You may well have seen the reports about the recent raids on Gibson’s Nashville and Memphis sites by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Perhaps you’ve even read or listened to Henry Juszkiewicz’s carefully crafted statement. Published and verified facts are somewhat thin on the ground and so the Guitar News Daily editorial team have taken the decision not to publish a story on the matter and to wait until there is something informative to report. Should you be in…

Solo artist, session guitarist and Grand Ole Opry member Bill Grammer has died of natural causes at the age of 85. He co-founded the Grammer Guitar Company in 1965, designing a distinctive acoustic instrument that remains popular with some players. The company was sold to Ampeg in the late 60s. His first solo hit in 1959 was “Gotta Travel On”. As a session musician he recorded with many of Nashville’s greats; Charley Pride, George Hamilton IV, Ernest Tubb and Marty…

Almost one year on from the Nashville flood, Gibson has introduced the Anniversary Flood Les Paul Studio. From the press release; “The Nashville flood of May 2010 devastated not only the city in general but the music community in particular–and Gibson lies right at the heart of that community. Countless guitars, both vintage and new, were subsumed by waters that seemed would never stop rising, and for many of their players it was hard to see how this community would…

Slash was presented with a very special “first guitar” from Gibson USA. The story of their recovery and resurgence from the May 2010 floods in Nashville was presented with strong testament in West Hollywood, California at the Key Club on Monday, August 20, 2010, where Slash was presented with the first guitar to roll off the production line since the devastating floods hit Music City. The guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Studio, came off the production line in July, 90…

After the floods shut down Gobsin’s Nashville plant in May, operations are just beginning to return to normal. The first post-flood electric guitar rolled off the assembly line at Gibson Guitar’s South Nashville plant on July 30. The instrument was destined as a birthday present for Slash, a former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist who has endorsed several Gibson guitar models bearing his name. The company sustained extensive flood damage at the plant in Nashville and reopened in…

One of early rock’n’roll and country music’s premier guitarists, Fred Carter Jr., died Saturday (July 17) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville following a stroke. He was 76. Carter is best remembered for his session work during the 1960s, when he put his distinctive touch on Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer,” Marty Robbins’s “El Paso,” and dozens of other tracks. Yet Carter’s career as a musician began at the birth of rock’n’roll, and over…

Fans of Nashville Superspeedway will have the opportunity to get their hands on another special, commemorative Sam Bass-designed Gibson Les Paul trophy guitar following the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, by placing their bid in a NASCAR Foundation online auction following the race. The guitar, a Nashville Superspeedway-themed custom Gibson Les Paul designed by NASCAR artist Sam Bass, will be autographed by Bass, Grammy-nominated Warner Bros. recording artist John Rich, and the winning driver of the Federated Auto Parts 300….

The Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga will serve as a temporary home for Gibson, a guitar fish that was located inside the Nashville Aquarium. The restaurant was damaged as a result of the flooding brought by record-breaking rains in Nashville and surrounding areas in Tennessee in early May. The Nashville Aquarium Restaurant was home to more than 100 species of colorful, tropical fish from the Caribbean Sea, Hawaii, South Pacific and the Indian Ocean that resided in the 200,000-gallon centerpiece tank….

Guitar retailers soon expect to run out of popular brands of Gibson guitars after the flooding of a company plant that manufactures some of the best-known electric guitars in the nation. The nation’s largest musical instrument seller, Guitar Center, anticipates its 214 stores will exhaust their existing stock of Gibson-brand electric guitars “within weeks,” according to Phil Rich, vice president of guitar merchandise. Smaller retailers such as the stand-alone 5,000-square-foot Centre City shop in San Diego have already felt the…

Gibson Guitar and its philanthropic division, the Gibson Foundation, have announced a series of programs to help aid the victims of the recent Nashville floods that devastated the city and surrounding areas. Thousands of people have been left homeless and without the basic necessities of everyday life. The Gibson Foundation, based in Nashville, will spearhead an initiative working with landmark venues and businesses throughout the city including the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau Visitors Center, Gibson Café, and Diana’s Sweet…