I had decided I was going to play guitar, because I was primarily a guitar player at the time and had a fair amount of sessions under my belt. But in walks this bizarre looking ...................................... PLEASE READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...5F%20The%20Sho/ Thanks for checking this out .....

Great story on punk rock roots and Link Wray ... he was the real deal .... -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Link Wray: How a One-Lunged Shawnee Indian Invented Punk The story of Link Wray, “Rumble,” and the meanest D-chord ever recorded It seems unlikely that you could draw a straight line between the roaring, shredded power chords wrenched out of the ’53 Les Paul wielded by a Korean War vet in 1958 to Steve Jones’ “punk” rock riffs with the Sex Pistols on his Les Paul nearly two decades later. But Fred Lincoln “Link” Wray, a half Shawnee Indian born dirt poor in rural North Carolina, changed rock guitar forever with his ’58 instrumental hit “Rumble.” Even the leather jackets adopted by bands like the Pistols and the Heartbreakers were a throwback to Link Wray, the other Man in Black, as were the riffs and power chords he pummeled into existence with the Wraymen, which included his brothers Vernon and Doug. The unrepentant father of distortion and the power chord was born to semiliterate street preachers and started playing guitar at age eight, when a black circus performer named Hambone showed him a few chords and how to play slide guitar. Link Wray died in Denmark, his adopted home, in 2005 with his fourth wife, Olive Julie. He had never stopped playing guitar, touring regularly to capacity theater crowds, and was the rare cult figure who .................................. PLEASE READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Feat...ne-Lunged%20Sh/ Thanks for checking this out ...

Here's a good article that looks at some of the hot rock bands coming out of Nashville ... By now it’s become a cliché to point out that there’s more to Nashville music than country. But 2008 may end up being the most fitting time to trumpet the city’s breadth—a varied, busy crew of Nashville rock and pop acts are preparing to release major-label LPs in tandem, and they all threaten to be thrilling sonic arguments for the strength of Nashville as a rock epicenter. Here’s a rundown of a few of the most promising: BAND: De Novo Dahl PLAYERS: Joel J. Dahl, vocals, guitar; Serai Zaffiro, omnichord, vocals, percussion; Keith Lowen, bass, vocals; Moose Hungate, keys, vocals; Mixta Huxtable, drums. GUITARS: Frontman Joel J. Dahl plays a Gibson SG. SOUNDS LIKE: Colorful, adventurous power-pop. WHAT TO BUY: The band’s recent introductory Roadrunner Records release, the Shout EP, shows the direction De Novo Dahl has been headed in: After losing half the band and pulling in replacements, they refocused toward a bright, taut, and jittery power-pop sound that’s bubblegum-fun, but keeps a rock and roll attack. Their previous LP, Cats & Kittens, shows more of the band’s feverish adventurousness ........................................ PLEASE READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...w%20Rock%20and/ Thanks for checking this out ....

Here's a cool article about Panic!'s new album, which is set to release in March .... Panic! At the Disco, the upstart, Las Vegas-based indie band whose 2005 debut album not only became a muscular success, but went on to eclipse many a music industry veteran by winning Video of the Year honors at the 2006 MTV awards, is putting the final touches on their Rob Mathes-produced follow-up album, now due for release in March. Guitarist/lyricist Ryan Ross, who’s previously expressed discomfort .......................... Please read the rest of the article here: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Ne...19s%20Sophomor/ Thanks for checking this out ......

Here's a reall cool tribute to Ike Turner .... It’s March 1951. Ike Turner & His Kings of Rhythm have just torn up about 50 miles of Highway 61 to get to Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Company on Union Avenue. They’ve set up their gear in the boxy space, about the size of a one-car garage, lined with cheap perforated paperboard tiles to keep the sound from bouncing around. Turner’s at the piano. Raymond Hill and Jackie Brenston are hitting a few warm-up notes on their saxes. Willie Sims is tightening the heads of his drums and Willie Kizart has plugged his guitar into a little amp that’s spent plenty of nights turned up full in the juke joints around Clarksdale, Mississippi. Maybe too many, because it’s distorting like crazy. Later a myth develops about the amp falling off the roof of Turner’s car on the way to Memphis, but nobody who was there recalls that happening. At any rate, it takes an executive ......................... Please read the rest of this article here: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Feat...membering%20Ro/ Thanks for checking this out ....

Here's a really cool retrospective on Lynyrd Skynyrd's last studio album before their tragic plane crash, Street Survivors .... Over a dozen years, Lynyrd Skynyrd evolved from a high school band in Jacksonville, Florida to the top dogs of Southern rock. By 1977, they’d released four studio albums, including the multiplatinum Second Helping and Nuthin’ Fancy, and the live classic One More from the Road, which made their epic rendition of “Freebird” an FM radio staple and eventual rock-culture punchline. Enjoying more chart success than the Allman Brothers, with the Top 40 hits “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Saturday Night Special,” and “Freebird,” Lynyrd Skynyrd even scored twice with the latter: as a studio track in ’73, and as the famed ’76 in-concert performance. But on October 20, 1977, it all came literally crashing down. On a flight from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the band’s chartered ......................... Please read the rest of the article here: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...0Skynyrd%u2019/ Thanks for checking this out .....

Hey all ... thought this article about Chris Walla from Death Cab for Cutie was pretty cool ... Chris Walla is best known for his role as Death Cab For Cutie guitarist and for his extensive production credits, which aside from his own band include indie heavyweights Tegan and Sara, the Thermals, and Nada Surf. However, this February, Walla will finally have his time in the spotlight when he releases his long-awaited debut solo album, Field Manual (Barsuk Records). “Making this record has been a really great process for me because I know now that I should never try to tackle 12 songs at once ever again,” Walla explained. “When I’m managing somebody else’s songs, or producing somebody else’s record, I can do that. But when it’s all my stuff, I get really lost in the woods.” Thankfully, Field Manual—recorded primarily with Walla’s Gibson Everly Brothers flattop and ’62 Les Paul Junior—was worth the wait. From the la ......... Please read the rest of the article here: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...%20Hike%20from/ Thanks for checking this out .....

Here's a very cool article on Wilco's upcoming shows in Chicago .... Ah, to be Wilco. They’re one of those forward-thinking bands that always make the right moves for fans. Whether it’s giving away extra tracks for those who already purchased this year’s Sky Blue Sky, doing pre-sale tickets for shows, or streaming live concerts—not to mention playing flawless shows every night—consensus has it that Wilco are the bee’s knees. Perhaps that’s a bit too much fawning. But do you know anyone who actually doesn’t like Wilco? That’s what we thought. See, that’s the thing—they’re one of the only bands that everyone can like and still feel cool. Further upping the cool factor, Wilco announced a five-night Chicago residency this February at the gorgeous, mid-sized Riveria Theatre. The webpage proclaims “Five Shows Exploring the Band’s Complete Recorded Works. Each Performance Featuring a One ........ Please read the rest of the article here: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...%20in%20Chicag/ Thanks for checking this out ....

Check out the lineup for next year's Langerado Music Festival in Florida: Music legends R.E.M., the Beastie Boys, and Gibson artists Warren Haynes—with Gov't Mule—and Sam Bush are among the slew of top acts recently announced for the Langerado Music Festival, set for March 6-9, 2008 near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The sixth annual gathering, which now officially expands from a day festival to a camping event, also gets a new location next year: the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, which is located off Florida’s infamous "Alligator Alley," approximately 30 miles west of Fort Lauderdale. The venue is best known as being the site of the world’s largest millennium concert on December 31, 1999, hosted by Phish. R.E.M. is currently putting the finishing touches on their 14th studio album with Grammy-winning producer Jacknife Lee (U2, Green Day). They are targeting next spring for the album’s release date. Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule are currently on tour in support of Mule’s latest project, Mighty High, and are set to release a dual-disc concert DVD titled Tail of Two Cities on Dec. 11. Other artists scheduled for the event include, Phil Lesh and Friends, 311, ........ Read the entire article here: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Ne...0and%20Gov%5Ft/ Thanks for checking this out ....

Warren Haynes's favorite blues albums of all-time ... Ever wonder what Warren Haynes favorite albums are? Here they are ... this is a cool article: Warren Haynes is not only a key member of a number of today’s top-tier blues-rock ensembles, but the guitarist possesses a zeal for classic blues albums that rivals that of even the most ardent collectors. And if you’re in the mood for CD shopping, he’s got a few recommendations. “The reason I start this list with a Willie Dixon box set is because there are so many different artists on it,” the guitarist explains. “You can get stuff from a lot of different directions. All these selections are from a great era of blues, and they all feature great artists.” Willie Dixon The Chess Box (MCA/Chess, 1989) This is a two-disc set mainly of other blues artists covering Willie Dixon songs: Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Milton, Otis Rush, Koko Taylor. There are a few tunes where Willie sings as well. It’s unbelievable. I always looked at Willie as like the Chuck Berry of the blues. He was the guy who told the stories. He was the guy who put a visual image in people’s heads with blues lyrics. Every great blues artist covered a Willie Dixon song, and every great rock and roll band that was influenced by blues during that era covered a ....... Please check out the entire article here: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Feat...es%20with%20Wa/ Thanks for checking this out ....

Cool article on the Verve reunion ... REUNITED: While it’s certainly been a tightly held hope of the Verve’s devoted fanbase, the U.K. psych-rock band’s reunion hadn’t looked likely for a long while. Just this year, Ashcroft told the BBC that, “You’re more likely to get all four Beatles on stage.” On celebrity-relationship-therapist Dr. Drew Pinsky’s website, he said that there was “No likelihood. Life’s too short.” But after a near eight-year stretch that saw Richard Ashcroft working as a solo artist and Simon Jones and Simon Tong, among other things, launching a new band called the Shining, the Verve announced in June that they’d hit the road together and get to work on new material. “We just turned up and without going into too much psychology and ripping ourselves to pieces, we met and within 20 minutes we were playing music,” Ashcroft told the BBC. “So I think we’re just going to let the music do ...... read the entire article here: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Feat...azz%20Label%2C/ Thanks for checking this out ....

The Who began 1967 as a scrappy London quartet best known in the U.K. By the end of the year, they were international sensations. Along with Jimi Hendrix and Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Who were catapulted to superstardom after playing a thrilling set at the Monterey Pop Festival that July. The year was also a creative watershed for the band, during which their live delivery crystallized and they released The Who Sell Out, which yielded their first top-10 single "I Can See for Miles." For leader Pete Townshend, the period was especially galvanizing. He toughened up the band’s on-stage sound by experimenting with a variety of Gibson guitars, and Selmer and Marshall amps. Legend has it that Townshend even sawed a Marshall 8x12 cabinet in half to create a distinctive set of 4x12s. A tireless sonic warrior, Townsend and bassist John Entwistle’s desire to make the Who the loudest band in London compelled Jim Marshall to create his first 100-watt head. Hendrix’s arrival on the scene both inspired Townshend and increased his competitiveness. In part to differentiate his playing from Hendrix’s, Townshend turned to an arsenal of six strings leading up to The Who Sell Out’s sessions, which made him an emperor of tone. Townsend’s most unique instrument was a ..... read the rest of the article here: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...ho%20Sell%20Ou/ Thanks for checking this out ...

HIM’s Valo Takes Himself and His Music Seriously, and it Shows on Venus Doom Founded in the early ’90s by frontman Ville Valo, Finnish rockers HIM got their start as a popular metal band cover band. It took nearly 10 years, but eventually the crowds roared louder for their original songs than for any of their covers. Today, the band’s heartagram logo has been tattooed on countless fans, including Jackass star Bam Margera, and Valo is also the first Finnish artist to go gold in the United States. “With a new album it’s always a new trip, you never know what’s going to happen,” Valo said from a stop on his current headlining tour. “We just go with the flow and enjoy the moment because that’s the magic of the music. With our band it’s always impossible to calculate what’s going on with the new album; we always tour a lot and that’s the best way to get the attention of people who are pondering buying it.” A cursory listen to HIM’s latest album Venus Doom makes it clear that Valo isn’t ....... Please read the rest of the article HERE. Thanks for checking this out ....

Johnny Rzeznik's Top 10 Favorite Albums of All Time After years of slogging it out on the indie circuit, the Goo Goo Dolls at last struck pay dirt in the mid ’90s with the smash hits “Name” and “Iris.” Since then, main songwriter Johnny Rzeznik’s penchant for thrashy guitar-pop and heart-on-sleeve balladry has resulted in a steady stream of chart-toppers. Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 - The Singles gathers them all into one glorious pop-rock package. To pack a wallop in the straight-up rockers, Rzeznik favors a Les Paul Standard or a ’73 Goldtop. For more ambient fare, his go-to guitars are an ES-335 and a Wes Montgomery. Not surprisingly, the majority of Rzeznik’s all-time favorite albums prominently feature Gibson players as well. 1) Rolling Stones: Hot Rocks “This album was the first rock and roll I was exposed to. Whenever I went digging through my sister’s record collection, this set was the one I always pulled out.” 2) The Clash: London Calling “The Clash are an example of a group who grew from being a garage band to become a diverse musical entity. The songwriting is incredibly Read the rest of the article at the link below .... http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Fe...%2010%20Favori/ thanks for checking it out ...