Gibson to Give Away 4 Les Pauls in December

Gibson to Give Away 4 Les Pauls in December 

Gibson’s monthly guitar giveaway promotion continues in December with four Les Paul Classic Custom guitars being given away to four lucky Facebook fans in the United States, Canada and the European Union.
To enter December’s Guitar Giveaway Sweepstakes, simply visit Gibson’s official Facebook page (http://www.Facebook.com/GibsonGuitar), cick on the “Contests” tab on the left side of the page, then fill out the required information.Featuring premium tonewoods, top-flight appointments, and the legendary power of the Les Paul Standard, the Les Paul Classic Custom is an instrument of astounding beauty and surprising versatility.

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Be sure to also “Like” Gibson on Facebook for daily updates, music news, new product announcements and lots o’ fun!Gibson Exclusive: Black Label Society’s Zakk Wylde Talks Christmas EP, Favorite GuitarsAnne Erickson, 11.16.2011Zakk Wylde is an unapologetic, heavy guitar icon, holding true to the power of a single six-string and a player withstrength, talent and drive. Wylde, of course, has a long run in support of Ozzy Osbourne on his résumé, as well as work fronting Southern-friend metal collective Black Label Society. His latest release with Black Label Society is a three-song acoustic Christmas EP, Glorious Christmas Songs That Will Make Your Black Label Heart Feel Good (available on iTunes), featuring the traditional Christmas songs “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” and “It’s a Wonderful World.”Now, Black Label Society are gearing up for a run of dates with Guns N’ Roses in December. A few weeks before the run, Wylde chatted with Gibson.com about playing with Slash and the GN’R guys and why he tells budding guitar players that after acquiring a Les Paul, “You’re never going to have to buy a guitar again.” 

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 What inspired you to put together a Christmas EP?I got asked by iTunes to do this Christmas collection, Glorious Christmas Songs That Will Make Your Black Label Heart Feel Good. Years ago, Father Vai called me up – Stevie Vai – and he just said, “Zakk, I’m putting together this Christmas record with some amazing guitar players,” and I was like, “Of course, I’ll do anything for you, Steve.” So, I did “White Christmas,” and that was years ago. Put it this way: Anytime you can go in and record and do something, it’s always a blast, anyways. If you can go and record something, it’s always a good time going into the studio. When we put this together, we just went into my recording studio, the Black Vatican, and knocked it out. I knew Sarah McLachlan did a bunch of Christmas things, so I just YouTubed some Sarah McLachlan stuff to see what Sarah did. I found a whole bunch of Christmas songs Sarah did, and I checked out some songs and thought, “Well, that’s good. I’ll do that one.” So, I knocked that out over a couple of days. For me, all I had to do was learn the song, put the string section to it and put some guitars to it. So, I really enjoyed doing it.What makes Gibson guitars special?It’s the history and the quality of the instrument, too. It’s an amazing instrument. It’s like a cheeseburger; it doesn’t go out of style, no matter what generation. Whether somebody picked a Les Paul up in ’58, that same guitar still works today. It doesn’t go in and out of fashion. And that’s because it’s a great instrument. It doesn’t matter what violin player is going to pick one of these up and whether it was made 10 years ago or 100 years from now. You pick up a Les Paul, and it’s always going to sound great. When you buy it, it’s an investment, and you’re never going to have to buy another guitar again.On the Christmas record, I used my Vertigo. Out on the road, I have the ZVs with me, I’ve got the Flying V, I have the Epiphone Graveyard Disciples and I’ve got the Les Pauls. Anything I endorse, I use. I always find it so odd when someone endorses a product and doesn’t use it. It’s like, what are you endorsing it for? You have to make it what you want.A lot of people don’t know you have a strong Catholic faith. How did it help you get through the blood clot situation and health scare?Yeah, I’m never afraid of that stuff. If that’s what He has planned for me, that’s what He has planned for me. I never asked for anything; I always thank. I’m just thankful for the time and the moment that I have here. You never ask; you always thank. So, I never question, “Why me?” I think, “Why not?” [Laughs] I go, “Okay, is this the next test? Let’s go!” As a soldier of Christ, you never walk alone. There’s never reason to be afraid.
 Chris Cornell on Soundgarden, Movies and Guitars 

 Chris Cornell has been a busy man of late. For roughly the past year, the veteran rocker has been dividing his time between performing solo acoustic shows--portions of which are featured on his new live disc, Songbook--and putting the final touches on the first new studio album from Soundgarden in 16 years. In addition, there's talk in Hollywood circles that Cornell might earn an Oscar for "The Keeper," a beautiful solo ballad he wrote and recorded for the acclaimed film, Machine Gun Preacher. Recently he spoke about his love of acoustic albums, his favorite guitars and his goals, going forward.Is releasing an acoustic-based album something you've wanted to do for a long time?An acoustic-based studio album, yes. That’s something I’ve thought a lot about, and it’s something fans seem to want me to do. I’m happy about that, because some of my all-time favorite albums are essentially stripped down to one or two instruments, with vocals. Early in my career I spent a bit of time doing that type of songwriting, but much more time writing music with Soundgarden--which is not that, obviously. My next solo record will probably involve new material that’s similar to what I did on Songbook.Did you write the film song, “The Keeper,” in the midst of doing the acoustic tour this past spring?I wrote it after doing those shows. The acoustic shows didn’t really feed into “The Keeper.” It had nothing to do with the tour, or with Songbook, in terms of my focus on what it is, or how I wrote it or what it sounds like. I was just trying to write what I felt would be most appropriate for the movie, given that I was writing just one song. There were so many different options, musically, that I could have taken for that film. There was a lot to draw from. At some point it just felt like the right direction would be something as stripped down as possible.Is writing songs as a solo artist different from writing songs within a band?There’s a certain amount of reacting that goes on in the context of a band, if you’re mainly co-writing. If I’m writing lyrics and vocal melodies to someone else’s arrangement, or someone else's guitar part, my ideas won’t be the same as they would be for my own song. In the context of Soundgarden, there’s a very stylized way that I approach that process. It may be a subconscious thing, but it's based on how I think the band should sound, and how I think I should respond to what they do creatively.You've characterized the break from Soundgarden as more of an extended vacation than a breakup.That’s right. I think if there’s a lesson to be learned, it’s that it wasn’t even necessary to announce a breakup. We could have just said we were going on indefinite hiatus, and that would have been fine. There didn’t have to be some sort of finality. It certainly didn’t change anything from the standpoint of the media or even Soundgarden fans. Every time I did an interview, I was asked, “Is Soundgarden ever going to get back together? Will the band ever do anything again?” Had we just said we were going on hiatus, the question would have been “When?” instead of “Will?” (laughs) And the answer would probably have been the same:  “I don’t know.”You’re in a good place in your life now, which wasn’t always the case. Is writing songs easier when you’re happy?I definitely feel a difference now. I’m able to do more, to contemplate more, to hear more, to understand more and to be more focused. People sometimes go through periods where they’re very self-destructive, and some sort of artistic, or emotionally intense, attitude, musically, may come out of that. And that’s great and brilliant and wonderful. But that tends to be short-lived, and it can sometimes be the only vital thing someone does. I’ve never felt like that was me. The really tumultuous, self-destructive period for me wasn’t the part of my career that seemed to yield a lot. I think I wrote some great music in that period, but I also think it took me a lot longer than it needed to. It wasn't my most prolific time.You play a wide variety of guitars. Of those, which are your favorite Gibsons?I’m playing ES-335s on-stage a lot with Soundgarden. I’ve also used them in the studio a bit. I really love that guitar. And I play a Les Paul here and there as well. It would be difficult for me to choose just one electric guitar, if I had to do that. There are so many different personalities that come out of each electric. It's all about getting different textures.How far into the future do you look?

I just want to be busy. Whatever that turns out to be, it will be fun. It’s a privilege to be able to follow your most passionate pursuit, to have that as your job. I don’t feel that it’s necessary for me to figure out what that might be, say, five years from now. I don’t want to be the sort of person who wants to know what that might be. That would mean I’m closed to the possibility of a change of heart, or changes in circumstances, or unpredictable events that might change how I feel. As long as I’m busy doing music, that’s all I care about.

December 31st day music spotlight list

 

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Brought to you by This Day in Music.com.
Born on this day:
1930, Odetta, folk and blues singer
1942, Andy Summers, guitar, Police
1943, John Denver, singer-songwriter
1943, Pete Quaife, bass, The Kinks
1947, Burton Cummings, vocals, The Guess Who
1948, Donna Summer, singer
1951, Tom Hamilton, bass, Aerosmith
1959, Paul Westerberg, guitar, vocals, The Replacements
1963, Scott Ian, guitar, Anthrax
1972, Joe McIntyre, vocals, New Kids on the Block
1952, Country legend Hank Williams died en route from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Ohio. For more on this story, see This Day in Music Spotlight.
1961, The Four Freshmen made their live debut using their new name, The Beach Boys, at the Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California.
1963, The Kinks made their live debut when they played at the Lotus House Restaurant, London.
1966, The Monkees started a seven-week run at #1 on the U.S. singles charts with the Neil Diamond song “I’m a Believer.” It also was a #1 in the U.K. in 1967.
1967, American songwriter and producer Bert Berns died of heart failure aged 38. He wrote many classic songs including “Twist and Shout,” “Hang On Sloopy,” “Here Comes the Night,” “I Want Candy” and “Brown Eyed Girl.”
1968, Joe Cocker, Amen Corner, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, The Small Faces, Free and Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band all appeared at Alexandra Palace, London.
1970, Paul McCartney filed a suit against the rest of The Beatles to dissolve their partnership.
1973, Australian band AC/DC made their live debut when they appeared at Chequers Bar in Sydney.
1979, David Bowie performed an acoustic version of “Space Oddity” on the Kenny Everett New Year’s Show on U.K. TV.
1982, Max’s Kansas City in New York City closed down. The venue had been a launching pad for such artists as The New York Dolls, Bruce Springsteen and The Velvet Underground.
1984, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen crashed his Corvette Stingray on the A57 outside Sheffield. Allen lost his left arm in the accident. Allen was on his way to a New Year’s Eve party at his family’s home when a Jaguar passed him. The driver had been egging on Allen and would not allow him to pass. In his rage to pass this driver, he did not see a turn up ahead and lost control of his car. He was thrown from the car, with his left arm severed due to the seatbelt not being properly fastened.
1985, Ricky Nelson was killed along with six others, when his charted light aircraft crashed in Texas. He scored the 1958 U.S. #1 “Poor Little Fool,” 1961 U.K. #2 single “Hello Mary Lou,” plus more than 30 U.S. Top 40 hit singles.
1991, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all appeared on the same bill at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California.
1991, Ted Nugent donated 200 pounds of venison to a Salvation Army soup kitchen in Detroit with the message “I kill it, you grill it.”
1996, Paul McCartney became a knight after he was listed in the Queen of England’s New Year’s Honors List.
1999, The Manic Street Preachers performed to 57,000 fans at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The Guinness Book of Records confirmed that the concert set a new record as the biggest indoor show ever staged in Europe.
2000, Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson married actress Kate Hudson, the daughter of actress Goldie Hawn. The couple separated in 2006.
2003, Kevin Mac Michael, guitarist with Cutting Crew, died of lung cancer at age 51. He also worked with Robert Plant and The Rankin Family.
2003, Australian singer and actress Natalie Imbruglia married Silverchair singer Daniel Johns.
2004, Pete Waterman was awarded an OBE for his services to music. Waterman had written and produced more than 200 hit singles in 25 years.
2005, The John Lennon song “Imagine” was voted England’s favorite song a quarter of a century after his death. A U.K. radio station conducted the poll of 7,000 listeners. The Beatles were voted into second and third place with “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be.”
2006, George Michael was paid a reported £1.5m for an hour’s concert at a Russian billionaire’s New Year’s party. 

This Day in Music: January 1st

Brought to you by This Day in Music.com. 

Born on this day:  

942, Country Joe McDonald, vocals, guitar, Country Joe and the Fish  

1945, Jim Gordon, session drummer  

1950, Morgan Fisher, keyboards, Mott the Hoople  

1958, Grandmaster Flash (a.k.a. Joseph Saddler), DJ  

1962, Ari Up, vocals, The Slits  

1953, Country singer Hank Williams died at age 29 of a heart attack brought on by drugs and alcohol. Over 20,000 mourners attended his funeral. 

1955, Elvis Presley appeared at The Eagles Hall in Houston, Texas. He went on to play over 250 shows in 1955.1960, Johnny Cash played at San Quentin Prison, San Francisco.1962, The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records London, but A&R boss Dick Rowe turned them down. For more on this story, see This Day in Music Spotlight. 1964, BBC TV transmited the first Top of the Pops from an old church hall in Manchester, England. Introduced by DJ Jimmy Savile, acts miming to their latest releases include The Rolling Stones (“I Wanna Be Your Man”), Dave Clark Five (“Glad All Over”), Hollies (“Stay”) and Swinging Blue Jeans (“Hippy Hippy Shake”). The opening song is Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want to Be With You.” Also featured, on disc and film, are The Beatles (“I Want to Hold Your Hand”), Freddie & The Dreamers, Cliff Richard & The Shadows and Gene Pitney. 1977, Genesis played the first of three nights at the newly renovated Rainbow Theatre in London. 1977, The Clash played the opening night at U.K. punk’s first real venue, The Roxy Club in London. 1982, ABBA made their final live appearance in Stockholm, Sweden. 1989, Nirvana signed a one-year contract with Sub Pop records. 1990, American radio station WKRL in Florida played Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” for 24 hours as a prelude to an all-Zeppelin format. 2007, Queen beat The Beatles as greatest British band of all time as voted by U.K. BBC Radio 2 listeners. They topped the Fab Four in a live contest, trouncing other finalists The Rolling Stones, Oasis and Take That. More than 20,000 vote by e-mail, text and phone. 

10 Rock and Metal Christmas Albums That Aren’t Horrible

  Christmas and heavy music make for strange bedfellows. That said, a handful of rock and metal personalities have managed to knock out holiday sets that are actually really good, both placing their muscular stamp on Christmas classics and crafting entirely new yuletide tunes. Read on for 10 hard rock and metal Christmas albums that might prove the perfect fit for background music at Christmas dinner. Okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but, nonetheless, these releases sure rock! To say The Vandals’ Christmas with the Vandals is not your traditional Christmas album is an understatement. The California punk-rock outfit dish out cynical tracks such as “I Don’t Believe in Santa Claus” and “Thanx for Nothing,” in typical anti-establishment, punk rock tradition. This is a good bet for someone with a sense of humor and love for DIY punk.

  We Wish You a Hairy Christmas featuring Warrant, L.A. Guns and more  

 Who says hair metal fans can’t have a merry Christmas? We Wish You a Hairy Christmas features glam-rockers Warrant covering The Kinks’ “Father Christmas,” Faster Pussycat putting their spin on “Silent Night,” L.A. Guns doing “Run Run Rudolph” and more amusing arrivals. Have a fan of ’80s metal glory on your Christmas list? This set might do the trick.

 Who says hair metal fans can’t have a merry Christmas? We Wish You a Hairy Christmas features glam-rockers Warrant covering The Kinks’ “Father Christmas,” Faster Pussycat putting their spin on “Silent Night,” L.A. Guns doing “Run Run Rudolph” and more amusing arrivals. Have a fan of ’80s metal glory on your Christmas list? This set might do the trick.

8*Smash Mouth, The Gift of Rock 

Rock is really a wonderful gift, right? That’s the idea behind novelty rock band Smash Mouth’s The Gift of Christmas, which has the California group covering rock holiday classics (“Snoopy’s Christmas,” “Come on Christmas, Christmas Come On; “Zat You, Santa Claus?”) instead of strictly traditional yuletide tunes. Who you expect anything less from the quirky pop band? 

7*Psychostick, The Flesh Eating Rollerskate Holiday Joyride  

 With a title like The Flesh Eating Rollerskate Holiday Joyride, it’s no surprise that this Christmas album is packed with flat-out crazy holiday tunes. From the heavy metal to the sardonic, song titles like “Holiday Hate” and “Jingle Bell Metal” get the point across. 

6*Twisted Sister, A Twisted Christmas 

 On A Twisted Christmas, Dee Snider and his glam group riddle the cherished Christmas carol through a hair metal lens, putting their mark on traditional songs such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,”  “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” “White Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” While the songs no doubt carry Twisted Sister’s heavy metal edge and punk energy, Snider and company keep relatively close to the originals, and that makes this a surprisingly conventional score.