Jim Weider Interview: Talking Gear
Guitar International recently sat down with Jim Weider to talk Fender guitars, amps and why, at the end of the day, he’s a Tele man.
Guitar International recently sat down with Jim Weider to talk Fender guitars, amps and why, at the end of the day, he’s a Tele man.
Creed made its mark during the ‘90s and the following decade, and began gaining traction with its debut album, My Own Prison, that got them headlines, radio airplay and hit records. But, it wasn’t until around 2000 that Creed reached deep to pull out their monster hit, “With Arms Wide Open”, a track that reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
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.
