Buzz
Bullet For My Valentine Releases Fifth Album, Touring with New Bassist
Welsh metal band Bullet For My Valentine has released its fifth studio album, Venom. Frontman Matt Tuck handled bass on the record, which is the group’s first following the departure of longtime bassist Jason “Jay” James. The album deliberately shies away from any melodic or pop sounds, Tuck said. “We wanted to keep this as dark as possible. It was...
Josh Cohen: Alejandra
Josh Cohen has shared another great solo bass video with us. With a nice scenic backdrop, he performs his tune, “Alejandra”. “This soulful song that was inspired by someone very special to me, attempts to emulate the sound of a lead guitar, rhythm guitar and bass line all on the solo six-string electric bass, using the two-handed tapping technique,” Josh...
Soulfly Releases Final Album With Tony Campos
Soulfly has released its last album with bassist Tony Campos (former Static-X), who left the band to join Fear Factory. Archangel, the metal band’s 10th album, is the band’s most mystical one since its 2004 record, Prophecy, says Max Cavalera (ex-Sepultura), the band’s founder, guitarist and vocalist. He says the record reflects diverse influences, from Biblical themes to death metal....
Nordstrand Guitars Introduces Dan Lutz Nordy DL vM5 Bass
Nordstrand Guitars has teamed up with bassist Dan Lutz to unveil the Nordy DL vM5. The bass is a take on the company’s Nordy vM5 model that brings together their NP5 and BigMan pickups for a unique configuration. Similar to the vM5, the DL vM5 is built with either an ash body and maple fingerboard or an alder body with...
Peekaboom: Bye Bye Blackbird
Simone Masina has shared another terrific video with us of his project, known as Peekaboom. Here the duo of Simone and vocalist Angelica Lubian perform “Bye Bye Blackbird”. As an added bonus, Angelica takes over on double bass while Simone solos on his bass guitar.
Pennal Johnson Struts With New Album
Chicago bassist Pennal Johnson (PJ) combines jazz, funk, adult contemporary and rock and roll on his album, Cissy Strut. The bassist for The Chicago All-City Jazz Band from 1984-87, Johnson began playing bass at age 8. During his career, he has performed with artists like Andre and Sandra Crouch, Kurt Carr and Abraham Laboriel. Johnson is also working as part...
Rise to Power: An Interview with Don Slater
You know you’re doing something right when metal mainstay Kirk Windstein is singing your praises, and that’s precisely the case for Don Slater of Battlecross. The bassist brings an intense energy to the stage every night with a unique voice on his instrument. Battlecross is now gearing up to release , a 10-song collection that combines their thrash and groove...
Stuart Clayton: Golliwog’s Cakewalk
When I see a video by Stuart Clayton, I’m usually at a loss for words. As many of you know, his transcriptions are stellar, and his bass playing is equally so. Here’s what Stuart had to say about his latest video: “This is my arrangement of Debussy’s ‘Golliwog’s Cakewalk’, from The Children’s Corner suite of piano pieces. I’ve wanted to...
Oteil Burbridge to Join Grateful Dead Alumni Band “Dead and Company”
Hundreds of thousands of people witnessed The Grateful Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” concert series, marking the final time the “core four” surviving band members would perform together under the band’s moniker. A month later, three of the four band members – Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart – have announced a concert on Halloween night at Madison Square Garden...
Universal Audio Introduces Ampeg SVT-VR and SVT-3 Pro Plug-Ins
Recording bassists have some new amp modeling software options with Universal Audio’s new Ampeg Bass Amp plug-ins. The two new plug-ins focus on the SVT sound with an SVT-VR model and an SVT-3 Pro model, both of which are included in UAD Software v8.3 and are made exclusively for UAD-2 hardware and Apollo interfaces. Each of the amp simulating plug-ins...
Getting “Unstuck” from the Blues Scale
Q: How do I get myself unstuck from using the blues scale? Whenever I solo in fingerstyle or slap, I can’t help but to be stuck on the blues scale. I want to move on from it. Also, when I’m doing slap, I stick to octaves, but I want to be able to do different intervals and move around a...
Herbie Hancock with Tal Wilkenfeld: Actual Proof
Herbie Hancock has never been short on great bassists to play with over his career. Here’s a killer clip of his band being anchored by Tal Wilkenfeld on “Actual Proof” during the 2010 Montreux Jazz Festival. Wilkenfeld brings tons of energy to the performance and follows each soloist to support their ideas. She then takes a thoughtful solo of her...