Team HC

HC's Rock Rewind A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History by Team HC JUNE 5th -11th This week in rock music history was marked by abundance of significant events. The world’s greatest pop group undertook their first recording session, The Rolling Stones replaced one of their founding members, and one of New York’s most influential bands reunited after 24 years. A trove of classic albums was released as well, including landmark records by David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, and The Cars. Read on for a look back at other noteworthy moments that shaped rock and roll during this historically eventful week. Events 1962 -- The Beatles undertake their recording session at Abbey Road studios. “Love Me Do” was among the four tracks recorded. 1963 -- The Rolling Stones release their first single, a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On.” 1964 – The first single to feature David Bowie is released. Titled “Liza Jane,” the recording is credited to “David Jones and the King Bees. 1966 – Great Britain’s “Melody Maker” magazine reports the formation of supergroup Cream. 1969 – Blind Faith play their first show, staging a concert in London’s Hyde Park. 1969 – The Rolling Stones replace Brian Jones with Mick Taylor. 1971 – Grand Funk Railroad topples a record previously head by The Beatles for the highest gross proceeds for a concert staged at New York’s Shea Stadium. 1974 – Keyboardist Rick Wakeman leaves prog-rock band Yes to begin a solo career. 1974 – Paul McCartney & Wings’ single “Band on the Run” hits Number One on the U.S. charts. 1975 – Elton John’s ninth studio album, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboys, becomes the first LP to enter the U.S. album chart at Number One. 989 – The Doobie Brothers kick off a reunion tour. The tour is the first to feature the band’s original lineup since 1975. 1993 – The Velvet Underground reform for their first show in 24 years, performing at London’s Wembley Arena. 1993 – A ground-breaking ceremony is held in Cleveland for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. 2006 – Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Robert Plant met and rehearsed songs for a benefit tribute for Atlantic Records’ co-founder Ahmet Ertegun. It was the first time the three had played together since their 1995 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 2013 – Judas Priest’s Rob Halford announces the band will be reforming after a two-year absence. 2016 – All four members of ABBA perform together for the first time since 1982. The performance occurs at a private event to commemorate 50 years since songwriting partners Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson first met. Releases 1960 – Roy Orbison: “Only the Lonely” (single) 1965 – The Rolling Stones: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (U.S.) 1967 – Moby Grape: Moby Grape 1969 – Elton John: Empty Sky 1969 – Three Dog Night: Suitable for Framing 1970 – Bob Dylan: Self Portrait 1972 – David Bowie: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars 1974 – Bill Wyman: Monkey Grip 1975 – Eagles: One of These Nights 1977 -- The J. Geils Band: Monkey Island 1978 – Rolling Stones: Some Girls 1978 – The Cars: The Cars 1979 – Wings: Back to the Egg 1979 – The Knack: Get the Knack 1980 – Bob Marley & The Wailers: Uprising 1981 – The Psychedelic Furs: Talk Talk Talk 1983 – The Kinks: State of Confusion 1985 – Bob Dylan: Empire Burlesque 1985 – R.E.M.: Fables of the Reconstruction 1985 – Talking Heads: Little Creatures 1989 – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: In Step 1986 – Genesis: Invisible Touch 1991 – Lynyrd Skynyrd: Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 1994 – Boston: Walk On 1995 – Soul Asylum: Let Your Dim Light Shine 1998 – John Fogerty: Premonition 1999 – Shelby Lynnne: I Am Shelby Lynne 2000 – Alice Cooper: Brutal Planet 2002 – David Bowie: Heathen 2007 -- Paul McCartney: Memory Almost Full 2007 – Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band: Live in Dublin 2011 – Def Leppard: Mirror Ball Deaths Stan Getz – June 6, 1991 Conway Twitty – June 5, 1993 Ronnie Lane – June 5, 1997 Dee Dee Ramone – June 5, 2002 Dave Rowberry (The Animals) - June 6, 2003 Ray Charles – June 10, 2004 Billy Preston – June 6, 2006 Marvin Isley – June 6, 2010 Stuart Cable (Stereophonics) – June 7, 2010 Births Chester Burnett (aka Howlin' Wolf) – June 10, 1910 Les Paul – June 9, 1915 Jackie Wilson – June 9, 1934 Levi Stubbs – June 6, 1936 Gary U.S. Bonds – June 6, 1939 Tom Jones – June 7, 1940 Jon Lord (Deep Purple) – June 9, 1941 Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night) – June 8, 1942 Clarence White (The Byrds) – June 7, 1944 Boz Scaggs – June 8, 1944 Freddie Stone (Sly & the Family Stone) – June 5, 1946 John Lawton (Uriah Heep) – June 11, 1946 Laurie Anderson – June 5, 1947 Tom Evans (Badfinger) – June 5, 1947 Mick Box (Uriah Heep) – June 9, 1947 Frank Beard (ZZ Top) – June 11, 1949 Trevor Bolder – June 9, 1950 Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) – June 12, 1950 Brad Delp (Boston) – June 12, 1951 Richard Butler (Psychedelic Furs) – June 5, 1956 Prince Rogers Nelson – June 7, 1958 Steve Vai – June 6, 1960 Mick Hucknall (Simply Red) – June 8, 1960 Tom Araya – June 6, 1961 Kim Deal (The Pixies) – June 10, 1961 Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) – June 8, 1962 Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins) – June 10, 1964 Dave Navarro – June 7, 1967 James Shaffer (Korn) – June 6, 1970 Matt Bellamy (Muse) – June 9, 1978 Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) – June 5, 1979 June 12th - June 18th This week in rock history brings a plethora of significant events, from the birth of the one and only Paul McCartney to the release of Nirvana's debut Bleach album. Read on for some major events, historic record releases and births and deaths happening June 12 through 18.  Events 1965 – Sonny and Cher appear on U.S. television for the first time singing "Just You" on ABC-TV's American Bandstand. 1965 – Paul McCartney records “Yesterday,” and a string quartet is added later. The Beatles tune would become the most covered song in music history. 1965 – Bob Dylan records the legendary track “Like a Rolling Stone” in New York City at Columbia Recording Studios. 1967 – The first Monterey International Pop Festival kicks off in Monterey, California, featuring the Who, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin and more. 1969 – The Rolling Stones introduce their new guitarist, Mick Taylor, to the world at a press conference in London’s Hyde Park. 1972 – The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street reaches No. 1 on the charts. 1973 – Grand Funk records "We're An American Band." 1980 – Led Zeppelin start what will mark heir final tour with a gig in Dortmund, Germany. 1996 – Producer George Martin is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. 2002 – Mick Jagger is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. 2009 – At the Bonnaroo festival, Beastie Boys perform together for the final time. Adam Yauch (MCA) is soon diagnosed with cancer. Releases Chuck Berry, Chuck Berry is on Top, 1959 Iron Butterfly, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, 1968 Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica, 1969 Grand Funk Railroad, Closer to Home, 1970 Emerson Lake & Palmer, Tarkus, 1971 Roxy Music, Roxy Music, 1972 Joe Walsh, The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, 1973 Steve Miller Band, Abracadabra, 1982 Stevie Ray Vaughan, Texas Flood, 1983 Ringo Starr, Old Wave, 1983 Nirvana, Bleach, 1989 Pete Townshend, Psychoderelict, 1993 Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill, 1995 Rush, Clockwork Angels, 2012 Deaths James Honeyman-Scott – June 16, 1982 Henry Mancini – June 14, 1994 Kristen Pfaff of Hole – June 16, 1994 Rory Gallagher – June 14, 1995 Ella Fitzgerald – June 15, 1996 Karl Mueller of Soul Asylum – June 17, 2005 Bob Bogle of the Ventures – June 14, 2009 Jimmy Dean – June 13, 2010 Clarence Clemons – June 18, 2011 Casey Kasem – June 15, 2014 Births Junior Walker – June 14, 1931 Waylon Jennings – June 15, 1937 Harry Nilsson – June 15, 1941 Marv Tarplin – June 13, 1941 Paul McCartney – June 18, 1942 Carl Radle of Derek and the Dominos – June 18, 1942 Spooner Oldham – June 14, 1943 Chris Spedding – June 17, 1944 Rod Argent – June 14, 1945 Noddy Holder of Slade – June 15, 1946 Greg Rolie of Santana and Journey – June 17, 1947 Alan White of Yes – June 14, 1949 Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick – June 12, 1951 Brad Delp of Boston – June 12, 1951  Meredith Brooks – June 12, 1951  Bardi Martin of Candlebox – June 12, 1969 Kenny Wayne Shepherd – June 12, 1977  Nathan Followill of Kings of Leon – June 16, 1979 ______________________________________________________ HC's Rock Review is sponsored by Gibson

Lotus Pedals - Partial Bloom The pedal business isn't for the faint of heart ... by Blake Wright - Gearphoria (adapted by Team HC) IT TAKES MORE than a nose for solid circuits to build a successful pedal company. Sean Erspamer knows this now. When he launched Lotus Pedal Design almost eight years ago he was delivering excellent-sounding pedals, but in raw box enclosures with no labeling beyond a color-coded knob scheme that folks couldn’t wrap their collective heads around. After some aesthetic adjustments, Lotus took flight, but the fickleness of the gear masses, the struggles of being a one-man show and the draws of a full-time day job have kept the company from achieving its full potential. THE PEDAL business isn’t for the faint of heart. It can be as ruthless as it can be rewarding. While the barriers to entry are low, the barriers to success are much more challenging. It takes dedication, persistence and product. Sean Erspamer at Lotus Pedal Designs had all of these when he took the plunge in 2009, but he did so with the safety net of retaining a full-time job at a high-end pro audio equipment manufacturer in northern Minnesota. Sean giving a Snow Job pedal a thorough check “The pedal thing started when the band I was in earlier on got back together for a reunion show in like 2009,” recalled Erspamer. “I had sold off most of my gear. I had one electric guitar, one acoustic guitar… no amp anymore. But if I was going to get the band back together, I was going to need some pedals. So I bought a boutique pedal from a manufacturer I won’t name and it didn’t work. So I took it into work and opened it up to take a look. I was like, really? This is all there is to it? I’m used to dealing with microphone preamps and compressors and EQs with 3,000 parts in them and this had seven. It took about three minutes to trouble shoot. Isolate the problem. Get the part. Fix it. And all along I was thinking I can make something better than this.” The Workbench...where the work is never ending - vintage stereo and all That thought lead to a fit of tinkering in the basement and emerging with three different circuits. A quick call to a friend and a few test drives later and there was a sale… only Erspamer didn’t take the money. He gave the friend the pedal. He did really have any interest in that particular circuit as a product. Not long after, word started to spread around Duluth that their was a new pedal guy on the scene. “Folks started asking for a pedal here or a pedal there,” recalled Erspamer. “Then came ‘You should start a business!’ That sounded like a great idea… I mean, there can’t be that many people doing this, right? Right!? So I start Lotus Pedals… incorporate, go through all of the legal mumbo jumbo to get up and running and find out there are 5,000 guys doing this… not 50. When I started I had no clue as far as marketing… advertising.” Initially, Erspamer thought it would be original to simply use raw box enclosures and let the knob colors tell respective clients (and potential dealers) what the pedal did. That was a mistake. “I was going to be original,” he said. “Right… try and sell that to a store. Looks like a clone. We don’t want to carry that. What does it do? How do you tell which one is which? They all have different color knobs! So I changed the look and committed to $1,200 a month in advertising, which almost bankrupted me.” It was his time at Crane Song that gave Erspamer the confidence and tools to move forward with Lotus. In his 20s he worked at a record store and played in a band that often toured the mid-west. While at the record store, he also owned a small recording studio with a 16-track, one-inch analog tape machine. After a purge at the record store, he was left with the studio as his main mode of income. The owner of Crane Song also owned a recording studio and would sometimes farm out tape transfers and such to Erspamer. Before long, he was offered a job, and even though he didn’t know anything about electronics, he took it. “I start working there over a 90-day probation period,” recalled Erspamer. “Some how I made it through that. Over the course of time, Dave Hill, who was the designer their started giving me electronics lessons once a week. I would go Wednesdays from noon to 2pm and he’d pull out handbooks and teaching me basic electronics. I did all the tech support for anybody that buys the gear, all of the testing, alignments, etc… I learned how to do electronics there.” Lotus had a growth spurt not too long after refreshing the aesthetics of the pedals. In his best year, Ersparmer shipped 620 pedals — and that’s as a one-man operation. However, the MI business tends to run in cycles and just as sure as the good times come, the tough times are likely not far behind. “Last year, in July, I didn’t sell a single pedal,” confessed Erspamer. “Nothing.” His best seller to date has been the Snowjob Underdrive, which just over 200 units in the wild, followed by the Ice Verb. Funny thing about the Snowjob? It’s not one of Erspamer’s favorites. Erspamer's trusty Traynor and Fender Amps used for testing every pedal “It was done as a distraction because I was stuck on the thing I was actually working on,” recalled Erspamer. “So I did something simpler to get my mind off the other project. Built one, gave it to a buddy of mine… and he said it was the best thing ever. You’re not getting this one back, but make me another one because the other guy in my band wants one too. Really? Let me hear that one again! I got it back and played it and yeah, I can see it… but not for me. I’ll take the Purple Boost over it any day of the week on my personal board. So I made the second one and they were like you need to get graphics and release this one, it’s incredible… hence the name Snowjob… not my favorite. I like it. I’m proud of it, but… sometimes I just don’t get it.” The down times have given Erspamer pause once or twice… like maybe the pedal business isn’t really for him. He confesses that he’s no salesman, which he also confesses has likely contributed to the company’s flatter-than-expected growth curve. So, has he ever thought about stepping away? “I’ve contemplated it,” he said. “Two years ago I had double the sales that I forecasted. It took me six months to get caught up over the previous year. I had no time to work on anything new. This is very much a fashion industry — to stay relevant you have to keep putting out new stuff. I’ve got two, three things that I’ve been working on for a year and a half, but I can’t get them to the point to where I like them yet.” One of those new pedals is the Frostbite Fuzz, which at press time was still under development. Erspamer recently left his gig at Crane Song after 15 years. He is now working assembly for Cirrus Aviation in Duluth. -HC- ____________________________________________ Blake and Holly Wright are Gearphoria. They travel full-time in their 25 foot Airstream while writing about cool guitars and guitar accessories. Gearphoria is a bi-monthly free-to-read online publication. You can visit their website by going to www.gearphoria.com and while you are there, sign up for their free e-zine.

Nick Mason - Pink Floyd's Time Machine An iconic rock career born out of jamming with friends by David Phillips Nick Mason is a founding member of Pink Floyd. That’s pretty much all that needs to be said. However, in the interest of doing such an important career retrospective justice and underscoring just how influential the band has been in the scheme of Rock culture, please allow us to elaborate. In a recent Rolling Stone article, Mr. Mason lamented, “From ‘65 to the beginning of ‘67, we were a really amateur band. It’s funny because if I could add up the hours of actual drum playing I did between birth and 1966, it’d be, I don’t know, 100, 150 hours. I didn’t practice. I didn’t study. I just had a drum kit and played with my friends for fun. A year later, I ’d probably put in 700 hours.” For a drummer that admittedly fell into an iconic Rock career by simply jamming with friends, there is no denying what he has brought to the world of music in terms of ‘less-is-more’ drumming and the value of a well-placed ride cymbal. Then there are the long, flam-infused drum fills that are often imitated, but seldom duplicated. There is a stylistic approach present on every Pink Floyd recording that is memorable and, indeed, timeless. Our UK man on the street, David Phillips, met up with Nick to talk about his place in the British drumming culture and look back on his storied and celebrated livelihood. David Phillips: Ginger (Baker) was a great inspiration to you. What was it about his playing that so moved you? Nick Mason: I think it was a couple of things; it was the first time I’d seen a Rock band where the drummer had equal billing rather than the usual ‘placed on the riser somewhere behind the band.’ It was such a big thing at Regent Street Polytechnic in 1966, the whole thing with the double bass drums, the weight and the power. There weren’t that many three-piece Rock bands at the time anyway. It was all about virtuosity. DP: Ginger greatly admired Phil Seamen. Were you also inspired by him? NM: Not particularly by Phil Seamen, although I was inspired by a lot of the Bebop drummers of the period. I was more into the American drummers. When I used to go to Ronnie Scott’s, which I used to do a lot, Phil was not the drummer I would normally see. It was more Bobby Orr and, in particular, Allan Ganley. There were also the Americans like Art Blakey and Chico Hamilton. Chico was a huge influence due to one particular piece, “Jazz on a Summer’s Day,” where he plays with mallets. DP: I read that you bought your first drum kit from Footes in London in 1958 for £7.50. What was this kit? NM: It was a Gigster bass drum, Olympic snare, a pair of bongos (I don’t think there was money for tom toms), pedal, hi-hat, and maybe a 50p cymbal. DP: You saved Footes from closing in 2012. Are you very involved with the shop now? NM: I certainly am. I really want to see it survive and flourish. DP: I know you feel that this is a great meeting place for drummers. NM: Well, I think that acoustic instruments shouldn’t be something that one buys online. It’s a silly thing; you really need to hear them! It’s been interesting. One of the things I did was to take a beginner’s kit, a proper kit not a toy kit, and I customised it so that I could I take it into a studio myself, if I needed to. It doesn’t cost much to upgrade an introductory kit to something you can do that with. It’s mainly a matter of upgrading the heads, damping down the bass drum, and possibly replacing the snare. You end up with something that is really quite good. DP: This month Pink Floyd will release The Early Years Box Set 65-72. Can you talk us through putting this together and your involvement? NM: Well, it’s been grinding on for a very long time. About ten years ago now, I started archiving as much as possible, mainly video and film. The music was not so much of a problem as nearly everything was archived by the record company, so that was far easier to access. It was then a case of having a very good researcher, Lana Topham, who had been a producer on a lot of our film stuff and who did a fantastic job of tracking down footage. This was because some of it was with American TV stations. DP: You mentioned that some of the TV footage contained some very embarrassing miming. Can you elaborate on this? NM: Well, I can’t remember which station it was. At the time that’s what you did. You went to America, not dissimilar to what happens here, and you’d end up miming to your song. In some cases it was a song that Syd had sung, but David was miming it. It was so far away from any sense of how it was actually played. In one instance, I’m playing the drums with just my hands! DP: It must have been a trip down memory lane pulling the box set together? NM: Yes, absolutely. Interestingly, there are some things you remember, some things you go out and look for, and other things, you think, “I don’t remember anything about this, it’s a complete mystery!” DP: I read in your book that the band experimented with pyrotechnics over many years. Was it pretty dangerous to be on stage sometimes? NM: Yes, the biggest problem was the Cobo Hall in America. It was partly bad luck but one of the stage weights that was used to hold the bin that contained the pyro had an air bubble in the middle of it, so when it super-heated, the bubble expanded. Basically, what we had was shrapnel. DP: It was a miracle nobody was hurt. NM: Someone was hurt, but not badly. They came back for the second set. DP: Pink Floyd was the first band to play at The Roundhouse in 1966. Do you recall that first concert? NM: The Roundhouse at the time was so different. The shape is the same, but that’s about all. There was no light and no power. The power was brought in from a 13 amp plug from next door. The floor was packed-down earth. Being a railway turntable originally, it was then used as a bonded warehouse by Gilby’s Gin for years. There was the smell of gin around. Actually, there probably still is! DP: You’re closely involved now with the Roundhouse Trust. Tell us about your work with that charity. NM: That’s the great thing about The Roundhouse, there is the performance space, but not everyone realizes that underneath it there is this whole under-croft. Torquil Norman, who bought the Roundhouse, made it a charitable foundation partly funded by what’s going on upstairs. Downstairs, there’s a myriad small rehearsal rooms, TV and radio studios, and the local kids all have access. They can borrow instruments and they can then get some mentoring for their band or if they’re a DJ, or whatever, they can learn or rehearse there. It’s a fantastic facility; I think they get about 3,000 kids a year. DP: If you remember, DW/Gretsch donated some kits to The Roundhouse. NM: Yes, I remember, a proper night out as well. Great event! DP: In fact, when we met there earlier this year, I remember you saying that you wished you had taken drum lessons. Have you managed to make this happen yet? NM: Not yet. In fact, I’m very well-connected now, so when I do decide to do it I know some very good players that can help me. DP: In 2014, DW created the Collector’s Series Icon Prism snare drum in your honor. I understand that you donated the royalties from this project to the Roundhouse Trust? NM: Yes, that’s right. I just think it’s a really worthy thing. It’s about doing things that you really enjoy and I loved that whole thing. I’d said to The Roundhouse some years ago that I’d been a bit bored going to black tie fundraisers and that I’d rather mess around downstairs, which they let me do. DP: Pink Floyd had a long history of working at Abbey Road. What is it about Abbey Road that is so special? NM: There are a whole bunch of things. Firstly, it’s one of the few remaining studios from the old days. Olympic has gone, along with so many other iconic facilities. When we were there, The Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper down the hall. And they kept that room, The Beatles’ studio, more or less, as it was. It’s still fairly tight in that control room. It’s a combination of history and great technology. They had very high standards. It’s really interesting going back to the early recordings because really, even without Dolby, Aphex, and all the digital technology, they’re still high-standard. DP: The band then built Britannia Row studios. How did that change the recording experience? NM: There’s something really nice about working in your own environment. We were never time-limited at Abbey Road, to be honest, but the idea behind Britannia Row was that any one of us could operate it without any outside help. I think being wise after the event, the quality wasn’t as good as Abbey Road, who always went for the finest of everything. We didn’t have that level of equipment, but it was still a great place to work. Over the years, Britannia Row ended up with a roster of some very good people. DP: Dark Side of the Moon was recorded at Abbey Road, wasn’t it? NM: Yes, Studio 3. DP: That record is widely recognized as one of the greatest albums of all time. Why do you think it has endured for so long? NM: I always maintain that it’s for more than one reason: It’s partly Roger’s writing (he was in his twenties at the time) which is still as relevant to fifty or sixty-year-olds as it was to teenagers. I think the concept was new and interesting, and people responded to that. It was a very high-quality recording, thanks to Alan Parsons, and it has a fantastic piece of artwork from Hipgnosis and Storm Thorgerson, for the cover. We had enormous support from Capitol Records who had put a new President in place, Bhaskar Menon. He had decided to make it work, particularly in America. It’s a bunch of stuff really; it’s the music, the packaging, the sales force, it’s also the word-of-mouth, it became the stereo test record. It’s that whole thing that The Beatles really started, where music became something more than ephemeral. In 1967, no one considered that. I mean, whether Rock ‘n Roll would last was one thing, but no one believed a Rock career would last more than three or four years. DP: You worked with Alan Parsons on the Drum Masters: Nick Mason Drums Sample Library. How did you go about putting this together? NM: I was approached to do it, and basically I just went in and played. The idea was to play the original kit I used on Dark Side of the Moon, which I still have, and also to get Alan, who had been the original engineer on the album, to re-engineer these sounds. It was a nice opportunity. DP: You’ve done some producing yourself. I read that you were a producer for Steve Hillage, Robert Wyatt, Gong, and the charity single “Save the Children (Look Into Your Heart)”. How do you feel about being the other side of the recording desk? NM: I really enjoy it. What I really like is doing different things. I’m happy playing drums in the studio, but I also really like working with other aspects of recording music. DP: Do you mean experimenting with the mics, production, set-up? NM: Yes mics, mixing…the whole thing, really. For example, it was great working with Gong’s drummer, Pierre Moerlen. I could suggest he do something that maybe I couldn’t play myself! DP: You had your own project in the 80’s called Fictitious Sports. Can you tell us about that? NM: This was made during the making of The Wall. We all had a re-worked Sony contract which enabled us each to make a solo album, if we so desired. It was an opportunity, but in fact Fictitious Sports wasn’t a solo album at all; it was more a cooperative thing with Carla Bley. It was great fun and lots of great musicians came and played on it. DP: So was the album Profiles with Rick Fenn (1985) your solo project? NM: More so, but it was hardly a solo album given that Rick had done so much of it. Rick and I had worked together for a while as we’d done a couple of movie soundtracks (Tank Malling and White of the Eye) and we also knocked out a couple of commercials. I had become quite involved in music outside of the band. DP: What was it like playing the Live 8 reunion concert at Wembley in 2005? NM: It was terrific and it felt really worthwhile. We didn’t have any fights on stage, which was good. Credit to Bob (Geldolf) and everyone involved, as it was a far better reason to play together, rather than for lots of money. DP: The Endless River was the band’s first album in twenty years. Can you talk us through how this came about? NM: It’s slightly convoluted but when we made The Division Bell, originally we had intended to do a double album. The idea being, we’d do an album of songs and an album of ambient tracks. We didn’t have time to do that, as we were already booked to start an American tour. Basically, that material hung around for a very long time. We simply didn’t want to re-visit it. It didn’t feel like enough on its own to justify anything. Andy Jackson, who was the engineer on The Division Bell, kept telling us that we really ought to do something with this, so he spent some time on it. That raised the interest a bit. It really was over a twenty-year period with Andy, and eventually Phil Manzanera came on board and had a go and that pushed it further ahead. Then Youth came in and finally there was a sense of ‘this does have legs.’ DP: How did the producer Youth shape the sound and the parts that you needed to record? NM: Just by listening and explaining what we should do. I remember going into the studio to re-do some of the drum tracks. DP: The dynamic and relationship between bass and drums is often discussed. How did you find playing along with Roger? NM: Yes, that’s absolutely right. I like Gary Wallis’s description: “The band is a bass player and a drummer and a bunch of novelty acts!” (Laughs). It’s because you actually end up having a real sense of what the other person is going to do. It’s a very powerful unit. DP: Looking back over the years, do you think your drumming has changed over time? NM: Inevitably. As I’ve said, I’ve never had a lesson, but over forty or fifty years working, you’re drumming will change enormously. The more time you spend on the stage or in the studio, you’ll hopefully learn something. DP: DW has made several drum kits for you over the years. Can you talk us through the story behind the Ferrari drum kit? NM: Well, this partly came about because I’d organised with Fender to do half-a-dozen Ferrari Stratocaster guitars, which were then sold for charity. Jacques Villeneuve bought one. I just liked it as an object. It was painted in Ferrari colours, the switch plate was made of Kevlar from the race cars, Theo Fennell made silver prancing horses to go on the fretboards. I thought it seemed silly to have guitars and not have a drum kit. We actually made one for the Ferrari factory in the museum at Fiorano and another, which is mine. DP: DW also made a Fairground drum kit for you. What was the inspiration for this? NM: I’d always liked fairground art and having always lived in North London, I was very familiar with the look of the fairground and the Hampstead Heath Fairs. I gave Louie Garcia at DW, who does the most fantastic artwork, a book of fairground art and I’d marked various pages of illustrations. Louie just picked it up and ran with it. DP: More recently, you played drums on “Wish You Were Here” at the Olympic Closing Ceremony in London with Ed Sheeran, Mike Rutherford, and Richard Jones. That must have been an incredible concert and experience. Any recollections on that? NM: I hadn’t been an enormous fan of The Olympics but when I went down there I absolutely got it. The atmosphere was incredible. It was a hell of a production with lots of people, all of whom were really involved. That’s what was nice, with so many people helping, supporting, and so on. In the end, I felt really privileged to take part in it. DP: I have to ask, what are your favorite Pink Floyd songs to play and why? NM: “Comfortably Numb” because I love the minimalism at the beginning of it and the lovely crash, bang, wallop end to it all. My favorite, in many ways, is really “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun” from A Saucerful of Secrets, as I like the song and it’s an opportunity to use mallets instead of sticks. I think it’s got a slightly unusual feel to it, possibly a slightly lifted drum part from “We’re Going Wrong” by Cream, so there’s an homage to Ginger on that and there’s also an homage to Chico Hamilton’s, “Jazz on a Summer’s Day”. DP: You played on a track on David Gilmour’s solo album. Did that feel different than recording a Pink Floyd song or was it like old times again? NM: When you play drums, you just do it as best you can. I wouldn’t say it felt like old times, but it didn’t feel peculiar either, any more than recording any track I’ve ever played drums on. Interestingly, I think the answer is: there’s no difference. Whatever it is, you just to find out what needs doing, and then try to do it. DP: Pink Floyd has an exhibition, Their Mortal Remains, opening in 2017 at Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Can you tell us more about it? NM: If you’ve seen the Bowie exhibition, basically we are the next event. We’re obviously a bit short on costumes! There’s an appetite for exhibitions that are a bit more than nostalgia. What you try and do is show something about how you did things and worked in the past. I’m hoping it will be more like some of the American or kids’ museums, where it’s a ‘please touch these exhibits’ so you can really get a flavour of things. Part of it is really the story of recorded music for the last fifty years; from four-track recording to the modern digital era with endless tracks. I’m hoping people will come out and rather than saying, “I remember that” it will be, “Oh, so that’s how it was done!” -HC- - reprinted with expressed written permission DW's Edge Magazine - _______________________________________________ photo credits: David Phillips David Phillips could be called the UK's drum whisperer. He has backstage access to iconic drummers that's only reserved for a handful of elite authors and photographers in the world. His two books A Drummer's Perspective and From The Riser - A Drummer's Perspective II are available from his website

HC's Rock Rewind A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History by Team HC MAY 22nd -28th A trove of memorable events occurred during this week in rock and roll history. The Rolling Stones appeared on TV with one of their blues idols, David Bowie presented Mott the Hoople with a glam-rock anthem, and a classic rock band from the ‘70s reunited following a 14-year hiatus. Read on for a look back at other significant moments that shaped rock and roll during this historically eventful week. Events 1957 -- The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) is established. The organization quickly becomes known for their Grammy Awards, which kicks off the following year. 1965 -- The Rolling Stones share the stage with Howlin' Wolf on the TV show, Shindig!, as Wolf performs one of his blues classics, "How Many More Years." 1966 -- The Doors perform their first show in a public venue, playing at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood. 1968 -- Cream's Disraeli Gears album is certified gold. 1969 -- The Guess Who make their American television debut, appearing on American Bandstand and lip-synching the hits "These Eyes" and "Laughing.” 1970 – Peter Green makes his last appearance as a member of Fleetwood Mac, performing with the band at the Bath Festival in England. 1971 -- The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album begins a four-week run atop the U.S. album charts. 1971 – The pioneering psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly breaks up. 1972 -- David Bowie, upon learning that Mott The Hoople is planning to break up, offers the band a song he just wrote called “All the Young Dudes.” The song revives the group’s career and goes on to become a glam-rock anthem. 1973 -- Deep Purple releases "Smoke on the Water." 1975 -- Earth, Wind & Fire's soon-to-be-classic R&B hit, "Shining Star,” tops the U.S. singles chart. 1976 -- Wings begin a five week run at Number One slot on the U.S. singles chart with “Silly Love Songs.” The song is fifth Number One U.S. hit penned by Paul McCartney since the breakup of The Beatles. 1977 – Future Police members Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers perform together for the first time, taking the stage in Paris as part of the band Strontium 90. 1977 -- Marc Bolan performs his last show with T. Rex, staging a concert in Stockholm, Sweden. Tragically, the glam-rock icon dies later that year in an automobile accident. 1979 -- The Who's acclaimed film documentary, The Kids Are Alright, makes its debut in New York City. 1986 -- The Monkees, without Mike Nesmith, kick off their "20th Anniversary World Tour." The ambitious trek stretches to 145 dates. 1987 -- The original members of the Doobie Brothers—including singer-guitarist Tom Johnson--reunite for a benefit show at the Hollywood Bowl. The event leads to a full-scale reunion tour. 1994 – The Eagles perform their first concert in fourteen years, staging a show in Burbank, California. 2006 – Led Zeppelin are awarded the Polar Music Prize during a ceremony on Stockholm. The award is presented by the King of Sweden. 2010 – The much-trumpeted re-release of the Rolling Stones’ 1972 classic, Exile on Main Street, provides the band with their first Number One album in the UK in sixteen years. Releases 1963 – Bob Dylan: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan 1967 – The Mothers of Invention: Absolutely Free 1967 – The Monkees: Headquarters 1968 – Johnny Cash: At Folsum Prison 1969 – The Who: Tommy 1971 – Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On 1971 – Graham Nash: Songs for Beginners 1971 – Rod Stewart: Every Picture Tells a Story 1972 – Peter Frampton: Wind of Change 1973 – Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells 1974 – David Bowie: Diamond Dogs 1974 – Sparks: Kimono My House 1974 – Santana: Lotus 1974 – 10cc: Sheet Music 1975 – Wings: Venus and Mars 1975 – Willie Nelson: Red Headed Stranger 1977 – Steve Miller Band: Book of Dreams 1978 – David Gilmour: David Gilmour 1978 – Cheap Trick: Heaven Tonight 1979 – Kiss: Dynasty 1980 – Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (i.e. “Melt,” his third album) 1980 – Roxy Music: Flesh and Blood 1982 – Blondie: The Hunter 1982 – Glenn Frey: No Fun Aloud 1983 – Dio: Holy Diver 1986 – Laurie Anderson: Home of the Brave 1988 – Van Halen: OU812 1989 – Queen: The Miracle 1989 – Tin Machine: Tin Machine 1990 – The Jeff Healey Band: Hell to Pay 1991 – The Smashing Pumpkins: Gish 1992 – Ringo Starr: Time Takes Time 1993 – Donald Fagen: Kamakiriad 1994 – Frank Black: Teenager of the Year 1995 – Everclear: Sparkle and Fade 2000 – Matchbox Twenty: Mad Season 2004 – The Cardigans: Long Gone Before Daylight 2005 – Audioslave: Out of Exile 2005 – Shelby Lynne: Suit Yourself 2006 – Def Leppard: Yeah! 2006 – Dixie Chicks: Taking the Long Way Deaths Elmore James – May 24, 1963 Sonny Boy Williamson – May 25, 1965 Duke Ellington – May 24, 1974 Gene Clark (The Byrds) – May 24, 1991 Eric Gale – May 25, 1994 Domenic Troiano (The Guess Who) – May 25, 2005 Desmond Dekker – May 25, 2006 Jay Bennett (Wilco) – May 24, 2009 Paul Gray (Slipknot) – May 24, 2010 Births T-Bone Walker – May 28, 1910 Miles Davis – May 26, 1926 Robert Moog – May 23, 1934 Bob Dylan – May 24, 1941 Jessi Colter – May 25, 1943 Levon Helm – May 26, 1943 Verden Allen (Mott the Hoople) – May 26, 1944 John Fogerty – May 28, 1945 Steve Upton (Wishbone Ash) – May 24, 1946 Mick Ronson – May 26, 1946 Albert Bouchard (Blue Oyster Cult) – May 24, 1947 Klaus Meine (Scorpions) – May 25, 1948 Stevie Nicks – May 26, 1948 Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship) – May 27, 1948 Hank Williams Jr. – May 26, 1949 Bernie Taupin – May 22, 1950 Neil Finn (Crowded House) – May 27, 1956 Susan Ballion (Siouxsie Sioux) – May 27, 1957 Paul Weller – May 25, 1958 Neil Finn (Crowded House) – May 27, 1958 (Steven) Morrissey – May 22, 1959 Lenny Kravitz – May 26, 1964 Sean Kinney (Alice In Chains) – May 27, 1966 Rich Robinson – May 24, 1969 Jewel (Kilcher) – May 23, 1974 May 29th - June 4th May 29 through June 4 brought some timeless rock albums to the world, from Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. That's not to mention the births of Ronnie Wood and Tom Morello. Keep reading for some major releases, historic events and notable births and deaths happening May 29 – June 4. Events 1959 - Atlanta's Herndon Stadium hosts one of the first outdoor rock concerts. The lineup includes Ray Charles, Jimmy Reed and B.B. King. 1961 - Chuck Berry opens the Berryland amusement park in Wentzville, Missouri. 1961 - Jimi Hendrix officially joins the U.S. Army. 1964 - The Rolling Stones hit New York to kick off their first U.S. tour. 1975 - Ronnie Wood performs his first show as the guitarist for the Rolling Stones. It was on his 28th birthday. 1976 - The Who set the Guinness Book record for "World's Loudest Rock Band" with a show in London measuring 126 decibels. Guinness eventually stops certifying the record, due to hearing loss. 1983 - Kiss play their final concert in their makeup. Well, until 1996, that is, when they start playing with painted faces again. 1997 - Jeff Buckley’s body is discovered floating in a harbor running into the Mississippi River. He had disappeared the week before while taking a swim in a Memphis harbor. Releases Bob Dylan, Down in the Groove, 1988 The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967 (U.S. release) David Bowie, David Bowie, 1967 Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town, 1978 The Rolling Stones, Still Life, 1982 Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A., 1984 Sting, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, 1985 Metallica, Load, 1996 Births Noel Gallagher, May 29, 1967 Mel Gaynor (Simple Minds), May 29, 1960 Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), May 30, 1964 Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary), May 31, 1938 Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), May 31, 1938 Pat Boone, June 1, 1934 Ron Wood (The Rolling Stones, The Faces), June 1, 1947 Alan Wilder (Depeche Mode), June 1, 1959 Simon Gallup (The Cure), June 1, 1960 Mike Joyce (The Smiths), June 1, 1963 Alanis Morissette, June 1, 1974 Charlie Watts (The Rolling Stones), June 2, 1941 Steve Brookins (.38 Special), June 2, 1951 Pete Farndon (The Pretenders), June 2, 1952 Fabrizio Moreti (The Strokes), June 2, 1980 Dave Alexander (The Stooges), June 3, 1947 Billy Powell (Lynyrd Skynyrd), June 3, 1952 Kerry King (Slayer), June 3, 1964 Mike Gordon (Phish), June 3, 1965 Nancy Sinatra, June 4, 1940 Michelle Phillips (The Mamas & The Papas), June 4, 1944 Stefan Lessard (The Dave Matthews Band), June 4, 1974 Deaths Jeff Buckley, May 29, 1997 John Kahn (The Jerry Garcia Band), May 30, 1996 David Ruffin (The Temptations), June 1, 1991 Boyd Bennett, June 2, 2002 Vince Welnick (Grateful Dead), June 2, 2006 Bo Diddley, June 2, 2008 Joey Covington (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna), June 4, 2013 Beach Boys patriarch Murry Wilson dies at age 55, June 4, 1973 Ronnie Lane (The Small Faces, The Faces), June 4, 1997 ______________________________________________________ HC's Rock Review is sponsored by Gibson

Epiphone Les Paul Special VE Don't let the little price fool ya! This guitar is huge ... by Travis Browning It seems as though entry level, dual humbucker-equipped guitars are causing quite a stir here lately. With Squire offering up the Bullet and Affinity versions of their Mustang and Jazzmaster guitars, Epiphone is offering up a new Les Paul Special model, branded VE or Vintage Edition. Time to check it out... So what is it? The Epiphone Les Paul Special VE is a new version of the popular Epiphone Les Paul Special II model. Clocking in at $149.99, it’s basically a steal for the amount of guitar you’re getting. At first glance we see it's a familiar, single-cutaway, Les Paul Special body with a TOM (Tune-o-matic) bridge, dual humbuckers, and 1 of 5 vintage worn finishes (walnut, ebony, cherry, vintage sunburst, or heritage cherry sunburst). I should note that I’ve always been a Fender guy through and through; I’ve never owned nor wanted to own a Les Paul, and that is...changing. Let’s get into the details. Neck and Body As per usual, the Les Paul Special VE has a bolt-on 24.75” mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 medium jumbo frets and a pretty flat 14” radius. Epiphone describes it as a “1960s SlimTaper D profile.” I’m a big fan of the neck, it’s fast, plays really well, and has a really nice, light satin finish on it that I love. I will say it took me a little getting used to playing some of the higher notes on the neck. I’m not sure if that's because I’m not used to a 14” radius or maybe just not being used to a Les Paul body in general; either way it didn’t take me long to warm up to, but it definitely feels a little harder to hit those notes than on another single cutaway, like a Tele for instance. Considering the Les Paul Special VE is pretty much a direct competitor to Squier's new Bullet Mustang, I should say that the Epiphone and Les Paul decals look much better than the flat black logo on the Squier, which was one of my gripes. It really looks the part. Though completely cosmetic, and at the $150 price point it feels silly to complain about this kind of thing, it is a welcome detail on the Les Paul Special VE. I received the Vintage Worn Vintage Sunburst (that’s a vintage mouthful) finish and it’s astonishing! The finish is super well done, no stray marks or drips, and like the neck it has thin, satin finish that is to die for. Seriously, it feels amazing, like you’re holding a real, resonant piece of wood, something that thicker poly finishes seem to hide. The body is made of poplar and comes in at about 1.75” thick. It’s nice, light and again, very resonant. Hardware The Les Paul Special VE has standard metal hardware. Nothing in particular jumps out, but on a personal anecdote this is my first real experience with the Tune-o-matic style bridge and I have to say I’m impressed. Being in the Fender camp for so long, I’ve almost scoffed at the TOM setup, but now I think it's great. I took the time to do some research on the Epiphone LockTone Stopbar/Tune-o-matic system and while I won’t go into too much detail, it is designed really well. It’s simple enough that it just works, but it definitely has some neat adjustments you can do to set it up to your own personal standards. Epiphone has an informative article on their website about it, and I definitely recommend checking it out. As far as the rest of the hardware, the two metal strap buttons work as expected and the covered tuners are smooth, and hold their tuning well. I’m not sure what the nut is made of, and after checking, Epiphone didn't list it on their site, but mine is cut well. While this may sound a bit dull, it's actually a positive. Everything hardware-wise on this guitar does its job well and that's what you want, especially on a beginner/ budget-oriented guitar like this. Electronics I don’t know whats happened in the last few years, but there must have been some groundbreaking potentiometer research done. Much like the Squier Bullet Mustang, the stock 500k pots on this guitar are really nice, smooth and with a great taper. Upgrading pots has been something I always do, but these work really, really well. A master tone, master volume and a switch (thats slightly crackly, but not too bad) is perfect for me, simple and to the point. Epiphone used ceramic 650R and 700T pickups in the Les Paul Special VE. And they are hot. Very hot. I can understand why they’re using these pickups, for most beginners picking up the Les Paul Special VE, it's going to be exactly what they want for playing the Nirvana, Green Day, Ramones, etc. we all learned at some point. But coming from someone who has been playing for a while, it took a lot of EQ fiddling and pickup height adjustment to get them where I wanted. Even still, it doesn't play particularly well with my Overdrive pedal, even at its lowest gain setting. That being said, the pickups are by no means bad, I’ve heard plenty worse. They will easily do the job for someone starting out, and someone more experienced can always adjust the height or even change out the pickups altogether. Being new to the humbucker world, I’m definitely open to suggestions and information on some lower output/more articulate styles of humbuckers in the comment section below. Conclusion Epiphone knocked it out of the park with the Les Paul Special VE. The fit, finish, and playability of this guitar screams well past its $150 price tag. Other than some of my own personal opinions on the pickups, I can’t think about anything wrong or detrimental about this guitar, it seriously is a great playing piece of gear. If you’ll allow me to go on one more personal tirade, I should say how eye opening, and strange this review has been for me. I’ve been playing guitar since I was 14, I’m 25 now and for that whole period I’ve firmly sat in the Fender camp of electric guitars (other than a few Danelectros). I’ve had a rotating cast of Strats, Teles, Jazzmasters, Mustangs, the whole lot of them. I’ve prided myself on being team Fender, and even might have for some strange reason, seen the Gibson/Epiphone side of things as the enemy. So, imagine my surprise when the Epiphone Les Paul Special VE has now become the number one guitar I pick up. Even after the little honeymoon phase, after I’ve taken down all the notes to write up this review, it's somehow still the guitar I keep on the stand nearest to me. It feels good, I like the way it sings acoustically and resonates an A chord for what feels like hours. I like how it accentuates my play style. I love the feel of the neck and the way the body sits in my lap. Because at the end of the day, that's what matters - it's not about what's on the headstock, its about how you feel playing. So if I could leave you with two pieces of advice, the first one being to always try and keep an open mind about things, inside and outside of your gear choices and brand leanings. You lose something when you pigeonhole yourself into certain things just for the sake of it. Second piece of advice: You absolutely cannot go wrong with the Epiphone Les Paul Special VE. It’s that good. Bonus: Head to Head with the Squier Bullet Mustang Given that my last review was on the Squier Bullet Mustang HH, and that the Les Paul Special VE is a direct competitor to the Squier Bullet Mustang in both price point, and as a entry level, dual humbucker-equipped guitar, I figured I should go into a little more detail in how they compare. If I could stress one thing, it's that both of these guitars are an excellent value, and they’re both very well made. They both have simple and effective hardware, pots that are surprisingly good and functional, and finishes that are well beyond what you’d expect from their price points. My Squier Bullet Mustang had freakishly neat wiring internally and pickups that were a bit less hot and nicer sounding to my taste, while the Epiphone Les Paul Special VE has a switch that makes a little noise and pickups that I found a little too hot for me. I found the attention to detail on the headstock of the Epiphone to be a welcome surprise compared to that of the Squier. Ultimately however, I found the playability and feel of the Epiphone to be superior to that of the Squier. -HC- Do you have questions or comments about this review? If so, click this link to join the discussion! Resources Epiphone Les Paul Special VE ($248.00 MSRP, $145.15-$149.00 "street", depending on color choice) Epiphone's product web page You can purchase the Epiphone Les Paul Special VE from: Sweetwater Guitar Center Musician's Friend __________________________________________________ Travis Browning is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Northwest Florida. He likes Ford Mustangs and Buffalo Wings and has been a long-time Harmony Central member. Check out his music at lazarusband.bandcamp.com

HC's Rock Rewind A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History by Team HC MAY 8th -14th This week in rock music history was marked by abundance of significant events. “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band” recorded their very first single, England’s most influential punk band signed a record contract, and a beloved ‘60s pop band kicked off their final reunion tour. A trove of classic albums was released as well, including landmark records by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Heart and Frank Zappa. Read on for a look back at other noteworthy moments that shaped rock and roll during this historically eventful week. Events 1963 – The Rolling Stones record their first single, a cover version of Chuck Berry’s “Come On.” 1965 – The Byrds appear on American television for the first time, performing their cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” on NBC’s “Hullabaloo.” 1967 – Pink Floyd stages the first rock concert to feature quadraphonic sound, employing the technology for a show at Queen Elizabeth Hall in England. 1972 – Billy Preston headlines New York’s Radio City Music Hall, becoming the first rock and roll artist to do so. 1974 – Led Zeppelin launch their own record label, Swan Song Records. Bad Company and Dave Edmonds are among the label’s highest-profile artists. The label shuts down in 1983. 1975 – Apple Records officially comes to an end as a corporation. 1977 – The Sex Pistols ink a record deal with Virgin Records. The group had previously been signed—and dropped—by the labels EMI and A&M. Their deal with Virgin yields the punk classic, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. 1985 – The Go-Go’s announce they are breaking up. Five years later the classic lineup reunites for several shows. 1993 – Aerosmith enter the U.S. album charts at the Number One spot, with Get a Grip. The album goes on to sell more than 20 million copies and earns the band two Grammys. 2006 – The Rolling Stones cancel an upcoming European tour when Keith Richards undergoes emergency brain surgery. The Stones guitarist had suffered a mild concussion after falling out of a tree while on vacation in Fiji. 2011 – The Monkees, sans Michael Nesmith, kick off a 45th Anniversary tour in Liverpool, England. The trek becomes their final reunion tour, as singer Davy Jones passes away the following year. Releases 1966 – Small Faces: Small Faces 1967 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced 1969 – Muddy Waters: After the Rain 1969 – Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere 1970 -- The Jackson 5: ABC 1970 – The Beatles: Let It Be 1970 – Various: Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More 1971 -- Pink Floyd: Relics 1972 – The Rolling Stones: Exile on Main Street 1973 – Wishbone Ash: Wishbone Four 1974 – New York Dolls: Too Much Too Soon 1974 – Bill Wyman: Monkey Grip 1974 – The Kinks: Preservation Act 2 1975 – Hawkwind: Warrior on the Edge of Time 1977 – Roger Daltrey: One of the Boys 1977 – Heart: Little Queen 1980 – Elton John: 21 at 33 1980 – Devo: Freedom of Choice 1981 – Frank Zappa: Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar 1982 – Duran: Rio 1982 – The Clash: Combat Rock 1984 – Twisted Sister: Stay Hungry 1984 – Chicago: Chicago 17 1985 – New Order: Low-Life 1985 – Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms 1988 – Prince: Lovesexy 1989 – John Mellencamp: Big Daddy 1990 – The Bangles: Greatest Hits 1991 – Elvis Costello: Mighty Like a Rose 1992 – Iron Maiden: Fear of the Dark 1992 – The Black Crowes: The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion 1993 – Blur: Modern Life is Rubbish 1994 – Sonic Youth: Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star 1994 – Weezer: Weezer (aka “The Blue Album”) 1996 – Def Leppard: Slang 1996 – Peter Wolf: Long Line 1998 – Widespread Panic: Light Fuse, Get Away 2000 – The Jayhawks: Smile 2001 – The Black Crowes: Lions 2001 – R.E.M.: Reveal 2002 – Rush: Vapor Trails 2003 – Fall Out Boy: Take This to Your Grave 2003 – Marilyn Manson: The Golden Age of Grotesque 2005 – Dave Matthews Band: Stand Up 2006 – Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium 2006 – The Raconteurs: Broken Boy Soldiers 2006 – Neil Young: Living with War 2010 – The Dead Weather: Sea of Cowards 2014 – The Black Keys: Turn Blue Deaths Martin Lamble (Fairport Convention) – May 12, 1969 Graham Bond – May 8, 1974 Bob Wills – May 13, 1975 Keith Relf (The Yardbirds) – May 14, 1976 Lester Flatt – May 11, 1979 Bob Marley – May 11, 1981 Chet Baker – May 13, 1988 Frank Sinatra – May 14, 1998 Noel Redding – May 11, 2003 Jack Richardson (producer) – May 13, 2011 Donald Dunn (Booker T and the MG's) – May 13, 2012 Ed Gagliardi (Foreigner) – May 11, 2014 B.B. King – May 14, 2015 Births Robert Johnson – May 8, 1911 Burt Bacharach – May 12, 1928 Bobby Darin – May 14, 1936 Sonny Curtis (The Crickets) – May 9, 1937 Ricky Nelson – May 8, 1940 Eric Burdon – May 11, 1941 Richie Valens – May 13, 1941 Ian Dury – May 12, 1942 Danny Whitten (Crazy Horse) – May 8, 1943 Paul Samwell-Smith (The Yardbirds) – May 8, 1943 Jack Bruce – May 14, 1943 Bill Legend (T.Rex) – May 8, 1944 Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield) – May 9, 1944 Donavan Leitch – May 10, 1946 Graham Gouldman (10cc) – May 10, 1946 Dave Mason (Traffic) – May 10, 1947 Butch Trucks – May 11, 1947 Pete “Overend” Watts – May 13, 1947 Steve Winwood – May 12, 1948 Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick) – May 9, 1950 Billy Squier – May 12, 1950 Stevie Wonder – May 13, 1950 Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind & Fire) – May 8, 1951 Chris Frantz (Talking Heads) – May 8, 1951 Paul Thompson (Roxy Music) – May 13, 1951 Sly Dunbar – May 10, 1952 David Byrne – May 14, 1952 Alex Van Halen – May 8, 1953 John Edwards (Status Quo) – May 9, 1953 Dave Mason – May 10, 1956 Sid Vicious – May 10, 1957 Eric Singer (Kiss) – May 12, 1958 Billy Dufy (The Cult) – May 12, 1959 Paul Hewson (aka Bono) – May 10, 1960 Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) – May 9, 1962 C.C. Deville – May 14, 1962 Ian Astbury (The Cult) – May 14, 1962 Darius Rucker – May 13, 1966 Joe Bonamassa – May 8, 1977 Dan Auerbach – May 14, 1979 May 15th - 21st This week in rock history brims with memorable events, both positive and negative, from the births of Trent Reznor and Krist Novoselic to the passing of Ronnie James Dio. Read on for some major events, historic record releases and births and deaths happening May 15 through May 21. Events 1963 - The debut Monterey Folk Festival takes place, featuring Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary and Joan Baez. 1964 - The Animals start recording "House of the Rising Sun." 1975 - Fleetwood Mac performs for the first time with new members Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in El Paso, Texas. 1980 - Drummer Peter Criss exits Kiss but returns to the fold, with Ace Frehley, in 1996. 1991 - Paul McCartney issues Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) in the U.K., marking the first album released from an MTV Unplugged performance. 1993 - Depeche Mode kick off their Devotional tour in Lille, France. 2000 - The Artist Formerly Known As Prince publicly states he will start using his name again. 2010 - Inspiring vocalist Ronnie James Dio passes away from stomach cancer. He was 67 years old. Releases Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” (single), 1954 The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds, 1966 Bob Dylan, Blonde On Blonde, 1966 The Who, Live at Leeds, 1970 Paul and Linda McCartney, Ram, 1971 Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On, 1971 Uriah Heep, Demons and Wizards, 1972 Elton John, Honky Château, 1972 Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, 1973 The Kinks, Soap Opera, 1975 Elton John, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, 1975 Rainbow, Rising, 1976 David Bowie, Lodger, 1979 Run-DMC, Raising Hell, 1986 Foo Fighters, The Colour and The Shape, 1997 John Fogerty, Blue Moon Swamp, 1997 Pearl Jam, Binaural, 2000 Motörhead, We Are Motörhead, 2000 The Go-Go's, God Bless the Go-Go's, 2001 Weezer, Weezer (aka The Green Album), 2001 Lynyrd Skynyrd, Vicious Cycle, 2003 Lenny Kravitz, Baptism, 2004 Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown, 2009 Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, Apocalyptic Love, 2012 Births Brian Eno, May 15, 1948 Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen (Toto), May 15, 1951 Robert Fripp, May 16, 1946 Jonathan Richman, May 16, 1951 Krist Novoselic, May 16, 1965 Jesse Winchester, May 17, 1944 Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson), May 17, 1949 Steve Earle, May 17, 1955 Trent Reznor, May 17, 1965 Josh Homme, May 17, 1973 Rick Wakeman, May 18, 1949 Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), May 18, 1950 Pete Townshend, May 19, 1945 Dusty Hill (ZZ Top), May 19, 1949 Joey Ramone, May 19, 1951 Joe Cocker, May 20, 1944 Leo Sayer, May 21, 1948 Marc Ribot, May 21, 1954 Deaths Bob Flanigan, May 15, 2011 Django Reinhardt, May 16, 1953 Sammy Davis, Jr, May 16, 1990 Ronnie James Dio, May 16, 2010 Johnny “Guitar” Watson, May 17, 1996 Donna Summer, May 17, 2012 Elvin Jones, May 18, 2004 Robin Gibb, May 20, 2012 Ray Manzarek, May 20, 2013 Trevor Bolder, May 21, 2013 -HC- ______________________________________________________ HC's Rock Review is sponsored by Gibson

Twelve Blues Chords They're beautiful and you'll want to learn them ... by Cody - Musician Tuts (adapted by Harmony Central) Courtesy Photo: Castro “Mr. Sipp” Coleman, of McComb, Miss From the Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin to Jimi Hendrix and even Pink Floyd, the blues has provided the foundation and inspiration for much of today's music. Officially, it originated in the Southern United States toward the late 1800s, but its roots extend further into the past. Over the decades the blues developed into a uniquely American art form, and brought us classic blues artists like Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Elmore James, Buddy Guy, and John Lee Hooker - as well as the artists they inspired, like Michael Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Rory Gallagher, and others. If you love the blues, then this article about playing great-sounding blues chords will help you love the blues even more. And if you want to learn more about playing blues chords, this is a fine place to start. THE BASICS Blues music generally has a distinct sound, and many recognize it by the well-known 12-bar blues progression. This progression is made up of 12 measures and is based on a key's I-IV-V chords. To help better understand the following example, it's a good idea to study guitar scales basic guitar chords. That said, the 12-bar blues progression essentially uses the following formula: Begins on the I also known as the root or tonic - played for 4 measures Moves to the IV - played for 2 measures Back to the I - played for 2 measures Moves to the V - played for 1 measure Moves to the IV - played for 1 measure Back to the I - played for 2 measures Once you get to step 6, simply rinse and repeat. As you can see by counting the measures, they add up to 12, hence the 12-bar blues. This post however, isn’t going to go overly in-depth into the history and advanced structure of the 12 bar blues. Rather this post is all about highlighting great sounding blues chords that you can add to your guitar playing toolbox. Learning the blues can truly open up a huge range of musical possibilities. Therefore, knowing which chords will produce a “bluesy” sound will help you further advance your blues playing skillset. WHAT MAKES A BLUES CHORD? You can play the blues with really any type of chord. For example, if you want to use all major chords you can simply take the chords A, D, and E, plug them into the 12-bar blues formula and voilà, you have a blues chord progression. However, these chords aren’t necessarily blues chords per se. They are just regular major chords applied to a blues progression. Many blues chords are made of what are called 7th chords. These types of chords are typically made up of 4 notes: the root, the third, the perfect fifth, and the minor 7th. Sometimes you may see a variation in the presence of these notes. For example, in some cases, there may be no perfect fifth or you may add a 6th, etc. However as long as the root, third, and 7th are present, then you still have a 7th chord. That being said, true blues chords aren’t restricted to just 7th chords, many times 9ths and 13ths are also used to provide that bluesy sound. There are a ton of possibilities and variations to blues chords. You can add certain notes to an existing blues chord to give it more flavour, you can change the key, etc. The important thing to note is that blues chords commonly use 7ths, 9ths, and 13ths, however, this is not a rule set in stone. LIST OF BLUES CHORDS The following list of 12 blues chords are all in the key of A. In the blues chord chart below I decided to include the positions of these chords in the key of A, D, and E so that you can pick and choose which chords you want and then apply them to the 12-bar blues progression (I’ll also discuss a few blues progression examples). The root of each of the following chords is highlighted in green. To change the key of each of the following chords take the lowest root and change its position on the fretboard while maintaining the same chord shape, just transpose all of the notes. For example, let’s take the first A7 chord. The root is found on the low E string on the 5th fret. To modify this chord to be in the key of D, simply move from the 5th fret of the low E string to the 10th fret, as well as all other notes accordingly. To see a complete view of a guitar’s fretboard notes, check out the guitar fretboard notes legend. You’ll also notice that in the list below there are multiple chords that are named the same. This is simply due to variations of the same chord. Try playing through all the blues chords below to see which ones you like the best: BLUES CHORDS CHART The following blues chords chart contains all of the chords listed above in the key of A. Additionally, it also includes the positions for playing the same chords in the key of D and E. Although these chords can be played in any key and are fully moveable, I have chosen to list the chord placements in the of A, D, and E since they follow the I, IV,V formula for playing a 12-bar blues progression. This means that you can reference the chart below to do the following: Pick one chord from the key of A – corresponds to I Pick one chord from the key of D – corresponds to IV Pick one chord from the key of E – corresponds to V Once your chords are picked, you can apply them to the 12-bar blues formula above and you’ll have a basic blues progression. I’ll explain other more in-depth blues progression possibilities in the next section: BLUES CHORD PROGRESSION EXAMPLES When is comes to blues chord progressions, there are many other variations apart from what was outlined in the introductory section of this post. Although that is the basic form of the 12-bar blues, you can also switch it up. Using the chords and keys outlined in the blues chord chart above, here are a few blues chord progression examples you can try out for yourself. In each example, I’ve listed 3 components, the 12-bar blues pattern, the chords I’ve selected for each progression, as well as the chord diagrams for said progression. Try playing each chord progression listed below and also try coming up with your own combinations. EXAMPLE 1 12-bar blues progression pattern: I – I – I – I – IV – IV – I – I – V – IV – I – I 12-bar blues chords: A7(v1) x 4 – D9(v1) x 2 – A7(v1) x 2 – E9(v2) x 1 – D9(v1) x 1 – A7(v1) x 2 EXAMPLE 2 12-bar blues progression pattern: I – I – I – I – IV – IV – I – I – V – IV (variation) – I – V 12-bar blues chords: A7(v3) x 4 – D13 x 2 – A7(v3) x 2 – E9(v1) x 1 – D9(v1) x 1 – A7(v3) x 1 E9(v1) x 1 EXAMPLE 3 12-bar blues progression pattern: I – I – I – I (variation) – IV – IV – I – I – V – IV (variation) – I – V 12-bar blues chords: A13(v3) x 3 – A7 x 1 – D7(v4) x 2 – A13(v3) x 2 – E13(v3) x 1 – D13(v3) x 1 – A13(v3) x 1 E13(v3) x 1 With the chords in the blues chord chart above, you can pretty much interchange any chord and apply it to a particular 12-bar blues pattern. Although some chords may sound better together than others, no matter which variations you choose, they will all work. BLUES CHORD TOOLS In this post, I’ve listed 12 blues chords that I enjoy playing and that sound great. However, these certainly aren’t the only blues chords that exist. There are many other variations you can use to create your own blues sound. For this, I’ve listed 3 tools below you can use to find new chords. Guitar Pro Chord Diagram – The Guitar Pro chord diagram can be used to discover new chords and even make your own. Simply open a new session and press “A” on your keyboard to open the chord diagram tool. From here you can select the key as well as any other options you’d like. You can also customize any notes on the chord diagram yourself to create new chords. Tux Guitar Chord Diagram – Similar to the Guitar Pro chord diagram, Tux Guitar also allows you to see a full list of chords as well as create your own. Simply click on the chord diagram icon in the top navigation bar to open the tool. The features are quite similar to Guitar Pro’s tool. Guitartuna Chords – Lastly, if you want to check out guitar chords on your mobile device, you can use an app called Guitartuna. This app is primarily used for tuning your guitar, however also has a chord diagram feature that allows you to browse through their directory of guitar chords. SUMMARY Knowing the basics of blues music is an important skill to have not only as a guitarist but as a musician. Over the years it has been the birthplace for a ton of great songs and artists alike. Practicing the 12 blues chords mentioned in this post will provide you with a starting point for learning great sounding blues chords and example progressions. Remember to have fun with it and don’t forget to experiment with your own combinations. If you have any great blues chords that you really enjoy playing that I forgot to mention in this post, share them in the comments section below for others to see. ____________________________________________ Used with expressed permission by: Cody is the founder of Musician Tuts, a completely free tutorial hub for musicians. He spends his days blogging, listening to Spotify, and playing music.

HC's Rock Rewind A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History by Team HC April 24th -30th From the births of Ace Frehley and Kim Gordon to the release of 1976 - AC/DC’s High Voltage, the final week of April is packed with rock ‘n’ roll history and nostalgia. Read on for some major events, historic record releases and births and deaths taking place April 24 through April 30. Events 1969 - Led Zeppelin performed “Whole Lotta Love” live for the first time. It was at a concert at The Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. 1975 - Pete Ham of Badfinger commits suicide by hanging himself in his London home. 1973 - Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of The Moon went to No. 1 on the U.S. charts. 1977 - The final live recordings of Elvis Presley to be released were done during a performance in Saginaw, Michigan. 1977 - Talking Heads starts their first European tour, opening for the Ramones. 1978 - Queen's "We Are the Champions" is certified Gold. 1991 – Nirvana inks a record deal with Geffen Records’ DGC label. 1997 - U2’s famed Pop Mart Tour kicked off in Las Vegas. Releases 1969 – The Moody Blues: On the Threshold of a Dream 1970 - Ringo Starr: Sentimental Journey 1971 - Thin Lizzy: Thin Lizzy 1973 - Paul McCartney and Wings: Red Rose Speedway 1974 - J.J. Cale: Okie 1976 - AC/DC: High Voltage 1977 - Alice Cooper: Lace and Whiskey 1980 - Black Sabbath: Heaven and Hell 1981 - Van Halen: Fair Warning 1985 – Exodus: Bonded by Blood 1989 - Tom Petty: Full Moon Fever 1993 - Porno for Pyros: Porno for Pyros 1994 - Johnny Cash: American Recordings 1994 - Live: Throwing Copper 1996 - Dave Matthews Band: Crash 1998 - Dave Matthews Band: Before These Crowded Streets 2000 – Papa Roach: Infest 2004 - Loretta Lynn: Van Lear Rose 2005 - Bruce Springsteen: Devils & Dust 2008 - Def Leppard: Songs from the Sparkle Lounge 2009 - Halestorm: Halestorm 2010 - Bullet for My Valentine: Fever 2015 - Zac Brown Band: Jekyll + Hyde Deaths Pete Ham – April 24, 1975 Bobby "Boris" Pickett – April 25, 2007 Tommy Caldwell - April 28, 1980 Steve Currie - April 28, 1981 Jack Ely - April 28, 2015 Mick Ronson - April 29, 1993 Muddy Waters - April 30, 1983 Darrell Sweet - April 30, 1999 Ben E King - April 30, 2015 Births Barbra Streisand – April 24, 1942 Steve York – April 24, 1948 Boris Williams – April 24, 1957 Billy Gould – April 24, 1963 Tyson Ritter – April 24, 1984 Ella Fitzgerald - April 25, 1918 Albert King - April 25, 1923 Stu Cook – April 25, 1945 David Sikes – April 25, 1955 Paul Baloff – April 25, 1960 Eric Avery – April 25, 1965 Duane Eddy - April 26, 1938 Kate Pierson - April 27, 1948 Kim Gordon - April 28, 1953 Francis Rossi - April 29, 1949 Lonnie Donegan - April 29, 1931 Willie Nelson - April 29, 1933 Ace Frehley - April 27, 1951 Patrick Stump - April 27, 1984 Justin Vernon - April 30, 1981 May 1st -7th May is here, and with it comes a collection of memorable rock events that happened during the first week of May. From birth of Bob Seger to the release of Johnny Cash’s great song “I Walk the Line," keep reading for some major events, historic record releases and notable births and deaths happening May 1 – 7. Events 1957 - The Kingston Trio get together in Palo Alto, California. 1959 - The first Grammy Awards are held in Los Angeles. 1966 – The Beatles perform their last ever concert (not including their Apple Records rooftop performance in 1969) in England when they play at a gig put on by the New Musical Express. 1968 - Steppenwolf rocks the U.S. TV airwaves for the first time, performing “Born to Be Wild” on American Bandstand. 1970 – Diana Ross exits The Supremes to focus on her solo music. 1982 - Adam and the Ants break up. 1982 - Diana Ross gets her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1991 – MTV Unplugged, for the first time, has rap acts on the show with LL Cool J, De La Soul, MC Lyte and A Tribe Called Quest. 1991 - Texas Governor Ann Richards declares May 4 ZZ Top day in Texas. 1997 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame moves its induction ceremony to Cleveland for the first time, home to the Rock Hall. Releases Johnny Cash, I Walk The Line, 1956 Elvis Presley, Speedway, 1968 The Rolling Stones, Brown Sugar, 1971 (U.S.) Sum 41, All Killer, No Filler, 2001 Living Colour, Vivid, 1988 Queensrÿche, Operation: Mindcrime, 1988 Poison, Open Up and Say...Ahh!, 1988 Births Johnny Colt (The Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd), May 1, 1966 Tim McGraw, May 1, 1967 D'Arcy Wretsky-Brown (The Smashing Pumpkins), May 1, 1968 Bob Henrit (The Kinks, Argent), May 2, 1944 Goldy McJohn (Steppenwolf), May 2, 1945 Lou Gramm (Foreigner), May 2, 1950 John Glascock (Jethro Tull), May 2, 1951 Bing Crosby, May 3, 1903 Pete Seeger (The Weavers), May 3, 1919 James Brown, May 3, 1933 Frankie Valli (The Four Seasons), May 3, 1937 Bruce Hall (REO Speedwagon), May 3, 1953 Mick Mars (Motley Crue), May 4, 1951 Randy Travis, May 4, 1959 Gary Holt (Exodus), May 4, 1959 Gregg Alexander (The New Radicals), May 4, 1970 Mike Dirnt (bass player Green Day), May 4, 1972 Chris Tomlin, May 4, 1972 Lance Bass ('N Sync), May 4, 1979 Bill Ward (Black Sabbath), May 5, 1948 Ian McCulloch (Echo & the Bunnymen), May 5, 1959 Kevin Mooney (Adam and the Ants), May 5, 1962 Adele, May 5, 1988 Chris Brown, May 5, 1989 Bob Seger, May 6, 1945 Mark Bryan (Hootie & the Blowfish), May 6, 1967 Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters), May 6, 1971 Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead), May 7, 1946 Jerry Nolan (New York Dolls, Heartbreakers), May 7, 1946 Phil Campbell (Motorhead), May 7, 1961 Deaths Hugo Peretti, May 1, 1986 Sergio Franchi, May 1, 1990 Otis Blackwell, May 6, 2002 Donald "Ean" Evans (Lynyrd Skynyrd), May 6, 2009 Adam Yauch (MCA of the Beastie Boys), May 4, 2012 ______________________________________________________ HC's Rock Review is sponsored by Gibson

World of Wonder - Stanley Randolph Some players just make it look easy ... it's a wonder ... by Scott Donnell Some players just make it look easy. Fusing facility with boundless creativity can be a tall order and only an uber-talented, upper echelon drummer can pull off such a potent combination of chops and sheer tastiness. The man that occupies Stevie Wonder’s drum seat is one of these rare talents. Graceful, powerful, and rhythmically gifted, Mr. Randolph is truly a wonder to watch Scott Donnell: Your creativity is so fluid, it seems effortless. How do you decide what to play? Is it all from within, or is it more conscious than that? Stanley Randolph: Well, Scott, I don’t always decide what to play. The music and the vibes are all within me. I live it, feel it, produce it. It’s my job to share it with the world. There are moments when I am conscious of what I’m doing, and that’s usually when I’m learning, studying, or practicing music. After I study and vibe with different music, I let what’s in me take over. The creativity just comes out. SD: Do you edit your playing? SR: Yes, I do edit my playing. I’m always recording myself playing during rehearsals or shows and I watch and listen. I like to catch the moments that really do work in my playing. This way, I know when to play it again effectively. It’s kind of like producing live music. Since I started taking producing seriously, as a career, it’s totally changed my mindset. Sometimes it’s funkier not to interrupt the groove. SD: Can creativity be rehearsed? What’s your practice routine? SR: I wouldn’t say that you can practice creativity. I believe you become creative while practicing. My practice routine can be a bit random sometimes. I can be in a study-and-vibe mood for a while, just taking it in. Then there are times when I have to touch a drum set every day! It’s like I’m a five-year-old kid that just realized they love drums. I’m tapping on everything, beating on the tables at my crib. (Laughs). I usually end up at my studio playing drums for hours on those days. SD: Does Stevie give you free rein or does he expect you to honor his parts? Is this an unspoken understanding? SR: It’s a little bit of both. He allows me to be who I am as a character on the drums. But you gotta play the parts right. When I first got the gig, I can honestly say I approached his music from an R&B/ Gospel vibe, because that’s what I knew the most. So, that’s what came out. After doing the gig for a while, I decided I wanted to play his music in a more authentic way. I wanted to bring that era into my younger generation. SD: You recently joined the DW family. Talk a bit about that. SR: I basically wanted to be part of a family that loves drums more than me and believes in my vision and career as a professional drummer by showing their support. That’s what DW is to me. Not only that, the drums are just amazing! From the finishes, to the various wood choices, to the best hardware ever created! When you’re in my position, hardware can never fail during a performance. (Laughs). DW has always provided great quality drums that never fail. DW is the Ferrari of drums. Come take a ride in my Lamborghini, my Ruby Red Glass over Cherry Collector’s Series drum set! (Laughs). I’ve definitely learned more about drums because of DW. SD: Does your set-up strongly influence the way you play? How do you decide which gear is right for a particular gig? SR: It definitely does. I only have a few set-ups that I use continuously. I get questions all the time like, “Do you use everything on your kit?” The answer is, “YES I DO.” (Laughs). My drum set-up is designed for me to be comfortable. Whatever vibe I’m looking for, I can make it happen on the left or right side of my kit. I choose different gear based on the gig I’m doing at the time. Some music requires my drums to have a brighter attack or maybe a warmer sound. Being a drummer that wears many different hats, I need to have as many different drum options as possible. SD: Talk about your sound. Has it evolved or changed over the years? SR: Yes, my sound has definitely changed over the years. When I was younger I used to tune my drums higher. As I’ve gotten older, lower-tuned drums have become more of my sound. Also, the genres I’m playing at the moment don’t require me to be a flashy drummer. I shine more by leading the band with my groove. In this way, the flashy moments definitely stand out. I use different cymbals now, too. I’m into bigger crashes, rides, hi-hats…everything bigger! (Laughs). SD: Who are some of the young players we should watch out for? SR: There are a few new young drummers that are serious on the kit. Devon “Stixx” Taylor is killing the Justin Bieber tour right now. There’s this other young drummer, Vinnie Aguas. This kid is bananas. He’s only 13 and his vocabulary on the drums is incredible. SD: Which drummers do you admire these days? Who inspires you to play better? SR: I look up to Brian Frasier-Moore. This dude is always on point. It’s not only about his playing, though. He’s a non-stop working drummer. He’s always on a huge gig, his drums are always gonna look amazing, his drums are always gonna sound amazing, and he’s always gonna play the record exactly how it was meant to be played. In his professional drum career, he’s played for some of the biggest artists in Pop/Urban music. Because the internet is so oversaturated with new amazing talent, I feel like he’s underrated sometimes. I still listen to his live performance on the Usher album to this very day. When I first moved to LA, I got a chance to meet him and we’ve become great friends. I saw his kit and thought it was a spaceship! (Laughs). He’s a huge influence on my sound and drum set-up. SD: What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring players? SR: I always tell drummers to shed alone more. I’m not against drum sheds and playing with the homies. I do believe some drummers play together so much that they subconsciously all start to sound exactly the same. A wise person once told me: “You’ve got to have a sound.” People need to know when Stanley is playing. They should be able to close their eyes and say, “That’s Stanley playing.” He told me to practice alone, create my sound, and experiment with the drums. If you play a groove or chop and then I play the same groove or chop, what’s gonna make it different? The way I’m gonna hit the drum or the way the drums are gonna respond to me will be different from how they’ll respond to you. So, that’s what I did. I practiced more by myself. I want to stand out. I want my own thing. I want to be a legend in this world. This way I can always live on forever. That’s my advice for drummers, be different and stand out. Create your own sound and vibe. Be a legend. SD: What are your interests outside of drumming? SR: Producing. I have a music production company called M-Ten Music. I’ve been recording a lot of great new music with a few new artists The BBC, Emi Secrest, Billy Wes, Cherry Garcia, and Jasmin Cruz. All of these artists are produced by me, Stanley Randolph. Besides that, I’m a party guy. I love meeting new people and conversing, especially with beautiful ladies. (Laughs). SD: Do you listen to a lot of music? SR: I listen to as much music as I can. I always love hearing new stuff, as well as taking trips back to the past, and paying respect to the music before my time. I have my days where I don’t want to hear anything, too. (Laughs). SD: What do you do with your downtime on the road? SR: My downtime is so precious to me now. I used to try staying busy, but nowadays I enjoy relaxing a bit. It helps me think of new cool ideas for my career. I get to rest my brain and wake up fresh. SD: How important is social media to drummers these days? SR: Aw man, social media is definitely important. This is your way to be seen. There are drummers who don’t have gigs, but they still have fans because of social media. Social media is a huge marketing tool. Besides playing with an artist, it’s how I’m able to reach other people all over the world. It’s a huge part of today’s generation. SD: What’s your philosophy on being a self-promoter? SR: Be a character. Everybody wants to be entertained. Promote and brand yourself with grade-A quality. Keep evolving while you’re in the moment. It’s like reinventing yourself and making people love your work all over again. SD: How much of your daily life is actually devoted to drumming? SR: Right now, drumming and producing is 50/50 in my life. I have a good balance of both, at the moment. SD: Tell us about your career as a producer. How does that creativity manifest itself? What’s your process? SR: Well, I got into producing when I moved to Los Angeles. After doing huge tours and seeing how people respond to music, I decided I wanted to make that happen too. I wanted to create music that consumers could vibe to and create memories to. I want to see that same reaction from people about a hit song I produce; that’s something major to me. To see thousands of people all singing your music together in harmony, hearing that famous drum beat that makes them automatically get up and dance, that energy is unbelievable! When people hear me start Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” it’s unbelievable how they react; it’s a party! (Laughs). The whole arena screams and jumps up and starts dancing, all different races of people, together in harmony. SD: How do you navigate the music business these days? What have been some of your most memorable lessons in the industry? SR: Well, it’s about staying relevant to me. The music business is all about what you are doing now. I admire all the new young homies of this generation, they keep you current. The rhythms that they’re capable of creating these days on drums is just insane, I love it all! Older guys in the business should respect what the new guys are doing because it’s new. And new guys respect what the older guys did before you; it’s all influential. So, I navigate through the music business by keeping up with what’s new and collaborating with what’s fresh. Don’t let fear hold you back. Take risks and invest in yourself. No idea is a bad idea. If you do get attention for a bad idea, grow from it. Make it into something positive. It’s still attention on you. It’s all about how you react and deal with it. Trust your dopeness. Don’t let your dreams remain dreams, take action and make them reality. SD: How would you sum up your career thus far in one word? SR: Evolution. I’ll never stop evolving and growing. I’m like a fine wine, getting better and better with time. Hard work always pays off. It’s a fact. It’s science. I’m Evolution! - reprinted with expressed written permission DW's Edge Magazine - _______________________________________________ Scott Donnell is the Editor for DW's Edge Magazine. He's been involved in the percussion industry since 1997 and serves as the V.P. of Marketing for Drum Workshop. He states: "The Cutting Edge is not just a play on words. The fact is, DW’s mission statement is to solve problems for drummers, create the instruments and gear that can inspire musicians, and take the art form to new and uncharted place isn’t just a catch phrase or a way to label our latest product designs. It all goes back to our mission statement and our belief in a Darwinian approach to making drums and gear, while constantly refining and reinventing the tools needed to craft new rhythms and new beats — Play on."

HC's Rock Rewind A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History by Team HC April 10th -16th This week in rock music history was marked by abundance of significant events. One of the songs that launched rock and roll was recorded, one of contemporary music’s greatest bands announced their breakup, and, sadly, an R&B/funk giant performed his final show. A trove of classic albums was released as well, including landmark records by David Bowie, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Cult. Read on for a look back at other noteworthy moments that shaped rock and roll during this historically eventful week. Events 1954 – Bill Haley records “Rock Around the Clock.” A world-wide smash, the recording eventually achieves sales of 25 million. 1957 – Ricky Nelson performs his debut single, “I’m Walkin’,” on the TV show “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” effectively launching his music career at age 16. 1961 – Bob Dylan performs his first New York City live gig, opening for John Lee Hooker at Gerde’s Folk City. 1966 – Buffalo Springfield make their live debut, performing at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. 1967 – Marvin Gaye records his version of “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.” 1968 – Janis Joplin makes her first American TV appearance, performing on “The Hollywood Palace” with Big Brother & the Holding Company. 1969 – The 5th Dimension’s recording of “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” tops the charts and remains in that spot for six weeks. 1970 – Paul McCartney issues a press release announcing the breakup of the Beatles. It later comes to light that John Lennon had decided to leave the Beatles much earlier than McCartney, but had kept his intentions secret from the press. 1970 – The Beatles’ Let It Be album tops the U.S. charts. 1970 – Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” is certified gold in the U.S. 1972 – Electric Light Orchestra make their live debut, performing at the Fox and Greyhound Pub in Croydon, England. 1975 – Ronnie Wood is announced as the replacement for recently departed Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. 1976 – Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive! album hits #1 on the U.S. charts. It goes on to occupy the top spot for 10 non-consecutive weeks, and remains on the chart for a total of 97 weeks. 1973 – Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy album is certified gold. 1979 – Mickey Thomas—previously best known as the lead vocalist on Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell in Love”—becomes the new lead singer for Jefferson Starship. 1994 – More than 5,000 people attend a memorial service for Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, held at the Seattle Flag Pavilion. 1994 – Oasis release their first single, “Supersonic.” 2002 – S.C. governor James Hodges declares singer James Brown the state’s “Godfather of Soul.” 2009 – Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” is determined to be the most-played song in public places during the past 75 years, according to BBC Radio 2. Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” comes in at Number Two. 2014 – REM’s Michael Stipe inducts Nirvana into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Stipe’s comments include the observation that Nirvana “spoke truth and a lot of people listened.” 2016 – Prince stages his final show, performing at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. The last song he performs is “Purple Rain.” Releases 1970 – Elton John: Elton John 1972 – Raspberries: Raspberries 1972 – Creedence Clearwater Revival: Mardi Gras 1972 – Stephen Stills and Manassas: Manassas 1973 – The J. Geils Band: Bloodshot 1973 – David Bowie: Aladdin Sane 1973 – Bob Marley & The Wailers: Catch a Fire 1974 – Lynyrd Skynyrd: Second Helping 1975 – The Beach Boys: Spirit of America 1976 – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band: Live Bullet 1978 – Various Artists: Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture 1979 – Thin Lizzy: Black Rose: A Rock Legend 1980 – Judas Priest: British Steel 1980 – Iron Maiden: Iron Maiden 1981 – Public Image Ltd.: The Flowers of Romance 1982 – John Cougar: American Fool 1982 – Van Halen: Diver Down 1983 – R.E.M.: Murmur 1983 – David Bowie: Let's Dance 1984 – Rush: Grace Under Pressure 1987 – Fleetwood Mac: Tango in the Night 1988 – Iron Maiden: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son 1988 – Neil Young and the Bluenotes: This Note's for You 1988 – Cheap Trick: Lap of Luxury 1989 – The Cult: Sonic Temple 1989 – Garth Brooks: Garth Brooks 1990 – Lou Reed and John Cale: Songs for Drella 1991 – Temple of the Dog: Temple of the Dog 1994 – Hole: Live Through This 1998 – Widespread Panic: Light Fuse, Get Away 1999 – Shelby Lynne: I Am Shelby Lynne 2002 – Sheryl Crow: C'mon C'mon 2003 – ZZ Top: Mescalero 2003 – Fleetwood Mac: Say You Will Deaths Stuart Sutcliff – April 10, 1962 Josephine Baker – April 12, 1975 Sam Kinison – April 10, 1992 Anthony Newley – April 14, 1999 Skip Spence – April 16, 1999 Joey Ramone – April 15, 2001 Little Eva – April 10, 2003 Ritchie Cordell – April 13, 2004 Johnnie Johnson – April 13, 2005 June Pointer – April 11, 2006 Mississippi Slim – April 14, 2010 Jesse Winchester – April 11, 2014 Percy Sledge – April 14, 2015 Births Henry Mancini – April 16, 1924 Loretta Lynn – April 14, 1935 Dusty Springfield – April 16, 1939 Herbie Hancock – April 12, 1940 John Kay (Steppenwolf) – April 12, 1944 Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane) – April 13, 1944 Dave Edmonds – April 15, 1944 Lowell George – April 13, 1945 Ritchie Blackmore – April 14, 1945 Al Green – April 13, 1946 Bunny Livingston – April 10, 1947 Lee Kerslake (Uriah Heep) – April 16, 1947 Fred Smith (Television) – April 10, 1948 June Millington (Fanny) – April 14, 1949 Eddie Hazel (Funkadelic) – April 10, 1950 David Cassidy – April 12, 1950 Max Weinberg – April 13, 1951 Peter Garrett (Midnight Oil) – April 16, 1953 Jimmy Destri (Blondie) – April 13, 1954 Vince Gill – April 12, 1957 Stuart Adamson (Big Country) – April 11, 1958 Brian Setzer – April 10, 1959 Amy Ray (Indigo Girls) – April 12, 1964 Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum) – April 16, 1964 Ed O’Brien (Radiohead) – April 15, 1968 April 17th - 23rd A trove of memorable events occurred during this week in rock and roll history. An iconic alternative-rock band performed in public for the first time, sessions for a landmark ‘70s album began in San Francisco, and an unlikely rock opera (not by The Who) opened on Broadway. Read on for a look back at other significant moments that shaped rock and roll during this historically eventful week. Events 1951 – Les Paul and Mary Ford’s “How High the Moon” hits Number One. 1963 – The Beatles and The Rolling Stones meet for the first time, at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, Surrey. 1965 -- The legendary “T.A.M.I. Show” film opens in London under the title “Teenage Command Performance.” The film features The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, James Brown, the Four Tops and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. 1967 – The Beatles wrap up recording sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 1968 – Deep Purple make their debut stage appearance, in Kastrup, Denmark. 1969 – The Who perform Tommy in its entirety for the first time, at a show in Dolton, England. 1969 – John Lennon officially changes his full name from John Winston Lennon to John Winston Ono Lennon. 1969 -- The Band perform their first solo concert, staging a show in San Francisco, California. 1970 – Elton John makes his solo stage debut, opening for Spooky Tooth, T.Rex and Jackie Lomax at The Roundhouse in London. 1970 – Santana begin sessions for their breakthrough album, Abraxas. Upon its release in September, the album tops the U.S. album charts. 1971 – Three Dog Night’s recording of “Joy to the World” hits the Number One spot, where it remains for six weeks. 1973 – The original Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies album hits the Number One spot in the U.S. 1975 -- Alice Cooper’s first TV special, “Welcome to My Nightmare: The Making of a Record Album,” airs on network television in America. 1978 – Bob Marley appears as headliner at the One Love Peace Concert in Jamaica. It’s the reggae legend’s first public appearance in his home country since the attempt on his life two years earlier. 1980 – R.E.M. perform their first show under the name R.E.M., at a small, unlicensed venue in Athens, Georgia. 1981 – Prog-rockers Yes disband temporarily when Chris Squire and Alan White leave to begin rehearsing with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. The intended “supergroup” fails to materialize, however, and Yes later reforms to release the hugely successful 90125 album. 1990 – In Rio de Janeiro, a record crowd of 184,000 turn out to see the final show of Paul McCartney’s 330-city tour. 1991 – Small Faces and Humble Pie frontman Steve Marriott dies tragically, when a fire sweeps through his home in Arkesden, Essex. He is just 44 years old. 2010 – Green Day’s “American Idiot” rock opera opens on Broadway, one year after its debut at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. 2015 – Ringo Starr becomes the last of The Beatles to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. Releases 1957 -- Ricky Nelson: “I’m Walkin’” (single) 1965 -- The Beatles: “Ticket to Ride” (single) 1966 -- The Troggs: “Wild Thing” (single) 1968 -- The Zombies: Odessey and Oracle 1970 – Paul McCartney: McCartney 1970 -- Jethro Tull: Benefit 1971 -- The Doors: L.A. Woman 1971 -- The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers 1973 – Eagles: Desparado 1974 – Robin Trower: Bridge of Sighs 1975 -- ZZ Top: Fandango! 1976 – The Rolling Stones: Black and Blue 1976 -- The Ramones: Ramones 1980 -- Pete Townshend: Empty Glass 1982 – Laurie Anderson: Big Science 1985 – Prince: Around the World in a Day 1988 – The Jesus and Mary Chain: Barbed Wire Kisses 1989 – Pixies: Doolittle 1993 – Shania Twain: Shania Twain 1993 – Aerosmith: Get a Grip 1998 -- Jimmy Page and Robert Plant: Walking Into Clarksdale 2002 – Paul Westerberg: Stereo 2002 – Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Deaths Eddie Cochran – April 17, 1960 Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention) -- April 21, 1978 Felix Pappalardi – April 17, 1983 Steve Marriott -- April 20, 1991 Johnny Thunders -- April 23, 1991 Johnny Shines -- April 20, 1992 Bernard Edwards (Chic) -- April 18, 1996 Linda McCartney – April 17, 1998 Earl King – April 17, 2003 Nina Simone -- April 21, 2003 Danny Federici (E Street Band) – April 17, 2008 Levon Helm -- April 19, 2012 Storm Thorgerson (album designer) -- April 18, 2013 Richie Havens -- April 22, 2013 Births Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown -- April 18, 1924 Don Kirshner – April 17, 1934 Paul Rothchild (Producer) -- April 18, 1935 Glen Campbell -- April 22, 1936 Roy Orbison -- April 23, 1936 Skip Spence -- April 18, 1946 Iggy Pop -- April 21, 1947 Jan Hammer – April 17, 1948 Paul Davis -- April 21, 1948 Peter Frampton -- April 22, 1950 Luther Vandross -- April 20, 1951 Paul Carrack -- April 22, 1951 Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks) – April 17, 1955 Robert Smith (The Cure) - April 21, 1959 Steve Clark (Def Leppard) -- April 23, 1960 Liz Phair – April 17, 1967 ______________________________________________________ HC's Rock Review is sponsored by Gibson

10 Cool Boutique Pedalboard Companies Why be normal? These pedalboard companies aren't... by Monique Hernandez-Fuentes The guitar pedal industry is thriving with new releases all the time. But when it comes to displaying your large Strymon (or whatever!) pedalboard collection, hauling them all around individually seems silly. Check out the list below for 10 cool boutique pedalboard companies and get inspired to organize your guitar pedals! West Coast Pedal Boards - based out of Northern California, West Coast Pedal Board sources as many of their guitar pedalboard components and materials from the U.S. as possible. They offer an online Pedal Board Customizing Tool, which lets you build the custom pedalboard of your dreams. Their pedalboards include special angled pedalboards, flat pedalboards, pedal demo pedalboards and even their signature "Little Rock" series of pedalboards. Make your own custom pedalboard as wild or as mild as you'd like - choose from tolex, figured wood or even tie-dye pedalboards. Complement your pedalboard with a matching case or optional flight case for your pedalboard. Trailer Trash Pedalboards - headquarted in Southern California, Trailer Trash Pedalboards makes four general shapes of pedalboards: the FlatTrash pedalboard, the FlatTrash with Riser pedalboard, ProSeries pedalboard and the awesome GlowTop pedalboards. Trailer Trash Pedalboards make hard-wired pedalboards and take pride in wiring their pedalboards professionally. The result is a high-quality and unique pedalboard with total sonic clarity - and man, those GlowTop pedalboards look pretty sweet. Temple Boards - Temple Boards use a cutting-edge, modern design with an awesome system for easily installing your guitar pedals that they call the Quick Release Mounting System. This pedalboard system is great for those who hate the mess and annoyance of Velcro®. Also highly convenient is their Temple Modular End Panel System, which provides fully interchangeable connectivity. Optimized for constantly evolving pedalboard configurations. "Tetris-ing" your guitar pedals has never been simpler. Creation Music Company - over in Bixby, Oklahoma, the cool folks at Creation Music Company not only have angled pedalboards and flat pedalboards, they recently created the unique laser topper pedalboards for ultimate customization of your wah/volume pedals. Creation Music Company is even experimenting with guitar pedal storage via the addition of the clever “pedal wall” to their product line – a neat way to store your Velcro’d guitar pedals when not in use on your pedalboard! Chemistry Design Werks - these folks over in Minneapolis, MN have created a unique pedalboard experience. The Holeyboard Design allows you to affix your guitar pedals quickly and easily with zip ties, so there's no need for Velcro. The angled riser (the “Top Deck”) allows for reaching your back-row guitar pedals without a lot of footwork, not to mention ease of storage for your guitar power supply right underneath. The pedalboard also features three integrated handles for ease of movement no matter where your gig is. The pedalboard's design follows the arc of your foot, so the design is intuitive and also looks great. Aclam Guitars - made in Barcelona, these anodized aluminum pedalboards are lightweight and can be upgraded easily to suit your growing guitar pedal collection. Using their Fastener System, it's easy to add or subtract guitar pedals with a simple screw gesture. You can use different accessories for each pedalboard they offer to keep expanding even further, whether you want to add a riser or even add an extension. GroundSwell Pedalboards - hailing from Gainesville, FL, the GroundSwell pedalboard collection includes simple, beautifully designed wood boards. Wood base customization options for these unique pedalboards consist of oak, walnut, curly maple, mahogany, red padauk, butternut, cherry, wenge and zebrawood with natural, jet black, and rustic ebony board plating. Helweg Design - from Lawrence, Kansas, Helweg Design presents a unique pedalboard design, the Openwing Series, for easy guitar pedal arranging. The wing slots function as handles and allow for patch connections as well as guitar instrument cables. The electronic components of these pedalboards mount into metal, not wood, for reliable support. And customization options are available: choose from industrial textured upholstery or woven vinyl coverings. With a low-profile front row, you should have no problem accessing all of your guitar pedals. Schmidt Array - innovative German design makes the Schmidt Array pedalboards really stand out. Based on an arched shape, the pedalboard also has a hinged top deck, allowing for careful storage of your guitar power supply. Color options seem limitless, and there’s even a handy additional lid for the case available to match the sleek design of the pedalboard. Phantom Pedal Boards - simple yet functional is the name of the game with Phantom Pedal Boards. Phantom uses a classic slanted board that comes in a variety of sizes, complete with custom spec’d tolex wrappings of your choice. More recently, they've experimented with integrating a BOSS TU-3 Tuner and NS-2 Noise Suppressor seamlessly into the pedalboard. Can’t wait to see more of their active-circuit pedalboard integration in the future! Once you have the boutique pedalboard of your dreams, congratulations! If you need help organizing your guitar pedal chain, Guitar Tricks has you covered with this introductory tutorial. Happy pedalling! -HC- Reprinted with express written permission ____________________________________ Monique Hernandez-Fuentes writes for GuitarTricks.com, home to 11,000 guitar lesson videos, free guitar chord charts, an interactive forum and more.

Dwarfcraft 'Let To Its' Devices Get all the fuzz on these effects wizards ... by Blake Wright In January of this year (2017), the effects wizards at Dwarfcraft Devices celebrated their 10th anniversary — a decade of over-the-top distortion, mind-blending oscillation and things that go bloop and bleep in the night. The anniversary loomed large during our visit to the company’s current digs, which was at the rear of a building currently housing an art collective of sorts. The shop is split into two sections — one houses the main workstation area the other holds offices and musical equipment for both testing pedals and play time. For the first two years of its existence, Dwarfcraft was Ben Hinz, in his basement… alone. He would toil away on builds while his wife Louise attended college then landed a job at a local law firm. It wasn’t long however until she was pulled into the business. “He got in way over his head,” says Louise Hinz. “He was drowning in emails. So I just started by answering a few emails here and there. Then I started sending invoices. As things got more official I was doing business, backend stuff. I quit the law firm and have had one other job for like a year and a half where we could get health insurance and all of that regular stuff that grown ups do, and that was just a nightmare so I quit after about 18 months there and came back full time and I’ve been back for 2.5 years full time now.” Soldering Iron in Hand: Ben Hinz being left to his devices. While the company has never been in as good of a position as it is in today, there were times — four by Ben’s count — that he was ready to walk away. “Most of those I never said out loud,” he says. “It was probably at work. For a while I was on LinkedIn and headhunters would show up with jobs that I should really apply for. And at the end of a shitty day…” “I would have said there was only one that I remember where it was like ‘Is this f#@* it or no?’,” recalls Louise. “There have been a couple of times where things got ugly… ok, now I can remember two (laughs).” The pair have become grinders over the years. The times of despair, or dis-repair, have only toughened their resolve to trudge forward, try harder, fix mistakes — rather than repeated contemplation of throwing in the towel. “Our whole lives together into this business,” says Ben. “I don’t think a lot of thought went into a lot of the decisions that were made and then here we are running this company. It was our only option. We’re addicted to that struggle and the rewards from it. On The Bench: Dwarfcraft currently has two full-time employees and a pair of part-time helpers. Those numbers are expected to grow. The short way to say it, which is what I tell my kids when they ask why I do this, which doesn’t make any sense to a child — because it is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven.” One thing that has served Dwarfcraft well, and continues to serve it well, is ability to maintain a high level of regard from within the peer group of boutique pedal builders. The Hinzs are every-people. They aren’t the stereotypical circuit nerds that can’t ‘do’ large crowds. They are as personable and approachable as most in the business can get, which can be a double-edge sword, but so far the payoffs — like relationships build via the NAMM shows — have exceeded the hardships. “I have a strong opinion on the NAMM shows,” says Ben. “Early on it was really good. Immediately good. Picking up dealers. Dealers making orders. Because this is where they learned of us. Now, at this point, we don’t really pick up new dealers at trade shows, but part of me feels like you have to show up to assert to the entire industry that we’re still here and we have not compromised. The things you were sneering at last year have sold X units and bought this plane ticket, you know? And here’s new stuff for you to sneer at. For my own mental health, because I don’t look at the books, the most important part of a trade show is to meet up and hang out with people that are doing a job like yours or related to yours in a different part of the world. It’s like Cheers — you wanna go where everybody knows your name… and the troubles are all the same.” Networking and those friendships that get built out of trade shows are important to Dwarfcraft, who at the 2016 Winter NAMM show hosted the Guild of Calamitous Effects — a group of like-minded gear providers who shared a larger space at the show. Guild members included Fuzzrocious, WMD, Mantic Conceptual, Rainger FX, smallsound/bigsound, Industrialectric, Verellen Amplifiers, and, of course, Dwarfcraft. “Everytime we come out of a trade show we feel good about where we’re going,” says Louise. “We’re gain some perspective every year. For us it is an important part of every year. We skipped a few years back and I don’t think we’ll ever do that again. As long as their is enough money to make the trip it will be important.” On The Menu: Dwarfcraft usually has anywhere from a dozen to fifteen pedals in circulation at any given time, but they are not shy about retiring old or underperforming designs. As far as Dwarfcraft pedal range is concerned, they currently have just over a dozen offerings… and it floats in that range most of the time. There is no real emotional attachment for a pedal that is not selling well. If the thrill is gone, so is the pedal. “Trent Reznor once said that pop music is run on the shit gun theory,” says Ben. “Where you shoot a shit gun at the wall and see what sticks. Now he meant that in a bad way, but I embraced it fully. We make these things that I want to see, use and try… and if they don’t stick, odds are we’ll make our money back and move on. Once it is done and it works, my emotional entanglement ends there. That’s the victory.” The company’s current top seller is the Wizard Of Pitch, which started as an idea to cut their Pitchgrinder pedal down to a single pitch shifter with a mix control, but became much more. The pedal’s ‘resolution’ was cranked up to 32-bits from the Grinder’s 8-bits, but offers the same lo-fi, glitchy sounds. “I think even in normal pitch shifting mode it sounds different that anything that’s out there… then it goes further,” explains Ben. “It opens a lot of doors creatively. It is fun to get your hands on it.” “It’s the weirdest pedal we make,” adds Louise. “Noisiest. Not super cheap, but clearly the top seller. The Great Destroyer is the all-time leader by a lot. It sells consistently every year. It’s a weird one too. Eau Claire Thunder would come after that, but we’ve sold thousands of Destroyers over the years.” One of the biggest growth spurts for the company was also one of the most complex. In early 2014, it was announced that Dwarfcraft purchased Devi Ever FX. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. By September 2016, Devi Ever FX was back in the hands of its namesake. Both Ben and Louise remain resistant to speak at length on the subject. In fact during our visit, the transition of the company back to Devi was likely already underway. “It was a good business decision,” confirms Louise of the purchase. “It wasn’t fun. We gained a bunch of new dealers. We had a pile of operating income. She was bigger than us then. We’ve gained a lot of ground. Acquiring the brand was a big deal.” So perseverance has paved the way for the next half decade at Dwarfcraft. So what will this focused, yet unpredictable noise merchant look like in five years? “We’ll be in Eau Claire,” says Louise. “The long term goal is to have a modular synth system out. That’s actually a shorter term plan. That’s like next. To just keep making bigger, better, crazier stuff. We want to get more into DSP stuff. A lot of ideas Ben has for pedals can only be done that way. And it’s stuff that is not out there today. That’s a big part of what we’re planning on doing.” There has also been talk of being increasingly active in the community with music and kids. Words of Wisdom: The shop guitar has Bob Dylan Lyrics taped to the side as a reminder to stay grounded. As Wisconsin’s largest pedal provider, they find themselves in a position to do more outreach, with enquiries actually flowing into the company. The city is in the process of building a confluence downtown made up of performance space and art galleries. “We have an opportunity to build something in Eau Claire and contribute to the community’s growth and the art community and performance, which would be lost any-where else,” says Louise. “We’re talking with the high school about a battle of the bands, which they haven’t had in probably 10 years. I want to make that difference. I want to make musicians. More kids should make art and make music and feel confident doing so. We can do that here. Our reach is longer.” “Kids are listening to music, but they’re not making music,” says Ben. “Most parents don’t have a frame of reference. They don’t know what a drum machine is or how MIDI works, but we do. Any other style of music has come before was considered garbage and not music, but that’s not up to us. We’re old now. But we can show you how to make your own tracks.” That goal is not so much a Dwarfcraft sales thing, it’s a human thing. With a larger crew that can handle the day in/day out production line, it can allow the Hinzs to do more in the community, including teach classes and do things they couldn’t do before. Another move Dwarfcraft is eyeing in the future is… another move, which could in fact be their own building. “I’d like to get our own building,” says Ben. “Build it out to spec. Have it feel like a permanent home. I’ve been thinking about starting a production company, possibly under the same name… maybe not. We were talking with Rick at PureSalem. We had thoughts of doing a gear show… for YouTube. Not a demo show, but something different. What I’ve put forward so far is like 10 minute episodes with like a musically bumper at the beginning… two minutes of conversation and then more music. Each episode would be themed, but abstractly. Like Space. Conversation. Disagreement. And the players involved would try and express those themes… probably with PureSalem guitars and Dwarfcraft pedals.” “We’ll see what happens,” adds Louise. “There are a lot of maybes out there.” -HC- ____________________________________________ Blake and Holly Wright are Gearphoria. They travel full-time in their 25 foot Airstream while writing about cool guitars and guitar accessories. Gearphoria is a bi-monthly free-to-read online publication. You can visit their website by going to www.gearphoria.com and while you are there, sign up for their free e-zine.

HC's Rock Rewind A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History by Team HC March 27th - April 9th From the birth of Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell to Kirk Hammett famously joining Metallica, the week of March 27 through April 2 has many significant moments in rock ‘n’ roll. Read on for some major events, historic record releases and births and deaths taking place March 27 through April 2. Events 1967 – The photo shoot for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band happened at Chelsea Manor Studios in London. 1967 – Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire for the first time at a gig at The Astoria in London. He would do it again many times throughout his career. 1974 - The Ramones played their first gig in front of an audience. 1983 - Kirk Hammett became a member of Metallica. 1985 – David Lee Roth exited Van Halen. 1986 – Sammy Hagar played his first gig as Van Halen’s lead singer at a show in Louisiana. 1987 – U2 performed a rooftop concert in Los Angeles to film their music video for “Where the Streets Have No Name.” 1990 – Nirvana began work on demos with producer Butch Vig at Smart Studios in Wisconsin. Some of the tracks would end up on Nevermind. 1996 - Phil Collins announced he would exit Genesis to focus on a solo career. 2005 - U2 set off on their Vertigo Tour in San Diego, California. Births Marvin Gaye, April 2, 1939 Eric Clapton, March 30, 1945 Emmylou Harris, April 2, 1947 Mick Ralphs, March 31, 1948 Tony Banks, March 27, 1950 Leon Wilkeson, April 2, 1952 David Robinson, April 2, 1953 Jeff Porcaro, April 1, 1954 Angus Young, March 31, 1955 Andrew Farriss, March 27, 1959 Johnny April, March 27, 1965 Joey Castillo, March 30, 1966 Dave Keuning, March 28, 1976 Chad Allan, March 29, 1943 Perry Farrell, March 29, 1959 Jack Antonoff, March 31, 1984 Deaths Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, March 28, 1974 Marvin Gaye, April 1, 1984 O'Kelly Isley, March 31, 1986 Buddy Rich, April 2, 1987 Selena, March 31, 1995 Phil Ramone, producer, March 30, 2013 Releases 1958, Chuck Berry: “Johnny B. Goode,” single 1973, Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy 1975, Jeff Beck: Blow by Blow 1976, Led Zeppelin: Presence 1976, Rush: 2112 1980, Scorpions: Animal Magnetism 1985, Bon Jovi: 7800° Fahrenheit 1987, Bryan Adams: Into the Fire 1992, Bruce Springsteen: Human Touch 1992, Bruce Springsteen: Lucky Town 1992, Def Leppard: Adrenalize 1993, Suede: Suede 1994, Pink Floyd: The Division Bell 2003, The White Stripes: Elephant 2004, Aerosmith: Honkin' on Bobo 2007, Kings of Leon: Because of the Times 2008, The Black Keys: Attack & Release 2014, Band of Skulls: Himalayan April 3 - April 9 The start of April brought everything from the debut release for‘80s rockers Whitesnake to the untimely death of Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley. It doesn’t stop there. Keep reading for some major events, historic record releases and notable births and deaths happening April 3 through April 9. Events 1956 - Elvis Presley performs "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Blue Suede Shoes" on Milton Berle's NBC-TV show. 1960 - The Everly Brothers have their British concert debut. 1964 - "The Times They Are a Changin'" scores Bob Dylan his first hit on the UK singles chart. 1964 - The Beatles snag five spots on the singles charts with their songs “Twist and Shout,” "Can't Buy Me Love," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Please Please Me." 1965 - The Beach Boys work in the studio, recording the instrumentals for "California Girls." 1968 - Pink Floyd announce that original member Syd Barrett has left the band due to having psychiatric disorders worsened by using drugs. 1970 -Paul McCartney exits the Beatles. 1993 - Construction begins on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. 1994 - Kurt Cobain of Nirvana commits suicide by shooting himself with a shotgun at the age of 27. 2008 - Apple becomes the No. 1 music seller in the United States. Births Richard Manuel (lead singer of The Band), April 3, 1943 Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), April 3, 1968 Drew Shirley (Switchfoot), April 3, 1974 Muddy Waters, April 4, 1915 Clive Davis, April 4, 1934 Berry Oakley (The Allman Brothers Band), April 4, 1948 Pick Withers (Dire Straits), April 4, 1958 Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy), April 4, 1952 Craig Adams (The Cult), April 4, 1962 Mike Starr (Alice in Chains), April 4, 1966 Tony Williams (The Platters), April 5, 1928 Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) April 5, 1965 Pharrell Williams, April 5, 1973 Merle Haggard, April 6, 1937 Michelle Phillips (The Mamas & the Papas), April 6, 1944 Billie Holiday, April 7, 1915 Mick Abrahams (Jethro Tull), April 7, 1943 Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead), April 7, 1946 John Oates (Hall & Oates), April 7, 1949 Steve Howe (Yes), April 8, 1947 Izzy Stradlin (Guns N' Roses), April 8, 1962 Kevin Martin (Candlebox), April 9, 1969 Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance), April 9, 1977 Deaths Danny Rapp (Danny & the Juniors), April 3, 1983 Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), April 5, 1994 Layne Staley, (Alice in Chains), April 5, 2002 Cozy Powell (ELP, Black Sabbath, Rainbow), April 5, 1998 Tammy Wynette, April 6, 1998 Releases Elton John,11-17-70, 1971 David Bowie,Drive-In Saturday, 1973 Aerosmith,Toys in the Attic, 1975 Prince,For You, 1978 Rick James,Street Songs, 1981 Whitesnake,Whitesnake LP, 1987 The Offspring,Smash, 1994 KISS,Greatest Kiss, 1997 ______________________________________________________ HC's Rock Review is sponsored by Gibson

Squier Bullet Mustang HH Still fast and fun, but now more affordable by Travis Browning In 1964 Ford began production on their Mustang “pony car” under the slogan “Fast, Fun and Affordable.” In late 1964 Fender began production of their own Mustang which fit the fast, fun and affordable bill too. And now in 2017 Squier by Fender might have just made the Mustang (arguably) faster and more fun, but definitely more affordable. So What Is It? Squier's new Bullet Mustang HH is part of a new lineup of offset guitars being produced for 2017. While the Mustang is under Squier's “Bullet” series, a similar Jazzmaster is being put out under their “Affinity” series, and both come with dual humbuckers and hardtail bridges. The Squier Bullet Mustang HH retails for $149.99. So let's dive into this thing. Neck and Body First things first, this guitar is thin. Really thin, with the same contours as normal production Mustang. Its basswood body clocks in at about 1.625” while a normal Mustang would clock in around 1.8”. It doesn't sound like a lot but it is noticeable on what is already a short scale guitar. I don’t have another Squier Bullet series guitar, but I believe all of their modern Bullet bodies are slightly thinner than their Standard counterparts. The Bullet Mustang comes in two different finishes, an Imperial Blue and a Black finish. I have the Imperial Blue and it looks amazing; honestly the finish is perfect - not a drip, run or spot anywhere. I cannot put into words how impressive this is, especially for a guitar being sold for under $150. I’ve had other Indonesian made guitars before but this one is miles above them. Now for the neck, its got a pretty flat 12” radius with 22 medium jumbo frets. The neck is maple, with a rosewood fretboard. I’d say its a pretty thin “C” shape with a nut width of about 42mm. Now, to clear something up, Fender's site had this guitar listed at 24.75” scale. It has since been fixed, but this guitar definitely has a 24” scale neck. It has a very thin satin finish on the back. It's almost a raw feeling neck. I personally love it, but I sand the finish off the back of all my necks. The only thing I don’t like about the neck is completely visual and that would be the Squier Mustang decal on the headstock. It’s more like a flat black stamp than a decal, but hey, it’s a $150 guitar and that admittedly is a nit pick. I should note, if you have big hands the neck might feel a little cramped for you, I have fairly long, thin fingers and I can easily play it. It’s a very comfortable neck, and it’s certainly fast and fun. Hardware So I should address the fact that Fender had this guitar listed as “string through body” design online. Just like the incorrect scale length I mentioned above, it has been fixed, but this is definitely a top-loading bridge. The bridge is a standard hardtail bridge, nothing special. It feels kind of cheap, with unbranded saddles. It works and it intonates. I do kind of wish they went with something like an older Duo Sonic or Toronado bridge, but that's just personal preference. The tuners are standard, unbranded chrome tuners. They don’t feel cheap, but they don’t feel special either. They work. I would’ve loved white button tuners like a classic Mustang, but I also feel ridiculous for even pondering something like that on a $150 guitar. Electronics Surprisingly this guitar has Alpha branded, 500k volume and tone pots. This guitar constantly finds ways to surprise me; good, high-quality pots already installed on a guitar under $150?! They have better taper and feel than so many other guitars I’ve owned in the $300 - $600 range. It feels strange not to want to change them, which is something I’ve done in almost all my other guitars. I also need to note that the wiring on this guitar is immaculate. Whatever they’re doing in that Indonesian factory, they’re doing it well - another surprise from such a cheap guitar. The standard 3-way switch works just fine. It feels solid and there are no static or volume dropouts mid-switch. Now for the pickups! The two ceramic humbuckers are much better than I thought they would be. They’re pretty high output, articulate and surprisingly...good. They’re not my favorite pickups in the world, but they sound good clean and they sound good dirty. The factory setup came with the pickups jacked up pretty close to the strings, but since they’re so high output I adjusted them a lot closer to the pickguard, which made them lose a little volume and articulation but now they sound a bit more open and airy. Conclusions If I had to describe this guitar in a few words off the top of my head it would be “wow,” maybe followed by a few expletives. I cannot stress enough how solidly built this thing is. This is a pretty bold statement, but in my experience this is the best bang for your buck guitar you can get. Squier describes the guitar as “perfect for the raucous sound of indie music” and I can see why. This thing screams Nirvana. The Squier Bullet Mustang HH is a perfect axe to mod top to bottom, but it truly shines right out of the box into a cranked-up amp. Other than the few nitpicks I listed I can’t think of anything really negative to say about this guitar. I haven’t been able to put it down. With a short scale, a great sound and ultra-low $149.99 price tag this Mustang, like the Mustangs before it, is truly Fast, Fun and Affordable. -HC- Do you have questions or comments about this review? Then feel free to head over to this thread right here on Harmony Central! Resources Squier Bullet Mustang HH ($299.99 MSRP, $149.99 "street") Squier's (Fender) product web page You can purchase the Squier Bullet Mustang HH from: Sweetwater Travis Browning is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Northwest Florida. He likes Ford Mustangs and Buffalo Wings and has been a long-time Harmony Central member. Check out his music at lazarusband.bandcamp.com

HC's Rock Rewind A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History by Team HC March 13th - 19th Historically speaking, this week in rock music has been marked by a trove of memorable events. The Rolling Stones began work on one of their greatest albums, Jefferson Airplane reformed under a new name, and the Sex Pistols announced they were reuniting. A spate of classic albums was released as well, including landmark records by Bob Dylan, Jethro Tull and Iggy Pop. Read on for a look back at other significant moments that shaped rock and roll during this historically eventful week. Events 1965 – Eric Clapton leaves The Yardbirds, citing his unhappiness with the band’s shift toward a more commercial style. 1965 – Petula Clark performs on American television for the first time, singing “Downtown” and “I Know a Place” on The Ed Sullivan Show. 1966 – Pink Floyd appear for the first time at London’s legendary Marquee Club. 1967 – Steve Winwood reveals plans to form Traffic. 1968 – The Rolling Stones gather at Olympic Studios in London to begin sessions for the Beggars Banquet album. 1968 – Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” begins a five-week run atop the U.S. singles chart, making it the first posthumous Number One single in U.S. history. 1968 – The Bee Gees appear on American television for the first time, performing on The Ed Sullivan Show. 1969 – Tommy Roe’s “Dizzy” begins a four-week run atop the U.S. singles chart. 1972 – Carole King’s Tapestry album receives “Album of the Year” honors at the Grammy Awards ceremony. 1972 – T. Rex play the first of two shows filmed by Ringo Starr for inclusion in the Apple-funded documentary film, “Born to Boogie.” 1976 – Jefferson Airplane reform under the new name, Jefferson Starship. 1976 – Deep Purple’s Mark IV lineup (David Coverdale, Ian Paice, Jon Lord, Tommy Bolin and Glenn Hughes) stage their final show, performing at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool. 1976 – The film The Man Who Fell to Earth, which stars David Bowie as an alien from another planet, premieres in London. 1977 – The Clash released their debut single, “White Riot.” 1982 – Metallica make their first major live appearance, performing in Anaheim, California. 1982 – Bob Dylan is admitted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. 1983 – Bon Jovi is formed by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Alec John Such. 1988 – Mick Jagger kicks off his first-ever solo tour, appearing in Osaka, Japan. 1994 – Original Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman is replaced by Darryl Jones. 1996 – The Sex Pistols announce they are reuniting for their 20th anniversary “Filthy Lucre Tour.” 2002 – The Ramones are inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 2013 – Jimi Hendrix posthumously achieves his highest chart debut since 1969, with the album People, Hell & Angels. The album enters the charts at Number Two. Releases 1962 -- Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan 1967 – Grateful Dead: The Grateful Dead 1969 – Free: Tons of Sobs 1970 – Tyrannosaurus Rex: A Beard of Stars 1971 – James Taylor: Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon 1971 – Jethro Tull: Aqualung 1975 – Kiss: Dressed to Kill 1975 – America: Hearts 1976 – Kiss: Destroyer 1976 – Marvin Gaye: I Want You 1976 – The Doobie Brothers: Takin' It to the Streets 1977 – The Band: Islands 1977 – Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Works Volume 1 1977 – Iggy Pop: The Idiot 1978 – Elvis Costello and the Attractions: This Year's Model 1979 – Bad Company: Desolation Angels 1980 – Def Leppard: On Through the Night 1981 – The Who: Face Dances 1982 – Asia: Asia 1982 – Richard and Linda Thompson: Shoot Out the Lights 1984 – The Cars: Heartbeat City 1988 – Talking Heads: Naked 1990 – Ozzy Osbourne: Just Say Ozzy 1992 – No Doubt: No Doubt 1993 -- Coverdale-Page: Coverdale-Page 1994 -- Mötley Crüe: Mötley Crüe 1995 – Goo Dolls: A Boy Named Goo 1995 -- Collective Soul: Collective Soul 1995 – Annie Lennox: Medusa 1996 -- The Beatles: Anthology, Volume 2 1997 – Aerosmith: Nine Lives 1998 – Van Halen: Van Halen III 2001 – Eric Clapton: Reptile 2003 – The Allman Brothers Band: Hittin' the Note Deaths Tammi Terrell – March 16, 1970 T-Bone Walker – March 16, 1975 Paul Kossoff (Free) – March 19, 1976 Randy Rhoads – March 19, 1982 Ric Grech (Traffic, Blind Faith) – March 17, 1990 Doc Pomus – March 14, 1991 John Phillips (The Mamas and the Papas) – March 18, 2001 Ola Brunkert (ABBA) – March 17, 2008 Alex Chilton – March 17, 2010 Ronnie Hammond (Atlanta Rhythm Section) – March 14, 2011 Scott Asheton (The Stooges) – March 15, 2014 Mike Porcaro (Toto) – March 15, 2015 Daevid Allen (Gong, Soft Machine) – March 13, 2015 Andy Fraser (Free) – March 16, 2015 Births Lightnin’ Hopkins – March 15, 1912 Nat King Cole – March 17, 1919 D.J. Fontana – March 15, 1931 Mike Stoller – March 13, 1933 Quincy Jones – March 14, 1933 Charlie Pride – March 18, 1938 Neil Sedaka – March 13, 1939 Phil Lesh – March 15, 1940 Paul Kanter (Jefferson Airplane) – March 17, 1941 Wilson Pickett – March 18, 1941 Jerry Jeff Walker – March 15, 1942 Sly Stone – March 15, 1944 John Sebastian – March 17, 1944 Walter Parazaider (Chicago) – March 14, 1945 Howard Scott (War) – March 15, 1946 Paul Atkinson (The Zombies) – March 19, 1946 Ry Cooder – March 15, 1947 Michael Bruce (Alice Cooper) – March 16, 1948 John Hartman (The Doobie Brothers) – March 18, 1950 Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy, Supertramp) – March 17, 1951 Ricky Wilson (The B-52’s) – March 19, 1953 Billy Sheehan – March 19, 1953 Nancy Wilson (Heart) – March 16, 1954 Dee Snider – March 15, 1955 Adam Clayton (U2) – March 13, 1960 Brett Michaels – March 15, 1963 Jerry Cantrell – March 18, 1966 Billy Corgan – March 17, 1967 Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray) – March 15, 1968 Michael Bland – March 14, 1969 March 20th - 26th It’s a big week in rock history. From the birth of Aerosmith main man Steven Tyler to the release of classic albums from AC/DC and Iron Maiden, the week of March 20 through 26 is one to celebrate. Keep reading for some major events, historic record releases and births and deaths taking place March 20 through 26. Events 1945 – Billboard published the first LP Chart was officially published in the U.S. 1961 – The Beatles played their first evening concert at The Cavern Club in Liverpool. 1969 – John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar. 1975 – Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti reached No. 1 on the U.S. album chart and enjoyed a six-week run. It was their fourth No. 1 album in the U.S. 1978 – The Police inked with A&M Records. 1981 – REO Speedwagon reached No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with Keep on Loving You. 1984 – Strawberry Fields opened in Central Park. Yoko Ono bought it in memory of her late husband, John Lennon. 1986 – Guns N' Roses inked their major-label record deal with Geffen Records. 1991 – R.E.M. snagged their first U.K. No.1 album with Out of Time. Births Jimmie Vaughan, March 20, 1949 Chester Bennington, March 20, 1976 Solomon Burke, March 21, 1940 Deryck Whibley, March 21, 1980 Randy Hobbs, March 22, 1948 Damon Albarn, March 23, 1968 Jimmy Miller, March 23, 1942 Chad Butler, March 24, 1974 Elton John, March 25, 1947 Jeff Healey, March 25, 1966 Rufus Thomas, March 26, 1917 Steven Tyler, March 26, 1948 James Iha, March 26, 1968 Kenny Chesney, March 26, 1968 Deaths Dan Hartman, March 22, 1994 Rod Price, March 22, 2005 Neil Aspinall, March 23, 2008 Buck Owens Jr., March 25, 2006 Duster Bennett, March 26, 1976 Randy Castillo, March 26, 2002 J. Pero, March 20, 2015 Releases 1963, The Beatles: Please Please Me 1963, The Beach Boys: Surfin' U.S.A. 1965, Bob Dylan: Bringing it All Back Home 1970, Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys 1972, Deep Purple: Machine Head 1974, Eagles: On the Border 1975, Lynyrd Skynyrd: Nuthin' Fancy 1976, Wings: Wings at the Speed of Sound 1976, Thin Lizzy: Jailbreak 1977, AC/DC: Let There Be Rock 1979, Van Halen: Van Halen II 1980, Van Halen: Women and Children First 1982, Iron Maiden: The Number of the Beast 1983, ZZ Top: Eliminator 1985, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Southern Accents 1986, Van Halen: 5150 1990, Gary Moore: Still Got the Blues 1991, Mr. Big: Lean Into It 1994, Pantera: Far Beyond Driven 1995, Monster Magnet: Dopes to Infinity 1996, Stone Temple Pilots: Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop 2003, Linkin Park: Meteora 2008, The Raconteurs: Consolers of the Lonely 2014, Wolfmother: New Crown -HC- ______________________________________________________ HC's Rock Review is sponsored by Gibson

ROLI Blocks - A Keyboardist's Perspective Who knew silicone could feel (and sound) so nice! by Matthew Mann If you’ve been looking for a new way to create music on the go, I just may have found what you’ve been looking for in the way of BLOCKS – by tech company ROLI – makers of the popular Seaboard line of MIDI keyboard controllers. BLOCKS are a modular music-making system currently consisting of three modules: The Lightpad Block, The Loop Block, and the Live Block. All three modules connect via BlueTooth® to ROLI’s free music app – Noise. What’s fascinating is that you can add more pads as your needs grow. Start with a Lightpad and learn to make music with gestures. Add a Loop Block and record your performances as loops. These can be chained together into full, four-track performances. Add a Live Block and get performing with chord functions, add arpeggios, set scales for soloing without hitting wrong notes, and more. Need more? Add another Lightpad BLOCK and now you can control even more sound and you’ll have even more playing area for your performances. All BLOCKS connect via a magnetic connector (called a DNA connector) built into the body of each unit. They can be connected on any of four sides of the Lightpad and on either of the two longer sides of the Loop BLOCK and Live BLOCK. This DNA connector keeps them together with other BLOCKS and also provides power to each unit. Once connected, additional BLOCKS show up in the Noise app. This DNA connector is also how you charge the units. Connect the Lightpad to the included USB-C to USB-A cable, then connect each additional BLOCK to the Lightpad. They do the rest themselves. Let’s take a look at each BLOCK and see how they add up to a full modular set of fun. Lightpad BLOCK Roli’s Lightpad BLOCK is a 3.7” x 3.7” silicone-covered, touch-sensitive pad that allows you to strike, glide, slide, press, and lift. Each action affects the sound in different ways. The harder (or softer) you strike, the more you push, the faster you lift - the more the sound can change. The pad consists of a 15 x 15 LED-lit background that changes depending on the mode you’re in. So, feedback is not only audible, it’s visual as well. In Melodic Mode, the pad is shown as a 5 x 5 grid. Multiple colors display depending on the instrument. Each white square displayed on the pad is the root note of the key you’re in. This, again, adds visual cues to your performance. In Drum Kit 4 Mode, a 2 x 2 grid is displayed. This gives you four pads – each with a different percussion sound for banging out beats. For example, Toms are tuned across the four pads and give you great flexibility for performance. Something to point out here that makes this even cooler – after you’ve struck a drum sound you can then drag your finger from the position where you struck the Lightpad and, in many cases, it will modify the sound. For example, strike and get a hi-hat loop – drag your finger across the pad and that hi-hat loop changes pitch and timing for added rhythmic modulation in your performance. This also works in Melodic Mode which – in my keyboard player mind – is even more important. You can play a note and then bend that note up or down (or both) just by sliding your finger. You can also wiggle your finger while on a note and add vibrato. You can even roll your finger on the grid to push the note into an accidental. This is really cool for getting very organic sounds out of your performance. It might even lead you to change the way you think about music. I’ve been writing like this since getting a Seaboard RISE. It’s a unique sound that reminds you of actual acoustic instruments in the way the sound can move…but it works even with synth sounds and drums. Very cool! The Loop and Live BLOCKS are next. Both are the same dimensions: 3.7” deep by 1.9” in length. When connected, they’re the same size as the Lightpad. Each of these blocks has some functions that are the same and some that are unique. Let’s take a look. Loop BLOCK Once you’ve wrapped your head (and fingers) around the Lightpad BLOCK, try adding the Loop BLOCK. The Loop BLOCK is meant for production. There are 8 buttons and a “+/- Switch” on the Loop BLOCK. We’ll start on the top row: The first button on the left is the MODE button and lets you switch among the different instruments in your set. Next is the Volume button. Select this and then use the “+/- Switch” to raise or lower your project volume. Next is the Metronome button. This toggles the click on/off. The next button is the Snap button, which lets you quantize your loops so they work in time with the beat of your project. The last button on the right of the top row is the Undo button, which can undo your last recording. The bottom row begins with the PLAY/PAUSE button. This can play the whole project or start playback of each part. The part actually starts at the top of the measure. So…say, for example, that you have a drum loop playing already and you’ve just recorded a bass line and arp part. When you select one of those parts and hit the PLAY/PAUSE button, it will start playing as the drum loop comes around to the top of the measure. Conversely, if you have a part playing and select the PLAY/PAUSE button, that particular part will stop playing when the loop has reached the end. This is cool for introducing or removing parts from your track one element at a time. The next available button is the RECORD button. If you select this button while nothing is playing, you will get a 4 beat count and then it will start recording. At the end of the loop, the RECORD button will turn off and the track will play back. If your loop is already playing and you want to record a new track to go with your loop, selecting RECORD will show you a red countdown so you know when to begin recording. This is done with a small strip of LEDs above the top row of buttons. These little dot LEDs are white unless your track is playing – then they’re GREEN. If you’re recording, they turn RED. These are, again, fantastic for visual indication of what’s going on while producing your tracks. Beside the RECORD button is a button called LEARN. This will activate little demos that teach you how to use each sound. This is interesting enough, but I found myself ignoring it mostly. I guess I just learn by doing. Finally, beside the LEARN button is the “+/- Switch,” which provides a number of functions. By default, it’s set to cycle through the instruments available in the Noise app. It’s also used to increase/decrease volume. Live BLOCK The Live BLOCK has been laid out to feature the most important functions that a musician/producer would use in a live situation. We’ll start with the top row again. Just below the row of indicator lights on the left of the Live BLOCK is another MODE button. This toggles control of your tracks, loops and presets…just as with the Loops BLOCK. Next comes the Volume button. The online manual says this is supposed to adjust the volume of the “instrument selected,” but I found that it adjusts the volume of the whole track and could not get it to behave like a mixer – no matter what I tried. The next button in line is the SCALE button. Selecting this changes the musical scale displayed on the Lightpad. Once the SCALE button is selected, the scale can be changed using the “+/- Switch.” This is a great tool for live performance because it allows you to set a scale and jam without fear of hitting wrong notes. The Lightpad will show all the notes relative to the selected scale as colored squares in the grid. White squares are, again, the root note. The black squares are notes not in the scale and can be used for accidentals (or not at all). In Scale MODE, the available options are: These different scales can by cycled through by repeated selecting the SCALE button or by using the “+/- Switch.” The CHORD button is fun! It allows you to create chords of your choosing and then play them back with one finger. These are similar to the SCALE functions in that there is a list of different chords types to choose from. They are: Getting your head around these chords greatly enhances your ability to lay down chord progressions for your tracks. For keyboard players and folks who have a strong handle on music theory, these are a no-brainer. For those who don’t have strong piano skills, the CHORD button will become your best friend. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different chords in different keys to find what sounds good. The ARPEGGIATOR button is another function that’s fun and can be very useful with some experimentation. Select this button once to turn on Arpeggiator mode and then use it to select different arpeggiator patterns. Once you have the one you like, try it out in different keys. Fun! The next two buttons are utility buttons, but I promise they will come in very handy: SUSTAIN and OCTAVE. The SUSTAIN button will hold notes that have been played…even after you release those notes. For example, play a couple of notes and hold down the SUSTAIN button. As long as you’re holding down that button, you can release the notes and they will continue to sound. Release the SUSTAIN button and the notes will stop. The OCTAVE button transposes the notes available up to +/- 3 octaves. Want that electric piano sound to be a high, plinky arp sound instead? Change the octave up a couple of times and voila! Want it to be a bass instead? Change the octave down a couple of times. Boom! Selecting the RANGE button then allows you to use the “+/- Switch” for move up or down the octaves. The button with the little heart is the FAVORITES button. When you find a sound/loop that you particularly like, select this button and it will store it as a favorite. It makes recalling your sounds faster. Make Noise The Noise app is a lot of fun. It does take a little getting used to, but once you spend some time with it, you’ll see that it make sense. When you first open the app, you’re presented with the New Project area. Select this open the project screen. This screen shows basic controls at the top (Play/Pause, Click, Snap, Volume) and a multi-colored 4 x 4 grid. Each row represents a different instrument, each column represents a different loop. You can have up to 4 instruments in a loop, and chain up to 12 loops into a song. Of course, each loop can be replayed for remixing your track live. The grid in Noise will correspond to the grid on the Lightpad at this point. Anything you can do in Noise, can be done either from the screen on your phone/iPad or from the surface of the Lightpad. To start recording, select the first square on the grid (purple row, square one). A “+” will appear showing that this loop has been selected. Tap this square again and the 4 x 4 Drum kit screen will appear. The controls will change at the top to show the Record button at the top. Experiment with the sounds in the drum kit. The default kit is the Dance Groove Kit. All of these sounds are loops. You can play them as single hits, but it’s much more fun to play two or three pads at the same time and just let the loops run. Remember to experiment with sliding your fingers across the screen. This can lead to some interesting results. Hit Record and record your performance. If you make a mistake, you can use the BACK button to undo the recording and try again. When you’re happy with your first track, slide your finger from the top of your phone/iPad screen to get the Project window again. The square you just recorded in will now be filled in to show that it has a loop in it. Select the next square below it on the grid. This will bring up your next instrument track – this time in a 4 x 4 melodic grid. Just above the grid it tells you the name of the active sound. You can change this using the left and right arrows. Choose a sound you like and hit RECORD again. And so on…and so on…and so on. Remember: If you’ve recorded an instrument loop and you like – but maybe it’s a little off – you can use the SNAP function to quantize it so it fits perfectly within your project. Once you have a loop you’re happy with on one or more of the available tracks, you can move on to the next set of loops and create variations or whatever you desire. At the bottom of the Project screen, there are three little icons indicating the three sets of four loop locations. You can select the extra loop locations from here. The sounds in Noise are very good and ROLI is in partnership with several artists to create sound packs that will expand and customize the user’s experience. These sound packs are accessible from the Library icon at the top of the Noise Project screen (top far right). The packs include drum kits, hits, instruments and loops and will greatly enhance what you can do with Noise. In fact, Steve Aoki and RZA are two of the first artists to create sound packs for Noise with more expected in the future. The Bottom Line So what’s the bottom line here? Well, BLOCKS are fun. The Noise app sounds good and is also fun. The whole package is expandable so you can start small and grow as your needs develop. They’re portable. You can take them anywhere and play, perform, create. They’re expandable. With sounds packs by folks like RZA and Steve Aoki, BLOCKS and Noise will grow and grow. They’re cool. People will be asking you what the heck those things are. With all that said, there is a little learning curve with the Lightpad. It takes a stronger hand (and fingers) than on your average synth controller. But, honestly, it doesn’t take much practice to get good at using BLOCKS. And the functions of the additional BLOCKS make sense. Given all this, I’d be hard-pressed not to recommend this to someone looking for a portable solution for music-making. It may not be for everyone, but I certainly think it will appeal to a large audience. Apple are selling BLOCKS in their stores and online as well. This will reach a pretty wide crowd of folks looking for something different, too. And if you’re still not sure about BLOCKS, download the Noise app for free first, try it out, and see if you like the workflow and the sounds. If so, BLOCKS become a “no brainer.” Update Also, at NAMM 2017, ROLI announced BLOCKS Dashboard – a software package that adds functionality to the Lightpad enabling BLOCKS to work in concert with several Windows and Mac programs including: Ableton, Bitwig, Cubase, Logic, Omnisphere and Kontakt. The goal with the Dashboard is to make BLOCKS an open source platform for customization. They will even have a new Fader Mode that will turn the Lightpad into a touch-sensitive fader to quick adjustments of parameters. BLOCKS Dashboard will be available to BLOCKS creators as of 16 February 2017. -HC- Resources Check out Matthew Mann's Expert Review of the Roli Seaboard Rise Keyboard MSRP: Lightpad Block: $179.95 Live Block: $79.95 Loop Block: $79.95 Buy the Light Pad Block from: Apple Amazon Sweetwater B&H Photo/Pro Audio Guitar Center Musician's Friend Buy the Loop Block from: Apple Amazon Sweetwater B&H Photo/Pro Audio Guitar Center Musician's Friend Buy the Live Block from: Apple Amazon Sweetwater B&H Photo/Pro Audio Guitar Center Musician's Friend ________________________________________ Matthew Mann (Editor, Studio-One Expert) graduated Berklee College of Music with a Master Certificate, Music Production. Matt has been in bands and run studios for over a decade. He had a 3 year stint as a Sales Associate at GC Pro and has more recently been working in technical writing. As the picture shows, Matt rarely takes himself too seriously.

Nelson Instruments In Search Of... The Magic Number in a Chat with Bobby Nelson by Blake Wright - Gearphoria (adapted by Team HC) THERE IS RARELY a time in the world of boutique guitar gear that the business and the artisan don’t butt heads. While the artisan just wants to be left alone to dream up, then conjure the ‘next big thing,’ the business needs to make doubly sure that the investment of time and money, as well as the return on the “NBT” is in line with keeping food on the table. It seems to always come down to a number. For Bobby Nelson of Nelson Instruments, that number is six. That’s how long the Northfield, Minnesota-based luthier has been building stringed instruments full time. Prior to the builder life, Nelson cut his teeth in retail, working for world-famous Willy’s Music in St. Paul. Prior to that, he spent six weeks at a Guitar Center, his stay cut short over ‘creative differences.' Still earlier, he worked for Schmitt Music in Minneapolis — a gig that followed his studies at technical college. Today, he uses an over-garage space at his home as his main shop. The room is chock-full of vintage, American-made tools stationed around its perimeter — saws, buffers and the like. Most are purchased in some form of disrepair, but Nelson isn’t intimated by the tear-down and rebuild process. That’s a good thing, because that is also what he is doing to his brand. Nelson is chopping models, scaling back his offerings across electrics and acoustics in an effort to right-size. “I’m kind of in the midst of a realignment… or a last ditch effort to make this work, because it hasn’t been,” confesses Nelson candidly. “The big things that I’m doing… kind of consolidating models, eliminating redundancies and trying to find ways to, you can say, increase profitability, but at the same time there is something I have been noticing, regardless of what the news says, I don’t know that the economy is really back. It’s really growing fast but people don’t really have a lot of extra cash. There is no shortage of people offering guitars, especially in the $2,000-plus range. At this point, a lot of that stuff becomes a luxury item. And if you do something too far away from, say a Fender, people aren’t really sure if they want to spend that kind of money. So what I’ve been trying to do is dial in what I’m offering…trying to find ways that I can cut labor, being the biggest cost driver behind making anything so I can get prices really affordable.” ON THE BENCH: A Nelson Coquette gets its final dressing prior to being shipped to its new owner. One route Nelson is exploring is moving to a satin finish as the standard versus a full gloss. The gloss requirements are more extensive and time-consuming, whereas the satin finish can bring the schedule down to days compared to weeks. Nelson is rebranding himself as a maker of hand-made, utile instruments — utilitarian guitars. Unique, no-frills, workhorse stuff. “It’s stuff you’re going to be able to afford,” he says. “Here’s something I’m working on right now. Some folks had said they would like to see what my take on an offset guitar would be. I’ve told people that I would burn the shop down before I would just do a Fender, or a Gibson. This is close enough. Bolt-on neck. It’ll have a different kind of pickup that I’m working on now. There will be a couple of contours added to make it comfy, but I’m thinking I’ll be able to offer it for$995 or $1,050.” Nelson’s plan is to start with a stripped down, no-frills base model with all of the playability one would expect. From there, items like gloss finish, different woods, tuners, pickups, would be a la carte. It is a different approach over a lot of boutique builders who charge upwards of $5,000 for one of their custom offerings. “I often sit back wondering who’s buying these?,” says Nelson. “Who’s paying $4,000 for a guitar? Great stuff I’m sure, but I want to go the other way. Not to cheapen out, but just become affordable. Something handmade and unique that doesn’t cost $4,000. The funny thing is… and this is me probably being a terrible business person… I’ll just tell people ‘no.’ Someone will ask ‘Can you this or that for my guitar?’ I’ll either say no I won’t do that, or at least tell them, you know, before you jump on that, think about it. That probably comes from my time at retail, where the last thing that you want is returns. Not like they can order a completely custom guitar then decide the don’t like the color and send it back, but the idea being telling someone, before they commit to that, are they even still going to like it in six months? Six years?” COMING SOON: A batch of unfinished Cosmonauts, Nelson's take on an offeset guitar, in waiting. The woodwork in Nelson Instrument isn’t the only thing that is handmade. In fact, the only off-the-shelf items he uses are tuners and switches. He makes the pick guards, the pick-ups, the bridges, and the saddles. Part of the new strategy is actually limiting options available to his customers, with the idea being two to three options end in a firm decision faster than a dozen would. “Look at computers,” says Nelson. “Apple completely design the user experience. They have the vision. They spec the hardware. They put restrictions to what developers can do with apps to make sure the app runs smoothly. They keep it pretty tightly controlled. You can’t really pop open your MacBook and swap out the processor. It is what it is. You can customize it when you order it, but after that… it is what it is. With PCs, you can pretty much build your own. Everybody is always getting the faster processor, tweaking it, getting the bigger hard drive. If you think about it, that is how guitars are too. Nobody buys a Gretsch thinking I want to put P90s in this… or Jazzmaster pickups in it. You’re buying it because of what it is. Or a Rickenbacker… you’re not getting that and putting Strat pickups in it… or Gibson 57s. You’re buying it for the experience of what it is. If this is the conception of what a Nelson guitar is supposed to be, then changing this and that around, it is not that anymore. It’ a Nelson-shaped instrument that's no longer what the original vision was.” US IRON: Nelson is big on vintage, US-built equipment. Examples can be found in nearly every corner of his shop. There are currently about 120 Nelsons out in the wild, and the builder has high hopes for his new offset, dubbed the Cosmonaut. A stack of unfinished bodies were present during our visit. The guitar will be offered in three standard colors: Ruskie Red, Taiga Tan and Soyuz Seafoam. He also has big plans for his Paramount bass after a few new design tweaks. “I came out with that almost two years ago,” he says. “A friend and I designed it. It’s great, but I want to make some changes. I’m really excited about that. I’m going to have the electric guitars, but basses are going to be something that I put more emphasis on. The people that are buying basses from me are really ecstatic. They are seeing something in my products that they are not seeing in the marketplace. That’ll be a focus, as well as redesigning and revamping acoustic guitars.” SHOP LOCAL: Nelson sources most of his wood locally from yards near Minneapolis. He genuinely enjoys wood experimentation having used Paduak, Pau Ferro, Osage Orange and Douglas Fir among others in previous builds. Nelson also plans to continue to develop pickup models, with the next project being a reimagination of the classic Epiphone New York pickup. Currently, Nelson has three electric models listed on his website: the Grifter, the Provocateur and the Coquette. He also has one acoustic, the FT-27 and one bass, the Paramount, with the promise of more to come. “After a decade wrapped up into this I don’t think I could just walk away, but i t would have to become a strictly, time-limited hobby… a hobby-tunity,” says Nelson. “I ’m hoping it doesn’t come to that . That's why I’m in restructuring mode. Around The Shop: A look into the luthier's lair ... "Paring down the models. Getting costs low. Really trying to dial it all in. I hope it all works out , but I ’m not going to delude myself to the point of believing that the world owes me an existence doing this.” -HC- Pride In The Product: Bobby Nelson looks like the proud papa holding his baby ____________________________________________ Blake and Holly Wright are Gearphoria. They travel full-time in their 25 foot Airstream while writing about cool guitars and guitar accessories. Gearphoria is a bi-monthly free-to-read online publication. You can visit their website by going to www.gearphoria.com and while you are there, sign up for their free e-zine.

HC's Rock Rewind A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History by Team HC February 27th - March 5th From the release of Metallica’s Master of Puppets to the birth of Jon Bon Jovi, the end of February into early February is brimming with rock ‘n’ roll landmarks. Keep reading for some major events, historic record releases and births and deaths taking place February 27 through March 5. Events 1941 – The world’s debut commercial FM radio station starts broadcasting on March 1, 1941. It’s Nashville's W47NV. 1964 – The Beatles start shooting their first feature film, A Hard Day's Night. 1974 – Queen starts their first tour as headliners with a gig at Blackpool's Winter Gardens. 1978 – Van Halen kick off their first U.S. tour in Chicago. They’re opening for Journey. 1981 – U2 launch off on their first major U.S. tour with two stints at a Washington, D.C., club called The Bayou. 1984 – This is Spinal Tap debuts in movie theaters on March 2. 1988 – U2 score their first Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Performance by Rock Duo or Group with Vocal for The Joshua Tree. The honors happen on March 2, 1988. 1991 – “Curtis Mayfield Day” is made official in Los Angeles. 2002 – MTV debuts its new reality television show, The Osbournes. Births Neal Schon – February 27, 1954 Adrian Smith – February 27, 1957 Josh Groban, February 27, 1981 Brian Jones – February 28, 1942 Ian Brown – February 28, 1966 Jason Aldean – February 28, 1977 Roger Daltrey, March 1, 1944 Glenn Miller, March 1, 1904 Rob Affuso, March 1, 1963 Ryan Peake, March 1, 1973 Lou Reed, March 2, 1943 Rory Gallagher, March 2, 1948 Eddie Money, March 2, 1949 Karen Carpenter, March 2, 1950 Mark Evans, March 2, 1956 Jon Bon Jovi (born John Francis Bongiovi), March 2, 1962 Chris Martin, March 2, 1977 Terence “Snowy” White, March 3, 1948 Junior Parker, March 3, 1927 Bobby Womack, March 4, 1944 Chris Squire, March 4, 1948 Shakin’ Stevens, March 4, 1948 Jason Newsted, March 4, 1963 Evan Dando, March 4, 1967 Fergal Lawlor (The Cranberries) March 4, 1971 Andy Gibb, March 5, 1958 John Frusciante, March 5, 1970 Deaths Richard Street, February 27, 2013 Frankie Lymon, February 28, 1968 Bobby Bloom, February 28, 1974 David Byron, February 28, 1985 Chris Curtis, February 28, 2005 Buddy Miles, February 28, 2008 Tom “T-Bone” Wolk, February 28, 2010 Mike Smith, February 29, 2008 Davy Jones, February 29, 2012 Frank Smith, March 1, 1991 Dusty Springfield, March 2, 1999 Hank Ballard, March 2, 2003 Jeff Healey, March 2, 2008 Ronnie Montrose, March 3, 2012 Richard Manuel, March 4, 1986 Glenn Hughes, March 4, 2001 John McGeoch, March 5, 2004 Releases Frank Sinatra, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, 1946 The Yardbirds, For Your Love, 1965 Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, 1973 Tom Waits, Closing Time, 1973 Metallica, Master of Puppets, 1986 Bad Religion, The Gray Race, 1996 Bruce Springsteen, Hammersmith Odeon London 1975, 2006 Nine Inch Nails, Ghosts I-IV, 2008 Gorillaz, Plastic Beach, 2010 Weeks March 6 - March 12 This week in rock music history was marked by abundance of significant events. One of rock greatest heavy metal bands staged their first concert, a flamboyant British singer became a wax figure, and one of the Beatles was honored with knighthood. A trove of classic albums was released as well, including landmark records by Queen, U2 and Nine Inch Nails. Read on for a look back at other noteworthy moments that shaped rock and roll during this historically eventful week. Events 1965 – The Temptations become the first male Motown act to score a Number One hit on the U.S. singles chart, with the Smokey Robinson-written song, “My Girl.” 1967 – Music publisher Dick James announces that 446 different versions of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” have been recorded thus far. 1968 – Bob Dylan begins a 10-week run atop the U.K. charts with his John Wesley Harding album. The LP tops out at Number Two on the U.S. charts. 1969 – Steve Marriott leaves the Small Faces to form Humble Pie. The remaining members of Small Faces recruit Rod Stewart and Ron Wood into the band, rechristening themselves as Faces. 1969 – Paul McCartney marries Linda Eastman. That evening, following a lunchtime wedding reception, McCartney goes to Abbey Road Studios to work. 1969 – Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary” becomes the first of five CCR singles to reach the Number Two spot on the charts while falling short of Number One. 1970 – David Bowie releases “The Prettiest Star” in the U.K. as the follow-up single to “Space Oddity.” Marc Bolan plays lead guitar on this version. Later, on Bowie’s 1973 Aladdin Sane album, Mick Ronson handles guitar on a remake. 1970 – Under their new name, Black Sabbath, the band formerly known as Earth stage their debut concert at London’s The Roundhouse. 1972 – Neil Young’s Harvest album knocks Don McLean’s American Pie off the top spot on the U.S. album chart. The McLean LP had occupied the Number One slot for seven weeks. 1973 – Slade’s “Cum on Feel the Noize” becomes the first single since The Beatles’ “Get Back” to enter the U.K. Singles chart at Number One. 1974 – Bad Company perform their first live gig, staging a show in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. 1976 – Elton John becomes the first rock and roll act since The Beatles to be immortalized as a wax figure at Madame Tussauds in London. 1981 – Jimmy Page performs on-stage for the first time since Led Zeppelin called it quits, joining Jeff Beck at a London show for a set of encores. 1984 – After spending a year with Black Sabbath, former Deep Purple lead singer decides to leave the band. 1985 – The single “We are the World” is released. Co-written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson, the song features some of the music industry’s biggest talents—including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Ray Charles, among many others. Proceeds from sales go toward battling famine in Africa. 1992 – Prince wins the “Heritage” award for lifetime achievement at the annual Soul Train Music Awards. 1997 -- Paul McCartney is knighted by Elizabeth II. 2001 -- Eric Singer replaces Peter Criss as the drummer for Kiss during the band’s “farewell” tour in Japan. 2013 – Bob Dylan is voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, making him the first rock musician to be so honored. Releases 1967 – The Velvet Underground & Nico: The Velvet Underground & Nico 1969 – Genesis: From Genesis to Revelation 1970 – Mountain: Climbing! 1970 -- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Déjà Vu 1972 – Thin Lizzy: Shades of a Blue Orphanage 1972 – Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick 1974 – Queen: Queen II 1974 – Chicago: Chicago VII 1975 – Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare 1975 – David Bowie: Young Americans 1976 – Slade: Nobody's Fools 1977 – T.Rex: Dandy in the Underworld 1980 – Billy Joel: Glass Houses 1981 – Joe Walsh: There Goes the Neighborhood 1983 – Quiet Riot: Metal Health 1985 – Eric Clapton: Behind the Sun 1987 – U2: The Joshua Tree 1988 – The Beatles: Past Masters 1989 – Julian Lennon: Mr. Jordan 1990 – Robyn Hitchcock: Eye 1991 – R.E.M: Out of Time 1993 – Lenny Kravitz: Are You Gonna Go My Way 1994 – Elvis Costello: Brutal Youth 1994 -- Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral 1994 – Sam Phillips: Martinis and Bikinis 1994 – Soundgarden: Superunknown 1996 -- Kiss: Kiss Unplugged 1998 – Eric Clapton: Pilgrim 1998 – Motörhead: Snake Bite Love 1999 – Silverchair: Neon Ballroom 1999 – Wilco: Summerteeth 2001 – Aerosmith: Just Push Play 2001 – Gary Moore: Back to the Blues 2006 – David Gilmour: On an Island 2006 – Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood 2006 – Donald Fagen: Morph the Cat Deaths Charlie Parker – March 12, 1955 Richard Manuel (The Band) – March 6, 1986 Andy Gibb – March 10, 1988 Lavern Baker – March 10, 1997 Michael “Smitty” Smith (Paul Revere and the Raiders) – March 6, 2001 Danny Joe Brown (Molly Hatchet) – March 9, 2005 Brad Delp (Boston) – March 9, 2007 Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) – March 6, 2010 Micky Jones (Man) – March 10, 2010 Mike Starr (Alice in Chains) – March 8, 2011 Michael Hossack (Doobie Brothers) – March 12, 2012 Alvin Lee – March 6, 2013 Peter Banks (Yes, Flash) – March 7, 2013 Lew Soloff (Blood, Sweat and Tears) – March 8, 2015 Jimmy Greenspoon (Three Dog Night) – March 11, 2015 George Martin – March 8, 2016 Keith Emerson – March 11, 2016 Births Leonard Chess – March 12, 1917 Ornette Coleman – March 9, 1930 John Cale – March 9, 1942 Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere & the Raiders) – March 9, 1942 Hugh Grundy (The Zombies) – March 6, 1945 Arthur Lee (Love) – March 7, 1945 Mickey Dolenz – March 8, 1945 Robin Trower – March 9, 1945 David Gilmour – March 6, 1946 Matthew Fisher (Procol Harum) – March 7, 1946 Peter Wolf – March 7, 1946 Randy Meisner – March 8, 1946 Kiki Dee – March 6, 1947 Carole Bayer Sager – March 8, 1947 Tom Scholz – March 10, 1947 George Kooymans (Golden Earring) – March 11, 1948 James Taylor – March 12, 1948 Dave Lambert (The Strawbs) – March 8, 1949 Mike Gibbins (Badfinger) – March 12, 1949 Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) – March 12, 1956 Gary Numan – March 8, 1958 Martin Fry (ABC) – March 9, 1958 Bruce Watson (Big Country) – March 11, 1961 Rick Rubin – March 10, 1963 Edie Brickell – March 10, 1966 Pete Doherty – March 12, 1979 Carrie Underwood – March 10, 1983 ______________________________________________________ HC's Rock Review is sponsored by Gibson

Playing What You Hear: A Step-by-Step Guide for Guitarists From your ears to the strings ... by Team HC (adapted from String Kick) You know how you can instantly sing or hum pretty much any melody you hear? Somehow, when you hear a tune on the radio, you know exactly how to manipulate your vocal cords to recreate that melody with your voice. But if I’d hand most guitarists their instrument and ask them to play that same melody by ear, it suddenly seems hard to them. Why is that? The skill you need in both cases is pretty much the same: listen to something, remember it, reproduce it. The only difference is the tool you’re using for that last step. Playing by ear is all about mastering your guitar in the same way you’ve mastered your voice, allowing you to instantly play (pretty much) any melody you hear in your head. In this article I’ll show you how to learn to play guitar by ear from scratch, explain how playing by ear works, and give you a step-by-step plan to get going. But first, let’s tackle some common misconceptions. CAN YOU LEARN TO PLAY GUITAR BY EAR? I know some people think playing guitar by ear is something they could never learn. They assume it’s some innate talent that you’re either born with or not. This is not the case. As with most musical skills, it’s all a matter of practice. If you can sing or hum a melody you’ve heard then you can learn to play it by ear too! And you don’t have to wait until you "become a little bit better at guitar." You can start developing this skill from the first moment you start learning. (And, for the record, I think you should!) You’ll start using your guitar as an instrument. Remember, it's just an object you use to express your musical ideas. DO YOU NEED PERFECT PITCH TO PLAY BY EAR? Perfect pitch (or absolute pitch) is the ability to hear a pitch and immediately know which note it is, whether it’s a C, D flat, F sharp, etc. It seems to be a something you’re born with. You either have perfect pitch or you don’t (though some people claim you can learn it). Whatever the case, having perfect pitch is pretty rare and you don’t need it to play by ear or make great music. In fact, most professional musicians do not have perfect pitch (there are exceptions, like Mariah Carey). That includes Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Paul Gilbert, Maurice Ravel, Miles Davis, Stravinsky, David Bowie, Esperenza Spalding, Gwen Stefani, Leonard Bernstein, and Carlos Santana, to name just a few. Yes, that means the writers and performers of some of the greatest, most popular songs of all times, including Bohemian Rhapsody, Stairway to Heaven and Let it Be, do not have perfect pitch. What all of the above musicians do have though, is called relative pitch: the skill to recreate a note or melody when you get the first note. Relative pitch is about hearing the relationships between pitches, instead of hearing which note an individual pitch is. You could say that perfect pitch is knowing the coordinates of any city. Relative pitch is knowing directions to any city from where you currently are. And this article will show you how to develop relative pitch! LEARN TO PLAY GUITAR BY EAR, STEP BY STEP When most of us started to learn the guitar, we learned riffs, licks and other stuff that sounds good and is comfortable to play on guitar...whether it’s Smoke on the Water, Nothing Else Matters or Seven Nation Army. The result: the things you know how to play, are the things you’ve learned on guitar. But you’ve heard so much more music in your whole life than just the things you’ve learned to play on a guitar. Your brain is filled with musical information and material that you’ve heard in movies, video games, cartoons, television, radio, youtube, Spotify and CDs. In short: you have a much larger source of music that you can draw on when you’re playing. This step-by-step guide will help you to do exactly that. To recreate all the stuff that’s in your system and that you’re able to sing or hum, but can’t yet play immediately on your guitar. STEP 1 – FIGURE OUT MELODIES BY EAR If you’ve used tabs and videos to learn songs up until now, the first step is to start figuring out simple melodies by ear on your guitar. This is something you can do even if you’re a complete beginner. This is an important first step because it’s a bit easier to figure out music that’s actually playing than music you hear in your head. STEP 2 – LEARN YOUR OWN SOLOS Put on a backing track or play a simple, two chord progression on your guitar. Switch on a recording (your phone will do fine). Tune into the music and wait for a melody to pop into your head. (If nothing does, just relax, don’t play anything and give yourself space to hear something. Make sure there’s plenty of time for something to develop inside you. It can take a while!) Sing or hum that ‘solo’ out loud and record it. (Destroy all evidence later if you like). Don’t worry too much about what you sang. It can be anything that comes to mind. Next, listen back to the recording and figure out how to play your vocal solo on guitar. Try to avoid open strings for now by the way. You’re ‘programming’ the musical logic of the fretboard into your fingers and open strings kind of interfere with that process. When you’ve figured out your solo, play along with the recording a couple of times. This step is how you start accessing all those ideas you’ve got stored in your head. Of course, there will always be new ideas, but those will often be combinations of old ideas. STEP 3 – VISUALIZE PLAYING SOMETHING FIRST Once you’re comfortable with the previous step, you can make things a bit more challenging. Again, take a simple chord progression and sing a melody over it. Make it short and sweet. Anything between three and seven notes is perfect. Next, all you do is figure out the starting note. Stop there! Don’t try to play the rest of the melody yet. Instead, imagine how you would play that melody on guitar. Visualise which frets you need to press to play it. Once you have an idea of how you’re supposed to play the short melody, try and see if you got it right. Got it right? Great! Got something wrong? Try to find out why. After a few mistakes, you might notice patterns in what you keep getting wrong. Keep practicing this until you get better at this. Resist the urge to figure out a melody by trial and error. There’s nothing wrong with that, but this exercise trains your musical imagination on a more conscious level. It helps to strengthen the connection between your musical imagination and your fretboard. STEP 4 – GHOST PLAYING Put on a backing track. Sing your starting note and find it on your guitar. Next, sing a solo and at the same time lightly touch the corresponding frets on your guitar without actually playing the notes. In other words, don’t use your right hand and don’t pick the notes! I call this ‘ghost playing’. After every couple of notes, check if the notes you’re singing still correspond with the frets you’re ‘ghost playing’ with your left/fretting hand. If you’re doing well, make these sequences longer and longer before you check if you’re still ‘ghost playing’ the correct frets on your guitar. This step is great because it forces you to sing the notes without having the actual sound of your instrument to support you. You have to imagine them on your own. STEP 5 – THE REAL THING When you’ve gotten pretty good at the last exercise, it’s time to put everything together and finally play guitar by ear ‘for real’. This step is pretty straightforward. Put on some music you like and play whatever you hear. You don’t need to know the key or which scale to use. Just play! It’s important to know that you’ll still be making mistakes at this step. Mistakes are a good sign. It means that you’re not relying on the things you already know how to play, i.e. the stuff that’s comfortable and familiar. Instead, when you’re making mistakes, it’s a sign that you’re truly listening to your inner ear, to your musical imagination. As saxophone legend Coleman Hawkins said: Even the very best musicians make mistakes. But most of the time you wouldn’t even notice them, because they’ve gotten really good at making ‘wrong’ notes sound ‘right’ retroactively. Quoting Miles Davis: ‘It’s not the note you play that’s the wrong note – it’s the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong.’ In other words, a huge advantage of being able to play by ear is that you’ll get much better at dealing with mistakes and making them not sound as mistakes. So keep messing up and you’ll develop this skill too! BONUS TIP: FREE IMPROVISATION The five steps above will help you to develop your playing by ear skills from scratch. As soon as you’ve gotten half-decent at it, one of the best ways to practice playing by ear is to play freely improvised music. It’s an amazingly fast way to train and streamline the process of: A. Hearing music B. Coming up with a musical response C. Translating whatever you hear into movements of your hands and playing it The great thing about playing improvised music is that there’s nothing to fall back on. No theoretical knowledge, scales, keys, song forms… All you can do is just listen to the music that’s around you and play whatever comes to mind. That’s what makes it an incredibly effective way of training your ability to play whatever your inner ear hears. A year-long free improvisation project I did really drove this point home for me. Over the year, some remarkable things started to happen. My hands were often faster than my thoughts. My fingers would fret the chord I wanted to hear, before I realised I wanted to hear it. There was no time to think of which chord it was or where it was located on the neck. When we switched keys, I’d slide into a new scale effortlessly. Through free improvisation, you learn to trust your intuition. Playing becomes as natural as talking. In the end, we played two 45-minute shows in which not a single note had been agreed upon beforehand. A year earlier, I would’ve found that intimidating and scary, but now it was one of the most relaxed shows I’d ever played. I trusted my inner ear would know what to do. You can easily practice this with a friend. Just have one person play some simple chords, while the other improvises on them without knowing which chords are being played. Just listen to your inner ear and go! When you both feel comfortable with this exercise, you can ditch the chord and solo roles and just play. WHAT ABOUT SCALES AND INTERVALS? You might have noticed I haven’t mentioned scales so far. That wasn’t an oversight. Of course scales can help you immensely. But the above steps are about developing a more basic ability: to get a subconscious sense of how your hands should manipulate the strings on your fretboard to produce a pitch or melody. A subconscious sense of what happens when you go up or down a string, or when you move up or down the fretboard. You can learn scales in a way that supports this basic skill and makes it easier. When most people first learn a scale, they are memorising which frets to press. It’s about learning shapes. Some teachers will even say ‘you can play any of these notes and it will sound good!’. If you don’t go beyond this visual stage of learning scales, you’ll sound pretty ‘scaley’ and unnatural. To strengthen your playing by ear ability, you want to learn the sound of scales. And you want to connect that sound to the ‘shape’ on the fretboard. So instead of running up and down the scale, practice ‘ghost playing’ and singing the scale, just like in step 4. Lightly tap each fret without actually playing it. And mix things up. You don’t need to go up and down the scale note by note. Skip notes to see if you can correctly ‘imagine’ larger jumps in the scale. So which scales should you learn first? The minor pentatonic scale is a great place to start. Learning the major scale is also a great starting point. The same logic applies to learning intervals . Learn to sing the intervals, to produce them yourself instead of practicing recognising them. It’s beyond this article to go into details, but I’ll write more about it in the future. COLLATERAL BENEFITS I prefer to stay away from grand claims. But learning to play by ear is probably the best thing you can do to become a better guitarist and musician. It affects every area of your playing. Timing, sound, note choice, expressiveness… But perhaps playing by ear has the most profound impact on your self-confidence. By following the steps above, you’ll slowly break down the barrier between your head and your hands. More and more, you’ll trust that your hands will ‘know what to do’. This is a process I’ve been going through for the past couple of years. I’m learning to sit back and let my hands do their thing. If I make a mistake, my fingers will slide to correct it instantly. When I’m not sure what the next chord is, my hands will often play it automatically. Learning to play guitar by ear is about leveraging your subconscious like this. The more you can do that, the more natural your playing will become and the freer you will become. Repurposed with expressed written permission from: ___________________________________________________________ My name is Just Rijna, and I like to help people to figure out their path towards having more fun, reaching their goals and creating better music. I’ve been teaching for over ten years and love it when I can spark someone’s enthusiasm with just the right nudge, insight or advice. I studied jazz and pop music at one of the top music schools in the Netherlands. When I’m not playing guitar or writing music, I love to travel, drink Belgian beer (those guys know what they’re doing…) and I’ll watch pretty much anything that has zombies or superheroes in it. Check out my site: StringKick

HC's Rock Rewind A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History by Team HC February 13th - 19th Historically speaking, this week in rock music has been marked by a trove of memorable events. Brian Wilson began recording one of pop’s most celebrated songs, The Who performed their most famous concert, and Freddie Mercury made his final public appearance with Queen. A spate of classic albums was released as well, including landmark records by Black Sabbath, Rush, and Heart. Read on for a look back at other significant moments that shaped rock and roll during this historically eventful week. Events 1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph. 1960 – The Everly Brothers sign a $1 million, 10-year recording deal with Warner Bro. Records. 1961 – Reprise Records is launched by Frank Sinatra. The label is the first completely artist-owned record company. Two years later, as part of a film deal, the company is sold to Warner Brothers. 1962 – Ray Charles records “I Can’t Stop Loving You” at United Studios in Hollywood. The single later tops the charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. 1964 – The Beatles’ Meet the Beatles album begins at 11-week run atop the U.S. album charts. 1966 – The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson begins recording “Good Vibrations.” 1967 – Seven music students at DePaul University in Chicago form an ensemble called The Big Thing. In due time, they will change their bandname first to Chicago Transit Authority, and then, simply, to Chicago. 1967 – The Beatles release the double A-sided single, “Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever.” 1969 – Sly and the Family Stone’s single, “Everyday People,” tops the U.S. singles chart. 1970 – The Who perform a legendary show at Leeds University in the U.K. The concert is recorded and released as the band’s Live at Leeds LP, an album considered by many to be rock’s greatest-ever live set. 1972 – Steppenwolf announce their break-up. By way of explanation, the hard rock band says, “We were locked into an image and style of music and there was nothing for us to look forward to.” 1973 – Free perform their last concert, staging their final show in Hollywood, California. Singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke move on to co-found Bad Company. 1974 – Bob Dylan’s Planet Waves album becomes the singer-songwriter’s first LP to reach Number One on the U.S. charts. 1974 – KISS make their national television debut, performing on ABC’s “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.” 1977 – The B-52’s play their first live show, performing at a Valentine’s Day party in their hometown of Athens, GA. 1977 – Bassist Glenn Matlock is fired from the Sex Pistols and replaced by Sid Vicious. Matlock returns to the Pistols in the ‘90s, when the band reforms. 1978 – Dire Straits begin recording their self-titled debut album. The LP features the group’s breakthrough single, “Sultans of Swing.” 1979 – The Clash begin their debut American tour with a show at the Palladium in Manhattan. 1987 – Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” begins a four-week run atop the US singles chart. 1990 – Queen receive the BPI award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, at the annual BRIT Awards. The event marks the last public appearance that Freddie Mercury will make with the band. 1993 – Faces reunite at the BRIT Awards in London, were Rod Stewart receives a Lifetime Achievement Award. Bill Wyman fills in for Faces bassist Ronnie Lane, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis. 2001 – Peter Frampton is awarded the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor widely viewed as the guitar industry’s equivalent of an Oscar or Emmy. 2004 – Led Zeppelin are presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards ceremony. Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham are present, but Robert Plant is unable to attend due to recording commitments. Releases 1967 – John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers: A Hard Road 1970 – Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath 1971 – Yes: The Yes Album 1972 – Neil Young: Harvest 1974 – Deep Purple: Burn 1974 – Slade: Old New Borrowed and Blue 1974 – KISS: KISS 1975 – Rush: Fly By Night 1975 – T.Rex: Bolan’s Zip Gun 1975 – AC/DC: High Voltage (Australia only) 1975 – John Lennon: Rock ‘n’ Roll 1976 – Heart: Dreamboat Annie 1977 – America: Harbor 1978 – Kate Bush: The Kick Inside 1980 – Heart: Bebe le Strange 1980 – Elvis Costello: Get Happy!! 1985 – Mick Jagger: She’s the Boss 1986 – Jackson Browne: Lives in the Balance 1990 – Peter Wolf: Up to No Good 1991 – Dinosaur Jr.: Green Mind 1993 – Lynyrd Skynyrd: The Last Rebel 1994 -- Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Pavement 1996 – Gin Blossoms: Congratulations I’m Sorry Deaths Nat King Cole – Feb. 15, 1965 Little Walter – Feb. 15, 1968 Bon Scott – Feb. 19, 1980 Mike Bloomfield – Feb. 15, 1981 Thelonious Monk – Feb. 17, 1982 Bob Stinson (The Replacements) – Feb. 18, 1995 Walter Brown “Brownie” McGhee – Feb. 16, 1996 Waylon Jennings – Feb. 13, 2002 Mick Tucker (Sweet) – Feb. 14, 2002 Johnny Paycheck – Feb. 19, 2003 Doris Troy – Feb. 16, 2004 Doug Fieger (The Knack) – Feb. 14, 2010 Mindy McCready – Feb. 17, 2013 Kevin Ayers – Feb. 18, 2013 Bob Casale (Devo) – Feb. 17, 2014 Lesley Gore – Feb. 16, 2015 Denise Matthews (aka “Vanity) – Feb. 15, 2016 Births Otis Blackwell – Feb. 16, 1932 Yoko Ono – Feb. 18, 1933 Sonny Bono – Feb. 15, 1935 Magic Sam – Feb. 14, 1937 Bobby Hart – Feb. 18, 1939 Smokey Robinson – Feb. 19, 1940 Gene Pitney – Feb. 17, 1941 Glyn Johns (Producer) – Feb. 15, 1942 Peter Tork – Feb. 13, 1942 Mick Avory (The Kinks) – Feb. 15, 1944 John Helliwell (Supertramp) – Feb. 15, 1945 Tim Buckley – Feb. 14, 1947 Dennis DeYoung (Styx) – Feb. 18, 1947 Tony Iommi – Feb. 19, 1948 Mark Andes (Spirit) – Feb. 19, 1948 Peter Gabriel – Feb. 13, 1950 Andy Powell (Wishbone Ash) – Feb. 19, 1950 Robbie Bachman (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) – Feb. 18, 1953 Peter Hook (New Order) – Feb. 13, 1956 Dave Wakeling (The English Beat) – Feb. 19, 1957 Henry Rollins – Feb. 13, 1961 Andy Taylor (Duran Duran) – Feb. 16, 1961 Rob Thomas – Feb. 14, 1972 Billie Joe Armstrong – Feb. 17, 1972 February 13th - 19th From the release of Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti to the birth of George Harrison and Kurt Cobain, the end of February is filled with rock ‘n’ roll highlights. Read on for some major events, historic record releases and births and deaths taking place Feb. 20 through 26. Events 1964 - Billy Joel joins his first rock band, a U.K. cover band called the Echoes. 1969 - The Beatles begin recording "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." 1973 - The Byrds play their last gig in Passaic, New Jersey. 1975 - "Johnny Cash Day" is made official for February 20 in Los Angeles. 1978 - Whitesnake perform their first live show. 1989 - Jethro Tull score the first Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance over Metallica, and metalheads everywhere scratch their heads. 1990 - Paul McCartney is honored at the 32nd annual Grammy Awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award. 1992 – Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love of Hole are married in Hawaii. 1998 - Elton John is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Births John Geils (The J. Geils Band), February 20, 1946 Walter Becker (Steely Dan), February 20, 1950 Randy California (Spirit), February 20, 1951 Jon Brant (Cheap Trick), February 20, 1955 Ian Brown (The Stone Roses), February 20, 1963 Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), February 20, 1967 David Geffen, February 21, 1943 Vince Welnick (The Tubes, Grateful Dead), February 21, 1951 Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), February 21, 1949 Mark McLaughlin (Mark Arm), February 21, 1962 James Blunt, February 22, 1974 Rusty Young (Poco, Buffalo Springfield), February 23, 1946 Steve Priest (Sweet), February 23, 1950 Brad Whitford (Aerosmith), February 23, 1952 Howard Jones, February 23, 1955 Michael Wilton (Queensryche), February 23, 1962 George Thorogood, February 24, 1950 Dennis Diken (The Smithereens), February 24, 1957 George Harrison, February 25, 1943 Mitch Ryder (born William S. Levise Jr.), February 26, 1945 Jonathan Cain (Journey), February 26, 1950 Michael Bolton, February 26, 1953 Deaths Clyde Stubblefield (funky drummer for James Brown), February 18th, 2017 Papa John Creach (Jefferson Airplane/Starship), February 21, 1994 Andy Warhol (former manager of The Velvet Underground and designer for The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album cover), February 21, 1987 Howie Epstein (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers), February 23, 2003 Melvin "Blue" Franklin (The Temptations), February 23, 1995 Johnnie Ray, February 24, 1990 Bukka White, February 26, 1977 Releases Jimmy Page, She Just Satisfies, 1965 John Lennon, Instant Karma!, 1970 Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti, 1975 The Eagles, Hotel California (single), 1977 The Sex Pistols, The Great Rock N' Roll Swindle, 1979 George Harrison, Self-titled album, 1979 Alabama, Mountain Music, 1982 Radiohead, Pablo Honey, 1993 ______________________________________________________ HC's Rock Review is sponsored by Gibson

HC's Rock Rewind A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History by Team HC January 30th - February 5th From the release of Green Day’s Dookie to the birth of Alice Cooper (born as Vincent Furnier), the end of January and beginning of February is packed with rock ‘n’ roll nostalgia. Keep reading for some major events, historic record releases and births and deaths taking place Jan. 31 through Feb. 5. Events 1956 - Elvis Presley recorded the famed "Blue Suede Shoes." 1961 - Bob Dylan made his first recording in New York, taping "San Francisco Bay Blues." 1963 - Neil Young, at 17, played his first professional gig at a country club in Winnipeg. 1967 - The Beatles starting working on the tune “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” at Abbey Road studios in London. 1973 - KISS performed their first show at Popcorn (The Coventry Club) in Queens, New York. 1978 - Van Halen inked a deal with Warner Brothers Records. Births Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane/Starship), January 30, 1942 Steve Marriott (The Small Faces, Humble Pie), January 30, 1945 Phil Collins, January 30, 1951 Terry Kath (Chicago), January 31, 1946 Harry Wayne Casey (KC and the Sunshine Band), January 31, 1951 Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music), January 31, 1951 Johnny Rotten (The Sex Pistols), January 31, 1956 Jason Cooper (The Cure), January 31, 1967 Don Everly (The Everly Brothers), February 1, 1937 Rich Williams (Kansas), February 1, 1951 Fran Christina (The Fabulous Thunderbirds), February 1, 1951 Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), February 1, 1954 Lisa Marie Presley, February 1, 1968 Patrick Wilson (Weezer), February 1, 1969 Graham Nash (The Hollies, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young), February 2, 1942 Alan McKay (Earth, Wind & Fire), February 2, 1948 Ross Valory (Journey, The Steve Miller Band), February 2, 1950 Robert DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots), February 2, 1966 Ben Mize (Counting Crows), February 2, 1971 Dennis Edwards (The Temptations), February 3, 1943 Dave Davies (The Kinks), February 3, 1947 Arthur Kane (New York Dolls), February 3, 1949 Lee Renaldo (Sonic Youth), February 3, 1956 Laurence Tolhurst (The Cure), February 3, 1959 John Steel (The Animals), February 4, 1941 Vincent Furnier (Alice Cooper), February 4, 1948 Phil Ehart (Kansas), February 4, 1951 Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman (The Offspring), February 4, 1963 Rick Burch (Jimmy Eat World), February 4, 1975 Cory Wells (Three Dog Night), February 5, 1942 Chuck Winfield (Blood, Sweat & Tears), February 5, 1943 J.R. Cobb (Classics IV, Atlanta Rhythm Section), February 5, 1944 Al Kooper (The Blues Project, Blood, Sweat & Tears), February 5, 1944 Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses), February 5, 1964 Chris Barron (Spin Doctors), February 5, 1968 Deaths Patty Andrews (The Andrews Sisters), January 30, 2013 Greg Herbert (Blood, Sweat & Tears), January 31, 1978 Paul Robi (The Platters), February 1, 1989 Dewey Martin (Buffalo Springfield), February 1, 2009 Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols, February 3, 1979 Paul Baloff, February 3, 2002 Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed in a plane crash, February 3, 1959 Karen Carpenter, February 4, 1983 Reg Presley (The Troggs), February 4, 2013 Tim Kelly (Slaughter), February 5, 1998 Releases The Beatles, 4-By the Beatles (EP), 1965 Paul Simon, Mother and Child Reunion, 1972 Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, 1977 Exodus, Fabulous Disaster, 1989 Alabama, Southern Star, 1989 Green Day, Dookie, 1994 The Offspring, Ixnay on the Hombre, 1997 February 6th - February 12th This week in rock music history was marked by abundance of significant events. One of contemporary music’s greatest bands released their first single, an iconic punk group began work on their debut album, and a legendary British artist received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. A trove of classic albums was released as well, including landmark records by The Doors, Rush, and Van Halen. Read on for a look back at other noteworthy moments that shaped rock and roll during this historically eventful week. Events 1958 – George Harrison joins the Liverpool band, The Quarrymen. Members already include John Lennon and Paul McCartney. 1961 – The Miracles’ “Shop Around” becomes the first Motown single to sell more than one million copies. 1963 – The Beatles’ first single, “Please Please Me,” is released in the U.S. on the Vee Jay label. 1965 – The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” begins a two-week run at the Number One spot on the U.S. singles chart. 1966 – Crawdaddy!, the first magazine devoted specifically to rock music, is published for the first time. 1967 – On the British TV Show, “Top of the Pops,” The Monkees announce that henceforth they will play the instruments on their albums, rather than using session musicians. 1969 -- The Who record “Pinball Wizard” at Morgan Studios in London. The song is later released as a single and reaches Number 19 on the U.S. singles chart. 1969 – Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker announce the formation of Blind Faith. Rounding out the band are Steve Winwood and Ric Grech. 1970 – With their hit single, “Venus,” Shocking Blue becomes the first act from the Netherlands to top the U.S. charts. 1972 – Kicking off a low-key college tour, Wings play their first concert, staging the show at England’s Nottingham University. 1972 – David Bowie stages his first performance in his Ziggy Stardust guise, appearing at the Tolworth Toby Jug in London. 1973 – Steely Dan’s debut album, Can’t Buy a Thrill, enters the U.S. charts. 1974 – The Stooges perform their final concert of that decade. The opening act is an up and coming Boston band called Aerosmith. 1975 – Bob Dylan scores his second Number One album in the U.S. with Blood on the Tracks. 1977 – The Clash begin recording their debut album at CBS Studios in London. 1979 – Working at Los Angeles’s Record Plant studio, Stephen Stills becomes the first rock artist to record on digital equipment. 1981 – R.E.M. conduct their first-ever recording sessions, working at Bombay Studios in Smyrna, Georgia. Among the tracks they record is “Radio Free Europe.” 1982 – The J. Geils Band begin a six-week run atop the U.S. singles chart with their hit, “Centerfold.” On the same day, Freeze Frame, the album that spawned the single, starts a four-week run at Number One on the U.S. album chart. 2006 – David Bowie is presented the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. 2014 – Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is named the greatest song of all-time by Great Britain’s New Musical Express. Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” places at Number Two. Releases 1967 – The Byrds: Younger Than Yesterday 1967 – The Troggs: Trogglodynamite 1969 – The Beach Boys: 20/20 1970 – The Doors: Morrison Hotel 1971 – Carole King: Tapestry 1972 – The Allman Brothers Band: Eat a Peach 1977 – The Kinks: Sleepwalker 1977 – America: Harbor 1978 – Judas Priest: Stained Class 1978 -- Van Halen: Van Halen 1981 – Phil Collins: Face Value 1981 – Rush: Moving Pictures 1984 – Van Halen: 1984 1989 -- Roy Orbison: Mystery Girl 1989 -- Elvis Costello: Spike 1990 -- The Cramps: Stay Sick! 1992 -- Public Image Ltd : That What Is Not 1992 -- Cowboy Junkies: Black Eyed Man 1992 -- Social Distortion: Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell 1993 -- Mick Jagger: Wandering Spirit 1993 -- Paul McCartney: Off the Ground 1995 -- Shania Twain: The Woman in Me 1995 -- Slash's Snakepit: It's Five O' Clock Somewhere 1997 – Blur: Blur Deaths Guitar Slim – Feb. 7, 1959 Dave Alexander (The Stooges) – Feb. 10, 1975 Hugh Montenegro – Feb. 6, 1981 Bill Haley – Feb. 9, 1981 Del Shannon – Feb. 8, 1990 Brian Connolly (Sweet) – Feb. 9, 1997 Falco – Feb. 6, 1998 Carl Wilson (The Beach Boys) – Feb. 6, 1998 Oliver – Feb. 12, 2000 Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – Feb. 13, 2000 Dave Peverett (Foghat, Savoy Brown) – Feb. 7, 2000 Keith Knudson (The Doobie Brotehrs) – Feb. 8, 2005 Gary Moore – Feb. 6, 2011 Rick Huxley (The Dave Clark Five) – Deb. 11, 2013 Births Josh White – Feb. 11, 1914 King Curtis – Feb. 7, 1934 Gene Vincent – Feb. 11, 1935 Roberta Flack – Feb. 10, 1939 Ray Manzarek (The Doors) – Feb. 12, 1939 Brian Bennett (The Shadows) – Feb. 8, 1940 Bobby “Boris” Pickett – Feb. 11, 1940 Tom Rush – Feb. 8, 1941 Carole King – Feb. 9, 1942 Fabian – Feb. 6, 1943 Jim Capaldi (Traffic) – Feb. 8, 1944 Bob Marley – Feb. 6, 1945 Joe Ely – Feb. 9, 1947 Jimmy Greenspoon (Three Dog Night) – Feb. 7, 1948 Dan Seals (England Dan & John Ford Coley) – Feb. 8, 1948 Nigel Olsson – Feb. 10, 1949 Steve Hackett (Genesis) – Feb. 12, 1950 Michael McDonald – Feb. 12, 1952 Brian Robertson (Thin Lizzy) – Feb. 12, 1956 Simon Phillips (Toto) – Feb. 6, 1957 Vince Neil (Motley Crue) – Feb. 8, 1961 Axl Rose – Feb. 6, 1962 David Bryan (Bon Jovi) – Feb. 7, 1962 Sheryl Crow – Feb. 11, 1962 Travis Tritt – Feb. 9, 1963 ______________________________________________________ HC's Rock Review is sponsored by Gibson

Inside Chass Bliss Audio Tale of the tape ... by Blake Wright (adapted by Team HC) THE DAY WE arrived at Chase Bliss Audio’s new offices in downtown Anoka, Minnesota was a monumental day for the company. A few days before a Uline representative had paid a visit to sell office supplies. While pens and paper are nice and definitely on the needs list, there was really only one thing the company was after, but didn’t know if it even existed — and that was quiet tape. The new CBA digs are awesomely cozy, and not blessed with an overabundance of square footage, which means a lot of tasks done in the space — like packing and shipping — are done out in the open. Thus every time a box was needed, it was built, filled and taped shut within eye and earshot of everyone. To date, Chase Bliss used tape rolls that sounded like two-feet of fresh velcro being separated at light speed. We can vouch. It was off-putting. However, the day we arrived was also the day that the Uline shipment was delivered with the promise of quiet tape. Blisser Holly Hansen wasted little time ripping into the box and retrieving the tape, loading it up on the handheld dispenser and giving it a go. Where as the old tape sounded like a back-alley scrape between warring possum gangs, the new tape offered a much quieter, more serene hum. The excitement in the office was palpable. A small victory for sure, but for a growing company in the highly-competitive boutique effect pedal space, you take your happy moments as they come. (When your first pedal is a hit, expectations change. Not only those of the buying public, but of the crew manning the ship. Chase Bliss Audion's Joel Korte knew this, and has planned his company's slow, but steady growth accordingly.) The beginnings of Chase Bliss wasn’t necessarily rich with happy times. Founder Joel Korte graduated from college with an electrical engineering degree and soon found a job. A lifetime stutterer, Korte struggled with it more once out of school and in the private sector. Meanwhile, his brother relocated to California in pursuit of an acting career. In February 2007, Joel’s brother Chase was killed in an automobile accident. “So I started working and just really hated my job,” explains Korte. “Part of it was I think that I was really sad about my brother, part of it was that I didn’t like my job and part of it was I was really struggling with my stuttering. I think in college I was kind of able to sort of hide from it, I didn’t have to worry… well I worried about it all the time but I would be out with friends and just trying to hide from it and it wasn’t as central in my life but then once I started working it was like this huge change and it was the combination of all that that just made life really horrible for a while.” Korte decided to reengage with a speech therapist, even though earlier experiences with one were mixed at best. After a more positive experience, he decided to pursue a career as a speech language pathologist. That decision pushed him into grad school in the fall of 2008. It was around that time when he started playing in a band with friends. He wanted out of his engineering gig, but knew he needed money while he was going to school. (Main Room: Chase Bliss' new digs have all the necessities - - guitars, comfy couch, max storage and a Super NES - not pictured) Enter ZVex Effects. “I sort of just harassed Zack Vex until I got a job,” says Korte. “I was like, you know I have this electrical engineering degree, I have some knowledge and experience, I just want to work. I just want a job that I care about. I was seeing everything through the lens of losing my brother and thinking about things in terms of like, ‘life is short’ you know? I don’t think I thought about life like that before. So I started to work at ZVex. I worked there part time while I was going to school for about a year and I just loved it. There was this cross fade where I really liked the engineering work at ZVex and stuttering was becoming less and less a barrier for communication in my life. Then I was playing in a band and had this huge pedal board. You know, you just get obsessed! (Testing 1,2,3...: Holly utilizes a Satellite combo amp to test pedals before they are boxed up and sent to dealers.) The part time job at ZVex turned into a full-time job and I decided I wanted to continue on with the graduate degree in speech language pathology but I switched that to part time. I worked at ZVex for like four years.” Korte left ZVex in early 2013, just about the time he was wrapping up his graduate degree. He found himself at a bit of a crossroads — pursue a career to utilize his masters or move deeper into his passion for tone. “I was completely honest with Zack because I was interested in starting my own thing but you can imagine if you’re Zack and you had this guy who was working for you for four years, who’s interested in starting his own thing, it’s not good news. We talked about it a lot and I ended up, after I left as an employee I still did contract work for ZVex for about a year after that because there were still projects we wanted to wrap up and I didn’t want to leave him high and dry, because even though ZVex has been around forever they’re still a small company. It would have been kind of a lousy situation if I had just left.” After he left, Korte began working on what would become Chase Bliss projects. He spent some time working under contract to ZVex, and other times as a speech language pathologist. Over time, he realized that of his multiple endeavors, the speech work days were his ‘least favorite’ days. He became more obsessed with his own effect designs, the first of which was the Warped Vinyl — a vibrato/chorus designed to simulate the effect of a warped vinyl record.“I just wanted to hear the sound that I had in my head! I ended up releasing the first version of Warped Vinyl in December of 2013,” says Korte. “I didn’t know, I wanted to sell some and I don’t think I was ever super unrealistic about it. At the time I knew that wasn’t going to be my only source of income or any source of income for a long time. Maybe I thought it would happen a little quicker and that I would get some income from it, you know? Because you just have to reinvest everything. (Doing Work: While much of the building process takes place off-site, there's still plenty to do for Joel and Zack W. .) But around that time, I ended up getting another engineering job for this other company which I worked at for about a year. It was a temporary position so I thought it would be right, because then I would work on my stuff on the side and then once my contract came up then I could reassess.” (Around The Shop: Inventory, pedals and tape) The Warped Vinyl was a hit right out of the gate. In fact, most of the company’s releases since the Warped Vinyl have all been successful— the Wombtone phaser, Gravitas tremolo, Spectre flanger and Tonal Recall delay. “What’s kind of amazing to me though is that even with all the stuff that’s gone really well it’s still really hard to just start a business,” says Korte. “Even when pretty much everything goes right, it’s still so fragile at the beginning stages. And finally it’s starting to feel, it’s been a little over two months since we released Tonal Recall and that’s by far our most popular product. Since that has happened, we’ve been able to move here and Zack (Warpinski) is coming up on his one year anniversary and Holly has been here officially since April, she was working a little bit as an independent contractor since February 2016. Ever since then it feels like a real company and now we have this space, we’re not in my basement.” There is a circuit board that is universal for all of the Chase Bliss pedals to date. It acts as the digital brain. Another board is placed on top of that one — the analog effect. The boards are all surface mount, and Korte knew he could not afford the equipment required to build those in-house. When the brain design was ready, he got a loan from his dad and build 250 of the motherboards with a local contractor in Minnesota. Today, the motherboards are built in California. For the effect boards, the Wombtone and Spectre are done in Minnesota, while another contract manufacturer does the Warped Vinyl, Gravitas and Tonal Recall. “We get everything here and do the testing and calibration,” explains Korte. “For Tonal Recall there are all sorts of trem pots in there we have to carefully set everyone and we have to go through this big process, it’s sort of awful but Zack does the majority of that. I’m doing a little bit right now because we are behind a little bit. Zack does a lot of the technical stuff. Holly does a lot of it as well though. We all kind of wear a lot of hats. It’s great because there’s a big part of it we don’t have to worry about. I was actually really inspired by Tim Marcus (Milkman Sound) we went to this small business workshop that Salvage Custom set up with Taylor Guitars. It was insane, it was amazing and it was kind of through that experience where it really solidified this idea in my head, if you go on the factory tour, that company and Bob Taylor specifically is just like a master at assembling guitars with all these machines and all these different processes. They build all this custom machinery to be able to assemble these guitars in such a high quality way. And I just realized thatI’m not interested in building crap. I’m good at designing pedals and writing code and electronics.” Following the Tonal Recall, Korte admits he was exhausted. It was a difficult birth, leaving him a bit of a zombie. The company showed a small midi controller at Summer NAMM, but a lot of folks are curious about what might be next on the company’s development schedule. Could a reverb be in the queue? “I kind of painted myself in a corner with this digital brain, analog heart thing,” admits Korte. “I don’t think, at least with the layout and the size of the box that I have I can’t. I think it would be pretty difficult to do an analog reverb. With the current motherboard I’m using 99% of the ROM… but the beauty of it is, it’s controlling an analog circuit. Analog circuits never go out of style as far as I know. We use this, musicians used technology that’s like seventy years old and they’re not changing and they shouldn’t change. I’m probably always going to play a tube amp even if there’s a 100% spot on digital emulation of it, just because they’re cool and they glow. There’s just something about ‘em. I also think there’s some weird sort of safety in working with analog circuits because they never go obsolete because they are what they are. Even the technology of an analog delay is like 40 to 50 years old. But we’re going through all this trouble to digitally control this antiquated technology in this sophisticated way because we like the sound of it. That’s the sound that I like and that a lot of people like. So the processor just has to do enough because all your doing is just controlling analog. But who knows, I’ll probably want to do something crazy at one point and switch to a more powerful processor… maybe not, I don’t know." -HC- (Comforts of Home: Super Nintendo, amps, and pedals.) (USA Today Video: This guy stutters, and he's owning it in so many ways) ____________________________________________ Blake and Holly Wright are Gearphoria. They travel full-time in their 25 foot Airstream while writing about cool guitars and guitar accessories. Gearphoria is a bi-monthly free-to-read online publication. You can visit their website by going to www.gearphoria.com and while you are there, sign up for their free e-zine.

How To Care For Your Electric Guitar A complete guide to care and maintenance, from newbie to pro Team HC - Courtesy of Epiphone Guitars If you've just purchased a new electric guitar or bass, you now hold in your hands a superb instrument designed and built to last a lifetime with proper care. This Care and Maintenance Guide is your quick reference resource for all guitar questions, big and small, and will help ensure a long life for your instrument. The same rules apply to taking care of both new and vintage instruments. We recommend always keeping your instrument in a case when transporting or storing it away until the next gig. This reduces the possibility of damage due to nicks, jams, and sudden changes in climate. Think of your case as your guitar's bodyguard. It's nearly impossible for an instrument to go through life without getting bumped around, but a solid case is the only surefire way to keep your instrument safe when it's not being played. Perspiration or water can damage your instrument's finish, so always wipe it down with a clean soft cloth after playing or before storing it in a case. Polishing with high gloss guitar polish or a good quality carnauba wax polish will prolong the durability of the finish. When using a shoulder strap, check that all contact points and strap fasteners are secure. You're never too old or too experienced to 'think' your guitar is fastened correctly only to have it come crashing down when the strap falls off! So always double check that your guitar strap is securely fastened. Avoid sharp blows to any part of your instrument. Be particularly alert to avoiding blows to the back of the headstock, machine heads (better known as tuners), and the neck heel area. Many headstock breaks are the result of an instrument being knocked over while being temporarily stored on a guitar stand. And do not stand your guitar case on its end. (Yes, we know that might sound obvious, but it had to be said!) Should minor set up adjustments become necessary, contact your local authorized dealer for service or questions. Unauthorized servicing can often void your warranty. ____________________________________________ Restringing Your Instrument Fresh strings are a vital part of making an instrument sing and sound its best. When strings begin to go dead---lose their resonance or are not as touch sensitive--you won't get a balanced response from your pickups. Further wear and tear could result in a broken string right in the middle of your solo. If that happens, it's time for a new set of strings! How much you play your instrument and even your body chemistry (how much you perspire) will determine how often to change strings. Listening to your instrument is the only sure way to judge whether or not your strings need to be changed. And if one string needs to be changed, the others can't be far behind; to maintain tonal balance, change the whole set at the same time. However, note that some players (and some styles of music) prefer the sound of worked-in or "duller"” strings. It all depends on the sound you seek. For instance, bass players who play classic rock and roll love the sound of "worked in" strings. When it comes to guitar, a new set of strings really makes a guitar's tone come alive. Proper string installation is critical to playability. An incorrectly installed string can slip and cause the instrument to go out of tune. When changing strings, we recommend changing one string at a time in order to maintain tension on the neck and bridge. The pressure of the strings holds the bridge and saddles in place; removing all the strings at once could necessitate a new setup. 1. At the bridge The bridge end of the instrument is strung as shown in the images above (acoustic guitar left, electric guitar right). Different instruments are strung according to the bridge and string type. The bridge end is always strung before the string posts at the headstock. 2. At the headstock Bring the string from the bridge to the post on the corresponding tuner located on the headstock. Put string (A) through the hole or slot in the post at (B) to ©; around the upper side of the post (D) and under the string (A) at (B), back again around the string post (D). Now when you wind the string, it will lock itself against the post as shown in the image above, and enhance tuning stability. ____________________________________________ Tuning Your Instrument Many individuals have their own method of tuning their instrument including DADGAD and open G, D, and E. Your new electric guitar is probably tuned to A-440 (standard tuning) using a tuning fork, electronic tuner, or pitch pipe. The chart below shows standard guitar and bass tunings. The first string, for this purpose, is considered to be the one with the smallest diameter. Tune the two outside strings first, then tune toward the center. This equalizes the pressure on the bridge and allows rapid tuning. Be sure to check your intonation, too. ____________________________________________ Intonation and Saddle Adjustment for a Tune-o-matic Bridge If you have a "Tune-o-matic" bridge guitar, it may have come to you pre-adjusted. But several additional adjustment options are available. 1. String Height or Action* Sset the bridge's height adjustment with the two slot-head screws on either side of the Tune-o-matic Bridge. Turn clockwise to lower and counter-clockwise to raise. 2. Adjusting the Intonation* An intonation adjustment is usually necessary only when switching to different gauge strings (intonation can also be affected by the angle of a tremolo unit). The saddle positions are adjusted by the individual slot-head screws located on the front of the bridge, which can slide the saddles forward or backward. To check the intonation, use an electronic tuner and tune the guitar to standard pitch. Note: most guitars use A-440 for standard pitch. Play the harmonic at the 12th fret and then compare it to the fretted note on the 12th fret. These notes should read the same on your tuner. Before adjusting the intonation, first determine the direction that the saddle needs to be moved. If the 12th fret harmonic pitch is lower in pitch than the fretted note, slide the saddle back, away from the neck. If the 12th fret harmonic pitch is higher than the fretted note, slide the saddle forward. * Adjusting intonation and string height will affect how your guitar plays and feels. If you are unsure of any of the above operations, please take instrument to an authorized dealer (if under warranty) or experienced gutiar technician. ____________________________________________ Action Adjustment Action on an guitar or bass is the distance that a string must travel before it meets the fret. Action measurements specified in 64ths of an inch, and are calculated from the top of the 12th fret to the underside of the string. Epiphone sets the action on all instruments at the factory to the optimum playability setting. On occasion, some players (especially those with a light touch) prefer lower than standard settings. You can adjust the bridge studs to lower the action (see the section on the Tune-o-matic bridge), but lower than standard action can often result in "buzzig" caused by the string vibrating against the fret. Buzz or rattle caused by lower than standard action doesn't mean the instrument is defective; it means the action needs to be higher. For action at the first fret, all instruments are set at the same height. Treble strings are set to 1/64" and the action progresses up to 2/64" for bass strings. Be sure that the truss rod is properly adjusted before setting your action. ____________________________________________ Truss Rod Adjusment All guitar necks are subject to great stress as a result of string tension, humidity, changes in climate, or all of the above. Occasionally there are times when the neck angle may need adjusting. The truss rod is adjustable at the headstock using an Allen wrench. However, please note that this adjustment should be performed periodically but only by a qualified repair person. Improper adjustment can damage your instrument's neck. ____________________________________________ Humbucking and Single-Coil Pickups Humbucking (Double Coil) Many electric guitars have double-coil humbucking pickups which were designed to do what the name says: "buck" the hum caused by fluorescent lights, rheostats, and other electric interference. This is accomplished with two coils of wire, wound in opposite directions to cancel interference. Best of all, they provide a powerful sound that is the foundation of rock and roll. Pickups are made to produce a variety of subtle variations by usingf different magnets, different combinations of winding turns, and including or not including covers. P-90 (single coil) Certain electric guitar models are equipped with single coil P-90 pickups. These come with various covers including "dog ear" and "soap bar" types. When the P-90 was introduced in 1946, it was the most powerful pickup of its kind. The Beatles were especially fond of the P-90 pickup, and used Epiphone Casino guitars on every Beatles album from Revolver through Abbey Road. Pickup Adjustments Although the pickups on most electric guitars are set up to manufacturers standards at the factory, some additional adjustments are possible. The height of the pickup can be adjusted by the two screws found at either end of the pickup mounting ring. Individual string volume can be adjusted by turning the polepiece screws. Bringing the pickup or individual pole screws closer to the strings make the signal stronger or "hotter," but can reduce sustain somewhat. ____________________________________________ Control Knobs and Switches The standard electronic configuration is two pickups, four control knobs, and a pickup selector switch. The four control knobs provide individual tone and volume control for each pickup. Models with only three knobs provide individual volume control and one master tone control. Single pickup models have only two knobs--one volume and one tone control--and no pickup selector. Your electric guitar can producing a huge variety of tones simply by manipulating these controls. Volume Control The Volume Control on all Epiphone models controls the amount of volume each pickup produces. Turning the control clockwise produces more volume. Turning the control counterclockwise produces less volume. Tone Control The Tone Control on all models are "Treble Cut" controls, which means that turning the knob counterclockwise reduces that pickup's high frequencies and produces a darker tone. Turning the control fully clockwise produces the brightest sound, and passes the instrument's full frequency range on to your amplifier. Selector Switch The Selector Switch turns pickups on and off. On most guitars with two pickups, the middle position turns both pickups on. When the switch is "up," only the neck or "Rhythm" pickup is turned on. When the switch is "down," only the bridge or "Treble" pickup will be heard. Given proper care and maintenance, your electric guitar will provide a lifetime of service and then be passed down to the next generation to enjoy. So plug in, turn on, and make better music! ____________________________________________ Harmony Central would like to thank Epiphone for their permission to reprint this article.