Band of Skulls’ song “Patterns” was featured on last night’s episode of Castle. The track opened ABC’s murder-mystery television show and the discovery of a vic’s body in the park. It was interesting timing since I had just published my article on the U.K. trio earlier in the afternoon. If you haven’t yet read it, check it out. This band is quickly gaining a following and could just be the next big thing. Read Band of Skulls: Fact or Fiction? Not much of a reader? Watch the video on them at Fender Vision.
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Band of Skulls Tune Opens ABC’s Show Castle
22 Hours, 28 Minutes ago
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Fender attended the Orange County Music Awards at the Grove in Anaheim on Saturday night for the 9th annual OC Music Awards, a show highlighted by live performances from up-and-coming bands like Melanoid, BLOK, the Steelwells and the night’s big winner, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band.
Dusty Rhodes and the River Band picked up three awards including best live band, a category that was accompanied by $2,500 worth of Fender gear and a four-day recording session at Red Bull Studio. Billy Kernkamp and his band also earned the same prize package for taking home best live acoustic band. Kernkamp plans to award his bassist with a new Fender bass and his recording studio with a new Bassman TV amp. Dusty Rhodes and the River Band are still trying to figure out how they’ll divvy up the Fender merchandise. In the meantime, guitarist Edson Choi enjoyed his new American Special guitar, also a gift from Fender.
Melanoid guitarist Chris Sorem likewise enjoyed playing his new American Special guitar at the show. The Steelwells guitarist Andrew Eapen had plenty of reasons to celebrate. We also gifted him with a new American Special guitar to play during his band’s performance of “El Capitan,” which won best song. The indie/folk rock band also won for best new artist.
Several of the evening’s performers earned compliments from Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath. “I’m just humbled and blown away by the talent I’ve seen onstage tonight,” said McGrath. “I think Dusty might be my new favorite person. BLOK (an electro hip-hop sibling trio) might be my favorite performance tonight. You guys rule. The Steelwells were unbelievable.” Sugar Ray was in the house to pick up the OC Impact Award.
Although it was a sad occasion, we were happy to also see our Fender artists Lit back in action. The platinum-recording selling band performed an acoustic version of “Here’s To Us” in tribute to their drummer Allen Shellenberger, who passed away on Aug. 13, 2009. The band is back to songwriting and plans to return to the recording studio in the next few months.
Both before and after the show, Fender staff manned a lobby display of guitars and amps for the evening’s attendees. Steelwells bassist Robbie Goulage was one of many musicians who stopped by to test a few of the instruments off the rack.
March 8 2010, 11:34pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Experience Hendrix Tour is Under Way
Eric Johnson at the opening night of the Experience Hendrix Tour Photo by Marty Temme The 2010 Experience Hendrix Tour is under way, currently heading to Las Vegas for tonight’s show at the Joint after playing Thursday night in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Friday night in Universal City, Calif. Here’s some more shots from the opening night.
Ernie Isley – Photo by Marty Temme Brad Whitford of Aerosmith – Photo by Marty Temme
Chris Boone of our Artist Relations team is currently out on the road with the Experience Hendrix crew, and sent a few shots below. Eric Johnson & Brad Whitford take a break from soundcheck to check out this ’47 Cadillac Hot Rod. Owned by Gary Weiss, the ‘47 Cadillac Hot Rod was featured in Outkast’s “Roses” video.
Lastly, we’d like to congratulate Mike Daniels of Las Vegas for winning the first pair of tickets of our Experience Hendrix Tour Ticket Giveaway! He’ll be front and center at tonight’s show. Don’t forget to enter here for your chance to win tickets to a show.
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March 6 2010, 12:21pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Kings Go Forth Earn High Praise for New Single
Pitchfork recently rewarded Kings Go Forth track “Don’t Take My Shadow” with a grade 8 review, not bad for the Milwaukee-based retro soul band. Pitchfork says the made for the dance floor tune captures “that fleeting moment when soul transmogrified into disco, emphasizing tight percussion, lyrics that address heartache with dignity and composure, and stirring harmonies.” Tom Moultin––legendary producer and originator of the remix, the breakdown section and the 12-inch single vinyl––worked with Kings Go Forth on the single, which will be featured on their upcoming debut album The Outsiders Are Back. Kings Go Forth will showcase down in SXSW in a few weeks, but here’s a preview now…
March 5 2010, 1:45pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Iron Maiden Reveal Album Name and Tour Details
Iron Maiden has revealed the name of its newest album––The Final Frontier, as well as details of their highly anticipated 2010 North American tour. “We’re still working on the set list for these summer shows, but this time it will cover the whole history of the band, and I can hint that we will be playing a taster from the new album,” says singer Bruce Dickinson. “We already have the designs for the new Final Frontier stage show which we are building to bring out with us, so this summer tour will be a bit of a preview for the fans. It’s certainly looking very spectacular at this stage and with a brand new Eddie and an amazing light show!” The English heavy metal icons are scheduled to play 22 shows, beginning with a June 9 concert in Dallas, Texas, and ending on July 20 in Washington, D.C. Following the wrap of the North American tour, Iron Maiden will play a few festivals and stadium shows in Europe. The Final Frontier is expected out in late summer.
March 5 2010, 10:40am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Bello, Benante of Anthrax Host Australian Clinic
Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante and bassist Frank Bello recently hosted the Bello Benante Bass Drum Clinic at Dream Music in Sydney, Australia. The band was visiting the land down under for the 2010 Soundwave festival. After an instructional period and then entertaining the crowd with stories from the road (if you’ve ever read Bello’s blog “Anthrax Anecdotes”, you already know they likely entailed a lot of boozing), Bello and Benante pulled a couple of kids from the audience to come up and jam with them. Thanks to our Fender/Squier team in Australia for pulling off this successful event!
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March 3 2010, 10:53am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Carl Verheyen Band Ready to Hit Europe
The Carl Verheyen Band will embark on a European tour this spring, beginning in Luneburg, Germany on March 5. As well as the band’s live performances, Carl Verheyen plans to host a few clinics. Visit here for tour and clinic dates. Verheyen, considered one of the “top 10 guitar players in the world” by Guitar Magazine, joined smash hit British rock group Supertramp back in 1985. The critically-acclaimed musician has 10 solo CDs to his credit, and as one of LA’s elite “first call” session players for the past 25 years, Verheyen has played on hundreds of records, movie soundtracks and television shows. Verheyen recently paid a visit by Fender’s headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he played around with the new G-DEC® 3. Check out the video.
March 3 2010, 9:40am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Fender bassist Eric Avery has quit Jane’s Addiction, announcing his departure via Twitter early Monday morning after the band wrapped its world tour in Australia. “That’s it. With equal parts regret and relief, the Jane’s Addiction experiment is at an end,” tweeted Avery. Avery co-founded the band in 1985, and then rejoined the group in 2008 for their first reunion since splitting in 1991. I spoke to Avery back at the 2010 Fender Showcase in January, asking him how the 2009 world tour had gone. “It was interesting––it was a lot of things. We are sort of a pretty fked up family. It’s true, and our particular brand of fed up-ness is pretty well documented, but the shows were great. They were really great. There was a really great response and energy to it and playing with Nails (NIN) was really great, too. “As long as we can stand each other, that’s (keep playing) what we’re doing,” he said. “So far, so good.” I guess the good ran out. Former Guns & Roses Duff McKagan is rumored to be his replacement.
March 2 2010, 3:54pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Billy Corgan’s latest Smashing Pumpkins track “A Stitch in Time” is now available for a FREE download below. This marks the third single from his 44-song project Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. To get his other two songs, visit the band’s official website A Stitch In Time by The Smashing Pumpkins “I have a hard time saying in most cases what inspires a song–some of them just pour out of me like salt and I feel like a custodian of a spirit I don’t fully understand but certainly can feel,” said Corgan in a Q&A released to the media. “The closest answer I have is that it’s a protest song–what I am protesting I’m not sure but it has something to do with real inner freedom and the consequence of what it means to be free. “The song came in during a stream of consciousness moment while sitting backstage at a Pumpkins concert in those wee, still hours between soundcheck and the show. The lyrics came just as surprisingly fast as the music, and the whole process took about 20 minutes. I recorded it on my phone, and so for a year it was the only document I had of the song. But the song stuck with me and I put it in my back pocket as something worth coming back to later. When I drew up the list of the first 4 songs to record this one easily made the cut because I think it has a signifying effect of what the album stands for, not so much musically but energetically and thematically.” Read more of the Q&A here.
March 2 2010, 1:21pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
GQ Photo Shoot with the Maine and myTouch™ 3G Fender™ Limited Edition
Check out the behind-the-scenes video footage of the T-Mobile® and myTouch™ 3G GQ photo shoot with The Maine as they explore the new myTouch™ 3G Fender™ Limited Edition.
March 1 2010, 2:34pm
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Announce Tour
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will mount an extensive North American tour this summer in support of upcoming album Mojo, the band’s first studio record in eight years. The official website claims that the spring slated album marks some of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers most exhilarating music ever. Its first single “Good Enough” is streaming on the site now. The tour starts in Raleigh, N.C. on May 6 and will include guest appearances along the way by My Morning Jacket, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Joe Cocker, ZZ Top and Drive-By Truckers. Ticket and tour date information can be found here.
March 1 2010, 10:49am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Prince debuted a new tune last week on Minnesota’s independent radio station 89.3, and thankfully it’s not nearly as forgettable as “Purple and Gold,” the lackluster fight song he penned for the Minnesota Vikings. “Cause and Effect” is a mix of surf rock, funk and metal, and depending on who you ask––either an absolute dog (Pitchfork) or fascinating (Stereogum). Apparently the Purple One is asking for the public to let him know what they think of the song, so listen and share your comments at 89.3.
March 1 2010, 10:35am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
The Summer Set Play at Harmonies for Haiti
Fender recently loaned the Summer Set a couple of California Series Sonoran™ SCE guitars for Harmonies for Haiti, a benefit show hosted by Disney Channel’s JONAS actress Chelsea Staub at the House of Blues on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Here’s the Arizona-based pop band’s acoustic version of “Lean on Me.”
February 26 2010, 11:45am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
Bamboozle Roadshow Announces Lineup and Tour Dates
Bryan Donahue of Boys Like Girls (Photo credit:Mike Caffrey) The New Jersey based Rock & Pop festival Bamboozle will hit the road for its 3rd nationwide tour. The Bamboozle Roadshow features headliners Boys Like Girls, All Time Low, Third Eye Blind, and LMFAO, with support from Good Charlotte, Hanson, Forever The Sickest Kids, Hellogoodbye, Cartel and many, many more. The Roadshow is kicking off May 21 in Columbia, Md., at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, hitting 26 major U.S. cities in all. May 21 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion May 22 – Charlotte, NC – Uptown Amphitheatre @ The Music Factory May 23 – Atlanta, GA – Six Flags Over Georgia May 25 – West Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheatre May 26 – Tampa, FL – Ford Amphitheatre May 28 – Houston, TX – Verizon Wireless Theatre (No 2nd Stage) May 29 – Arlington, TX – Six Flags Over Texas May 30 – San Antonio, TX – Six Flags Fiesta Texas June 2 – Phoenix, AZ – Cricket Amphitheatre June 5 – Concord, CA – Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord June 6 – Chula Vista, CA – Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre – Parking Lot June 10 – Minneapolis, MN – Cabooze Plaza June 11 – Milwaukee, WI – Eagles Ballroom June 12 – Chicago, IL- Soldier Field – Parking Lot June 13 – Eureka, MO – Six Flags St. Louis June 15 – Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre June 18 – Cleveland, OH – Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre @ Tower City June 19 – Cincinnati, OH – PNC Pavilion @ Riverbend Music Center June 20 – Philadelphia, PA – Festival Pier @ Penn’s Landing June 23 – Pittsburgh, PA – Amphitheatre @ Station Square June 24 – Jackson, NJ – Six Flags Great Adventure June 25 – Hershey, PA – Hershey Park Pavilion & Stadium June 26 – Nassau, NY – Nassau Coliseum – Parking Lot June 27 – Boston, MA – Comcast Center (All dates may not feature all artists, please check local listings) Pre-sale tickets are available here.
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February 25 2010, 11:01am
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From Fender Front Row, fender.com
A Reunited Aerosmith Announces Summer Tour
Aw, the gang’s back together again. The months of public squabbling over Steven Tyler’s announcement that he was quitting Aerosmith and Joe Perry’s follow-up response that the band was auditioning new singers have been put behind these longtime rockers. The band has reconciled and announced a European summer tour in this short and comedic online video clip.
February 25 2010, 10:41am
