Classical guitarist Ana Vidovic is interviewed in the August 2007 issue of Guitar Player magazine. I’m glad to see that she is getting mainstream recognition. I first heard about Ana several years ago when I was shopping for a new classical guitar. She happened to be touring through town at the time, so I had the opportunity to see her in concert, and it was fantastic. Her technique was flawless, but not to the point of taking away from the musicality of the selections. In other words, you noticed the music more than her technique, which isn’t the case with all classical guitarists.

Ana has a new CD being released on July 31 featuring the music of Frederico Moreno Torroba. You can view information about the CD on the Naxos Web site. You can view a video of Ana playing Isaac Albeniz’s Asturias on YouTube.

If you get a chance to see Ana in concert, I’d recommend doing so.

Mike Farris is the former vocalist of the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies, who achieved some acclaim in the late 90s. Now, Farris has recently released a new solo album titled Salvation in Lights. As his Web site states: “…these are the songs that have come out of being saved by grace.” Mike’s story is as powerful as his voice. Farris is recovering from alcohol and chemical addiction and has been sober for two years. In his own words:

“If not for the grace of God I would surely be dead or wishing I were dead.” Farris says. “My life is a testament that God has an unique and special place for everyone. God will use people no matter how tattered and torn. Just surrender to His love and trust in His grace.”

The new CD is a lively, Gospel-tinged album that really showcases his voice. You can preview several of the songs on Mike’s MySpace page or on his Web site. I’ve really been digging “Can’t No Grave Hold Me Down” and “Devil Don’t Sleep.” (via Strat-O-Blogster)

JP, otherwise known as the Strat-O-Blogster, recently posted about a podcast called Inside Musicast. The podcast covers many different styles of music, not just guitarists, and it seems to be fairly interesting. Recently, they did feature an interview with guitarist Steve Lukather. They also recently interviewed Jason Scheff, bass player and vocalist for the band Chicago.

On August 4, 2007, you can join the shred elite, or at least you can be in the same room with some of the shred elite at Shred School. The Shred School Web site says that Shred School is “the guitar players ultimate treasure trove of advice, secrets and insider information given directly by the experts.” The special guests will be Adam Jones of Tool, Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots and Army of Anyone, Synyster Gates & Zacky Vengeance of Avenged Sevenfold, Stephen Carpenter of Deftones, John 5, and Herman Li of DragonForce. Shred School is being held August 4, 2007 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. You can get more information from the MySpace page that is set up for the event.

Boing Boing is reporting that PBS will be airing a documentary about Les Paul on July 11, 2007 at 9:00 P.M. EST. From the PBS page:

Among inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, his name comes alphabetically after Louis Pasteur. In the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it follows Parliament-Funkadelic. This singular distinction belongs to Les Paul, whose insatiable curiosity and experiments gave us the musical instrument of the modern era – the solid-body electric guitar – and the predominant studio recording technique – multi-tracking. Audacious and indefatigable at every turn of his career – from small-town Waukesha to Harlem music haunts to Hollywood studios – Paul, at age 92, still holds court every Monday night at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City. AMERICAN MASTERS explores the revolutionary results of his drive to create sounds that had “never been heard on earth” when Les Paul: Chasing Sound premieres Wednesday, July 11 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS.