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Jeff Beck – Les Paul Tribute 2010 Grammy Awards Video

In my review of the 2010 Grammy Awards I talked about an excellent live performance by Jeff Beck and Imelda May. Here is the video of Jeff Beck and Imelda May performing the Les Paul/Mary Ford classic “How High The Moon” at the 2010 Grammy Awards. I really think it’s cool that Jeff picked up a Les Paul guitar to play this tribute since he is such a genius on the Fender Stratocaster. Jeff also does a great job copping some classic Les Paul licks during the song. Imelda May simply has a beautiful voice and she nails the vocal on this song.

I do believe that Les Paul deserved about four times as much time for a tribute than he got on the Grammy’s. I don’t think the recording industry would be what it is today without Les Paul’s amazing innovations in recording technology as well as guitar craft. I hope you enjoy watching this performance as much as I did. (more…)
2010 Grammy Awards Review

Pink Performs At 2010 Grammy Awards

The 2010 Grammy Awards were a very interesting spectacle this year. At times it was entertaining, at times it was boring and predictable. The live performances overall were actually quite good and there were some great ones as well as some real duds. Since this is Live Musician Central, we’ll be reviewing the live performances more than the actual winners.

One of the best performances of the night for me was the Les Paul tribute by Jeff Beck and Imelda May. Their performance of the Les Paul/Mary Ford classic “How High The Moon” was simply excellent. Jeff’s guitar was one of the few lead guitars that was actually properly mixed for the evening. Another of my favorite performances was Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige singing Bridge Over Troubled Water. Andrea Bocelli’s voice was simply amazing. (more…)
Sunday Funnies – Horrible Guitar Players On YouTube

I know everyone has to start someplace when they learn to play the guitar. Let’s face it, we were all pretty horrible when we started playing. I’m just glad that nobody had a video camera around when I was learning to play guitar. I really feel sorry for these poor saps that video themselves playing horrible guitar and then have the “great idea” to put it up on YouTube.

I hope you enjoy this short clip of some of YouTube’s worst guitar playing. (more…)

Weekend Setlist For Your Live Band To Play – Classic Rock 4

We’re posting up another great Classic Rock setlist for your live band to learn. The songs in this set list are timeless rock-n-roll that will get any crowd up and having a good time. That’s what it’s all about when you’re playing live music, keeping the crowd engaged. If you learn this setlist you’ll have an entire set of quality classic rock for your audience.

Even if you decide not to learn all of these songs it’s a good idea to have them loaded on your portable music player to play during your band breaks. The songs in this setlist get requested a lot and if you have them on your MP3 player you can at least fulfill some requests during your break.

These songs are available for direct download served by Amazon.com MP3 service. They are encoded at a high quality 256kbps rate and they sound fantastic. All MP3’s from Amazon are DRM free so you can load them on any MP3 player including iPods and iPhones. You don’t need any special software, just download and load them onto your player using any interface you want.

Amazon.com Widgets

Included Songs:

Take It Easy – Eagles
Sweet Emotion – Aerosmith
Burnin’ For You – Blue Oyster Cult
Crazy On You – Heart
Fire – Jimi Hendrix
Tush – ZZ Top
Feel Like Makin’ Love – Bad Company
Runnin’ With The Devil – Van Halen
Touch Me – Doors
Cocaine – Eric Clapton
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – BTO
Jumpin’ Jack Flash – Rolling Stones

Grammy Awards 2010 Preview

Shakira Performs At The 2007 Grammy Awards

The Grammy awards are coming up this Sunday January 31, 2010. They’ll be shown on CBS at 8PM ET/PT and just like last year, I’m sure they’ll disappoint. Every year I watch the Grammy’s and then vow that I’ll never watch them again. Let’s face it, since music distribution has gone so heavily digital and hit songs are basically just hits in a certain niche, the Grammy’s just don’t hold the same allure as they used to have. I guess an indication of all the niche markets is the fact that there are over 100 categories for for Grammy awards. So if you’re into rock and roll, you should get about 10 minutes of enjoyment out of the Grammy awards.

I guess it’s just how the music industry is that everything is categorized and marketed to a certain audience. The Grammy’s, after all, is as much a celebration of targeted marketing as it is a celebration of musical creativity. The Record Of The Year category is loaded with the top sellers for 2010. But great albums like “It’s Blitz!” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are crammed into their own niche. So congratulations Lady Gaga, you have been marketed very well this year. Good luck winning the Grammy for your silly song “Poker Face”. (more…)
Danelectro FAB Chorus Pedal Review

Danelectro FAB Chorus – Excellent Sound, Incredible Price

I’ve been playing guitar in a live band for a lot of years now and I’ve come to rely on some basic guitar effects to help shape my sound. One of the most important effects you can add to your guitar effects collection is the Chorus effect. If you don’t know how a chorus works its quite simple. Chorusing makes your guitar sound like multiple guitars being played, hence the name Chorus. It accomplishes this effect by putting a slight delay and modulating the original signal then mixing the modulated signal with the original.

Today I’m going to talk about an incredibly affordable chorus pedal called the FAB Chorus by Danelectro. The FAB Chorus is a colored a metallic blue, has an on/off indicator light, an on/off button and 3 knobs that control Mix, Speed and Depth. The FAB Chorus is a mono chorus as opposed to more expensive stereo chorus effects. As you know, a stereo chorus effect will yield a wider and more ambient chorus effect split between two stereo channels. The FAB Chorus is made to be used with a mono guitar amplifier. (more…)
Sunday Funnies – Songs About A Girl Family Guy

I got a good laugh out of this clip from Family Guy. Girls are one of any musician’s greatest inspiration and there have been a lot of songs written and titled after certain girls. It was actually kind of shocking to watch this clip and realize just how many songs have a girl’s name in the title.

Sit back and have a good laugh as Stewie and Brian have a little songwriting discussion about using girl’s names in a song.

Songs About A Girl – Family Guy
Tips For Auditioning For A Live Band

Bill Barely Passed His Audition

The other day I wrote a post about joining a band by answering Musician Wanted ads. Naturally the next step in the process is going to the audition so that’s what we’ll discuss today. I’ve played in a lot of live bands over the years and been to my share of live band auditions too. Auditions are always an interesting process and I’ve always learned something going through the band audition process. Today I’m going to give you a few tips on preparing to audition for a live band.

The first thing you want to do is make sure you have the correct address for where the audition is going to be held. I remember once getting so lost going to an audition that I was an hour late. Needless to say, it didn’t make a good impression and I didn’t get the gig. Get directions and a phone number you can call in case you get lost or you get stuck in traffic. (more…)
Excellent Stevie Ray Vaughan Interview 1985

This is an interview with one of the greatest live musician’s to ever grace us with his playing. Today I’m posting up and interview Stevie did in 1985 just before the release of his third album “Soul To Soul” which was a platinum release in the United States and a Gold release in Canada. This interview was done by Peter Feniak for Lifetime TV in Canada.

What I like about this interview is that the Mr. Feniak lets Stevie really be himself while he’s interviewing him. It’s interesting to watch the interviewer relax and enjoy chatting with Stevie as the interview goes on. I’m sure part of it is Stevie’s gentle way of speaking and communicating in general. Stevie is very personable and the interviewer gets totally taken in by Stevie’s playing. Stevie plays some very excellent music during the interview and I’m sure all you guitarists and Stevie Ray Vaughan fans out there are going to love this video. (more…)
Sunday Funnies – Support Conan O’Brien My Coco

I admit, when Jay Leno was hosting the Tonight Show I would watch fairly regularly but a lot of the time I’d fall asleep on the couch until Conan O’Brien came on. So I was pretty stoked when Jay retired and Conan moved to the 10:30 spot to host The Tonight Show. I figured I could stay awake easily for Conan’s hijinks and I do. Then all this time slot stupidity started.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like Jay but he left to try a new time slot and for better or worse, it didn’t work out. So I say Jay, it’s time to retire to Vegas and start really enjoying your car collection. Conan is younger and funnier and he’s earned his shot to host the Tonight Show. (more…)