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Bill Kelliher and Mark Morton

“My mom would still be bugging me, like, ‘You need to go to college and get a real job.’ I’m in the van, getting baloney sandwiches on 100 bucks a night. And I’m 30!” Bill Kelliher and Mark Morton on how Leviathan and Ashes of the Wake changed everything

By Gregory Adams published

With two classic albums, both released on the same day, Lamb of God and Mastodon's fates have long been connected and now they're touring together, Kelliher and Morton reflect on a turning point for both bands

Left - Guitarist Bill Kelliher of Mastodon performs on stage during the Hellfest Open Air Festival on June 17, 2022 in Clisson, France;Right - Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield of the band Metallica perform at the 2024 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song on March 20, 2024 at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC

“It was funny when I first met James Hetfield. I was like, ‘Thank you for teaching me how to play guitar. You paved the way for me’”: Mastodon's Bill Kelliher on how meeting his guitar heroes pushed him to improve his craft

By Janelle Borg published

Mastodon's Bill Kelliher also credits Slayer's Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman for changing his previously nonchalant attitude to warming up before a show

Troy Sanders of Mastadon performs at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill on June 11, 2019 in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

“As the bass player in a guitar-driven band, I don’t need to be in the spotlight. I don’t need to do any more than just rock out”: Troy Sanders on the perils and pleasures of playing bass in Mastodon

By Joel McIver published

According to Troy Sanders, when it comes to laying down the bass parts in Mastodon, restraint is the key

Bill Kelliher performs onstage with Mastodon at the Hellfest Open Air Festival in Clisson, France on June 17, 2022

“It’s heavy, thick and unique. It feels great, and the neck is incredible. And it’s heavy; but that’s okay because the weight of a guitar is very important to me. The thicker the better”: If you pick up Bill Kelliher’s new ESP guitar, you’ll know about it

By Andrew Daly published

The Mastodon guitarist – who aims to write simpler songs for the band's next album – had his favorite 9-string mapped and mutated into the LTD Silver Sunburst Royal Shiva

Bill Kelliher with his ESP LTD Bill Kelliher Royal Shiva Silver Sunburst

“I tried SGs and Flying Vs, and they might look cool, but it's like playing a piece of Styrofoam”: Bill Kelliher explains why he prefers his guitars to be as heavy as possible

By Matt Owen published

Since around 2020, the Mastodon maestro has been wielding an extraordinarily thick ESP Custom Shop model, which was recently reissued as the LTD Royal Shiva – and both closely follow Kelliher’s ethos of “the thicker, the better”

Bill Kelliher and ESP LTD Bill Kelliher Royal Shiva Silver Sunburst

NAMM 2024: “It's heavy, thick, and unique. It feels great”: ESP brings Bill Kelliher’s long-awaited double-cut custom model to the masses with LTD Royal Shiva signature guitar

By Matt Owen published

The Mastodon riff lord's latest signature model is based on his beastly Silver Sunburst six-string that was built in 2020, and receives an official release after much anticipation

Bill Kelliher

“My dad didn’t believe in distortion”: Bill Kelliher took us through his unlikely guitar tone journey – while he cooked us lunch

By Matt Owen published

We asked the Mastodon maestro to tell us about his lifelong search for perfect guitar tone, so he did – and gave us a killer culinary class while doing so

ESP LTD Signature Series guitars 2023

NAMM 2023: ESP meets fan demand with James Hetfield Olympic White Vulture and debuts 12 LTD signature guitars, including Gary Holt’s “very pointy” GH-SV

By Matt Parker published

Bill Kelliher, Stephen Carpenter, Nergal, Lars Frederiksen and Javier Reyes all have at least one new guitar on the way from the LTD stable

Mastodon's Troy Sanders holds his new signature Fender Precision Bass

Fender teams up with Mastodon's Troy Sanders for well-spec'd Silverburst signature P-Bass

By Jackson Maxwell published

The Mastodon low-end ranger's new four-string is outfitted with a custom Jazz Bass single-coil bridge pickup, a Split-Coil P-Bass unit in the middle, and eye-catching custom graphics throughout

Brent Hinds stars in Victory Amps’ video as Super Sheriff Dirty B. Hinds

Watch Mastodon’s Brent Hinds turn Super Sheriff and arrest guitarists for tone violations

By Matt Parker published

Hinds has endorsed Victory Amps’ Sheriff – and taken to the streets of Atlanta to extend the long arm of the law

Victory Amps VS100 Super Sheriff and Mastodon's Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher performing live

Victory Amps overhauls its Sheriff range – and seemingly signs Mastodon’s Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher to its ranks

By Michael Astley-Brown published

The British rock-voiced series has been revamped with new Mastodon-endorsed heads and combos

Mojotone Bill Kelliher Hellbender pickup set

Are Bill Kelliher’s new Mojotone Hellbender pickups the most versatile metal humbuckers ever made?

By Matt Parker published

The Mastodon rhythm king’s new signature set uses Alnico II and V ceramic magnets to deliver tones spanning brutal to beautiful

Slipknot performs on stage on day 2 of Download Festival 2019 at Donington Park on June 15, 2019 in Castle Donington, England

Slipknot's Alessandro “V-Man” Venturella: I borrowed a bass from Tool's Justin Chancellor for our new album

By Nick Wells published

Slipknot's V-Man on his borrowed bottom-end boost from Tool's Justin Chancellor

Mastodon, Kate Bush, First Aid Kit

7 guitar-led covers of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill

By Jonathan Horsley published

Kate Bush’s irresistible 1985 hit is driven by synth but as these covers from Placebo, First Aid Kit, Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher and more prove, the song can be just as dramatic on guitar

Troy Sanders

Troy Sanders: “The Teardrinker bass solo turned from a silly joke to an interesting moment that I’d never done in Mastodon before”

By Joel McIver published

The Mastodon bassist and vocalist on why the Atlanta metal institution doubled up for their latest album, Hushed And Grim, and taking the opportunity for a bass solo

An all-star band covers Judas Priest on Two Minutes to Late Night

Watch Nili Brosh team up with members of Anthrax and Mastodon for a relentless cover of Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance

By Jackson Maxwell published

Two Minutes to Late Night's latest all-star cover is spearheaded by a three-guitar attack led by Brosh and Anthrax's Jonathan Donais

[L-R] Bill Kelliher and Brent Hinds of Mastodon

Mastodon: “We write our guitar parts separately then show them to each other. We’re not a jam band – we’re more like choreographed acrobatics”

By Jon Wiederhorn published

Stylistically divergent – yet undoubtedly compatible – Mastodon guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher unravel Hushed and Grim, the band’s first double album

[L-R] John Mayer, Samantha Fish, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Joe Duplantier

The 20 best guitar albums of 2021

By Jonathan Horsley published

Records that stoked creative fires and set the guitar world alight this year, as voted for by you

Bill Kelliher of Mastadon performs at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill on June 11, 2019 in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

Bill Kelliher reveals Ron Wood’s signature ESP as his secret studio weapon: “It’s the best-sounding Tele ever”

By Michael Astley-Brown published

The Mastodon guitarist shared his love for the humbucker-equipped Rolling Stones model in a new interview on the making of Hushed and Grim

Kim Thayil of Soundgarden performs on stage at Sleep Country Amphitheater on August 29, 2014 in Ridgefield, Washington.

Kim Thayil channeled the loss of Chris Cornell in his solo on the new Mastodon album

By Michael Astley-Brown published

Bill Kelliher details how he and the Soundgarden guitarist approached the recording of Hushed and Grim’s Had It All