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Woman recording acoustic guitar

“It’s like playing a concert for millions of people, without stepping on stage”: A guitarist’s guide to sync licensing

By Mike Meiers published

Your guitar belongs on TV, and the way into one of the fastest-growing sectors of the music business may already be in your sights. Emmy-winning composer Mike Meiers breaks it down.

Music Industry
Keith Streng sits on a doorstep wearing all black, dark shades and slime green leather shoes. He blues a blue Supro.

The Fleshtones’ Keith Streng explains what he learned from a misspent youth at CBGB’s – and the merits of pointless practice

By Jim Beaugez published

Streng’s rhythmic garage riffs keep the punk-era legends vital after five non-stop decades

Guitarists
Chris Poland plays a black BC Rich onstage [left] and goes head-to-head with Dave Mustaine, who plays a black Jackson King V.

An accident defined Chris Poland’s playing, but it didn’t stop him handling the high demands of Megadeth’s debut

By Andrew Daly published

Chris Poland offers an eye-witness account of a seminal moment in metal history, when Dave Mustaine channeled his fury through his Marshall and debuted with a thrash classic

Guitarists
Ringo Starr (playing Ludwig drum kit, drums) and Paul McCartney (playing a Hofner 500/1 violin bass guitar) of English rock and pop group The Beatles perform together on stage for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) music television show 'Shindig!' at Granville Studios in Fulham, London on 3rd October 1964. The band would play three songs on the show, Kansas City/hey-Hey-Hey!, I'm a Loser and Boys.

Why Paul McCartney’s violin bass was essential in creating his most playful bassline on Sgt. Pepper’s

By Karl Coryat published

The Beatles took Lovely Rita into Studio Two of Abbey Road on February 23rd, 1967 – McCartney’s faithful Höfner came along for the ride

Bassists
Steve Marker and Duke Erikson of Garbage

Garbage’s Duke Erikson and Steve Marker don't like to look back – but will make an exception for reverse guitar solos

By Andrew Daly published

The pair discuss experimenting without overthinking, how they know when a song is going to work, when to delete a clever guitar part, and why it’s still hard to play one of their biggest hits

Guitarists
Cradle of Filth’s Marek “Ashok” Šmerda [left], looking a little like Pinhead from Hellraiser, and Donny Burbage, resplendent in corpsepaint.

Cradle Of Filth’s Donny Burbage and Marek ‘Ashok’ Šmerda on landing their theatrical metal roles

By Andrew Daly published

The hands that rock the Cradle reveal the guitar tones behind their theatrical metal mayhem and find modern guitars are weak and false

Guitarists
Session legend Paul Jackson Jr. [left] wears a white shirt and plays a black single-cut onstage. On the right, a young Whitney Houston performs in 1985 after her self-title debut catapulted her into the A-list.

40 years ago, session ace Paul Jackson Jr. turned up to record with a then unknown singer – her name was Whitney Houston

By Andrew Daly published

Jackson tells us how, armed with the Strat he played on Thriller, he turned up for a studio session that would introduce us to one of the world's biggest stars

Artists
Stevie Ray Vaughan smiles as he plays on a brightly lit stage. He plays a white Strat, with a thick white strap with musical notes and wears a wide-brimmed white hat.

The inside story of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s Soul to Soul

By Alan Paul published

Chris Layton, Reese Wynans, Tommy Shannon, and Joe Sublett recall the difficult birth of the 1985 classic of Texas blues, as cocaine, whiskey, and fatigue took their toll

Guitarists
Barry Goudreau

Barry Goudreau was there from the beginning of Boston – but has regrets about how things ended with Tom Scholz

By Andrew Daly published

Gibson wielder, who always preferred Marshall to Scholz’s Rockman brand, recalls being edged out but not caring at first, until it led to an angry split and legal repercussions

Guitarists
Jim Babjak of the Smithereens crouches onstage with his red Rickenbacker. The stage is lit in green.

The Smithereens’ Jim Babjak on how they went from broke to touring with Tom Petty – and became Kurt Cobain’s tonal reference for Nevermind

By Joe Bosso published

Babjak reflects on the remarkable career of the Smithereens, competing with tribute acts, and why he was too scared to speak to Pete Townshend

Guitarists
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