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As a member of The Band, Robbie Robertson changed the course or rock music history, hipping the genre to a more old-timey sound with songs like “The Weight,” “Up On Cripple Creek,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” His latest solo album, How To Become Clairvoyant, reflects on his rock and roll past.
Taylor Swift: The Garden In The Machine
“Country music is truly music for everyone,” said Tim McGraw, as he and his wife Faith Hill prepared to announce the Country Music Association’s 2009 “Entertainer of the Year” award. “And that’s never been more apparent than with the diversity of tonight’s nominees.”
Jessica Lea Mayfield: Look At Miss Ohio
“Things are starting to get weird.”
Jessica Lea Mayfield, whose Nonesuch Records debut Tell Me is in stores now, is on the phone from her home in Ohio and we’re having a good laugh over her recent success. It’s beer o’clock on both ends of the phone, the last interview in a long week of talking to complete strangers for the two of us.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: *** LADD SMITH OF NASHVILLE CROWNED GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE'S GUITAR HERO 2007! October 2007 Joe Satriani and Elliot Easton of the Cars among celebrity judges who selected winner Ten finalists battled for the international title of "Guitar Hero" at Guitar Player Magazine's Guitar Hero 2007 competition Friday, October 12 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. All 10 tremendously talented players were roundly applauded by celebrity judges Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather, Nuno Bettencourt, Elliot Easton, Greg Howe, and Mike Varney. In the end, they chose Ladd Smith from Nashville, Tennessee, as the champion, Les Robot from Edmonton, Alberta, as first runner-up and Danny B. Harvey from Canyon County, CA, as second runner-up. "What a celebration of white-hot, burning guitar!" said Guitar Player Magazine Editor-in-Chief Michael Molenda. "All 10 contestants were simply awesome -- on fire, in fact and the crowd was devouring every run, riff, and lick. It was great to see such enthusiasm over transcendent guitar playing, as you certainly don't hear these styles very much on radio or television these days." "Ladd Smith took the GH07 championship because his Outrun the Train was a thrill ride of furious note barrages, clean-toned spank, and country melodicism," continued Molenda. incredibly difficult to play fast runs so pristinely without a little help from distortion or sustain from the amp and the judges acknowledged this in their decision." "This has been the most incredible thrill for me," said Smith, who was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, raised in a guitar shop in Hendersonville Tennessee, and as a teen was often found backstage at the Grand Ole Opry and hanging around Nashville studios. "It was such an honor to even be chosen to be a part of the event, and I was just so happy to be there. I had absolutely no expectations to win especially after hearing the contestants rehearse at soundcheck, and I am still recovering from the shock. To be able to go into a primarily rock-dominated event representing Nashville country music and to demonstrate the complexity and intelligence of what the genre can be is what I most proud of. I am just so thankful." Further thrills were provided by host Brendon Small, co-creator of Adult Swim Metalocalypse, as well as from the house band Thud Factor. In addition to his trophy, winner Ladd Smith received a Digidesign 003 Factory Pro Tools LE system (value: $2,495), a Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate software package, a Guitar Hero II XBox 360 bundle from Activision, an Epiphone Elitist Tak Matsumoto Signature Guitar With Hard Case AND an Epiphone Masterbilt EF-500RCCE Acoustic Guitar With Hard Gigbag, choice of a Mesa/Boogie Stiletto or Lone Star amp, a Jimi Hendrix Wah and MXR Distortion III guitar f/x pedal from Dunlop Manufacturing, and much more. The Celebrity Judges of the GUITAR HERO 2007 Competition Had This to Say about LADD SMITH's performance: "For the First time tonight the song and instrumentation was one. That was Amazing. I could never play like that in a million years. That was very entertaining. Thank you."-Joe Satriani "ASTOUNDING! I've had the honor of working with Albert Lee and many other Nashville guitarists and you can hang with the any of them. You have a wonderful touch, all of that inside-suspended open string stuff, it's just incredible and funky as a mofo!"-Steve Lukather "I'm going to bestow on you the greatest compliment I could ever give any guitar player and that is that I hate your @?&!% guts!"-Elliot Easton of The Cars "Excellent Job! I Was Totally Impressed!"-Greg Howe "You didn't play this like a competition, I felt that. My God, how much of that was improvisation anyway?"-Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme "You're a one man Hellecasters!"-Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records Activision, Microsoft and Digidesign partnered to present the 3rd annual Guitar Player's Guitar Hero competition. Activision produces the red-hot video game Guitar Hero and was on hand with pre-launch demos of their new release, Guitar Hero III on XBox 360-outfitted kiosks on the show floor. The event was webcast using Microsoft's "Silverlight" medium on www.GuitarPlayer.com. The premiere Guitar Player's Guitar Hero competition was held in 2005 at Clevelands Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where New York Dominic Frasca was crowned with the Guitar Hero title. Last year's champion was Trey Alexander of Pennsylvania. The ten finalists representing a wide range of guitar styles including Latin Shred, Rockabilly, Country and Rock were: Jamie Robinson (Toronto, Ontario), Juan Coronado (Whitby, Ontario) Tony Smotherman (Jacksonville, Florida), Taka Minamino (Hollywood, CA ), Danny B. Harvey (Canyon Country, CA), Curtis Fornadley (Playa Del Rey, CA), Casey Harshbarger (Indianapolis, Indiana), Ladd Smith (Nashville, Tennessee) , Les Robot (real name: Cory Melnychuk) (Edmonton, Alberta), and Chris Peters (Orlando, Florida). Guitar Player's Guitar Hero is sponsored by Activision, Digidesign, and Microsoft with additional sponsorship from Epiphone Guitars, Mesa/Boogie amps, Jodavi ZZYZX Snapjack Cables, Dunlop Manufacturing, Moody Leather, Planet Waves, and Sonicbids. The Music Player Network of publications for musicians performing and producing music includes Guitar Player, Bass Player, Keyboard, and EQ magazines and related websites, TV, enews and events. For 40 years musicians have been served the most current music product, artist features, lessons, and applications tools to become better players. For more information please visit www.musicplayer.com. Music Player Network is a division of NewBay Media, LLC. Visit http://www.CROSSFADER.com to see Ladd's Award Winning Performance Listen to the Celebrity Judges Comments Leading up to Ladd's Acceptance Speech... * * * 11/20/2008 01:00 AM
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11/20/2008 12:55 AM
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