With plenty of playing time now at their disposal, quarantined musicians may be wondering how they can best keep their instruments in tip-top shape. It turns out they won’t have to look beyond their computer screens: Gibson has announced it will provide free virtual guitar tune-ups. The complimentary offering is part of the company’s new fully interactive Gibson Virtual Guitar Tech Service. This program pairs up customers around the world with a member of Gibson’s team of professional techs. Available in English, Spanish, French, and German, these basic online tune-up tutorials can assist with Gibson, Epiphone, Kramer or Steinberger electric or acoustic guitar, ukulele, banjo, mandolin, or electric bass. In order to take advantage of Gibson’s new service, folks must first sign up for a fre...
Virtual music festival and fundraiser Love From Philly took place this past weekend and boasted headlining performances from local heroes Kurt Vile and former bandmates The War on Drugs. Broadcast from his own basement, Vile’s set featured his 2010 song “I Know I Got Religion” and 2015’s “I’m an Outlaw”. The main highlight, though, came towards the end when the guitar maestro paid tribute to the late John Prine by covering his classic “Sam Stone”. Vile and Prine actually performed the track together before during a concert in Philadelphia two years ago. Vile has also repeatedly praised the folk legend in interviews. Speaking to The Guardian in 2018, he described Prine as “one of the greatest living American songwriters: he’s a killer performer and storyteller, with all these lamenting...
By all accounts, the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been an unmitigated disaster. Already 70,000 Americans have lost their lives due to the virus, and thousands more victims are being claimed each day. And that’s not to mention the economic consequences resulting from a nationwide shutdown that happened two months too late. But in the warped reality that is Conservative Twitter, everything is just fine and dandy. Just ask Trump’s old buddy and recent Medal of Freedom recipient Jon Voight who praises the president as a “hero” for his handling of the crisis. Voight made the remarks in a new Twitter video called “A Message of Hope”, in which the actor showers Trump with praise that sounds like something you’d hear out of North Korea. Each sentence is more ba...
Robert Rodgriguez is no stranger to tales of violent outlaws and children in danger. Now, the creative mind behind the Sin City and Spy Kids franchises has confirmed his work directing a Season 2 episode of The Mandalorian. In a May 4th post on Twitter, Rodriguez shared a picture of himself and a certain green puppet. “I am truly humbled to say I have now had the very rare privilege of directing the biggest star in the universe,” he wrote. Season 2 is expected to debut in October. While Disney is usually tight-lipped about these things, the House of Mouse has been strategically leaking details about their only universally-adored Star Wars property. In March we learned that Rosario Dawson will take up the dual lightsabers of fan-favorite Ahsoka Tano, and yesterday Peyton...
Cinco de Mayo falls on a Tuesday this year, and I didn’t even realize it until Migos dropped their new song. The auspiciously timed track is called “Taco Tuesday”, and you can stream it below. As far as the song itself goes, “Taco Tuesday” is a pretty basic cut that barely goes over a minute and a half. The Migos trio, represented by different colored hot sauces in the corresponding lyrics video, trade verses in which they drop a bunch of Mexican food puns while making standard boasts about cash and girls. The whole affair opens with a sample of LeBron James screaming for his favorite weekly meal. Listen to “Taco Tuesday” via its lyric video below, and perhaps get ready for more Migos in the near future. Last month, Quavo teased the possibility of a “Quarantine Mixtape” to keep fans satiat...
Throughout his entire discography, The Weeknd dishes on his salacious, sex-fueled nights and his luxe life of fancy cars and mansions. For his latest project, however, the Canadian R&B singer is looking to change that narrative, if for just 30 minutes. Abel Tesfaye co-wrote and starred in the newest episode of Seth MacFarlane’s American Dad. Titled “A Starboy is Born” (referencing his Starboy album from 2016), it sees the artist show his true colors — and it’s a stark contrast from the rich playboy we’ve all come to know. Kidnapped by Roger the Alien, The Weeknd settles into the Smith family household surprisingly quickly, reveling in homemade lasagna, mundane house chores, and suburban pleasantries. “I miss being around boring people like this family,” he says at the dinner table. The...
Wire were all set to drop their 18th studio album 10:20 on Record Store Day. But with that particular holiday delayed and practicing social distancing, the post-punk rockers have now announced that 10:20 will instead be available on all platforms on June 19th. To tide fans over until then, Wire has shared the nearly new song “The Art of Persistence”. Like most of the “strays” being collected on 10:20, “The Art of Persistence” has been around in one form or another for a number of years. It first popped up when the band reconvened in 2000, and made appearances on The Third Day EP (labelled as a “First Draft”) and then as a live performance on Recycling Sherwood Forest as part of Wire’s Legal Bootleg series. Musically, “The Art of Persistence” is a thr...