Two guitar legends Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck did a special show on February 21 and 22 at Saitama Arena, Japan and they really rocked the arena. The two days concerts was definitely special as it was for the first time Eric and Jeff did a major show together on stage. The two have played together at Yardbirds years ago and after that they went on to pursue their solo career. For those who haven't watched the streamed videos, you can watched them below.

On the special show, knowing that both artists have their own huge fans base and tons of songs collection they set a separate set up at the beginning with Jeff acted as the opener and Eric played after him. After both musicians finished their set, they take the stage together and did a jamm session together.

Beside doing the tow special performances, both guitar legends are still busy with their own tour, Eric still have some schedules that he have to do in Japan until February 28, where he will close his tour in Japan at the Budokan Hall. After that the "Tears in Heaven" singer, still have lots of venues on the line including the upcoming U.S. tour dates with Steve Winwood that will start on June 10.

Meanwhile, not that different from Eric, Jeff also has a packed schedule in front of him where he will also embark the U.S. for a tour. The guitar legend is set to kick off his road trip in the U.S. on April 4 at Cleveland and set to end it on April 23 at Oakland Fox Theater.


Here are some good quality videos from Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton Concerts in Saitama:

Exciting news comes for hard rock fans especially those who digg ex-Dio guitarist' Rowan Robertson's new band DC4 as they will hold the release party for their new album "Explode". According to the official press release outed by the band's label Chavis Records, the event will be done on Saturday, February 28 at the Key Club in LA, CA.

Though still having a hectic tour schedule up ahead of them, U.K. shred metal band Dragonforce are determined to spoil their fans and repay their loyal support to the band by adding new tour dates. Announcing the news on their official website, the band revealed that they will be hitting the North America again in April as a part of their special tour dedicated to their devotees there.

On the announcement on their official site, that the upcoming tour will be a special one as it will be done it venues that they missed during their previous U.S. tour, not only that since it is being dedicated to their loyal fans, it will have a very low ticket price around $15 only. Making it more special the band also promises that they will have two special guesses for the tour, however there are no details yet regarding who the special guests will be.

In the meantime before embarking the U.S. the band at the moment are still finishing their long European tour that will temporary end on March 6 at Moskow, Russia. After that the band will be hitting Asia, starting from Japan on March 26 and set to end on April 11 in Singapore.

The current world tour itself was done to support the release of the band's 2008 record "Ultra Beatdown", that has been dropped to the market on August 20, 2008 in Japan and on August 26, 2008 world wide. The latest single that was outed from the record was "The Last Journey Home" which had its music video premiered on XBOX Live on January 21.

Just as it was scheduled the highly anticipated super guitar collaboration formed by Paul Gilbert, Richie Kotzen and George Lynch dubbed The Guitar Generation has finally kicked off their first show on February 25 at the House of Blues, San Diego. The show that started at 8.00 PM was the first out of the three performances that currently revealed, the other two shows will be held on February 28 at House of Blues, Sunset Strip, West Hollywood, CA and the final show is scheduled to be held on May 3, at House of Blues, Anaheim, CA.

On the concert that was being set just like the popular Joe Satrianie's G3 the guitar masters were each given a separate set to play their own stuff, with Richie being dubbed as the opener and Paul as the headline. After finishing their own set, the trio take the stage together and jamming like crazy, some of the songs that were played at the Jamm session were, Light My Fire, 30 Days in the Hole and others.

The news about the Guitar Generation was reportedly first tipped of by George during an interview with Bravewords.com on December 4, 2008. Here is what George said about the Guitar Generation, "I want to say that I will be going out on the Guitar Generation Tour in late February with Paul Gilbert and Richie Kotzen. It is kind of a G3 thing across the country for about six weeks. Paul Gilbert is the headliner and Richie Kotzen is opening up. Those guys are monsters. Richie is an amazing singer. So I have got my work cut out for me. We will definitely be in very part of the country."

Beside doing the GG tour, all guitarists actually have their own agenda this year, Richie has just finished hie European tour on February 20 in Zoe Club, Milan. Meanwhile George himself is currently finishing his band Lynch Mob's new album, while Paul has just finished invading Japan to do some concerts promoting his new album "United States" with Freddie Nelson and also promoting Mr. Big reunion concert with the other original members Billy Sheehan, Pat Torpey and Eric Martin.

Here are some short videos from the Guitar Generation gig in San Diego:

In Rotorsound's official website you can even downloaded a special bundle of Guthrie Govan's Orange Jam which consist of Guthrie's improvised solos video, Backing tracks and full tab transcribed for free!!. Just read the site's promo, "Being the generous folks that we are, we have created this digital download zone to offer you these superb video, audio, and screensaver files absolutely free.Video files are MP4 format whilst the audio files are MP3. Solo transcriptions are supplied as Acrobat PDFs and/or Powertab. The bundles are quite large files, so please be patient whilst downloading."

Guthrie himself is currently being noted as one of the should be watched guitarist these days as he received many compliments from fellow guitar virtuosos. Just as you can see from his official MySpace page, the likes of Richie Kotzen, Joe Satriani, Greg Howe, Bumblefoot, Doug Aldrich and many others stated that they were amazed with Guthrie's playing especially on his latest album "Erotic Cakes".

The record itself was released on 2006 via Cornford Records and Guthrie stated that the album was named after one of the episodes from famous U.S. cartoon series "The Simpson". On "Erotic Cakes", the guitar master was also helped by other virtuosos such as Richie and Bumblefoot.

Here is Guthrie Govan's new video:

Exciting news for die hard Extreme fans in the U.S. as the latest report coming from merriweathermusic.com stated that the band will be playing at the M3 Rock Festival set to be held at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday, May 30. The band will be joined by other famous rock act at the show such as RATT, Twisted Sister, Dokken, LA. Guns and many more.

The festival itself will be a full fest that will feature 2 stages, in total of 16 bands will be performing, and will spoiled and thrilled rock fans with amazing performances for about 10 hours long. Meanwhile, the tickets for the event hasn't been open yet but it will be on sale via ticketmaster.com starting from February 28 at 10.00 AM EST.

Previously, Extreme has just did a special performance for VH1 show where they appeared at the "That Metal Show" held on February 18 at NEP Studio 33 – 503 West 33rd between 10th and 11th avenue. On the show hosted by Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson, Nuno Bettencourt and Gary Cherone chat and talk about Extreme's upcoming and past activities.

The band that has just re-united, has already finished their world tour in support of their latest album "Saudades de Rock" that was released on August 12, 2008. Nuno also revealed that this year they will be releasing some music videos for some of the new record's hit songs.

Yet to release his upcoming new acoustic album, neo-classical king Yngwie Malmsteen looks set to give more gift to his fans as the latest reports stated that he will release two new Live DVDs on March 24. The two DVD that are set to be dropped are "Live Animal" and "Live at Budokan", both of the show is certainly taken from the guitar legend previous live shows, the first was taken from his Brazil tour in 1998 while the latter was from his Japan show.

According to Amazon.com, the "Live Animal" DVD will have about 80 minutes running time and will feature hits song such as "Resurrection", "Facing The Animal", "Rising Force", "Bedroom Eyes", "Far Beyond The Sun", "Like An Angel", "Braveheart", "Seventh Sign", "Trilogy Suite", "Never Die", "Black Star" and "I'll See The Light".

Meanwhile, the second DVD will have a longer minutes as it will be 107 minutes long and set to be featured by songs such as "Toccata", "Never Die", "Bedroom Eyes", "Rising Force", "Bad Blood", "Forever One. Both DVD were released under Yngwie new label, Rising Force Records.

written by Dewa Nugraha

It looks like June 14, will be marked as an important date for music fans in Dublin as on that day they will have the chance to watch a great rock act at the annual Download Festival. On the music show, rock fans will get the chance to watch two legendary rock band Whitesnake and Def Leppard, not only that beside them there will also other rock legend Journey that has been confirmed to also headline the fest. Tickets for the show will go on sale starting on February 27.

Beside planning to rock their devotees at the festival, on their official website Whitesnake also revealed that before playing at the renown festival they will do some warp up concert first. The band announced that ahead of the Download Festival, they will be playing 3 weeks of shows around Scandinavia and Europe, that will start in Norway on May 21.

On the three weeks show, Whitesnake won't only play in big venues but also in small venues outside of major cities. Revealing on that reason, the band vocalist David Coverdale commented on the site saying, "in these uncertain times, when it is economically difficult for some people to get to see rock shows in their major cities, then it is the responsibility of the artist to take their music to the people."

In other news, Whitesnake guitarist, Doug Aldrich at the moment is still busy with his current guitar clinic schedule. Doug masterclass has been started on February 14 at Nemesis Guitar School in Greece and scheduled to end on February 27 at The Work Music Store in Switzerland.

more info about the upcoming Download Festival can be checked out here

New details about Michael Schenker's upcoming acoustic album "Gipsy Lady" has been revealed, and according to reports the new album will have May 19 as its release date. It seems that the label is pushing forward Michael's new records due date as previously the German guitarist revealed in an interview with us that the new LP will be released sometime in April.

Moreover, quoted from Blabbermouth.net, on the album beside collaborating with his old friend Gary Bardem, Michael was also assisted by other musicians such Michael Vetter as the producer, second guitarist, backing vocals and Kai Luenneman as the drummer. The album in total has 12 tracks with titles such as Lost, All of My Life, Starting Over, Hungry, The Journey and others.

Revealing details about the new record, previously on an interview with us, Michael told us that the idea to make "Gipsy Lady" comes from his curiousity of his own acoustic playing. "The idea to do an Acoustic album came from my curiuosity on how my acoustic instrumental work would sound with Vocals. So Gary had a go on some of my latest material and I was happyley suprised with the outcome. We continued and it turned out very well," Michael said.

Beside preparing for the release of his new album, Michael is currently gearing up for another tour. This time he will be hitting the U.S. strating from March 19 at House of Blues, Los Angeles, CA and set to finished on April 19 at Brixton, Redondo , CA.

Still in the mixed of his current Japan tour, guitar legend Eric Johnson already sent an exciting news to all of his fans in the U.S. after he announced that he will be touring the country. Announcing the news on his official website, Jeff also revealed that for the U.S. road trip he will be joined by Tal Wikenfeld Bass, Jason Rebello Keyboards and Vinnie Colaiuta on Drums.

Beside gearing up for his tour, Jeff will also prepares another special stuff for his die hard devotees, which is a special Blue Ray DVD version of his Live performance at Ronnie Scott's. The special DVD will be released through Eagle Rock Entertainment's subsidiary division Eagle Vision. To get more info about the upcoming stuff just check out the company's official site

Meanwhile, Jeff himself is currently busy with his Japan tour that has started since February 6 at Tokyo International Forum. According to his schedule, the guitar hero still have two more shows in Japan, which are at Saitama Super Arena on February 21 and 22. Both of the upcoming gigs are special since on the stage Jeff will be joined by fellow guitar legend and his best friend Eric Clapton .

In other news, previously it has been announced that Jeff will be receiving a special honor which is being inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to be held on April 4 at Cleveland, Ohio. The blues guitarist received the prestigious award due to his contribution to the world of Blues and Rock music through out the years.

Get Guitar Unlimited Guitar Music Sheet here :

Good news arrives for guitar heads in Canada, especially those who lives near Toronto as guitar virtuoso, Greg Howe has confirmed that he will do a clinic there. Greg announced the news on his official website stating that he will be doing the clinic/Q & A/Performance on July 28 & 29.

Beside Greg, other guitarists that will also give a little bit of their guitar skills through the clinic are renown virtuoso such as Paul Gilbert and Andy Timmons. However different from Greg both Andy and Paul will do their session in Vancouver. Aside from guitarist, the workshop will also invite other musicians such as bass player Stu Hamm and drummer Mark Kelso. To get more info or to apply for the amazing experience of studying with the best musicians you can visit the Guitar Workshop Plus official site

In other news, Greg himself is currently busy with his on-line teaching project and has just streamed a new video lesson through his official YouTube channel on February 15. On the video the guitar maestro teaches us how to use contrast and polarities and the advantages of it.

One of the reason that probably give Greg more time to work on his guitar lesson project was probably the fact that he hasn't set any dates for a tour yet. His latest road trip was rocking the City of Gods in Athens, Greece on on January 23 and 24.

Get Guitar CD Learn and Master here :

It looks like that it won't be long now before the newly formed supergroup Chickenfoot finally releases their work to public as now the band has already put out a video commercial of the band. The short clip can be viewed on their official site and on the video you will see half e of all the bands member mumbling about chikenfoot and what is chickenfoot, at the end of the video there is also a tune that might be one of the songs from the band's upcoming record.

The band itself is consist of big names in the music industry such as guitar legend, Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar (ex-Van Halen), Michael Anthony(ex-Van Halen) and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chilli Pepper. Previously revealing details about the new band, Anthony was quoted writing on his official web stating that the band are in the process of mixing their record. "Mixing is in full swing for the new Chickenfoot album and Mike is starting to get busy," the site read.

Beside revealing that Chickenfoot is still mixing their album, on his site Anthony also revealed that the band will be featured on Guitar World magazine soon. However there are no details yet on when they will be featured on the famous guitar magazine or even the release date for their upcoming record, it looks like they might be revealing it to Guitar World soon.

Meanwhile, Joe himself earlier also stated to the press that Chickenfoot's record will be a rocking one saying that it is a, "high-energy, kick-ass rock'n'roll. We all bring to the table some unusual influences and then we also share a lot of roots. And I think that's where a true color of a band comes out, just how we react to each other. So, it's definitely rock music. We haven't brought each other together to do a techno record."

Still busy working on his upcoming album with his band, guitar hero, George Lynch spare a little bit of his spare time to appear at KNAC.com's show 'Wildside'. According to Blabbermouth.net, George will be joined by his band, Lynch Mob's vocalist Oni Logan on the special 80's hair metal program hosted by Diana DeVille. George and Ony appearance can be listened at the website on Saturday, February 21 at 4.00 P.M. PST

George and Ony themselves are currently working hard to finish Lynch Mobs' new record that reportedly will be titled "Smoke and Mirrors. Commenting about the upcoming record, previously George said, "It's got a nice old-school, four-on-the-floor vibe to it… very honest, bare and raw." While Oni also stated that, "So far the songs that have been written are all different from each other. In some ways, it's been a bit of an adventure. It's really too early to tell what will end up on the recording."

Beside working on his new record, George himself will be soing some shows starting at the end of February to March. The closest gig that the ex-Dokken guitarist will embark is the highly anticipated Guitar Generation project, in which he will be rocking the stage with two other guitar virtuosos, Paul Gilbert and Richie Kotzen.

However at the moment there are only three dates set for the Guitar Generation show, starting from February 25 at the House of Blues/San Diego, Feb 28 at House of Blues/Sunset Strip and on March 2 at the House of Blues/Anaheim. Other show that George will do beside the GG is performing with Sin City Sinners on March 6-7 in Las Vegas. To get all the complete news about George's schedule just check out his official site

Exciting news arrives for Yngwie Malmsteen fans as they won't have to wait long for the follow up of "Perpetual Flame" since the legendary guitarist has announced that he will release a new album this year. Announcing the news on his official website, Yngwie stated that the upcoming record will be an all instrumental acoustic one.

Giving more details about the upcoming record, the site was quoted writing, "Yngwie Malmsteen to release a all instrumental acoustic album which will contain re arrangements of his ballad songs played on Acoustic Guitar and string and choir arrangements only." As for the release date, Yngwie has already set March 10 as its outing schedule.

Just as his previous album "Perpetual Flame", the new LP will also be released under Rising Force records. Commenting more about what would the new acoustic record titled "Angels of Love" sounds like, Yngwie's site wrote, It is a master piece showing the tender, delicate version of his classic songs as well as a new composition.

Meanwhile, "Perpetual Flame" itself was the guitar virtuoso's latest outing that has been dropped on October 13, 2008 in Europe and October 14 in U.S. and Canada. On the album, Yngwie was assisted by lots of renown musicians including famous keyboard player and ex-Dream Theater member Derek Sherenian.

Beside preparing for the release of his new record, this year Yngwie will also gear up to hit the road for a tour. The guitar master are scheduled to hit Japan for a tour sometime in April and on the road trip he will also be joined by Deep Purple.

New news comes from guitar hero, Marty Friedman's camp as he has been confirmed as one of the performers for the upcoming Gods of Metal festival. The announcement was written at Marty's official website on February 18, "Marty is confirmed to play Italy`s Gods Of Metal festival on 6/27 at Brianteo Stadium in Monza. Be there! the website read.

The upcoming festival itself is the biggest metal show in Italy and has been regularly held since 1997, for this year it will be held at Stadio Brianteo in Monza on June 27-28. Beside Marty other big names that will appear on the fest are Dream Theater, Paul Gilbert, Motley Crue and many more. For the complete information about the fest you can check out Gods of Metal's official site.

In other news, beside announcing that he will be playing at the Gods of Metal, on his site Marty also revealed that all fans that have an access to watch NHK, can check out a special program of the ex-Megadeth guitarist at the Japanese TV network that will be aired on March 3 at midnight an also re broadcast on March 13.

Previously Marty also did a few appearance such as giving a masterclass at GIT on January 31, while his latest appearance was playing at Japanese singer Aikawa Nanase's gig on February 16, where he played some songs including "Shock of Love". Not only that, the former Cacophony guitarist also contributed his guitar playing on Nanase's latest song titled "Circle of Life".

We haven't heard much of Andy Timmons after his recent performance at NAMM 2009, but now there's a new coll guitar lick video that he made with Guitarworld and it's available at the company's official YouTube channel. On the video Andy give a short lesson about a cool guitar lick that he has.

Explaining about the lick that he did, Andy said that it comes from the chord movements of Gm-BbMaj-Dm-FMaj. The pattern of the lick is actually the same he only shift it as the chord changes as for the final touch of the lick Andy add a little blues thing. It's a cool lick as just like the ex-Danger Danger guitarist said it sounds like a tapping stuff.

In other news, after performing at the NAMM show in January, where he played at the special Ibanez show to celebrate Paul Gilbert's PGM signature, opening for Paul and Racer X, Andy hasn't had any upcomig dates scheduled yet. However he did inform us earlier this month that he will be doing clinics latter this year.

Andy's latest outing was Resolution which was dropped to the market on May 2, 2006 under Favored Nations label and was produced by Andy and also his bass player Mike Daane. The album had about 11 cool intrumental tracks such as "Deliver Us", "Resolution", "Redemption", "Ghost of You" and many more.

Back from what he said as an eventful weeks in Japan, guitar virtuoso, Paul Gilbert got back to his home in L.A. and announced some cool stuffs on his official site. The upcoming projects that Paul revealed are details about his upcoming Live records with Freddie Nelson, about Mr. Big and guitar clinic schedule.

On the first note, Paul stated that he will be releasing four Live CDs of his recent shows in Japan with Freddie Nelson and it will be dropped as an 'official bootlegs' in Japan only. "I did a concert tour featuring the songs from the "United States" CD with Freddie NelsonWe recorded all four shows with a digital multi-track recorder, and as soon as the tour was finished, Freddie and I went right into a studio in Tokyo and mixed FOUR live CDs! These will be released as "official bootlegs" in Japan, " Paul wrote. To get your hands on the upcoming records, you can go to WHD website or check out CD Japan
After revealing about the new CDs that he has just recorded, Paul also revealed some details about Mr. Big reunion, on his site, the "I Like Rock" singer confirmed the Mr. Big reunion and also revealed that they got a chance to play with a full stage gear in a TV show, that will be aired in March at NHK, however PG do hope that it will be streamed earlier via YouTube. He also stated that he had a wonderful time doing the Mr. Big promo again saying, "Mostly, we all had a great time playing together and hanging out for the first time in 13 years!"
The final important news comes from Paul is about his upcoming guitar clinic dates, on his site Paul has announced that he will be flying to Italy to do clinics at some cities in the Pizza country on April.
Here is the full dates of his Guitar Clinic in Italy:

4/5 PISA - Borderline - www.myspace.com/borderlineclub
4/6 MILANO - Accademia Del Suono - www.accademiadelsuono.it
4/7 LATINA - Teatro Tirreno - 0773-660530 www.myspace.com/obiettivomusica
4/8 COSENZA - Venue TBA - 328-7355199 www.myspace.com/pinociappetta76
4/9 ROCCAFORZATA(TA) - Go West Saloon - www.myspace.com/gowestsaloon
4/10 CASERTA - Oddly Shed - www.myspace.com/mannaciro
4/11 MONTEGRANARO(AP) - Modern Music Institute - 338-5386120
www.myspace.com/mmimontegranaro
4/12 Day Off
4/13 CASTELNUOVO D'ASOLA(MN) - The Piper - info.mmi-mantova@libero.it
4/14 MONTEBELLUNA(TV) - Essemusic - www.essemusic.it
4/15 TRIESTE - Scuola Di Musica 55 - www.scuoladimusica55.it
4/16 BOLOGNA - Music Academy 2000 - www.musicacademyitaly.it/bologna
4/17 ARCOLE (VERONA) - Stonehenge - www.myspace.com/stonehengelivepub

Although he has already left, TOTO, the band that put his name in the spotlight for so many years, Luke still has lots of music projects that he's doing, such as his latest solo album "Ever Changing Times" and also his recent works with Bruce Kullick and George Benson.
Beside those projects Luke, is currently gearing up to hit the road for a long European tour that's set to kick off on February 26 in Holland. Just before he embarks on his long and hectic tour, we managed to get in touch with him via email (with the help of Arend, Luke's webmaster). Check out Luke's words on his upcoming tour preparation, the working process of his latest record, his upcoming projects and his view on the music industry today.

Here is the interview, Enjoy:

(Guitar Legends) -Hi Luke How you're doing? thanks for allowing us to ask some questions for you..we hope it's wasn't too much of a trouble though.

(Steve "Luke" Lukather) - Its all good. I am just getting ready to head out on a long tour. Resting up and spending time with my family and finishing a track I wrote and co=produced for George Benson and a few sessions. It never ends. haha

(G L) So you're preparing to hit the road this February, how is the preparation so far? we heard you had a little problem on the way?

(Luke) I have no problem? It has been A LOT of work as I am managing myself right now. In this economy one must work harder and cut back overhead to make money and survive. I have a new crew for the most part and I have not played with the band in 4 months BUT I have the A team and we will bring our best for sure! We did A LOT of shows last year and will again this year so its like riding a bike but it will be fresh and new every night anyway.

(GL) You have been doing many tours as a solo artist or with TOTO, for this upcoming tour do you still feel the same excitement or vibe just like your first tour?

(Luke)Yes. I love touring. Its hard to be away from loved ones but that's my job. I am having fun with my new band as its all young guys that like to laugh a lot and have a good time. Toto had a great run. I am still working with David Paich, Steve Porcaro, Joseph Williams and Simon Phillips on various side projects and solo records. Toto had just run its course for me. LONG story. You can read it in my book.

(GL) Are there any venues that you really looking forward to go to for this tour? or is it all the same for you?

(Luke) Every night is different as the audience is different. Therefore the whole vibe changes. I am really looking forward to heading out again as this is the longest I have been home without touring in many many years. This is good as I have a new baby girl Lily, 17 months old, and I have bonded with her time get back out and have some fun and play some music!

(GL) As we know this upcoming tour is done to support the release of your latest record 'Ever Changing Times',until now how is your fans' responds for the record?

(Luke) Best reviews of my career on the record and the tour. I could not be happier and it seems to keep growing. I am selling out a lot of gigs and the vibe is really good. It is going better than I had hoped, especially in this economy. That's why I am playing smaller places. I need to build myself as a solo artist. I am not going out and being "Toto jr"! I wanted to separate the 2 things. I do a few obscure Toto songs that I wrote and sang but not the obvious hits. No point in that. if I wanted to do that I would not have left Toto

(GL) Unlike many of your fellow guitar players, such Steve Vai or Joe Satriani who focused a lot on their guitar playing for their solo records, you took a different route by showing more of your musicianship rather than guitar playing, why is that? do you want people to know Luke more as a musician rather than just a guitar player?

(Luke) Well, ALL those guys are my friends and I love what they do. I do some instrumental stuff, even fusion kind of stuff on my tour and on my records but I like to sing and play simple rock stuff as well. Besides those guys do the shred thing better than me anyway. I was asked to do a G-3 a few years back by Joe (Satriani) but it just didnt work out. I play with Steve Vai all the time (he just called me while I am writing this!), we do little events and I have the greatest love and respect for all the guys that do "that thing" but they are all different. Who knows, sometime we will do something. I have played and or sat in with them live many times!

(GL) Another interesting thing that we discovered about you is the fact that you work with many musicians even for the writing of your records. We think that's it's an unusual thing to do by a musician who decided to go solo, any comment about that?

(Luke)I have always written songs. I like to produce the songs I write as well. On this new George Benson stuff I don't play guitar on it at all. Its Ray Parker jr. and a new cat named Jubu. I wrote the song with David Paich but I just thought those guys would kill it. They did. It's funky and a hit tune! I dont have an ego in all that. Whatever works just works! I love to work in ALL styles and I am lucky cause I get to. I can easily go from jammin with Albert Lee and Steve Morse to jammin with Marcus Miller or Mils Davis doing jazz fusion to Eddie Van Halen etc... I love ALL music!

(GL) On your latest solo record, beside working with established musicians, you also take your kids to help you out. How does it feel working with your own children?

(Luke) Well My son Trev is really a great musician and is just coming into his own now. he is working on a record right now that should be out by the end of the year. His www.Myspace.com/Trevbabay has a few tunes he did 2 years ago. His new stuff is heavier and less slicked out but he writes and sings all the stuff. I am very proud to have him on my record and he co wrote and played on 2 songs. We will be doing more father and son stuff in the future. My daughter Tina sang backgrounds on Stab in the Back just cause I wanted her on it. She is not pursuing a life in the music business but I am still just as proud of her! It was a lot of fun.

(GL)How did you actually introduce music to your kids? do you kind of "forced' them a bit to learn music?

(Luke) No! You cant force someone to learn anything. Trev just loved it all from day one. Tina doesn't play an instrument. There is musical instruments all over my house. Hahaha. It was bound to happen to at least one of them. I think we will see about Lily as she is so young but piano may be her thing. She has a gift already. I can see and hear it, her awareness of music and the way she touches the piano. You would swear she knew what she was doing. Time will tell.

(GL) here is a bit technical question, when you wrote a song, do you still focus on technical stuffs such as figuring out what keys you want to use, what modes and all of those stuffs or you just go with what your mind and heart says?

(Luke)When I write it just flows. I co-write a lot cause when I do that the song gets finished. No bullshit. DIONE and you get a lot more opportunity from that and I get a lot more chances to get tunes covered by other artists and also get things done for myself. There are no rules or methods to what I do. Its different everytime!

(GL) How do you consider yourself as a rock musician, jazz or pop? since you do play all kinds of musical genres and sounds good at any of them

(Luke) Man, I hate labels. I love ALL great music and the great musicians that play it all. Why cut yourself off from all that input and great music? As Ray Charles once said "There are only 2 kinds of music, good and bad". haha That always made me laugh. It is the truth but then again, everyone likes different things!

(GL) Beside preparing for tour, we heard that you are working something with Bruce Kullick and also with George Benson, care to share us a little details about those projects?

(Luke)George is almost done. Horns and strings and his solo. Its a classic R+B tune ala Turn your love around (which I also wrote) and working with George and Marcus Miller and my brother David Paich. Its gonna be a great album, out in a few months. Bruce is an old friend and he just asked me to come in and jam, I was in and out pretty fast. He is a great guy. You see, diversity. How many guys work with George Benson and Bruce Kulick in the same week? Hahahaha.

(GL) We read in your official site, that back on 2004 you voiced your concern with the music industry these days on a book written by Robert Wolff, it's an interesting statement back then and now do you still think the same way about the industry?

(Luke) Its worse than ever. I wish I had better news. I have to kill myself to make the same money I did years ago. I am hoping that things turn around soon but in the meantime I am getting ready to do 2 months HARD on tour in Europe and will be spending most of my year there. Thank God for the Europeans and Asia cause the USA is worse than anywhere. I am staying away till it gets figured out. I am VERY happy for our new president but he has MUCH work ahead. I am praying for peace and love for the world and maybe get the money shit right for the world as well. EVERYONE is hurting these days. I am very lucky to be working all year! Thanks to you all!

(GL)- About today's music, do you still listen much to any of them? any new artists that interest you?

(Luke) Man, I am so busy I don't have alot of time to listen. My son plays me some stuff I like and some stuff I hate. Hahaha, I am old school. I dig Radiohead but they are not that new.. no one has blown my mind in a long time. Mars Volta is very wild music and nice people, shit I dig my sons music. I gotta do some more homework on this.

(GL) Now that you left TOTO, what would you be focusing on keep making more solo records or maybe just sit behind the screen helping other musicians?

(Luke) Both. I am always working on something and hope to stay real busy in the coming years. I am gonna do another solo record right away but there are some interesting side things I want to do as well. I will let ya know when it all gets real! I like to produce and write and also do my own stuff and I actually love touring. Most guys my age don't. That's where the money is now cause the record business is in REAL trouble!

(GL)okay here is a little trivia for you, we will give names of some guitar players that you probably known and we would like you to describes them the best way that you know them. Jeff Beck? Eric Clapton? Eddie Van Halen? Steve Vai? Joe Satriani? Jason Becker? Nuno Bettencourt? Paul Gilbert?

(Luke) Well THEY are the best of the best, all unique in there own way! I know them all, some better than others. I feel For Jason.. I know people that have his disease.. its is fucked up. A major talent.The rest of the guys are playing better than ever to this day! I am honored to call them friends!

(GL) - okay one last question, what would you advice to young musician especially young guitarists out there who wants to be a professional musician like you?

(Luke) Practice and keep and open mind, play out a lot, jam a lot, and have fun. I do! Hope to see you guys out there at a gig
Peace and love Luke 2009

(GL) Well we think that it's enough for now, once again we can't thank you enough for giving this opportunity to us, it's truly an honor for us. We do hope we could do a live interview with you in another occasion, well till then all the best for you and your family and hope you'll have and exciting and great tour!!!

Back from his busy scheduled shows at Greece and the recent appearance at Grammy show, guitar virtuoso Greg Howe gets back into his current love of teaching by streaming a new guitar lesson video. Greg release the new video on his official YouTube channel on February 15, just one day after Val day, well it should be a great love present for guitar heads out there.

Well on the new video, Greg explain a unique new practice which is explaining about contrast and polarity. The reason of the lesson is to help guitarist to define new ideas and phrases while doing improvise. The guitar master, gives some cool and exciting licks that are definitely helpful and useful for guitar practicing musicians. To get an exclusive on-line guitar lesson from Greg you can check out this link

In other news, previously Greg has just finished doing some shows, he played two gigs at Greece and recently played with Justin Timberlake and T.I at Grammy Show. However at the time being it seems the guitar master, will be focusing a lot on teaching as he doesn't had any tour schedule as just yet

Greg Howe's New Guitar Lesson Video:

February 14, is widely known as the day of love and celebrating that day, reunited rock act Mr. Big seems keen on celebrating it with their fans in Japan. After doing some interviews and played acoustic on their first press conference on February 9 and at Dave Fromm show on February 11, this time the band hit the Power Rock Today, radio show, hosted by Masa Itoh.

On the show, Mr. Big greed played a longer set than their previous shows, just as it can be seen from the picture on Power Rock site the band played 6 songs (Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy; Green Tinted 60's Mind; Take a Walk; Wild World;Alive n Kickin'; 30 Days in The Hole) plus one special encore To Be With You. While on the interview, the band doesn't said lots of new things compared with their previous interviews, however if you want to read it anyway you can check out the transcribed version done by our good friend Jenn of Random Chatter Music.

Honestly i do know that the press/media in Japan does know how to treat bands, especially Mr. Big very well, that's what makes them come back all the time, while in many other countries, the music business people and the mainstream media just give to many attention on today's hit crap music. It's sad knowing that great band like Mr. Big only feel obligated to said hi for their Japan fans, while I'm pretty sure they do have millions in other countries in South East Asia (especially countries that have more population than Japan), Europe and even the U.S. Once again i do hope they realize that they should thanked not only to their devotees in Japan, since there are many waiting for them out there.

By the way here are some pictures from Mr. Big interview and acoustic session at Power Rock Today:

Despite his hectic tour schedule, guitar legend, Eric Clapton still has the time to give a special treat to his fans all over the world, especially those who can't come to his current Japan tour as prepares to release a new special 2CD/2DVD. The new package is the recording of his previous special show with Steve Winwood at Madison Square Garden last year, beside that on the CD/DVD fans can also see the performance of Blind Faith.
Beside hearing special stuffs from Eric and Steve other stuffs that can be discovered on the box-set are:
*$10 Eric Clapton online store gift certificate
*4 exclusive photo cards - stunning shots by Danny Clinch
*Official 2008 Tour Program
*Exclusive Clapton/Winwood Live from MSG poster
The official release date for the special CD/DVD package is not being confirmed yet but according to Eric's official site it would be dropped sometime in April, however fans can already pre-order the special package from now with the price of $74, 98.

Here is the full trac klisting for the 2CD/2DVD package

Good news comes for American progressive rock act, Dream Theater's fans as they won't have to wait too long for the band's new album after the rockers label Roadrunner Records confirmed that the new CD will be out this summer. The label announced the news on their official site stating, "Prog Metal veterans Dream Theater are currently wrapping up work on their tenth studio album. The band commenced work on the as-yet untitled album –their second for Roadrunner Records. Roadrunner plans to release the album in early summer."

In other news, beside planning to release their 10th studio record, on their official website, Dream Theater also announced to their devotees that the band also released new CD/DVD of their side project, Liquid Tension, recent live performance dubbed "Liquid Trio Experiment 2 When the Keyboard Breaks: Live in Chicago", fans can purchased the new stuff at this link
written by Dewa Nugraha

As it was scheduled, Mr. Big did another interview at Japan, while promoting their upcoming reunion tour there, hitting a radio show, Dave Fromm on February 11. On the interview the guys discussed lots of things, such as new album plan, their tour and new songs. The one that interest us the most is the fact that they will be recording new songs again, that is really a blast and awesome news for Mr. Big fans, well if you want the full interview report here is the transcribed of it which was done by our good friend Jenn from Random Chatter Music

Mr. Big Interview at Dave Fromm show transcribed by Jenn, courtessy of Random Chatter Music:

Dave Fromm: Welcome to the show guys. Paul’s been here many times… Billy, this studio’s new to you.
Billy: I think you’re right about that.

Following previous post about Michael Schenker's upcoming project, today we will provide you with more up to date and accurate info about Michael's upcoming stuffs as we managed to do an interview with the legendary guitarist via email, (with the help of Felicitas Seigel from in-akustik label).

Being heralded as one of the best guitar virtuosos in 80's, Steve Lynch's guitar playing definitely attracted many fans especially with his amazing two handed tapping technique which earn him many recognition including winning the guitar solo of the year award from Guitar World on 1985.

Today Steve enjoy most of his time teaching at a school he has in his hometown Seattle, however he will be releasing some new projects soon including an Instrumental album. Eager to know his condition and the process of his projects, Guitar Legends took the initiative to interview him via mail. During his hectic time, Steve was kind enough to answer some of the questions that we asked him, well here is the Interview that we did with Steve Lynch, where he tells us about his current work, the music industry and also other cool stuffs, check it out:

(Guitar Legends) Hi Steve, How you've been?It's been a long time since we heard about you

(Steve Lynch) I've been very well,thank you.

(GL) So first of all I would like to ask about your music project after releasing a record with Network 23? you're like vanished from the music scenes, what did you do after that?

(Steve) I've been busy running a music school I own here in Seattle and have been working on a new teaching web-site as well as writing the material for my new cd. After Network 23 I decided to move back up to the Seattle area and start teaching again,that's when I opened the the music school.

(GL) What ever happened to that project anyway?

(Steve) It was mainly myself and a couple of friends that just got together to record some songs I had written.The project was never something I considered to take very seriously,just something to have fun with.

(GL) You also revealed that you plan to do a solo record? so what's the news about that? is it finished yet?

(Steve) I'm still writing and recording that as I go along, just pieces at a time due to my schedule. It will be an instrumental album with a lot of experimental sounds. I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of this year.

(GL) You were very famous and highly rated on the 80's, normally it would be easy for you to release lots of solo projects, or make new bands after Autograph but why you didn't do those kind of things?

(Steve) People think that you can make money from side projects from bands that were famous in the 80's. This is not true,you can barely make a living at it,and I wanted to have a reliable income where I could make good money without having to go on the road and go into debt.

(GL) These days many parted 80s bands gets reunited, any chance that would happen again with autograph?

(Steve) Again,these bands that reunite and go on the road or release a new album don't make any money at it. You have to sell a lot of albums and sell out every venue you play before you can make any profit at all. The bands that have tried this have gone bankrupt. I don't mean to sound like it's all about the money,but I like to have a nice house and expensive cars and I make more money now than I ever did with Autograph.

(GL) You also told me that you will be releasing videos about your guitar licks and solos, care to give us more details about it?

(Steve) The new site will be called lynchlicks.com and should be up around the end of March. It will have 100 of my favorite guitar licks as well as about 20 of my solo's. The licks and solo's are video recorded and and will be available for purchase for as little as $1.00 each. It will also have all of the Autograph material as well as the Network 23 album and my new one that I'm recording right now.

(GL) Back then you were considered as one of the best virtuosos, but seems that today you didn't get the recognition as much as it should be, care to give comment about it?

(Steve) It all depends on the amount of albums you sell and how your record company promotes you. RCA was very poor at promoting us so we did most of the promotion ourselves, including myself getting what recognition I could on my own.

(GL)For all of this years, honestly i haven't seen and heard your playing again since your
days with autographs and your REH video thing, so how is your playing these days, did you find something new to work with, beside your notable tapping stuffs?

(Steve) I consider myself a more matured player now and my licks are quite a bit more complex. I experiment with a much larger variety of sounds.

(GL) As a guitarist do you have any major ambition that you haven't
achieve?

(Steve) Yes,that would be the instrumental album I'm recording now. I also hope to score for more indy movies since I don't care for much of the stuff mainstream Hollywood comes out with today.

(GL)Do you have a plan to work with other guitar virtuosos? if so who would you most likely take to do it?

(Steve) Yes,possibly my old teacher from Seattle Don Mock.

(GL)Who do you think the most interesting guitar players these days? the one that really-really blows your mind?

(Steve) I still like Jeff Beck,Alan Holdsworth and Steve Vai.

(GL)What do you think of today's music compared to your 80's era? Do you listen to any new artists? anyone you'd like?

(Steve) The 80's music was by far much more fun to listen to. It was about having a good time and appreciating what life has to offer. Most music that I hear now is much more depressing and there are few bands with really top-notch musicians. the bands I like now are PorcupineTree, Muse, Delerium, Massive Attack and Conjure One. They don't follow the typical writing formulas that most do.

(GL) Okay last question Steve, what do you want to say to young guitar players out there who wants to be a pro like you?

(Steve) Create your own sound,write as much as you can (that's where the money is) and always play from your heart. As long as you are truthful to yourself and follow no others, you will find your own identity.

Thank you very much for your time Steve, it's nice to hear from you again all the best in your upcoming projects

Good news comes from guitar virtuoso, Gary Hoey, as he finally announced new musical things that he will do this year. According to his official newsletter, Gary will be doing some exciting stuff including two concert dates this year, which is on April 3 at Canyon Club, Augora Hills, CA and on April 4 at the Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA.

Beside the tour other musical things that Gary will do are, Teaching at Fender university, making the anthem for WCF (World Championship Fighting)and also playing live at one of the fighting match on March 14 at the Shrine Auditorium and the last thing that he will do is playing in a cruise ship, the event titled Rock the Waves from November 8-November 15.

Now giving a little explanation about those events, first of all the Fender university is a new educational method done by Fender which gives an access to get into the company's manufacturing beside getting lesson, playing opportunities and other cool stuffs if you enroll on it. However, the enrollment for this program is being limited for 25 guitarists only from any level above the age of 21, for more accurate info you can logged on to this site.

Now about the Rock the Waves event, on the event, people that want's to see Gary playing live, getting special treats like jamm session, meet and greet and guitar clinic can join him on the cruise. If you join it, you will be taken by the Carnival Splendor and sails from Long Beach, CA to visit Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, the price to get in the cruise is about $806 per person, for more info just contact Dolores@BestMusicCruises.com.