HOLLYWOOD, CA (April 13, 2009) – UNITED STATES is the first collaboration of Paul Gilbert and Freddie Nelson. The album features 10 new songs which they wrote, performed, and produced together in the summer of 2008. UNITED STATES will be released May 12th, 2009 on Mascot Records U.S.A. Gilbert and Nelson share many musical and cultural roots. Both artists grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Both were born the same year and started playing guitar around the same time. Both…

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (April 8, 2009) – Fender is proud to announce the new “Soul of Tone” promotion, designed to highlight the attributes of Fender amplification while engaging consumers and drive traffic into retail stores. Fender amplifiers are known worldwide as the soul of great live and recorded guitar tone, regardless of musical genre. The “Soul of Tone” campaign invites guitar and bass players to go to their local authorized Fender dealer, play through any Fender amplifier and receive a high-style…

The New York State Music Fund has launched a great new site called The Free Music Archive The site is a database of rarities, live performances and other good stuff pulled from the libraries of the best Independent radio stations in the U.S. In other words, this is free music you will want to listen to! The site is in Beta, but everything appears to be functioning fine. So download away. We have no idea what the New York State…

Blabbermouth.net “If you didn’t see them signed yourself, your METALLICA autographs probably aren’t real,” says Autograph publisher Steven Cyrkin. Already one of the most forged bands of all time, with their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, METALLICA forgeries have hit an all-time high. On eBay, on fan and dealer web sites, and in many of the fancy galleries in tourist spots, criminals are preying on METALLICA’s unsuspecting fans. “You can find out if your METALLICA autographs,…

guardian.co.uk Mick Jones has turned from punk rock to museum curation, opening his collection of vintage music memorabilia to the public. Temporarily on display at London’s Chelsea Space gallery, the former Clash guitarist said he hopes to find a permanent site for his archive. “I started collecting things when I was very young and I did not really know why,” Jones told Reuters. “Then at the millennium, the change of the century, it started to become clear. I realised I…

There is no question that the guitar universe owes Fender a huge debt of gratitude. Without Leo, we wouldn’t be where we are today. At the same time, many smaller luthiers and guitar manufacturers live in fear of the big F. Fender has been known to take manufacturers to court over guitars that appear too Strat or Tele like. A huge ruling has just been handed down by the courts that Fender cannot trademark the Stratocaster, Telecaster or Precision Bass…

We are all about obsure hardcore, so we couldn’t help but get excited about this statement NOFX singer ‘Fat’ Mike Burkett made in a recent interview with Groud Control: “We’re putting out is a ten-song ten-inch of ten cover songs of old hardcore bands,” says Burkett. “They’re all from the US and that’s all kind of what we grew up on. That’s already recorded and mostly they’re bands that no one ever heard of and most of their records never…

Billboard.com April 07, 2009 07:03 AM ET Coldplay has denied in federal court that it copied parts of Joe Satriani’s music for its hit song, “Viva La Vida.” In a response filed in Los Angeles on Monday, attorneys for Coldplay’s band members also argued that any similarities between “Viva La Vida” and Satriani’s “If I Could Fly” weren’t enough to warrant damages. Satriani’s song “lacks originality,” Coldplay’s response claims, and shouldn’t receive copyright protection. Satriani sued Coldplay in December, claiming…

CNN.com 4:21 a.m. EDT, Fri April 10, 2009 LONDON, England (CNN) — Just because they named their new CD “Yes,” does not mean that British electro-pop duo, the Pet Shop Boys, will agree to just about anything. PETA has asked the Pet Shop Boys to change the band’s name to Rescue Shelter Boys. The band has turned down a request from an animal rights group to rename itself the Rescue Shelter Boys. The organization, the People for the Ethical Treatment…

Blabbermouth.net Apr. 10, 2009 Harmonix and MTV Games announced today that “Chinese Democracy”, the sixth and most recent album from GUNS N’ ROSES, will be released in its entirety to the Rock Band Music Store catalog of downloadable content on April 14.  Next week’s Rock Band Music Store lineup will feature 13 songs from “Chinese Democracy”.  The tracks will be available for purchase as an album or individual tracks for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system. The tracks will be…