Greg Koch Band
Plays Well with Others
Rhymes With Chalk Music
Wisconsin-based
guitarist
Greg Koch is
a fiendishly
talented player
who not only
amazes with
his twisted blues sensibilities, but can
also disarm you with his legendary sense
of humor. He does this here by inviting
Joe Bonamassa, Robben Ford, and Paul
Barrère to the party. Billed as by the Greg
Koch Band, Plays Well with Others is
more of a group effort than his previous
instrumental releases. Even after a casual
listen, you can hear this ensemble is a
well-unified entity that could lay waste to
any blues bar this side of Kenosha.
The slinky, legato run that opens “Simone” is pure Koch—ear-twisting intervals combined with a down-home sensibility that’s equal parts Billy F. Gibbons and Joe Satriani. Bonamassa steps in for a chorus before trading with Koch, and in typical fashion, executes perfect EJ-esque runs with a bluesy bent. Jazz-bopper Robben Ford adds his unique, sophisticated lines on three cuts, including the strongest track on the album, “Walk Before You Crawl.” This album finally shows Koch in his most accessible context, as part of a rock-solid blues band. This album is bound to spread Koch’s reputation past Summerfest crowds and NAMM geeks who surf YouTube demo videos.
Must-hear track: “Walk Before You Crawl”
Slayer guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman formed the original searing 6-string front line of the most brutal band in the land. Together, they created an aggressive mood of malcontent with high-velocity thrash riffs and screeching solos that’ll slice your speaker cones. The only way to create a band more brutal than Slayer would be to animate them, and that’s exactly what Metalocalypse (and Home Movies) creator Brendon Small did.
From his first listen, Small has been a lifetime devotee and thrash-metal expert, so we invited him to help us break down what makes Slayer so great. Together, we dissect King and Hanneman’s guitar styles and list their angriest, most brutal songs, as well as those that create a mood of general horribleness.
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At 26, Blu DeTiger is the youngest musician ever to have a signature Fender bass guitar. The Fender Limited Player Plus x Blu DeTiger Jazz Bass, announced in September, pays tribute to the bassist and singer’s far-reaching impact and cultural sway. She’s played with Caroline Polachek, Bleachers, FLETCHER, Olivia Rodrigo, and more, and released her own LP in March 2024. In 2023, Forbes feature her on their top 30 Under 30 list of musicians. So how did DeTiger work her way to the top?
DeTiger opens up on this episode of Wong Notes about her career so far, which started at a School of Rock camp at age seven. That’s where she started performing and learning to gig with others—she played at CBGB’s before she turned 10. DeTiger took workshops with Victor Wooten at Berklee followed and studied under Steven Wolf, but years of DJing around New York City, which hammered in the hottest basslines in funk and disco, also imprinted on her style. (Larry Graham is DeTiger’s slap-bass hero.)
DeTiger and Wong dish on the ups and downs of touring and session life, collaborating with pop artists to make “timeless” pop songs, and how to get gigs. DeTiger’s advice? “You gotta be a good hang.”
