
Premier Guitar braves record-breaking temperatures to take you inside the year’s hottest blues gathering—Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival.
Top: Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck. Bottom: Derek Trucks, Ronnie Wood, John Mayer
“I don’t know how you feel, but I feel like I’m in heaven.”
That’s not a quote from any of the 30,000+ people enduring sweltering heat for the June 26 Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago. That’s blues legend Buddy Guy in the midst of a lively set with Jonny Lang and surprise guest Ron Wood.
Judging by the ensuing uproar from the crowd, the feeling was mutual.
But Guy’s take on the situation wasn’t just talk. When he, Wood, and Lang wrapped up their set—which included an instrumental cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You”—they took their bows and walked offstage laughing and with their arms around each other. Between the crowd and performers, you couldn’t tell who was having more fun.
And that’s just one of the many snapshots that prove Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival is an extraordinary event.
The word “crossroads” can have many meanings—from simple and straightforward to metaphorical—depending on context. When American blues lore and a gathering of the genre’s living masters are part of the narrative, it gets pretty compelling. Add in the fact that the rendezvous of greats was organized to raise money for the Crossroads Centre—a rehab facility Eric Clapton started on the island of Antigua to help people at perhaps the most pivotal crossroads of their lives—and it just takes the whole experience up a notch.
Left: Fingerstylist Stefan Grossman (right) shows
Eric Clapton his 1920 Grand Concert Stella acoustic in the
air-conditioned Fender Artists Tent backstage. Photo by Jo Ayres Right: Derek Trucks with his Maestro-equipped SG and Warren Haynes
with his trusty Les Paul. |
Held at Toyota Park in the Chicago suburbs on one of the hottest weekends of the summer, this year’s Crossroads festival—the third one since the benefit got off the ground in 2004—brought together 25 guitarists for one of the largest and most exciting live guitar extravaganzas around. Crack-up comedian Bill Murray reprised his role as host this year, and in addition to Guy, Wood, and Lang, Crossroads featured repeat performances by Jeff Beck, B.B. King, John Mayer, Vince Gill, Robert Cray, Warren Haynes, Robert Randolph, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, James Burton, Steve Winwood, Doyle Bramhall II, Sheryl Crow, Sonny Landreth, Albert Lee, Los Lobos’ César Rosas and David Hidalgo, ZZ Top, Hubert Sumlin, Johnny Winter, Jimmie Vaughan, and of course Mr. Clapton himself. Other performers included Bert Jansch, Earl Klugh, Gary Clark Jr., Keb’ Mo’, Joe Bonamassa, Stefan Grossman, and Citizen Cope.
Throughout the 12-hour show full of blistering blues, the sold-out crowd was treated to set after set of energetic, generation-spanning collaborations. Over the next 11 pages, we take you to Toyota Park with photos and a detailed timeline of performers and songs, and go backstage with some of the show’s performers and techs to show you what it’s like behind the scenes.
Crossroads 2010
• Backstage accounts from the Crossroads artists
• Play Crossroads winner Ryan McGarvey
• How the stage was put together
• 13 performance and gear shots
• Timeline of events
Left: Citizen Cope
(right) plays his song “Hands of the Saints” during Eric Clapton’s set. Right: Eric Clapton’s famous Blackie (the real deal) was on display with his Cream-era Gibson ES-335 and
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Lenny (both not pictured) in a temperature- and humidity-controlled booth in the Guitar Center Village. |
One Big Family
Talking with the performers, a common theme kept appearing: As Derek Trucks put it, “It feels like a really surreal family reunion.” The fun, celebratory vibe woven through each set had its roots backstage, where old friends were catching up and new friends were being made.
“It was great. You walk 10 feet, see someone you haven’t seen in a while, and give them a big hug,” explains Warren Haynes, who shared his set with Trucks. “Then you walk 20 more feet and introduce yourself to someone you’ve never met but that you’ve wanted to meet for a long time. It was kind of like that all day long.”
Jonny Lang, whose set with Guy and Wood set the gold standard for the vibe, agrees.
“It was a no-pressure situation for everybody that performed that day. Even for the guys that were on tour, it was like a day off to hang with their buddies, have some fun, and make some music.”
The relaxed atmosphere can be attributed to the man behind the festival, the man a generation of guitar freaks used to call “God”: Eric Clapton. Slowhand kicked off the day jamming with emcee Bill Murray on the Buddy Holly track “Not Fade Away” for a small crowd of early arrivers. It was clear that Clapton keeps it casual, appearing onstage in white shorts and orange sneakers for a surprise sit-in with Doyle Bramhall II, Sheryl Crow, and Gary Clark Jr. Clapton’s attitude also extended to the diverse set of artists he brought together for the show.
Trucks sums it up: “It’s one of the few places where everybody shows up and just checks their ego and all of the baggage at the door. There are not too many people who could pull that off. Eric is in a really unique spot where his elders respect him and the younger generation respects him—it’s a really great thing.”
A Gathering of Generations
All day long, the cross-generational nature of the show was at the forefront: Onstage, you had pairings like Citizen Cope and Eric Clapton or Keb’ Mo’ and Albert Lee, and in the audience there were many families with their children and teenagers. The presence of legends like Sumlin, Honeyboy Edwards, King, Winter, and Guy was appreciated both onstage (where, for some, their presence was more important than their playing) and off.
“After our set, we went back to the dressing room and sat down with Hubert Sumlin and Johnny Winter for a while and just listened to those guys tell stories and just hang. It was pretty special,” says Trucks. “Sitting on the bus with B.B. King and my 8-year-old son, and watching those two interact—those are things you don’t forget.”
For the youngest of the younger generation of performers, 26-year-old Gary Clark Jr., being one of the new guys was an experience in itself. “Being so new to this whole thing and not knowing a lot of these cats, I was really nervous on soundcheck day, because I was worried how I’d be received and how they’d act around me. But by Saturday night I felt welcomed and a sense of belonging,” Clark explains. He also had the privilege of playing with Clapton. “I never knew that Mr. Eric Clapton was going to get up onstage with us during our set. I was just playing, and then there he was—that threw me for a loop.”
Jonny Lang, who played the first Crossroads in 2004 at age 23, said, “Our goal for the set was to fly by the seat of our pants and just have as much fun as possible. Playing with Buddy and Ronnie, I was just on cloud nine the whole time. Musically, I don’t remember much of what happened—we got onstage and, before I knew it, the whole thing was over [laughs].”
Amidst the old friends, younger players like Lang and Clark found common ground. “Jonny was really complimentary of what I’ve been doing, and I’ve looked up to him because he’s just a little bit older than me,” Clark says. “We just have this mutual respect thing going on.”
Meanwhile, another new friendship was being forged between Vince Gill, who has played all three Crossroads events, and Joe Bonamassa, who made his first Crossroads appearance this year. “I had no idea he was so young, I really think the world of him,” Gill says. The two hit it off and even discussed Gill lending his guitar and vocal talents to a future Bonamassa project. It wouldn’t be the first collaboration Gill has done with Crossroads colleagues. He worked with Sonny Landreth on his latest album, and sat in with Clapton when he played in Nashville this year.
Left: Sheryl Crow, Derek Trucks, and Doyle Bramhall II get in some last-minute practice in one of the air-conditioned green rooms before their sets. Photo by Kevin Mazur. Right: Eric Clapton (with a signature Strat in Ferrari grigio silverstone) and Jeff Beck (playing a blackguard Tele he promptly—and haphazardly—tossed offstage after the song) have a blast during their “Shake Your Money Maker” duet. |
Players. Friends. Fans.
Of course, despite the close friendships and professional connections, there was plenty of good-old-fashioned music appreciation happening backstage, too. Performers could watch each other from the side of the stage, on an elevated area that overlooked the stage, or on a huge television screen in the air-conditioned Fender artists’ tent. “The way everybody has learned to play the instrument is really quite remarkable,” says Gill, “I listened to almost everybody. Sonny Landreth destroys me, Joe Bonamassa kills me, Derek Trucks kills me. Then you go and throw in Jeff Beck and Eric and Buddy Guy! And James Burton and Albert Lee are probably the reason I wanted to play a Telecaster. It’s a heady day.”
Everyone we talked to had their prized highlights. One of Haynes’ was watching Winwood accompany Clapton for much of his 90-minute set. “He’s one of my favorites,” Haynes says.
For Burton, the fun-filled Guy-Wood-Lang set stood out. “It was great seeing my buddy Ronnie Wood. He and Buddy were just having a blast out there onstage—and I love seeing my buddies out there enjoying themselves.”
But, predictably, Beck stole the show for much of the audience—including the performers. “The one thing I won’t soon forget was Jeff Beck’s performance. It was far and beyond the best I’ve ever seen him,” says Lang. Clark and Haynes both cited Beck’s performance as one of the highlights of their day as well. “He tripped me out!” says Clark.
For one of the originally scheduled bands, however, watching performances was out of the question. This year’s Crossroads lineup was supposed to include a performance by the Allman Brothers Band, but Gregg Allman ended up getting his chance for liver transplant surgery on June 23, just three days before the festival. Band members Trucks, Haynes, and Oteil Burbridge (bass) put together a last-minute set with the Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band backing them. The group set up in a rehearsal room, patching together their set while the acts before them performed.
Trucks and Tedeschi’s band lineup was fairly new—Trucks says Crossroads was maybe their 8th show—and getting them all to Chicago wasn’t easy. “Not everybody had that time off,” Trucks explains. “One of our drummers was in Montreal and had a gig that night, so he couldn’t make it. The other one was playing in Ottawa and we somehow got the group he was playing with to let him off the hook. He flew in the morning of the show. We had never used one of the background singers and had never played with one of the drummers—it was very seat-of-the-pants. Between trying to work in all the guests and trying to figure out a day or two before the show which tunes to work up, it was total mayhem. But it was fun!”
Fortunately, the chaotic energy translated into success. “On paper, it didn’t make any sense [laughs], but sometimes you just know that things are meant to be,” says Trucks. “There was so much stress and energy going into it that the first two or three songs were a nice release—it felt really good. That was one of the highlights for me, just the fact that, once we started, all of that weight just melted away.”
Left: Steve Winwood played a sunburst Fender Strat. Right: Five of the 22 guitarists onstage for the Crossroads finale: (left to right) Derek Trucks, Pino Daniele, Warren Haynes, James Burton, and Jimmie Vaughan. |
Gear, Gear, and More Gear
In addition to playing a whole new set with new personnel, Trucks and Tedeschi’s band was playing with slightly different gear. Tedeschi and husband Trucks normally play Fender Super Reverbs, but they used the Allman Brothers Band’s backline, which included a PRS Dallas head and cabinet. Armed with his red Gibson SG, Trucks sounded killer, and Haynes sounded great plugging his two Les Pauls into a Diaz CD-100 and a Soldano SLO-100.
Some performers brought their own rigs, while others brought a guitar and plugged into the backline. Most everybody kept it simple. Gill ran his ’53 Tele into two ’65 blackface Fender Deluxe Reverbs. Burton played his famous black-and-red-flamed Tele, and Albert Lee used his Ernie Ball Music Man signature guitar with Seymour Duncan single-coils, both through the backline Fender ’65 Twin Reverb reissues. “That’s all you really need,” Burton remarked.
Lang brought his own Fender Deluxe Reverb, while Clark was hooked up with a Fender Vibro-King—an amp he had been craving for years. In fact, Fender amps were the standard for the day, with Beck (he used two Pro Juniors in addition to a Marshall JCM 2000 powering two Marshall 4x12s), Clapton (’57 Twin-Amp reissue), Wood (Vibro-King), and Winwood (Super-Sonic 60) using them as their amps of choice.
John Mayer ran a two-amp setup consisting of his Dumble Steel String Singer and Two-Rock John Mayer signature head. His pedals included an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, a Klon Centaur, an MXR Carbon Copy, and a Keeley Katana. Sonny Landreth also used a Dumble—a brown Overdrive Special—during his high-energy opening set on the main stage and during his Ernie Ball Stage clinic.
Buddy Guy, who played through a Chicago Blues Box Roadhouse head, was calm and collected when he broke a string on his cream Strat. He playfully inserted improvised lyrics about it into the song and Wood pretended to take off his guitar for the elder statesman while they waited for a tech to bring Guy his iconic polka-dot Strat.
For the finale, 22 guitarists piled onstage to play “Sweet Home Chicago” through a wall of amps. “It was this huge array of 2x12 combos,” said Haynes, “and everyone just picked one and plugged in.”
Left: Sonny Landreth plays a custom Fender Strat equipped with a Tele bridge through Dumble Overdrive Special and Fender Twin amps for his Ernie Ball Stage clinic. Right: César Rosas (left) and David Hidalgo (right) step in with the Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band to fill in for the previously scheduled Allman Brothers Band. The duo had played the House of Blues V.I.P. party the previous night. |
A Little Rehab for Everyone
Toward the end of Clapton’s set, the bluesman confided, “This was supposed to be the last one, but somehow I don’t think it will be.” It may have been the sweetest thing everyone there heard all day. And with so much amazing music permeating the air, it was easy to forget that it was all for a nobler cause. A raffle for guitars and other goods in the Guitar Center Village area outside the stage raised more than $15,000 for the Crossroads Centre charity, and merchandise and DVD profits will also be donated to the treatment facility.
But it’s probably safe to say that the concert was therapeutic for many, many more people than those who will be treated at the world-class center on Antigua. Because, at the end of the day, the vibe and experience was what it was all about— for the performers and the audience. Together, 30,000 fans and 20-something guitarists endured blazing heat—which sent more than a few attendees to the medical tent—to bask in the healing glow of great music, to establish and nurture meaningful relationships, and to witness once-in-a-lifetime performances.
Hit page 4 for an interview with Play Crossroads winner Ryan McGarvey about his experience at the festival...
Once in a Lifetime
Ryan McGarvey comes from behind to win the Ernie Ball Play Crossroads contest
Onstage, McGarvey tore up and down the fretboard of an Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci BFR-6 guitar, and it was clear he made some new fans. Afterward, he talked with a small crowd that had gathered to find out more about the tall 23-year-old who bears a slight resemblance to his friend Joe Bonamassa.
When we got a moment with McGarvey, we found that he’s a big blues fan and a total gear nut.
You’re playing Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival at age 23. How’s that feel?
It’s everything to me. The exposure and promotion that’s gone along with this has been great, but for me it’s really about just knowing I got to do something like that.
What’s the whole experience been like so far?
We’ve just been getting pumped to come out here, and it kept getting better and better. We went to the House of Blues [VIP party] last night and got to meet a ton of people there, and we sat in with Los Lobos. We’ve been anxious to play all day today, but I think we were mostly nervous about making sure our equipment worked. But we’re super thrilled to be here—we couldn’t be happier about it.
Did you prepare like crazy?
[Laughs.] We actually didn’t get to until this week! We mostly worked on narrowing our set. We’re used to really long bar sets, so cutting it down to 20 or 35 minutes of music was a big stretch. We tried to pick a good array that would show off different things and not be too repetitive.
Your bassist and drummer looked like they were having the time of their lives. How long have you been together?
These guys have been with me about eight or nine months. I went to high school with Sam [Miller, bass]—he was actually one of the first people I ever played with—and I met August [Johnson, drums] through Sam. We’re a brand-new band, really, but it’s been working really great.
What were some of your influences growing up?
I grew up listening to classic hard rock, then I fell into a pure blues stage— nothing but real blues, like Honeyboy Edwards. Real-deal stuff. I branched out from that and opened my head to more contemporary blues-rock guitarists like Ian Moore, Chris Duarte, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Joe Bonamassa. I try to take a little bit from everything I listen to.
Tell us about your gear—you were playing the Music Man Petrucci guitar and a Les Paul onstage.
The Petrucci surprised me. My other guitars have much thicker necks, and my [Ernie Ball Music Man] Reflex was more comfortable off the bat because it’s like a cross between a Les Paul and a Tele. But when I tried the Petrucci it just blew me away how crystal clear it could get things. That’s what it’s all about for me, being clear and minimal if I can. The Les Paul is a 2000 ’59 Historic. I looked for a year and a half for that guitar in every single online posting I could find. I was looking for the specific color, the right amount of flame. I was going to do whatever it took to get one! I finally found that one and it’s just perfect. It’s about 8 pounds and 4 ounces, and it’s a great-sounding guitar.
What about amps?
I have a ’66 Super Reverb with four Eminence Ragin’ Cajun speakers, and a ’67 Deluxe that I use as a very clean head through a Marshall AVT 4x12 cab. It’s kind of surprising, but it’s an amazing match. Sometimes I switch out the Deluxe with a Ceriatone Overtone Special, which is a handmade Dumble clone.
You like to keep it minimal, but you have quite the pedalboard.
My board looks like a mother ship, but I use everything very sparingly. I use a Teese Real McCoy wah, a Boss tuner, a Dunlop Uni-Vibe, a Fulltone Full-Drive 2, an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer that was converted to an 808 by Analog Mike, an ISP Decimator pedal for clubs where I can’t get rid of that single-coil noise, a TC Electronic Stereo Chorus+, a Boss DD-2 Digital Delay, a Roger Mayer Crossroads Signal Director, and a Way Huge Pork Loin. That list makes it sound like it goes on forever, but I’m usually just playing a Les Paul and the Full- Drive, maybe some delay. I try to get the amp really clean and use my pedals to overdrive it. It’s just more reliable.
So what’s next for you?
We have a couple of festivals in New Mexico, and we’re playing the Mile High Blues Festival in August. We’re talking with a booking agent and have some even better things in the works!
ryanmcgarvey.com
Hit page 5 for an explanation of Crossroads' unique turntable-style stage and how it was all put together...
The Magical Merry-Go-Round
How Crossroads pulled off 17 lineup switches at five minutes apiece.
Left: Bill Murray pretends to hold the turntable back as new gear is rotated to the front. Right: The festival’s country crew—(left to right) Keb’ Mo’, an unidentified rhythm guitarist, Vince Gill, James Burton, Albert Lee, and Earl Klugh—stirs up the crowd with “Mystery Train.” |
“It’s like launching an aircraft from an aircraft carrier all day long,” says John Huddleston, general manager of Lighting Services for Upstaging Inc., about what it took to pull off so many Crossroads Festival performances in 12 hours. “It’s loud, there’s a lot of hand gestures and head nods, and everyone knows what they’re supposed to do the second they’re supposed do it.” The Upstaging crew had to be on their toes and know each and every move to get 16 sets and a huge grand finale finished before the crowd cried “uncle” on a sizzling summer day.
“We had to creatively figure out how one act could be playing while we prepared and set another act,” says Huddleston. “There really is no other option within these circumstances.”
Essentially, everything is set up on a 55-foot turntable stage. An eight-foot wall runs down the center, dividing the circular stage into A and B sections, and a large motor under the stage turns it a half-turn after every set. When artists are performing on one side, controlled chaos ensues on the other. Some things—like fully assembled drum kits, pianos, and keyboards on rolling risers—are completely set and ready to be wheeled up to mapped-out positions on the stage. Individual techs are busy tuning guitars, dialing-in amp settings, and prepping pedalboards while the Upstaging crew is checking cable patches, input levels, and frequency and channel compatibility so that the tones and sounds techs have prepared are properly represented.
Crossroads’ giant turntable stage allows for seamless transitions between acts. 1. The current band plays their set as normal and stays on the stage as it rotates to the back. 2. Meanwhile, techs and crews set up the next act’s gear. 3 & 4. A large video screen and lighting rig hang over the top of the stage. 5. An eight-foot tall divider splits the turntable in half. Illustration by Lori Keehner |
“Two of the main goals everyone had throughout the day were to keep within five minutes of the scheduled set times and to retain the utmost sonic fidelity to truly showcase the artists and their signature tones,” says Huddleston. “We stayed pretty much on time up until the finale with B.B. and everything sounded great.” To guarantee that the show ran like a well-oiled machine, Upstaging had about 100 workers, and the bands and musicians had more than 50 techs to watch over the gear.
During all the moving, lifting, and situating of the gear, guitar techs are glued to their bosses’ gear to make sure settings aren’t changed, guitars are still in tune, and things aren’t missing or damaged—any of which could slow down or halt production and the show.
To aid in that area, Fender had their Custom Shop master builders at Crossroads to set up and refurbish guitars all weekend. “I even saw Bill Murray getting his Strat worked on,” laughs Huddleston. The Fender team also made sure the performers had their desired backlines. If a guitarist didn’t have their own tech—as was the case with Ron Wood, who simply showed up with his Strat—they made sure he had his preferred amp and someone to take care of his guitar before and after the set.
To ensure that the work of the instrument techs and Upstaging crew isn’t for nothing, Huddleston says audio engineers work feverishly to guarantee that the onstage legends get their legendary tones. They’re in constant communication via radios to make sure that, from act to act, each artist gets the best signals and highest-quality audio so that their tones are represented the way fans know them. “This is a festival about guitars and guitarists, so we have to be sure that when the turntable starts moving there’s not only juice going to the amp and guitar, but also that, when that first chord hits, their tone is there.”
Hit page 6 for 13 more gear and performance photos from the event...
A packed finale stage: (left to right) Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, James Burton, Joe Bonamassa,
Jimmie Vaughan, Susan Tedeschi, Eric Clapton, Keb’ Mo’ (background), Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter,
Robert Cray, B.B. King, Jonny Lang, Ronnie Wood, Hubert Sumlin, Steve Winwood, Vince Gill,
Sonny Landreth, Cesar Rosas, Robert Randolph, and David Hidalgo.
Sheryl Crow, Doyle Bramhall II, bassist Tommy Sims, and Gary Clark Jr. welcome surprise-guest
Eric Clapton for a tune during their mid-day set.
Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, and Ronnie Wood laugh their way offstage following a great
cross-generational performance.
After his set had already ended, Eric Clapton returns to the stage with Jimmie Vaughan (not pictured)
and Robert Cray before being joined by the legendary B.B. King.
Eric Clapton plays a daphne blue signature Strat through a tweed Fender ’57 Twin-Amp
reissue for his 90-minute set.
John Mayer’s Dumble Steel String Singer and Two-Rock John Mayer Signature heads.
Susan Tedeschi—one of only two featured female performers at Crossroads (Sheryl Crow was the other).
Jimmie Vaughan, Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, and B.B. King play an extended set before the finale, with
much of the time going to King’s jokes and stories.
Jeff Beck’s amps: two Fender Pro Juniors and a Marshall JCM 2000
Super Lead powering two Marshall 4x12 cabs.
Beck plays his Olympic White signature Stratocaster during his solo set.
Bill Murray (right) reprises his host role, alternating between hilarious and
thankful, much to Clapton’s amusement.
ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons (left) plays his Gretsch Billy Bo Jupiter for a hard-rocking set before the
band leaves for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they play Summerfest.
Derek Trucks’ amps, two PRS Dallas heads on top of a PRS 4x12 cabinet (left), and
Warren Haynes’ César Diaz CD-100 and Soldano SLO-100 heads atop a 4x12 (center).
10:00 a.m.
Gates open at Toyota Park
10:15 a.m.
Bert Jansch plays the first note of the festival during his clinic at the Ernie Ball Stage.
11:00 a.m.
Stefan Grossman delights early birds with a clinic at the Ernie Ball Stage.
11:10 a.m.
2009 Guitar Center King of the Blues winner Kirby Kelley kicks off the mainstage music by playing over the same backing track he won the contest with.
11:25 a.m.
Eric Clapton makes an early appearance, jamming with emcee Bill Murray on the Buddy Holly classic “Not Fade Away.”
11:45 a.m.
Fingerstylist Pete Huttlinger demonstrates his incredible ability to play the same song in different styles with a variety of right-hand techniques on the Ernie Ball Stage.
11:50 a.m.
Sonny Landreth rocks the main stage with a red Strat and his mind-bending slide work. Three songs into his set, he’s joined by Clapton for a rendition of Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land.”
12:20 p.m.
Robert Randolph and the Family Band delivers an energetic set, enlisting Joe Bonamassa’s help on “Further on up the Road” and “Going Down,” which also features Italian guitarist Pino Daniele.
12:30 p.m.
Albert Lee fields questions and wows the crowd with his chicken-pickin’ talents during his clinic on the Ernie Ball Stage.
1:00 p.m.
The Robert Cray Band owns the main stage with Texas blues legend Jimmie Vaughan performing his tribute “Six Strings Down” for his late brother Stevie Ray. Hubert Sumlin joins them to lead the way on the Mississippi Sheiks’ “Sitting on Top of the World” and Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor.”
1:15 p.m.
Sonny Landreth plugs into his Dumble Overdrive Special to demonstrate his behind-the-slide technique at an Ernie Ball Stage clinic.
1:45 p.m.
The blues take a breather while Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch performs a solo set.
2:00 p.m.
Robert Randolph discusses the role of church in his early playing, as well as six-hour guitar battles with Derek Trucks during his jovial Ernie Ball Stage clinic.
2:05 p.m.
Stefan Grossman takes the main stage for an acoustic set. He ends the set by jamming with Keb’ Mo’, who played a Beltona resonator.
2:25 p.m.
ZZ Top sets the crowd on fire with a hard-rocking set that includes Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady,” “La Grange,” and “Jesus Just Left Chicago.”
2:45 p.m.
Ryan McGarvey, winner of the 2010 Play Crossroads Contest (see sidebar, p. 124), earns some new fans with his enthusiastic set.
3:00 p.m.
Doyle Bramhall II and his band throw down bluesy rock ’n’ roll, with Sheryl Crow strapping on a Tele to join them for a version of her hit “Long and Winding Road.” Gary Clark Jr. sits in for the whole set, and Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi also sit in for a few songs, while Clapton and Bramhall close out the set with dueling leads.
3:30 p.m.
Joe Bonamassa weathers the heat for a wellattended acoustic set at the Ernie Ball Stage.
3:50 p.m.
Vince Gill and his band give Crossroads its shot of country. James Burton joins them to take the lead on Elvis’ “Mystery Train,” while Albert Lee and Keb’ Mo’ trade solos during “The Door” and “Soon as I Get Paid.” The set closes with Sheryl Crow lending vocal help on Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally.”
4:15 p.m.
Blues legends Honeyboy Edwards—one of the last living guitarists to play with Robert Johnson— and Hubert Sumlin— Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist starting in 1954—close out the clinics at the Ernie Ball Stage.
4:45 p.m.
Sheryl Crow introduces Citizen Cope as “one of my favorite singer-songwriters.” Cope’s acoustic set includes a rendition of “Sideways” with Crow.
5:05 p.m.
Earl Klugh, the sole jazz representative, helps the crowd transition into the evening headliners with his silky smooth fingerstyle.
5:22 p.m.
Bill Murray comes out dressed as a ’70s-era Elvis to introduce the next act. He dressed as Buddy Holly earlier in the day.
5:25 p.m.
The John Mayer Trio—Steve Jordan on drums and Pino Palladino on bass—tears through a four-song set that includes Bill Wither’s “Ain’t No Sunshine” and Hendrix’s “Wait Until Tomorrow.” Mayer plugs into his Dumble Steel-String Singer and signature Two-Rock amps, and dons a Fender Custom Shop Hendrix Monterey Pop Festival Strat for the Hendrix tune.
6:00 p.m.
The biggest surprise of the evening is delivered as Ronnie Wood joins Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang for the funnest set of the show, which includes showstoppers like “Forty Days and Forty Nights,” “Five Long Years,” “Let Me Love You Baby,” and the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.”
6:45 p.m.
The Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band lead a star-studded gathering that stepped up to fill in for the Allman Brothers after Gregg Allman had a sudden liver transplant. Los Lobos’ Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo grab center stage for “300 Pounds of Heavenly Joy,” Warren Haynes takes over for the Allman Brothers Band’s “Soulshine,” Johnny Winter offers a shaky rendition of Hendrix’s “Red House,” and keyboardist Chris Stainton sits in for a cover of Joe Cocker’s “Space Captain.”
7:45 p.m.
Dressed all in white, Jeff Beck drops jaws with a raucous set that includes “Hammerhead,” “Dirty Mind”/”Big Block,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” Muddy Water’s “Rollin’ and Tumblin’,” and Sly and the Family Stone’s “I Want to Take You Higher.” He finishes with Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma.”
8:43 p.m.
Bill Murray dons a psychedelic Hendrix outfit— complete with wig, upside-down Strat, and cigarette—to welcome the man of the show, Eric Clapton, to the main stage.
8:45 p.m.
Clapton greets the crowd with a ripping rendition of “Crossroads,” then delves into a 90-minute set full of hits. It begins with “Key to the Highway” and a collaboration on Citizen Cope’s “Hands of the Saints.” Jeff Beck returns for Elmore James’ “Shake Your Money Maker,” followed by Clapton’s recent touring partner Steve Winwood, who switches between Hammond B-3 organ and guitar on songs like “Had to Cry Today,” “Low Down,” “Glad,” “Well Alright,” “Voodoo Child,” “Cocaine,” and “Dear Mr. Fantasy.”
10:05 p.m.
The stage crew stocks the main stage with more than 20 amplifiers in preparation for the show’s finale.
10:15 p.m.
The crowd welcomes B.B. King with a thunderous ovation as the blues god gets hugs and hellos from Clapton, Jimmie Vaughan, and Robert Cray. King commands the three “young’n guitarists” to get chairs so they can sit alongside him.
10:30 p.m.
King tells dirty jokes, dances, and tells stories, as Clapton, Vaughan, and Cray help guide the set through “Rock Me Baby” and “Key to the Highway,” closing out with “The Thrill is Gone” at 10:55.
11:05 p.m.
Buddy Guy leads the way on vocals for “Sweet Home Chicago” as Clapton, B.B. King, James Burton, Ron Wood, Vince Gill, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Jimmie Vaughan, Susan Tedeschi, Robert Cray, Johnny Winter, Jonny Lang, Hubert Sumlin, Albert Lee, Cesar Rojas, David Hidalgo, Robert Randolph, Gary Clark, and Joe Bonamassa trade licks and smiles to close out the 2010 Crossroads Festival.
In line with the MOOER’s recent expansion on the MSC range, the company is excited to announce the new MSC50 Pro, an Alder-bodied electric guitar with gloss finish, available in the new Magic Crystal color.
Featuring a roasted maple neck with a satin finish, a rosewood fingerboard for playing comfort, 22 frets, and a standard C shape, the guitar has been designed with classic guitarists in mind. This is beautifully emphasized with its beautifully resonant tonewoods, all while still being balanced perfectly with style and comfort of use.
The MSC50 Pro features all of the industry-standard features you might expect from such an impressively affordable guitar, such as bolt-on construction, a bone nut, and a dual-action steel truss rod. However, other features make the electric guitar stand out among others at a similar price point, such as its MTN-3LC locking tuning pegs, beautiful Abalone dot inlay, and, of course, its previously mentioned tonewood selection.
In order to capture the MSC50 Pro's balanced tonal profile, MOOER's luthiers have built it with three perfectly balanced pickups: the MSC-II N single coil neck pickup, the similar MSC-II M single coil middle pickup, and, best of all, the MHB-II B bridge humbucker. When these carefully chosen pickups are combined with the guitar's MPW 2-point chrome bridge, guitarists can make the most out of its tonal versatility, all while maximizing tuning stability.
To ensure that the guitar is suitable for a wide range of genres, both softer and higher-gain examples, the MSC50 Pro has a convenient coil split switch built into it, giving users better resonance control. Of course, this is also combined with a classic tone dial, a standard 5-way tone switch, and a volume control dial.
Overall, the MSC50 Pro reminds users of MOOER guitars that the company has never forgotten about its roots in classic-style guitars. Yes, the company is continuing to develop innovative guitar technology in other areas, but this electric guitar also represents a grounded approach, keeping things classic, sleek, and tonally versatile–all at a reasonable price point.
Features:
- Alder Body with a Gloss Finish
- Available in the Magic Crystal color
- Standard C-shaped roasted maple neck with a Satin finish
- Bolt-on construction
- 22-fret rosewood fingerboard
- Abalon dot inlay
- MTN-3LC locking tuners
- Bone nut
- Dual-Action Steel Truss Rod
- 12" radius
- 09-46 strings
- 25.2" scale
- MSC-II N Single Coil neck pickup, an MSC-II M Single Poil middle pickup, and an MHB-II B Humbucker Bridge Pickup
- Chrome guitar strap pin
- Coil Split Switch
- 5-Way Tone Switch
- Volume and tone dials
- MPW 2-Point chrome bridge
The MSC50 Pro will be available from the official distributors and retailers worldwide on 13th May 2025 at an expected retail price of USD419/Euro399/GBP339.
GTRS Announces the W902, The Latest Update to its Wing-series of Intelligent Guitars
This year has marked the return of GTRS’ Intelligent Guitar products, notably with the recent announcement of the SL810 release. Additionally, the company has now announced the upcoming release of the W902, an upgraded version of the original W900 Intelligent Guitar, bringing affordability to the series yet again but without compromising on quality and technical features.
For tonewoods, GTRS has chosen to build the W902 with an Alder body, complete with a delightful Magic Crystal color and High Gloss finish. Attached through bolt-on construction is a 5-piece C-shape neck made from selected roasted flame maple and rosewood, complete with a Satin Natural finish, Rosewood fingerboard, and a White Shell dot inlay. A Dual-Action Steel truss rod runs through the neck, topped with a bone nut, and 24 white copper (0 fret stainless) fanned frets.
While the construction is certainly impressive, the most notable feature of the W902 is the upgraded GTRS Intelligent Processor System, the G151, which even offers upgrades over the SL810's recently announced G150 system. Pre-installed on the system is a staggering 128 effects, along with 10 of both MOOER's in-house MNRS amp and cabinet simulation profiles. Exclusive to the W902, the G151 system even includes 17 guitar simulation effects, allowing guitarists to emulate the tonal resonance of some of their favorite guitars.
To activate and browse through presets within the G151 system, which can be connected via Bluetooth 5.0, guitarists can use the guitar's Super Knob, which lights up in different LED colors depending on which preset is activated. Of course, users are able to get stuck into and edit the effects chains of presets through the GTRS app, enabling them to craft their own favorites through their mobile device. The guitar still functions without the G151 system; the Super Knob just needs to be turned off, and the W902 is usable as a regular electric guitar.
Within the GTRS app, there is even an 80-second looper, 10 metronomes, and 40 drum machine grooves built in, providing users with an all-in-one suite for guitar practice and composition. This is especially the case when combined with the W902's OTG-recording support, enabling on-the-go recording without the need for a hardware recording setup.
No effects and amp simulations would be complete without being complemented by high-quality pickups, which isn’t a problem for the W902 considering the GTRS HM-2N Alnico V neck pickup and GTRS HM-2B Alnico V bridge pickup, both of which resonate beautifully through the guitar's GTRS HL-II bridge.
GTRS always wants to ensure that its customers are set up with everything they need to jam, which is why the W902 comes bundled with a GTRS Deluxe gig bag, three guitar wrenches, a USB 3.0 cable for charging, and a user manual. The guitar even contains a wireless transmitter and an integrated 4000mAh Li-ion battery, providing up to 12 hours of continuous use (9 hours with the transmitter in use), allowing users to enjoy the G151 system through headphones or an amplifier.
Along with all the bells and whistles, the W902 also sports standardized guitar features, such as knobs for volume control and tone, a 3-way pickup switch, and a black GTRS strap pin. However, those who want to experiment further with the guitar’s impressive technology can connect the intelligent system to the GTRS GWF4 wireless footswitch, which is ideal for switching between presets in live scenarios when control through a mobile device isn't practical. Overall, the W902 is yet another example of GTRS’ commitment to continually improve its Intelligent Guitar series.
GTRS W902 Guitar construction features:
- Alder Body
- Magic Crystal Color
- High Gloss Finish
- 5-Piece Selected Roasted Flame Maple and Rosewood Neck with Satin Natural Finish (C-Shape)
- Bolt-on construction
- Rosewood fingerboard
- 24 white copper (0 fret stainless) fanned frets
- White Shell dot inlay
- 42mm Bone Nut
- 12" radius
- 25-1/2" scale
- 09-46 strings
- Dual Action Steel truss rod
- GTRS HL-II bridge
- GTRS HM-2N Alnico V neck pickup
- GTRS HM-2B Alnico V bridge pickup
- Black GTRS strap pin
- Built-in wireless transmitter
- Super Knob, Volume Control Knob, and Tone Knob
- 3-way tone-selection switch
- GLB-P1 Li-ion Battery (4000mAh, up to 12 hours of continuous use, 9 hours with the wireless transmitter in use)
- USB port for charging and OTG recording
- GTRS Deluxe gig bag
- 3 guitar wrenches
- USB 3.0 Type A to C cable
GTRS G151 Intelligent Guitar System features:
- GTRS G151 Intelligent Processing System (and GTRS App)
- 128 effects
- 10 MNRS amp (GNR) and cabinet (GIR) simulation models
- 17 guitar simulations
- 80-second looper
- 40 drum machine grooves
- 10 metronomes
- Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity
- GTRS GWF4 wireless footswitch support (sold separately)
The GTRS W902 will be available from the official distributors and retailers worldwide on 13h May 2025.
MOOER Expands Its Popular MSC Guitar Line with the MSC30 Pro and MSC31 Pro
MOOER has never shied away from innovation when it comes to its guitars. However, with the recently announced release of the MSC30 Pro and MSC31, the company reminds us that, sometimes, true innovation lies in mastering and enhancing a proven classic. With this philosophy, MOOER introduces two new exciting additions to their beloved MSC series of electric guitars.
Both the MSC30 Pro and MSC31 Pro continue MOOER’s philosophy of creating affordable guitars, but without sacrificing quality or performance, thanks to the poplar bodies and flame maple tops. Some guitarists will be drawn to the bright tones of the MSC30 Pro’s maple fingerboard, whereas others will prefer the warmer resonance of the MSC31 Pro’s rosewood alternative.
Each guitar features sturdy bolt-on neck construction, dual-action steel truss rods, bone nuts, and MTN-1 chrome tuning pegs (with the BK upgrade being reserved for the MSC31 Pro), ensuring tuning stability and comfort at all times.At the heart of both models are MOOER’s versatile MSC pickups, comprising the MSC-1N single-coil neck pickup, the MSC-1M single-coil middle pickup, and the powerful MHB-1B dual-coil humbucker at the bridge. Further complemented by a versatile 5-way pickup selector and exclusive coil split switch, players can effortlessly switch between a wide palette of tones, such as pristine cleans ideal for jazz or blues, or high-gain tones for heavier genres.
Tremolo support is also provided through both the guitar's bridges, with the MSC30 Pro featuring an MTB-1 2 Point Tremolo bridge, and the MSC31 Pro boasting an exclusive black MTB-1 BK 2 Point Tremolo bridge. Both bridges guarantee guitarists the ability to use tremolo bars in their guitar performances, without compromising the integrity of tuning stability.
Both guitars come with a selection of vivid new colors, complementing the guitar’s hardware with undeniable visual appeal. The MSC30 Pro is available in the classic finishes of Sunset Red, Lake Blue, Lemon Green, and Rose Purple. Meanwhile, the MSC31 Pro boasts its own selection of glossy finishes: Grey Burst, Blue Burst, Green Burst, and Purple Burst.
Overall, the MSC30 Pro and MSC31 Pro solidify MOOER’s commitment to combining quality craftsmanship, affordability, and versatility, giving guitarists of all levels the chance to own instruments that genuinely inspire.
Features
MSC30 Pro:
- Classic S-style design
- Poplar body with flame maple top
- Maple fingerboard
- Maple neck with satin finish
- Bolt-on neck construction
- 22 nickel silver frets, Abalone dotted inlay
- Coil split switch and versatile 5-way pickup selector
- MSC-1N/M single-coil pickups and MHB-1B humbucker
- 25.5" scale
- MTN-1 Chrome tuning pegs
- Available in gloss-finished Sunset Red, Lake Blue, Lemon Green, and Rose Purple
- Volume and tone dial
- Chrome strap pin
MSC31 Pro:
- Classic S-style design
- Poplar body with flame maple top
- Rosewood fingerboard
- Maple neck with satin finish
- Bolt-on neck construction
- 22 nickel silver frets, White Shell dotted inlay
- Coil split switch and versatile 5-way pickup selector
- MSC-1N/M single-coil pickups and MHB-1B humbucker
- 25.5" scale
- MTN-1 BK tuning pegs
- Available in gloss-finished Grey Burst, Blue Burst, Green Burst, and Purple Burst
- Volume and tone dial
- Chrome strap pin
The MSC30 Pro and MSC31 Pro will both be available from the official distributors and retailers worldwide on 2nd April 2025.
MOOER Gives Bassists What They Want with the New MBJ410 and MBJ420 Electric Bass Guitar Models
For 15 years, MOOER has built a critically acclaimed name for itself thanks to its cutting-edge electric guitars, pedals, and accessories. While the company is no stranger to building electric bass guitars, this has not been its focus for some time, hence why so many bassists are excitedly anticipating the release of the MBJ410 and MBJ420 electric bass guitars.
Both the bass guitars sport glossy Poplar bodies, keeping the price point affordable but without limiting their tonal resonance and versatility, whereas the MBJ420 holds the additional bonus of being built with a Poplar Burl top. Complete with roasted maple C-shaped necks (also accented with a gloss finish) as well as Roasted Maple fingerboards and White Shell dot inlays, the necks are designed to offer as much comfort as possible–a high priority for bass guitarists.
A 34" fret scale further enhances practicality for bassists, as does the neck's 12" radius. Strings are available in .045, .065, .080, and .100 gauges, providing something for any type of bass style - whether slapping, plucking, or picking techniques are preferred.Thanks to the industry-standard components of a dual-action steel truss rod and bone nut, the tuning and resonant stability of both the MBJ410 and MBJ420 models are also of a high standard. However, this is accentuated further by the guitars' strong and reliable BTN-1 tuning pegs, essential for heavier-gauge bass strings.
The tonewoods and structural integrity of the MBJ-series electric bass guitars wouldn't be complete without the accompaniment of the guitar’s two single-coil JB-style pickups. Combined with the MOOER BSC-2 bridge, both bass guitars have been carefully designed to amplify bass resonances excellently, complemented even further by their simple but effective tone dials. Two volume controls are also built in, ensuring that bassists can customize their sonic output to have the perfect tonal blend.
In terms of standout features, the main difference between the two bass guitars is the MBJ420's added poplar burl top, but most notably, the color selections. For the MBJ410, the bass guitar is available in Gunmetal Gray, Metal Green, and Metal Blue, perfectly suiting the stages of higher-gain performances. In contrast, the aesthetics of the MBJ420 are more classic, purchasable in Red Burst, Blue Burst, and Tobacco Burst. Finally, both guitars are topped with a chrome strap pin, enabling stylish and energetic live performances.
Overall, bassists will no doubt be excited to see MOOER return to electric bass guitars with the MBJ410 and 420 models. Of course, electric guitars will remain the focus for the company, but the release of these two new products is a reminder of just how accommodating MOOER is for its wide audience of musicians.
Features
- Electric bass guitar built with gloss-finished Poplar body (MBJ420 also features a Poplar Burl Top)
- Roasted maple C-shaped neck with a gloss finish
- Roasted maple fingerboard
- White Shell dot inlay
- 12” neck radius
- MOOER BSC-2 bridge
- VBJ-1 and VBJ-2 Single Coil pickups
- MOOER BTN-1 tuning pegs
- Bolt-on construction
- Bone nut
- Dual-action steel truss rod
- Pre-installed strings available in .045, .065, .080, and .100 gauges
- 21 frets
- 34"fret scale
- Colors available in Gunmetal Gray, Metal Green, and Metal Blue (MBJ410), and Red Burst, Blue Burst, and Tobacco Burst (MBJ420)
- Chrome strap pin
- 2 x volume control dials
- 1 x Tone dial
The MBJ410 and MBJ420 will both be available from the official distributors and retailers worldwide on 29th April 2025 at an expected retail price of USD319/Euro299/GBP249(MBJ410), USD399/Euro379/GBP319(MBJ420).
Our columnist’s silver-panel Fender Bandmaster.
How this longstanding, classic tube amp design evolved from its introduction in 1953.
I have a silver-panel Bandmaster Reverb that I don’t think I’ve talked about enough in this column. It’s one of the most versatile and flexible amps I own, so I use it for everything. It’s portable, has tube-driven reverb and tremolo, and has a full set of EQ knobs including the critical bright switch, which we discussed the importance of earlier this year (“How to ‘Trebleshoot’ a Vintage Fender Amp,” March 2025). The amp is not only pedal-friendly; the flexible 4-ohm output impedance will handle almost all speaker configurations and sound any way you’d like. Let’s take a deeper look at the Fender Bandmaster amp and walk through its development through the years.
The first Bandmaster was introduced in 1953 as a wide-panel tweed amp with Fender’s 5C7 circuit. This rare combo was loaded with a single 15" Jensen P15N and powered by dual 6L6GC tubes in push-pull configuration to produce a modest 25 watts. The 6L6GCs were cathode biased and along with the 5U4GB rectifier tube contributed to a forgiving sag, early breakup, and a midrange-y voice.
Fender made several changes when they launched that amp’s successor in 1955, the more widely known 5E7 narrow-panel Bandmaster, a well-proven amp that has come back as a reissue model. It was still a dual-channel amp—instrument and microphone—but the newer 5E7 model had a fixed bias and a negative feedback loop, providing a louder, firmer, and cleaner tone. Most importantly, the single 15" speaker was replaced by three 10" speakers, making it very similar to the narrow-panel tweed Bassman, the granddaddy of all Marshall amps. This Bandmaster had three speakers instead of the Bassman’s four, and it delivered 25–30 watts instead of 40. It offered early breakup with a midrange-y, big and full tone.
For those not acquainted with tweed amps, the volume and EQ knobs behave differently than on silver- and black-panel Fender amps. The volume pot can act like a distortion control, while the EQ knobs control the volume, and many players I’ve talked to have not really unlocked this secret. This works because, in these circuits, the volume pot sits right before the preamp tube, which allows it to push the tube into full distortion. Since the EQ pots are located right after and are capable of reducing the volume, you’re able to distort the preamp at low volume settings.
“Things became more standardized in 1964 with the arrival of the black-panel AB763 Bandmaster, an amp I have worked on a lot and appreciate for its robustness, simplicity, and versatility.”
In 1960, a short-lived and rare Bandmaster dressed in brown tolex and a black faceplate appeared with the 5G7 circuit. From here on, all Bandmasters had the modern top-mounted chassis. With this circuit, the Bandmaster started to both look and sound more like a black-panel amp. It kept the 3x10" speakers but got a diode rectifier and bigger transformers resulting in a 45-watt output. Tremolo was introduced for the first time, and both channels were now intended for guitar.
The following year, a blonde 6G7 Bandmaster followed as a smaller amp head paired with a 1x12 extension cabinet. It had the timeless early blonde looks with cream tolex, brown faceplate, oxblood grill cloth, large Fender logo, and white knobs. But halfway into the blonde era, towards 1964, things turned strange and rather confusing. There were suddenly two 12" speakers, black knobs, a wheat-colored grill cloth, a more slim black-panel-style Fender logo, a black faceplate, and all in various combinations close to the transition into ’64.
Things became more standardized in 1964 with the arrival of the black-panel AB763 Bandmaster, an amp I have worked on a lot and appreciate for its robustness, simplicity, and versatility. It offers a pure, clean, scooped black-panel tone that’s somewhere between a Vibrolux Reverb and Pro Reverb, which share the medium-sized 125A6A output transformer and dual 6L6GC tubes. With its medium/high power and flexible 4-ohm output impedance, it can drive all kinds of speaker cabinets—as long as you stay between 2 and 8 ohms, you are safe.
For a short time in 1967–68, there was a transitional Bandmaster with aluminum trim and black-panel innards before the all-new silver-panel Bandmaster Reverb replaced it in 1968. The small-head cabinet had grown in size and, unfortunately, weight to accommodate the reverb tank. The amp got a 5U4GB rectifier tube along with a few general silver-panel changes to the circuit. Several silver-panel models existed with minor differences until a 70-watt beast version came along in 1977 with master volume.
To my own 1968 Bandmaster Reverb, I have done a few adjustments. First, I made a custom baffle to hold two 8" speakers. I installed a pair of WGS G8C speakers that fit perfectly on the baffle board without colliding with the reverb tank or transformers. Sometimes, I use only one of the 8" speakers for bedroom volume levels. Second, I reversed the bias circuitry to standard AB763 specs, making it easier to adjust bias correctly on both power tubes. If you are into sparkling clean and funky Strat sounds, you would love this little 2x8" combo.Guitarist William Tyler, a restless sonic explorer: “I would get bored staying in the same place.”
The expansive instrumental guitarist/composer pushes himself out of his comfort zone, beyond the boundaries of his neo-Americana wheelhouse on Time Indefinite.
Mastering an instrument and an artistic style—and then being recognized and rewarded for it—is a daunting enough accomplishment that one might be forgiven for feeling that, once reached, it’s the be-all to end-all. Guitarist William Tyler, for all the praise and opportunity that have come his way over the past decade and a half, isn’t content to plow the same furrow. With his evolutionary new album, Time Indefinite, this son of the South is pushing further afield, not completely forgoing his virtuosic neo-Americana lyricism but incorporating it into static-friendly, otherworldly studio experimentation.
The disorienting opener of Time Indefinite, “Cabin Six,” begins with a loop of hovering blare that, lasting nearly a minute, might lead listeners to think something is amiss with their turntable stylus; this gradually dissipates into an eddy of railroad-like whine from which a chiming 6-string hook emerges only to finally sink into a murky, detuned drone. The simple, lovely “Anima Motel” and almost naïve “Concern” are eminently approachable, and “Howling at the Second Moon,” with its alternate, Joni Mitchell-inspired tuning, feels like something that could have appeared on one of Tyler’s previous albums (even if it was recorded on his iPhone then texturized via a bump to a cassette recorder and dosed with added effects). But the distressed sonic sculptures of “The Hardest Land to Harvest” and “Electric Lake” or the sampled, distorted church choir laced through “Star of Hope” have a ghostly resonance unlike anything the guitarist has done before.
SoundStream
“I think it’s important for artists to push themselves into new ways of working,” Tyler says. “Most of my favorites, artists I follow over the long trajectory of their careers, have done that, whether it’s in music, film, visual art, novels. Of course, some people have a method or style that they stick to, and it serves them. And I wouldn’t want to put anything out into the world that I wouldn’t myself, as a consumer, enjoy spending time with and taking seriously. That said, I would get bored staying in the same place. The new record is about making something that was a little less chained to certain kinds of guitar music, where I felt like I might be running up against my creative limitations or enthusiasms in that area. I wanted to reinvent myself for myself, to explore fresh possibilities, even with the guitar as my primary tool.”
Tyler, whose parents were hitmaking Nashville songwriters, made his name early on as a young guitar phenom playing in such alternative-minded, country-influenced bands as Lambchop and Silver Jews, before appearing on the fourth volume of the influential Tompkins Square “Imaginational Anthem” series of new-era American Primitive guitar and then making his full-length debut as a solo artist with the 2010 album Behold the Spirit. As a player and composer, he was recognized for subsuming the early influence of John Fahey and the Takoma style into something vibrantly his own.
Tyler keeps his tools simple and his ears open.
Photo by Angelina Castillo
William Tyler’s Gear
Guitars
- Mid-1950s Martin D-18
- 1974 Gibson SG
Pedals
- Hologram Electronics Microcosm
- Strymon El Capistan
- Line 6 DL4 Mark II
Once Tyler signed to the stalwart indie-rock label Merge, the guitarist released a string of warmly received electro-acoustic albums: Impossible Truth (2013), Deseret Canyon (2015) and Modern Country (2016). There was also a marvel of a solo performance at Nashville’s Third Man Records released as an LP in the “Live at Third Man” series. A few years later came the album Goes West, its title alluding to a pre-pandemic move to Los Angeles, and its arrangements flecked with atmospheric swirls and sunny, almost pop-like touches. Tyler also created an aptly rustic score for First Cow, director Kelly Reichardt’s 2019 art house Western, and the guitarist capped his Merge run in 2023 with Secret Stratosphere, a live album of soaring full-band versions of numbers from his back catalog, credited to William Tyler’s Impossible Truth.
“I wanted to reinvent myself for myself, to explore fresh possibilities, even with the guitar as my primary tool.”
Tyler has released covers of such disparate artists as Alex Chilton, Michael Chapman, Fleetwood Mac, Yo La Tengo and Neu!/Harmonia’s Michael Rother, not to mention classical composers Handel and Dvorák. The broad listening palette suggested by these choices always pointed toward a more intrepid path. But the album that most presaged the spirit of Time Indefinite is New Vanitas, a small masterpiece of pandemic creation that found him threading beautiful, involved guitar melodies through hypnagogic soundscapes, often haunted by lo-fi snatches of radio broadcasts and sotto-voce dialogue, as on the evocatively titled “Slow Night’s Static.” New Vanitas even includes a woozy track called “Time Indefinite,” the foreshadowing title a favorite that he borrowed from a film by documentarian Ross McElwee.
On Time Indefinite, Tyler says, “I was drawn to more ambient music, including by guitarists like Christian Fennesz and Norman Westberg, but also groups like Stars of the Lid and Boards of Canada.”
Another signpost on Tyler’s new road was a collaboration with Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden that yielded the folktronica single “Darkness, Darkness.” Then last year brought the standalone track “Flight Final,” Tyler’s first release for the artist-led imprint Psychic Hotline, and a slice of musique concrète that brings to mind Brian Eno’s association with German “kosmische” pioneers Harmonia and Cluster. That recording, the first fruit of an association with collaborator and co-producer Jake Davis, set the stage for their work together on Time Indefinite. Most of the pieces on this album, whether blown-out lullabies or spectral hymns or folk-art abstractions, feel like memories refracted in a dream diary.
“The process of working on this album helped me get better at tempo, just feeling more comfortable playing slower.”
“The new album started out as a series of experiments, without necessarily thinking that they were going to make for a whole record—though, eventually, Jake and I heard a thematic coherence to what we were coming up with,” Tyler explains. “It took a long while to come together, but the roots of the music are in the Covid lockdown. The emotional landscape of that time changed the things I was listening to as well as the music that was coming out of me. I was drawn to more ambient music, including by guitarists like Christian Fennesz and Norman Westberg, but also groups like Stars of the Lid and Boards of Canada. I had gone back to Nashville and was dealing with a problematic mental state. Among other issues, I can tend to approach things too fast, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Beyond using different recording techniques and learning new ways of creating a piece of music, the process of working on this album helped me get better at tempo, just feeling more comfortable playing slower.”
The guitars Tyler used in the studio for Time Indefinite were his “family heirloom” Martin D-18 and a beloved Gibson SG, both of which are his main live instruments. For effects pedals, he favored a Hologram Electronics Microcosm (“for low-pass filter looping and really weird granular stuff”) and a Strymon El Capistan (“for delays kind of like the old Electro-Harmonix Memory Man”), though Davis also did a lot of processing with an array of his own. One serendipitous piece of gear was a 1959 Webcor Regent reel-to-reel machine deck that Tyler liberated, still new in the box, while helping to clear out his grandfather’s storage space in Mississippi. Davis was inspired to make old-school tape loops with it, including that startling sound that opens the album. Tyler would play arrhythmic, asymmetrical parts that Davis would record and chop up for the loops.
Tyler at this year’s Big Ears Festival with Jake Davis and Cecilia Stair.
Photo by Ross Bustin
Tyler’s recent spate of collaborations, from Davis and Four Tet to pedal-steel guitarist Luke Schneider, “has kept me on my toes, challenged me and recharged me,” he says. “The insularity of being a solo instrumentalist and writing everything by yourself can be freeing at first. And it can be motivating, as when I first started learning how to play fingerstyle guitar, with all the practicing. But I don’t like the isolation of it now. These days, I prefer working with other people. It pushes you into other genres, those different modes of communication.”
Another recent colleague, Marisa Anderson, has credited Tyler for his open, venturesome spirit as a studio partner, with his default attitude of “yes” when they were making their absorbing duo album, Lost Futures. “That was something I really enjoyed about playing with William—he was up for everything,” she said. “I was like, ‘There’s the diving board,’ and he’d say, ‘Let’s go.’”
“These days, I prefer working with other people. It pushes you into other genres, those different modes of communication.”
Tyler is quick to credit artists and albums that have inspired him. Along with the aforementioned players, he namechecks a vast range of others, from Jimmy Page to Jeff Parker, Bill Frisell to Fred Frith, Bruce Langhorne to Nels Cline, William Ackerman to Sandy Bull. Tyler muses about how some of his Nashville session heroes should “have gotten weirder…. I wish Chet Atkins had dropped acid, listened to a Sonny Sharrock LP, and made his own noise record, you know?” Regarding his touchstones for sonic left turns, he points to Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, as well as Talk Talk’s emotive, avant-minded swansongs Spirit of Eden and Laughingstock.
“Those two Talk Talk albums are beyond masterpieces, with some great guitar playing,” Tyler says. “They were in essence made by an artist, Mark Hollis, who did not care about being commercial anymore and certainly not about being able to replicate the stuff live. When Jake and I were recording ‘Howling at the Second Moon,’ that sort of attitude was a reference point, kind of like, ‘Well, instead of trying to get away from the lo-fi weirdness of my original iPhone demo, why don’t we lean into it?’”
Ever thoughtful and candid in conversation, Tyler has been exceptionally transparent about coping with personal loss and midlife crises, as well as going to rehab for the over-indulgence of alcohol. Knowing that, one can hear grief and anxiety in the whorls of Time Indefinite, with the passages of guileless 6-string representing a nostalgia for less complicated times. “It’s a mental landscape record for sure,” he says. “For fans of my previous albums, it might not hit the same way, I realize. But I hope this record says to people that it’s all right to take chances with how you express yourself, with how naked and raw that can be. It has a purposeful arc and is meant to prompt things that aren’t super fashionable in today’s ephemeral, constant-content culture, like deep listening, emotional ambiguity, self-reflection, you know?”YouTube It
This three-song set from last year showcases the expansive cosmic country sound of Tyler and his Impossible Truth band, which includes a Kraftwerk cover.
The country virtuoso closes out this season of Wong Notes with a fascinating, career-spanning interview.
We’ve saved one of the best for last: Brad Paisley.The celebrated shredder and seasoned fisherman joins host Cory Wong for one of this season’s most interesting episodes. Paisley talks his earliest guitar-playing influences, which came from his grandfather’s love of country music, and his first days in Nashville—as a student at Belmont University, studying the music industry.
The behind-the-curtain knowledge he picked up at Belmont made him a good match for industry suits trying to force bad contracts on him.
Wong and Paisley swap notes on fishing and a mutual love of Phish—Paisley envies the jam-band scene, which he thinks has more leeway in live contexts than country. And with a new signature Fender Telecaster hitting the market in a rare blue paisley finish, Paisley discusses his iconic namesake pattern—which some might describe as “hippie puke”—and its surprising origin with Elvis’ guitarist James Burton.
Plus, hear how Paisley assembled his rig over the years, the state of shredding on mainstream radio, when it might be good to hallucinogenic drugs in a set, and the only negative thing about country-music audiences.