Eddie Van Halen has designed a new guitar he can’t destroy and named it after his son. Check out the video from CNN!

Featuring 12 tracks, the long-anticipated studio follow-up to 2007’s critically acclaimed “Sloe Gin”, the album consists of 6 Bonamassa originals coupled with 6 cover songs.

“The Ballad Of John Henry” is tentatively scheduled for release on February 24, 2009, via J&R Adventures worldwide.

Bonamassa’s last studio album, “Sloe Gin”, spent over 10 consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Blues Album Charts. He followed that album with “Live From Nowhere in Particular”, a double CD that rarely leaves my car.

Last fall, I took a road trip from Phoenix, AZ, to Flagstaff, AZ, to see Bonamassa LIVE at the Orpheum Theater. If you EVER get the chance to see Joe in concert, you have to go. He is an amazing talent and I can’t imagine any guitar player not enjoying his performance.

The complete track listing:

1. The Ballad Of John Henry
2. Stop!
3. Last Kiss
4. Jockey Full Of Bourbon
5. Story Of A Quarryman
6. Lonesome Road Blues
7. Happier Times
8. Feelin’ Good
9. Funkier Than A Mosquito’s Tweeter
10. The Great Flood
11. From The Valley
12. As The Crow Flies

Click the image above to

Introducing the new “King Of The Blues”… Joe Bonamassa!

Direct from Planet Rock’s web site:

“Joe’s prodigious talents shone in 2008 when his star began to rise significantly in the UK. With a fantastic live album and some excellent live shows during the year, Joe then signed up to present a regular show on Planet Rock and has already announced, and sold out, a show at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2009.

Joe managed to beat competition from some true guitar icons to take this category, and he did it reasonably comfortably. 30% of your votes confirmed Joe as a new guitar legend, and your Guitar Hero Of 2008″.

Here’s the rest of the top five:

2. David Gilmour

3. Slash

4. Gary Moore

5. Jeff Beck

That’s some amazing company to keep…

Joe’s upcoming studio album, “The Ballad Of John Henry” is scheduled for release in February 2009 via J&R Adventures world wide.

I have read my copy through two times… and I am sure one day there will be a third.

Editorial Review: With striking intimacy and candor, Eric Clapton tells the story of his eventful and inspiring life in this poignant and honest autobiography. More than a rock star, he is an icon, a living embodiment of the history of rock music. Well known for his reserve in a profession marked by self-promotion, flamboyance, and spin, he now chronicles, for the first time, his remarkable personal and professional journeys.

Born illegitimate in 1945 and raised by his grandparents, Eric never knew his father and, until the age of nine, believed his actual mother to be his sister. In his early teens his solace was the guitar, and his incredible talent would make him a cult hero in the clubs of Britain and inspire devoted fans to scrawl Clapton is God on the walls of London s Underground. With the formation of Cream, the world’s first supergroup, he became a worldwide superstar, but conflicting personalities tore the band apart within two years. His stints in Blind Faith, in Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, and in Derek and the Dominos were also short-lived but yielded some of the most enduring songs in history, including the classic Layla.

During the late sixties he played as a guest with Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, as well as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and longtime friend George Harrison. It was while working with the latter that he fell for George s wife, Pattie Boyd, a seemingly unrequited love that led him to the depths of despair, self-imposed seclusion, and drug addiction. By the early seventies he had overcome his addiction and released the bestselling album 461 Ocean Boulevard, with its massive hit I Shot the Sheriff. He followed that with the platinum album Slowhand, which included Wonderful Tonight, the touching love song to Pattie, whom he finally married at the end of 1979. A short time later, however, Eric had replaced heroin with alcohol as his preferred vice, following a pattern of behavior that not only was detrimental to his music but contributed to the eventual breakup of his marriage.

In the eighties he would battle and begin his recovery from alcoholism and become a father. But just as his life was coming together, he was struck by a terrible blow: His beloved four-year-old son, Conor, died in a freak accident. At an earlier time Eric might have coped with this tragedy by fleeing into a world of addiction. But now a much stronger man, he took refuge in music, responding with the achingly beautiful Tears in Heaven.

Clapton is the powerfully written story of a survivor, a man who has achieved the pinnacle of success despite extraordinary demons. It is one of the most compelling memoirs of our time.

This is not a Political post. This is a Patriotic post.

Many of you have already seen and heard the song “Dear Mr. President” by Pink. The lyrics are quite stirring. This rendition includes a beautiful classical guitar accompaniment by Eliza Gabriel and I believe it is worthy of permanent placement right here on the GuitarBUZZ.

While this video includes photos and references to the Bush Presidency, my interpretation of the song’s message applies to whoever holds the office and I pray that our current President will address these issues expeditiously.

I just returned from NAMM …exhausted. NAMM stands for “National Association of Music Merchants” and the trade-only show is a guitar lover’s dream! Four days and over 1,800 manufacturer exhibits of guitars and amps and guitars and amps and guitars and amps. OK… it’s not all guitars and amps. There are also drums, saxes, horns, pedals, software, strings, music, pro-audio and other gear. But it’s mostly guitars and amps. Toss in about 50 free concerts and celebrity appearances (Robert Cray, Doyle Dykes, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, John 5 and others…), and you’ve got NAMM. It’s a really big deal held annually in Anaheim, California. Can you say 84 degrees in January? Everybody in the music business was there.

Depending on who you talk to, the “Product of the Show” will vary. For me, there was a clear winner. It’s the Taylor T3. Taylor calls it “Chrome Plated Cool”.

Here’s the scoop from the Taylor website:

“Following the success of the T5 and SolidBody models, and born from a love of innovative design and classic electric tone, Taylor Guitars is expanding its electric line with the company’s first purely electric semi-hollowbody guitar, the T3.”

Melding the sleek lines and shape of the T5 into a semi-hollowbody, the T3 features an expertly crafted body of sapele, topped with quilted maple. A svelte neck of tropical American mahogany sports heftier fret wire for a truly electric feel, while brilliant chrome hardware adorns the T3 for a ready-to-rock look that screams electric, vintage and cool.

While the T3 offers plenty for any player on its own, the designers at Taylor decided to take the new line up a notch in a variation, the T3B. Marking a first for the company, the T3B includes an authentic Bigsby Vibrato (model B70). The T3B incorporates a roller bridge for high performance, allowing the player the independence in setting the intonation of each string and eliminating the “dragging string” sound so commonly found in fixed bridges. The standard T3 model comes with a stop tailpiece.

“This is one rockin’ guitar that produces sounds our SolidBodys and T5s don’t have. When you do something that looks good, that’s one thing, but when cool sounds start coming out, you go, ‘Man, that’s just it.’ We knew this guitar was too good to hold back,” shares David Hosler, lead designer.

The new model includes Taylor’s Style 2 humbuckers which are specially positioned to capture the T3’s fidelity and range of tones. A three-way switch covers three standard configurations of pickup switching and as an added twist, coil splitting is available for both humbuckers by pulling up on the volume knob.

“The way I describe it is, imagine you have a guitar with two humbuckers and a three-way, and you have a guitar with two single coils and a three-way, which gives you that really cool, ‘bitey’ sound,” adds Hosler.

The control knobs, located in the traditional electric position below the bridge on the lower bout, function as push-pull pots. Pulling up on the volume knob activates a coil splitter, which turns the humbuckers into single coils. The tone knob is also a pull switch, which when pulled engages a second capacitor.

Hosler explains, “In the down position, one capacitor punches up the mid tones. Then when you pull the knob up, it adds another capacitor on top of it and uncorks a warm, fat, mellow old-school jazz tone. In between these two voices, this guitar spans the spectrum from traditional, hard rock to jazzy fusion. Even when overdriven, the air, articulation and distinction of all notes are there.”

The T3 and T3B will be available domestically in mid-February and internationally in early spring 2009… and I WANT ONE!

Don’t ask me why… I just wanted to know.  What is the best selling acoustic guitar in the world?  Spend a little time with Google and the answer is clear.

The Washburn D10S outsells every other acoustic guitar.  And it is under $500.00!  Actually under $400.00!  OK… would you believe under $300.00?  It’s True!

Most guitar players have heard of Washburn Guitars. They are Chicago-based guitar builders since 1883… just a few blocks from Maxwell Street, the hotbed origin of Delta Blues… Their web site says it best: “Washburn guitars were embraced as the very embodiment and reflective spirit of the hard-working musicians who played them as well as the employees who designed and crafted them.”

So what makes the #1 Acoustic Guitar the #1 Acoustic Guitar?  The highest quality?  The lowest price?  The most artist endorsements?  The greatest production?  The most compelling advertising?  Actually, it’s a combination of a lot of things. Check this out:

The Washburn D10S has professional features like a solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides and a mahogany neck, a rosewood fingerboard and bridge and chrome die-cast Grover style tuners.  You know, the kind of specs you find on guitars with names that start with “G”, “M” and “T”.  They are also the kind of features that give an acoustic guitar fantastic tonal quality.

I remember my first guitar (it was NOT a Washburn D10S).  It was hard to play.  The action was high.  It would not stay in tune. It sounded terrible.  I almost quit playing….  Let’s face it, quality guitars are easier to play, and with the Washburn D10S, “quality” does not have to translate into “expensive”. For what I spent on my first guitar… just a few dollars more and I could have had one of these. I could have had the best-selling acoustic guitar in the world!

Here is a link to a FULL REVIEW.

Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters and Stony Plain Records recently released “The Hope Radio Sessions” on DVD. The sessions were recorded at Wellspring Sound in Acton, MA on April 21 and 22, 2007. Ronnie Earl is one of the worlds most acclaimed blues guitar players.  For over 35 years he has thrilled audiences who love his soothing “Blues with Soul” style. 

I find it amazing that in all of that time Ronnie has never been captured live on video or DVD (with the exception of an instructional based video) until now. The Hope Radio Sessions live concert DVD features many of the instrumental blues songs that are included on the Hope Radio album.  The DVD also includes alternative versions of some of the songs as well as two rare solo acoustic guitar selections and (one of my favorite features) a private, personal interview with Ronnie Earl himself.

I had the opportunity to see Ronnie Earl live this past summer in Arlington, MA.  I was fortunate to meet him personally, and was invited backstage before the concert.  Ronnie introduced me to the members of the Broadcasters band and autographed a special blue leather guitar strap to me — which proudly hangs on my office/studio wall today.  A very gracious man with a tremendously kind spirit, Ronnie Earl has limited his travel and touring in recent years due to health reasons.  This is unfortunate for those of you who have never had the opportunity to see his mesmerizing talent in person.

If you are ever traveling to the Boston area, be sure to check Ronnie’s Web Site to see if he is performing live in the area.  If not, pick up the DVD with this LINK and witness for yourself one of the true masters of stratocaster blues.  You will be glad you did!

My new year’s resolution? To become a better guitar player… of course!

I was searching the Internet today and I found a really cool open source software tool that will slow down (or speed up) music from an MP3 file or directly from a CD — without changing the original pitch!  It’s called BestPractice, and you can download it for FREE. 

The software allows you to slow down a high-speed guitar solo on a track you want to learn.  You can define a starting and stopping point for a lick within the track and then “loop the lick” over and over until you have it figured out. 

Follow this link to the BestPractice Web Site.