I have a new page for one of my projects I call “Friday Night Jam Club”  This is a super fun but casual project where we get together every week and let our imaginations run free. No style is out of the question. We play a lot of what I refer to as “Blusion” which means that we are taking a bluesy aproach to playing jazzy, fusion ideas. Of course, we do other styles as well, leaving no stone unturned….hey, maybe we should try some stones type grooves next time…but I digress. I will be posting audio and video of these casual creations. I think of them as “musical conversations” amongst frinds. You may view this project at: http://www.myspace.com/fnjclub 

 
I also have a new Rick Brannon Amazon store.
Just click this link:
 http://www.amazon.com/Rick-Brannon/e/B000AR8LAE/ref=ntt_mus_dp_pel
Stop in and look, listen, and buy a song or two.
 
 
I am getting ready to “hot rod” and upgrade my Italian made xox Audio Tools guitar. I enjoy working on my own guitars and this will be an intensive job as I have to cut into the carbon fiber to install a Kahler tremelo on it. Once finished, this is likely to be my main guitar, as it is lightweight and a dream to play. A real “hot rod” of an axe.


Beleive it or not, I have already began working on new Christmas music with the goal of having an official Christmas CD for sale in time for the holiday season. Have a great July and check back often.

Greetings from Guitarfreak land. I appreciate the support for my youtube channel. I’ve got some videos there that are pretty popular, so I’m archiving videos of previous bands and lineups and will be uploading them soon. Work continues on more new material (a rock tune inspired by Gary Moore titled “Back to Me”), and completing mixes of nearly finished songs with famous rhythm sections. As always, I’ve been spending time refining my guitar rig and guitar sounds too. I have also been going through my catalog of unreleased songs for a potential blues album. I’ve been getting up to date with most social media sites so you can likely find me on your favorite one. Don’t forget to support live music and independent artists.

Day 3 at Namm was lots of fun. Here is the obligitory winners photo for winning the ipad drawing yesterday from the Empire Pro audio and lightiong booth (with salesman Bill and myself). The drawing was sponsored by Yamaha pro audio. Since I won the ipad yesterday, I was checking out all the cool apps today for musicians that are available from amplitube and many others. Can’t wait for Yamaha to send me the prize. 

Todays cool guitar is from Ergotar (ergonomic guitar). This instrument is lighter than a Strat, is well balanced, plays great, and is made in the USA. We had a great jam in their booth and I sold a couple of guitar freak t-shirts as well. I will definitely be in touch with these guys in the next year while they get their production up and would like to add one of these to my arsenal in the near future. The one an the far left is the original prototype for the one I’m holding. While waiting in line at the Starbucks inside the Hilton hotel, I shook hands and spoke with amazing bassist Tony Levin (King Crimson), and another time with legendary bassist Stu Hamm (Joe Satriani). Meanwhile, inside we checked out Coheed and Cambria in the Taylor guitars room, and Chris Poland in a smaller booth. Steve Vai and many others were on hand signing autographs around the convention center. We also witnessed the incredible Plek fret dressing machine which give a better than human fret job on most any guitar, as well as samples of guitar wood from all over the world. The Namm show is my Disneyland!

Day 2 at Namm was fun (as usuall). Here is another cool instrument I found built by JP guitars. It’s called the Lyretar due to its lyre shaped body. It’s lighweight and very well balanced. This axe will set you back $6800. I won an ipad today in a drawing at 5pm (had to be present to win). It’s supposed to arrive in the mail soon….yay! Made some new friends as well today. We also attended the T.E.C. awards for technical excellence and creativity in all things audio. Larry Carlton played with the house band to award Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) the Les Paul acheivement award. Lindsey gave an inspirational acceptance speech, which made me want to go to work on more new music. I’ll post more cool instrument photos asap.

Day 1 at Namm was a blast today. Among other things, this cigar box resonator guitar is a unique find. The builder looks on as I demonstrate my twisted hillbilly blugrass licks. This little instrument is “loud” and will set you back $1700! Schoen guitars make instruments out of ammo cases, whiskey boxes, and other used wooden crates.

Thanks for checking out the newly designed website. We now have videos on guitarfreak.com (with more coming soon) and have added  photos both, old and new. We also plan to have a “store” for merchandise as soon as possible. 2011 is off to a great start as I dig in to mixing the material for my next cd. I’ll post sample mixes as soon as I can. Tomorrow begins the annual Namm show in Anaheim (like the  C.E.S. show, but for musicial equipment). I hope to discover new and cool things there that can spur my creativity and help me grow as an artist. Keep spankin’ the plank!