I'll be playing at the SHE SHREDS MAGAZINE show on June 5th

Come out on THURSDAY JUNE 5th and support She Shreds Magazine, and see me do some "shredding" as well, along with Kathi Wilcox (also from The Julie Ruin, Bikini Kill, Casual Dots),  Marian Li Pino (from La Luz) and Fabi Reyna (She Shreds founder). And..... special guests???!!!  This is a one of a kind magazine featuring women guitarists. In Brooklyn at Shea Stadium.

She Shreds Magazine - the world's only print magazine dedicated to women guitarists - is coming to New York all the way from Portland, OR to celebrate the release of our fifth issue! We're teaming up with the greatestWITCHES to bring you a perfect night of badass women shredding followed by a DJ set from Pop Goes The Future's Georgie Okell.

BANDS:

WHITE MICE (MO-DETTES COVER BAND)
ft. Sara Landeau + Kathi Wilcox (The Julie Ruin), Marian Li Pino (La Luz) and Fabi Reyna ( She Shreds founder)

SLOTHRUST
http://slothrust.bandcamp.com/album/of-course-you-do

SHARKMUFFIN
http://sharkmuffin.bandcamp.com/

BLUFFING
http://bluffing.bandcamp.com/

DJs SHARK + MUFFIN in between sets

$8 pre-sale $10 DOS
ALL AGES

www.witchesofbushwick.com
www.sheshredsmag.com

Pedal Porn of the Week: UMO

Thanks JW!!

Priests

On tour now, check them out: priests.bandcamp.com

Savages and No Bra at Bowery Ballroom last night...

I'm smitten with Savage's guitarist Gemma Thompson. Check them out live and be sure to tell the soundman to turn up the goddam guitar if you don't hear it (a friend did so last night after a few songs when we couldn't take it anymore).

My favorite new band No Bra opened. Buy the music. The carefully crafted and deconstructed melt down beats and lyrical phrases are worth several listens. I noticed audience was both intrigued and upset about this one...

Los Angeles January 2013

Photos I took from my LA vacation in January. 

 Having a homemade popsicle at Suck It with Lisa's one-eyed dog Stitch.

Breakfast locale was based on who had the cutest logo. Senor Fish (awesome logo) or Los Burritos with the little happy Mexican donkey heads?!!

Art Museum (above) entrance.

L. Ron Hubbard everywhere.

Lisa's one-eyed dog Stitch and her seafoam Danelectro.

More art museum pieces.

A cool child's game in the museum's courtyard.

Paul K's house where I stayed and did cat sitting. Cat above!

Bedroom, another (live) cat sitting on a ledge. Hard to photograph... And may make more sense when you see his BOOK!

 Dire Wolf skull wall at the La Brea Tar Pits.

 Close up of the Dire Wolf skulls. I didn't know they really existed previously to this!

Dire Wolf on a stick photobombed the next 20 photos. Couldn't resist. And maybe it was funnier at the time?

Dire Wolf leaving Amoeba Records. Awww...

Old band flyer...

This makes me laugh. A flyer for my old band The Chickletts, must've been around 1998. I remember the Indian guy at the copy place point and say "Monty Python." Yep! I scanned it from a Dada art book I was carrying around and put the logo on top. Ha.

Hurricane and more.

Its been awhile since I've written anything here, and am thankful that I have nothing newsworthy to report since my apartment and studio were undamaged during the storm last week. The difficult times around us in NYC are hard on the heart, but nothing compassion and a lot of hard work can't get us through. If your gear was damaged, please check with MAIN DRAG MUSIC. They're offering assistance with amp drying and other musical instrument repair: MAIN DRAG .

My bandmates and I in The Julie Ruin have chosen these Hurricane Disaster Relief funds to promote. If you're looking for somewhere to donate, please take a look at our short list: thejulieruin.com/ There are so many more out there.

Blood Red Shoes

Guitarist of the day - Laura May Carter of Blood Red Shoes (uk). The videos I've found just don't capture what a solid guitarist she is live. Check them out on tour if you can, its worth seeing her play.

Spin's updated 100 Best Guitarists List

Click HERE to see Spin Magazine's 100 Best Guitarist List. Yes, its a list made by a few guys in an office, and man, the comments on their site in reaction are brutal! Apparently a very sensitive, important subject  - always relative to the listener's past and tastes, and always up for debate. BUT I think this is a good list, updated finally to whats popular in this futuristic year of 2012, and all of the guitarists/bands on the list deserve a listen-to. And I'm BEYOND THRILLED to see that they've avoided the usual Jimmy Hendrix, Randy Rhoades, fricken Bucket-head....etc

Tricot from Kyoto

At Last! Tremolo vs Vibrato

Was flipping through the Deli Magazine today and in the "Production Corner" section was a little article about this. I traced it back to the Fender website. The answer to the controversial and annoying question all us guitarists have: what is the difference between TREMOLO and VIBRATO and why are the terms constantly flipped around????

Brooklyn Springtime Guitar Show

Yes! A guitar show and there will be girl power! Wait WHAT? No girl power like the flyer indicates, but thats okay, there were plenty of interesting guitars, basses, gear, pedals, and knick knacks to look at. Plenty of guys with grey feathered hair and red eyes, Dave Mustaine dopple-gangers galore, and one severe dead ringer for a shaggy late Harry Nilsson (who played guitar the entire time through a pedal that turned it into the sound of a sitar...YEP). Unfortunately the lighting at Brooklyn Bowl was terrible so almost no pictures turned out. The stand owners whole heartedly shook hands with my guy friend and starved me off without a glance. Then jerked their heads suspiciously when I spoke up. I learned how to put a Bigsby bridge on an arch top Les Paul (look-out) and took a card from someone who makes custom pick guards in Mod/art deco angles (look-out again, I'm about to transform another guitar). My favorite stand was Ritchie from the East Village because he was humble, had a warm smile and amused sparkle behind those thick glasses, or so it seemed (like I said the lighting was bad and there were many red eyes). BUT his prices were the best because, I'd like to believe, he's just that cool. Here's some pieces my friend Josh bought from his stand - 5 for 20$! Bridges, pickups, etc...

Laughing Hyenas

Laughing Hyenas. Larissa Strickland on guitar, awesome sound. I saw this band so many times when I was a teen in the midwest and really wish I had paid more attention. Thats my lesson for today, appreciate everything while you can.

Guitareste!!

I was thrilled to do an interview with Guitareste.com ! Check out and support her amazing blog for women guitarists.

Girls Rock Coloring Book -whatta gift?!

Check out the insides HERE! .....And is that a little girl with a Warlock Guitar stepping on a pedal?!

BUY THE COLORING BOOK HERE!

Back to that Les Paul I was painting...

So I took apart this Epiphone Les Paul in a previous post, sanded it for 2 weeks, painted it magenta with yellow racing stripes over its old dull Sunburst coat, ordered "Mod" white speed knobs from Hong Kong on Ebay, sprayed sealers, set it up, strung it, and got it playing. The other day I felt that twitch that something was wrong, and then I finally decided its just too "rosey." I've re-taped and went over it with a solid Candy Apple RED spray.

Here it is drying over a torn apart issue of Bust Magazine. TBC.

Painting an Epiphone Les Paul

The original Epihpone Les Paul in picture #1. I love the way this guitar sounds and it plays beautifully, but I'm not a fan of sunburst. Maybe I'm just sick of it? I dunno. Too "Slash"? Yeah, a little. So I decided to take on the ambitious project of repainting it. This was a MUCH bigger project than I ever imagined! Patience was crucial here and there was a lot of waiting for paint to dry (literally). If you're the type who likes to sit for hours in a monk like meditation and sand wood, this is for you. Luckily I do love to sand and listen to music...

Inspiration: The BMW art cars. I like quite a few of them. This one was painted by Andy Warhol and I love the colors and the ripped tape effect. My friend Josh introduced me to these.

So since Josh is kinda the guy who know everything, I took him with to the hardware store on Metropolitan in Williamsburg. We picked out sandpaper.

The guy working at Crest Hardware casually told us about THE PIG WHO LIVES IN BACK. Just look at this!

Spray paint section. I got excited and perhaps a little ambitious buying 4 shades.

The guitar with the strings off.

Spent a great deal of time precisely putting tape over the pickups, knobs, and sides.

First round of sanding at my studio. The meditation begins. Also the slightly OCD part.

Testing colors. They look a little Alladin Sane in real life. Gorgeous shades.

First layer of Easter Yellow over everything with the goal of ripping tape and having it show through.


Several days later, after sanding twice and 2 coats later, I add painters tape down the center.

The trick with spray paint, I've learned, is to stay far away and do VERY LIGHT coats, one per day. Unlike acrylics, oils, or other paints I'm familiar with, this has an extremely light touch. I got excited and moved in an inch and....damn, a drip. Now I have to sand all over again, layer. Several more days go by.

I went with the Magenta spray.

Sand and spray.
Final coat. Or so I think.


Clear gloss. Several layers and days worth. How do I know when to stop?

The final guitar before putting strings on.

With strings! Completed except now I need to work on its set up since the bridge got a little buzzy in the process.

I left some scratches/paint accidents on the body I liked. Also some red spray paint went off in a bag and sprayed the bottom bridge. Looks good.

Bones and Django are happy I'm done.