Joe Coffey — Editorial Director
What am I listening to?
Brad Paisley,
This is
Country Music. Paisley is
a chickin-pickin’ monster.
The balance of this incredibly strong
album favors older country over the Nash
Vegas thing. If Brad can’t win you with this
album, it’s just not gonna happen.
What song epitomizes my tonal approach?
Zeppelin’s “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.” Is
there a better song to model your tone after?
Love the rich acoustic tones. Love the bangin’
rhythm tone. Love the naked lead tone.
Andy Ellis — Senior Editor
What am I listening to?
Mark Knopfler and
Emmylou Harris,
All
the Roadrunning. The
third voice in this magical trio is Knopfler’s
plangent guitar.
What song epitomizes my tonal approach?
For soloing, Bloomfield’s squalling Les
Paul on “Finale-Refugee” from
The Live
Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al
Kooper. For everything else, “Three Feet
Under” from
Loud & Lonesome by Eric
Ambel & Roscoe’s Gang.
Shawn Hammond — Editor in Chief
What am I listening to?
The London Souls’
The
London Souls and the
Features’
Wilderness.
Two rockin’ albums with soul and swagger.
What song epitomizes my tonal approach?
Tone is only “good” if it suits the context.
But I love Vernon Reid’s tone on “What’s
Your Favorite Color,” Jonny Greenwood’s
and Ed Obrien’s on Radiohead’s “2+2=5,”
Junior Brown’s on “Guitar Man,” and Cody
Votolato’s on the Blood Brother’s “We Ride
Skeletal Lightning.”
Seth Hansen — Multimedia Coordinator
What am I listening to?
Noah’s Ark Was a
Spaceship,
Hanga-Fang.
I picked this album up
at one of their shows a couple of months
ago, and it’s been in constant rotation since.
An unhealthy marriage of harmony, dissonance,
crushing fuzz, and alternate-tuned
jangle pop gyrating under the sheets of
some incredibly well-written songs.
What song epitomizes my tonal approach?
“Old Skin” by Young Widows—specifically
the bass. Those opening notes are just so
hard-hitting and nasty.
Chris Kies — Associate Editor
What am I listening to?
Hank Williams,
Memorial Album. It has
my favorite Jerry Rivers
double-stop fiddle playing on “Hey, Good
Lookin’” and steel guitarist Don Helms’
signature piercing howl on “Your Cheatin’
Heart,” while the Lonesome Cowboy shows
why he’s the greatest country singer ever.
What song epitomizes my tonal approach?
Currently, it’s Jerry Cantrell on “Love,
Hate, Love” (from
Facelift) or Luther
Perkins on “Hey, Porter” (from
The
Complete Sun Singles).
Rich Osweiler — Associate Editor
What am I listening to?
Thurston Moore,
Demolished Thoughts.
Produced by Beck, it
features swooning violin and harp tracks to
back his dark acoustic and vocal work.
What song epitomizes my tonal approach?
I believe the guitar solo in “Hopscotch
Willie” from the Jicks’
Real Emotional Trash
to be the finest of the past five years. I go
back to it often. Stephen Malkmus keeps it
very simple but spot-on, with thick, aggressive
tube tone amplifying his furious
Jazzmaster work.
Chris Broderick (Megadeth) — Guest Picker
What am I listening to?
Periphery. Their music
is rhythmically complex,
heavy, melodic, and
still has hooks. Also, Coltrane’s
Giant Steps
for it’s harmonic complexity, melody, and
breathy sax tone.
What song epitomizes my tonal approach?
I haven’t captured it yet. I’m still looking
at the great tones I grew up with and pulling
from them: Yngwie’s neck tones, Eric
Johnson’s cleans, George Lynch’s bridge lead
tones, and Dino Cazares’ rhythm tone.
Charles Saufley — Gear Editor
What am I listening to?
Shocking Blue,
The
Shocking Blue. All-killer,
no-filler ’68 debut from
The Hague’s psych-beat
geniuses. Robbie Van Leeuwen and Mariska
Veres are the Dutch Jorma and Grace.
What song epitomizes my tonal approach?
The Electric Prunes’ “I Had Too Much to
Dream (Last Night),” the Who’s
The Who
Sings My Generation and
Live at Leeds LPs,
and anything by the Byrds between ’65 and
’68 is sweet as morning dew.
Jason Shadrick — Associate Editor
What am I listening to?
Mike Moreno,
First
in Mind. On his second
album as a leader,
Moreno guides a quartet
through a collection of originals and standards.
His improvisations are laser-sharp
with hints of Martino and Metheny.
What song epitomizes my tonal approach?
The intro solo to Eric Clapton’s “Someday
After a While” on
From the Cradle. I can
honestly say that the first bend after the
intro phrase made me want to play guitar.