DRUMS by YAMAMA @ WINTER NAMM 2013  Read More →

APPS by YAMAHA @ WINTER NAMM 2013   SONG CHORDS, METRONOME, FADERS, SONG BEATS, KEYBOARD ARP & DRUM PAD, SYNTH ARP & DRUM PAD, CLOUD AUDIO RECORDER, CLOUD AUDIO RECORDER FOR MOTIF XF, VOICE EDITOR ESSENTIAL, MULTI EDITOR ESSENTIAL, PERFORMANCE EDITOR ESSENTIAL, SET LIST ORGANIZER, VISUAL PERFORMER, THR SESSION, FADERS & XY PAD, MGP EDITOR, TNR-1, DTX400 DRUM LESSONS, AVAILABLE ON THE APP STORE  Read More →

YORKVILLE SOUND @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013 YORKVILLE SOUND @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013 from Terrill Thomas on Vimeo.  Read More →

 Dangerous Music Source at NAMM 2013 TEC Award winning portable monitor controller Mike from Dangerous Music shows the TEC award winning Dangerous Source. The Source features multiple analog and digital inputs, with onboard mastering-quality D/A, multiple speaker outs, and a clean headphone amp.    Read More →

SENNHEISER @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013 SENNHEISER @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013  Read More →

PRESONUS @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013    Read More →

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Breezy Ridge Instruments/John Pearse @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013      Read More →

JBL @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013    Read More →

IZOTOPE @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013  Read More →

DANGEROUS MUSIC @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013   http://www.dangerousmusic.com/  Read More →

AVALON DESIGN @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013  Read More →

MIKTEK @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013 MIKTEK @ THE NAMM SHOW, 2013  Read More →

AIR TURN @ THE NAMM SHOW 2013   AIR TURN @ THE NAMM SHOW 2013  Read More →

AUDIO-TECHNICA @ THE NAMM SHOW 2013  Read More →

KYSER @ THE NAMM SHOW 2013    Read More →

Peter Mayer lead guitar for Jimmy Buffett’s Corral Reefer Band “Live” in San Jose CA  Read More →

Jim “Moose” Brown, Bob Seger Guitarist & Hit Songwriter  Read More →

Aaron “Woody” Wood, Bonnaroo Festival, Manchester, TN    Read More →

FIRED UP –  With a new album and a host of other projects, Alicia Keys is sizzling  Sometimes an offhand comment can lead to magic. That’s exactly what happened to Alicia Keys as she began making her new album. Taking note of Keys’ energized demeanor, an interviewer called the 31-year-old singer-songwriter a girl on fire. “That’s it!” Keys thought. “That describes everything I’m feeling. Now I just need to figure out what being... 

Rock Candy Funk Party Will Release Their Debut Jazz-Funk Album We Want Groove on January 29, Featuring Guitar Legend Joe Bonamassa, Tal Bergman, Mike Merritt, Ron DeJesus and Renato Neto Los Angeles, January 4, 2013: With its reboot of classic ’70s /‘80s jazz-funk, Rock Candy Funk Party (RCFP) delivers a sound that’s as celebratory as the name suggests.  The group is powered by a lineup of world renowned players—album producer Tal Bergman... 

RØDE iXY and RØDE Rec  RØDE iXY stereo microphone for the Apple iPhone and iPad and RØDE Rec audio recording app for iOS devices   Introducing RØDE iXY stereo microphone for iPhone and iPad from RØDE Microphones on Vimeo. The RØDE iXY stereo microphone and RØDE Rec audio recording app used to record an acoustic band RØDE iXY stereo microphone for the Apple iPhone and iPad and RØDE Rec audio recording app for iOS devices RØDE iXY... 

NAS   The enduring hip-hop storyteller’s latest title becomes his mantra    Several months after releasing his 10th studio album, Life Is Good, Nas is revisiting the title. “I was watching TV the other night and saw this woman had survived pancreatic cancer,” he says. “I was barely listening, because my mom passed from breast cancer, and sometimes it’s just too hard to watch. But I heard her say, ‘Life is good,’ and I thought, ‘If... 

MORGAN JAMES HOMETOWN: Modesto, Calif. INFLUENCES: Etta James, Donny Hathaway, Eva Cassidy ALBUM: Morgan James Live, out now WEBSITE: morganjamesonline.com Singer Morgan James entered the Juilliard School at age 18 as an opera student, but eventually abandoned that career path to pursue musical theater. “For a long time I wasn’t sure what to do with the fact that I’ve got this gigantic voice that doesn’t quite match how I look,” she says,... 

ALISHA ZALKIN HOMETOWN: San Diego, Calif. INFLUENCES: Carole King, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin ALBUM: March to a Different Beat EP, out now WEBSITE: alishazmusic.com  Singer-songwriter Alisha Zalkin’s love of music is deeply rooted in her Mexican and Jewish heritage. Her Jewish grandmother, a survivor of the Holocaust, was the youngest opera singer to be admitted into the Vienna Conservatory of Music before she was forced to flee Europe.... 

ZEISS HOMETOWN: Long Island, N.Y. INFLUENCES: Jerry Reed, Chuck Berry, Little Richard                                        ALBUM: Last Train to Rock n’ Roll, out now WEBSITE: zeissofficial.com Growing up on New York’s Long Island, musician and model Zeiss (born Matthew John Zeiss) was drawn to entertainment because of his parents’ obsession with Elvis Presley. As a kid, he’d scoured his father’s record collection... 

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION    Luminaries from the rock world find their own chemistry together   Black Country Communion’s latest record, Afterglow, wasn’t even out when reports began flying that tension between singer and bassist Glenn Hughes and guitarist Joe Bonamassa could mean the end of the hard-rock supergroup. But in no time the dustup was quelled. “We’re really good friends,” Hughes says. “It was just a small blip there for... 

KEYSHIA COLE The R&B singer-songwriter learns the value of collaboration Keyshia Cole is in her Manhattan hotel room, high above the city’s frenzied activity, talking about her fifth studio album, Woman to Woman. Myriad demands compete for her time—phones ring, her dog barks—but for now she’s in a different head space, back in the studios in New York, Los Angeles and Cleveland where she wrote and recorded most of the album’s 15 tracks... 

RYAN BINGHAM The roots rocker plugs in and discovers a new talent      Three years ago Ryan Bingham rocketed into the limelight with “The Weary Kind,” the Grammy-winning theme song he co-wrote and performed for the acclaimed film, Crazy Heart.  The L.A.-based singer-songwriter cherished the success, but the experience didn’t change him much. “Everything happened so fast,” he says. “I just tried to hang on for the ride while it lasted.... 

KYLIE MINOGUE Fresh arrangements give the global pop star’s biggest hits new life “If I turn up at the studio in heels or with my hair done, I probably just arrived from an event,” says Kylie Minogue with a laugh. “Other times my shoes are off, the makeup is off, I’m making a mess. I like to feel completely comfortable, and I am a complete clown in the studio.” It’s been 25 years since the Australian pop queen’s cover of Little Eva’s... 

PAUL KELLY America gets a chance to discover a revered artist from Down Under  It may seem Paul Kelly’s been especially prolific lately. Or it might seem the Australian singer-songwriter has simply been playing up his past. But in fact, it’s been a bit of both. Recently there’s been a deluge of all things Kelly—from the stateside release of two career-spanning compilations (Songs from the South Volumes 1 & 2 and The  A to Z Recordings,... 

DRUM ROLE Recording drums takes expertise, experience and experimentation Whether it’s a tight funk beat, driving R&B groove or blistering metal assault, nothing defines the character of a song like artfully played—and beautifully recorded—drums. But melding the magic of snares and cymbals with the right tincture of mics, preamps and recording know-how can be an elusive alchemy. Elements ranging from room acoustics to microphone selection... 

AIMEE MANN Getting it right for her latest effort required a fresh start After nearly three decades in the music biz and Grammy and Oscar nods under her belt, Aimee Mann wanted a new approach for Charmer, her eighth solo album—so she tossed her original batch of tunes. “I had some songs and played them all back to back and was like, ‘I’m not crazy about these,’” says the 52-year-old singer-songwriter and actress. “They didn’t really... 

JOHN HIATT At 60, the master singer-songwriter still follows wherever the music leads After 40 years and 21 studio albums, John Hiatt knows a thing or two about songcraft. On his new album,  Mystic Pinball, he even manages to make a grocery list interesting, wrapping it up in the grisly story-song, “Wood Chipper.” “It’s a bit of an homage to the Coen Brothers and the wood-chipper scene in Fargo,” he explains. “I started playing the... 

LIFEHOUSE Inspiration and experimentation lead to a sound shake-up on their latest    Since their 2001 monster hit “Hanging by a Moment,” Lifehouse has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide. But the big numbers are just a byproduct of the band’s vision. “We’ve been a pretty insulated group,” says lead singer Jason Wade. “We’re on the same label as these acts like Black Eyed Peas, U2 and Lady Gaga, but we do our own thing.”... 

SOUNDGARDEN The seminal grunge-rock band picks up right where it left off  Nearly 16 years after their breakup, iconic grunge rockers Soundgarden are back with King Animal, their first new music since 1996. The band—singer Chris Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd—first formed in 1984, and blew up 10 years later with their smash Superunknown, only to call it quits in 1997. “We just got burned out,”... 

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT Family love and loss provides inspiration for her new album   Music has always been a family affair for Martha Wainwright. She’s the daughter of Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle, niece of Anna McGarrigle, sister to Rufus Wainwright, and wife of bassist Brad Albetta, who plays in her band. It’s no surprise that family changes—the birth of her son, Arcangelo, followed months later by the death of her mother in early 2010—impacted... 

BENNY BLANCO A prodigious talent schools the music business in Hit-making 101         By Michael Gallant Benny Blanco has crafted pop magic in the studio for today’s biggest stars, including Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Rihanna and Bruno Mars. He’s scored more than a dozen No. 1 hits and was named Songwriter of the Year at this year’s BMI Pop Awards. Oh, and he’s 24. That’s an impressive career at any age, but only more so considering its... 

PETER FRAMPTON  The master guitarist revisits the album that made him a rock icon By Eric R. Danton  Frampton Comes Alive! has defined Peter Frampton’s career. Only his perspective has shifted—from surprise and frustration to acceptance. The result is FCA! 35 Tour: An Evening With Peter Frampton, a two-DVD set that captures a tour celebrating the 35th anniversary of one of the most iconic live albums ever released. The double LP was Frampton’s... 

DONALD FAGEN The Steely Dan co-captain finds new freedom on his latest solo effort By Russell Hall  Two years ago Donald Fagen decided to wipe the slate clean. His first three solo albums—1982’s The Nightfly, 1993’s Kamakiriad and 2006’s Morph the Cat—had been tied together by unified themes, based on stages of Fagen’s life. For his new record, Sunken Condos, Fagen cast aside such constraints. “Those first three albums, which appeared... 

VICTOR WOOTEN The bass virtuoso follows his own path to musical innovation    Over the course of eight solo records, and many others he’s recorded as a member of progressive bluegrass band Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Victor Wooten has shown he’s rarely content to play by the rules. As one of today’s most innovative musicians, he’s furthered the evolution of bass from traditional role of backing rhythm to front and center as a lead instrument.... 

“Waterloo Sunset” THE KINKS WRITTEN BY: RAY DAVIES RECORDED: PYE RECORDS STUDIO, LONDON, MARCH 1967 PRODUCED BY: SHEL TALMY AND RAY DAVIES RAY DAVIES: VOCALS, ACOUSTIC GUITAR DAVE DAVIES: ELECTRIC GUITAR, BACKING VOCALS PETE QUAIFE: BASS, BACKING VOCALS MICK AVORY: DRUMS NICKY HOPKINS: PIANO, HARPSICHORD RASA DAVIES: BACKING VOCALS DAVID WHITAKER: STRINGS FROM THE ALBUM: SOMETHING ELSE (1967) One morning in February 1967, Ray Davies rolled out... 

PHOTOGRAPHER NORMAN SEEFF SHOT THIS SESSION for Blondie’s 1979 Eat to the Beat album at New York’s historic Chelsea Hotel, a famous haunt of the Manhattan arts crowd. “The band seemed to be part of that milieu,” says Seeff. “They were a quintessential New York group.” Singer Deborah Harry arrived late to the shoot and in a funk. “She walked away while we were shooting without explanation,” recalls Seeff. “We’re all standing... 

BOBBY BARE Darker Than Light bobbybaredarkerthanlight.com When a fella’s been recording for as long as Bobby Bare has, he gets to thinking about history—not so much his own, but the centuries’ worth of strange and wondrous songs that make up the American folk and country canon. Fifty years on from his first hit, the 77-year-old Bare picks a wide range of classics, everything from Dust Bowl laments (“Going Down the Road [I Ain’t Going to... 

JOHN CALE Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood john-cale.com Having tried every other genre imaginable—his spectrum spans avant-garde classical to the proto-punk of the Velvet Underground—John Cale has finally made his goth-pop album. With its tense beats and spooky electronics, Shifty Adventures suggests Cale has been on a serious Depeche Mode or Joy Division kick. His drab singing recalls the latter’s Ian Curtis—if not Paul Banks, frontman for... 

TURBO FRUITS Butter turbofruits.com When the going gets tough—too many long nights and drunken fights—Turbo Fruits get going. “Motorcycle, please take my problems away,” frontman Jonas Stein sings on “Harley Dollar Bill$,” leaving hopelessness in his dust. On their third album, these Nashville bashers drink, gamble, play with guns and get their hearts broken, but they find redemption where they can—sometimes on the open road, mostly... 

MONARCH Amber Waves of Cain monarch-the-band.com As Monarch surveys their kingdom—newfangled cities beset with old-timey problems, populated by single moms, drug addicts and Joe Six-Packs—they can’t help but smile. The L.A. quintet plays smart, tragicomic country rock—all reverb, twang, shuffling beats and spur-sharp wit. As frontman Jay Sosnicki spins his sorry tales, he neither pities nor mocks the folks he sings about. He knows the world... 

WHITEHORSE The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss whitehorsemusic.ca Whenever a married couple sings about the “seven-year itch,” there’s a tendency to think the worst: trouble in paradise. But Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland, the husband-and-wife duo behind this dark and stormy Canadian twang-pop duo, haven’t made a breakup record. Their full-length debut is all about keeping things spicy, and while the acoustic ballad “Mismatched... 

UNKNOWN COMPONENT Blood v. Electricity unknowncomponent.com Like Kurt Cobain with a keyboard or Trent Reznor with a cooler head, Keith Lynch, the lone Iowan behind Unknown Component, channels his hopes and fears into bummed-out synth-pop. He loves his faux string and choral sounds—touches that turn his home studio into a gothic cathedral—but judging by his mumbled delivery and searching lyrics, he’s not super enthused about much else. “Nowhere... 

RICK HOLMSTROM Cruel Sunrise rickholmstrom.com Through his association with Mavis Staples, who he’s backed onstage and on record, this blues-rock vet has gotten to know Jeff Tweedy, Billy Bragg and Neko Case—songwriters who cast traditional music in nontraditional lights. Here, Holmstrom does likewise, using back-alley guitar riffs and pop-Americana hooks to power cautiously optimistic songs about chasing down dreams. Things don’t always work...