TOMMY SHAW TEAMS UP WITH BLUEGRASS GREATS FOR “THE GREAT DIVIDE” CD!

Tommy Shaw, guitarist of legendary rock band Styx, has releases his debut Bluegrass album, “The Great Divide” through Pazzo Music/Fontana Distribution. The album features an impressive roster of guest musicians, including: Alison Krauss, Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Rob Ickes, Stuart Duncan, Byron House, Gary Burr and many more.

With this album, Shaw, a Montgomery, Alabama native, establishes himself as an authentic addition to the Bluegrass community. Born with a unique gift for music, a passion quickly recognized by his parents, he picked up his first guitar at the age of ten. From what his brothers remember, after Tommy’s introduction to the guitar; “We never saw him again…”, as he would stay in his room for hours practicing day and night. His tenacity and intrinsic passion for Bluegrass at an early age implies that this new release isn’t a casual endeavor, but a return to the music on which he was raised. Shaw wrote or co-wrote every song on the album in addition to playing acoustic guitar, dobro/resonator and mandolin.

A perennial part of the rock scene since the mid-70s as a member of STYX, Damn Yankees and Shaw/Blades, Bluegrass may at first seem like a stretch for Shaw, but his transition to Bluegrass is seamless. Having been raised on the genre, Shaw has always been deeply enamored with Bluegrass’ ability to connect to the listener through storytelling. “These are story songs,” says Shaw, an Alabama Music Hall of Fame Inductee. “I think songs that take you on a little journey are the best ones.”

This is the story of a Southern boy who made it “big,” but always held tight to his roots. “The Great Divide is a story of love and life; of happiness and hope; of loss and discovery,” says Shaw. “It’s the story of a journey that spans generations and is ultimately about trying to find your way home. And I’m as proud of this story as any I’ve ever told.”

The legendary rocker proves to his listeners that although this may be his first Bluegrass venture, it certainly won’t be his last.

Guitar Center - King of the Blues 2011

GUITAR CENTER’S KING OF THE BLUES IS BACK!

Guitarists, sign up now at any Guitar Center store nationwide for Guitar Center’s King of the Blues, the search for the top undiscovered blues guitar player in the country.

The grand prize is $25,000 cash, studio time w/ Grammy-Award winning producer Pete Anderson, a Gibson Vintage Collectors Series Les Paul 1959 Reissue, an Egnater full stack, the Robert Johnson Complete Masters Centennial Edition vinyl box set, a major feature in Guitar World Magazine, plus endorsement deals and top gear from Epiphone, Egnater, Ernie Ball, and Boss.

In addition, the top five finalists will perform live at the King of the Blues grand finals featuring Warren Haynes at the House of Blues Sunset.

Competitions start May 5th. Download the official King of the Blues competition backing tracks here; including five new ones for this year created by Grammy Award-Winning Producer, Pete Anderson.

Guitar Center’s King of the Blues is presented by Gibson, Epiphone, Ernie Ball, Egnater, Boss, the Robert Johnson Centennial Collection, House of Blues and Guitar World Magazine.

I enter a lot of contests. I never win.

But if I am ever going to win a contest, Dear God let this be the one:

Ernie Ball - Experience Clapton

For more information on the contest, CLICK HERE.

Premier Guitar's Merry AXE-Mas Guitar Giveaway

Merry AXE-Mas from Premier Guitar!

Premier Guitar is proud to feature 12 guitar giveaways during December. They have already given away a few guitars, but there is plenty of time left to enter their contest for one of the remaining guitar drawings.

The final giveaway is on December 23, 2010.

Each individual guitar giveaway runs for a two-day period with a winner being selected on the second day at 12:00 AM CST.

Winners will be notified by email and will be posted to to the Premier Guitar Facebook page at midnight and this page (in the calendar below) on the next business day.

Giveaway prizes feature guitars from B.C Rich, Carvin, Epiphone, Flaxwood, Ibanez, MusicMan, Ovation, Recording King, Schecter, Seagull, Tanglewood, and Washburn.

Giveaways are open to U.S. and Canada residents only – click on the image to the left to be redirected to the contest web site.

Guitar Master Class

Recently I posted a review of one of the most innovative online guitar lesson sites I have ever seen… Guitar Master Class.

Special thanks to John Collins at GMC for contacting me and offering three lucky readers of TheGuitarBuzz a change to win a FREE 6-month subscription, valued at $150.00 (US) each!

Entering the contest is easy. All you have to do is to post a comment that completes this sentence: “The best guitar learning tip I ever heard:”

Beginning Saturday November 6th, for 3 consecutive Saturdays (November 6th, 13th & 20th), one “tip” will be randomly selected to win a FREE 6-month membership.

There are a total of three 6-month memberships up for grabs. There is no limit to the number of times you can enter, so post all of the great guitar learning tips that you know! Maximum one free 6-month membership per person. Winners will be drawn at 12:00pm MST, Arizona on each Saturday.

Note: Please post comments that are in line with the subject matter of the contest and include Guitar Learning Tips. The administrator of this site reserves the right to censor or delete any comments that are off topic.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

CONTEST UPDATE:

The WINNER drawn on November 6th is: ANDREW Z! Congratulations Andrew Z!

The WINNER drawn on November 13th is: RICK G! Congratulations Rick!

The WINNER drawn on November 20th is: GRYSTAR! Congratulations GRYSTAR!

GUITAR CENTER’S KING OF THE BLUES, THE ANNUAL SEARCH FOR THE NATION’S TOP UNDISCOVERED BLUES GUTIAR PLAYER CROWNS RANDY SCOTT AN THE 2010 KING OF THE BLUES!

KING OF THE BLUES

Continuing its support of aspiring artists, Guitar Center the world’s largest musical instrument retailer, announced the winner fourth annual King of the Blues — the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered blues guitar player.

The King of the Blues finals were held at the House of Blues on September 2nd in Los Angeles where the stage was shared with world-renowned guitarist Derek Trucks, leader of the Grammy Award-winning Derek Trucks Band and member of The Allman Brothers Band.

Trucks’ extensive list of accolades and accomplishments includes being tapped by Eric Clapton to join the guitar legend’s 2006/07 world tour as a featured soloist and appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone’s “New Guitar Gods” issue, as well as being the youngest musician to make the magazine’s “100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time.”

Randy beat out four other extremely talented finalists at the House of Blues in Los Angeles in front of a live audience and a panel of acclaimed judges including Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jimmy Vivino, Elliot Easton, Honeyboy Edwards, Michael Frank, Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World Magazine: Brad Tolinski, and Pete Anderson.

As the winner, Randy received $25,000 cash, endorsement deals form Gibson, Ernie Ball, Boss, and Egnater and more!

Watch Randy’s winning performances in this video. Note: There are two performances, electric first, acoustic second.

Congratulations Randy!!

If you love “Jamming the Blues”, be sure to visit www.GuitarNoize.com and enter to win a PRS 25th Anniversary SE Custom 24 Guitar!

To enter first download the backing track from this Jamtrackcentral LINK.

[Click below to hear a preview of the track:]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Once you have the backing track, record your solo and upload your video to YouTube as a video response.

The amazing prize pool is as follows:

• 1st Prize: A PRS 25th Anniversary SE Custom 24, Dunlop Max Grip Picks and a BMF Leather Strap
• 2nd Prize: An Electro-harmonix POG2, an Electro-harmonix Big Muff Pi with Tone Wicker, Dunlop Max Grip Picks and a BMF Leather Strap.
• 3rd Prize: Suhr Riot pedal, Dunlop Max Grip Picks, a BMF Leather Strap

All of the top 20 will also receive 3 sets of strings from Rotosound.

The competition will close Monday 13 September.

Here are a few of my favorites so far…

Here is a LINK to the entire entry catalog.  NOTE : At the time of this posting, there are 144 entries!  Be prepared to listed to a LOT of BLUES!!  IF SO, CLICK HERE!

GUITAR CENTER’S KING OF THE BLUES, THE ANNUAL SEARCH FOR THE NATION’S TOP UNDISCOVERED BLUES GUTIAR PLAYER, IS BACK

KING OF THE BLUES

Continuing its support of aspiring artists, Guitar Center the world’s largest musical instrument retailer, announced the launch of its fourth annual King of the Blues — the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered blues guitar player.

Guitarists can sign-up at any of Guitar Center’s 214 stores across the country for the chance to compete for thousands of dollars in prizes and the opportunity to perform at the King of the Blues finals at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, and play on the same stage as Grammy Award-winning guitarist Derek Trucks. All store, district and regional finalists will win impressive prize packages including top gear from Gibson, Epiphone, Ernie Ball, Egnater and Boss. The guitarist crowned Guitar Center’s King of the Blues will receive $25,000 cash, endorsement deals form Gibson, Ernie Ball, Boss, and Egnater and more!

Local competitions will be held at each of the 214 Guitar Center locations nationwide, beginning May 13th. Each contestant will be required to give a live guitar solo, performed over one of thirty original backing tracks, developed by Grammy Award-winning producer/guitarist, Pete Anderson.
Read more…

It’s being called “The Ultimate Jason Mraz Guitar Giveaway”

Taylor Guitars, Jason Mraz & Spin Magazine are giving you a chance to win Jason Mraz’s Signature Model guitar! The guitar was played and signed by Jason himself at the 2010 NAMM show. You can watch the video of the performance below or by CLICKING HERE.

The Grand Prize Winner will also receive a Taylor Guitars prize pack, which includes a t-shirt, hat, digital tuner and guitar strap, plus an autographed copy of Jason’s latest release, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., and a one-year subscription to SPIN magazine!

After you enter, you have the option to recruit three Facebook friends to get in on the prizes. If you win, each friend wins a Baby Taylor guitar signed by Jason and a Taylor Guitars prize pack!

Sounds Like nothing to lose on this one… like they say, “You can’t win if you don’t enter”. CLICK HERE for the entry form.

MUSIC LESSONS: Take guitar lessons to learn how to play guitar like a pro!