Black Country Communion are set to release their third album, Afterglow, on October 30. Here’s what vocalist and bassist Glenn Hughes says about the new release:

In terms of content, Afterglow expands upon the progression that took place between ‘BCC’ and ‘BCC2’. “It’s a deeper album, musically, than our first two albums, but it does not step away from the genre we’re in,” said Hughes, who wrote the bulk of the album’s 11 songs after BCC’s Summer Tour in 2011. “I wanted this album to have more acoustic moments than the previous two. I wanted to hear more of Derek [Sherinian] and I wanted an angelic side to the vocals as well as the more aggressive one, like on the songs ‘Crawl’ and ‘Midnight Sun’. Above all, I wanted more drama.”

Here is a trailer for the new album:

Robben Ford and TrueFire have recently teamed up to produce their Blues Revolution instructional course:

In this 6-hour, interactive video Blues Revolution course, Robben steps you through his Chicago blues influences, chord and scale vocabulary, rhythm guitar techniques, improvisational approaches and harmonic insight for crafting the fresh, contemporary lines that comprise his signature sound.

The course is divided into six sections:

1. Fundamentals
2. Chicago Blues
3. Chords and Comping
4. Scales and Applications
5. Soloing and Improvisation
6. Performances

I personally really enjoy Robben’s playing, so I’m happy to see him sharing his insights. TrueFire currently have a promotion running where you can save 10% off the course by using the offer code “REVOLUTION10″ if you decide to buy.

Here is an intro to the course:

Joe Bonamassa and team have released an official music video for the track “Dislocated Boy” off his latest album Driving Towards the Daylight:

In other Bonamassa news, they have released a CD/MP3 double album from his recent run at the Beacon Theater featuring guest spots by Paul Rodgers, John Hiatt, and Beth Hart. I have the DVD that was released from these shows, and it’s a really solid collection of songs with Bonamassa playing at the top of his game.

Steve Vai has announced a North American tour this year to support his upcoming album The Story of Light. The dates and locations are listed below:

8/15 Ft. Lauderdale FL – Revolution
8/16 St. Petersburg FL – Palladium Theatre
8/17 Lake Buena Vista FL – House of Blues
8/18 Jacksonville FL – Florida Theatre
8/20 Charlotte NC – The Fillmore
8/21 Nashville TN – Marathon Musicworks
8/22 Asheville NC – Orange Peel
8/23 Atlanta GA – Centerstage
8/24 N. Myrtle Beach SC – House of Blues
8/25 Durham NC – Carolina Theatre
8/26 Richmond VA – The National
8/28 Washington DC – The Howard Theatre
8/29 Stroudsberg PA – Sherman Theatre
8/30 Glenside PA – Keswick Theatre
8/31 Westbury NY – Theatre at Westbury
9/2 Lancaster PA – Chameleon Club
9/4 Ridgefield CT – The Ridgefield Playhouse
9/5 Wilmington DE – The Grand Opera House
9/6 Greensburg PA – Palace Theater
9/7 New Brunswick NJ – State Theatre
9/8 Morristown NJ – Mayo Performing Arts Center
9/9 Albany NY – The Egg
9/11 New York NY – Best Buy Theater
9/13 Boston MA – Wilbur Theatre
9/14 Northampton MA – Calvin Theatre
9/15 Concord NH – Capitol Center
9/16 Lebanon NH – Lebanon Opera House
9/17 Quebec QC CAN – Capitole Du Quebec
9/18 Montreal QC CAN – Metropolis
9/20 Toronto ON CAN – Sony Centre
9/21 Royal Oak MI – Royal Oak Music Hall
9/22 Buffalo NY – University of Buffalo Center for the Arts
9/24 Cleveland OH – House of Blues
9/26 Minneapolis MN – The Brick
9/27 Milwaukee WI – Pabst Theater
9/28 Chicago IL – House of Blues
9/29 St. Louis MO – The Pageant
9/30 Salina KS – The Stiefel Theatre
10/1 Denver CO – The Ogden Theatre
10/3 Boise ID – Knitting Factory
10/4 Seattle WA – The Moore Theatre
10/5 Vancouver BC – Commodore Ballroom
10/6 Portland OR – Roseland Theater
10/7 Napa CA – Uptown Theatre
10/9 San Francisco CA – Regency Ballroom
10/10 Sacramento CA – Ace of Spades
10/11 Anaheim CA – City National Grove of Anaheim
10/12 Los Angeles CA – Club Nokia
10/13 Agoura Hills CA – Canyon Club

As if Slash wasn’t already busy enough, he found time to work with Dunlop to create a signature pedal called the Slash Octave Fuzz. Here’s what he says about the pedal:

There are some octave fuzz tones on records that I love, but the pedals that created them are very unpredictable. They’re hard to use live and even hard to control in the studio. So I talked to the guys at Dunlop and I told them that there should be a pedal that can just nail those sounds reliably. That’s where the Slash Octave Fuzz comes in. I worked with them and we made a fuzz that’s controllable, with a low octave that didn’t warble too much—that took a bit of work—plus a vintage high octave fuzz and the ability to mix the two.

The pedal features:

• Fuzz tone with a separate sub octave voice & and octave up fuzz
• Internal gain & tone pots shape the octave up fuzz effect
• All analog circuitry, true bypass

Here’s a demo video of the pedal:

Buddy Guy was recently interviewed on Tavis Smiley’s PBS show about Guy’s new autobiography, When I Left Home. Buddy seems like quite a character, and I’d love to listen to him tell stories all day. For now, this short 24 minute interview will have to do:

After the popularity of ZZ Top’s collaboration with Jeremiah Weed in an ad featuring ZZ Top’s song “I Gotsa Get Paid,” ZZ Top are releasing a 4-song teaser EP called Texicali featuring songs from their upcoming full-length album:

Next Tuesday, June 5, will see the release of Texicali, a four track digital collection from ZZ Top that offers the first new studio recordings from “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas” in nine years. The four new songs, available from iTunes and all digital retail outlets, offer a preview of the group’s full-length album, as yet untitled, that will be released on American Recordings late this summer or early fall. Those purchasing the four songs will benefit from a pro-rated discount on the purchase of the full album when it is released. Rollingstone.com will be previewing new music through an audio stream for one day only, Monday, June 4.

Texicali will include the following tracks: “I Gotsta Get Paid,” “Chartreuse,” “Over You” and “Consumption.” These tracks, as with all of the tracks from the upcoming album, were produced by Rick Rubin. I, for one, am curious to hear how ZZ Top sounds with Rubin at behind the board.

Today was a good new music Tuesday for guitar-based music fans:

• Joe Bonamassa’s new album Driving Towards the Daylight was officially released. I’ve been listening to this album for a couple of weeks now, and I think it’s his strongest album of the last few years. It’s a somewhat more focused album than last year’s Dust Bowl, with a more straight-forward blues-rock approach.
• John Mayer released Born and Raised. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this album, but I think it is brilliant. I’m mostly a fan of Mayer’s blues-focused music, and Born and Raised is a departure from that side of Mayer’s playing. This album is mostly acoustic with Mayer’s songwriting really taking the focus. There are some great songs as well as song great guitar playing.
• Sonny Landreth released his new album Elemental Journey. With guest spots by Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, you know this will be a popular release among guitar players. I’ve been a long-time fan of Landreth’s slide guitar work, and this release is full of Landreth’s intricate slide guitar playing.
• Slash released Apocalyptic Love. Unlike his self-titled 2010 release, this album features Miles Kennedy as the vocalist for each track. I have mixed feelings about Kennedy’s vocals, but Slash’s guitar playing is strong as always, and I think Kennedy does an adequate job for this type of music.

I’m a fan of the Black Keys and Dan Auerbach’s interesting approach to gear, so I was pleased to see that Premier Guitar recently got a tour of Auerbach’s current touring gear by his guitar tech, the impeccably dressed Dan Johnson:

Johnny A is currently in the studio recording a new album, and he is documenting the process in a series of videos. The first episode of the series was released last week: