Muse are touring North America, almost six years to the day since their first US tour. 2004's opening gig in Atlanta saw guitarist Matt Bellamy split his lip 30 seconds in to the opening number and the show was cancelled. 2010 saw Muse open their US tour in..... Atlanta, in a gutsy move that laid the ghost to rest. The tour is selling out venues across the US and in to Canada – catch them at a stadium near you soon. They have been huge in the UK for years, and finally seem to be breaking stateside.
Guitar video gaming is set to see an evolution in the form of Power Gig: Rise of the Sixstring. The game itself is similar to Guitar Hero, Rock Band and other offerings, but the controller can also be used as a real electric guitar, and the upper difficulty levels of the game require players to use the individual strings to form real chords which they can then take outside the game to play guitar. Maybe skills in guitar games will finally translate to the real world....
Luthier Taku Sakashta was sadly taken from us on February 11th in what Police suspect was a botched burglary. Details of a benefit are soon to be announced. An exceptional builder of stringed instruments, his designs merged traditional techniques with modern materials and I was on the list for a 'Noupaul' – his variation of the Gibson classic. His name will of course live on in some of the wonderful instruments he has created, as played by Tony Darren, Robben Ford, Tony Macus, Boz Scaggs, Ellen Stephenhorst, Martin Simpson and many others.
Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is ecstatic to have been reunited with his treasured 1964 Gibson SG 10 years after it was stolen. A guilt ridden fan eventually confessed to talking the guitar having been invited backstage after a gig in 2000. Not so guilt ridden that he confessed before the police arrived at his house, but we live in an imperfect world....
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has given Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono a handmade Maton acoustic guitar, presenting the musical leader with a guitar on which to compose tunes. Surprisingly, the President of Indonesia is about to release his third album.... (!) I wish Gordon Brown was half as cool...
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London is running a competition to find a talented musician to join the 240 licensed buskers in the London Underground. The winner will receive a 12 month license to busk on the Underground as well as studio time, a recording contract and no doubt a bit of publicity...
Sir Cliff Richard has become an honorary Patron of Guitar Aid, the evangelical missionary charity of which, UK distributor JHS is a long-term partner. Guitar Aid helps to provide instruments for worship, to those unable to obtain or afford them. So far, the charity has provided in excess of 2000 instruments to worshippers across the world.
Gibson Guitar has launched an upgraded Gibson Guitar App for the iPhone. The free kit features chromatic tuners, a metronome, 30 chord charts and tuition videos. It has racked up some 100,000 downloads to date.
Check out my music, video, lessons & backing tracks here![br]https://www.renhimself.com
