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Introducing The EVH Wolfgang Electric Guitar

EVH Wolfgang Guitar

If you’ve been reading Live Musician Central for long then you know I’m a certified Fender products junkie. Don’t get me wrong, I own a Gibson Les Paul Custom and I love it but not as much as I love my Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster. So I was really stoked when I read about Fender building a custom guitar for Eddie Van Halen. That guitar is branded and named the EVH Wolfgang. It’s got some really amazing specs and according to Eddie himself the EVH Wolfgang Guitar is exactly the same as the instrument he plays live. In an interview for Guitar World magazine, Eddie is quoted as saying “The Wolfgang is a culmination of my 35 years of experimenting with guitars. Everything that I’ve destroyed, stumbled onto, learned and experienced in my journey to get to where we are now is in this guitar.”

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The Who’s John Entwistle – Bass Solo

One of my favorite bands also has one of my favorite bass players, Mr. John Entwistle. His recorded work with the Who is just incredible to listen to and his bass solo on My Generation is one of the most famous recorded bass solos ever. He’s also an outstanding live musician and has no reservations about taking exteneded bass solos live. Today I’m posting up a clip of John Entwistle playing a bass solo in the middle of the song 5:15 from Quadrophenia. It was recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in 2000. I really like the way his bass sounds on this solo and the camera attached to the top of his bass neck really gives an interesting visual perspective. It’s cool to watch him use his E-String drop tuner as well. The scales that he plays are pure John Entwistle and they’re comprised of a style that the man himself forged. They may not make perfect sense in a music theory setting but they’re pure Entwistle. Any musician that can create such a unique signature sound as well as a unique melodic signature should be revered. I like how Roger Daltrey introduces him at the end of the song.

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Build Finger Strength With The Gripmaster Exercise Tool

Gripmaster – Extra Light Tension

As any guitarist will tell you, playing in a live band will definitely test your stamina in ways you never would expect. It’s really hard to build the type of endurance you will need to be able to play an entire live gig when you don’t play out a lot. You can practice on your instrument of course but it’s hard to practice for 3 hours to simulate the live show experience. Even if you do play regularly it’s a good idea to have some tools to help you build your finger strength and stamina. Years ago I bought a Gripmaster Exercise Tool finger exerciser and I have used it to help stay in playing shape over the years. I have recommended this product to many of my students as well to help them build up their finger muscles.

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Weekend Gig Report – In Stereo at Canyon Inn, January 9-10, 2009

In Stereo Bass Drum Logo

In Stereo rocked the Canyon Inn this chilly January weekend. The Canyon Inn in Salt Lake City, Utah is a great place for live bands to play and we really enjoyed being there. We hadn’t played for a while so we had quite a bit of rust to knock off for this show. We started out pretty rough on Friday night but by the time we finished on Saturday night we were back in really good form.

Friday night the effects of the U.S. economies current recession was really evident in the club. Usually during the peak ski season the Canyon Inn fills up to capacity every night. Friday it was only about half full. That was probably a good thing because we didn’t have our sharp edge intact as we were a bit rusty from the time off over the holidays. Luckily we pulled it together and ended up giving a really good show. (more…)
Sunday Funnies – Kiss Shreds Video “I Will Never Go To School”

This is a very interesting overdub of the Kiss video for their song “I Was Made For Loving You”. It looks like the song was written specifically to line up with what’s happening in this video. I can’t imagine the amount of time it took to write a song to match the video, lay down the tracks and line everything up with the video. It’s really funny to watch though and the captions make it even funnier. Enjoy!

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Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 1-10-08

Every week at Live Musician Central I pick some of the top new releases available for you to download from both iTunes and Amazon.com music service. These new release choices reflect the heaviest music industry marketing. There are two reasons I post up the most heavily music industry marketed albums. First, by checking out these releases you’ll be able to keep a finger on the pulse of the mainstream music industry. It’s still a very powerful business that heavily influences peoples buying choices. The second reason is that a large number of people are going to know these albums. So if your band is looking for new music to put in your bands setlist these would be good choices simply because your chance of people knowing the songs at your shows will be very high. You’ll also look very on top of things and current with your knowledge of music. So these albums are a great resource for your song selection. I will also post up links to top selling albums of all time for the reason of song selection as well.

I use links to both iTunes and Amazon.com. iTunes is now the top music retailer in the U.S. so it goes without saying that people are going to be downloading their recommended new releases. I put links up from Amazon.com because their music service is an incredible bargain and their MP3’s are DRM free. You can save a bundle downloading entire albums from Amazon.com over iTunes. Amazon.com MP3’s are also ripped at an excellent sounding 256kbps and since they’re DRM free you can play them on multiple MP3 players including iPods and iPhones. You’ve got to check out the album by The Fireman, which is really the duo of Paul McCartney and producer Youth. The album is surprisingly good.
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Market Your Band By Giving Out Free Swag

Personalized Wristbands

Constant marketing is essential for every live musician to promote their music and their band. With marketing your goal is to be able to keep your name and and logo in front of as many people as you can as often as you can. That brings me to the topic of giving away free swag. Yes the term “Free Swag” is a current buzz phrase on the marketing scene especially among the young and the hip. In case you were wondering, the term “Swag” as it’s used here means cool free stuff. Traditionally, swag means booty, goods or money stolen by any thief and is most commonly associated with pirates. Yo-Ho! As I said, it’s really just appealing to the young hipsters of today.

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Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess Keyboard Solo

I’ve got a great clip for all you keyboard players out there. It’s from phenomenal live musician, Jordan Rudess who plays keyboards for Dream Theater. I find it extremely inspiring to see how far a skilled musician can take their playing on their instrument. Jordan is definitely one of the best keyboard players in all of rock-n-roll. I hope you enjoy the clip!

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Save Money With An Extra 10% Off Scratch ‘N’ Dent Items From Musician’s Friend

For exactly one week you can save an additional 10% off all Scratch ‘N’ Dent items from Musician’s Friend. You can really save big money on the scratch ‘n’ dent music equipment. It’s a great way to equip your live band and the prices are comparable to buying used equipment. The gear in the Scratch ‘N’ Dent section generally has minor cosmetic flaws but it doesn’t have the wear and tear that you would get when buying used equipment. Another great thing is you get the Musician’s Friend Advantage which is the 45-day low price guarantee, 45-day 100% satisfaction guarantee, on-time delivery guarantee and the no-hassle return policy. You will also get free shipping on all orders over $99.

As you can see, this is a really great promotion and you can score some killer deals. Remember, this special promotion ends on January 13, 2009. Just click on the banners to check out the Scratch ‘N’ Dent sale.
Build Finger Strength With Hanon “The Viruoso Pianist In Sixty Exercises”

Hanon – The Virtuoso Pianist In Sixty Exercises

If you’re a live musician that plays guitar, bass or keyboards then you know that having good finger strength and coordination is essential to mastering your instrument. If you ever took piano lessons then you’ve probably run across the piano exercise book by Charles-Louis Hanon titled “The Virtuoso Pianist In Sixty Exercises“. I remember my piano teacher asking me at the beginning of every lesson to play my “Hanon Exercise”. Because the name “Hanon” was the largest word on the cover of the book we all just called it Hanon. I’ll tell you, those exercises were easy to learn, quickly became boring and built my finger strength and coordination in a way that few things have over the years. I owe a lot of my hand strength to good old Hanon.

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