Lukather Goes Behind the Songs
Plus, Metallica's back with another awesome single
New Gear Week!
This week’s issue of the newsletter is packed with amazing guitar stories. It’s been such a wild beginning to the new year, and we’re not even done with January yet! If you missed the last 3, jam-packed issues that kicked off the year, you can catch up on them here. They're all filled with guitar news, lessons, and much more - sure to make you a better player if you put the time in.
On a personal note, this week I got one of my dream guitars which I’ve lusted after for years - a PRS S2 McCarty 594 in a dark cherry sunburst. It’s pretty rare that I pick up a new guitar, but when I do, I want to make sure it’s something that’ll stick with me for a lifetime. I’ve been playing for hours and hours on it this week, and can confirm that these guitars are the real deal (you can check out a photo of it above!) In a serendipitous way, Guitar.com did a feature on the history of PRS Guitars, which talks about some standout points in the company's history.
Alright, let’s get to the rest of this week’s links!
- The Steve Lukather Interview: Secrets Behind the Songs - Rick Beato has on the legendary Steve Lukather on for an interview this week. Luke cut his teeth on countless sessions, and made a name for himself with Toto. Beato talks to him about some of the most pivotal songs in his career. If you haven't read Lukather's book at this point, it's well worth checking out. Pick up the audio version, which is narrated in a very down to earth way by Lukather himself.
- Angus Young's Guitars: A Short History - Any time I see a "short history of xxx's guitars” video pop up by five watt world, I always get excited. This time the channel is talking about Angus Young's arsenal of axes. If you've ever been a fan of Angus’ SG wizardy, you should check this one out.
- Jared James Nichols Live at Sweetwater 2022 - I've told the story a couple times at this point, but when I saw John 5 a couple years back, his opening act was Jared James Nichols, and he blew the crowd away with his awesome blend of blues rock. I've been a fan ever since. Check out this short video of JJN playing live at Sweetwater. Nichols also sat down recently with GW to talk about his exciting new albums, playing through EVH's stack, and a lot more.
- 8 Steps To Learn Any Jazz Standard | Autumn Leaves - Cecil from Pickup Music shows us some helpful steps to learn nearly any jazz standard, and he does it with one of the all time classics - “Autumn Leaves". These steps are a good starting point for any song really, jazz or otherwise. If you haven't checked out Pickup Music yet, you should give them a try - their CAGED courses alone are worth the price of admission.
- DIY: 7 Must-Try Wah Techniques - I grew up as a huge fan of Metallica and Kirk Hammett, so a wah has been under my foot for over 2 decades. Premier Guitar shows us some of the most fun techniques to try with the pedal, from your typical rocking it back and forth to using it as a slow EQ sweep.
- Metallica: Screaming Suicide (Official Music Video) - We can't talk about wahs this week without talking about Metallica's new single, “Screaming Suicide”. If their first single "Lux Aeterna" wasn't exciting enough, this single also sounds like old school Metallica. I can't wait for this album!
- Double picking! Add excitement to single note lines – Animated Licks of Mika Tyyskä EpE36 - Want to add some excitement to your lead lines with a fun technique? Check out this short lesson from Mika Tyyska. Mika goes over getting into a rhythm with double picking notes, helped out with palm mutes.
- 3 Ways To Fix Your Chord Progressions To Be More Interesting & Beautiful - One of the things I want to get back to this year is writing more music again. It's great to practice all these things, but what's the point if we're not putting it into practice by writing and playing actual songs? If you want to up your songwriting skills and have a structured plan in place, check out Jens Larsen's 3 tips to fix your chord progressions.
- 5 Tips to Pimp your #sweeping - If you'd rather work on technique and have been eager to learn sweep picking, watch this video from Justin Hombach. Justin breaks down 5 ways to make your sweep picking sound awesome. From having a great chord progression to start with, to using sweeping with other techniques, this was a great vid.
- Metal-loving couple exchange Gibson Explorers instead of rings at wedding - Til riffs do us part? What's your favorite caption for this very unique couple?
- Metallica unveil custom one-of-a-kind 'Flying M' guitar – and you can win it - You've heard of the flying V, but what about the flying M? Metallica teamed up with a luthier to make this one of a kind guitar, which they're raffling off for their All Within My Hands foundation. I've always loved the 4 Metallica M ninja star logo. What do you think of this guitar?
- Julian Lage - "Study for Electric Guitar" - This Julian Lage video from a while back popped up on my YouTube feed this week. I've sung the praises of Lage for a long time, but I hadn’t seen this incredible video which was filmed in Brooklyn in 2017. Julian truly has done some magical things with a Telecaster over the years.
- Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman “stepping away” due to mental health - I've been seeing so many different guitar players over the past few years talking about dealing with their mental health. Having dealt with some of these issues myself, I'm so glad we're getting to a point in the world where this stuff is less seen like a stigma. The latest story about mental health comes from Fall Out Boy's Joe Trohman, as the band is on the verge of releasing a new album for the first time in five years. If you ever want someone to talk to about this stuff, feel free to reply to this email.
- Mark Tremonti says Creed reunion a matter of when, not if - It's always been popular to hate on Creed. I've found that funny, because I always enjoyed the band, and thought Mark Tremonti's playing was fantastic - the band sold over 53 million albums worldwide, so someone must have been listening, right?
If you are a fan, you'd be happy to hear Tremonti say that it's a when and not if situation, and that:
“I think whenever we decide to do something, I think it’s gonna be a safe time to do it. It’s just gonna be when it makes sense for everybody. You don’t wanna derail a whole album cycle by jumping into doing Creed. It would just have to make sense.”
Tremonti is talking about not derailing Alter Bridge's latest tour, in support of their new album ‘Pawns & Kings’. I hope we get to see Creed back out on the road!
Hey did you know, not only do I talk guitar each week, but I also teach it!
Try out a half an hour to see how much you can learn when you know the right things to practice. Whether you want to learn guitar, recording, mixing or more, I can help you out!