Buzz
Guns N’ Roses Announce First U.S. Tour Dates in Five Years
Guns N’ Roses have announced a string of dates for their first U.S. tour in five years. The iconic rock band’s trek, which is also their first stateside shows since the release of Chinese Democracy, starts October 28th in Orlando, Florida and snakes its way around the East Coast and Midwest. Fans across the rest of the country needn’t worry,...
Fabio Meridiani: The Sync
Once again, Fabio Meridiani caught our ears with this performance of “The Sync”, a cool and funky solo bass piece from Fabio’s album Subline 2.
Korn Announces New Album and Tour
Korn is releasing their tenth studio album, The Path of Totality on December 6, 2011. But the band states this one is unlike any of the previous nine. The new album is an experimental one by the band, which includes Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu on bass. For The Path of Totality, the band explores new territory through collaborations with leading dubstep...
Bass of the Week: Burrell Fat-Boy Acoustic Bass Guitar
For our first Bass of the Week, we featured a bass with a twisted neck. This week, we look at the Burrell Fat-Boy acoustic bass guitar, which takes the same ergonomic idea and applies it to the body. The design comes from the mind of Leo Burrell, who began dreaming up more comfortable guitars during his time as an engineer...
Two of a Perfect Pair: An Interview with Tony Levin and Julie Slick
The “Two of a Perfect Trio” Tour, which brings The Stick Men and Adrian Belew’s Power Trio together for a night of King Crimson-centric music, presents many parallels between the musicians, the most interesting being the dichotomy between bassists Tony Levin and Julie Slick. Levin has over 30 years of experience under his belt, much of that being dedicated to...
Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner: Daylight Live
Facebook friend Matt Lewis shares this video of Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner performing “Daylight”, at The Echo in Los Angeles. This performance was part of Thundercat’s record release party, celebrating the release of the bassist’s solo debut, The Golden Age of Apocalypse. Thundercat has also performed with Suicidal Tendencies since he replaced Robert Trujillo in 2002.
Hot Tuna Reissues “Yellow Fever”
Esoteric Recordings is re-releasing Hot Tuna’s 1975 album, Yellow Fever, featuring bassist Jack Casady, guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and drummer Bob Steeler. This is the “power trio” line up of the group, with Yellow Fever being the group’s second release together, following the successful America’s Choice. Yellow Fever was also another step in the group’s direction away from acoustic music to...
Source Audio Releases Compact Programmable EQ Pedal
Source Audio has added to their line of bass pedals with the release of the Programmable EQ Pedal, a compact, cast aluminum stompbox offering hands-free access to four unique and user-programmed EQ settings. The Programmable EQ offers +/-18db of range across seven frequency bands with an additional frequency band at 62Hz, which is accessible with the device’s Octave Extend function....
Muscle Memory
Q: I keep hearing bassists talk about muscle memory. What is that? A: Good question! And one that can open up a bigger discussion on the purpose of daily practice. First, let’s look at the Wikipedia definition of muscle memory, which is a good one: “Muscle memory has been used synonymously with motor learning, which is a form of procedural...
Tedeschi Trucks Band: Space Captain, Live with Oteil Burbridge
People (us included), really really dug the last video we featured by the Tedeschi Trucks Band, thanks in big part to the awesomeness of bassist Oteil Burbridge. So, here’s another, shot at the same concert, with Warren Haynes and David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) joining in this time around. Sit back and enjoy.
Duff McKagan Releases Memoir, Announces Book Signing Tour
Duff McKagan has chronicled his life and incredible career in his new memoir, It’s So Easy: And Other Lies, available now. The ex-Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver bassist, who recently launched a wealth management firm, tells of his big break, struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, and return to sobriety into the present. “This is just my story,” the...
Reader Spotlight: Keith Gibbons
Meet bassist Keith Gibbons, a working musician and songwriter from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Keith is our player in the spotlight for October 4, 2011. Bio: I’ve been a songwriter as far back as I can remember, but I didn’t realize that until a few years ago. I started playing bass because being in a band and writing pop-punk songs seemed like...