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.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS PART TWO OF 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 “Valleri”. Some of the other artists Shelton recorded with include John Lennon, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, The Carpenters, Joe Cocker, Kenny Rodgers, The Mamas & The Papas, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald and many others. Not only did Shelton play guitar on Seals And Crofts’ greatest…
After drawing over 5,500 guitar lovers and enthusiasts to last year’s exhibit, the Melbourne Guitar Show is returning to the Caulfield Racecourse on August 5th and 6th. This year’s lineup boasts not only an incredible haul of local guitarists (Lloyd Spiegel, Nick Charles and Bob Spencer, amongst many more), but also massive international artists – the UK’s legendary Steve Hackett (Genesis), Canada’s renowned Nick Johnston and UK superstar Alex Hutchings. In addition to some killer performances, the Melbourne Guitar Show will also hold a monster exhibition that will feature a gigantic variety of electric and acoustic guitars, effects pedals, amps and more state of the art guitar technology, both homegrown and from around the world. But don’t take it from us – we caught up with big guns of the…
CURRENTLY PLAYING WITH Belle Haven USUALLY FOUND PLAYING Venues like the Workers Club, Crowbar and Arrow On Swanston. YEARS ON THE FRETBOARD Coming up on 15 years now. I first picked up the guitar at ten years old on a family holiday in Anglesea and learned to play “I’m A Believer” by The Monkees on an old classical guitar that the family owned. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PLAYING STYLE? Very hard and straight. I love simple power chord progressions with catchy leads, and I always tend to go for thicker strings onstage because of how hard I play. FIRST AXE A half-sized nylon string kids’ guitar. I spent roughly two years playing that before my father bought me an actual steel-stringed acoustic, which threw me off because I was…
This year’s iteration of the Byron Bay Bluesfest offered up a wide range of iconic artists over the Easter long weekend. Some of this year’s big drawcards included Santana, Patti Smith (performing her timeless 1975 debut album, Horses, in full), Jethro Tull, Buddy Guy and The Doobie Brothers, all of whom put on dazzling shows in their own right. With five days of music, food and some of the biggest artists in the world, it’s arguable Bluesfest caters to a wider audience than any other festival in Australia. The festival now attracts over 100,000 people, but spreads them out over the 120-hectare Tea Tree farm with seven stages, over 100 food and market stalls, five licensed venues and undercover food courts. Advertised as a safe, fun and family-friendly event, this…
American guitarist, producer, vocalist and songwriter Richie Kotzen has been releasing albums regularly since the late ‘80s, after debuting as an instrumental guitar technician during the Shrapnel Records heyday. His overall presentation and musical output has changed a lot since then, and along the way, he’s enjoyed brief, yet solid stints playing in huge-selling bands like Poison, Mr. Big and The Winery Dogs. Ahead of his first ever Australian tour this August, we got Kotzen on the phone for a quick chat. What can we expect to hear on your upcoming Australian tour? I’m doing a lot of songs from the new record [Salting Earth], which is cool. There’s one song we’ve never done before, and some other songs that we haven’t played in a while too. Do you favour…
Bad Habits is an album so hard, fast and deliciously obnoxious, you can almost feel the tattered leather jacket hug your shoulders tighter with every sharp and distorted wail. The debut full-length from Sydney punk’n’roll unit Bare Bones was a long time coming, brewing slowly in the shadows ever since the August ’14 release of their second EP, Cut Throat Living. “We started writing pretty much as soon as we finished that EP,” says axeman Chris Breedon. “We wrote probably 20 to 25 songs, but the problem is that we’re all perfectionists. We’ll finish a song and we’ll go back and play it, and we’ll be like, ‘Nah, we can do that better.’” Such compulsive ideals are uncommon in punk, but don’t count that as a reason to blow their…
