The Violent Femmes Unveil Fall Tour Dates
The Violent Femmes have announced a new set of fall tour dates. Starting October 26th at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the trio will visit New York, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, and Michigan during the trek. The band is, of course, driven in part by the unmistakable acoustic bass guitar of Brian Ritchie. Check out this performance of their...
RPS Effects Introduces the Warp Drive and Tremulus Maximus Pedals
RPS Effects has announced the Warp Drive and Tremulus Maximus, a pair of all-analog pedals they describe as “providing options for the more adventurous player.” Each pedal features expression inputs for adjusting parameters on the fly. The Warp Drive is a delay pedal that offers up to 900ms of delay time and a Warp feature that varies the delay time...
Martin Nevin Releases Debut Solo Album, “Tenderness is Silent”
Composer and double bassist Martin Nevin has worked with some of the top jazz musicians of our times: Albert “Tootie” Heath, Greg Osby, Ethan Iverson, and Ambrose Akinmusire, and more. Now he’s stepping out front with his debut album as a leader, entitled Tenderness is Silent. While Nevin is known for his jazz work, his new release doesn’t fit neatly...
ZVEX Effects Unveils the Germanium Woolly Mammoth Mod Pedal
ZVEX Effects found a batch of rare spam can transistors that they’ve put to use in a new modded version of their flagship pedal. The Germanium Woolly Mammoth Mod is described as “highly uncompressed [and] very dynamic.” “On bass, you can really tell the difference as a result of the larger signal level in the low end,” they note. “It’s...
Derrick Hodge Anchors R+R=NOW’s Debut Album
R+R=NOW is a new group featuring the monster talents of pianist Robert Glasper, keyboardist Terrace Martin, trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, beatboxer and synth player Taylor McFerrin, drummer Justin Tyson, and bassist Derrick Hodge. The collective gets their name from a Nina Simone quote, with the R+R standing for “Reflect and Respond”. “[It is] an artist’s duty… to reflect the...
Blink-182 Announce Tour Dates, Rescheduled Las Vegas Residency
After canceling a Las Vegas residency earlier this year due to drummer Travis Barker’s health, Blink-182 have rescheduled the shows as well as announced a handful of tour dates for September. The band, anchored by Mark Hoppus, will be focusing on the Midwest in September starting on the 12th in Moorehead, Minnesota. The Las Vegas residency is now set for...
Disappearing Man: An Interview with Byron Isaacs
Over his career, Byron Isaacs has worked with some of the greatest songwriters of our time: Levon Helm, Willie Nelson, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, Roseanne Cash, and more. He co-founded the bands Ollabelle and Lost Leaders, plus he’s spent the past few years recording and touring the world with The Lumineers. Suffice it to say, he’s been around...
Covet Returns with “effloresce”
Bay Area instrumental trio Covet has released effloresce, which guitarist Yvette Young describes as “post rock intensity meets more proggy/mathy songwriting.” Young’s captivating two-handed tapping technique drives the melodies while drummer Forrest Rice and bassist David Adamiak support with dream-like grooves. Some of that ethereal vibe comes from exploring new harmonic textures, says Adamiak. “On this recording, we experiment with...
Doug Wimbish Announces 2018 WimBash Music Festival
Bass wizard Doug Wimbish has announced the 2018 WimBash New Haven Music Festival for August 18th. The event is jam-packed with incredible music and serves as a benefit for New Haven Public Schools. “It only takes a moment to give that spark to a kid,” Wimbish says. Former West Haven mayor Ed O’Brien adds, “The value of the arts in...
TC Electronic Announces Ditto Jam X2 Looper Pedal
TC Electronic has expanded their line of looping pedals with the Ditto Jam X2 Looper. Central to the new design is their BeatSense algorithm, which uses built-in microphones to track and sync to your band’s rhythmic elements and keep your loop track from drifting. “This makes live looping more interesting than ever and infinitely more intuitive, giving guitarists the ability...
Billy Sheehan Shreds on Mr. Big’s “Live From Milan”
After releasing Defying Gravity last year, Mr. Big hit the road to support the album. Now a new live album has been released from that tour called Live From Milan, which is available in several formats. The tour featured all four original band members including Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan, and Pat Torpey, although the drummer had been battling...
Korora Audio Launches with the Spira Filter Modulation Pedal
Korora Audio has launched their first pedal with the Spira, a filter modulation pedal inspired by the Shepard Tone Glissando. The unit has 24 parallel resonant bandpass filters for some serious flexibility. “With the rate set low, Spira achieves the classic and recognizable Shepard Tone and can also be compared to comb filter and formant filter effects,” the company writes....