The thing that I enjoy so much about Twitter is that you get to connect with people you might not have connected with otherwise. One artist that I’ve met through Twitter is Stuart Weber, a classical guitarist and composer based out of Montana. Weber has recently released a new CD titled The Fifth Row, which includes a number of original compositions as well as performances of Weber’s arrangement of compositions by composers such as George Philipp Telemann, Antonin Dvorak, Bela Bartok, Randy Newman, and Samuel Ward.

Weber’s performances of the pieces are tasteful and well executed. His technique is flawless, but not at the expense of the music. To me, one of the hallmarks of a great classical guitarist is whether you can listen to the guitarist perform and not think about the technique but instead focus on the music. Weber certainly falls into this category. Listening to The Fifth Row, I find myself engrossed in the music. I’m really impressed with Weber’s ability to bring out the emotion of the compositions.

In addition to the performances, Weber celebrates 11 historic theaters in the Western United States by recording a different track in each theater. Some of the theaters Weber celebrates are the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Montana; the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, Colorado; and the Ellen Eccles Theater in Logan, Utah.

The Fifth Row highlights Stuart Weber’s excellent performing, arranging, and composing skills. If you are a fan of classical guitar music, I think you’ll really enjoy The Fifth Row.

Also, see Dr. Matthew Warnock’s review of The Fifth Row for Modern Guitars.

Below is a video of Weber playing one of my favorite pieces from the CD, Telemann’s “Bouree alla Polacca”:

Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam played here in Nashville this past week at a local club called 3rd & Lindsley. I’ve seen Back Door Slam once before, but since that time, Davy and the previous members of Back Door Slam split up. Additionally, Knowles worked with Peter Frampton on a recently released new album. I was curious to see how those changes would affect the live show.

A few minutes into the show, it was clear the changes were only for the better. The new live band was surprisingly tight, even though they’d only been playing together for two weeks with only about a week of rehearsal. While the original band was good, they seemed to lay back a little more. By contrast, PK, the new bass player, and Steven Barci, the new drummer, really lay down a solid foundation. Also, Davy’s playing, while excellent before, is even better.

They opened with some songs from the new album, which translated really well to a live environment. Also, as expected, they played a few of the songs from the first album. They also played a few cover songs, including songs by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Rory Gallagher. As the show went on, the band got better and better. They really put on a phenomenal show. Knowles channels a lot of the blues-rock greats, but puts on his style on the music.

Throughout last year, Knowles’ main guitar was a Fender Stratocaster. However, for this show, the Strat was present, but he played a PRS McCarty Smokeburst through a Marshall amp for the entire show, and it sounded great. He even played slide on one song, which I’ve never seen him do before.

After the show, my wife and I had a chance to spend a few minutes chatting with Davy and the band. We asked how he got into playing the guitar, and he mentioned that he started playing guitar after hearing “Sultans of Swing” by Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits. His father had an acoustic around the house, but no electrics, but Davy finally got his dream guitar, a Fender Stratocaster, after seeing one in a local music shop. In addition to Dire Straits, Knowles mentioned that John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, particularly, the Beano album and Peter Green era were big influences, as was Cream and other Clapton albums. He started gigging at 12 and has pretty much been gigging ever since, and he said that he still plays all the time. It definitely shows.

I really enjoyed the show, and I highly recommend checking out Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam if they come through your area. They are going to be opening for Chickenfoot this summer, and also have other headlining shows throughout the year. If you can catch them at a small club like I did, you’re in for a real treat. I can’t imagine Davy and BDS playing small venues for too much longer.

I’m an impatient person. When I get my mind on something, I want to do it now. For anyone who’s played a musical instrument, you know that you’re not going to be able to play anything up to speed the first try. You must first slow down in order to play fast. This is something I’ve struggled with since I started playing guitar. Enter the Capo app from SuperMegaUltraGroovy. Put simply, Capo is software to slow down music.

There are other software applications to slow down music, some of which are quite good, but the thing I really like about Capo is its simplicity. Capo was seemingly created with a single purpose in mind: to help musicians slow down music to ease the learning process. I was up and running within seconds of installing Capo. Getting started was as simple as dragging a song onto the interface. And, the controls are intuitive and easy to use.

Capo has the ability to loop sections of songs to help you focus on just that section of music. Additionally, Capo supports markers, where you can place markers at important parts of a song. After marking a section of a song, you can jump directly to that section at a later time. You can even adjust the pitch of a song if needed.

Not surprisingly, Capo cannot play DRM-protected music, but since Apple lifted the DRM from songs in iTunes, that’s less of an issue now than it was a year ago. Additionally, Capo is Mac-only, so Windows users will need to use one of the alternatives, such as Transcribe! or the Amazing Slow Downer (both of which are cross platform).

Capo currently has an introductory price of $39, but the price will eventually be raised to $49. I can see Capo becoming an invaluable part of my practice routine. Highly recommended.

(Also see Jon’s review of Capo at Guitar Noize.)

I haven’t had time to write full reviews for some of the music I’ve enjoyed over the past few months, so I thought I’d do a quick post highlighting some of my favorites:

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I had the chance to see Tommy Emmanuel perform live last year, and will hopefully get to catch him again as he performs in Nashville this summer. Last October, Emmanuel released a DVD titled Center Stage of a performance at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California.

This DVD is a good representation of what a Tommy Emmanuel performance is like. I didn’t know what to expect when I went to the show last year, but as I mentioned in my review of the show, I was blown away by Emmanuel’s performance. It was primarily just Emmanuel and his guitars on stage, and he really knows how to put on a show.

If you get a chance to see him live, I highly recommend it. If not, Center Stage is a good alternative.

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I’ve mentioned Erik Mongrain before here, but he released a new album last year title Equilibrium. Mongrain’s playing style evokes images of Michael Hedges, who Mongrain cites as an influence.

Mongrain gained quite a following as a result of YouTube videos showing his fairly unique playing style of sitting the acoustic guitar on his lap and tapping rather than plucking the strings. However, Mongrain offers more than just visual flash. His playing is both atmospheric and emotional. In fact, if I had to describe this album in one word, “atmospheric” would be the word I’d use. The album also features Michael Manring on fretless bass and was recorded as Paul Reed Smith’s studio, the Dragon Crossing Studio.

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Carl Verheyen is a guitarist that I recently heard about, although he’s been around for a while. He recently put out a new album titled Trading 8s. This album mixes a combination of guitar instrumentals and vocal tracks.

The album features some top-notch guest artists, including Joe Bonamassa, Albert Lee, Steve Morse, Rick Vito, and Scott Henderson. Each guest artist adds a nice touch to the album. Also included on the album is a nice cover of George Harrison’s “Taxman”.

I’ve really been enjoying this album over the past couple of months. If you haven’t checked out Carl Veheyen yet, Trading 8s would be a good place to start.

A little less than a year ago, I wrote about a product called ToneRite. I’ve now been able to spend several months reviewing the device to see how it works.

In short, ToneRite simulates the effects of playing a stringed instrument to help mature the sound of the instrument. It’s actually pretty ingenious how it works. It essentially just sends continuous vibrations to the top of the guitar. You can adjust the rate of vibrations as desired.

I used the ToneRite device on my two acoustic guitars. One is a Takamine GS430S acoustic guitar with a solid cedar top, and the other is an Alhambra 7P classical guitar with a solid spruce top.

ToneRite recommends using the device for at least 24 straight hours for the initial application. For my tests, I did this for both guitars and then used the device intermittently for several weeks.

After letting the device work its magic on the Takamine, I played it to see how the sound differed from before. There was a subtle, but noticeable difference in tone. The guitar sounded a little warmer and a bit fuller than before. As this was the first guitar I tried, I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleased with the change, but, truth be told, I don’t think ToneRite’s market is the sub-$300 guitar market. The ToneRite device itself costs 50% of the total price of the guitar, and there just wasn’t enough of a difference to warrant paying for a device like this. I suspect that the quality of wood and bracing affects how much the ToneRite device alters the sound.

The results on my classical guitar were more in line with my expectations. The results were much more noticeable. The spruce top really opened up after letting the ToneRite device work for a few days. The sound was much warmer and fuller than before. Additionally, and I don’t know if this is imagined or real, but the top seemed to respond a little differently to plucking. I’m not even sure how to describe it, it just felt different. I’ve never owned an acoustic instrument that’s had time to age, so I can’t compare directly, but the ToneRite device definitely made a difference.

In my opinion, ToneRite is probably best suited for higher-end guitars and for guitarists who want to get the most out of their guitars in the shortest time. To that end, ToneRite is a solid device that breaks in newer guitars in a much shorter time than through playing. In my experience, the ToneRite device made for a warmer- and fuller-sounding guitar.

I’m excited to announce that I have three (3) copies of the Blu-Ray version of Jeff Beck’s recently released video Performing This Week…Live at Ronnie Scott’s to give away!

To Enter The Contest:

Send me your e-mail address by filling out the contact form using the subject “Jeff Beck”, and indicate in the message that you want to be entered into the contest.* That’s all you have to do! I’ll randomly select the winners and notify them via e-mail. All entries must be received by May 17, 2009. I’ll pick and notify the winners on May 18, 2009. Unfortunately, with apologies to my International friends, the contest is limited to only readers in the United States.

* NOTE: Your e-mail address will be used only to notify you if you are the winner. I will not use your e-mail address for any other purpose.

Information About Performing This Week…Live at Ronnie Scott’s:

Performing This Week…Live at Ronnie Scott’s is a compilation of a series of concerts that Beck performed in 2007 with his band at Ronnie Scott’s club in London. Beck’s band for these shows included Tal Wilkenfeld on bass, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, and Jason Rebello on piano. Beck invited several guests to perform with his band, including Eric Clapton, Imogene Heap, and Joss Stone. The track list for the Blu-Ray is:

1. Beck’s Bolero
2. Eternity’s Breath
3. Stratus
4. Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers
5. Behind The Veil
6. You Never Know
7. Nadia
8. Blast From The East
9. Led Boots
10. Angel (Footsteps)
11. People Get Ready - with JOSS STONE
12. Scatterbrain
13. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat / Brush With The Blues
14. Space Boogie
15. Blanket - with IMOGEN HEAP
16. Big Block
17. A Day In The Life
18. Little Brown Bird - with ERIC CLAPTON
19. You Need Love - with ERIC CLAPTON
20. Rollin’ And Tumblin’ - with IMOGEN HEAP
21. Where Were You

Bonus Material:
Jeff Beck Interview: rare in depth interview talking about Ronnie Scott’s, his band, the setlist and his guest performers. Interviews with the band members.

Blu-ray Exclusive Material: 7 Track rockabilly set with the Big Town Playboys exclusively available on the Blu-ray version:
1. Race With The Devil
2. Crazy Legs
3. Train Kept A Rollin’
4. My Baby Left Me
5. Matchbox
6. Baby Blue
7. Honky Tonk.

This is a great collection of songs by Beck and his group. Beck’s playing is really inspired, and his band provides a solid foundation for his guitar pyrotechnics. They play pretty much all of Beck’s hits, as well as several covers. Particularly noteworthy is Beck’s cover of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” which is probably my favorite track from the video.

Not long after I started playing guitar, I was fortunate to have a friend show me the basics of how to straighten my guitar’s neck and adjust the guitar’s action. Ever since then, I’ve been doing my own setups. However, even with that help I still didn’t have a full grasp of the basics of guitar setup. Enter the Fret MD: Electric Guitar and Bass Setup and Maintenance DVD.

Fret MD, which features luthier Al Malarsky, provides an outline for and illustrates the basics of guitar setup and maintenance. Malarsky lays out a five-step plan for maintaining your guitar. He also gives tips and tricks that he has learned through his years of guitar lutherie.

1) Neck adjustment
2) Nut adjustment
3) Action adjustment
4) Bridge adjustment
5) Pickup adjustment

For each step, Malarksy explains and illustrates the adjustment. He gives just enough detail for each step to teach you what you need to do to adjust the guitar. It would be easy to overwhelm the viewer with too much information, but Fret MD avoids that while still providing an excellent amount of information.

The DVD also features some extra features, such as how to clean a dirty fretboard and how to clean potentiometers. Additionally, Malarsky provides some bass-specific pointers for adjusting bass guitars.

Even though I knew a fair amount about guitar setup, I learned quite a bit from watching Fret MD. If you’re interested in learning how to set up your guitar, the Fret MD DVD is an excellent starting point.

You may not have heard of Tomo Fujita, but you’ve probably heard of at least one his students. John Mayer, while a student at Berklee College of Music, studied with Tomo.

Tomo is not only an accomplished teacher, he’s also an accomplished guitarist. He counts among his influences B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Larry Carlton, Jeff Beck, James Brown, and Ray Charles. Each of these influences is evident in Tomo’s playing, but Tomo merges each of these influences into his own style, which is probably best described as a mixture of blues, funk, jazz, and rock.

The 10 tracks on Tomo’s latest instrumental album, Right Place, Right Time, fuse all of his influences into a unique musical concoction. The album starts off with the uptempo track “Catty Woman,” which showcases Tomo’s strong melodic phrasing. “Confidence Cat 2,” the second track on the album, starts off clean and funky and Tomo’s slightly distorted guitar comes in for the solo. “Texas Heat” follows up true to its title, with a Texas blues feel to it. The next song, “Sweet Home,” slows things down a bit and highlights Tomo’s tasteful phrasing. “Funky Thang” is another funky tune, as its title suggests. “Orange Juice and Vodka” is my favorite track on the album. It’s got a funky, catchy riff that Tomo really shines over. “Gogo” highlights Tomo’s trademark slap guitar stylings, as well as a nice acoustic interlude. This track also features a horn section, which is an interesting addition to the track. The next tune has an interesting title: “Drive Me Nuts,” which is another uptempo song with a catchy riff. Tomo then puts his take on “Twinkle, Twinkle”. He really takes the melody of “Twinkle, Twinkle” and adds a great jazz feel to it. Finishing the album is “Just Funky 2006,” which is a funky, uptempo song with the horn section making a return.

I really enjoy Tomo’s guitar playing on Right Place, Right Time. Tomo’s a fantastic and tasteful guitarist, and this album really highlights those traits. If you’ve never heard of Tomo, this album is a good introduction to his music.

Tomo offers this album as part of a collection he calls the “Hot Set” which also includes several instructional and performance DVDs, his “Put on Your Funk Face” CD and enough instructional sheet music to keep you busy learning for a year. You can purchase the “Hot Set” directly from Tomo by emailing him at music -at- tomofujita -dot- com. Alternatively, you can purchase this album directly from retailers such as Amazon. If you enjoy good, and funky, guitar music, I think you’ll enjoy Tomo’s music.

Although it’s only March, it’s looking like 2009 is going to be a great year for Joe Bonamassa. It’s hard to believe, but this year, at age 31, he will celebrate his 20th year in the music business. In May, he’ll be performing a concert at the legendary Royal Albert Music Hall in London. He’s featured on the cover of the April 2009 Guitar Player magazine. And, he’s recently released a new studio album called The Ballad of John Henry.

With each successive release, Bonamassa’s albums get just a little tighter and a little more fully realized. The Ballad of John Henry continues that tradition. Like his earlier albums, this one has a mixture of covers and originals, with the originals being fueled by a breakup Bonamassa experienced last year.

I think that one of Bonamassa’s strengths is picking out cover songs that he can personalize and make his own. On this album, he’s chosen songs by Tom Waits, Tina Turner, Anthony Newley, and Tony Joe White. One of the most interesting covers on the album is Waits’ “Jockey Full of Bourbon,” which is somewhat of a departure for Bonamassa. “Stop!” is also a standout track and one of my favorites on the album.

The original songs are also very good. Bonamassa’s songwriting is continuing to evolve. As mentioned earlier, most of the original songs on this album have been fueled by a heartbreak that Bonamassa experienced last year. As a result, the songs are a mixture of happiness, sadness, and regret. In the past, I think Bonamassa’s songwriting has been overshadowed by his enormous guitar talent and great covers. However, I think his songwriting really takes (or at least shares) center stage on this album. I think the originals are the strongest tracks on the album.

Anyone who’s a fan of Bonamassa knows to expect great tones on his albums. And, The Ballad of John Henry is full of great guitar tones. From the baritone-fueled heavy riffs of the album’s opener to the Les Paul-infused tones that make up most of the rest of the album, The Ballad of John Henry is drenched in great guitar tones. His signature Les Paul model, along with a number of other guitars, were plugged into a mixture of Marshall and Fender amps to achieve the tones on the album. If you’re a fan of the guitar at all, you’ll love the tones on this album.

In my opinion, The Ballad of John Henry is easily one of the top albums to be released so far this year. Joe Bonamassa continues to get better with each album, and The Ballad of John Henry is one of his best studio albums. However, no matter how good his studio albums are, they don’t quite capture the full effect of seeing him perform. He is truly a monster guitar player. If he travels through your area, I highly recommend catching him on tour.

This past Tuesday night, Odair Assad played a solo concert performance at the Belmont Mansion. Odair is very well known in classical guitar circles as a member of the world famous Assad Duo. A solo performance from him is apparently fairly rare, so this was a real treat.

Whenever I see a classical guitar concert, an anecdote I heard a number of years ago comes to mind. Rougly 10 years ago, Manuel Barrueco recorded an album called Nylon and Steel, which features many collaborative performances with well-known guitarists such as Andy Summers, Al di Meola, and Steve Morse. During the sessions, I remember reading about the contrast between Barrueco’s gear, which consisted of a guitar, a case, and a footstool, and the wall of amps and guitars that Steve Morse used for the sessions. It wasn’t really a slight against Morse, but a comment about the different worlds that each guitarist lived in.

That anecdote came to mind because Odair Assad came out and had a presence about him the entire night, and all he had with him was a guitar. No band, no amps, no cabinets, no pedalboards, and no roadies. Just a man, a guitar, and some beautiful pieces of music written by Kevin Callahan, Odair’s brother Sergio Assad, and one of my favorite composers, Leo Brouwer.

The thing that struck me perhaps more than anything else during the concert was Odair’s ability to not just play the music, but feel the music while he was playing it. I’ve seen some classical guitarists who play almost woodenly; the notes are there, but they lack passion. Odair’s playing most certainly did not lack passion. After more than 40 years touring the world, it’s refreshing to see someone that still so obviously loves the guitar and the music he’s playing.

I feel fortunate to have been able to catch this performance. I highly recommend checking out Odair if he performs in your area.

Classical guitar blogger Christopher Davis was also at the show, and he has written a review of Odair’s performance.