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The Latest Breaking News from Guitar Player

“The importance of one clear voice playing the melodies and solos are things we take seriously”: Joe Satriani reveals how Satch/Vai’s onstage chemistry works – and why sometimes some songs are best left to Steve Vai

Satch says playing with Steve Vai is an opportunity to expand each other's material, but says maintaining one clear voice for melodies and solos is key

Guitar World

“Derringer's legacy extends beyond his music, entertaining fans with his signature energy and talent”: All American guitar legend Rick Derringer dies, aged 77

He scored a number one hit when he was still a teenager, played with Johnny and Edgar Winter, Steely Dan, KISS, and more. He wrote Hulk Hogan's anthem. Derringer's life was extraordinary

MusicRadar

“This song depicts all of the things Joe and I loved about pounding rock ‘n’ roll and the glorious guitar”: The SatchVai Band's second single is an ode to the instrument that made them famous – and it features Glenn Hughes on vocals

Guitar World and Guitar Player have an exclusive premiere of the '70s-flavored track, which arrives a month and change ahead of the band's first tour

Guitar World

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"There had to be some sort of telepathy going on because I've never seen spontaneous inspiration happen at that level”: The genius of Eric Clapton's controversial masterpiece, Layla

MusicRadar

“I heard the Money solo and thought, ‘This is amazing!’ So I sent David a telegram saying, ‘Remember me? I'm in a band now called Roxy Music’”: Phil Manzanera on his friendship with David Gilmour, and the key to the Pink Floyd man's unmistakable tone

The two guitarists have worked on several records together, giving Manzanera the inside baseball of the tricks behind Gilmour's iconic guitar tone

Guitar World

“I met Joe when he was 12. He picked up a vintage guitar in one store and they told him to leave. But someone said, ‘This guy called Norm will let you play his stuff’”: The unlikely rise of Norman’s Rare Guitars and the birth of the vintage guitar market

Just in time for a new Netflix doc, GW sits down with Norman Harris – owner of Tarzana, California’s iconic Norman’s Rare Guitars – to discuss 50 years of sales, his kinship with Joe Bonamassa, and what the future holds for the guitar institution

Guitar World

Celebrated jazz guitarist George Freeman, best known for his work with Charlie Parker and Gene Ammons, has died aged 97

Freeman was a staple of Chicago's jazz music scene – and played with contemporaries including Gene Ammons and Groove Holmes

Guitar World

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Was this teenage prodigy the world’s first electric guitar player?

The instrument that defined rock had to start somewhere - and all evidence points towards George Barnes

MusicRadar

“A lot of old-school guitar players can play amazing. But sometimes they’re not so innovative with the actual sound”: Steven Wilson on why guitarists need to switch up their tones to prevent their solos sounding stale

Alongside guitarist Randy McStine, the musical polymath took a tone-first approach to composing – and playing – solos on his new album, The Overview

Guitar World

“The big lesson... don't be afraid to be simple and awesome... Who cares if it has four or 40,000 notes in it?”: Tom Morello pays his respects to Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads and more in advance of this summer’s big Black Sabbath supergig

And as the event’s musical director and a Sabbath superfan, Morello proves perfectly placed to tease a few behind-the-scenes secrets…

MusicRadar

“I take the job of curating this very seriously. Not just to honor the living members of Black Sabbath but also Randy Rhoads”: Tom Morello is honoring one of Ozzy Osbourne’s greatest collaborators at the Sabbath legend’s final show

Osbourne’s last show will take place later this year, and Morello – the event’s musical director – will take the opportunity to pay tribute to one of the finest guitar players of all time

Guitar World

“I turned up at George Martin’s office with a diabolically bad demo – but he could see there was something there”: How Jeff Beck’s Blow by Blow triumphed against the odds to change instrumental guitar forever

50 years on, Blow by Blow remains an inspirational force – a turning point for Beck and guitar-led music in general

Guitar World

“The solo he takes on that is one of the most perfectly crafted guitar solos ever. He's one of those players you can recognize right away. It's that distinct”: Grace Bowers names her favorite guitar player of all time

Bowers praises this icon's smooth phrasing and tone, which have captured the imagination of many of his successors

Guitar World

“Guitar World was putting together this CD... I thought, ‘Guitar players are gonna try to play the most mind-blowing shredding’… So I did an acoustic piece in DADGAD”: The Cars' Elliot Easton considers this lost gem to be one of his best performances

Walk On Walden stood out in comparison to Easton's previous work with the Cars, and especially in the context of the compilation in question. Not that this was an accident

Guitar World

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“It was very simplistic compared to my later compositions”: It may have been inspired by the Kinks, but Al Di Meola's Race with Devil on Spanish Highway is one of the great virtuoso displays in guitar history. Watch the maestro play it with Steve Vai

This intimate rehearsal clip shows the fretwork of both guitar legends up-close

Guitar World

“When we were little kids our dad would say, ‘Get your guitars and play for our guests.’ Someone would always say, ‘Maybe someday you can make a record together’”: Jimmie Vaughan on the only album he and Stevie Ray Vaughan ever made together

In 1990, the Vaughan brothers linked up in the studio to record Family Style, which was released weeks after SRV died

Guitar World

“It was just the best amp that I’d ever had in my collection. And it was so roadworthy. It did all those Led Zeppelin tours, and all the recordings”: Jimmy Page reveals his favorite amp, which did “flippin’ everything” throughout his career

Page’s affinity for his modded Marshall head stood the test of time – so much so that his boutique Sundragon amps are inspired by its unique tone

Guitar World

“When Guitar Player made its debut in 1967, it marked a new era for guitar”: Guitar Player magazine to cease print publication

The world's oldest continuously published magazine devoted to guitarists, guitar gear, and instruction, Guitar Player was instrumental to the careers of Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, and Yngwie Malmsteen, to name just a few examples

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Louder

“Grunge? I don’t know too many things where people are praised for having less skill”: The blazing story of Shrapnel Records, the 80s label that gave shred to the world

How guitar shredders Yngwie Malmsteen, Racer X, Cacophony and Richie Kotzen turned Shrapnel Records into the fastest label of the 80s

Guitar World

“As a player, I like to get down on my knees, turn delay knobs and make a bunch of noise. That does not work for Guns N’ Roses”: Dave Navarro on the time he turned down joining Guns N’ Roses

After Jane's Addiction split in the early 1990s, Navarro's six-string services were on the market. At the same time, GNR were also looking for a replacement for the outgoing Izzy Stradlin

Guitar World

“Fingerpicking came from not having an amplifier. After dad forked out for the guitar, I didn't have the nerve to ask him for one”: Mark Knopfler says the lack of a guitar amp growing up helped him develop his now-iconic fingerpicking style

Sensitivity to his family’s finances – as well as an exchange involving his sister and a tennis racket – helped Knopfler on the way to crafting his legendary approach to the guitar

Guitar World

“There isn’t much guitar at all for the first three tracks. Nobody gave me the memo about what a record should sound like”: How Steve Vai revolutionized guitar with his debut album, Flex-Able

Flex-Able was the sound of a young Steve Vai following his musical obsessions. That it changed everything for guitar – and Vai's career – was just a happy accident

Guitar World

“That was the biggest regret. I booked the helicopter, and I stopped at Richie Friedman’s We Buy Guitars and sold it”: Ace Frehley sold his 1959 Gibson Les Paul to fund a gambling trip

The former Kiss guitarist bought the guitar for $4,000 and sold it for $18,000 – but in today's market, it's estimated to be worth $350,000

Guitar World

“Dickey was larger than life, and his loss will be felt worldwide”: Dickey Betts, legendary co-founding guitarist of the Allman Brothers Band, has died aged 80

Betts developed one of the most distinct and influential guitar styles in the history of rock

MusicRadar

“If you’re okay with what’s going on, the audience is too; and if you’re not okay with it, then they’re not”: Julian Lage shares some essential advice for solo guitarists

Don't be afraid to take a beat and tune up if you've got to. Do remember to try and enjoy the show. In a recent interview, Lage reveals what he learned from playing with Leo Kottke

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