Archive for 2018 - Page 52

If you’re into heavy metal, you’re going to want to listen to this. Blasko has a new podcast called “A New Level” that explores the genre by way of interviews with titans in the industry. The bassist, who has worked with Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Danzig and more, is also an artist manager and approaches the podcast with the idea...

Fender used the Summer NAMM Show to unveil a host of new instruments, including a new signature bass with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea. It’s his second bass with the company after they released a Jazz model two years ago. “Our artist signature active bass with Flea was designed to complement the Shell Pink Flea Jazz Bass — a...

We always like to say the only thing better than one bassist is two. The Melvins acted upon that notion with their latest album, Pinkus Abortion Technician, which features both Jeff Pinkus and Steven MacDonald. The band has also been touring with their two-bass configuration and luckily their set at the House of Strombo was captured on film. The band...

Doom metal band YOB have always been about reflection and meditation, but their latest release is their deepest yet. Guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt spent months battling acute diverticulitis, a devastating intestinal disease, that almost cost him his life. During his recovery, he wrote Our Raw Heart. “I had no idea, really, if the band was going to be able to continue...

Westminster Effects has unveiled three new preamp/DI pedals for Summer NAMM, including the bass-specific Wittenberg Bass preamp. The three-knob pedal has a volume control, a Frequency control for setting the center frequency, and an EQ control for setting how steep the EQ’s curvature is. It has a standard 1/4-inch input and output as well as an XLR output. The Westminster...

The first time I saw Marco Mendoza play bass live was with Whitesnake. Whatever you think about Whitesnake’s music (personally, I am a child of the 80s and a lover of that genre), they are a force of hard, heavy and blues power that is not to be reckoned with (if you can get past those wild hair metal videos...

I probably spend too much time on Youtube (but, hey, it’s part of the gig). This includes watching videos from the huge library on the Audiotree channel. This one stood out to me. Dead Horses is an acoustic Americana/folk project of singer/guitarist Sarah Vos. Here she is with Dan Wolff on double bass and backing vocals performing “All I Really...

The Stanley Clarke Band has returned with a new album entitled The Message, which follows up their 2010 self-titled album. It also marks 45 years since the bass master’s debut solo album. The band lineup has changed since the previous album, but Clarke has kept the stable of Cameron Graves, Beka Gochiashvili, and Mike Mitchell for several years now. “I’m...

Q: I’m hoping that you can chime in on a debate my friend and I have going. He tends to multitask while he practices (Netflix shows streaming, social media feeds running, etc.) I always give him a hard time about because I feel like when you practice, you shouldn’t be doing other things but he feels like, as long as...

Heavy metal monster Dominic “Forest” Lapointe is back with a new playthrough video. This time he demonstrates how to perform the bass line to “Message Sonore” by Augury. Lapointe is known for his fretless mastery but opts for a fretted six-string for the two-handed tapping heavy song. His lines provide countermelodies to the guitar riffs while providing a running low...

More sad news today: Richard Swift, who toured with The Black Keys as their bassist, has passed away. He was 41 years old. Born in California to a musical family, Swift was a multi-instrumentalist and self-starter who began by experimenting with four-track cassette recorders. He launched a solo career in the early 2000s and quickly became a producer. He joined...

Squier’s Contemporary Series got a little bigger at the Summer NAMM Show this year with the introduction of three new Jazz Basses: the Contemporary Active Jazz Bass HH, the Contemporary Active Jazz Bass HH V, and the Contemporary Jazz Bass. Notably, the four and five-string active models offer a more modern take on the Jazz Bass with a set of...