britt daniel
30 Signature Guitars for Modern Artists
For decades, having a signature guitar was reserved for classic rock legends — the Claptons, the Hendrixes, the Pages, the SRVs and EVHs. But that’s no longer the case. From pop-punk to heavy metal, alt-country to neo-soul, modern artists of all genres and backgrounds are getting signature guitars from companies big and small. Among the titans of the industry, that intentional shift came with a new generation being put into decision-making positions. “When I started, it was largely classic rock and very much a pantheonic Hall of Fame,” Fender’s Executive VP for Products Justin Norvell says of the early 2000s. “It was an end-of-an-iconic-career kind of thing. But it was my feeling that it should be something that people can use to reflect back upon themselves. A Telecaster can mean James Bu...
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead Go Quadrophonic on New LP
Texas rockers …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead will release their 11th studio album, XI: Bleed Here Now, on July 15 through Dine Alone Records. And this time, there’s a twist: the project was mixed in quadrophonic sound with the help of an audio plug-in called QUARK, providing a true widescreen feel to the music. Two preview tracks are out today: the stomping, organ-drenched “No Confidence” and the more concise, almost sing-song-y “Salt in Your Eyes,” which builds to a loud guitar freakout and random studio chatter about checking the potatoes cooking outside on the grill. Bleed Here Now was produced by Trail of Dead leaders Conrad Keely and Jason Reece in tandem with Charles Godfrey, who was behind the boards for the group’s 2020 release, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories. Th...
