Archive for January 2015 - Page 4

Meet Paul O’Moore, a man who had a career in music long before he picked up an instrument. But Paul eventually picked up a bass and the rest – as they say – is history. Paul is the No Treble reader in the spotlight for the week of January 19, 2015. Here’s his story… Bio: I grew up in music...

If you missed Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life tour last year, you’re in luck. The legendary R&B artist has announced another 11-date run this Spring that will span the U.S. Similar to last year’s trek, each night will include a performance of Wonder’s 1976 album in its entirety. “Truly, I wanted to do this for years,” Wonder...

I love bass playthroughs. So when death metal king Alex Webster posted a new video, I dropped everything to watch it. The clip shows Webster tearing through “Kufra at Dusk” from metal supergroup Conquering Dystopia’s debut album last year. From killer tone to monster riffs, this has it all. Buckle up.

The Aristocrats one-upped itself with the release of its latest album package, The album, which documents world tour performances supporting the progressive rock band’s 2013 album Culture Clash, showcases not just one date, but performances from six different stops in five countries on three continents. The trio includes bassist Bryan Beller, guitarist Guthrie Govan on guitar and Marco Minnemann on...

The annual Bass Bash will be returning this year, and it’s going to be a doozy. Scheduled in the evenings after the NAMM Show, the Bass Bash is held at JT Schmid’s in Anaheim, California on January 22nd and 23rd from 7pm to midnight. This year’s performers include some of the world’s finest bassists. The first night will feature Alain...

This week we check out the Hades bass by Zerberus Guitars. Built in their German custom shop, the instrument was made for bassist Lenny Castellanos of the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band. The bass’s uniquely figured body is made of mahogany with a Zebrawood top finished in a wild honey color. Its five-piece neck is made up of birdseye maple, mahogany,...

No Treble reader and bassist Craig Strain sends us this video of his band Pickpocket having fun doing live rehearsal recordings of some of their tunes. This one is called “North by North West” and was written by Craig, about his time living in Vancouver. Love the groove, that bass tone, and the horns. Craig said “Unfortunately the bass cam...

No Treble readership keeps climbing, and for that, we’re quite grateful. For the week of January 10-16, 2015, we all enjoyed some pre-show news from the upcoming winter NAMM, watched some killer bass videos, and were inspired by columns by Damian Erskine and Donovan Stokes. Thank you as always for making this site one of your places to hang. 1....

I don’t watch The Late Show a lot, but I know that when David Letterman goes on about how great the band is for two whole minutes before letting them play, it’s going to be good. In fact, it’s so good that Letterman has them start the song up again after they finish. St. Paul and the Broken Bones is...

Italian string instrument maker Alter Ego has introduced a tunable tailpiece for the double bass. Rather than tuning the strings themselves, the tailpiece allows for tuning the afterlength portion of each string. “There are many valid theories on how to tune the afterlength portion of the strings, but we believe there is no ideal formula as many factors may come...

AC Guitars is introducing a new compact model called the Border Reiver Travel Bass. Hand-built in Scotland, the headless bass takes its name from a piece of local history. “Border Reivers were bands of raiders that operated on both sides of the English/Scottish border from the 13th to 17th century,” luthier Alan Cringean explains. “So crossing borders seemed like an...

Pitchfork has a great new concert series called Nightcap, where they feature independent artists in late night concerts around the United States. They’re off to a great start with bassist Thundercat, who performed “Tron Song” and a brand new track called “Them Changes.” Not to be confused with the Buddy Miles song, “Them Changes” is a mid-tempo groove that blurs...