"Neuromancer" The Most Influential Book of Your Lifetime?

What? You haven't heard of "Neuromancer"? Yes, my friend, you have....

"Neuromancer", published in 1984 by then-unknown author William Gibson, came out of nowhere and immediately changed the face of science fiction. It was the first book to ever win the sci-fi "triple crown" (Nebula, Hugo, and PK Dick Awards) and defined the cyber-punk genre.

That would be enough of an accomplishment to revisit this book 30 years later. That would be enough to make anyone's career.

But it didn't stop there.

KXM - Album Review

It was at a birthday party for the son of Ray Luzier (drummer of the band Korn) that George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) and dUg Pinnick (King's X) got the tour of Ray's home recording studio. And it was in that studio that Ray suggested that the 3 get together as a classic power trio.

Fortunately, George and dUg agreed, and KXM was born.

"Delayed Train" - new video from Preston Reed

Preston Reed has released a new video - this one for the song "Delayed Train" from the album "In Here Out There". Filmed at Loch Lomond in Scotland on July 2nd of this year, the song features Preston working his usual; magic plus some tasty slide guitar!

Check it out:

KXM: "Gunfight"

My buddy Mike Froedge mentioned in passing one day that I should listen to KXM, so I filed in the back of my mind that I'd get around to it at first opportunity. Then I heard it was George Lynch's new band and thought I best make time! Turns out KXM is not only Lynch, but Ray Luzier (drummer for Korn) and dUg Pinnick (bass/vocals for King's X).

Note to self: When Froedge says listen, do it.

GUITAR GODS: Kelly Richey (the lost interview)

Among our lost interviews is this 2009 interview with the amazing blues guitarist Kelly Richey. The original intro was lost forever, but we found theraw interview, and so present it below un-edited.

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Kelly started playing in late 70s when she was 15, and soon was practicing a mind boggling 12 hours a day. She joined the band Stealin' Horses in 1986, which afforded her the opportunity to tour a large part of the US. She left in 1990 to start her own band and relocated to Cincinnati, OH. She released her first solo record in 1996 and since then has released 13 albums, including the instrumental album "Speechless" (2006).

In addition to a grueling recording and performance schedule, Kelly maintains a private teaching studio and is also actively involved in community outreach through a variety of projects.

Visit Kelly on-line at http://www.kellyrichey.com/

Here is the original interview.....

"GUITAR GODS: Dave Martone"

Another of our "lost interviews" (from 2010)......

I don't remember how I first learned about Dave Martone (though I think it was on the advice of one of the "Guitar Gods" interviewees like Greg Howe or Jennifer Batten or Marty Friedman or Billy Sheehan...all of whom Martone has played with at some point), but I do remember that when I first heard him I was blown away.

Martone has a super fluid style that seems to at once draw on myriad musical styles and at the same time none at all....somewhere off in the stratosphere influenced by nothing but the intersection of heart, mind, and the musical moment. His technique is flawless, his sound impeccable, his compositions seemingly of some sacred geometry, his improv not of this earth.


Dave Martone started playing acoustic and classical at an early age, followed briefly by flamenco, and then leaped both feet into the world of rock guitar. After school, he secured a certificate in recording engineering from Fanshawe College and then headed to Berklee College of Music as a performance major, where he graduated in the mid 1990s.


Since then, he has conducted teaching clinics at Berklee, music stores, The National Guitar Workshop, and beyond, written for Guitar9.com, hosted The Satcvh Zone with Joe Satriani, released multiple albums on Magna Carta Records, operates his own recording studio, and more.


You can visit Dave on-line, where his site is full of music, lessons, videos, and more,


I had a chance to speak to Dave recently (ed note: this was 2010 and is one of our "lost interviews"). Check it out!

"GUITAR GODS: Frank Marino"

Countless publications have called Frank Marino one of the best and most under-rated guitarists of the 1970s. I call him one of the best and most under-rated rock guitarists ever.


Fronting the Canadian hard rock band Mahogany Rush from 1970 to 1993 (when Frank retired) and again (when Frank came out of retirement) from 2001 to the today, the bands popularity peaked from 1974 - the year of their highest charting album - to 1978, when they appeared at the famed California Jam with Aerosmith, Foreigner, Heart, Ted Nugent, Santana, and more top bands of the day.


Frank's style is influenced by players as diverse as Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman, and has influenced countless players from blues master Eric Gales to metal god Zach Wilde. You can visit Frank at his website MahoganyRush.com


I spoke to Frank in 2010 (this is one of the Lost Interviews). Check it out!

"Guitar Gods" the Lost Interviews!

Somewhere around 2010, Tinfoil Magazine (the on-line magazine where we'd been posting/publishing the "Guitar Gods" interview series since March of 2002) sadly went off-line. I had posted nearly 50 interviews, as well as CD reviews and the like, in that 8 years and still had several interviews in the can awaiting publications.

Among those interviews was blues burner Kelly Richey (which actually made it on-line, but the interview was lost as the site went down) as well as rock-fusion shredder Dave Martone and rock legend Frank Marino (of Mahogany Rush), whose interviews were lost ion a computer crash weeks later as we tried to figure out what to do next.

Well....we now have recovered those interviews (at least the raw interview segments),and these interviews will be going on-line SOON!

So keep your eyes and ears open for the Lost Interviews...found!

RORY BLOCK: When a Woman Gets the Blues

For my money, Rory Block is the best acoustic blues player alive, and one of the best acoustic blues players to ever live. Her ability to not only compose new material but to interpret the songs of the masters (Robert Johnson, Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Tommy Johnson, and more) is, quite simply, un-matched. She is the best at what she does. Period.

And allow me to go a step further. Though it is anathema to say so (and Rory herself - as well as the blues establishment - will certainly disagree with me), , allow me to make a bold prediction: Rory Block will be remembered, 50 years, 100 years, and more from now, as better than not only her peers, but than most of the guitarists she looks up to. Better, in fact, than most players of any style.

"Small Batch" - the Review

Did you know that whiskey can be made anywhere, but that particular brand of whiskey called "bourbon" can only be produced in the US? Did you know that law was passed in 1964 by congress? Or that it is at least 80 proof? Or is made from mash of at least 51% corn?

Did you know "small batch" bourbon doesn't have a specific definition, but that the name implies (almost always correctly) high quality?

And so it is with a small book of poetry called "Small Batch: an anthology of bourbon poetry" (Two of Cups Press, 2013 - http://twoofcupspress.wordpress.com/). A high quality collection of poems from over 50 high quality poets, straight with no chaser.

Before we get any further, I should note that I am no poet (I'm a musician) and poetry not tethered to music often confuses or eludes me. Not so this little gem. To wit:

I heard this press wanted poems about

bourbon.

This confused me, because I thought

bourbon

was already a poem.

(David S. Atkinson)

Makes perfect sense to me.

And so begins this fantastic book! It weaves through poems with titles like "The Bourbon Drinker's Guide to Intimacy" and "verge" and "Spirits" and "Shadow Traffic"...."Julep" and "Don't Marry Before You Liquor" and "Ode to Bourbon".

Each a new wonder of words and images.

Kudos to Leigh Anne Hornfeldt and Teneice Durrant on editing a fantastic book that should be owned and read by every lover of both poetry and bourbon everywhere.