Gibson recently posted a video interview with Eric Johnson from when he visited the Gibson Showroom in New York. In the interview, he talks about the ES-335, Austin, his influences, and, of course, tone.

This is a really interesting look into the recording process for Joe Bonamassa’s album The Ballad of John Henry from the perspective of the producer, Kevin Shirley:

Joe Bonamassa – The Making Of “The Ballad Of John Henry” A Producer’s Perspective from CGFilm on Vimeo.

(via The Guitar Buzz)

Music Radar has posted a track-by-track, full album preview of Eric Johnson’s upcoming album Up Close. The album’s release date has been pushed back to December 7, apparently due to a disc reproduction error, but at least we can get a feel for the album before it comes out. Sadly, the preview does not include an audio preview, but Music Radar give their thoughts on each song following by EJ’s thoughts on each track.

(Thanks to Darren M. for the tip!)

CMT is reporting that Brad Paisley is writing a book titled The Diary of a Player about the guitarists who helped inspire him to become a musician himself. Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild is helping write the book, which is scheduled to be released in May 2011.

The Michael Bloomfield story is a six-part video biography created by filmmakers Nick Lerman and Alex Wernquest, and site manager David Dann to celebrate Bloomfield’s 67th birthday:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

Relix.com recently interviewed Warren Haynes about the upcoming Warren Haynes Band album that he recorded right after recording Gov’t Mule’s By a Thread. The album will be primarily soul music, which was the first musical style Haynes fell in love with:

This is a record I’ve waited my whole life to make because soul music was my first love. Before I ever heard rock and roll music, I was listening to soul music. Before I picked up a guitar, I was singing—and everything I was singing was soul music.

The soul influence is evident in a lot of Gov’t Mule’s music but it’s never been the primary sound. It’ll be interesting to hear how a full soul album by Haynes will sound. The album will be out next Spring. You can read the full interview on the Relix site.

Guitar Lifestyle reader Darren M. has come through again with news about another upcoming Eric Johnson release. This release is called Live from Austin, TX 84 and, according to Amazon, will be released on November 22. The Amazon link indicates that it is a CD version, but speculation on the EJ forums is that it may be a CD/DVD combo. I’ll be happy with just the CD, but I hope they do release a DVD along with the CD.

A member of the EJ forums speculated that the track list will be:

Song For Life
April Comes She Will (Simon and Garfunkel cover)
Tribute to Jerry Reed
I’m finding You — Rob Alexander (lead vocals)
Soulful Terrain – Take 1
Friends
Emerald Eyes – Take 1
Down on the Ground (Wes Montgomery cover)
All I Need — Eric and Rob share vocals
I’m Tryin’
Trademark
Cliffs of Dover-Take 1
Trail of Tears
Manhattan
Bristol Shore
Spanish Castle magic
Soulful terrain – Take 2
Emerald Eyes – Take 2
Cliffs of Dover – Take 2

Cherry Lane Music has recently released a song book featuring a collection of Joe Bonamassa songs spanning several of his most popular albums, including songs from You and Me, Sloe Gin, and the Ballad of John Henry. This collection has one of favorite Bonamassa songs, “Bridge to Better Days” from his album You and Me.

This collection is the third tab book of Bonamassa songs. The other two are Blues Deluxe and Best of Joe Bonamassa.

The full track list for the song book is:

* Asking Around for You
* The Ballad of John Henry
* Ballpeen Hammer
* Black Night
* Bridge to Better Days
* Dirt in My Pocket
* The Great Flood
* Last Kiss
* Lonesome Road Blues
* One of These Days
* Sloe Gin
* So Many Roads, So Many Trains

The 1983 In Session recording of Stevie Ray Vaughan playing with Albert King will finally be released on DVD on November 9. The set list featured mostly Albert King’s music with the notable exception of King playing with SRV on SRV’s “Pride and Joy”.

I’ve had the CD version of this recording since it first came out about 10 years ago, and I’m really looking forward to finally being able to watch the performance on DVD.

I love funk guitar and few do it better than Nile Rodgers. Here’s a lesson from Nile where he explains some of the techniques he uses: