Rebecca Dirks graduated from the University of Iowa with degrees in journalism and art, and joined Premier Guitar as an intern in 2007. She lives in the Iowa City area with her husband, two giant dogs, and more cats than are appropriate to mention. When not petsitting, she enjoys challenging herself in the kitchen, watching the Packers dominate, and discovering new music or rediscovering old favorites.
Chris Kies has degrees in Journalism and History from the University of Iowa and has been with PG dating back to his days as an intern in 2007. He's now the multimedia manager maintaining the website and social media accounts, coordinating Rig Rundown shoots (also hosting and/or filming them) and occasionally writing an artist feature. Other than that, he enjoys non-guitar-related hobbies.
"For Thursdayуs spring 2011 tour, Keeley kept things quite simpleяhe stomps on a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, a Lehle Dual amp switcher, a Fulltone OCD, and (not pictured) a Boss TU-2 Tuner. Photo by Clive Patrique."
Powerhouse rock icons Guns N’ Roses have returned today with two brand new singles. Marking their first new music release since 2023, “Nothin’” and “Atlas” find the long-running band still at the height of their powers, showcasing two different sides of their personality. “Atlas” is GNR in full surging rock mode, while “Nothin’” grows more introspective over floaty keys and an emotive guitar.
Both songs are available today via Interscope Records.
Guns N’ Roses have steadily been releasing new material in recent years in conjunction with their sold-out tours across the globe. Following 2023’s “The General” and “Perhaps,” “Atlas” and “Nothin’” join as vital additions to setlists otherwise featuring all the classic hits and deep cut fan favorites from GNR’s early catalogue. On December 12th, “Nothin’” and “Atlas” will be available for pre-order on 7” vinyl, a Guns N’ Roses store exclusive cassette and a Japan exclusive SHM-CD. To pre-order, or for more information, please click HERE.
Most recently, Guns N’ Roses announced they will hit the road in the spring and summer of 2026 (please see dates below) on a world tour that will see the band visit Mexico and Brazil before headlining additional EU markets as well as stadiums across the US and Canada. The tour will include a special performance at LA’s Rose Bowl, marking a historic return to the venue for the first time in over 30 years. This 2026 tour follows on the heels of a sprawling 2025 world tour that saw the band make their long-awaited return to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.
Tickets are available at gunsnroses.com. In North America, the tour will also offer a variety of different VIP packages and experiences for fans to take their concert experience to the next level. Packages vary but include premium tickets, behind-the-scenes tour, invitation to the pre-show VIP Lounge, limited edition merch & more. VIP package contents vary based on the offer selected. For more information, visit vipnation.com.
Powerhouse rock icons Guns N’ Roses have returned today with two brand new singles. Marking their first new music release since 2023, “Nothin’” and “Atlas” find the long-running band still at the height of their powers, showcasing two different sides of their personality. “Atlas” is GNR in full surging rock mode, while “Nothin’” grows more introspective over floaty keys and an emotive guitar.
Both songs are available today via Interscope Records.
Guns N’ Roses have steadily been releasing new material in recent years in conjunction with their sold-out tours across the globe. Following 2023’s “The General” and “Perhaps,” “Atlas” and “Nothin’” join as vital additions to setlists otherwise featuring all the classic hits and deep cut fan favorites from GNR’s early catalogue. On December 12th, “Nothin’” and “Atlas” will be available for pre-order on 7” vinyl, a Guns N’ Roses store exclusive cassette and a Japan exclusive SHM-CD. To pre-order, or for more information, please click HERE.
Most recently, Guns N’ Roses announced they will hit the road in the spring and summer of 2026 (please see dates below) on a world tour that will see the band visit Mexico and Brazil before headlining additional EU markets as well as stadiums across the US and Canada. The tour will include a special performance at LA’s Rose Bowl, marking a historic return to the venue for the first time in over 30 years. This 2026 tour follows on the heels of a sprawling 2025 world tour that saw the band make their long-awaited return to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.
Tickets are available at gunsnroses.com. In North America, the tour will also offer a variety of different VIP packages and experiences for fans to take their concert experience to the next level. Packages vary but include premium tickets, behind-the-scenes tour, invitation to the pre-show VIP Lounge, limited edition merch & more. VIP package contents vary based on the offer selected. For more information, visit vipnation.com.
Cropper performing at a "Guitar Greats" concert at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, on November 3, 1984.
Ebet Roberts
On December 3, 2025, the night before we heard the news of Steve Cropper’s passing, my wife and I were jamming to a simple loop. Distracted, at one point I strayed into a noodle that wasn’t doing my wife or the song any favors. Then a voice spoke loudly in my head: “Booker T. and the M.G.’s, you idiot! Cropper! Now!” In a shot I was off the noodle bus and back on track.
That voice, it seems, sat at the shoulder of many guitarists. Such was the reach and influence of a musician that could be hookmeister, bedrock, silk, switchblade, or the lonely cry at the root of a heartbreaking melody. Cropper’s signature, however, was his economy and restraint—much of which was reinforced by his keen producer’s ear. Keith Richards, one of the kings of rhythm and timing, was once asked what he thought of Cropper. Richards, who can spiel when moved, was reduced to two words: “Perfect, man.” And truly, it’s hard to find a moment in Cropper’s body of work as rhythm guitarist, lead ace, and producer that isn’t, by some measure, impeccable.
Steve Cropper was born on October 21, 1941, in rural Dora, MO. But before he was 10, his family moved to Memphis. Like any open-minded, musically inclined individual with access to a radio in that time and place, Cropper found a feast for the ears in Memphis in the 1950s—blues, gospel, rhythm and blues, country, and the rockabilly percolations bubbling up from Sun Records.
Cropper was playing guitar by the time he was 14. And his influences around that time tell much about the sum that would become the Cropper style. From jazz giant Tal Farlow he learned how to dance around a melody with precision. From Chet Atkins, he took a sense for how chord melody and the twang and pop of an electric guitar could work together. Chuck Berry opened his ears to the power of relentless, uptempo, driving rhythm. And Jimmy Reed taught him the ways of deriving swing from skeletal, haunting simplicity.
By the time he was 20, Cropper had joined forces, along with future Booker T. and the M.G.’s bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, in an instrumental band that evolved into the Mar-Keys, which hit number 3 with “Last Night,” a release on Memphis-based Satellite Records. Within a few years, Satellite became Stax, and on the strength of the Carla Thomas single “Cause I Love You,” entered a distribution deal with Atlantic Records. Stax’s agreement with Atlantic meant product and hits had to keep coming. And that effort was facilitated by Stax’s in-house band, which featured Cropper, drummer Al Jackson Jr., and bassist Lewis Steinberg. That trio, with organist Booker T. Jones, further boosted Stax’s fortune and profile, when an impromptu jam intended as a B-side became “Green Onions”
Though “Green Onions” showcases the awesome collective strength of Booker T. and the M.G.’s as a mighty groove machine, Cropper’s contributions to the track included a lock-step doubling of Lewis Steinberg’s bass, a horn section-style stab on the one, and a lead that is the essence of economy and attitude, reflecting Ike Turner or Johnny Guitar Watson’s fiery r&b fretwork. Cropper, in fact, provided much of the tune’s dynamics. The song may have legitimized Stax. But it also cemented Booker T. and the M.G.’s reputation as a band’s band, revered by surf and garage bands on the West Coast, soul and r&b artists working in the South and on the East Coast, and perhaps most notably, the bands that would soon make up the British Invasion.
Had the M.G.’s left behind “Green Onions” alone, they would have been legendary. But the band, and Cropper, in particular, would go on to make Stax one of the most vital and important labels of the 1960s, and he would lend a hand in nourishing the careers of some of some of soul music’s most titanic figures.
Cropper ultimately became the front-line producer at Stax and their subsidiary Volt. And his production style mirrored his approach to guitar. It was lean, hard-hitting, dripping with groove, but also spacious enough to make room for the awesome voices that passed through Stax’s Memphis studios. Cropper’s production was so powerful and full of sinewy punch that it practically tormented British artists who struggled to find Stax’s potency in their own studios. At one point the Beatles were slated to work with Cropper on the LP that eventually became Revolver. That didn’t pan out, but Cropper’s production, recording, and performing prowess would still touch millions of people through hits from Sam and Dave, Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd, and, most monumentally, Otis Redding, who co-authored “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” with Cropper (who also adorns the yearning track with pearls of subtle guitar shading that virtually define the instrument’s role in soul balladry).
Cropper didn’t stop working after Stax’s hits dried up. He continued to produce records and play sessions, and reached millions more playing himself in the Blues Brothers film. He toured—once again with the M.G.’s—backing Neil Young at the height of Young’s volcanic reawakening in the 1990s. Cropper was, generally speaking, a quiet, gentlemanly guy, quite happy to deliver the goods in relative anonymity as sparks flew around him—qualities evident in essential performance films like Shake! Otis Live at Monterey and footage from the Stax tour of Europe in 1967. And improbably, perhaps, in light of his reserve, Cropper’s music and his impeccable touch as a guitarist and producer is everywhere where people listen. His legacy and influence are matched by few.
MONO (monocreators.com), the world’s leading design-driven brand for the modern musician, introduces the Studio and Stage Instrument Cables, the latest addition to its growing PFX Series. The PFX Series, known for its world-renowned pedalboards and power supplies trusted by artists like Mateus Asato, Yvette Young, and Faye Webster, now expands into instrument cables with the same commitment to clarity, durability, and performance. Designed to elevate musicians’ lives through thoughtful design, these new cables deliver studio-grade fidelity, innovative connector options, and rugged, handbuilt-in-Japan quality for every stage.
The new PFX Instrument Cables are crafted to capture every sonic detail. The Studio Instrument Cable is built around 150 strands of 0.08 mm oxygen‑free copper in the core conductor, paired with precision insulation to ensure your tone remains crystal clear and free from interference or coloration. For live performance, the Stage Instrument Cable combines a high‑purity oxygen‑free copper core with a braided shield and flexible outer jacket, minimizing signal loss and offering rugged reliability in demanding environments.
The new cables come equipped with versatile connector configurations designed to accommodate any playing environment—from home studios to festival stages. The connectors’ lineup include:
The Standard Connector features a robust brass build with a compact short-shaft design, making it ideal for tight pedalboard layouts or cramped jack placements.
The 180° Connector flexes between angled and straight orientations, offering flexible routing options and reduced strain on the cable and jack—perfect for hybrid or frequently adjusted setups.
The Silent Connector includes an intelligent auto-mute function that cuts the signal the moment it’s unplugged, eliminating unwanted pops and hum for seamless instrument changes during a live set or studio session.
Prices start from US $99 (US MAP). The new Studio and Stage Instrument Cables are available now at monocreators.com and through select authorized dealers worldwide.
Expanding their line of lightweight, compact amplifiers, Electro-Harmonix has introduced the ABRAMS100 100-watt solid state guitar amplifier. Clocking in at a mere 2.5 pounds, the ABRAMS100 can be easily transported from the practice space to the stage without breaking a sweat.
The ABRAMS100 features 100 watts of Class D power, a high-headroom preamp with plenty of clean gain, a 3-band EQ, a bright switch, and an on-board digital spring reverb. An FX Loop allows additional effects to be inserted post-EQ. The FX loop return input can also be used by those with preamp pedals or modelers to bypass the preamp and use only the power amp.
Features include:
100 Watts of Class-D power
Lightweight – only 2.5 pounds
High headroom for use as a powerful pedal platform
3-Band EQ with Bright switch
Series FX loop with dedicated input/output jacks
Built-in digital spring reverb
4 – 16 ohms output
As a pedal platform or modeler power amp, the ABRAMS100 is a lightweight solution for players looking for big volume from a little head. The ABRAMS100 has a U.S. street price of $299.00. For more information visit ehx.com.