Pedal Porn of the Week: UMO

Thanks JW!!

Our new song with a lyric video by Brendan Kennedy!

Okay, so I love playing this song. I could mess with guitar feedback for hours. And here it created a monster...

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...

Recording 16 year old punk duet Petal War

Petal War are Abbie Hornburg on drums and Alex Ruiz on guitar/vocals. Check out Petal War's songs and site here.

Getting Alex all tuned up!

Abbie's view from the drums.

Isolation area for the Fender Twin Amp. Very DIY of us..

The new mixing board. We all referred to it as "sexy."

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.

Lucinda Williams at Bowery Ballroom 8-6-12

Yep, I was lucky enough to get the setlist. Encore songs included the Woody Guthrie cover "Ain't Got No Home," a political song as relevant today as it was when it was originally written, and Bruce Springsteen's "Factory." This was one of those moments where you're just so thankful to be there.

Lucinda Williams had Doug Pettibone on lead guitar. (Also worked with Marianne Faithfull, etc)

Here's his pedal board along with opening act Amy Cook's.

See the TAB along the side for more pedal board pictures from various bands.

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...

Pedal Board gallery

I forgot that the main reason I started this blog was for collecting pedal board images. Here's a couple more, thanks to my dearest friend J.W.

Dub Trio (Dec 2011)

Wanda Jackson at Musichall of Williamsburg Jan 21st!

Wanda Jackson. Gorgeous woman. Perfect voice!

One of Jack White's guitars.

Jack's pedal board.

Jack's pedalboard again with amp!

Another show, the week before. Here's Luke's pedalboard from the band The Devil's Broadcast.

Amps from two of my favorite guitarists

Billy Zoom's amp. No volume knob....

Monotonix' guitarist Yonatan Gat's amps.

Pedal Board gallery

Be sure to check out all the past photos of pedal boards. I've been a bit behind but here's a couple more. Liz Phair's guitarist, Chris Brokaw, "Jimmy Page" from Lez Zeppelin, and some jam band.

Work

Photo by my friend Josh Wertheimer in his photo series titled "Work." Very old spotlight used...

I also do some work at this place, and here's my pictures from the show (not titled "work" since taking photos of pedal boards is not my job description): (to see all the pedals boards, click on the side tab...Sonic Youth, Raveonettes, Melt Banana etc...)

Depends on how you look at it...

My awesome friend Eddy sent this to me. If this refers to MUSIC GEAR, then I would have to SWITCH the Man side to the Women side.....EASILY. Men love those bells and whistles....

Rock Camp stuff

Don't know the artist of this bunny picture, but I assume she plays rock music. This was in Willie Mae Rock Camp's rehearsal room tonight. I'll credit this young painter when I find out!

Pedal Board pics of the last month! Johnny Marr, Sonic Youth, Wolfmother, Heartless Bastards, Von Bondies, John Mayer, Melt Banana, TMBG and many more

There still are not enough female guitarists to photograph their gear exclusively. But several of these pedals do belong to the gals. Can you guess which ones?