It’s been a busy week over here in New Jersey! I’m a couple hours away from fireworks (happy Independence Day to readers in the U.S.!), the Stanley Cup playoffs have been in full swing, and I had a fun time doing episode two of Chasing Sound Live yesterday on YouTube.

I have a crazy amount of links to share with you this week. Insightful interviews, helpful lessons, great gear, new music, and a lot more. Let’s get into it!

Live From Flat V - Ian Thornley Interview - Ian Thornley is one of my favorite guitarists, singers, and songwriters. The guy is truly a triple threat. I was so excited to see Josh Smith have Ian on his Live From Flat V interview show. The comments in the video say it all - “Incredibly humble for the amount of talent Ian posses!” Sit back, and learn from two of the best guitarists in the business.
Eric Krasno Plus One — Eric Krasno - Meanwhile, one of my other favorite players, Ariel Posen showed up on Eric Krasno’s podcast. I grew up listening to Eric Krasno in Soulive, so it’s been a real treat listening to him interview different musicians. I loved this quote from Ariel that Eric pulled from the interview - “... I put my head down, and I kinda feel like I’ve never looked back up. I just played, I woke up. Played, listened, learned. It was just music, guitar ‘till I went to bed. I’d be eating dinner with the guitar on.” Go check out Ariel Posen, and then make sure to check out Eric’s various projects (start with Soulive!)
The Guitar Hour Podcast: 161: Tosin Abasi - Selective Picking, Harmony & Shaping Prog - More interviews! The guys at the Guitar Hour podcast had Animals As Leaders’ Tosin Abasi on. They talked about technique, prog and djent music, if you could ever love one of your own songs more than someone else’s, and a bunch more. If you want to hear even more Tosin, Universal Audio also sat down with him to talk the UAFX pedals, amongst other topics. And if you want to learn Tosin’s signature selective picking technique, Johnathan Cordy has a good video to get you started.
My Daily Practice Routine for Guitar - Rick Beato is just on a whole other level when it comes to music theory. If you have about 30 minutes to spare, check out this video where he explains his guitar practice routine. Really inspiring no matter what level you’re at on guitar.
I Wrote My Own Solo To John Mayer's 'Gravity'... - I loved this video from Ross Campbell. Not only does he write his own solo to John Mayer’s “Gravity” and go over Mayer’s as well, he also gives us 3 tips for writing better solos. Repetition, rhythm and more come in to play in Ross’ suggestions.
The BEST Riffs of 1985 with Uncle Ben Eller - 1985 was a fun year, and so were the riffs! Ben Eller breaks down 20 of the most awesome riffs from ’85, as voted on by his Patreon supporters.
Kiss of Death by Dokken - Riff Guitar Lesson (w/TAB) - MasterThatRiff! - Just 2 years later, George Lynch and Dokken would release the song “Kiss of Death” off Back for the Attack with its own set of killer riffs. Check out Mark from MasterTheGuitar as he shows us how to play them. I’m starting to work on more Extreme/Nuno Bettencourt riffs, and thankfully Mark has lessons on those too!
Warren Haynes: Be Unique - I still haven’t had a chance to watch all of Sweetwater’s GearFest videos, but they just keep on rolling out! The legendary Warren Haynes talks about playing/adapting to so many different bands, developing tone, breaking out of the box of pentatonic solos, and he also demos a bunch of gear.
A History of Upside-Down Guitarists, With Malina Moye - This was a super fun video, where Malina Moye talks about six lefty guitarists. But not just any old lefties, but ones who play upside down, or with the high E closer to you. There are some absolute legends on here like Albert King and Dick Dale. And there’s also some future legends, like Eric Gales.
Watch Eric Gales deliver jaw-dropping Jimi Hendrix, Billy Gibbons and Robin Trower covers as he puts his signature MXR Raw Dawg pedal through its paces - Speaking of Gales, this week he’s making the rounds because he also joined Sweetwater’s live event, and rocked some amazing covers while showing off his new MXR overdrive pedal. I can’t wait for his new album to drop!
THE FEARLESS FLYERS /// Live at Madison Square Garden - Cory Wong, Mark Lettieri, Joe Dart, Nate Smith, and friends had a blast at Madison Square Garden opening up for Vulfpeck (of which Wong is also a member). I was hoping that they’d release this set, and I wasn’t let down! If you want to see nearly 40 minutes of solid funk, check this video out.
Modalling Explained | Modal Improvisation Guitar Lesson - One of my favorite lessons of the week, and also ties in nicely with a video from Ben Eller from a few weeks back. Rabea Massaad shows us how he uses drones and improvises using modes to create what he’s calling “modalling” while he practices.
Five Practise Tools For Better Guitar Playing – That Pedal Show- Another fav. was this video from the guys at That Pedal Show, where they show off 5 practice tools that’ll help you in learning guitar. The recommendations range from gear like amps and headphones to apps.
B.B. King & Eric Clapton Riding With The King Guitar Lesson + Tutorial - I was so excited 21 years ago when I heard B.B. King and Clapton’s collaboration album. The song “Riding with the King” is still one of the best cuts on that entire album. Jon MacLennan breaks down the whole song in his new lesson.
Kirk Fletcher with his Blonde Gibson ES-345 at Norman's Rare Guitars - Speaking of incredible blues players, check out Kirk Fletcher hanging out at Norman’s Rare Guitars, with his Gibson ES-345. They talk about getting back out on the road, his upcoming album, and how Kirk is now endorsed by Gibson!
LIVE: New and Notable Pedals (June 2021) - Guard your wallet, Josh and the JHS crew are back to demo some new, fun pedals.
Why I Practice With 12's And A Fat Neck - Haven’t played guitar for a while, and need to build your endurance up quick? Anthony from TXBA talks about putting 12’s on his Strat with a fat neck. He uses that guitar to play his drills and get his fingers back in action. I’m doing a similar thing on an old Strat I converted into a C tuned slide guitar. The action is high, the strings are a heavier gauge than my usual 10’s, and when I get back to my regular guitar, it feels like having a superpower.
Ichika Nito's first-ever signature model headlines Ibanez's all-new Quest headless guitar range - Ibanez has entered the headless guitar market with it’s Quest series. I’m excited to try these out, and I feel these will get into the hands of a lot of Ibanez fans who have yet to try out a headless guitar. Ichika Nita also gets a signature model in this series, called the ICHI10. If you haven’t seen Nita’s fretboard wizardry, go check him out on Instagram.
Metallica: The Black Album (Remastered) - The black album from Metallica has been one of the most influential albums of my entire life. I’m so excited to see it get re-mastered. I can’t imagine it sounding any better than it already does, but I’m excited to see what they do with it. There are all sorts of special editions that’ll I’ll have to consider when they ship in the Fall. But even cooler than that, we also have the Metallica Blacklist album coming out. It’ll feature a staggering 53 different artists doing their rendition of songs off the black album. Some of the tracks are slowly rolling out already, like Miley Cyrus’ version of “Nothing Else Matters”, which features Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma and others, and Jason Isbell doing his best “Sad But True”, but countrified. I can’t believe how many different artists they got for this one. If you can’t tell already, I’m super excited for September 10th!
The Best Guitar Effects Pedals of All Time - Looking to fill up your pedal board with some of the best effects of all time? Guitar Player has compiled a pretty solid list of classic effects.
CGP forever - I can’t believe it’s been so long, but we lost Chet Atkins 20 years ago. Here’s to all his Gretsch wielding, mind blowing country playing.