Archive for November 2018 - Page 6

Scary Pockets is back with a new, funky (and chill) cover, taking on The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses.” Joined by guest vocalist Suzy Jones, the band is once again backed by bassist Sam Wilkes.

Up the irons! Iron Maiden has announced that their Legacy of the Beast tour will be coming to North America for 34 concerts next summer. The tour, which just wrapped up in Europe, features the metal legends playing songs spanning their entire catalog. Of course, that means loads of great bass lines. “We gave a lot of thought to the...

Cody Fry and Dynamo recently released this live video performance of “Better,” and it has some people talking about how the band’s sound reminds them of a pop-oriented Snarky Puppy. Zachariah Witcher is the bassist on the track, and it seems guitarist and musical guest Cory Wong must basically live in the studio.

Hal Leonard has published a new book for acoustic and electric jazz bassists. Jazz Bass by Matthew Rybicki covers everything you need to know to start learning jazz bass. Lessons in the book include walking basics, chords and scales, blues, rhythm changes, string raking, soloing, chord substitution, and more. The 138-page book is complete with standard music notation plus tab...

DSM Noisemaker has announced the OmniCabSim Mini, a compact pedal that continues their line of cabinet simulators. It has controls for amp gain, level, texture, resonance, and cab size. “The Cab Size switch options are Combo and Stack for guitar use, while Fridge is selected for bass use to get that tight and punchy low-end response for any situation or...

Prophets of Rage have released a new video called “The Ballot or the Bullet” that teases their upcoming album with a mashup of three unreleased tracks plus the new single “Heart Afire.” Taken from a Malcolm X speech about black voter rights, the video is a reminder of the importance of voting. “There are people trying to keep many of...

Bob Daisley has just released a new tribute album to guitarist Gary Moore, with whom he had worked for many years. Moore Blues for Gary features a host of incredible guitarists and vocalists paying respects to Moore with Daisley laying down the bass all along the way. “In my opinion, Gary was one of the best guitarists who ever lived....

Earthquaker Devices has unveiled a new pedal called the Black Ash Endangered Fuzz. Limited to 1,500 units worldwide, the fuzz is a take on the “three-knob” Tone Bender that is built with rare components. “It uses a highly curated selection of premium components including paper-in-oil capacitors and half-watt carbon composition resistors from EarthQuaker Devices president Jamie Stillman’s personal collection to...

In our last interview with solo bass whiz Steve Lawson, he gave us the scoop on his latest album, Beauty and Desolation. The gorgeous seven-song collection continues the bassist’s constant sonic exploration and artistic growth. Our chat included his ideas on the album’s concept, his improvisational style, and how he uses symbolism in music. In part two of the conversation,...

Vulfpeck shared another song from their upcoming album, Hill Climber. Part of the announcement stated “Joe Dart on upright bass.” So of course, I clicked immediately and had a good laugh.

The remaining members of The Specials have announced they’re working on a new album called Encore. It will be their first new release in 20 years and the first to features vocalist Terry Hall since 1981. It also reunites the band with Lynval Golding and bassist Horace Panter, who helped spread the news on Twitter. “Can finally talk about our...

Ozzy Osbourne has announced a new round of dates in his “No More Tours 2” farewell tour. The former Black Sabbath singer will once again be joined by longtime collaborators Zakk Wylde, Tommy Clufetos, Adam Wakeman, and Blasko on bass. The North American leg of the outing will also feature support from Megadeth, who will be celebrating their 35th anniversary....