Innehållsförteckning för March 2023 från Guitar Player

“I FINALLY DECIDED TO TRUST MYSELF AND NOT LISTEN TO ALL THE PEOPLE SAYING, ‘YOU HAVE TO PLAY THIS AND THIS’ ” LAURA COX HAS performed for more than 100 million people on her YouTube channel — not including the rapt audiences she’s won over on both sides of the Atlantic — but until recently, she had never been the sole guitarist onstage. “I’m the only guitar player right now, and I’m touring with a keyboard player because I wanted to try some new directions,” she explains via Zoom, ahead of releasing her third album, Head Above Water (earMUSIC). “I wasn’t sure I could make it, but I surprised myself, in a good way.” Now her live audiences are learning what half a million subscribers already knew — when Cox…

AS ONE OF the most influential groups to burst out of England’s early 1970s glam-rock scene, Roxy Music stood head and shoulders above their fellow purveyors of sound. The group began with a musical cocktail that comprised art rock, prog and electronica, all laced with a pop sapidity, before it morphed into a more synth-laden framework. Roxy influenced a plethora of musicians in their wake and helped cue the new wave synth-pop sounds of the 1980s. At the core of the group’s sound were the offbeat Latino-infused stylings of guitarist Phil Manzanera. His wide-ranging taste for musical diversity was instilled in him by the sounds he heard as child growing up in Cuba. While it was pivotal to the evolution of Roxy Music’s sound, it also found expression in other…

Mike Campbell’s musical resume is long and accomplished. He’s recorded and written with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Aretha Franklin, Brian Setzer, Joe Cocker, Jackson Browne, Lone Justice, Warren Zevon, Chris Stapleton, Roy Orbison, Roger McGuinn, Paula Abdul, Dwight Twilley — and that’s naming just a few. He also toured with Fleetwood Mac during 2018–’19, and leads his own band, the Dirty Knobs, which Campbell formed some years ago. Primarily, however, Campbell is known as the lead guitarist in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He, Petty and keyboardist Benmont Tench joined forces circa 1970 as part of the Gainesville, Florida, band Mudcrutch, which moved to California and released a single before breaking up in 1975. A year after that, Campbell, Petty and Tench formed the…

Do these stretches gently, similar to how one might hold a yoga pose. “Long and gentle is more helpful and less risky than aggressive short stretches,” Dr. Jacobs says. And remember: If you experience an increase in symptoms or have a change in medical condition, promptly seek appropriate medical advice. EXERCISE 1: Stretch for forearm and elbow. Stand with your right arm fully extended in front of your body. Flex your wrist slightly and grasp with the opposite hand. Now flex your wrist more fully, and rotate your fingers inward toward the body until you feel a stretch on the outside of your forearm. Hold the pose for 30 to 90 seconds. Switch to your left arm. EXERCISE 2: Stretch for fingers, forearm and the carpal tunnel. Extend your right…

SPECIFICATIONS Overdrive Reverb CONTACT amplifiednation.com PRICE $4,049 direct, as tested CONTROLS Volume, treble, middle, bass, reverb send and return, overdrive, level, Accent. Switches for bright, mid and Rock/Jazz. Clean and Overdrive Ratio (master) controls and preamp boost switch on back POWER 50 watts TUBES Five 12AX7s, one 12AT7 and two 6L6GC output tubes EXTRAS Tube-driven spring reverb; DIN input for channel and boost foot-switch. Effects loop send and return. Speaker outs for 4Ω, 8Ω and 16Ω. Bias check points. Power on and standby switches WEIGHT 30 lbs BUILT USA KUDOS An impressive rendition of the raucous earlier D-style circuit, boasting pristine cleans, lush reverb and aggressive overdrive CONCERNS Dialing in your optimal tones might require a little patience TAYLOR COX FOUNDED Amplified Nation in the Boston area in 2009 to…

IN A WORLD IN which mammoth guitar companies take smaller ones to court to clamp down on any perceived infringement of design trademarks, one resolutely small-shop maker is working symbiotically with a legendary brand to make the world a better place, one guitar at a time. Luthier Matthew Hughes founded Banker Custom Guitars in Dawsonville, Georgia, in 2017, and respect for his old-school approach to the craft has grown exponentially in the five years since. The Banker name was chosen because Hughes was a banker before he switched to building on a full-time basis. The company reached wider attention in 2019 when it became the first boutique maker accepted to Gibson’s new Authorized Partner Program, which licenses Banker to employ certain historical headstock and body shapes trademarked by Gibson in…

“WE JUST MAKE SURE TO HAVE THOSE DOTTED DELAYS OFF. THAT’S OUR RULE” ELIJAH HEWSON, THE 23-year-old singer and guitarist of the fast-rising Irish alternative band Inhaler, is happy to rattle off the names of his favorite bands and artists — the Stone Roses, Joy Division, Kings of Leon, the Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie and the Rolling Stones. Funnily enough, he doesn’t mention U2, which is only strange considering the fact that his father, Paul Hewson, is known to the world as Bono. It’s as if he goes out of his way not to talk about his famous dad and the band he leads. It isn’t until I remark how some of the guitar parts on Inhaler’s just-released sophomore album, Cuts & Bruises (Polydor Records), bear an early Edge-like quality…

In March 1973, advertisements for Led Zeppelin’s new album, Houses of the Holy, began to appear in music magazines. One featured a black-and-white drawing of a man with his hands bound behind his back and his head jammed between the bumpers of two railway carriages. Another featured a uniformed figure with its head exploding in a cloud of smoke and flames, above the phrase, “Led Zeppelin. Houses of the Holy. The Effect Is Shattering…” Even ads for Pink Floyd’s enigmatic-looking new album The Dark Side of the Moon, released that same month, couldn’t equal the confidence of Zeppelin’s campaign. With 1971’s Led Zeppelin IV, their previous and fourth album, the group had quit placing images of themselves on their record sleeves. Led Zeppelin no longer needed a band picture or…

“The Roth and Whitesnake things have authenticity in my playing, but this album is entirely my authentic vision” For anyone who came to Steve Vai through his work with Alcatrazz, Whitesnake and David Lee Roth in particular, his new album, Vai/Gash will feel like a homecoming to the glory days of metal, when the song was king. Every track boasts an anthemic chorus, numerous memorable melodic hooks and short, shred-laced solos. Recorded by Vai in 1991, the album sat on his shelf for more than 30 years. At the time that he recorded the songs, Vai was immersed in the world of biker culture, enjoying the freedom and adrenaline rush of riding powerful bikes with a bunch of like-minded pals. One of those friends was Johnny “Gash” Sombrotto, a unique…

MOLLY TUTTLE APPEARS to be everywhere. She’s the toast of her adopted hometown in Nashville, and she’s developing a deepening obsession with the most iconic classic rock band from her home ground near San Francisco, the Grateful Dead. While she’s fluent in an array of Americana settings, Tuttle’s potent bluegrass chops make her a singular force of nature on six strings. Her latest album, 2022’s Crooked Tree, feels like taking a wild hayride with her blazing band, Golden Highway. From the high-octane kick-off cut “She’ll Change” through the rollicking roll of “Goodbye Girl,” her fretboard fireworks create sonic spectacles. Tuttle’s crosspicking solos flow as fluently as banjo rolls, and she deftly applies clawhammer banjo technique to her guitar foundation on “The River Knows.” The album even features an array of A-list…

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“I CAN PLAY RIFFS WITH DRONES UNDERNEATH. FINGERSTYLE OPENED UP A NEW UNIVERSE FOR ME” HARD-CHARGING BLUES-rock guitarist and singer Jared James Nichols is mighty stoked about his new, self-titled album, but truth be told, he’s thrilled that he was able to make a record at all. In October 2021, a few months before hitting the studio, he broke his right arm when he picked up a road case the wrong way and his arm twisted under the stress. The accident required surgery and left him with a metal plate and 16 screws in his arm — and not a lot of assurance from doctors that he’d be able to play guitar again. “It was every guitar player’s nightmare,” Nichols says, “but I was determined that nothing would stop me.…

ANYBODY WHO HAS heard Nita Strauss play guitar — whether on her own chart-topping solo releases, during her longtime stretch in Alice Cooper’s band or now as Demi Lovato’s six-string sidekick — has marveled at her versatility and seemingly boundless creativity. But where does that inventiveness come from? As Strauss tells us, sometimes it’s born out of frustration. “I’m just like anybody else,” she says. “There are days when I feel like I’m playing the same old things and I’m not doing anything new. It’s rare, thank goodness, but when it happens it can be a drag.” Strauss’s remedy starts by making her mind a blank. “I just clear out all the stress and mental cobwebs,” she says. Next, she starts to improvise. “I’ll just play without any real agenda.…

CARPAL TUNNEL. Trigger finger. Frozen shoulder. These are among every guitarist’s nightmare ailments. Fortunately, by using body awareness and a few quick exercises, you can avoid these and other problems, and heal faster if you’re already hurt. Just ask Dr. Lou Jacobs, a chiropractor and acupuncturist in Portland, Maine. He has 20 years of experience treating musician injuries for clients that include Steve Vai, Blackberry Smoke, Eagles of Death Metal and the Pixies. He offered up useful advice along with his five prevention/recovery exercises that will help you continue to enjoy a lifetime of guitar playing. Is guitar playing usually the source of the problems your clients experience? If they play a lot and have irregular form, yes, but often there are multiple factors. Any activity that’s repetitive or heavy…

EVERY MUSICIAN SHOULD have a basic understanding of the piano keyboard, which can be a fantastic tool for advancing fretboard logic. I’ve been pretty terrible with this ever since I abandoned the piano to focus on the guitar in my youth, much to my grandmother’s dismay. When I found myself house sitting this winter in a home that has both a piano and the exact same John Thompson instruction book that was on grandma’s piano all those years ago, I decided it was time to get back to it. When I started to use the guitar to help my understanding, a number of correlations suddenly appeared, leading me to a renewed appreciation and deeper understanding of both instruments. KEY IN To start, I suggest that you sit in front of…

TWO NOTES HAS made a good name for itself mainly by designing and manufacturing digital impulse response (IR) speaker and cab simulators. So the release of an analog unit like the ReVolt Analog Amp Sim might seem like a big leap sideways — or even backward. Looked at it another way, however, it’s a clever diversification in the field — a hedging of bets, not to mention a credible attempt for serious viability in the growing market for fly rigs, and at a reasonable price to boot. Two Notes calls the unit a “three-channel all-analog guitar amp simulator with an analog cab sim, FX loop and MIDI,” and that goes some way toward explaining what’s on offer. The three channels include American Clean, with controls for gain, volume, bass and…

WHETHER YOU’RE A Judas Priest fan or not, chances are good you know “Living After Midnight,” the rock and roll celebration from British Steel, the 1980 album that also includes such perennial Priest favorites as “Breaking the Law” and “Metal Gods.” Written by singer Rob Halford and Priest’s twin guitarists at that time, Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, it’s probably the easiest song to play in Priest’s entire catalog, with an eight bar solo that is the very essence of economy. And as Tipton explains, the song actually has a Beatles connection. “We were working on the songs for British Steel at Tittenhurst Park, which had been John Lennon’s old home before he sold it to Ringo Starr,” the guitarist explains. “We’d been out at the pub, and when we…