Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 571

Guitarist/vocalist Jenna Jackley and bassist Ryan Haines have teamed up again to present some creative music. Haines offers up a cool and complimentary bass line to Jackley’s beautiful vocals on this performance of “Lean Into Faith”.

After nearly ten years, Jack Bruce is getting back into the studio with plans to release a new album in 2014. The bass legend has signed to Esoteric Antenna, a label of the Cherry Red Recordings Group, and has announced that he is currently in the writing and recording stage of the project. “It is an absolute honour to be...

After a hugely successful EP, Newsted is previewing their first full-length album Heavy Metal Music with a free download of the first single, “Heroic Dose.” The band, fronted by bassist Jason Newsted, formed late last year and has quickly gained a strong following. “I’m doing this because I want to do this,” Newsted told us in an interview. “I only...

Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd is preparing to step out on his own with his solo debut album later this summer. His new project, which will be under the moniker HBS, started as a only voice and acoustic guitar, but collaborations with drummers Matt Cameron and Matt Chamberlain quickly expanded the effort’s sonic palette. The album will be titled In Deep...

Rickenbacker basses are getting a good detailing in the new book The Rickenbacker Electric Bass: 50 Years as Rock’s Bottom, a 144-page documentation of the company’s 4-string endeavors since the mid-1950s. It offers up info on the company’s nearly forty bass models, including the iconic 4001, with hundreds of color photos and descriptions to help identify each instrument. “I took...

Our friend Marsha sent us this awesome video of Trampled Under Foot performing “Love My Baby,” live on the show Kansas City After Hours. The blues trio includes bassist Danielle Schnebelen and her siblings Kris and Nick. Danielle delivers some great lead vocals while laying down the low end.

The National Endowment for the Arts has announced the 2014 NEA Jazz Masters, which is the nation’s highest honor in jazz. Among the four recipients this year is bassist Richard Davis, who they will be honoring for his “lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz.” Born April 15th, 1930, Davis began singing with his family vocal trio...

Tapestry Audio has introduced the Time Traveler, an auxiliary BPM synchronization pedal that syncs up a pedalboard’s time-based effects. The utility pedal sends out preprogrammed BPM presets to any pedal that has an external tap tempo jack, allowing for all of the external effects’ beats per minute to be unified. The Time Traveler has two outputs and offers up to...

Artisan Bass Works looks at things from a different angle. The Ohio-based company licenses ANSIR Technology, which is a patented neck design that puts the fretboard into a more natural playing position. ABW puts the design to use on their Classic Series to add their own touch to common bass styles. The Artisan Bass Works Classic basses are available in...

Olivier Babaz continues to amaze me with each video he puts out. His specialty is playing upright bass and kalimba simultaneously, and this time he’s putting the combo to use on The Police’s “Message in a Bottle.” Impressive!

Three months after beginning an open audition to fill the shoes of longtime member Adam Duce, Machine Head has announced their new bassist is Jared MacEachern. MacEachern has a history with the band, as his previous group Sanctity toured with Machine Head in 2007, during which time the bassist filled in harmony vocals after Duce was injured. His bass playing...

Radial Engineering has announced StageDirect, an active direct box that adds a mute switch for silent tuning or switching instruments without having to turn down your PA or stage amp. When the footswitch is depressed, all outputs except the tuner output are muted. Other features on the StageDirect include a 180° polarity reverse switch, a -15dB pad, and a high-pass...