Joe Bonamassa recently spent some time in Nashville with Epiphone Guitars working on an upcoming Epiphone version of his signature Gibson Custom Shop guitar. Like his original Gibson, it looks like the Epiphone model will be a gold top Les Paul with a black back, black plastic components and a unique knob combination. Epiphone’s blog entry about the meeting indicated that the guitar will be out “very soon”. According to members of Joe’s forums, a Gibson USA (non-Custom Shop) version of Joe’s signature Les Paul is also in the works for a release in the near future. It should be an exciting year for guitar-playing fans of Bonamassa!

Rich Murray recently mentioned that highlights from this past weekend’s Crossroads Festival will be shown in theaters on July 27. I couldn’t make it to the show, so I have been awaiting word on when the DVD will be released. The fact that it will be played in high-definition in theaters is a nice surprise! It is a one-night event, with the movie starting at 7:30 local time at over 475 theaters across the US. Click here (PDF) to see if it will be playing near you.

One of my favorite modern classical guitarists and composers (and former LAGQ member) Andrew York has recently released a new album titled Centerpeace. This album features collaborations with guitarist Andy Summers and pianists Allaudin Mathieu and Mitsuko Kado. There are a mixture of composed songs and improvisations; in fact, half the tracks on the album are improvisations between Mathieu and York. You can preview and purchase Centerpeace on York’s site.

Five years ago when I started Guitar Lifestyle, there weren’t very many other guitar blogs around. In the last five years, I’ve seen a number of guitar blogs come and go, but Guitar Noize has been one of the few that has stuck around and provided consistently good content. Jon, the creator of Guitar Noize, is celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Guitar Noize with a huge giveaway. He’s giving away a ton of stuff, including effects, strings, software, instructional material, and more! You can see what he’s giving away and sign up for a chance to win on the Guitar Noize 3rd Birthday Bonanza sign up form.

Nineteen-year-old guitarist Marcel Mokbel recently sent me an e-mail to let me know about his YouTube channel, which features his acoustic fingerstyle guitar compositions. I think Marcel shows some talent and has written several nice compositions. If you like Andy McKee-style acoustic music, you might like Marcel’s music, too. Check out Marcel playing his composition “The Spring Rain”:

Below is a video of Joe Bonamassa playing “Further On Up the Road” with Robert Randolph during this past weekend’s Crossroads Festival in Chicago. It’s nice to see Joe playing one of his Wildwood “Bonaburst” guitars.

Helmet have announced a new album called Seeing Eye Dog to be released on September 7, 2010. The album will feature 10 tracks, including a cover of the Beatles’ “And Your Bird Can Sing.” On the album, guitarist Page Hamilton is joined by drummer Kyle Stevenson, guitarist Dan Beeman and bassist Chris Traynor. Traynor may be familiar to Helmet fans, as he was a member of Helmet for 10 years from 1996-2006. Dave Case will be the touring bassist, replacing former bassist Jon Fuller.

Helmet will be releasing multiple formats of the album, including digital only, CD and digital, and limited edition vinyl. Each format will include a live album recorded in San Francisco in 2006.

Last year, I had the chance to see guitarist Andy Wood perform with his band Down From Up. They were performing at a small venue in town that was hosting a showcase of sorts for some local Nashville talent. I had not heard of Down From Up before the show, but I knew Wood was a serious gear hound when I saw him load in his Suhr guitars and his Diezel amps. I was doubly surprised when Wood started playing. He is a phenomenal talent.

However, because most people had come to see the local acts they knew and hadn’t heard of Down From Up, they were playing unfamiliar songs to most of the audience. After a few songs, they began losing the crowd. Upon seeing this, it looked like Wood went to each band member and suggested they switch to a Led Zeppelin medley they had obviously worked up in the past. It worked! The crowd got back into the show and seemed more receptive to the tracks that followed.

If you have  a band that plays original music, take a tip from Andy Wood and have a popular tune or two within your genre to fall back on in case you start to lose a crowd. It could help turn a bad gig into a good one, or at least a positive one!

As you probably know, Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival was held this past weekend in Chicago. Rich Murray attended the show and has created a photo gallery of the performers.

Although Derek Trucks is largely taking this year off from touring, he hasn’t stopped making music. He and wife Susan Tedeschi recently recorded a track called “Space Captain” with Herbie Hancock. Below is a video of the song recorded at Trucks and Tedeschi’s Jacksonville, FL studio: