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Michael Kelly Firefly 4-String Acoustic-Electric Bass

Michael Kelly Firefly 4-String Acoustic-Electric Bass

Since discussing playing an acoustic gig in yesterdays post on Live Musician Central I figured I should talk about an excellent solution for bass players. I’d like to point you to the Michael Kelly Firefly 4-String Acoustic-Electric Bass. It’s a very affordable acoustic bass guitar and is an incredible bargain for the price. It can be very difficult to find an acoustic bass that sounds good unplugged but the Michael Kelly Firefly really sounds good unplugged. Of course, it’s on-board electric pickup gives you the ability to plug in and that’s where this bass really shines.

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Need A Change Of Pace? Go Unplugged and Play An Acoustic Gig

Kiss – Unplugged in 1995

The “rock band plays acoustic gig” format really came to popularity when MTV introduced the “Unplugged” concert series. The series began in the ’89/’90 season with a concert by Squeeze with Elliot Easton (of The Cars) and Syd Straw. From there the series took off, soon every live musician was working up an acoustic set of their music that they could play in smaller, more intimate concert settings.

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Sunday Funnies – Robin Trower Makes “The Guitar Face”

Okay, first of all, Robin Trower absolutely kicks ass playing the guitar. I mean, he’s a joy to listen to. Now that being said, some guys make the funniest “Guitar Face” when they play. It can be the bane of the live musician if you’re feeling it when you’re playing but you look goofy at the same time.

So if you watch Robin Trower make the guitar face in this clip, I’m sure you’ll get a laugh or two out of it!

Robin Trower – Old Grey Whisle Test
Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 10-11-08

Every weekend I pick several albums to post on Live Musician Central. The albums I put up are determined by a couple factors. I usually put up a couple that are being heavily promoted by the music industry. These may not be albums that I particularly like but they are albums that are going to be prominent in the public conscience. It’s good for us as musicians to stay current with what’s being promoted by the industry. We can gauge what we’re doing with what is being pushed out there and see how we fit in with the current music scene. It’s also a good source to choose new music for your band to learn and play live or to have on the iPod to play during band breaks. The reasoning here is that you want to play music that people will know and since the albums I post on Live Musician Central are being so heavily promoted, your chances of people knowing the music at your shows is very high.

The rest of the albums that I post are either personal favorites or they are certified classic albums that have sold millions of copies and are familiar to a lot of people. I also like to post a few links to iTunes and a few links to Amazon’s music service. Amazon has DRM free MP3’s that are ripped at 256kbps which is excellent quality at a killer price. So make sure you check them out!
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Be Prepared For Your Gig With This Basic List Of Essential Items
Pete Townshend Winds Up To Trash The Stage

When you’re preparing to play a gig, it’s extremely important to prepare for the unexpected. Murphy’s law seems to always rear it’s ugly head at a gig. Here are a few basic essentials every live musician can do to prepare for equipment problems and breakdowns at a gig.

Make sure you bring some basic tools. At the very minimum you should have a Leatherman Multi-Tool and a flashlight. It’s a really good idea to have a soldering iron as well. You can fill out your toolkit with the following:
- Super Glue
- Electrical Tape
- Duct Tape
- Cable Tester or Multi-Meter
- Battery Tester or Multi-Meter
- Allen Wrenches
- Wire Cutters
You’ll also want to have some extra basic equipment accessories such as: (more…)
Musician’s Friend Coupon Code

Musician’s Friend has really been rolling out the deals to get us all to start our Christmas shopping early this year. Today they released a special coupon code available to all readers of Live Musician Central. You can use this code to get up to $75 off your purchase from Musician’s Friend. Just click on the banner below and use the coupon code MF23.
Jimi Hendrix Performs Voodoo Chile

It goes without saying that Jimi Hendrix is one of the most influential guitarists that ever lived. It has been argued that he’s the greatest guitarist ever. Whether you love him or hate him, I’m sure you probably have a Hendrix tune that you love.

Here’s my favorite Jimi Hendrix tune, Voodoo Chile. There’s just something about this song that grabs me. I think it’s just the sheer energy and noise in the tune that I love. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this classic video of Jimi Hendrix performing Voodoo Chile. Make sure you vote in the poll below.

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Save Money With Musician’s Friend Rockin’ Rebates

Get $100 Rebate On Gibson Les Paul

Every live musician wants to save money. That’s why you owe it to yourself to check out Musician’s Friends rebate page. They have rebates on hundreds of items in every category from Live Sound to Accessories. Going to the rebate page is an easy way to start your shopping list and find some gifts for your buddies this year.

So make sure you check out these rockin’ rebates!
Get A Band Prenup

Guns-N-Roses Before Things Went Horribly Wrong

Okay there’s not really such a thing as a band prenup so I’ll explain what I’m talking about with a couple stories. One of my good friends was in a band and that band needed a P.A. System. No single person in the band had enough money to pay for the P.A. so everybody in the band decided to chip in some money to pay for the P.A. system. Everyone couldn’t chip in the same amount so a couple of the guys put in more money than the rest of the band. After the P.A. was bought and paid for, the only person in the band that could store, transport and setup the P.A. was the person that had contributed the least amount of money in the band. I’m sure you know where I’m going with this, the band eventually broke up and they were left with the dilemma of “who owns the P.A.?” The way it ended up, was the guy that was storing and hauling the P.A. just kept it and moved to a different state, never to be heard from again. So everyone else that had contributed to the P.A. was out everything they had put into it.

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Sunday Funnies – OK Go – Here It Goes Again

This is one of my favorite choreographed music videos. It didn’t cost a lot to make of course but the time involved working out all those moves on the treadmills and then choregraphing everything must have been a lot. It does take a lot of creativity and at Live Musician Central, creativity counts!

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