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• Jeff Loomis Lesson: "Shouting Fire at a Funeral"

Right now, as Loomis and his bandmates rehearse for this year’s European rock festivals, he’s in full-on Nevermore mode. He’s also looking forward to showcasing his new guitarist and the band’s new songs during an extensive North American headline tour this fall, afterward which the band will undertake a European tour. When that’s finished, Nevermore will likely tour Japan, South America and Australia before returning to North America for more shows. Between tours, Loomis will continue working on his next solo instrumental album, which he hopes will be out by the winter holidays. He’ll also be conducting guitar clinics whenever possible and plugging his instructional 40-lesson DVD box set, Extreme Lead Guitar: Dissonant Scales and Arpeggios.

And whether he’s teaching or performing, he’ll continue to expand his sonic horizons by studying the playing styles of modern gypsy guitarists such as Stochelo Rosenberg and Joscho Stephan. “These guys are insane as far as right-hand technique and picking goes,” Loomis says. “I see a lot of this gypsy jazz stuff being the new style of heavy metal lead guitar playing, because it’s so much more interesting. I just purchased a gypsy jazz guitar and I’m really excited to learn those styles and advance my guitar playing even more. That’s the great thing about playing the guitar: there’s always more to learn.”

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