This is an interesting article about Stevie Ray Vaughan’s early childhood home in Oak Cliff, TX:

Blues is the music of people who have tasted not only the sweet things in life, but also the tragedy, the struggle, the loss and redemption; not music for top 40 listeners, but for people who are willing to stare life and death in the eyes, and sing about it. The same can be said for different parts of a city. There is the “safe” and “predictable” part of town, and then there is Oak Cliff. Where else could a Dallas Blues legend like Stevie Ray Vaughn [sic] come from than a part of town that isn’t afraid to take what life dishes out and use it to cook up a song.

(via StevieSnacks on Facebook)

This video made the rounds recently and has sparked a lot of debate. The video is of an iPhone 4 placed inside of an acoustic guitar that records the strings as they are played. Whether or not the video has been edited doesn’t matter to me. I just think it’s a cool video. Check it out:

Video photographer Greg Savage recorded these videos of Stevie Ray Vaughan doing a soundcheck in Pittsburgh, PA on January 24, 1986. The quality of these videos is pretty good considering they were made 25 years ago. How can you not sound good with a coat and hat like the one he’s wearing in these videos?

The first video features SRV playing the song “Scuttlebuttin’”:

The second video features SRV playing the song “Say What!”:

The third video features SRV playing the song “Ain’t Gone ‘n’ Give Up on Love”:

In anticipation of Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s new album How I Go releasing this week, check out this video of the making of the song “Never Looking Back”:

Also, you can preview four songs from the new album on Kenny’s website.

I’m reluctantly linking to this Music Radar interview with Kenny Wayne Shepherd. I’m reluctant not because of the material–it’s a pretty interesting interview with Shepherd talking about his upcoming album How I Go and his gear–but because Music Radar split the article over 6 pages to increase page views in addition to displaying a pop-up ad. If you’re interested in hearing about the new album, then it’s probably worth the click, though. At any rate, I’m looking forward to hearing this album in a few weeks.

(Thanks for the article link goes to GL regular Darren M.)

Robben Ford has announced Robben Ford’s Guitar Dojo, which is a collection of instructional videos featuring Ford and Don Mock. In addition to the instructional videos, the site will feature soundcheck videos, streaming music, and a journal from Ford while he’s on the road. The videos are about $4.99-5.99 per lesson.

They just opened the virtual doors yesterday, so I imagine that they’ll be putting more content up there, but you can preview the videos that are currently uploaded. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I like what Ford is doing here; I wish more “famous” guitarists would do this kind of educational material.

Here’s Ford talking about the new site:

Eric Johnson has recently started a summer tour in support of his latest album Up Close. Here’s a video from the rehearsals for the tour:

The tour runs from July 7 through August 20:

Jul-07 Tempe, AZ
Jul-08 Tucson, AZ
Jul-09 San Diego, CA
Jul-10 Agoura Hills, CA
Jul-12 Sacramento, CA
Jul-13 Redondo Beach, CA
Jul-14 Santa Ana, CA
Jul-15 Livermore, CA
Jul-16 Grants Pass, OR
Jul-17 Clark County, WA
Jul-19 Seattle, WA
Jul-21 Omaha, NE
Jul-22 Denver, CO
Jul-23 Santa Fe, NM
Aug-02 St Louis, MO
Aug-04 Minneapolis, MN
Aug-05 Milwaukee, WI
Aug-06 Cleveland, OH
Aug-07 Clarkston, MI
Aug-09 Alexandria, VA
Aug-10 New York, NY
Aug-11 Londonderry, NH
Aug-12 Foxborough, MA
Aug-13 Poughkeepsie, NY
Aug-14 Sellersville, PA
Aug-16 Carborro, NC
Aug-17 Charlotte, NC
Aug-18 Atlanta, GA
Aug-19 Jackson, MS
Aug-20 New Orleans, LA

These are a couple more nice videos by Premier Guitar of the acoustic and electric guitar factories of Godin Guitars. I really enjoy watching videos about how guitars are made. It seems each manufacturer has their own unique take on things, and Godin is no different.

Godin Guitars Acoustic Guitar Factory Tour:

Godin Guitars Electric Guitar Factory Tour:

Premier Guitar’s Jason Shadrick recently visited with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at the House of Blues in Chicago to talk guitars, pedals, and amps. Grace and guitarists Scott Tournet and Benny Yurco give Jason a tour of each of their rigs:

As a side note, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the band live a number of times now, and each time has been better than the last. I highly recommend seeing them live if you get a chance.

Billy Corgan recently gave a tour of some of the pedals that he has available during the recording of the Smashing Pumpkins upcoming album Oceania. I bet it’d be fun to spend some time playing with some of the pedals he has in his collection. Check out the video below: