Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i Guitar World

FOUR COVERS! SO, AS PROMISED in last month’s Woodshed, this issue — after two consecutive issues that focused on events that took place in the Eighties — is dedicated to players who (I assume, anyway — it’s not like I have their passports) weren’t even around in the Eighties. So if you’re looking for your new favorite guitarist, this issue is a veritable smörgåsbord. FOUR DIFFERENT COVERS: Take note of this issue’s four different covers — Jake Kiszka (of Greta Van Fleet fame), Christone “Kingfish” Ingram (who’s also the subject of his very own “in the style of” lesson), Billy Strings and Gretchen Menn. WELCOME JOSH SMITH: Josh Smith, who is one hell of a blues player, is now a GW columnist, and you can check out his first installment…

AXEL RUDI PELL 1 “Sahara” Joe Satriani This was the first song I heard from The Elephants of Mars. He has such a great feeling for awesome melodies, and the playing is perfect. It’s unbelievable that he played all his guitars over the Sans-Amp for this album. Great sounds too! 2 “Zick Zack” Rammstein I saw the video on YouTube and it’s so funny — one of the best, most complex clips in a long time. Although it’s in German, anybody can see what it’s about… the beauty mania. The music is typically Rammstein with very heavy rhythm guitars and a catchy chorus, which really shines. Love it! 3 “Scars” Smith/Kotzen Great vocals from both Adrian and Richie. I also love the guitar playing…

“THIS IS THE first time I’m playing 100 percent what the heck I want to play!” says Kirk Hammett over the phone from his home in Hawaii. Metallica’s lead guitarist is known for being a genuinely stoked dude. But there’s a reason that he’s extra excited on this morning in early April — and it has zero to do with his Big Four band. Hammett is about to release his debut solo outing, Portals — a four-song instrumental EP that finds the guitarist leaning into his love of horror films, classical music and soundtracks as he explores a musical style he calls “audio cinematic.” Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, the EP runs the gamut from spine-tingling metallic epics to sweeping spaghetti Western–flavored jams. Plenty of Hammett’s signature Metallica…

DURING THE LAST part of Gary Holt’s tenure as Slayer’s second guitarist, he sometimes felt like he was neglecting his main band, Exodus. As honored as he was to be in Slayer, a group he had loved since their first album, 1983’s Show No Mercy, he wished he had more time to spend with Exodus, the group he had played with since high school and for which he assumed the primary songwriter role after Kirk Hammett left in 1983 to join Metallica. While Holt wrote and played on all of Exodus’ 2014 studio album Blood In, Blood Out, he couldn’t completely dedicate himself to the group. He missed shows that coincided with Slayer gigs (Heathen’s Kragen Lum filled in on those tours). And, if Holt hadn’t been in Slayer for…

JAKE KISZKA GASPS: “Wow, that’s pretty incredible!” Speaking to us via Zoom from São Paulo, Brazil, the Greta Van Fleet axman has just been informed that he has been named the toppermost of the poppermost in GW’s “hottest guitarist in the world right now” poll — and by a wide margin. He takes a moment to let the news sink in, then says, “I’m honored and humbled. If anything, it offers me peace of mind knowing that what I’m doing is respected and appreciated by fellow guitarists.” It’s now been five years since Greta Van Fleet burst out of their hometown of Frankenmuth, Michigan, amid a wave of press that anointed the young quartet “the next big thing” (and even a few hyperbolic headlines touted them as “rock’s saviors”), so…

WHEN GUITAR WORLD CONGRATULATES English guitarist Sophie Burrell on being voted one of the greatest players in the world right now, we soon get the impression she’s as shocked as she is thrilled. “It’s pretty insane!” she grins, talking to GW via video conference, before very humbly explaining she never thought she’d be considered such a thing. The million-plus followers and subscribers she has amassed online, however, would perhaps beg to differ — high praise coming far and wide for her note-perfect videos covering artists as varied as John Mayer, Billie Eilish and Slipknot. “I know I’m getting there, but I almost don’t consider myself worthy because I haven’t released much original stuff yet,” continues Burrell, who sits among the youngest players in our list and is usually seen playing…

FOLLOW THE ERUPTING proliferation of smart-tech musical instruments and you’ll most likely find Lava Music at the forefront of this molten integration. Last year’s release of the innovative Lava Me 3 — the company’s first smart guitar — with its eye-catching finishes, futuristic design and integrated touchscreen display with proprietary HILAVA operating system, proved that smart devices could seamlessly co-exist within a carbon-fiber instrument in a beneficial way. The only hiccup was that its price made it a challenging peak for those curious enough to explore its app-driven tools (which are primed for practicing and creating instant musical content) and on-the-go, player-friendly size. But now it seems Lava is determined to have its revolutionary instrument in the hands of seasoned players and tech-savvy consumers alike with the release of their…

TALES FROM NERDVILLE WHEN I FIRST started playing in a band, it was with a “power trio,” which consists of guitar, bass and drums. So many of our favorite rock bands are essentially power trios that actually have four people, because there is also a singer: Led Zeppelin, Free, the Who and many others. If you are the lead singer and the guitar player, or the lead singer and bass player, you can perform as a three-piece, classic examples being Trapeze with Glenn Hughes, and of course Jimi Hendrix and Cream. There are a few techniques on the guitar that apply best to the three-piece power trio format, in the sense that you, the guitarist, have way more sonic space to take up. Once you start adding other instruments, such…

“REMEMBER WHEN” Bad Wolves GUITARIST DOC COYLE crafted this highly appealing modern metal song’s rhythm and lead parts using an unusual 7-string tuning of Csus4 (low to high: G, C, G, C, F, G, C). This is essentially a whole-step-down transposition of the popular 6-string “DADGAD” tuning with a low A added on the bottom string (“A-DADGAD”). As is customary, we’ve transcribed the song thinking in the more player-friendly non-transposed tuning, with the understanding and indication that everything sounds in the key of C minor, down a whole step from what looks like and is written as being in the key of D minor. Looking at the frames, to acquaint yourself with the chord shapes Coyle uses in the song, you’ll see how the altered tuning presents opportunities to employ…

HIWATT AMPS OFTEN are categorized along with Marshall and Vox as being representative of the “British sound,” but in reality a Hiwatt sounds as different from a Marshall or a Vox as those two brands sound compared to a Fender. Hiwatt really belongs in its own distinct category, as the amps that the company produced from the late Sixties through the early Eighties under the direction of founder Dave Reeves have a signature tonal personality that few amps have matched since then. Many players describe the Hiwatt sound as being “clean” or “hi-fi,” but that’s telling only a part of the story. The Who’s Pete Townshend is known for being one of Hiwatt’s biggest supporters, yet his most famous Hiwatt guitar tones, recorded during the Who’s performances at the 1969…

I finally got my Dean ML! I was recently reorganizing my back issues of GW and came across the first-ever subscription issue I recieved of GW — April 1994, with a badass cover photo of Dimebag Darrell and his even more badass Dean from Hell (a Tobacco burst Dean was on the back cover, BTW). Back then when an issue arrived, I’d devour it from cover to cover, re-read the interviews and try to memorize every song... but then, when my very excited young eyes stared at the end of the issue, the holy grail appeared: a sweepstakes to win a full stack and a Dean ML! I thought I’d never be able to have one of those guitars, but here was my chance, my opportunity! I didn’t win the…

TUNE-UPS NEWS + NOTES LilG Seven Summer Stories (LilG Records) SOUND This 10-year-old Australian — who was clearly inspired by the classic sounds of the Ventures, Shadows and their ilk — has got the clean Strat sound nailed perfectly, not to mention an ultra-cool retro look. Although she has only three years of playing under her belt, her debut album showcases chops, taste and technical ability well beyond her years. KEY TRACK “Guitar Boogie” Faz Waltz On the Ball (Spaghetty West) SOUND This Italian three-piece summons the spirit of Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, filtered through a Seventies U.K. glam-rock prism. The result is an unpretentious, hard-hitting set of rockers that celebrate the joyous, good-time vibe of classic rock ’n’ roll — short, adrenaline-surging slabs of instant-hit satisfaction,…

FOR JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner, September 26, 2021, started out like any other gig day. The band was scheduled to play support to Metallica on the fourth and final night of the Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Faulkner was a little tired, but after two and a half weeks on tour, that was hardly unusual. He poured himself a vodka and Red Bull and downed it. Combined with the adrenaline of playing to a sold-out crowd, he soon perked up and was excited to take the stage dressed in trademark studded black leather vest and black leather pants, and wielding a trademark Gibson Flying V. Judas Priest opened with “One Shot at Glory” from 1990’s Painkiller, then launched into “Lightning Strike” from 2018’s Firepower. By the third…

5 LARISSA LIVEIR WITH AN AUDIENCE of almost one and a half million on YouTube and Instagram alone, Brazilian guitarist Larissa Liveir has become known for her stunning renditions and arrangements of her favorite songs — from Metallica and Tame Impala to Dire Straits and Lorde. Uploaded only 10 months ago, her cover of the “Johnny B. Goode” intro has already surpassed a staggering 19 million views, with her acoustic take on Brian May’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” solo not far behind. And her versatility stretches far beyond that, as demonstrated by her unaccompanied neo-soul version of “Careless Whisper” — which, as stated in the video description, was from an arrangement by online flamenco guitarist AcousticTrench. In interviews she has listed Slash, John Mayer, Santana and David Gilmour as her…

DURING THE LATE Seventies, several Japanese guitar factories were making copies of classic American electric guitars that were both better and cheaper than what the biggest companies in the USA were currently offering. This resulted in what is now known as the lawsuit period. Instead of suing the competition, Fender opted not to go to battle with these skillful Japanese builders, recognizing that it could be more advantageous to join forces with them. This led to Fender’s highly acclaimed Japanese-made Vintage reissue models (’57 and ’62 Stratocaster, ’52 Telecaster) introduced in 1982, followed later by the ’62 Custom Telecaster introduced in 1985. Fender’s Japanese-made guitars played important roles in reviving the company’s reputation during the latter CBS era and by providing manufacturing facilities during the transition from CBS to FMIC…

MY INTRODUCTION TO EarthQuaker Devices was the Speaker Cranker I reviewed (glowingly) well over a decade ago. I loved the pedal not only for “not coloring your tone dramatically” but for doing exactly as its name implied — pushing a speaker toward the edge of breakup with its one and only knob. Even back then, I knew this small boutique company from Akron, Ohio, which hand-built graphic-emblazoned pedals, was going to be a big deal. Well, here we are in 2022, and EQD is a serious heavyweight in the stompbox biz, and I’m feeling pretty good about my clairvoyance. Of course, this wasn’t hard to predict because EQD continually creates some of the most sonically immersive effects. And with that impressive track record, I’m excited to now review the Special…

MELODIC MUSE ON MY LATEST album, Electric Truth, there’s a song called “Shuggie,” which is an homage to the legendary R&B/blues artist Shuggie Otis. Shuggie, son of R&B impresario Johnny Otis, started out playing guitar in his father’s band at the young age of 11. He began recording for Epic Records in his late teens and in 1971 released the album Freedom Flight that included the song “Strawberry Letter #23,” which went to become a smash hit for the Brothers Johnson in 1977. The Brothers Johnson version of “Strawberry Letter #23” is a song I’ve always loved since I first heard it, and it always reminds me of growing up in the Seventies, when commercial radio wasn’t segregated in any way. You could hear songs by Dolly Parton, Queen, ZZ…

Jordan Toth AGE: 16 LOCATION: Toledo, OH GUITARS: Ibanez GRGR120EX SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: Pantera “Walk” and “Cemetery Gates,” Black Sabbath “Black Sabbath,” Down “Losing All” GEAR I WANT MOST: Dean Dimebag Darrell Signature Dean from Hell, Randall Warhead WH300, DigiTech Whammy pedal Scott Kesler AGE: 47 LOCATION: Wauseon, OH GUITARS: Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy, Epi Blueshawk, Nineties Jackson Kelly, Gibson SG, etc. SONGS I’VE BEEN PLAYING: Alice in Chains “What the Hell Have I,” Led Zeppelin “Over the Hills and Far Away,” Leadbelly “The Pines” and originals by my band GEAR I WANT MOST: How much space have you got? I have G.A.S. — Gibson J-45, Les Paul Goldtop with P90’s, Axe-Fx II for my tamer gigs… Yannick Ramanujam AGE: 10 LOCATION: Newtown, PA GUITARS: Cort CR100, called “Cortney”…

Q: What led you to guitar land? Watching Chuck Berry on Johnny Carson’s show when I was 10. Chuck was doing his duck walk — the coolest thing ever. My whole career has been having one foot in rock and one in country, and I feel Chuck just as much in both worlds. Q: What was your first guitar? I played a tennis racquet until I was 15, which is when I got my first guitar, a Silvertone archtop that had ridiculously high action; it was almost unplayable. All I could learn on it were bass lines, which I got from ZZ Top’s Fandango! Eventually I got a second-hand Alvarez at a garage sale. Q: What’s the first song you ever played? I had met this older Black guy, Granville…

IF YOU HAVE a smartphone and you’re still not using it to help with your guitar playing, you’re missing out. The best guitar apps can truly help with your musical ventures, integrating into your practice regimen to help you become the player you want to be. Whether it’s a simple tuner or a fully fledged multi-track recorder, the modern guitarist is spoiled when it comes to apps. You don’t have to be a new player to take advantage of them, either; there are plenty of great apps that’ll help you solidify what you’ve already learned through practice, such as metronomes and loopers. To save you the hassle of sifting through the many options on Google Play or the App Store, we’ve put together our pick of the best guitar apps…

YOU HEAR IT all the time in some circles: “The age of the guitar hero is dead” or “They just don’t make guitar heroes the way they used to.” It’s all very interesting, and, in the end, all very false. The reality is, there’s a whole new generation of “heroic” players out there — people who gleefully (and with great, unmatched skill) spread the gospel of the guitar on a daily basis, people who inspire untold numbers of would-be guitarists to pick up that strange, six-stringed thing that sits in a darkened corner of Uncle Henry’s living room. Anyone with interest — and with access to a smart phone or a semi-smart computer — knows there are hordes of new guitar heroes out there, and — for this issue —…

THREE YEARS AGO, CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” Ingram set the music world on its ear. The 20-year-old guitar prodigy from Clarksdale, Mississippi, blew away critics and fans alike with his forceful debut album, Kingfish. Artists who have been called “the next big thing” have a way of coming and going, but Ingram (whom Guitar World hailed in 2019 as “the future of the blues”) quickly proved that he meant business: In 2021, with Kingfish still riding high on the charts (where it would remain for a remarkable 91 weeks), he released his second album, 662, an even richer and more accomplished outing than its predecessor, one that mixed elements of funk, R&B and jazz into his sturdy blues base. The record was another critical and commercial hit, and it even nabbed Ingram…

TENTER CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAM. Kingfish — already a modern blues icon at 23 years old — displays a level of musical maturity far beyond his years, playing with tons of dynamics and delicious tone to boot. It’s clear that Kingfish is well studied in all the great blues players of previous generations, with a vocabulary that is rich in fundamental blues language. But like all the best blues players, Kingfish has a wonderful ear for melody and rhythmic phrasing. He successfully makes this blues vocabulary all his own, with a particular knack for combining major and minor pentatonic phrasing in a way that sounds lyrical, vocal and natural. Kingfish, who hails from Clarksdale, Mississippi, has already headlined several tours off the back of his Grammy-nominated, self-titled 2019 debut album and…

IN DEEP LAST MONTH, WE went over the verse rhythm part to “Save Something for Me,” the second track off my new album, Light of Love. This month, we’ll look at the solo. “Save Something for Me” is played in the key of G and is built from a repeating G - Em axis, as the two chords alternate in bars 1-8. Bars 9-14 feature the progression C - Am -Em - G, then Am - C - Em - D. All of these chords live in the key of G major (and Em). As I stated last time, many songs are built around the relative major/minor relationship between G and Em, familiar examples being Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” and “Rockin’ in the Free World,” the Grateful Dead’s “Me…

LIVE FROM FLAT V HELLO EVERYONE, AND welcome to my new Guitar World column. Through the course of these lessons, I will demonstrate many of the different approaches I use for both rhythm guitar and lead improvisation, and my hope is that you will find the material presented here to be useful to you in your overall playing and songwriting endeavors. I’d like to begin with a look at my song “Triple J Hoedown,” which I had originally recorded for my 2009 album, Inception. But we’re going to check out the more recent live version, from my new Live at the Spud record, which was recorded at the legendary Baked Potato in Los Angeles. “Triple J Hoedown” is a bit of an opus. I wrote the tune when I was…

As heard on DISOBEY “REMEMBER WHEN” WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN BOECKLIN, THOMAS CUMMINGS, ANDREW FULK AND JOSH STROCK COPYRIGHT © 2017, 2018 NO MORE NAMES, SO MANY NAMES, WIZARDS DANCING UNDERWATER, ARTIST 101 PUBLISHING GROUP, BIKE MUSIC AND I HAVE THE FEAR. ALL RIGHTS FOR NO MORE NAMES AND SO MANY NAMES ADMINISTERED BY DOWNTOWN MUSIC SERVICES. ALL RIGHTS FOR WIZARDS DANCING UNDERWATER AND ARTIST 101 PUBLISHING GROUP…