The Guitar Channel

I'm back

I'm back from my So Cal vacation. Except for the sunburned feet, it was a great trip! Here's some of the significant guitar news that went down while I was away:

• Preview tracks from Greg Howe's upcoming album Sound Proof
• Steve Morse has a new album in the works
• Some great Guthrie Govan videos from the London International Music Show
• Gustavo Guerra wins the Guitar Idol 2008 contest

Final lineup for the London Guitar Show

PRESS RELEASE

The London Guitar Show 2008

The UK’s biggest public guitar show is only one week away and the line-up in nothing short of Stella.

 
With guitar god himself Joe Satriani, rock's premiere virtuoso guitarists Yngwie Malmsteen and arguably the world’s great bass player, Billy Sheehan all performing guitar fans are in for a treat of epic proportions.

 
The final line-up is as follows :

London Guitar Show Main Stage

Saturday 14th June

10.30 Guitar Idol Final

12.00 C3 presents Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan & Jamie Humphries

13.30 Billy Sheehan

14.20 Paul Gilbert

15.30 Phil Hilborne

16.20 Yngwie Malmsteen

 

Sunday 15th June

12.00 Joe Satriani

15.00 RD Crusaders

 

Unplugged Acoustic Stage

Saturday 14th June

11.30 The Internationals

12.30 Surianne

13.30 Michael Messer & BJ Cole

14.30 Hot Lips & Chilli Fingers

16.00 Courtney Pine

 

Sunday 15th June

11.40 Musicians Union

12.30 Hot Lips & Chilli Fingers

13.30 Chris Difford & Boo Hewedine

15.00 Big Jim Sullivan

 

There’s also a host of other cool concerts and seminars including Live performances from drumming icons such as Jason Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Chad Smith of The Red Hot Chili Peppers Ray Luzier ( Korn ) and Roy Mayorga ( Stone Sour ). If that’s not enough visitors can chat with Radio One’s Colin Murray in the live seminar theatre and watch live interviews with leading names from the world of production and sound engineering such as Steve Lyon, producer of Depeche Mode and The Cure and Tony Cousins, producer for Robbie Williams and Elton John

 

Literally hundreds of the top brand names in the business will be exhibiting at the show and every conceivable type of guitar and accessory will be all on display under one roof. There will also be a huge display of drums, sound recording technology and acoustic instruments as well, so bring your band mates for the ultimate band day out at a music exhibition.

 

The London Guitar Show  is part of the UK’s Biggest Music exhibition, The London International Music show. It takes place at www.excel-london.co.uk/,

 

For further information on The London Guitar Show, the London International Music show, latest news and to buy tickets please visit: http://www.londoninternationalmusicshow.com

 

William Stravato to play with Guthrie Govan in Italy

Attention Italian guitar fans! William Stravato has a gig on May 19th at Alpheus in Rome, that will include special guest Guthrie Govan.

Important announcement from Greg Howe regarding the London International Music Show

A post on Greg Howe's MySpace blog indicates his involvement in the London International Music Show was never officially confirmed, and he will very likely not be participating. The announcement that Howe would be performing at the show (along with Richie Kotzen and Guthrie Govan) was originally posted by Paul Cornford (of Cornford Amps) on the Guthrie Govan message board. Mark McGuigan then posted about it, after which I posted it here. Looks like we all jumped the gun on this one. Sorry for any confusion folks. Ah the internets...

Guthrie Govan video - Tone Merchants NAMM 2008

Suhr Guitars has uploaded some videos from their NAMM 2008 Tone Merchants jams. Some high-quality versions can be found here, but a couple of the Guthrie Govan vids are up on YouTube. Here is Govan playing "Wonderful Slippery Thing."

UPDATED: Govan, Kotzen, and Howe to play the London International Music show

Saw this on Mark McGuigan's site: Guitarists Guthrie Govan, Richie Kotzen, and Greg Howe will be headlining the London International Music Show at London's Excel Centre on Saturday June the 14th. Each player will do a solo set (each with a full band), before uniting for a monster jam at the end. More details can be found here on the Guthrie Govan message board. The London International Music show is comprised of four separate shows: The London Guitar Show, Drummer Live, Sound Recording Technology, and The Unplugged Music show. The entire event runs from June 12th through the 15th.

UPDATE 4/2/08: Greg Howe has said his involvement in this show was never confirmed. Read more here.

New Blues Jam Tracks set featuring Guthrie Govan

BluesJamTracks.com has a new set of jam tracks available called "Contemporary Blues." Once again, Guthrie Govan plays sample solos to each track on the website, and in the set if you purchase the tracks. Check it out.

Guthrie Govan - Funky Blues

Saw this on Truth In Shredding: There are some new YouTube clips of Guthrie Govan playing over backing tracks from http://www.bluesjamtracks.com. This one is my favorite. What a player.

New Guthrie Govan video

Here's a video of Guthrie Govan performing "Fives" at the Music Live show late last year. Two video's from this show popped up on YouTube today.

Favorite albums of 2006

This has been a great year for new guitar music. Since the year is coming to a close, I thought I would look back at my favorite discs of 2006.

Alex Machacek - [SIC]
One of the most compelling, original CD's I've heard in a long time, let alone this year.

Hugh Ferguson - A.D.D.
Great tones and writing in the Holdsworth vein.

The Michael Landau Group - Live
Great double-CD set of live Landau. Covers all facets of his musicality.

El Grupo - Live
Steve Lukather side project, similar to his Dove's Of Fire band. Awesome live set of crunchy fusion. Technically, this disc was first available in 2005 at El Grupo shows only, but I believe it was first officially "released" this year.

Paul Gilbert - Get Out Of My Yard
Gilbert's first instrumental album. It's the one you've been waiting for.

Guthrie Govan - Erotic Cakes
Debut solo album from the amazing UK guitarist. Stunning chops.

 

Steve Weingart - Dark Blue Dream
Sophomore solo release from keyboardist Weingart. Features Frank Gambale on guitar. Look for my review of this disc soon.

Hectic Watermelon - The Great American Road Trip
Wild prog-fusion from the San Diego-based trio. Sounds like a cross between Zappa and the Dregs.

Want to check out these discs? Follow one of these links:

Rich

Greg Howe and Guthrie Govan interviews

All Out Guitar has posted lengthy interviews with Greg Howe and Guthrie Govan. You'll need to register to read the full text of each, but it only takes a second.

Link

Guthrie Govan - Sevens

Found this cool clip of Guthrie Govan playing at Tone Merchants in CA. Dig it.

Guthrie Govan releases first solo album

Guitarist Guthrie Govan has released his long awaited first solo album 'Erotic Cakes'. It is available now through cornfordrecords.com. If you've never heard Guthrie before, he's an incredible player in the heavy-fusion vein, with unbelievable chops. I ordered the CD this morning. It's coming from the UK, so I don't know how long the shipping will take. I'll be sure to post a review once I've had a chance to check it out.