File this under “I did not know that.” Derek Trucks is the great-nephew of  baseball pitcher Virgil Trucks, who pitched two no-hitters for the Detroit Tigers in the 1950s. Derek and his family are actually big baseball fans, and he even kept a Virgil Trucks baseball card on one of his guitars for years. MLB.com columnist Peter Gammons has written an article about a recent meeting between Derek and Virgil. It’s a pretty interesting read, so go check it out. Also, baseball season is right around the corner.

Last year, Tommy Emmanuel put on a clinic at Berklee. If you’ve never seen Emmanuel live, I highly recommend it. He puts on one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Here’s some footage from his Berklee clinic:

Josh Gooch is an 18-year-old blues guitarist based out of San Diego. Gooch regularly performs in the San Diego area with the Road Dogs. He recently recorded a gospel record with Bonnie Bramlett and was featured on Don’t Wake Albert (aff link) by Highly Kind.

Last November, he performed as one of the five finalists of the Guitar Center King of the Blues competition. Although he broke a string during his electric song, his performance was my favorite of the five finalists and I thought he should have won. Guitar Center recently put his performance online on their channel on YouTube:

I think Gooch has a very bright future ahead of him.

Early in his career, Joe Bonamassa recorded an instructional video for Hot Licks titled “Lead Guitar Unlimited.” The video is now out of print, but a promo for the video is available on YouTube. Even back then, Joe was already a phenomenal guitarist.

Tommy Emmanuel recently released an album with jazz guitarist Frank Vignola titled Just Between Frets. This album is volume 11 in the Groovemaster series, which has featured many other excellent guitarists including Phil Keaggy, Laurence Juber, Preston Reed, and John Jorgenson. This collaboration between Emmanuel and Vignola pairs Emmanuel’s inimitable acoustic guitar style with Vignola’s jazz guitar style, which yields a very pleasing result. In the duo format, Emmanuel seems to be able to stretch out a little bit more than he might usually do in a solo environment.

The track listing for the album is:

01 – Tenderly (3:53)
02 – Clouds/Nuages (4:57)
03 – How High the Moon (4:23)
04 – I’ve Got a Crush on You* (1:00)
05 – Young at Heart* (3:23)
06 – Swing 39/Swing 42 (6:18)
07 – Sweet Dreams (3:33)
08 – Paper Moon (5:36)
09 – Django’s Castle (4:20)
10 – Swing 09 (3:29)
11 – NatureBoy (4:31)
12 – Just Us 4 All (7:34)

Here’s a video of Emmanuel playing with Vignola:

Gibson recently introduced the Keb’ Mo’ signature Bluesmaster acoustic guitar. The guitar is loosely based on Keb’s Epiphone Bluesmaster, which was a popular parlor-sized guitar that Gibson discontinued about 10 years ago. The Keb Mo’ Bluesmaster features a spruce top, mahogany back and sides, and a bound, rosewood fingerboard. It is available in a natural or sunburst finish. Gibson has recently posted a video of Keb’ Mo’ discussing the guitar.

As a fan of both parlor-sized guitars and Keb’ Mo’, I’m glad to see Gibson come out with this model. However, I’d also like to see them reintroduce the Epiphone Bluesmaster.

The January 2010 issue of Mix magazine features an article about the making of Joe Bonamassa’s upcoming album Black Rock, which will be released on March 9, 2010. The article discusses how Bonamassa came to record the album in Greece at Black Rock Studios, which is where the title of the album comes from. The article also talks about how producer Kevin Shirley pushes Bonamassa out of his comfort zone. For example, during the recording process, Shirley put aside the Les Pauls that Bonamassa typically favors and just recorded Joe playing a Telecaster directly into an amplifier with no effects in between. I hope some of these recordings end up on the final album! Shirley also recorded Joe playing with some Greek musicians, which he says helped introduce some new elements to Bonamassa’s music. They liked recording the album at Black Rock so much that they’re playing on returning to record their next album there. Read the full article online here.

Local Nashville band Throwing Gravity, who were formerly known as The Rust, had quite a 2009. They played their first live show, they embarked on their first US tour, and they signed with a major label. They are now in the studio recording their album, which is set to be released in the middle of 2010. It’s being produced by Jon King and Josh Abraham; King produced their first album, and Abraham has worked with Rev Theory and Velvet Revolver.

We had a chance to see them play on Saturday night, and they’ve really solidified as a band since we first saw them in June. The founding members of the band are sons of some friends of ours, and it’s been really exciting to get somewhat of an insider’s perspective on their growth as a band. They’ve worked really hard over the past year or so, and they deserve all the attention they’ve been getting. I can’t wait to see what 2010 has in store for Throwing Gravity.

Last month, Billboard.com featured a nice Q&A session with non-stop guitarist Warren Haynes. In the interview, he discusses recording the new Gov’t Mule album and touring with Mule, the Allman Brothers, and the Dead:

We did a few Mule shows prior to the Beacon with the Allman Brothers (in March), and that started out a busy year. We went straight from the Beacon to Dead rehearsals, and then bounced back and forth all year between the three bands. I just feel like the opportunities I have now are amazing. They’re opportunities that I’d never turn down. So if that means I’m busier than I thought I would be, or away from home more than I wish, that’s just part of it. I have the best job in the world, so it would be ridiculous for me to complain about the few negatives that go along with it.

Landslide Records is going to be releasing a Sean Costello retrospective album on September 29. Unfortunately, I didn’t get into Sean Costello’s music until after he passed away tragically last year, so I never had a chance to see him play live. Sean’s early albums were released by Landslide Records, and they are assembling some of the best studio recordings as well as a bunch of unreleased live and studio tracks for this new release. If you’ve never heard Costello’s music, the new record would be a good place to start. I’m really looking forward to the release of the new album, which features the following track list:

1. Take Me Back (Sean Costello) Semco Publishing, BMI 2:21
2. Sail On (John Lee Williamson) Duchess Music/Wabash Music, BMI 4:02
3. Call The Cops (Sean Costello) Semco Publishing, BMI 1:45
4. Lovin’ Machine (O. Merrill/D. Lambert) Rockaway Music, BMI 3:42
5. The Plumber (Paul Linden) Nitelatch Music, BMI
6. Tell Me Baby (Traditional, Arrangement – Sean Costello) 3:07
7. Big Beaver (Bob Wills) Bourne Company, ASCAP 2:49
8. Mellow Chick Swing (John Lee Williamson) Wabash Music, BMI 2:05
9. Walking Blues (Robert Johnson) 3:36
10. Double Trouble (Otis Rush) Conrad Music, BMI 7:31
11. Who’s Been Cheatin’ Who (Sean Costello/Eddie Cleveland) Frozen Inca Music, BMI 2:45
12. All Your Love (I Miss Loving)* (Otis Rush) Conrad Music, BMI 5:35
13. Mojo Boogie (J.B. Lenoir) Conrad Music/Ghana Music, BMI 5:28
14. Motor Head Baby (Mario DeLagarde/John Watson) Ft. Knox/Jowat/Trio Music, BMI 4:37
15. Don’t Be Reckless With My Heart (Sean Costello) Nitelatch Music, BMI 3:07
16. Your Love Is Amazing (Robert Ward) Bug Music/Obo Threptos Music, BMI 3:58
17. I t Takes Time (Otis Rush) Arc Music, BMI 3:30
18. You Don’t Know What Love Is (Fenton Robinson) Eyeball Music, BMI 4:52
19. Feel Like I Ain’t Got A Home (Sean Costello/Paul Linden) Nitelatch Music/Funky Dumplin Music/Funny Bone Music, BMI 2:59
20. She Changed My Mind (Sean Costello/Paul Linden) Nitelatch Music/Funky Dumplin Music/Funny Bone Music, BMI 4:02