"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.

"GUITAR GODS: 'Blind Dog' Gatewood"

I first experienced Blind Dog Gatewood a few years back at a multi-artist gig in Louisville, KY. By my reckoning, he stole the show. No one was expecting this mild-mannered guy to explode when he hit the stage...but he did. Exploded a delta-blues fury of strings, harmonica, and vocals that left the crowd stunned and amazed.

Hailing from Detroit, MI, Blind Dog has been a professional performer and guitar instructor all of his adult life. He is an award-winning one-man act who has polished his chops in places as diverse as the Sierra Foothills, the Mojave Desert, Mississippi Delta and the streets of New Orleans. In September 2002, he took the first prize in Colorado at the Telluride Acoustic Blues competition. First place winners are honored with a performance on the main stage the following day at the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival for over seven thousand attendees. That same year he won the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s Blues Challenge out of Louisville Kentucky and represented the Society at the International Blues Challenge on Beale Street in Memphis Tennessee. In 2004 “Blind-Dog” was a Finalist for the first Annual International Acoustic Music Awards (IAMA) in the category of AMERICANA/ROOTS/AAA, for his song “TELLURIDE”. In addition, a Simi finalist in 2006 in the International Song Contest (ISC), Blues category, for his song “Monkey On My Back”.

"Guitar Gods: LIVE!" debut's with Diana Chittester

The Guitar Gods interview series has been trucking along since about 2002 when I took a decade old interview I had done with acoustic wizard Michael Hedges and began a series around it, featuring unknown gurus to Grammy Award winners, published at the now defunct Tinfoil Music Magazine.

Not too long ago, I transferred all the old interviews (except a few that were lost when Tinfoil died) to this magazine - Skinny Devil Magazine.

Now, the interview series comes to the concert stage.

That monthly live show is taped for our new "Guitar Gods: LIVE!" web series.

We kicked it off in April (International Guitar Month) with a 60 minute show that includes a single-song opening act followed by a guest, who goes through 20+ minutes of solo performance/clinic, a sit-down one-on-one interview (same questions asked in the print/web version of the series), another song, audience Q&A, and wrap up with either another song or a 2 guitar jam (me holding down the rhythm while they shine).

Our debut show featured Cleveland-based Diana Chittester (opened by All The Little Pieces), Part one is now on-line.

Please watch...and share.

Thank you for your years of support!

Guitar Gods: LIVE!

"Dead River Scriptures" released by Gregory

Gregory has released a new album: "Dead River Scriptures". This is his 7th release, and a follow-up to last year's "Apostacy".


We'll provide a review soon, but for now DIG IT:

http://gregoryfrancis.bandcamp.com/album/dead-river-scriptures

"GUITAR GODS: Diana Chittester"

She has opened for the likes of Melissa Ferrick, Catie Curtis, Kim Richey, Bitch and Ferron, blues guitarist Kelly Richey, to classic rocker Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown and shredding guitarist - and fellow Guitar Gods interviewee - Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson, Jeff Beck).

Critics have called her "...intelligent and articulate artist..." who "...demonstrate(s) prowess on the guitar and (a) penchant for wrenching vocals..." and who possesses "...an intensely unique acoustic guitar style … pounding out explosive rhythms and intricate leads...".

She is one woman, one guitar, and no gimmicks...and she is, according to this writer, one of THE most important artists on the scene in years, and one to watch closely for years to come. And, for guitarists, one to study closely. I witnessed a clinic where, on her first song, she played finger patterns so quickly they audience thought she was strumming, flawlessly executed metric modulations, and still left space for the instrument to breathe. Oh, yeah - and she has an awesome voice, too!


She just completed the recorded of a new album in New Orleans with engineer and producer Andrew "Goat Boy" Gilchrist and is about to hit the road on a 20 city tour across the eastern US and Canada.

You can visit her on-line HERE.


I had a chance to chat with Diana recently. Check it out!

New Tori Amos!

Tori Amos has released a new single (with ablum and tour to follow).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EAVmVijVw4

Music Therapy

Amazing.....

Watch and listen!