A Flat Tire In Paradise with Mountain Heart

It’s March 9, 2010 if I’m not mistaken. It seems I’ve lost all track of the date, time, and especially the fast paced lifestyle I’m used to. The Mountain Heart guys and I have been in St. Croix in the Virgin Islands for a week now!! We had yet another ridiculous day of travel on the way down with the airlines that I will touch on later because I wanna focus on the positives first :).


What they say about operating on "island time" is so true. I found myself waking up at 9 or 10 a.m. most mornings, and then lounging around on the beach until gig time in the evenings. The eighty-degree temperatures, midnight swims, amazing food, loyal music fans, and overall positive vibe on the island was beyond refreshing for us. Early in the trip I commented to one of the guys that, "it takes me about 48 hours to acclimate to everything on a trip like this and then, I’m golden." That was definitely the case this time. After about a day and a half of going through technology withdrawal, I finally felt comfortable having my cell phone off, my Facebooks, Twitter, and MySpace not updated :). I got my body hydrated enough to handle the heat, and most of all, I got used to having to ride in cars on the wrong side of the road with crazy Cruzans running 65mph into 90 degree turns! It’s amazing how much more you seem to get out of human interaction and life in general without all the unnecessary daily distractions. The conversations we had and especially the music that was created, was much more than a light connection between the individuals involved. Each encounter seemed to mean a little more. The amazing support of the crowds and all of our friends on the island just took this experience to another level. At least once a night, something very special happened on stage and I think the crowd knew it. I personally felt like my soul was spilling out in front of me..."it was like a mixture of Fergie and Jesus". :) I said all that to say that there’s something truly special about St. Croix and the amazing people that reside there.

Ok, back from Utopia and into the real world. Oddly enough, it seems all of our not-so-fun experiences on the road lately have been with one airline in particular. I’m not gonna reveal their name but if you fly often, you probably know the origination of the real Delta Blues :). This flight was no exception. After an argument between Jim VanCleve and the "gate-keeper" about checking his fiddle, running out of fuel OVER THE OCEAN, a flat tire on landing and a massive unplanned layover in San Juan, PR we finally made it to St. Croix safe and sound about 8 hours late. On a lighter somewhat-side-note, we were flying with two unbelievably talented musicians that were going to be gigging with us on St. Croix. The international finger-style guitar champion Tim Thompson and his super talented son, Myles had to endure all this fun on the plane with Jim and I :). The laugh of the evening was that we probably could’ve gotten in a rowboat and made the trek quicker than we would by waiting for the next flight. After all of this ever so familiar unusual misfortune with the airline, we landed safely and headed to the resort.


We were taken to The Buccaneer by a dear friend of ours, Brian Silber. He and his gal Denise are not only great promoters, they’re the most thoughtful folks you’ll ever meet, and they’re both very artistic. Brian is a respected violin player that we always bring up to jam with us whenever we’re near each other. Denise is an amazing painter and one of the deepest humans I’ve ever talked to. Not sure if you can tell that I like these folks??? :) This is my little way of expressing how much we appreciate them and their hard work and especially the relationships we’ve all created with them over the last year or so.
Arriving at the Buccaneer is amazing. The outside of this place viewed from the gates reminds me of the Eagles album “Hotel California”. Except, The Buccaneer is absolutely in the middle of paradise. I’ve stayed there twice and I’m BLOWN AWAY by the service and overall reputation this place has. When you’re in the islands and you say “I’m staying over at The Buccaneer”, people always stop and look at you like they’re jealous or something. Brian and Denise put together a VERY generous care package that they left in our rooms. Along with that, sat a bottle of some tasty Cruzan Rum that the hotel presented to us as a token of their appreciation for our stay and for the concerts we all brought to the island. I’m not going to go into detail about all the down time throughout our visit. Just know that the beaches were awesome and the fellowship among the guys in the band was something we’ve needed for a long time.

The second night there, Jim and I were booked as headliners in the exclusive concert room, The Brass Parrot at The Buccaneer. The show was a way for us to give back to the resort for all they’ve done for us. It was also an experiment for the band and Brian that turned into an over-sold audience who had an amazing dinner and rocked out with us for almost 3 hours. I had the lamb, which was stellar, and we featured all the guys in Mountain Heart, Brian Silber, as well as Tim and Myles Thompson at different times throughout the show. This was truly an amazing sold out night that no one involved will soon forget.

The next night, we played our main gig of the week at The Island Center. This venue was the nicest place I’ve ever seen on the island for a concert. We had Tim and Myles jamming with the Mountain Heart gang, 40 GREAT volunteers, and a top-notch sound company that helped us work quickly to adjust to all the rental gear that was flown in for the show. The show that night was insane! There was a massive storm coming through that dumped rain outside but these people didn’t care. They piled in with us and partied all night. There will be videos of this amazing night of music online soon.

The next evening, I was booked to play a few hours with Aaron Ramsey from the band on the other side of the island at The 19th Hole in Carambola. I love this area on St. Croix as well. Once again, thanks to Brian and Denise, Aaron and I had a standing-room-only crowd there to support us. Myles and Tim opened up the night with a ton of music that was soooo far over my head that I would have been afraid to set in if they had asked :). Check them out if you’re not already aware of how amazing they are. After a great dinner, we took the stage and played a very diverse group of tunes that included some originals, a lot of old soul tunes by artist like Michael McDonald and Donny Hathaway, and we even worked in a few bluegrass and rock songs with the rest of the Mountain Heart guys who were hanging at the gig that night. Talk about pressure, its tough having your partners pick you apart from the audience. After the gig, we all went back to celebrate another crazy success at The Buccaneer.

Last night, we played our fourth and final night on the island. Jim and I were booked as a duo in another area at The Buccaneer that accommodates live music. The common trend stood true there as well. About a half hour before the gig, the people started piling in to have some drinks, dinner, and party with us. The management and all of the staff really hooked us up again with a monster C7 Yamaha piano for me to play and once again the best food and service you’ll ever find. Lucky for us, Jason Moore and Aaron were still on island so they decided to join us for the majority of the show. This crowd was off the chain. Believe it or not, a lot of the folks in the audience were seeing us for the fourth time in four days. I mean....it was completely crazy. They supported us to the fullest every single night and I think we definitely connected with almost everyone there at some point. The Mountain Heart boys were having a blast, and once again I felt like I was weightless on stage. We went for things that we would never attempt in a controlled environment and although a few mistakes came with that, a lot of magic was left on the stage as a result. We played and sang and the entire audience stayed 4 hours. Management actually had to cut us off at some point because of the hotel’s noise ordinance and because of the rowdy friends and fans that refused to go home. Keep in mind, this was the middle of the of the night on a MONDAY! It was truly special and Brad, the general manager, and the outstanding staff there handled everyone perfectly and admitted to one of the best nights they’d ever had.


Today we were greeted with friends by the pool and some delicious lunch from Brian and Denise before we flew out. I simply can’t say enough about my second trip to St. Croix or the fantastic people there. Thanks again to The Buccaneer and to Brian and Denise and all of the very special people that helped that aren’t mentioned here. Everyone was so appreciated by us. We also especially wanna thank D’addario for providing us with strings down there in that hot and humid climate. Humidity can do a number on stings in a hurry…you guys are the best! I’ve probably developed carpal tunnel after all this typing, :) but the good news is I think we’re almost to Atlanta! Check out Facebook or our websites for pictures of this journey if you like: www.mountainheart.com www.joshshilling.com
Sorry to be long-winded, but this trip had so many dimensions that I just had to touch on. Until the next time….

Thanks,

Josh Shilling
www.mountainheart.com

The Perils Of A Traveling Musician

I'm on a flight with the Mountain Heart gang somewhere over Montana right now that’s bound for Nashville. We had a ridiculous call time this morning at like 3:45am to leave Seattle…. definitely not musician-friendly hours. Mountain Heart and lots of other great bands and D’addario lovers including Kenny and Amanda Smith, The Infamous Stringdusters, The Seldom Scene, and so many more, were performing at an awesome festival called Wintergrass in Seattle this weekend. We had three great shows with amazing crowds to play to, and I got to really enjoy my first visit and tour of the city.

We had some SWANK hotel rooms this trip and the overall vibe from the people was perfect. In case you were wondering, the rumors are true....there was literally a Starbucks in every direction within a hundred yards. However, I didn’t make it to the original one on Pike Place.

As nice as all that was, I do have to mention what a terrible time we had traveling out this week. I’ll make it brief so I don’t ruin anyone else’s day. Basically, it started when we were leaving the Nashville airport. After checking our bags and paying the $25 “luggage care” fees, we stood in a half hour line just to find out that we had a 3-hour delay. That was not the best news considering that put us arriving at like 3 or 4 am CST at that point. After finding that out, we had to stand in another half hour line to get on another connecting flight because obviously, we weren’t going to make it on the original flight to Cincinnati. During the ticket changes, Jim from the band, was handed a “seat request” that looks like a ticket and we got new baggage claim and tracking info since we weren’t flying via Cincinnati. He was told that he and I were seated together on the next flight to Atlanta and then to Seattle. The clerk said “that’s as good as a ticket” when we asked about the seat request thing…”I’m just out of ticket stubs for my printer but that will get you your seat.”

So we waited around and after standing in yet another half hour line to board the flight to ATL, Jim was told “sir, this flight is sold out and your seat request isn’t going to get you on this flight. At that point, obviously the airline didn’t have ANYTHING together and Jim was going to be 24 hours late getting to the gig and was going to miss 2 of 3 performances. After fighting and then begging for something to be worked out, the (obviously having a bad day) clerk somehow worked Jim on the flight. Relieved to finally be in the air, we took off with a sense of peace. We got to Atlanta and then hopped the connecting flight to Seattle, which was quite a bit longer that I figured. We landed there as scheduled and headed down to baggage claim.

After the 12-hour ordeal to actually make it TO Seattle, we quickly noticed over half the band had one thing in common. Keep in mind, there are 6 members of Mountain Heart and we flew on 3 different flights from 3 different cities. The obvious bad news was, half of us didn’t have any luggage…at all! We had a missing bass and all of our checked luggage including laptops, everyone’s stage clothes, some stage gear and even pile of D’addario strings were all MIA. Completely pissed off at this point, we had to deal with the lost luggage personnel who obviously also were having a VERY BAD day (see the trend), in order to track our stuff.

They found Jim’s and my luggage and of course as anyone would suspect, it had safely made it to Cincinnati on our original flight but somehow, it never made it to Seattle. However, Jason’s bass was not so lucky as it was completely lost. They offered us no answers as to where it was or even MIGHT BE or when or IF he’d get it back. The offered no apologies, or even seem to care either way. After all, it’s not their stuff right? No, I’m not sarcastic So, we filled out all of the paperwork to start the process of tracking and shipping our gear and then headed off in a shuttle to the hotel.

The next morning, of course none of our stuff had arrived and we were at this point forced to borrow instruments and wear dirty underwear and t-shirts on stage in front of thousands of people, which was pretty embarrassing. Then came the 2nd performance….still in the same dirty everything, still with no answer or explanation from the airline. Nearing the end of this trip and after EVERYTHING work or music related was finished, the courier service dropped all of our stuff off without notifying us in the middle of the night!



Thankful to have everything back finally and especially to have on some clean drawers, we wrote this one off as a lesson learned when it comes to this particular airline. Just an FYI, Jim and myself wrote a song about this experience titled “The Delta Airline Blues” and we performed it in front of 10,000 people Saturday night and yes, it’s already on youtube. I’ll try to attach a link below in case you want to help us raise public awareness of airline injustice. Funny thing is, we all just had to check everything they lost and returned again just a bit ago and pay the same insane baggage fees to have them “shipped and handled with care” or just lost, which is WAY more likely.

Traveling as a musician has its good points and its bad; I think it’s important to see both sides! Since this incident consumed the majority of our trip, we felt it needed to be shared! Every profession has its on-the-job hazards. The next stop for the band is home, albeit for only 24 hours. Then we’re off to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. Jim and I have been before and I quickly learned to absolutely LOVE the vibe there along with the sites. We’ll fill you in next week on how everything goes. Clear blue water and skies, beautiful beaches, amazing food, 75-degree temps, and night swimming in the winter months, pretty much rocks.

As I’m typing this, I’m listening to one guy talk to his partner about this big sales job they’re in the middle of and how tough times are with his company. There’s a baby that WILL NOT stop crying across the isle, an old man that’s gently snoring, and a woman in front of me that’s obviously having some health troubles and has been in the hospital. All that being said, I just had a very calming feeling come over me as I think about why I’m on this plane. And it’s not for some job I hate or some family emergency; we’re traveling to bring our music to people across the world. That was simply a childhood dream and I’m getting to live it now.

So, I’m powering up my iPod to find something soothing to listen to and add to the little “positive bubble” around me. We’re very blessed to be able to survive doing what we do and it’s only possible because of all the great supporters out there. So, thanks to all the listeners and all the folks like D’addario that have helped myself and Mountain Heart throughout our careers. An update from St. Croix is coming soon!

Until the next time
Josh Shilling of Mountain Heart

In The Studio With Mountain Heart

I'm sitting in the A Room at Ocean Way studios in Nashville working on Mountain Heart's new record. Our engineer is working on a rough mix of a song as I type. I sang a ton of harmonies this morning, and I just wrapped up some B3 organ overdubs on a few songs.

This studio used to be an enormous church so, as you can imagine, the rooms have ridiculous ceilings and acoustics...I'm pinching myself as I think about so many of the greats that have cut in this place. Mountain Heart has been touring some, but for the most part the last few weeks has been spent in the studio and for me personally, writing songs.

In the next few weeks, I'm writing with some of my faves. Guys like Bryan White (yes the country singer), Jimmy Olander of Diamond Rio, and a known monster in Nashville, Marc Beeson. After all the writing and recording is over in February, Mountain Heart is heading out to Seattle for a couple of shows at the Wintergrass Festival. Directly after returning home from Seattle, we're all flying down to the Virgin Islands for a week where we'll be crashing at a swank resort called The Buccaneer on the island of St. Croix after our gigs. I lucked out and got to gig there last Spring, but this trip will be with the entire band so it should be freaking awesome. Until that nice dose of 70 degree temps comes, we're gonna be bundled up and hunkered down in Nashville working on the record.

The next thing on the agenda as far as recording is concerned is a few acoustic guitar overdubs. I'm starring at my guitar in the corner and thinking about the insane stuff Brian Sutton is gonna lay down shortly! The one common denominator that I see with all the axes laying around is they're all strung up with D'Addario strings. So, once again I'm saying “thank you” for the never ending support!

Until the next time,
Josh Shilling

www.mountainheart.com

On The Road With Mountain Heart!

Josh Shilling, lead singer of the alt-acoustic super-group "Mountain Heart" in partnership with world renowned instrument supplies maker D'Addario is pleased to present a new blog series directed at bringing the fans closer into the crazy world that is "Mountain Heart".

This blog will appear regularly on the D'Addario and Mountain Heart web sites and we invite you to read, share and enjoy. We hope this little glimpse into the life of Josh and his band mates will enlighten and amuse you.


Sunday, January 10, 2010:

It's Sunday morning, January 10th and I think I can speak for all the guys in Mountain Heart when I say that we had an AMAZING weekend out on the road!

Although Sundays are usually spent licking wounds for most musicians after traveling, today we're all celebrating yet another sell out show at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan Fridaynight. From what I was told, this was our 6th straight sell out at this intimate room which is also where we recorded our live record The Road That Never Ends in 2007. We had a line downtown that went on forever waiting outside in the snow and single-digit temperaturesto get in and see our show.

After we stuffed ourselves at our favorite Mongolian Grill just a few blocks away and hit up a Starbucks or as we like to call it Fivebucks, we suited up for showtime. The show kicked off with an electric crowd that actually seemed louder than the band at times! After multiple encores, we ended up on stage for over three hours playing every single request from the crowd. Michigan has become one of our favorite states when it comes to fan support, andAnn Arbor in particular seems to be addicted to live music!

After such a ridiculously good night in MI, we headed to Clay City, KY to play to another die hard crowd that also fought several inches of snow on country roads to party with us. It seems like our rock edge is rubbing off on even the traditionalists in eastern Kentucky. I noticed a lot of young faces and requests for Allman Brothers covers....CRAZY!
After the great show last night, we packed up the bus and scooted back down to Nashville for some recording sessions this week. Outside of touring, our main focus right now is writing new material and recording a new record. The only thing I can share aboutthe project thus far is that it's going to be the most creative and original sound I've ever heard!

As always, we are all so blessed to be using great gear in the studio and on tour so I wanna say thanks to D'Addario for their products and never ending support. With as many strings as we go thru in a tour we couldn't live without them!
Until next time...............

Josh Shilling


Josh Shilling is the lead singer of the alt-acoustic super-group "Mountain Heart. Both Josh and all the members of Mountain Heart are proud and exclusive user of D'Addario strings.

Visit us at www.mountainheart.com and www.daddario.com

The Right Strings For Your Classical Guitar with Philippe Bertaud

Hey Folks!

That is like the question I get all the time:- Philippe, what strings do you put on your guitar?and, I know when I look in your eyes that you guys had… and maybe still have if you did not read this article yet, the same issue(s) I had. Finding the right strings! Honestly, if you get into a store and look at the brands, you really start feeling woozy, and then you start to try one set, and another, and another… and arrive on my blog – or come to one of my clinic – and anxiously ask me about strings.

Because I tried them all, and there is not a week that I do not receive a set from a string company. Some are okay… the first days of their life but, like the butterflies, they do not last a long time. Others – let’s be honest – most of the brands have intonation issues… you have to run to the store to buy other 1st or 3rd strings (no kidding! I live in Texas and the time I get to the store it’s pitch dark, that’s how far it is!!!) and you realize you have to go back to the store because the new ones you get still have intonation problems… Other sets have they basses dead in 2 or 3 days… or break.Seriously: do you want me to break in string during a show? I tour and play a lot and want to have reliable strings! And y’all know I bang the guitar and take all the guts out of the poor thing.

You never see me re-tuning the guitar when I perform (if you saw me, it’s because I was about to play open tuning… or it was when I did not have Alhambra Guitar… just buy the right stuffs guys) It’s not because I’m deaf … neither because I’m blond… it’s because the strings I use stay in tune, never break, last forever… are cheap and American. Read that well coming from a Frenchy: they are MADE IN ZE USA! Okay… Should I share more about the spirit? You want me to tell you I fence my Texas ranch with those strings?

So, what is the mystery? Well, I went to Africa to meet a wizard in Zambia and he gave me the answer… are you ready?

The basses are round and rich because they use the best wire, the highest quality. Not the cheap one that will rust in no time. Also for the "EXP" basses, they put the coating ON the wire, not just on the strings. See? Have you tried the other ones? The ones that have been made the "fast way"? Just the coating sprayed on the whole string... and what happenend after that? It's peeling off!!! Not only it looks nasty, like if your guitar contracted leprosy - or you which is worst! - and because of the peeling-off-fast-spayed-coating... your strings buzzes. Hey, you know what I'm talking about.

But not the strings I use... Did you hear my guitar buzzing? Peeling? Strings shredding away? Mais non!

I go great basses strings! The "Must", the "Best". They got the sustain you are looking for and the harmonic support.
What am I talking about?
- Go to the end of the concert hall next time you attend a classical guitar recital… you barely hear the basses. They are weak. But not the one I use!

And the trebles... no intonation issues. Why? Because they want to be so perfect they measure each string two hundred times.
How many times? 200 – TWO HUNDRED TIMES, dos cientos, zwei hundert, δύο εκατό!!! 200 times!
Those guys are so crazy about precision, they measure EACH string 200 times. It’s not only for fun .. or because they have time to kill… It’s because they have a vision:- They want to make the best products ever because they take pride into what they do.- One dissatisfied player will be talking to 8 people about how the strings caused them problems and they will talk to others who will talk to others… and so forth.

First, to measure the strings with such precision, they thought about hiring a bunch of elves, fairies and dwarves from the "Enchanted Forest" but, over the past 30 years, guitar strings have benefited from a wealth of engineering and manufacturing improvements and the brand I use are now made by utilizing automated computer-controlled winding machines. The result has been unprecedented quality and value for the guitarists. The trebles are sorted by a sophisticated computer-controlled laser machine which performs diameter/tension measurements and quality checks to insure precise intonation. They want to make you satisfied… And they are.

What do I play?The only real strings for pro… D’Addario.

I use the Pro-Arte and also, on my spruce top guitar the Composites to give my guitar a warm "touch".

D’Addario Composite wound strings exclusively feature Zyex(R) multi-filament stranded core material, which delivers gut-like tone with extremely long life and consistency. The trebles come with two 3rd strings, one from the regular Pro Arte line (clear nylon) and one made from composite polymer (coffee colored) which has a brighter tone (the 1st and 2nd are also from the regular Pro Arte line).

Cheers!

-Philippe

www.philippebertaud.com

EXP Strings

Fresh strings. They feel great, they play great, they sound great...eventually. As much as I love a new set of wires for my guitars, it does take a bit of break-in time to get them sounding the way I want...bright, but not too bright, fat but not dull. A regular set of non-coated strings need a few hours or days (depending on your willingness to stretch and play them) before they settle in to a tone that lasts a good while until they gradually wear out.

That's the way it has always been, and most folks are fine with that. I stretch strings and play guitars to break them in every day for a living, no problem. But ever since the EXP strings became available, I have been skipping the break-in period on my own acoustics and using the EXP sets as soon as they are strung up and tuned. The coating serves two purposes for me: 1) It offers protection against corrosion and fret wear and 2)It starts out sounding like a broken-in set and stays there for a long, long time.

This is especially true in a recording situation. The coated strings seems to minimize the squeaky hand position shifts that are emphasized on a new set of regular strings. The overt brightness is gone, letting you string your guitar and put a mic in front of it immediately. Not to say the coated strings are duller or less responsive...more like a precision EQ that notches out the harsher sounds and lets the chime ring through.

I've found that guitars with EXP strings are easier to record and give you more mic options, since the super top end is not as present. Even a bright mic like a C-414 can be used without rolling any EQ off. The best part is that I can leave a set on for weeks at a time and they still sound great. Check out the EXP coated strings from D'Addario...you just might find the tone you've been searching for...yours.

Strings & Pedalboards with Bryan Beller of DETHKLOK!!!

Hey there. I just came around to thinking that, since I’m about to go out on tour with the most brutal metal band ever not to actually exist – that being Dethklok, of course - this would be a good a time as any to write a blog post about some of the D’addario and Planet Waves stuff I’m using to pull it off.

When it comes to strings, first and foremost I’m a ProSteels guy. I just really dig D’addario’s brightest stainless steel strings, always have. My gauges are pretty standard: 45-65-85-105, and a 130 tapered-core B for my main axe, a Mike Lull Custom 5-string. But my job on tour with Dethklok isn’t to make me sound good, it’s to make William Murderface sound good. Let me explain.

If you’re hip to the show Metalocalypse (that’s the actual name of the show on Cartoon Network from which Dethklok was spawned), you’ll notice that ol’ Murderface plays a 5-string Thunderbird-style bass. So Mike Lull made me one of their T-Basses, and unlike the original that inspired it, it plays and sounds like a dream – which is key for pulling off those fast, low, chunky DethRiffs. Only problem is, there’s no 5-string model. So I’m playing a 4-string masquerading as a 5-string, and I’m accomplishing that by tuning the whole thing down a major third to C-F-Bb-Eb. (I actually look at it as a 5-string tuned up a half-step and missing the top string, believe it or not.) And for strings, I’m using 65-85-105-130 Pro Steels, with the 130 being a non-taper core in this case. I’m been practicing on it, and it’s, well, brutal. Check it out:

So that’s the instrument/strings end of the deal. But there’s also what’s going on with my pedalboard. I’ve been using the same trusty wood-and-velcro board for the past 10 years, and it’s served me well. However, there’s nothing like a major tour to expose the weaknesses in any gear you have, and this board of mine has been long in the tooth for the last two years at least. Time to upgrade.

I went out and got a Pedaltrain top-of-the-line board frame and started arranging pedals on it. For years I’ve seen techs do this while I instructed them how I wanted it, but once I got my hands on the Planet Waves cable kits (and the ability to make my own custom-length cables without having to solder anything), I began harboring secret fantasies of being able to do it myself. This was my chance. I sat down a few nights ago and got to work.

And just 48 hours later, behold:

Seriously, I can’t tell you how much fun it was to sit there, measure and cut the cables exactly the way I wanted them, test them out and hear them work, and then install them onto the board. (Pedaltrains are built so that you can run the cables under the boards, which keeps the cables clean and out of sight. Trust me, there’s a lot of cables under that board.) Call me a gear geek, but I really got off on it. In the end of the day, it was empowering to be able to do it all myself, exactly the way I wanted, and especially to be able to make the final few changes on my own once I saw it all together.

Dethklok will be touring this fall on a four-band all-metal bill, with High On Fire, Converge, and the mighty Mastodon (!). It’s an amazing show – we play the music live, while at the same time our drummer Gene Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad, Death, Dark Angel) is playing to a click that’s sync’d up to a huge video screen of the cartoon characters banging their heads in animation custom-made for the tour. You can check out the dates on my MySpace profile page at www.myspace.com/bryanbeller, and I’ll be posting on Twitter throughout the tour (@bryanbeller). The 4-string T-Bass and the new pedalboard will be along for the ride.

Also, I should mention that Steve Vai has a new DVD called Where The Wild Things Are coming out on September 29, compiled from his String Theories tour I was on back in 2007. The Pro Steels on my main axe got quite the workout on that tour (as did the Half-Rounds I used on my Mike Lull 5-string fretless, same gauges: 45-65-85-105-130) and I was very pleased to know that Steve dug the recorded sound of them, because he only spent two years mixing and editing that footage and the fewer hassles he had the better. J If you want to check out a 7-minute YouTube trailer of the DVD, just click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgObLPOUPVA .

That’s it for now. Thanks to everyone at D’Addario and Planet Waves for the killer products, and for letting me post here, and hope to see you out on the road this fall!

Yours ,
BB