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Is Print Dying?

In an ever-changing, continually progressing digital world filled with various forms of multimedia marketing, some seem to believe that the role of print continues to be in question. In a

In an ever-changing, continually progressing digital world filled with various forms of multimedia marketing, some seem to believe that the role of print continues to be in question. In a civilization where our kids seem to be filled with a belief that technology replaces sociology; that just about everything you want and need in life is a short mouse click away; that an iPod has replaced a good old-fashioned guitar lesson and the Nintendo Wii has replaced the visceral experience of everything from tennis to bowling, it is certainly understandable that this perception may have some validity.

At last Septemberā€™s Folio conference (a trade show for publishers) in New York City, this was a pervasive topic of conversation. The conference featured more than 170 speakers, comprised mainly of publishing industry professionals, to discuss amongst several other topics, the modern day role of printed magazines. The overwhelming consensus was that print is as alive as it has ever been ā€“ in fact, there are more publications being printed today than in any other time period, servicing a constantly expanding portfolio of niche markets. It was also concluded that the intrinsically satisfying experience of interacting with a print product will perhaps never be replaced. But can we find ways to enhance your reading experience? Absolutely, and hereā€™s how.

The role of print is changing, evolving and maturing. Here at PG, we believe that our print publication is the first stop on an incredible tone journey ā€“ a backstage pass to a variety of multimedia services that are designed to assist you in your progression as a player and provide you with an expanding portal of interactive services to help you improve your tone.

At the end of the day, our primary objective is to help you sound better. By taking advantage of digital audio and video, we aim to provide you with the ability to access cutting-edge lessons; audio and video gear reviews so you can see and hear it without leaving home; podcasts that connect you to the opinions of industry experts; daily news feeds on products and the world of guitar; interactive tech advice so you can do it yourself; and Gear Search to help you find the gear you need from dealers across the country.

Premierguitar.com is a community of sharing, including your ideas and opinions with fellow tone chasers. Feel free to search our digital publication to network with our advertisers; link to their websites; access an advertiserā€™s video through the digital edition; download your favorite articles and send them to friends; access an archive of back issues; and join a community of worldwide readers from over 90 countries.

So is print dying? Hardly, as evidenced by you reading this. Until you are coordinated enough to take your laptop to the bathroom with you, I believe print will be around for a long, long time. Rock On!

The Spirit Fall trio: drummer Brian Blade (right) and saxophonist Chris Potter (center) joined Patitucci (left) for a single day at The Bunker. ā€œThose guys are scary. It almost puts pressure on me, how good they are, because they get it really fast,ā€ says Patitucci.

Photo by Sachi Sato

Legendary bassist John Patitucci continues to explore the sound of a chord-less trio that balances melodicism with boundless harmonic freedomā€”and shares lessons he learned from his mentors Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter.

In 1959, Miles Davisā€™ Kind of Blue and John Coltraneā€™s Giant Stepsā€”two of the most influential albums in jazz historyā€”were recorded. Itā€™s somewhat poetic that four-time Grammy-winning jazz bass icon John Patitucci was born that same year. In addition to a storied career as a bandleader, Patitucci cemented his legacy through his lengthy association with two giants of jazz: keyboardist Chick Corea, with whom Patitucci enjoyed a 10-year tenure as an original member of his Elektric and Akoustic bands, and saxophonist Wayne Shorterā€™s quartet, of which he was a core member for 20 years. Patitucci has also worked with a whoā€™s who of jazz elites like Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, and Michael Brecker.

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The National New Yorker lived at the forefront of the emerging electric guitar industry, and in Memphis Minnieā€™s hands, it came alive.

This National electric is just the tip of the iceberg of electric guitar history.

On a summer day in 1897, a girl named Lizzie Douglas was born on a farm in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi, the first of 13 siblings. When she was seven, her family moved closer to Memphis, Tennessee, and little Lizzie took up the banjo. Banjo led to guitar, guitar led to gigs, and gigs led to dreams. She was a prodigious talent, and ā€œKidā€ Douglas ran away from home to play for tips on Beale Street when she was just a teenager. She began touring around the South, adopted the moniker Memphis Minnie, and eventually joined the circus for a few years.

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- YouTube

In our third installment with Santa Cruz Guitar Company founder Richard Hoover, the master luthier shows PG's John Bohlinger how his team of builders assemble and construct guitars like a chef preparing food pairings. Hoover explains that the finer details like binding, headstock size and shape, internal bracing, and adhesives are critical players in shaping an instrument's sound. Finally, Richard explains how SCGC uses every inch of wood for making acoustic guitars or outside ventures like surfboards and art.

We know Horsegirl as a band of musicians, but their friendships will always come before the music. From left to right: Nora Cheng, drummer Gigi Reece, and Penelope Lowenstein.

Photo by Ruby Faye

The Chicago-via-New York trio of best friends reinterpret the best bits of college-rock and ā€™90s indie on their new record, Phonetics On and On.

Horsegirl guitarists Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein are back in their hometown of Chicago during winter break from New York University, where they share an apartment with drummer Gigi Reece. Theyā€™re both in the middle of writing papers. Cheng is working on one about Buckminster Fuller for a city planning class, and Lowenstein is untangling Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmannā€™s short story, ā€œThree Paths to the Lake.ā€

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