Steve Lukather has been called “the best musician on the planet.” Though most often associated with the Grammy-award-winning band Toto, Lukather’s association with Toto is simply the tip of his massive career iceberg.
Mention the name Arlo to most Boomers and immediately the song “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” comes to mind. That song alone would be a pretty darn good legacy. But Arlo Guthrie’s given us a lot more treasures over the years like “The Motorcycle Song,” “City of New Orleans,” “Deportee” and the counterculture tune “Coming into Los Angeles” he sang at Woodstock.
With the economy taking a nosedive a few years back, it seems that two new paradigms have emerged in the guitar manufacturing sector. The first is that big companies such as Gibson and Fender lowered the prices of their products during the downturn, making their instruments more accessible to the average person, which many people took advantage of. But, there was also another more unexpected byproduct of the recession. People began looking for high-quality instruments that would give them the best bang for their buck.
GrooveZoo CEO, Jeremy Korn, has a vision that aligns with the old adage; “Think Globally, Act Locally” with his new site’s mission to optimize collaboration on the web by songwriters, musicians and producers. The site has established forums based on key categories of interest to those who write music, record, produce and market music to pull together the typically disparate pieces of the music business puzzle into one spot.
Making a living in today’s music business is tough on the best of days. It seems that the sun has set on the days when one could be just a studio musician, only play gigs or simply teach a few lessons a day and make a living as a guitarist, at least enough to pay the bills and get by.
Mention the name Greg Howe to an aficionado of contemporary electric guitar music and aural visions of smooth legato runs, wah-laden solos and funky, syncopated rhythms will run through his or her head. Greg has garnered a well-deserved reputation as a guitar virtuoso with one of the most recognizable voices in the instrumental electric guitar pantheon.
Brad Barr is one of those truly amazing guitarists on the scene today. He has the ability to mix, fuse, and transcend styles that range from jazz, folk, rock, experimental, indie, improvisation, flamenco, and more, which really helps to give him a unique sound that’s all his own.
Most of us who have taken the time to study guitar are inclined to noodle around and compose our own songs.
Peter Frampton’s musical odyssey has been graced with a series of pop hits and world-wide recognition. His career milestones have progressed from that of a mere guitar hero to a cultural icon. He has been referenced in everything from Wayne’s World to The Simpsons’. Frampton’s acting credits include: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band as Billy Shears, Baa Baa Black Sheep as Peter Buckley and Reg in the coming-of-age rock movie, Almost Famous.
New Jersey based jazz guitarist B.D. Lenz is used to taking chances, as anyone who makes a living improvising would be. So it’s no surprise that his latest album, Five & Live, features Lenz and company on stage in a live situation, which is always a bit of a risk for any recording, and, alongside his originals, covering some very un-jazz like songs, such as Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and “Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2” by classic British rockers Pink Floyd.
