Duane Betts & the '56 Hardtail Strat
To celebrate Dickey Bett's 76th birthday, here's an interview from a while back with Dickey's son Duane Betts. Duane came by the studio with his father's old '56 hardtail Strat. Of course both Dickie Betts and Duane Allman were famous for playing Gibson Les Pauls and sometimes SG's, but both had Strats in the quiver at some stage in their careers.
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Guy King Exclusive Interview About The New Album "JOY IS COMING"
Guy King is one of the greatest Blues guitar players and vocalists in the world today. Guy’s music is fresh and unique while maintaining a strong link to the musical masters that came before him.
His natural musical abilities and his one of a kind blend of Blues, Jazz, Soul, R&B and Bossa Nova, are some of what makes Guy King so special in the music world. You gotta buy this album and you gotta get out and see him 'live' when you get the chance.
AGN Pro Files
Richie Kotzen Interview
LOS ANGELES, CA: BMG is proud to announce the worldwide release of the debut album Smith/Kotzen by Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen on March 26th. The announcement comes on the back of the release of the video for the album’s first single, “Taking My Chances.”
Recorded on the Turks & Caicos Islands in February 2020, produced by Richie and Adrian and mixed by Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, this nine track opus is a consummate collaboration between these two highly respected musicians who co-wrote all the songs and also share lead vocals and trade off on guitar and bass duties throughout the record.
Exploding with powerful melodies & harmonies, the album embodies the spirited attitude of 70’s classic rock with a melting-pot of influences ranging from blues, hard rock, traditional R&B and more, blending the pair’s backgrounds and life experiences to result in a thoroughly contemporary sound. The full track-listing is:
Taking My Chances
Running
Scars
Some People
Glory Road
Solar Fire
You Don’t Know Me
I Wanna Stay
‘Til Tomorrow
The record features special guest performances by Adrian’s fellow Iron Maiden bandmate Nicko McBrain on drums for the track “Solar Fire,” and Richie’s longstanding friend and touring partner Tal Bergman on drums for “You Don’t Know Me,” “I Wanna Stay” and “‘Til Tomorrow,” with Richie picking up the sticks on the other five songs.
Adrian Smith comments, “Richie and I started working together a couple of years ago. We’d been jamming as we’d been friends for a few years before that. We both share a love for classic rock and bluesy rock so we decided to get together and start writing some songs and it went from there. Pretty much everything on the album is handled between Richie and myself including the production. We had developed a really strong idea of how we wanted it to sound and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. There’s a lot of cool songs on there that we are really happy with.”
Richie Kotzen adds “We had a very fluid process in writing. Sometimes Adrian would send me a riff and I would immediately hear some kind of melody or a vocal idea. And sometimes it was the other way round so it was a kind of circular motion. We’d get together whenever we could and throw some ideas around and it just evolved, which was great because there was no pressure and nothing other than just a natural course and I think the record really speaks for that.”
The album will be available in these formats:
Digipack CD
12” black vinyl with embossed sleeve
Digital (streaming and download)
Limited edition 12” red & black smoke effect colored vinyl
With “Taking My Chances” having been greeted with enormous excitement and acclaim by rock fans and media worldwide on its release in December – and now with the accompanying video [https://youtu.be/OOyeowWVwN8] shot in both LA & London – Smith/Kotzen fully cements the new partnership between these two extraordinary talents and sets the scene for this innovative and exciting collaboration to light up 2021 and the world of rock music beyond.
For more information and to buy the album, click the INFO button now.
AGN Pro Files
An Interview with Sammy Boller
Detroit, Michigan. Rock City. It’s a perennial hotbed for the coolest new offerings in gritty, loud music. Falling in step with this notorious reputation, is guitarist and Candyrat recording artist, Sammy Boller.
A former music student at the University of Michigan, Sammy catapulted onto the national radar in 2012, when Joe Satriani selected him as a winner in Guitar Center’s “Master Satriani” competition. Now, an internationally-acclaimed player, Sammy has amassed a large and loyal online following, and he earns his living as a full-time musician. Prior to embarking on his solo career, Sammy played guitar for the band, Citizen Zero, and Their State Of Mind album notched up multiple radio singles, including “Go (Let Me Save You)”, which cracked the Top 15 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Chart.
Sammy also spends time on the road riding shotgun with world-renowned amplifier wizard Dave Friedman (Friedman Amplification) and The two regularly embark on runs through the States and Europe to sponsor clinics and gear demonstrations. Sammy is also a contributing columnist for Guitar World Magazine and His online column ("Secrets of Shred With Sammy Boller") has a loyal monthly following, regularly racking up view counts in the tens of thousands.
When asked to describe his influences and approach, Sammy says, "My guitar playing has always been about plugging into an amp and blowing the walls down. I grew up wanting to be Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, but over time I've found my own dark and aggressive style. These days, my dream as a musician is to make people feel as connected to the cosmos as I feel when I play the guitar. I'd love nothing more than that."
AGN Pro Files
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Exclusive Interview with Jack Ryan Sullivan
Jack Ryan was born in Clemson, South Carolina and was the guitar and mandolin protege of Jimmy Rogers, who was known as the fastest guitar player in the southeast.
While Jack’s background is a mix between Jazz and Bluegrass, he is also well versed in Blues, Country, Rock and Roll, Metal, Classical, and Pop music and he's also an amazing five-string and plectrum banjo player
In 2013, Jack moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he became the house guitar player for many of Nashville’s world-famous honky tonks including Tootsie’s, Rippy’s, Honky Tonk Central, Second Fiddle, The Stage, The Valentine, and during this time, Jack became known as having the “Fastest Fingers on Broadway” .While in Nashville, Jack played on stage and toured with Steven Tyler, Kid Rock, Vince Gill, Montgomery Gentry, Dierks Bentley, The Swon Brothers, Hank Williams III, Rhonda Vincent, and Larry Gatlin of The Gatlin Brothers. Jack Ryan’s band was the featured band for Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan’s private CMA Party in 2016.
These days, through his amazing business, Jack Ryan Music Jack plays and teaches acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, violin/fiddle, viola, cello, upright bass, electric bass, five-string banjo, plectrum, banjo, tenor banjo, ukulele, dobro, lap steel guitar, accordion, piano, and drums.
Jack is also producing several new and upcoming national and local artists that he feels has a shot at making in the music industry.
Jack was able to keep the studio afloat with ALL of his teachers still employed during the worst part of the COVID19 Pandemic, and has managed to grow his studio, teachers, and student roster by 50% since June of 2020 and he prides himself in 'always finding a way' and giving back to the community as much as he can.
