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.
JARED DINES AND MATT HEAFY TEAM UP FOR EP WORDS: MICHAEL ASTLEY-BROWN YouTube sensation Jared Dines has joined forces with Trivium main man Matt Heafy for the Dines x Heafy EP, which is available today on all streaming platforms. The five-track melodic metal EP sees Dines handle guitars, bass and drums in Washington, while Heafy tracked vocals and select guitar solos in Florida. Dines and Heafy first collaborated on Dines’ Shred Wars YouTube series back in 2017, which eventually led to Dines filling in for Heafy during Trivium’s 2018 tour. GRETA VAN FLEET ANNOUNCE ALBUM #2 Words: Michael Astley-Brown Grammy-winning classic-rockers Greta Van Fleet have confirmed a new album, The Battle At Garden’s Gate, set for release on April 16th, 2021. The Battle At Garden’s Gate is said to be…
JOE BONAMASSA SHARES HIS GREATEST FINDS FROM A LIFETIME OF BUYING AND SELLING GUITARS Words: David Mead Every guitar player who turns up for a Bought & Sold interview has got a few stories to tell and wisdom to share, but none are as well positioned as Mr. Joe Bonamassa to talk about the buying and selling of electric guitars and amplifiers. The blues master and proprietor of Nerdville has one of the coolest guitar collections on the planet. It’s not just the numbers – which are impressive – it is his focus. He knows what he likes, and that, folks, is one of the key takeaways from this one. With his new album, Royal Tea, out on record store shelves virtual and physical, Bonamassa recants some of his gear…
SIOBHAN COTCHIN SHE IS the future queen of Australian country, fresh out of WA with ambitions high and guitar gripped tightly. At age 20, she sings like she’s lived a generation, raw and rootsy and nothing short of riveting. SHE SOUNDS LIKE the heart and soul of country’s greatest spun through a distinctly modern web. Her playing is bold and tight and feels emphatically impassioned, and there’s genuine, palpable emotion in every line she roars into the mic. The rawness of her lead tone is subdued by crisp, contemporary production – and that isn’t at all to its detriment; instead, it posits Siobhan as a choice to pioneer the future of Australian country. YOU’LL DIG HER IF YOU LIKE Kacey Musgraves, Lucinda Williams and Bruce Springsteen – ideally blast from…
MATT STEVENS + PAUL MUSOLINO HAILS FROM MELBOURNE, VIC PLAYS IN THE GLOOM IN THE CORNER SOUNDS LIKE MIND-MELTING MATHCORE CHAOS LATEST DROP ULTIMA PLUVIA (EP OUT NOW INDEPENDENTLY) What’s your current go-to guitar? Matt: I love my Fender Player Stratocaster HSS. I remember wanting a Stratocaster for a couple years, so one day I just walked into East Gate Music and played as many as I could. I also really liked a Japanese Stratocaster I played, but was astonished to find that the Player Series Stratocaster was a quarter of the price! It was a no-brainer for me to purchase that guitar – I love how the neck feels, along with the versatility or the humbucker and single-coil pickups. How did you initially fall in love with the instrument?…
FENDER TASH SULTANA STRATOCASTER RRP: $1,999 • fender.com Finished in vibrant Transparent Cherry and furnished with all-gold hardware, the Tash Sultana Stratocaster has good looks to match its upscale appointments. The clarity and sparkle of Yosemite single-coil Strat pickups, combined with the powerful Double Tap humbucking bridge pickup, deliver a wide range of tonal options at your fingertips. The Modern C-shape maple neck, with 9.5-inch radius, and 22 medium jumbo frets provides comfortable modern playability, while the vintage-style synchronised tremolo offers classic Strat vibrato action. Other features include a matching painted headstock and custom “skull” neck plate. EPIPHONE “INSPIRED BY GIBSON” ES-335 RRP: $1,499+ australismusic.com.au Here stands Epiphone’s version of the historic ES-335, which has been wowing guitar players all over the world for over six decades. From its inaugural…
BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG No Fun Mondays REPRISE / WARNER It’s rare for an album of covers to rival any great artist’s own work. But the effort Billie Joe Armstrong put into his 2020 lockdown project can’t be understated. No matter how disparate the source material, Armstrong ties each track together with his big, soaring singalong voice and loveably gritty fretwork. You can hear how much fun he had dipping into his new-wave edge on “Kids In America”; when he hits the chorus on “Corpus Christi”, you can tell how strongly he envisioned howling it out to a jam-packed stadium. Perhaps most importantly, though, Armstrong doesn’t merely emulate his heroes on this tirelessly spirited love letter to them – he makes each song entirely his own, keeping the integrity of each…
