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GALLERY: Austin City Limits Festival 2014

Guitar highlights from the South’s live music capital.

Epiphone enthusiast Kevin McKeown of Black Pistol Fire with a Sheraton II in a natural finish (a model Edge has been known to favor).

Inspired by PBS’s long-running Austin City Limits program, the Austin City Limits Festival has gained a reputation since its 2002 birth as a premier soapbox for budding singer/songwriters. While that remains a crucial part of ACL, in 2012 the fest expanded to two weekends, with musical heat from all genres. This year, for example, saw many hip-hop and EDM headliners, though there was plenty of guitar ingenuity as well. We bring you a glimpse of what went down this year in Austin’s Zilker Park.

Montana’s own Evel Knievel

If artists aren’t allowed to take risks, and even fail, great art will never be made. Need proof? Check Picasso, Hendrix, Monk, and Led Zeppelin.

In sixth grade, I went to a strict Catholic school. When you have an Italian-Irish mother, that’s just part of the deal. The nuns had the look and temperament of the defensive line of the ’70s Oakland Raiders. Corporal punishment was harsh, swift, and plentiful–particularly toward boys—and we all feared them. All but one second grader. I can’t remember his first name; nobody used it, because his last name was Knievel. His uncle was Evel Knievel, the greatest and perhaps only celebrity ever to come from my home state, Montana. On the playground, we would watch in awe as this wild Knievel kid raced by us, nuns chasing in an awkward, sluggish pursuit as he knocked kids over, dust, books, and gravel flying behind his path of terror. This kid was fearless. It was truly inspiring to watch.

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Stringjoy has introduced the Ariel Posen Signature String Set, a heavy-gauge Nickel Wound set designed in close collaboration with acclaimed slide guitarist and singer-songwriter Ariel Posen.

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Kemper updated the entire product range introducing the all-new Kemper Profiler MK 2 Series. More Power. More Flexibility.

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The Billy Idol guitarist rides his Knaggs into Nashville.

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