With a strong focus on the Australian music scene, Australian Guitar is a rich source of information on playing techniques, styles, the wide range of instruments available and all the technology that guitarists have to consider in the 21st Century.
Rocking out on the go has never been easier with JAM’s ultra-portable, ultra-wireless Transit City headphones. The high-tech kit features oversized comfort-padded ear cups (which, mind you, feel ridiculously satisfying) and active noise cancelling technology, meaning you can drown out all the vibe-ruining sounds of life and soak in every last chord of guitar-y goodness. And with all of the sound contained in the ear cups, you’ll do so with perfectly deep bass and crisp, clear treble. One of the most frustrating issues with moving to wireless audio is how reliant we are on the almighty battery – after all, who wants to bother with Bluetooth when you still need to carry a charging cable everywhere? Thankfully, the Transit City headphones make cord-free jamming a breeze with battery life boasting…
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS A VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH LOUIE SHELTON Over the past several decades, you would have heard Louie Shelton’s signature guitar riffs and solos on more hit records than any other session guitarist in history. While there are too many to mention, some of his classics include, Boz Scaggs’ “Low Down”, Lionel Richie’s “Hello”, Neil Diamond’s “Play Me”, The Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back”, “ABC” and “I’ll Be There”, and The Monkees’ “Last Train To Clarksville” and “Valerie”. Some of the other artists Louie has recorded with include John Lennon, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, The Carpenters, Joe Cocker, Kenny Rodgers, The Mamas & Papas, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others. Not only did Louie play guitar on Seals And Crofts’ greatest hits, “Summer Breeze”,…
On April 1st, the music industry lost one of its leading lights with the passing away of Ikutaro Kakehashi at the age of 87. Mr. Kakehashi was a man of many titles: engineer, businessman, entrepreneur, visionary and, best of all, music enthusiast. He was the founder of Ace Tone, and then the Roland Corporation. He partnered with Laurens Hammond to produce, in Japan, a new series of Hammond keyboards; he created portable, affordable drum machines that are still used today; he developed, with Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits, the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) – a groundbreaking instrument communication system, still the gold standard to this day; he brought to the market incredible keyboards (for home and stage) that quickly overcame the “American-made” bias; under the Boss marque, he reinvented…
CURRENTLY PLAYING WITH Voyager USUALLY FOUND PLAYING High-energy progressive metal with an ‘80s pop flavour. YEARS ON THE FRETBOARD I started my days on the classical guitar when I was 11 through a music scholarship at my school. Much to the dismay of my classical guitar teacher, I fell in love with metal at the age of 15 and became attached to my Gibson Les Paul Standard, spending hours on end in my bedroom playing along to my favourite records. 21 years later, I’m still just as obsessed. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PLAYING STYLE? The legato flavour of Satch mixed with the wide vibrato of Gary Moore and a sprinkle of Vai. I’m a sucker for a great melodic solo that gets stuck in your head and hits you…
For the longest while, it looked as if Strangers were done and dusted. Persona Non Grata – the quintet’s promising debut album – dropped all the way back in 2012, and while touring efforts had remained decent-to-casual since, the sheer notion of a second album seemed futile at best. That was until the latter months of 2016, when it was announced the now-quartet (having since axed second guitarist Ben Kinsela) had signed to Sony Music for the release of their second opus – no small feat for any old bar band from Melbourne. Diving into the months leading up to Mirrorland’s inception, bassist Tristan Griffiths says a hiatus was escaped via relocation and some legit dedication to their art. “There were talks of breaking up,” he reveals. “A few of…
British power trio Cream’s ongoing legacy has well outlived the band’s explosive, yet brief tenure, and will be celebrated by their bloodlines with The Music Of Cream – a 50th anniversary tour. The core trio consists of singer and guitarist Will Johns [Eric Clapton’s nephew and son of the late audio engineer Andy Johns], singer and bassist Malcolm Bruce [son of Jack] and drummer Kofi Baker [Son of Ginger], who will be joined by blues guitarist Robben Rord and bassist Glenn Hughes [Deep Purple’s Mark III line-up]. We spoke to Johns about the impending tour. When did Cream become an important band for you as a musician? I guess from when I started playing guitar at the age of 15. One of the first CDs I had was The Cream…
