Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 3

For the first time in fourteen years, Dream Theater’s classic lineup will be hitting the road together. That includes James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy, who returned to the fold late last year.

Sandman Dream Guitars recently shared a custom build for a customer that looks downright mythical. Dubbed “Trident,” the five-string bass has an incredible book-matched hybrid wood and resin top.

Blu DeTiger grew her audience on TikTok with killer covers and then her own original songs. Though the platform is based on brevity, DeTiger has been getting deeper into long form releases. Now, she’s dropped her debut full-length studio album, “All I Ever Want Is Everything.”

Scott LaFaro was only 25 when he tragically died in a car accident in 1961, but the body of work he left changed jazz bass playing for good. He influenced the majority of today’s best bassists. That includes Brian Bromberg, who has just released a trio album in his honor.

Ernie Ball Music Man has launched the Custom Design Experience, an online instrument configurator that lets you spec out your own StingRay Special bass.

We recently shared that Beat - the nearly unbelievable lineup of Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, and Danny Carey - would be teaming up to perform the music of King Crimson’s ’80s lineup. Now they’ve revealed a massive North American tour.

Sad news to report today as Chris Allen, aka Chris Cross, of Ultravox, has died at the age of 71. Vocalist Midge Ure shared the news on Facebook.

Derek Frank has been around the world playing music with Air Supply, Gwen Stefani, and Shania Twain. Now, he’s released “Origin Story,” an instrumental album that mixes in funk, jazz, blues, and seventies soundtrack music.

Last fall, Ampeg launched its newest line of amps and cabs with the Venture Series. Now, they’ve unveiled the largest cabinet of the group with the VB-88. The cab is rated at 800 watts RMS while only weighing 67 pounds.

Rockabilly heroes Brian Setzer, Slim Jim Phantom, and Lee Rocker have announced a new Stray Cats summer tour for 2024. The new set of dates mark their first since their 2019 reunion tour following the release of the album “40.”

Luthier Ellis Hahn of LEH Guitars wrote in to share a killer bass made for a killer bassist. This LEH Offset 5-string was made for the inimitable Tim Lefebvre.

One of the biggest bass mysteries was solved this year when Paul McCartney’s Höfner bass was returned 50 years after it was stolen. McCartney awarded a 6-figure sum as a thank you.