INTERVIEW: Trivium’s Matt Heafy

Trivium’s 2003 debut Ember To Inferno is a landmark release that led to the band’s signing to Roadrunner Records and the worldwide success that followed. Out of print for several years, the band and 5B Artist Management have partnered with Cooking Vinyl to re-release the album, along with a deluxe edition titled Ember To Inferno: Ab Initium that includes 13 additional demos that have never been previously available. It’s a hugely important release for Trivium fans, filling in some gaps in the story of how they became one of the hardest-working and most self-reinventing metal bands in the world. I caught up with voclalist/guitarist Matt Heafy to chat about it.

What would the Matt Heafy of today have told the Matt Heafy of 2003 about what to expect from a career in music? 

If I could look back and talk to myself now I would say ‘be prepared. There’s going to be a lot of good, bad and ugly. You will have good things happen and you will have bad things happen, but all those things will bring you to who you are today.’

How did you grapple with the attention being so young?

Back on Ember, we didn’t have fans at that point. When that record came out, with the distribution deal it had, you couldn’t really find that record anywhere. So we were excited to get signed but when we went to our local record stores, we couldn’t find Ember. When the release first came out it was kind of cursed from the beginning. That label eventually did get their distribution sorted out, but by the time it was sorted, Ascendency was coming out. Ascendency completely eclipsed the release of Ember. And when Ascendency first came out we still didn’t have fans yet. I remember going on tour doing Ozzfest and having people not knowing who we were. The first time we went somewhere new and had fans who were waiting for us was the UK. That was the first time we really experienced ‘Oh wow, people are into our band!’ But in the Ember days, from the beginning up until the Ascendency days, we’d play a couple of local shows in Orlando once in a while, maybe play a dive bar and get five or seven people.

One of the most revealing things I’ve heard in an interview is when Metallica came to Australia in 2013 and an interviewer on the radio asked James Hetfield ‘Did you imagine in 1983 that in 30 years’ time you’d be headlining arenas in Australia?’ and James’s answer was something like ‘Yes, of course. You have to have goals like that and believe they’re going to happen.’

For Trivium the goal from the very beginning has always been to be one of the biggest metal bands in the world. To be the kind of band that makes an impact on the music scene. It’s something that takes a lot of time and it’s always been the goal. When we first came out, when people first started hearing about Trivium and reading about us in magazines, we were known as that band with the cocky ambitions of world domination. People were taken aback by that because we were 18, 19 years old and they weren’t used to people talking like that at that age, but people have got to understand that I’d already been in the band for six or seven years at that point. I’d already been living with that goal of wanting to be a massive band. It’s been that same way since day one.

Take me back to the demo days.

With the Ember reissue it has the Red, Blue and Yellow demos. At the time of Red, that was our first time recording in a decent bedroom-converted local studio. When we went to do the Blue album with Jason Seucof, that was the first time recording in something a little bigger. It was Jason’s garage converted into a little studio. And for us that was the biggest thing we’d ever been in in our entire lives. We did Blue, Yellow, Ember, Ascendency, The Crusade, I did Roadrunner United and Capharnaum, this technical death metal band I have with Jason, and it’s really like a DIY home-made studio. Jason pulled off some amazing things. So by the time we were doing the Blue album it was familiar with us to be with Jason.

At what point did you feel that you guys found your voice as a band?

That’s a good question. From the beginning we always made the kinds of music we wanted to hear as fans of metal. We made the kind of music that we felt was either missing or that we specifically wanted to hear at that point in time, and I don’t recall exactly when we were thinking ‘Oh we’ve really hit our stride now,’ but I can say that looking back now and listening to everything very intensely, I used to love Ember as being a record that was similar to Ascendency, in the same style. But looking back now, it really isn’t. It’s so different from Ascendency. Yes, there is screaming and singing but musically it’s approached very differently. And what’s so cool is it truly is seven records of Trivium that are very different to each other. Some have a little more in common with each other than others but I feel like Ember falls into that category as well. It’s great to see the scale and breadth that the band has, with so much different material that can still fit together. Like today we can play a song like ‘Until The World Goes Cold’ and go immediately into ‘Pillars of Serpents’ and it makes sense. That’s a really great thing and it’s not a contrived feeling.

You guys are in a category that I would put an artist like Devin Townsend in too, which is that you have fans who trust you with their ears, y’know? Whatever you do, they’ll find their personal way to connect with it and they don’t necessarily want it to be the same thing all the time. You’ll always get the people who latch onto one album and want you to make it over and over but they’re probably not the ones with Trivium tattoos. 

Exactly. And one of the cheeky things we always say about us not making the same record every time is, there are enough bands that do that, where it’s pretty much the same record every time. We would never be content to do that. And if you even look at Red to Blue, they’re very different to each other. Blue to Yellow, very different.

How have your gear preferences changed over the years since doing Ember?

I know the Blue album, we recorded with something weird. What was that gold BOSS rack preamp thing?

The GX-700! 

Yeah! I think we used that into an Alesis PA power amp or something really bizarre. I think that was the sound of the Blue album. I could be wrong. With Ember I want to say it was maybe some version of a Peavey 5150 or a XXX head. If I think of all the record it’s always been some form of a 5150 I, II or III into something with V30s or something similar. It’s always been that with an overdrive in front, whether it’s been Ibanez or Maxon or MXR. It’s always worked for us.

It’s so interesting that when Eddie and James Brown designed the 5150, the genres it went on to be used in didn’t exist yet but it’s such a perfect amp for really extreme metal. 

It’s crazy! Y’know, there’s actually a scene in Full House where Jesse and the Rippers were trying out new guitar players and there was a 5150 there. And there was a 5150 onstage with Jesse and the Rippers in a lot of scenes! But every record we’ve done has been some version of a 5150 head. I think with Ascendency, Sneap used maybe a Mesa Dual Rectifier for the leads.

Ember To Inferno is out now.

- See more at: http://iheartguitarblog.com/2016/12/interview-triviums-matt-heafy.html#sthash.aH39o7lA.dpuf

Going Unplugged

Nirvana did it. Eric Clapton did it too. So did Pearl Jam, Jimmy Page, Bob Dylan, KISS, R.E.M. and Springsteen. These artists and many others, who are known more for their electric performances than they are acoustic, have all at some point unplugged and gone bare bones with their music.

Now, we're not talking "unplugged" in the literal sense, as in no amplification. What we're referring to here is when a musician plays a stripped-down version of their electric repertoire on an acoustic instrument that is amplified, but to a lesser degree. If you remember MTV Unplugged, you'll recall the series wasn't actually a showcase for artists playing their instruments without amplification, but rather for bands performing their songs on acoustic instruments that were plugged in to smaller, less powerful amps.

Going unplugged adds a degree of intimacy to a song that approximates playing in one's living room or around a campfire. It can sometimes feel a little too personal for comfort though, like Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven," which he wrote to cope with the pain of the tragic loss of his four-year-old son, Conor, and Nirvana's haunting, legendary Unplugged in New York performance, which was recorded four months prior to Kurt Cobain's death. Especially poignant is Cobain's rendition of Lead Belly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night."

When you take a song unplugged, you can't simply play the same song, note for note, on a different instrument and expect it to sound as good as or even better than the original. In most cases, it won't. Average will be as good as it gets. The challenge in going unplugged then doesn't concern trying to be heard, but involves the ability to take an electric song and make it translate as an acoustic one. Compare the plugged-in version of Eric Clapton's signature song "Layla" with the unplugged version, which he completely reinvented. Same song, very different sound.

The key to reworking heavier songs as acoustic numbers without sacrificing the power and passion of the song is to keep in mind the differences between electric and acoustic guitars as well as the context of the original song. Are you playing unplugged as part of a band or in a solo situation? If you are creating a solo acoustic version of a song that's played by a whole band, you'll need to compensate for what the band provides.

The following are some tips to help you adapt an electric piece to an acoustic guitar and make it every bit as compelling as the song it's based on:

Add bass lines to your chord progressions. Learn the existing bass line to the song you're creating the acoustic version from and include elements of it in your arrangement, especially if you are creating a solo version where it's just you, your guitar, and a vocal. This will help fill out the sound more and create movement within your chord progressions.

Swap out power chords for open and barre chords. For a bigger, fuller sound on your unplugged song, replace the power chords in the electric version with open and/or barre chords. This can be a great way to build the intensity and dynamics in your acoustic song when you don't have the distortion of the electric guitar at your disposal. You don't necessarily have to replace every power chord, it really depends on the context of the song. Whether you go with open or barre chords will also depend on the situation in regard to chord picking, embellishments, strumming approaches, etc.

Strum more. Another way to compensate for the loss of distortion, sustain, and lack of other instruments (assuming you're playing without a band backing you) is to strum more in your acoustic version. Strumming can have a very percussive effect on your acoustic guitar, providing you with a cool groove, and can be a great tool for compensating for the lack of other instruments if you are playing solo. It's also great for building intensity and dynamics in your song.

Add bits of melody to chord progressions. A very effective way to round out and add interest to your sound, especially if you are creating a solo acoustic version, is to include hints of the song's melody in your chord progressions. In doing so you will end up with some really sweet embellishments and extensions to your chords. This approach will fill out the progressions of your acoustic song more, and can even provide a nice instrumental break within the song.

Try fingerpicking. Fingerpicking allows you to play more than one note simultaneously. Using your fingers also provides a different tone compared to that of a pick. It comes in especially handy at times when you're walking the bass line and want to put in the chords on the upbeat, and when adding melody lines to the song. Fingerpicking is also useful for arpeggios and embellishment techniques such as hammer-ons and pull-offs, all of which help beef up your sound and make it more captivating.

Incorporate percussive elements. By introducing slaps, knocks, raps and other hands-on-wood effects into your playing, you can enliven and add greater sonic interest to your unplugged performance. Percussive elements are a great technique to emulate the feel of a rhythm section in a solo acoustic song.

Use slides. Certain techniques are harder to execute on an acoustic guitar than they are an electric. String bending is one of them. Due to the extra tension in the strings of an acoustic, it can be difficult to bend them. Sliding is a good substitute. Sliding to your note instead of bending to it will provide a slightly different sound. It's nuances like this that will give your unplugged song that acoustic sound.

Try double stops. Double stops are a great tool to consider when it comes to soloing on your acoustic guitar. Double stops are when you play two notes together at the same time. They help to add intensity to your solo lines. A nice contrast is created between the double stops and your single notes when you use them, and they also thicken up the sound of a riff. This provides you with yet another way to compensate for the lack of distortion and sustain of the electric guitar.

These are just a few ideas to help you get started stripping down your songs. If you play a lot of solos, be sure to dig deeper into the techniques for soloing unplugged.

Have fun experimenting and retooling some of your old favorites. Of course, while you are learning to rework your electric songs as acoustic numbers, it helps to carefully listen to some artists who have done it. Compare their unplugged songs to the original versions to see what those artists have done, then take those ideas and implement them into your own unique takes of songs on your acoustic. 

Gretsch Tom Petersson Signature Basses!

This is the douchiest, namedroppiest thing I’ve ever posted here but this one time I was hanging out with Duff McKagan outside the Fender booth at NAMM (an awesome publicist introduced us to each other to do an interview while we were both in town) and Duff introduced me to Tom Petersson, who proceeded to hilariously mock my Australian accent for a solid five minutes or so. I liked him before that but now I love that guy. Okay, namedrop over, here are Tom’s new Gretsch basses.

Buy Gretsch guitars and basses here

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (June 21, 2016) Gretsch will officially unveil two new Tom Petersson signature bass models during the Summer NAMM show this week in Nashville, Tenn.

The members of Cheap Trick have reigned as the high priests of hard-rocking U.S. power pop for more than 40 years, with an influential and infectiously ever-youthful sound. The band has recorded countless hits, performed over 5,000 shows and recently released their seventeenth studio album. On April 8, Cheap Trick was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, solidifying their legendary status and entering a new realm amongst their inspirational peers.

On the heels of this pinnacle moment, Gretsch is proud to honor the Cheap Trick co-founder and bassist with the USA Custom Shop Tom Petersson Signature 12-String Falcon™ Bass and G6136B-TP-AWT Tom Petersson Signature 4-String Bass.

Both models will be available in early 2017.

USA Custom Shop Tom Petersson Signature 12-String Falcon™ Bass.

Petersson pioneered the creation of the 12-String bass and has become synonymous with the unique instrument that heavily impacted the band’s dynamic sound, especially enhancing their live shows. The Cheap Trick bassist has been playing his custom 12-String prototype live during the development process, and it has already garnered great admiration and attention.

“Everywhere I go now with my Gretsch bass, people are in shock,” said Petersson. “That’s really why Gretsch has always stood out so much because they are like the Cadillac or Rolls Royce of guitars. They are the flashiest, coolest looking … You show up with that and people are like ‘Oh my god! I don’t even care how that thing sounds, that’s the coolest looking instrument I’ve ever seen.’ But then you plug it in and it’s like, ‘Oh my, whoa, what is going on here?’ So it’s the best of every world. I couldn’t think of a company I’d rather work with than Gretsch.”

Stunning in style and utterly seismic in tone, it puts Petersson’s distinctive stamp on the classic White Falcon Bass design. This first and only Gretsch 12-string bass model is surely the most powerful Falcon ever. Premium features include a laminated maple body, a 12”-radius ebony fingerboard with 22 vintage-style frets and mother-of pearl inlays that sits atop a “C” shaped maple gloss-finished neck, a shorter scale length (30.3″) for comfort and fatter, sweeter tone, dual custom Seymour Duncan® Super’Tron pickups, a specially designed 12-string Space Control™ bridge and Gretsch “Cadillac” tailpiece, gold hardware and pickguard, and more.

Available in Vintage White.

G6136B-TP-AWT Tom Petersson Signature 4-String Bass

Additionally, Gretsch will offer a traditional 4-string model. The G6136B-TP-AWT features a laminated maple body, 12”-radius ebony fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and mother-of pearl inlays, short scale length (30.3”), Adjusto-Matic™ bridge and Gretsch “Cadillac” tailpiece, gloss-finish maple neck with “U” profile, gold hardware and pickguard, and more.

Per Petersson’s specifications, the typical bridge pickup has been replaced instead with a middle pickup (Seymour Duncan® Super’Tron) that pairs with the all-new Rumble’Tron in the neck pickup for an extra bold statement.

“You can get this big, thick sound if you just want that neck pickup sound but if you want more clarity, you’ve got that one in the middle – it’s in the perfect position and then the combination of the two is just great,” noted Petersson. “That’s different than most.”

Available in Aged White.

Petersson will make a special guest appearance at the 2016 Summer NAMM Gretsch booth for a one-hour autograph session at 4:30pm on Thursday, June 23. 

Gretsch also introduces two beautiful new limited edition models to the lineup.

G6112TCB-WF Limited Edition Falcon™ Center Block Jr. with Bigsby®

With style and feel as pure as its Vintage White finish, the G6112TCB-WF Limited Edition Falcon™ Center Block Jr. with Bigsby® combines vintage Falcon power with modern Gretsch sound and playability. Its smaller 14” center block body design is only 1.75” deep and enables snarling high-gain power while offering remarkable ergonomic comfort and control. Dual TV Jones® TV Classic pickups deliver pure Gretsch power, with “Squeezebox” paper-in-oil capacitors under the hood for even smoother vintage tone. It also includes a no-load tone control for smoother tonal taper while unleashing full-throttle Filter’Tron™ power, the classic Falcon “vertical winged” headstock logo, and a String-Thru Bigsby® tailpiece.

Available August 2016.

6120T-59CAR Limited Edition Nashville® with Bigsby®

Stunning in look and sound, the 6120T-59CAR Limited Edition Nashville® with Bigsby® takes a classic 1959 Gretsch design and mods it in supremely cool style. The gorgeous Candy Apple Red finish is complemented by a matching headstock and aged binding. Dual TV Jones® TV Classic pickups deliver pure Gretsch power, with red inserts that match the body finish and “Squeezebox” paper-in-oil capacitors under the hood for even smoother vintage tone. The G6120T-59CAR also includes a rosewood fingerboard (with aged inlays) and pinned bridge for warmer, silkier tone, and a String-Thru Bigsby® tailpiece.

Available August 2016.

For more information, visit www.gretschguitars.com

Worthy Plus-es

The Schecter C-6 Plus is new for 2016.

If you are looking for a sub-$500 player which isn't shabby with much visual attraction...

... they are now available at Davis GMC in various colours.

Keeley Neutrino Review: A Versatile Small-Size Envelope Filter for Jam & Funk

The Keeley Neutrino, released in 2014, is a pedal that caught many people’s attention as a boutique alternative to the bigger Mu-Tron III envelope filter pedal which started it all back in the 1970s. Why is it so appealing? To start, it’s small and will save space on your pedalboard. Second it sounds excellent and is easier to trigger than other envelope filters. Third, the current re-issue (from Haz Laboratories) is not even the original design by Mike Beigel (creator of Mu-Tron effects). After stopping production of the original Mu-Tron III, he worked with Electro-Harmonix to use his design and create the Q-Tron, which is much closer to the original Mu-Tron III. Read about it here.

Fast forward to the present. In 2014 Mike Beigel released the (now sold-out) Tru-Tron, his newer version of the original Mu-Tron III, for the purists who wanted to get as close to the original design as possible. Trey Anastasio famously took this pedal on the road with the Dead & Company tour. One problem remained: it still took up a lot of pedalboard real estate. This problem, however, helped to create a market for smaller envelope filters inspired by the Mu-Tron III, namely the 3Leaf Audio and Keeley Neutrino, which are arguably the front-runners in the small-box envelope filter market.

The differences are minimal, but we get the sense from recent forum threads that guitarists seem to favor the Neutrino due to it being a little bit easier to trigger the filter effect (especially with single coil guitars). Some also think the Neutrino sounds a bitt fatter than the Proton. Whether this is actually true or not is up for debate and your own testing. There are so many variables with your individual gain structure that your experience may be different.

One thing to consider with any envelope filter is that you need to keep your guitar’s output maxed in order to properly trigger the filter effect. Jerry Garcia, famous for his use of two Mu-Tron III effects with the Grateful Dead, actually had an effects loop running from his actual guitar, before his guitar’s output jack, to ensure that his effects saw maximum gain. He also used a boost in his guitar (Alembic’s Stratoblaster) to help ensure his gain stayed strong through long cable runs to his effects. So, you really need to learn how to play an envelope filter, and how to best incorporate it into your rig.

Comparing the Keeley Neutrino to the Mu-Tron/Tru-Tron Design

This is one of the best videos on YouTube to help you hear how the Keeley Neutrino sounds compared to the original Mu-Tron design…well, it’s actually the newer Tru-Tron from Mike Beigel. Pretty damn close. When you listen to these clips, it’s very clear that in the Low modes, the Neutrino and the Tru-Tron sound nearly identical. Robert and his team did an incredible job getting those classic Mu-Tron tones with the Neutrino.

Putting the Neutrino Through its Paces

This video from Mike Hermans is an excellent resource to help you hear how the Neutrino sounds when played in various applications with various guitars. He does a good job showcasing the quick filter response of the Neutrino, using it with overdrive for more aggressive tones, and of course…getting those classic Jerry Garcia tones.

Isolating the Various Settings of the Neutrino

We produced our own video to help you hear how the Neutrino sounds without any other instruments or effects. Running through the various settings, you can really hear how versatile the Neutrino is. Many guitarists favor the Low Pass settings for those classic 70s Grateful Dead tones, however it is also easily used for more “mainstream funk” tones when using the Band Pass and High Pass settings.

Exploring the Features, Controls & Up & Down Modes

The Neutrino is true bypass, offers a 9V center negative AC power jack and features the following controls on the top of the pedal:

• Selector knob for Low Pass, High Pass or Band Pass
• Selector toggle switch for LO or HI frequency range
• Input Gain Knob
• Peak Knob

For warmer envelop filter tones (ala Jerry Garcia), you’re going to want to focus on the lower frequencies (Low Pass, LO range) and keep the Peak knob around 9:00 – 10:00. As the peak knob is turned up, the filter will “peak’ at a higher frequency and you’ll lose the warmth.

For snappier, edgier and brighter filter tones, experiment with Band Pass and High Pass modes depending on how thin you would like your tone to be. Switching to the HI range allows the filter to stress the higher frequencies.

The Neutrino also comes with a switch on the side of the pedal that allows you to switch between upward filter and downward filter modes. You can hear the tonal differences in the video above. What really stands out to me is that you do not need to change the settings of your pedal when switching between up/down modes. Not all pedals make it this easy, which is especially helpful when playing live.

Final Verdict

The Neutrino is a winner if you’re looking for classic 70s envelope filter tones in a small box enclosure. When set early in your pedalboard chain, it can trigger easily due to the addition of the Input Gain knob, and the Neutrino sounds great with light overdrive, fuzz or distortion after it. Too much dirt will result in a loss of the filter effect. The only suggested upgrade that many guitarists would like to see from Robert Keeley in the future is to move the Up / Down switch from the side of the pedal to the top, so it’s easier to switch between modes. Still, at $209, the Neutrino is a great buy.

BONUS: Keeley ME-8 Multi-Echo

While we’re covering the awesomeness of Robert Keeley’s pedals, we’d also like to point out that the ME-8 (Multi-Echo) is an incredible pairing with the Neutrino for creating more spacial envelope filter effects. The ME-8 offers two ADT (double tracking) presets, three delays and three reverbs. All have separate parameters that can be controlled with the knobs. While there’s no videos on YouTube of both pedals together, this review from Mike Hermans showcases the 8 presets of the ME-8. In short, they are:

1. ADT Vintage
2. ADT Modern
3. Tape Delay
4. Analog Delay
5. Subdivision Digital Delay
6. Room Reverb
7. Chamber Reverb
8. Hall Reverb

The Guess Who "American Women" Isolated Percussion Track Read more: http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-guess-who-american-women-isolated.html#ixzz407SkE7su Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Follow us: @bobbyowsinski on Twitter | bobby.owsinski on Facebook

Percussion is the secret weapon that producers use to give motion to a song. Sometimes the percussion is obvious in a mix, and sometimes it's almost imperceptible (like the shaker on Tom Petty and the Heatbreaker's big hit "Refugee"), but it almost always makes a big difference how the song feels.

For decades now garage bands have been playing The Guess Who's "American Women" and wondering why it didn't sound like the record, and the reason is they're not playing the percussion that's an integral part of the song.

Take a close listen to the following video and you'll realize why it's almost a different song without the conga and  tom hit.

Note that they're not playing totally in the pocket, but that was the state of production for the era, when timing wasn't scrutinized as closely as it is today.

David Bowie

The first time I saw David Bowie in person was very much like this performance of “Rebel Rebel” from the A Reality Tour DVD: happy as fuck and controlling a room with his smile. Maybe play this video while you read this.

Here’s the thing: we all saw in that guy what we wanted to see in ourselves. He spoke for all of us who couldn’t articulate what we wanted to say about ourselves, and what we saw reflected in him was the part of us that we didn’t have a name for and maybe weren’t brave enough to show. But when you met another Bowie fan – not just someone who knew the words to “Heroes” but someone with that same knowing smile every time they saw a drawing of a lightning bolt –  you knew you had something in common, and yet what you had in common wasn’t your similarities but your shared differences. I’m sure we all remember when this entry from Caitlin Moran’s 10 Things Every Girl Should Know was doing the rounds online – it captures it all so perfectly:

When in doubt, listen to David Bowie. In 1968, Bowie was a gay, ginger, bonk-eyed, snaggle-toothed freak walking around south London in a dress, being shouted at by thugs. Four years later, he was still exactly that – but everyone else wanted to be like him too. If David Bowie can make being David Bowie cool, you can make being you cool. PLUS, unlike David Bowie, you get to listen to David Bowie for inspiration. So you’re one up on him, really. YOU’RE ALREADY ONE AHEAD OF DAVID BOWIE. 

The first time David Bowie made an impact on me was not even through his music – my parents never listened to him and I’d only seen stuff like “Heroes” and “Ashes To Ashes” on Rage occasionally – but an interview with him in the paper back when Outside came out.

I was 15 and I felt really alone in the world, as most of us probably do then. Nobody seemed to get me, nobody seemed to relate to my artistic side or my budding interest in intellectualism – or maybe everyone else around me who felt this way just didn’t know how to articulate it yet either. And then I read an interview with David Bowie in the newspaper where he talked about the motivation behind playing characters again, about his and Brian Eno’s abstract ways of working, about the historical and cultural influences behind what he was doing… the same newspaper also had a giveaway of a few copies of the album. I entered and won a copy and my life was never the same.

I know of so many friends with their own Bowie stories. Here are just a few of mine, about the ways Bowie’s music intersected with my life in meaningful ways, or had been folded into the fabric of my little family. I’d love to hear your stories too, because that’s the whole point of me sharing mine: we all have ’em and there must be millions and millions of them out there. So here goes:

My partner painted a picture of Bowie to give me as a gift on our very first date, and to this day that painting looks over me as I work. Bowie was one of the first shared interests we connected on, and I remember clumsily trying to play “Ziggy Stardust” over the phone to impress her once.

Last month my neighbours threw a street party and I jammed on a few songs with them out there in the drive way. I had a friggin’ blast cranking up “Rebel Rebel,” and it was so much fun that I was still grinning about it for days after.

I vaguely remember drunken “China Girl” karaoke at a bar in Santa Barbara.

I had a band named The Silent Age after the Heroes track “Sons Of The Silent Age.” That was fun.

An advance media listening party at the Sony Records HQ to hear The Next Day before it came out, catching up with Paul Cashmere and Ros O’Gorman from Noise11, and hanging out with Angela from Soot Magazine, messaging our mutual friend Kate in California who was hella jealous. Sorry Kate.

I remember jumping around my bedroom joyously thrashing out chords to ‘Modern Love’ on my Telecaster, then realising that it was so much fun that I had to do it again. And again. I must have played that one song five times in a row that day.

I remember the pronunciation of ‘glamorous’ by a presenter on the Best of Bowie DVD spawning a family in-joke about ‘the Glamrus.’ This fellow, who still makes me laugh.

My son went as Ziggy Stardust for a school dress up day a while back. So proud.

Hell, even today, hours before we found out he’d died, my partner and I were hugging while ‘Be My Wife’ was playing on the computer in the background, and I was pretending to play the piano part on her shoulder while we stood there.

But I think the thing that stands out to me the most right now is this: Just yesterday I was driving around listening to Blackstar with my son, and I shit you not we had a conversation about how lucky we both were to be alive while David Bowie was alive and making music, and able to share in it. (He’s a cool kid. Likes Bowie, Zappa, Van Halen, the Stones… I mean, look at him in that pic up there. Dude gets it). I gave him a little Bowie history lesson, the short version of how he went from Dylan-influenced folkie to a heavy metal singer in a dress to a preening glam god to the Thin White Duke to trying to piece his life back together in Berlin to suddenly deciding to become the ultimate 80s pop star to practically inventing the 90s with Tin Machine to embracing industrial and jungle textures. I explained to him how Bowie’s lyrics were often hard to penetrate which gave you the room to create your own interpretations, and that sometimes they included historical or pop-cultural references that sent you on a little research binge to figure out what it was he was trying to say. And that for a lot of people who felt different, Bowie helped to say what they couldn’t.

And then we talked about how on the very last song of Blackstar, “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” Bowie basically breaks character in the second verse – steps out from behind the screen he normally puts up, a screen made of obscure references, cut-up lyrics and impenetrable meanings – to directly explain to us this rare glimpe of his creative process:

Seeing more and feeling less
Saying no but meaning yes
This is all I ever meant
That’s the message that I sent

I can’t give everything
I can’t give everything
Away

According to producer Tony Visconti today, with whom Bowie collaborated numerous times, “He always did what he wanted to do. And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life – a work of Art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift. I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn’t, however, prepared for it. He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us. For now, it is appropriate to cry.”

With that in mind, all of Blackstar takes on a sudden devastating weight. Were you looking for symbolism in the title track or current single “Lazarus?” Guess what? There was no symbolism. He was telling us, as clearly as he would allow himself to, that this was it. Hell, it’s right there in the video: he’s showing us himself on his deathbed, his body frail but his creative spirit still determined to go on, dancing, writing – until finally, shaking, he steps slowly backwards into the coffin-like closet and leaves us forever. The first verse of “I Can’t Give Everything Away” is especially grim now: it sounds like Bowie was telling us he was at last removing the veil, allowing himself to be clear and honest and direct, or at least as much as he could: “I know something is very wrong/The pulse returns for prodigal sons/The blackout’s hearts with flowered news/With skull designs upon my shoes.”

And yet the song as a whole sounds joyful, relaxed, happy, sentimental and comforting. Bowie spent his whole career speaking for his audience but here, in one last song on one last album, he spoke directly to us. And heartbreakingly, he did so in the past tense. “This is all I ever meant. That’s the message that I sent.”

David Gilmour and Jeff Beck Play "Jerusalem" and "Hi Ho Silver Lining" in 2009 — Video

Here's something you don't see every day.

On July 4, 2009, attendees of Jeff Beck's sold-out show at London's Royal Albert Hall got a bit of a bonus during the encore: an on-stage visit by Pink Floyd legend David Gilmour.

Gilmour—whose brief appearance was a complete surprise to everyone in the audience—picked up his black Strat, and the band launched into an extended guitar-heavy instrumental version of "Jerusalem," a Sir Hubert Parry-penned hymn from 1916 that was inspired by an influential William Blake poem of the same name.

Up next (and last) was "Hi Ho Silver Lining," Beck's 1967 debut solo single. The song is always a crowd pleaser, especially in the U.K., where it actually charted. Beck sings on the track (a true rarity), and Gilmour pitched in on vocals—and lead guitar—for this occasion. You can watch clips of both songs below.

If the site of these two Strat masters sharing a stage looks vaguely familiar, it might be because they performed together at the Royal Albert Hall on April 1, 2004, when they both participated in the Teenage Cancer Trust concert.

Gilmour is, of course, on the cover of the all-new December 2015 issue of Guitar World. It's available now at newsstands and the Guitar World Online Store. Enjoy!

Want to read more stories like this?

New Epiphone Models

PRESS RELEASE: Epiphone, the worldwide leader in classic and cutting edge professional instruments, is proud to introduce two new guitars to the Epiphone catalog – the Dobro® Hound Dog M14 Metalbody and the return of the Epiphone legendary Blueshawk Deluxe. Both guitars will be available for Epiphone fans in spring 2015. “The Dobro® Hound Dog M14 and the Blueshawk Deluxe are perfect examples of what we do best at Epiphone,” said Epiphone President Jim Rosenberg, “It’s our mission to provide guitar players of all genres incredible style, sound and value.”

Dobro® Hound Dog M14 Metalbody

Epiphone’s Dobro® Hound Dog M-14 Metalbody guitar features an easy-to-play Round Neck and the renowned resonator style and sound that have been inspiring Dobro® fans since the late 1920s. The body of the Dobro® Hound Dog M-14 is made from Bell Brass with nickel plating and features a SlimTaper™ D-profile Mahogany neck for a rich and full tone that makes finger picking and sliding smooth and easy in all registers. Unlike hard-to-play vintage models, the new Dobro® Hound Dog M-14 Metalbody features a dual action truss rod for quick and reliable intonation.

Blueshawk Deluxe 

Epiphone’s Blueshawk Deluxe is the long-awaited return of an original classic. The Blueshawk Deluxe was first introduced in the ‘90s and has been a connoisseur favorite ever since. The Blueshawk Deluxe features the upper bout curve and cutaway of a Les Paul, but with the semi-hollowbody design and small f-holes of an archtop.  The result is one of the most versatile and distinctive guitars anywhere. The Epiphone Blueshawk Deluxe also includes new P-90 PRO™ Single Coil pickups plus a 6-position Rotary VariTone™.

Look for the new Dobro® Hound Dog M14 Metalbody and the Blueshawk Deluxe in spring 2015 or visit Epiphone.com for details.

Dobro® Hound Dog M14 Metalbody (Round Neck) / MSRP $999:

http://www2.epiphone.com/press/P_MetalDobro1.jpg

Blueshawk Deluxe in 2015 / MSRP $832:

http://www2.epiphone.com/press/P_BHawkDLX-MS1.jpg

About Epiphone:

For over 140 years, Epiphone has been a leading innovator in musical instrument design. Epiphone is also home to the new PRO-1 Collection, designed by Pros to be the easy to play and is the official instrument of Rocksmith 2014, the critically acclaimed video experience that is teaching millions around the world how to play guitar and bass. From Epiphone’s humble beginnings in Sparta, Greece in 1873 through its rise to fame in Manhattan, and its reemergence as a dominant force in musical instruments from its new headquarters in Nashville, TN, Epiphone has remained the premier name for professional affordable acoustic and electric instruments. Epiphones are heard on over a century of classic recordings by Les Paul, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Joe Pass, John Lee Hooker, The Who, and today’s top artists like Gary Clark Jr., Paul McCartney, Jack Casady, Joe Bonamassa, Dwight Yoakam, Tommy Thayer of KISS, Slash, FUN., Robb Flynn, Matt Heafy, Alabama Shakes, Vampire Weekend, and Brendon Small. As part of Gibson Brands, Epiphone offers innovation, history, and a lifetime guarantee.

- See more at: http://iheartguitarblog.com/2015/05/newepiphone.html#sthash.PboJivST.dpuf

Joe Satriani – Shockwave Supernova

PRESS RELEASE: Legendary guitarist, JOE SATRIANI, announces plans to release his 15th solo studio album,Shockwave Supernova, on July 24th, making him one of the first to utilize the new “Friday, Global Release Day” for music. It would be easy to call Shockwave Supernova a “masterpiece” or “the last word on guitar” from the world’s most commercially successful solo guitar performer.  Satch, however, sees it much more personally. He has consistently advanced the artistry of the instrument; an effort he dedicated himself to on September 18, 1970, the day his idol Jimi Hendrix died. 

Recorded late last year at Skywalker Sound in Lucas Valley, CA, Satriani assembled the dynamic trio of world-class musicians who had recently been part of his global tour; renowned keyboardist and guitarist Mike Keneally, a veteran of several Satch outings and recordings; along with drumming whiz Marco Minnemann and bass extraordinaire Bryan Beller. “I couldn’t have asked for a better band to help bring these songs to life,” says Satriani.

The album also sees Satriani once again joining forces co-producer and engineer John Cuniberti. Satch and Cuniberti share production on Shockwave Supernova, as they have on numerous albums – their shared history dates back to the guitar star’s 1986 debut album, Not Of This Earth and its follow- up, the platinum-selling, critically acclaimed, Surfing with the Alien.

Minnemann and Beller handle the bulk of Shockwave Supernova’s rhythmic duties, with the exception of four cuts – the driving “Keep On Movin’,” full of wondrous Satch guitar wizardry and Keneally’s playful piano, “In My Pocket,” a deliciously greasy, souped-up take on Swing, along with “Crazy Joey” (a deliriously effervescent romp) and “Scarborough Stomp” (a relentless upbeat rocker) – find Satriani joined by another powerhouse rhythm section: the esteemed drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (whose work includes the likes of Frank Zappa, Sting, Paul Simon, among others) and Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney (whose resume includes Alanis Morrisette, Celine Dion and Rob Zombie, to name a few).

Recently, during the final performance of his two-year Unstoppable Momentum tour, Satriani had an epiphany; he found himself, “playing the guitar with my teeth an awful lot. I thought, ‘Why are you doing this?’ It’s as if something else, or somebody else, was driving me to do it.” Satriani seized upon this moment of self-realization as the springboard and creative center for his alter ego “Shockwave Supernova,” the outlandish and extroverted ‘performance side’ of the normally shy and reserved guitar virtuoso. With this new persona as partner, Satriani launched his wildly ambitious 15th solo album, Shockwave Supernova.

In a creative and engaging alternative venture, Satriani, a lifelong science fiction fan, has reached out to the future, through the medium of animation. Finally recognizing the on-stage symmetry with his alter ego allowed Satriani to also take a risk on this particular style of storytelling. He says, “Guitarist Ned Evett and I have created an animated series called Crystal Planet. The actual Crystal Planet is our very own Earth, set billions of years in the future. The hero of the show uses music generated by a unique electric guitar to travel through time while the show’s characters struggle to preserve the future and past of humankind.”  More information on Crystal Planet and how and where fans will view the series will be coming shortly.

Fans are now able to pre-order the new album with an exclusive signed poster only at satriani.com. Joe will be selecting art for the poster from fan submitted art – check Joe’s FB page for more details (facebook.com/joesatriani).  The album is available for pre-order on Amazon (http://smarturl.it/satriani_SS_amzn) and iTunes (http://smarturl.it/satriani_SS_itunes) and will also be available to order as 2 LP 120 gram vinyl.

As was previously announced, Satriani and Steve Vai, will perform at a third benefit concert in support of music industry veteran and their good friend, Cliff Cultreri. “A Benefit for Cliff III” is set for Friday, June 12th at 8pm at Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.  This event will feature performances by Satriani and Vai, as well as special guests, Animals As Leaders.  In addition, Satriani and Vai, along with other artists, have graciously donated various items to be auctioned at the event.  Among these items are autographed guitars as well as a chance to join Satriani’s “G4 Camp” taking place June 28 – July 2 in Cambria, CA.