I’m excited to welcome Joe Bonamassa as a new sponsor of Guitar Lifestyle. They are offering Guitar Lifestyle readers a free download of “Blue and Evil” from Joe’s Black Rock album. To receive the free download, all you have to do is click here or click the ad in the sidebar and then select “Free MP3 Music”.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Shake Your Money Maker, the Black Crowes’ debut album. To celebrate, the Crowes have arranged and recorded many of their classic songs as acoustic tracks and have released the tracks as part of the double album Croweology.

As part of the 20th anniversary celebration, Chris Robinson is participating in a web series they’re calling “20 Years of Tall Tales“. Each day of August (starting last Tuesday), a new webisode will be posted on the Black Crowes website featuring Robinson commenting on various aspects of their career. So far, he’s discussed getting kicked off tour, spending over a million dollars recording an album that was shelved for 12 years, how and why their sound changed from Shake Your Money Maker to Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, and more.

I recently linked to a studio video of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi playing on Herbie Hancock’s song “Space Captain” from his latest album the Imagine Project. Trucks and Tedeschi performed the song with Hancock this past week on the Late Show with David Letterman. Check out the performance below:

Earlier this week, John Mayer provided USTREAM viewers with a tour of the backstage area of the Jones Beach Amphitheater in New York. He also provides a glimpse of the upcoming John Mayer “Black Strat,” which is a replica of the well-worn black strat that he regularly plays. Interestingly, the regular production model will not be relic’d, while the Custom Shop version will be identical to the one he plays.

Check out the tour below. (Click here if you can’t see the video embedded below.)

This Fall Eric Johnson will be participating in an acoustic tour called “Guitar Masters,” which will also feature guitarists Andy McKee and Peppino D’Agostino. The tour will start on October 1 in Milwaukee, WI, and will last for several weeks and then pick up again early next year. The following tour dates are listed on the Tour page of Eric Johnson’s website. More tour dates will be added for next year:

Oct 1st – Northern Lights Theater – Milwaukee, WI
Oct 2nd – Clowes Memorial Hall – Indianapolis, IN
Oct 3rd – The Ark – Ann Arbor, MI
Oct 6st – Stiefel Theatre – Salina, KS
Oct 7th – Englert Theatre – Iowa City, IA
Oct 9th – Mayo Civic Center Theater – Rochester, MN
Oct 10th – Space – Evanston, IL
Oct 13th – Colonial Theatre – Phoenixville, PA
Oct 14th – Lebanon Opera House – Lebanon, NH
Oct 15th – Strathmore – North Bethesda, MD
Oct 16th – Westhampton Beach P.A.C. – Westhampton, NY
Oct 17th – The Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT

2011
Jan 14th – Spanos Theatre – San Luis Obispo, CA
Jan 15th – Norman P. Murray Center – Mission Viejo, CA
Jan 17th – Visalia Fox Theater – Visalia, CA
Jan 19th – Van Duzer Theater – Arcata, CA
Jan 20th – Laxson Auditorium – Chico, CA
Jan 21st – Napa Valley Opera House – Napa, CA

Eric Johnson has posted some news to his forums, including a track listing for his upcoming album:

1. Fatdaddy
2. Brilliant Room
3. Texas (written by Mike Bloomfield and Buddy Miles, on the Electric Flag record)
4. Gem
5. Austin
6. Soul Surprise
7. On the Way (country tune)
8. Arithmetic
9. Vortexan
10. A change has come to me
11. Your Book (song I wrote for my Dad)

He also indicated that there are four transition pieces on the album. The album is completed and is currently awaiting a release date.

He said that he hopes to do some solo Hendrix shows this summer and an acoustic tour in October. I hope he adds some additional shows in support of the new album.

Black Country Communion have unveiled the cover art for their debut album, which will be released on September 21. I can’t say that I’m particularly sold on the cover art, but we’ll see what it looks like on the actual packaging. Jon at Guitar Noize likes the artwork and he’s actually lived in the Black Country area, so maybe it’s one of those things that makes more sense to people familiar with the area. Regardless, I’m still really looking forward to hearing the album in just a few months.

Late last year, Matt Schofield inked a deal with Hal Leonard to record an instructional DVD to be released this summer. The title of the DVD is Blues Guitar Artistry, and it will be released on August 1. Schofield is a rising UK-based blues guitarist who melds electric blues with jazz sophistication. I love his approach to the blues, and I’ve been looking forward to this release since I heard about it last year. I’m curious to see specifically how he approaches extending chord voicings and harmony.

Schofield is currently touring the United States for the first time, and I’ve heard the shows have been really good. I hope this is start of a more widespread audience for Schofield here in the U.S.

On December 31, 1999 I made the trek to Atlanta to see Gov’t Mule’s New Year’s Eve show at the Roxy Theater. Earlier that year, Gov’t Mule had released Live…With a Little Help From Our Friends, which was recorded on New Year’s Eve in 1998, so I was really primed for the show. I knew it was going to be something special, and it was.

Joined by guests Little Milton, Audley Freed, Robert Kearns, Johnny Mosier, Mark Van Allen and Barry Richman, the original Gov’t Mule lineup of Warren Haynes, Allen Woody, and Matt Abts played for over three hours that night to a relatively small crowd of devoted fans. If you recall, 1999 was the year of Y2K hysteria, and we didn’t know what awaited us when we finally left the theater, but we didn’t care. The Mule were on fire that night, and I could have watched them play for several more hours. I’ve seen Gov’t Mule several times since then, but the New Year’s Eve show is by far the best show of theirs I’ve ever been to.

In the 10 years since the show, I’ve often wondered if they would ever release it like they had done with Live…With a Little Help. I don’t have to wonder any more. Gov’t Mule will be releasing the show on August 3 as a three-disc collection titled Mulennium. The album has been remixed and remastered from the original master tapes from the show.

The track list of the Mulennium album is:

Disc: 1
1. Bad Little Doggie
2. Lay Your Burden Down
3. Blind Man In The Dark
4. Life Before Insanity
5. Larger Than Life
6. Towering Fool
7. 21st Century Schizoid Man
8. We’re Not Gonna Take It
9. Dazed and Confused

Disc: 2
1. When The Blues Comes Knockin’ (feat Little Milton)
2. My Dog and Me (feat Little Milton)
3. Lump On Your Stump (feat Little Milton)
4. I Can’t Quit You Baby (feat Little Milton)
5. It Hurts Me Too (feat Little Milton)
6. Blues Alright (feat Little Milton)
7. It Is My Body? (feat Audley Freed)
8. Power of Soul (feat Audley Freed)

Disc: 3
1. Helter Skelter (feat Audley Freed)
2. Sometimes Salvation (feat Audley Freed)
3. 30 Days In The Hole (feat Audley Freed and Robert Kearns)
4. End Of The Line (feat Audley Freed)
5. Out Of The Rain (feat Audley Freed, Johnny Mosier and Mark Van Allen)
6. I Shall Be Released (feat Barry Richman, Robert Kearns, Johnny Mosier and Mark Van Allen)
7. Simple Man (feat Audley Freed and Mark Van Allen)

The only thing that could make this collection better would be a DVD of the show, but, alas, YouTube will have to suffice for now. Here is a video of Gov’t Mule playing the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” with guest Audley Freed from the New Year’s Eve show:

In addition to building great guitars, Paul Reed Smith is also a very good guitarist who fronts his own band. He’s released two albums.  His first album, simply titled The Paul Reed Smith Band, features collaborations with Derek St Holmes, Mike Ault, and Gary and Greg Grainger. The recently released Look At The Moon album was recorded at the Ricky Skagg’s Family Studio here in Tennessee. Get more information about these albums  at the Paul Reed Smith music site.