nashville

The charitable arm of Gibson launches a program offering opioid emergency response kits—which contain two doses of the opioid reversal medication Naloxone—to 72-plus live music venues in the Nashville, Tennessee area.

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Cheap Trick at Budokan is a live concert album recorded in 1978 at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan arena. The Japanese recognized Cheap Trick was great, then the rest of the world followed.

Many bands, like Cheap Trick, experienced breakout success in the Land of the Rising Sun. Here’s my take on what to expect when touring there.

In 6th grade, my progressive parents agreed to let me go see KISS, despite a local church picketing the venue with signs that read “Satan’s Favorite Band” and “K.I.S.S. = Kings in Satan’s Sanctuary.” The opening act was then-unknown Cheap Trick. At the time, their two-nerd/two-cool-guy lineup seemed lame next to the Starchild, Catman, Spaceman, and Demon.

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Slash and Myles Kennedy have been teaming up since 2010, when Kennedy was chosen to front Slash’s touring band. Since then, they’ve made four studio albums together.

Photo by Andrew Nelson Photography

Despite almost the entire band getting Covid while recording in Nashville, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators refused to be stopped. The result, 4, is their best album to date.

When you think of Slash (born Saul Hudson), several things immediately come to mind. There’s his signature top hat, his flowing curly locks, his killer solos and bluesy riffs, and, of course, the Les Paul—the iconic axe that’s been by his side since the mid ’80s when he broke ground on Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction with timeless classics like “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and “Welcome to the Jungle.” There’s some controversy surrounding the actual guitar used on that album, with speculation that it wasn’t actually a Gibson but rather a replica made by luthier Kris Derrig. No matter the origin of that guitar, Slash popularized the Les Paul at the time when pointy-headed super strats ruled the world.

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