TARA Talk Country Girls Rock Hello Guitar Girls! Well, this issue is going to be so much fun…’cause we’re going country! Yep, Issue 5 is all about the girls who love country, and we have a fantastic line up of interviews including Anita Cochran: “You Gotta Fight Like a Girl,” Karen Waldrup: living her full potential with Justified, Jessica Lynn “Let’s Don’t, Makes You Wanna Let’s DO!” and our special Featured Artist Lindsay Ell, the Canadian country music artist with a rock, blues, and pop flare, just to name a few. We have some fantastic “Women in Music” stories, proving once again that behind every successful endeavor…you’re likely to find a Woman! Let’s take Martin Guitars, for instance, the iconic brand that has been a leader for over 100 years and continues to set the standard for acoustic guitars. We share a story with our readers about the women of C.F. Martin & Co. and how they are changing guitar manufacturing. We have a special treat from a historical perspective which rose from a visit GGM made to a very special museum in Chattanooga named Songbirds Guitar Museum. What a great day that was. To our surprise, we were not only treated to a spellbinding tour of vintage guitars that represented all types of genres including the British invasion, blues, country, bluegrass, and surf music, but we were overwhelmed with the “Six String Queens” exhibit, a dedicated hall of female musicians who brought the guitar to the forefront of the band era. These women carved out their own identity and left their indelible marks on the music landscape. I know you will enjoy all of this plus our regular gear reviews, lessons and tips, and all the mind games we offer up just for fun. So, let’s dig in and have some fun…music is awesome and being a part of it in any way is indeed a thrill and a privilege… ENJOY!! ~ Tara Low
GUITARGIRLMAG.COM VOL. 1, ISSUE 5 - 2018 Founder/Editor:
Tara Low
Contributors:
Lindsey Borders Marco DiSandro Leigh Fuge Guitar Gabby Leah Helms Vanessa Izabella Megan McClure Nikki O’Neill Alison Richter Victoria Shaffer Milena Thomas Sasha Vallely Ché Zuro
Cover Photo:
John Shearer
Editorial Requests may be submitted to info@guitargirlmag.com Advertising Requests may be submitted to media@guitargirlmag.com Subscription Requests may be submitted to info@guitargirlmag.com Fan Requests/Comments may be submitted to info@guitargirlmag.com Mailing address: The Low Group, Inc. d/b/a Guitar Girl Magazine 12195 Highway 92, #114-210 Woodstock, GA 30188 (866) 364-4828 (Toll Free) Guitar Girl Magazine ©2018 Printed in the USA All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of Guitar Girl Magazine is prohibited. GuitarGirlMagazine @guitargirlmag +Guitargirlmag
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Contents NEWS 06
Features »» Inside the Industry: How the women of C. F. Martin & Company are changing guitar manufacturing 13 »» Women in Country Music 16 »» Songbirds Guitar Museum: Paying homage to the Six String Queens 20 »» Guitars for Country Music 23
Interviews »» Lindsay Ell: Living the dream, night after night 26 »» Anita Cochran: “You gotta fight like a girl.” 31 »» Karen Waldrup: Living her full potential with Justified 34 »» Rachele Lynae: Finding Peace from the “Guy In The Sky” 36 »» Jessica Lynn’s “Let’s Don’t” Makes You Wanna Let’s DO! 40 »» CMA Fest Interviews 43-49 »» Re Mattei: From Uptown Girl to Downtown Nashville 50 »» Rebelle Road: Connecting the Vibrant Present & Past of California Country 53 »» Take Five with Tenille Arts 55 »» Lit’l Miss Country Is Making Her Mark 56
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GEAR: New 10 REVIEWS »» Martin OME Cherry A/E Guitar 60 »» Martin RETRO Acoustic Strings Light 60 »» Roadie 2 Guitar Tuner 61 »» Sheptone Pickups Reviews – Heartbreaker Humbucker Set and AB Custom Strat Set 61 »» Fender Newporter A/E Guitar 63 »» Fender Effects Pedals 64 »» Thalia Capo 65 »» Fender Montecito Ukulele 66 »» Jodi Head Hootnanny Guitar Strap 67 »» The Hug Strap Ukulele Strap 67
MUSIC RELEASES 58 LESSONS / TIPS »» Essential Techniques for Playing Country Guitar 68 »» Creating Country Chord Progressions 70 »» The Art of Practicing Guitar 72 »» Using Vocal “Twang” for Country Singing and Beyond 73
FUN STUFF »» #GuitarGirl 74 »» Word Search and Trivia 75 »» Contests 76 »» Coloring 77 »» Book Reviews 78 »» Word Search and Trivia Answers 79
COMMUNITY As a female guitarist and luthier-in-training myself (and the only woman employee at a guitar company), I’ve taken on the mission of trying to get more women to play! Sarah W.
SHE said: Girls can play guitar! Cam
You’re rocking it so hard, Tara!! Debra D.
Collective Journeys Collective Journeys was born out of Candice King’s desire to give awareness to smaller charities that are making big impacts within their communities. Their mission is to shine a spotlight on special charities and give back to those who are doing amazing work with limited funding. Each month features a new charity.
I loved the feature on Rory from the last issue. Great stuff!! Heidi H. Keep up the awesome work and please continue sharing more interesting and great content! Kat M. Kudos on a fantastic blog! Elisa G.
I
Country Music
Keep up your awesome site for ladies! Darrel G. Keep cranking out the great content :) Edina N. The point of teaching music theory on the instrument, from my perspective, is to show that the guitar is for EVERYONE. A lot of women don’t seem to have ready access to the sort of knowledge that has the potential to even the playing field as far as musicianship goes, and I would love to see that begin to change. Lily Maase, Managing Editor, Guitar Dad Publications
These beautiful chevron style bracelets come in a limited-edition box which journals about a US based charity and how they’ve made a difference within their community. Every time you order a CJ bracelet you are donating to that local charity. $30.00 CollectiveJourneys.com
We want to hear from you! Questions, comments, suggestions, road stories! Send them directly to: info@guitargirlmag.com GuitarGirlMagazine
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NEWS
NEWS SoCal Divas of Blues Festival to be held on Southern California October 27th The SoCal Divas of Blues all-female festival is the first of its kind to hit the Southern California area. Benefiting the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the festival is hosted by the Old Town Blues Club and will be held on Saturday, October 27, 2018, at the Civic Center Plaza in Old Town Temecula at 41000 Main Street. The doors open at 10:00 am with performances starting at noon with some of Southern California’s top female blues artists. Performers include Jade Bennett, Mercedes Moore, Give Me Back My Wig, Brigette Rios Purdy, Diana Rein, Shy But Fly, Casey Hensley, and Shari Puorto. For tickets and information, visit SoCal Divas of Blues.
New Radio Shows Launched to Showcase Women in Country Music In August, online radio station Slacker Radio launched a channel devoted exclusively to female country artists called #WCE COUNTRY - WOMEN CRUSH EVERYDAY. Inspired by the organization Change The Conversation and the issues surrounding the lack of female country artists getting their fair share of radio airplay, Change The Conversation co-founder CMT SVP/Strategy Leslie Fram said, “I’m thrilled that there’s another platform to support female artists. Women have always been the cornerstone of Country music, and their voices need to be heard.” “We have amazingly talented women making music in Nashville, and they deserve to be heard,” said Slacker Country Format Captain Jess Wright. “In 2017, more than 97% of the artists who appeared on the yearend Country Top 40 were male. This doesn’t reflect the quality of music created by women; it reflects a lack of support from the gatekeepers of Country music who believe that women have limited commercial appeal. I’m excited that, through Slacker, we can bring the music of
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female Country artists directly to our audience, curated by the people who are most passionate about it -- the women in Nashville’s music industry.” The channel also includes commentary from women in the Nashville music scene. Slacker Radio can be found online at slacker.com and the Slacker Studio app who will allow hosts and contributors to remotely add music and commentary to Slacker radio stations. Country music DJ Bobby Bones who has been a long-time advocate for women in country music receiving their fair share of radio airplay, announced this summer that he will launch a program on over 100 stations nationwide. Bones tells The Tennessean, “I’ll be really obnoxious about it and just cram it down the radio station” He further went on to say, “I’m just tired of it. I can take acts on the road. I can play the music. But people aren’t embracing things, and they are embracing other things too fast. They’re just not giving females a chance. I’m going to take a square peg and shove it into a round
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hole until it’s also round. It’s important for fairness. I want everybody to have an equal shot.”
Tune into Bobby Bones Official Website for details.
NEWS
Songbirds Guitar Museum’s Six String Queens: “The Women of Music’s Past and Present” Exhibit Songbirds Guitar Museum is showcasing a temporary exhibit as a tribute to the female guitarists that paved the path for woman in music and have been an inspiration for so many musicians. This exhibit makes these women shine through their incredible guitars and stories. From early pioneers Elizabeth Cotton and Sister Rosetta Tharpe on through to today’s top performing artists Nancy Wilson, Joan Jett, and Sheryl Crow, this educational and motivational exhibit is not to be missed. Songbirds is home to some of the most rare and valuable instruments in the world from iconic manufacturers Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, and more.
Located in historic downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee at 35 Station Street.
The Woodstock Invitational Luthier’s Showcase will feature Women Behind the Guitar Woodstock Invitational LLC will hold its 10th Annual Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase this year at the Bearsville Theater and Utopia Soundstage in Woodstock, New York, on October 26, 27 and 28. This show is recognized as what they call an “alternative” guitar show and is touted as the “premier event of its kind in North America.” What sets this year’s showcase apart from previous years, is the Woodstock Invitational has decided to showcase 16 female luthiers from around the world to showcase their skills, knowledge, and guitars. Not only will
female luthiers be on hand to showcase their talent, the Showcase will feature the instructional classes and music from many notable female artists. To date, the luthiers scheduled to appear include: Linda Manzer, Kathy Wingert, Joshia de Jonge, Maegen Wells, Chace Miller, Peggy White, Rebecca Urlacher, Heidi Litke, Rachel Rosenkrantz, Rosie Heydenrych, and Jayne Henderson. Performing artists and clinic instructors will include Della Mae, Rory Block, Cindy Cashdollar, Michael Chapdelaine, Vicki Genfan, Cathy Fink &
Marcy Marxer, Mary Flower, Jamie Stillway, Tony McManus, Julia Toaspern, Happy Traum, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, and many more. For a complete up-to-date lineup and details, visit their website at Woodstock Invitational.
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NEWS “The 52nd Annual CMA Awards” Country Music’s Biggest Night Airs Live Nov. 14 at 8/7 PM CT on ABC Country Music superstars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood return to host “The 52nd Annual CMA Awards,” Country Music’s Biggest Night™ live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 8/7 PM CT on the ABC Television Network. The beloved hosts return for the 11th time. “The 52nd Annual CMA Awards” is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the Executive Producer.
Photo by Randee St. Nicholas
Photo by Jeff Lipsky
When asked about hosting the show, Underwood said, “We were super excited to get the phone call to ask Brad and me to come back for an 11th year of the CMAs of hosting. We just always have a lot of fun. It’s definitely a lot of pressure, and it’s a lot of work working on the CMAs, but at the end of the day, I love the team that we work with. We have a lot of fun, and we kinda get to be the ones that represent country music and we take our jobs very seriously, but we love what we do.”
Country Music Icons Pay Tribute to Roger Miller with King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller was released on August 31, 2018 via BMG and includes a long list of some of country’s best musicians. They come together on a two-disc collection of some of Roger Miller’s classic hits. The tribute is the brainchild of Dean Miller, Roger’s son, who coproduced the music with Colby Barnum Wright. Artists paying tribute on this 37 song two-disc CD set featuring some of Miller’s biggest hits and lesser known songs from his catalog, include Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Kacey Musgraves, Lennon and Maisy Stella, Mandy Barnett, Alison Krauss, Ringo Starr, Eric Church, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and many, many others. Kacey Musgraves performs “Kansas City Star,” Loretta Lynn on “Half a Mind,” and “The Last Word in Lonesome Is Me” is sung by Dolly Parton featuring Alison Krauss. Miller died of cancer at the age 56. He was a Country Music Hall of Fame Recipient and had 31 Top 40 Billboard country hits. Ten of those hits crossed over into the pop charts, namely “Dang Me” and “King of the Road.” He also wrote music for Disney film Robin Hood, wrote the music for and acted in the Broadway musical Big River which launched John Goodman’s career, and had his own variety TV show. In the liner notes, Dean said it best, “Roger Miller was too gigantic to be contained by genres and definitions.” Dean also writes, “You were simply drawn to him. He had a magnetic smile, and electric wit and a passion for life and music that transcended generations.” With King of the Road: A Tribute To Roger Miller, his legacy can live for future generations.
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GEAR: NEW
Hotone Loudster Hotone released Loudster, a compact, portable floorbased power amp which is part of their Nano Legacy Floor Series. Built for traveling and gigging musicians looking to lower their load of carrying equipment from gig to gig. Easily fits in a gig bag and on a pedalboard and has a 75-watt output power for effects pedals, amplifier modelers, and other processors. Made of a Lightweight aluminum chassis, it runs on an 18– 20V DC (center positive) power supply.
$199.00 Hotone.com 10 Guitar Girl Magazine
Taylor Guitars Builder’s Edition 614ce Taylor Guitars announced their new V-class bracing system earlier this year at Winter NAMM. This new system has now been added to their 600 series. The Builder’s Edition 614ce Grand Auditorium has a torrefied Sitka spruce top, Big Leaf maple back and sides, double-carved cutaway, beveled armrest with beveled body edge treatment, and Gold Gotoh 510 tuners (featuring a 21:1 gear ratio). It has Taylor’s new Silent Satin™ finish and comes in a hardshell case.
$3,999.00 TaylorGuitars.com guitargirlmag.com
Stewart Guitar Stow-Away™ Model Travel Guitar The Stow-Away™ model electric travel guitar is a performance quality, fullscale travel guitar that meets all FAA carry on regulations. It has a full-scale 22.5-inch neck and can break down in seconds to be easily taken anywhere. Available in five different colors and comes with a travel backpack. Solid alderwood body, maple neck, 25.5” scale, 3 single-coil or humbucker pickups.
Price for base model is $679.00 StewartGuitars.com
GEAR: NEW
Peavey MAX Bass Amp Series
Cort CR300 Electric Guitar Cort CR300 electric guitar is a singlecutaway with a set neck, solid body, and retroactive humbuckers. for players who desire original PAF (“Patent Applied For”) tone without the price tag. Modeled after classic designs, the single-cutaway CR300 has a set neck, solid body, and EMG® RetroActive Fat 55 dual humbuckers. Maple top on a mahogany body with ivory binding and the Tune-O-Matic bridge with stop tailpiece adds to the timeless aesthetics. 3-way toggle switch, classic 2-volume and 2-tone control layout. The mahogany neck has a jatoba fingerboard with retro block inlays and a 12’’ radius on a 24.75’’ scale. Chrome hardware. Semi-gloss Aged Vintage Burst.
$799.99 CortGuitars.com
Peavey MAX bass amp series showcased at Summer NAMM comes in four models. The MAX 100 has a 10-inch woofer and delivers 100 W, the MAX 150 has a 12-inch woofer and delivers 150 W, the MAX 250 has a 15-inch woofer with high-end tweeter and delivers 250 W, and the MAX 208 has two 8-inch woofers and delivers 150 W. The MAX series has an angled baffle, allowing the sound to direct to your ears and not at your feet. While the low end is omni-directional, the transient is directional, meaning players can hear themselves clearly without having to tilt their amp back. Available for shipping late fall 2018.
Go to Peavey. com for specs and pricing.
Jammy Portable Digital Guitar Jammy, the portable steel string digital guitar that fits in your backpack, was showcased at Summer NAMM and was awarded a Best in Show award. Details of this unique digital guitar: 15 standard-sized frets; adjustable tension steel strings; onboard guitar FX - ¼” and ⅛” direct audio outputs to your headphones or amp; detachable neck; and meets FAA requirements. Also available with optional add-on frame. Currently available for preorder on
Indiegogo.
BOSS GT1000 The GT-1000 is the first-ever guitar multieffects processor with 32-bit AD/DA, 32-bit floating-point processing, and 96 kHz sampling rate throughout. Driven by BOSS’s latest custom DSP engine and filled with cuttingedge BOSS technologies, the GT-1000 delivers class-leading performance in a compact and lightweight floorbased unit.
BOSS TU03 Clip-On Tuner & Metronome The TU-03 combines a highperformance chromatic tuner and metronome in one clip-on unit, Ideal for guitar, bass, ukulele, and other stringed instruments.
$21.99 BOSS
$999.00 BOSS
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GEAR: NEW
WL-20
WL-50
BOSS WL Series BOSS new WL series is a new line of high-quality wireless systems for guitar, bass, and other electronic instruments. Equipped with lightning-fast wireless technology newly developed by BOSS, the WL series delivers premium audio performance with ultra-low latency and rock-solid stability. Providing a plug-andplay experience with no aggravation or guesswork, the WL series makes it easy for players to bring wireless freedom to home, rehearsal, and small stage rigs. Ultra-compact and affordable, the WL-20 Wireless System is as simple to use as a standard guitar cable. A small transmitter plugs into the instrument and a matching receiver plugs into a pedal or amp. The receiver includes cable tone simulation, which reproduces the natural capacitive effect of a 10-foot/3meter guitar cable. With its stompbox-size footprint, the WL-50 Wireless System is ideally suited for pedalboards. It features an integrated transmitter dock, plus two cable tone simulation options. The receiver is powered via a PSAseries adapter or AA batteries. With adapter power, the receiver’s DC output can distribute power to one or more pedals.
To learn more about the BOSS WL-series wireless systems, visit Boss.info.
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Fender Effects Pedals Engager Boost ($89.99) The Fender Engager Boost provides players with more volume (20 decibels of boost) for fatter tone, making it the ideal clean boost pedal. The adjustable, onboard 3-band EQ shapes tone to cut through a mix, while the Frequency switch lets players select the middle frequency range, ideal for shaping tone precisely. The Engager Boost features a FET input buffer and is also perfect for boosting a signal into a tube amplifier’s preamp. True and buffered bypass modes ensure this pedal plays nicely in any setting. The Pelt Fuzz ($129.99) All the familiar controls are there: Level, Fuzz and Tone, along with a Bloom control to shape the contours of a player’s sound. The Mid switch lets players boost or cut the midrange for even more voicing options, while the Thick switch adds some girth. With the ability to be placed anywhere on the signal chain, this silicon-based stompbox provides added tonal flexibility. Full Moon Distortion ($149.99) Packed with brutal, high-gain tone, three-band EQ, a high-treble filter and sound-shaping options galore, the Full Moon Distortion pedal has everything you need to unleash sonic mayhem. Both symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping modes are lurking under the Texture switch, while the Bite switch shifts the upper mid-range and harmonics to bring out pick attack, letting players cut and chug through the mix with ease. Also included is a separate footswitch boost.
To learn more about these pedals, visit Fender.com.
FEATURES
Inside the Industry:
How the women of C. F. Martin & Company are changing guitar manufacturing By Tara Low, Marco DiSandro, Megan McClure
The longevity of a brand can be attributed to many things – market foresight, steady leadership, and adherence to change, for example. Above all, however, a company cannot endure without a devoted and passionate group of people working behind the scenes. Founded 185 years ago, C. F. Martin & Company is one such enterprise. With a main factory and headquarters in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, C. F. Martin & Company is more than a product or a brand. To many people, it is a way of life. This is certainly true for those who are part of the C. F. Martin & Company team; the people building guitars, making strings, making sales, and adding a unique flavor to every item emblazoned with C. F. Martin & Company’s brand. We had a chance to visit the C. F. Martin & Company factory for a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the production of a C. F. Martin & Company instrument and to speak with President Jacqueline Renner, along with several other women who work on the team. Without a doubt, these women know their way around a guitar. Each of them comes to C. F. Martin & Company with an interesting past, a unique skill set, and a yearning to professionally learn and grow.
From top to bottom and start to finish, these women deeply understand the creative process of building and branding a guitar. Though the manufacturing industry remains predominantly male-dominated, C. F. Martin & Company is doing its part to introduce more females like these to the sector, and train them to learn more, do more, and succeed at their jobs. According to the women of C. F. Martin & Company, the most prominent benefit they receive from designing and building guitars is a feeling of empowerment. The common sentiments expressed by these women is a sense of “pride” and of belonging in the “Martin family.” They’re resourceful, driven, and helping to continue the legacy that is C. F. Martin & Company and impacting the role women play in business and manufacturing. Renner is the first female president at C. F. Martin & Company. Judging by her early background, one would think Renner would be better suited as a materials scientist or pharmacologist. However, soon after receiving a degree in chemistry, she realized her passion for working with people and her passion for research did not align. “There were parts of my personality that just
Jacqueline Renner, President C. F. Martin & Co., Inc.
“If I could describe my feelings about Martin in one word, it would be ‘pride.’ Everybody working here is proud of their work – whether you are cutting wood, coiling strings, or applying finish to a guitar, you are proud as a Martin employee. Seeing the final product being played on television and knowing you may have applied the strings to it is truly fulfilling.” Salomè Audenried, International Operations Manager – Administrative Services
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FEATURES
“I personally do think that it’s the best acoustic out there. Among other things, it’s the tonal qualities that make them superior guitars. That’s why I’m proud of the guitars I work on and proud of working for Martin.” Traci Smith, Final Inspection Production
weren’t going to get fully expressed if I was alone in a laboratory,” she says. Moving into the business sector and mentoring with successful business leaders for over a decade, Renner was living in Nashville and managing the North and South American regional business for a Swiss corporation specializing in luxury kitchen products. Unsolicited, she got a call from a recruiter working with C. F. Martin & Company asking her to come to Pennsylvania to meet with the company CEO, Chris Martin. Of course, she accepted. “I thought this was the craziest thing in the world,” Renner says, laughing. “Here I was,
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“Sometimes the guitar world feels a little male-dominated. But I’ve always been encouraged by my family here at Martin to set my own goals, take on challenges, and explore opportunities.” Emily Meixell, Custom Shop Administrator
several months later, leading C. F. Martin & Company simply because a recruiter looked at my experience in consumer products, luxury brands I had an affinity to, and my orientation with community service – which is really important here at C. F. Martin & Company.” Renner insists that to do well at a new company, one must come to it with a learning attitude and embrace what is new. It’s this mindset that has helped her and other members of the C. F. Martin & Company family succeed. “We have several programs which I think really help people who want to get ahead,” Renner says. “We have tuition reimbursement programs and in-house training programs available
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for all of our employees.” As president, Renner understands the importance of encouraging staff to go from the shop floor into business areas and vice versa, depending on their career aspirations. She believes in a strategic and decisive yet empathetic and inclusive leadership style, which aligns nicely with C. F. Martin & Company’s philosophy of helping people reach their potential and achieve their dreams, be it to become a guitar virtuoso or to climb the company ranks. Aside from helping her employees grow professionally, Renner has big plans for keeping C. F. Martin & Company on the right path and building on its successes and legacy. “I will work very hard with all
FEATURES
“Being able to come in and see the entire process of production is very unique to Martin. What this company offers its employees and what we get to see and experience every day is amazing, and I love that.” Sylvia Popichak, International Manufacturing Support Coordinator
of my co-workers to continue to make C. F. Martin & Company really great,” she says. Her goal is simple: make C. F. Martin & Company “greater around the world, greater for up-and-coming players, and greater for those C. F. Martin & Company fans that love what we do.” “This company is an iconic brand in the musical instrument industry,” she says. “The fans, players, and employees have such a passion for the instruments that it’s awe-inspiring.” Renner and the other women of C. F. Martin & Company bring an intensity and passion to what they do, and this is something Renner encourages others to
“This October will be my 28th year with Martin. I have worked pretty much all the way through every aspect of making the instrument; I know how to do neck fitting, bridge gluing, and even repairs.” Becky Manogue, Merchandise and Retail Manager
do. Her advice to young women wanting to pursue a career in business: “Enter the business world if you want to be in business. Don’t enter the business world if you don’t want to be in business. Make sure you’re passionate about your path.” She goes on to add, “Bring yourself to the table fully every day. Be engaged. Being successful in business isn’t just sitting on a passenger train waiting to get to the end of the station. Those that bring energy and intelligence to the equation are the people I love to work with; those are the people that I hope are running more companies and take over more leadership positions, not only in the business world, but in the cultural world, and in government. That would make the world a better place.”
No doubt, there are countless stories from hundreds of C. F. Martin & Company employees that drive home the fact that C. F. Martin & Company is not your average business. When the passion within the organization equals the passion of consumers outside the organization, that entity will operate on an entirely different level – and that is exactly what C. F. Martin & Company is doing. This is made clear by the women of C. F. Martin & Company, whose energy and sentiment can be felt every time you pick up your favorite acoustic guitar. From the factory floor to your hands, that’s the C. F. Martin & Company legacy this team is building.
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FEATURES
Women in Country Music By Megan McClure Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and all artists, musical or otherwise, draw inspiration from the artists whom they admire. As a musician, it is good practice to not only draw inspiration from your favorites but to embark on a journey of musical education and discover who their favorites were, and who their favorites’ favorites were. For the female country music artist set, here are 17 females who changed the face of the genre.
Kitty Wells Google “Queen of Country Music,” and it isn’t Dolly Parton or Reba McEntire who pop up first, though both are worthy of the moniker. No, the original “Queen of Country Music” honor goes to Kitty Wells. A pioneer on the Nashville country music scene during the 1950s, Wells came up during a time when male artists dominated the music charts and no two female artists could be played back to back on the radio. She popularized the “cheating song” genre, but what gave Wells a strong foothold in the country music landscape and as a trailblazer for women was her song “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” which was written in response to Hank Thompson’s “The Wild Side of Life.” In the song, Thompson painted women in a poor light. Wells, in her song, challenged the double standard and pointed out that men are as much to blame as women, if not more so. Wells’s song was the first by a solo female country artist to reach number one on the country music charts.
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Maybelle Carter If Kitty Wells is the “Queen of Country Music,” Maybelle Carter is the “Mother of Country of Music.” Carter was determined to have it all – a career and a family – and did so successfully by bringing her three daughters on tour with her. Later, she formed a band with them, Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters. Chet Atkins was the band’s guitar player for a time, but it was Carter who was the virtuoso. She made guitar a focal point rather than an accompaniment and invented the “Carter Scratch” style, a picking technique that enabled her to play rhythm and harmony at the same time, lending a fuller sound. Her future son-in-law, Johnny Cash, played with the Carter family, and he emulated Mother Maybelle’s playing style, calling her “the greatest star I’ve ever known.”
Patsy Cline Patsy Cline’s stardom burned fast and bright, extinguished at age 30 when she died in a plane crash. Her legacy on not only the country music scene but the pop one, as well, is everlasting. She became the first female country artist to cross over from country to pop with her iconic song “Walkin’ After Midnight.” “Crazy,” written by Willie Nelson, is a jukebox staple. She blazed the trail for women in country with her motto of “no dough, no show,” meaning she wouldn’t perform if she didn’t receive payment first, a practice that became the norm for women in the genre. In addition to being the first female country crossover artist, she was the first female country artist to perform at Carnegie Hall, as well as the first female country singer to headline in Las Vegas. She was also the first female solo artist to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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FEATURES Loretta Lynn As an artist popular during the 1960s and ‘70s, Loretta Lynn solidified her notoriety as a feminist icon during a time when feminism was all the rage. In her songs about sexuality, promiscuity, and gender disparities, her lyrics were at once assertive, unapologetic, witty, remorseful, and full of dreamy longing. One of her biggest hits, the autobiographical “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” was a number one song, the title of her memoir, and an Oscar-nominated film. At 86, Lynn is still making music, both as a solo artist and as a collaborator on songs with the White Stripes, Sheryl Crow, and Kid Rock.
Wanda Jackson Wanda Jackson reigns supreme over rockabilly, popularizing the genre with her blend of country and rock n’ roll and a deep, growling voice loaded with sex appeal that earned her the reputation as “Country Music’s First Sex Symbol.” Jackson wore the label proudly, and she wore it well. While her songs weren’t frequently heard on the radio, her influence is far-reaching. Jack White is not only inspired by the Queen of Rockabilly, but he also produced her 2011 album, The Party Ain’t Over, which garnered her first entrée onto the Billboard charts, as well as setting the record as the oldest female to chart at age 73. Now, at age 80, Jackson still tours and in 2017, released her autobiography, Every Night is Saturday Night.
Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette is known as the “First Lady of Country Music” for good reason. She was one of the first female country singers to step out of the shadows relegated to backup singers and into the limelight as a solo female country artist. Heartache, loss, and love were common themes throughout her music as Wynette drew from personal experience to pen songs of a tortured wife, mother, and divorcee, the latter of which she was four times over. Wynette’s soulful voice, laced with unbridled emotion, sang of the universal truth to love the one you’re with on her biggest hit, “Stand by Your Man,” which debuted in the midst of the 1960s Women’s Movement and drew fire from former First Lady Hillary Clinton.
Barbara Mandrell Barbara Mandrell was a musical virtuoso at a very young age. She could play slide guitar, saxophone, the lap steel, accordian, and banjo, and she did so with aplomb, playing in the Mandrell Family Band and then with the Mandrell Sisters, with whom she hosted a variety show that drew millions of viewers week after week. As a solo artist, Mandrell became the first country music artist to win the coveted CMA Entertainer of the Year award two years in a row. Only one other artist has achieved that honor since, another female country music icon: Taylor Swift.
Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris’s collaborations are as noteworthy as she is. In the ‘70s, she secured her position as a female pioneer on the alt-country scene when she partnered with the alt-country pioneer, Gram Parsons. In the ‘80s, she partnered with Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton on Trio, an album that went platinum and featured a string of country hits. Wrecking Ball, her mid-90s collaboration with producer Daniel Lanois, served as yet another example that Harris could not be confined to just one genre. Harris also had a knack for eyeing talent, hiring and working with musicians who would later become famous in their own right, artists like Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs.
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FEATURES Reba McEntire Like Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire is a force. Like Parton, she’s also another multi-hyphenate – country music artist-clothier-businesswoman-actress, and she credits working on a cattle range as her training ground for breaking the country music glass ceiling. The visual medium has always been kind to McEntire. Before starring in a sitcom of her own name, she utilized the music video to boost record sales to great success, becoming a pioneer in her use of the music video in her genre. Faith Hill Faith Hill serves as a totem, not only for female country artists but also for women everywhere striving to have it all. She’s managed to maintain a successful career, marriage, and family for the better part of the last two decades, and she’s done it all with nary a hair out of place. Hill transcended the country music charts and found crossover success on the pop charts, as well, namely with hits like “This Kiss” and “Breathe.” Her most recent Soul2Soul tour with husband Tim McGraw is the highest grossing country music tour in history.
Dolly Parton Dolly Parton is a force to be reckoned with. She’s a country music artist, an actress, a philanthropist, and has a theme park named after her. Her songs are iconic, from “Jolene” to “9 to 5” to “I Will Always Love You,” a song Whitney Houston breathed new life into on The Bodyguard soundtrack. The film 9 to 5 earned Parton a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe nomination and a Best Original Song nomination. The movie’s title song also earned her an Oscar nomination. She is a New York Times bestselling author and known for her charity work, most recently becoming the inaugural recipient of an award in her name, the Dolly Parton Excellence in Leadership Award. Parton’s looks and personality are as legendary as her resumé, from her hourglass figure to her signature laugh and wit, she advocates staying true to yourself and allowing femininity to help women in business, not hurt them. She told Access Hollywood, “I knew who I was. Sometimes, when a guy would think, ‘Oh, she’s just a girl,’ I’d have the goods and be gone before he even knew what hit him.”
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The Dixie Chicks The Dixie Chicks’s notoriety is shrouded in controversy, which has perhaps eclipsed their position as a trio of country music pioneer women. In 2003, real-life sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire showed sister solidarity in the wake of lead singer Natalie Maines’s controversial statement that they were ashamed thenPresident George W. Bush was from Texas, a statement Maines made at a London concert. Prior to that night, the Dixie Chicks achieved record-breaking, chart-topping success, both on the country music and the pop charts.
Gretchen Wilson Instead of striving for a pop-country crossover, Gretchen Wilson made a name for herself by injecting some down-home, blue-collar, rock roots into country music. Her signature song, “Redneck Woman,” spoke to a generation of hard-working, hard-drinking people at a time when country music was covered by a glossy pop-sheen, where artists like Shania Twain and Faith Hill dominated. Wilson paved the way for Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood with her brand of grit and realism.
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FEATURES Carrie Underwood Carrie Underwood began her career on American Idol, where she received her first taste of being number one at everything she does. Now, as a country music superstar, Underwood has enjoyed 27 consecutive number one hit songs, infusing her brand of femininity and feminism into her songs about love, heartbreak, cheating boyfriends, and revenge.
Miranda Lambert At 34 years old, Miranda Lambert already has 14 Female Vocalist of the Year awards, eight with which she made history when she won them consecutively. A fixture on the modern country landscape, Lambert believes in advocating for female country artists’ right to equal radio airplay, and she features female artists as her opening act whenever she goes on tour.
Maren Morris Maren Morris may have been the twelfth female to sing on the pop track “The Middle” by Zedd, but it went to number one on the pop charts featuring her vocals. Some female heavy hitters took a shot at the track before Morris, including Demi Lovato, Camila Cabello, Bishop Briggs, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Tove Lo among them. On her debut album, Hero, Morris strives to stay true to herself rather than strive for commercial success, and she’s won many an award for it. Some critics believe her to be the face of the future of country music.
Photo credits: »» Kitty Wells – Capricorn Records (Billboard October 12, 1974, page 41) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons »» Maybelle Carter - By Cliff (Flickr: Country Music Hall of Fame) [CC BY 2.0 (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons »» Patsy Cline – Public Domain »» Loretta Lynn – Anna Hanks from Austin, Texas, USA (Loretta Lynn SXSW 2016 -8805. jpg) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia. org/wiki/File:Loretta_Lynn_SXSW_2016_8805_(32943102920).jpg »» Wanda Jackson – Capital Records (Billboard, page 51, 14 March 1970) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons »» Tammy Wynette – Hubert Long (manager)/ Epic Records [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons »» Barbara Mandrell – U.S. DoD [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons »» Emmylou Harris – C. Kuhl / www.chriskuhl. com/music. nl:Gebruiker:Ckuhl [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/2.5), GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/
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copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons Dolly Parton – approved photo courtesy of public relations firm Reba McEntire – approved photo Donn Jones / CMA Faith Hill – U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jason Neal ([1] at [2]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons The Dixie Chicks – Wasted Time R at English Wikipedia. [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons Gretchen Wilson - Public Domain Carrie Underwood – approved photo by Randee St. Nicholas / CMA courtesy of PR firm Miranda Lambert – approved Photo by Randee St. Nicholas / CMA courtesy of PR firm Maren Morris – approved photo by Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Hilton courtesy of PR firm Lindsay Ell – Juliamfcaesar [GFDL (http:// www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Lindsay Ell Like Tanya Tucker and LeAnn Rimes before her, Lindsay Ell released her first album while still in her teens. A well-praised up-and-comer on the country music scene, Ell combines blues, pop, and rock into a country sound that is at once familiar yet fresh. As a huge John Mayer fan, Ell recently released The Continuum Project and singles “Waiting on You” and “Criminal” from her album The Project are currently climbing the charts. Ell has spent most of 2018 touring with music icons Brad Paisley and Sugarland and will begin touring in September with Keith Urban. These 17 artists are only a sample from a large pool of accomplished females who have made – and are still making – an impact on the country music scene: artists like Shania Twain, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Taylor Swift, Brandy Clark, and Kacey Musgraves, to name a few. The list, literally, could go on and on.
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FEATURES
The Vault (Photo by Songbirds)
Songbirds Guitar Museum: Paying homage to the Six String Queens By Tara Low Opening its doors in early 2017 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Songbirds Guitar Museum is a one of a kind treasure trove of iconic historical guitar brands and the people who brought them to life. Housed in a rustic old building completely refurbished and fortified to protect the valuable exhibits inside, this rare museum is nestled into the walking streets of downtown Chattanooga in the Choo Choo complex near plenty of restaurants and bars, bustling with people chilling out and having a good time.
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Inside, are glass-enclosed cases showcasing some of the most rare and valuable instruments in the world dating back to the 1920s including Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, and Rickenbacker, “all grouped by brand, timeframe, and linear progression” covering music styles from early blues, country, and bluegrass to the British invasion and surf. But what caught the eye of GGM was the mid-section exhibit hall referred to as the Green Room featuring the “Six String Queens,” the wonderful and talented
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FEATURES
Jess Coggans
ladies that helped kick off and grow the acoustic and electric guitar revolution for women in country, blues, and rock music! We had the pleasure of attending the opening day which included music by Jess Goggans, guitar giveaways by Fender and Gibson, and a personal guided tour. Curator David Davidson shared with us that he’s seen a recent shift in the guitar industry – today, there are more young girls and women attending music camps and buying guitars. It was his vision for this exhibit to shine a spotlight on influential female guitarists as a way to encourage young girls and women to pick up a guitar and play. Attending the exhibit that day, we met Tara Viland and young daughter, Kai, who are part of the Chattanooga Girls Rock Camp. Kai was beaming from ear to ear and thoroughly enjoyed her time at Songbirds.
Kai Viland
The Six String Queens’ exhibit honors some of the most influential women guitarists in music. Display cases showcasing the artists included photos and information about each artist. In all of these showcases lie the stories of the guitars they played. While not their actual guitars, they were original models from that time, except for Wanda Jackson’s guitar. The educational exhibit starts with Elizabeth Cotten born in North Carolina in the 1890’s. Originally a lefty banjo player, she later learned to play the guitar upside down. Her unique style of picking was nicknamed “Cotten Picking.” Cotten’s showcase featured a 1966 Martin OOO-18. Visitors then travel through different eras and multiple music styles starting with Maybelle Carter and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and then on the ‘40s through the ‘70s with Mary Ford, Wanda Jackson, Carol Kaye, and Joni Mitchell.
Across the room, the showcases continue with Bonnie Raitt, the Runaways’ Joan Jett and Lita Ford, Nancy Wilson of Heart, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles, and ending with Sheryl Crow. Viewing the history and guitars that helped create the sounds these women produced was truly inspiring and a “must see” for young, aspiring female musicians. Beyond the Green Room is The Vault where rare, vintage guitars filled the walls of the entire room. To preserve these beauties, they are encased in temperature-controlled glass enclosures. 1958 Gibson Flying V, original Fender Jazzmaster in a beautiful shell pink with gold hardware (I felt this one was special since this year is the 60th anniversary of the Jazzmaster), and several original prototypes from Fender are just a few of the dozens of guitars in The Vault.
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FEATURES There was a unique story that seemed to rise above the rest, at least from a personal perspective, and that was the story of a relatively unknown duo called the Tweedledees in the late 1950s featuring twin sisters Esther and Bertha Friedlich. These twins played identical Fender Telecasters except that one was right-handed and the other was left handed. They insisted on the sunburst Tele because of the country-western appeal. As the tour guide tells us, they had been signed to a record deal, although never recorded, and with their money, they traveled to Fullerton, California to the Fender factory to choose their guitars. As they were not identical, sister Bertha had Fender begrudgingly custom-design the guitar with a beveled back to fit her frame and have a more comfortable feel when playing. Her Tele is the only early model with that particular beveled cut in existence. The beveled back is similar to today’s Stratocaster. The compelling story is the way Songbirds acquired these two 1958 Sunburst Telecasters. Upon hearing of these guitars, Davidson
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open market (a high-value market indeed) just to be sold and re-sold. She preferred to keep it and her mother’s legacy intact. Davidson was persistent over the next several years sending her Christmas cards and building trust. He had assured her that his plan was not to re-sell the guitar, but to immortalize it next to Esther’s guitar in a very special museum. Finally, able to gain her trust, he was invited back to the home to purchase the guitar and was prepared to pay a handsome sum. But to his surprise, when he began to make his offer, she merely gave him the guitar trusting she had found the place that would cement her mother’s immortality; and wow, they both struck a great deal that day…what a great story! was on a quest to obtain these treasured instruments. Esther sold her guitar to Davidson and at the time, told him where to find her late sister Bertha’s guitar. The daughter of Bertha did not want to part with her mother’s guitar for fear it would be sold in the
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Well worth a visit to Songbirds Museum to view the most extensive private collection of rare, vintage guitars. And while you’re there, take time to enjoy the talented artists showcased in their music venue. Photos by Tara Low
FEATURES
The Guitars of Country Music By Steve McKinley
Country music is America’s music. It’s honest and heartfelt. To make it, mostly what you need is the brave heart and burning desire to do so. Some determined vocal cords and a capable guitar are the most popular tools used to musically bring alive your feelings that you hope connect with others for a positive response (e.g., applause, sold-out concerts, and a private luxury jet for your world tour). Before you start writing your acceptance speech for your CMA award, you need to prove yourself first, and before all THAT, you need the “right” guitar. With guitars, there are oceans of choices available on the new and used market, but for your brand of that true country sound, you’ll need to get the guitar that’s an extension of you. Whether it’s an acoustic or electric, vintage or brand new, stock or custom, the only way to know whether a guitar is a good fit with you and has “that sound” is for you to spend some time with it. It’s a little like dating in that you have to get to know each other and see what kind of chemistry there is (or isn’t). Lucky for you, Guitar Girl Magazine is here for you with a starting point list of the most popular acoustic and electric guitars that have graced country music throughout time.
Acoustic Guitars Since its beginning, the acoustic guitar has been the main instrument defining the country music sound, although electric guitars have become equally significant in today’s country music. It’s undeniable that there’s something special about the natural sound of an acoustic. For reference, here are some of the most significant ones.
Martin D-28 We start at the top with the D-28, because, for many, it represents the beginning, middle, and end of the acoustic guitar world. This iconic model is the representation of the ideal acoustic guitar. Although it was initially unpopular upon release in 1931, it later gained prominence as the gold standard. All future acoustic guitars faced comparisons with the Martin D-28. The “D” in its name actually stands for dreadnought, which is apt considering it delivers a richer and bolder sound compared to its smaller counterparts. Very few of the models in the same series as the D-28, such as the D-15 and D-18, can accurately deliver the same sound effortlessly. Played by some of the world’s biggest names in music, this model is royalty among acoustics and makes that country moon…shine.
Gibson J-45 The widely popular J-45 hit the market in the 1940s and gained a reputation as a formidable guitar that didn’t compromise on style. It earned itself the nickname of “The Workhorse” because of its durable, slope-shouldered frame and exceptional sound. Although Gibson offers a collection of world-class guitars, this one definitely takes a top spot because of its timeless design, beautiful appearance, and full sound. It’s true that the price is a little high for most country musicians who are starting out, but the sound is spectacular. However, if your budget isn’t quite able to swing it, there are some others in the lower priced range, such as the Gibson J-15 and AJ-100.
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FEATURES Taylor 410ce The powerful sound of the Taylor 410ce is an embodiment of the modern dreadnought style, something it’s capable of because of how it was just recently introduced. It has a distinctive pickup that lies behind the saddle, and that’s what makes it so easy for artists to seamlessly shift from one genre to another. The sides and body are constructed and crafted from Indian rosewood, while the top is made from Sitka spruce. Because of its rugged construction, you get the heavy bass and high-end tones that are short and sweet. Although it’s one of the newest and most stylish country music guitars you can buy, there are some alternatives that are better suited if you prefer traveling or have a smaller budget. The Taylor Big Baby and GS Mini Mahogany are good substitutes.
Electric Guitars Acoustic guitars are great, but when you’re ready to rev it up, an electric is the flag to fly. Country music has been kicking up its heels and getting electrified since the invention of the electric guitar in the early 1950s. With its amplified sound, you’ll be clearly hearing some of its higher volume, twangy swagger. However, this doesn’t mean that electric guitars are all the same and that just any ole model will do. Pickers and grinners have spent countless late-night hours playing on them ‘lectric geetars to find the most inspiring country tones. Here’s a list of the top three. Of course, each has variations.
Fender Telecaster Leo Fender created the first mass-produced electric guitar in the early 1950s, the Telecaster (aka “Tele”). Country musicians have sworn by this guitar ever since it was introduced. It has a great design and gives off an inherently twangy sound, which lends itself especially well to the “country” club. Made up essentially of a slab body; one, two, or three pickups; and a bolt-on neck, it is unlike any guitar of its time. You’ll find variants of the standard Fender Telecaster to have specialized features that allow you to create a sound that’s classic or modern country. So, spend some time with a Tele, and hear if it gets you what you’re after.
Gibson Les Paul Originally designed as an electric guitar for jazz, its fuller, darker sound is also a perfect solution for the country superstar who adds a pinch of rock and pop to their musical breaking heart. The Les Paul delivers a bigger, heavier tone with more mid-range punch to help cut through the musical mix, no matter which genre you’re playing. When connected to a high-gain amplifier, like a Marshall JCM800, you are ready to blow the doors off the barn. From smooth, warm tones to big country rock, the Gibson Les Paul rules the roost!
Fender Stratocaster Ahh, the ubiquitous Stratocaster. Leo Fender’s second guitar gem he bestowed upon the world is the Stratocaster. Used by everyone in every style, the Strat serves up a delicious, country-fried, age-old, farm fresh plate of tone second to none. From clean and clear belllike tones to a squealing wall of feedback, it has it all. Its crisp tone is at the backbone of both classic and modern country. With its three single-coil pickups and pickup selector switch, you can choose from five different pickup combinations, so you can switch up your tone quickly and easily. In addition, you can choose between a rosewood fretboard and a maple neck; the former delivers a mellow tone while the latter is suitable for brighter notes. The Stratocaster is the most versatile of the three and is the recommended starting point if you’re not sure where to start. It’s also the easiest to modify should you want more or less of a specific sound.
Admittedly, these are brief descriptions of each of the most well-known country music guitars. Now, it’s up to you to find out which one helps you make your brand of country music. So, it’s time to rise and shine…your CMA award awaits
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INTERVIEWS
Photo by John Shearer
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INTERVIEWS
Lindsay Ell:
Living the dream, night after night By Tara Low Lindsay Ell is living the dream. In just 29 years, this Canadian-born country music singer, songwriter, and guitar player has taken her own brand of music to the main stage. Blending rock, blues, and pop with country, Lindsay has been able to leave her mark on Music City – and in no insignificant way. Her talents have been recognized by some of the biggest acts in country music today, touring with artists like Brad Paisley and Sugarland. Come September, she’ll be lending her talents to Keith Urban as part of his Graffiti U world tour. Lindsay makes it clear that this dream of getting to perform in front of thousands of fans night after night didn’t come to fruition immediately; it took her years of hard work, dedication, and a supportive fan base of family and friends to get her to this point.
match is half the battle when it comes to recording music. When Kristian Bush and I met to discuss music for the first time, he asked, “What’s your favorite record of all time?” I said, “Continuum by John Mayer.” He gave me a homework assignment: my task was to study that record front to back and be ready to record it in two weeks. Not only that, but I was to play all of the instruments on the record, doing it all by myself, alone in the studio. It was at that moment that I realized how smart Kristian is and how special it is to work with him. Forcing me to do that Continuum record helped everything click in my head – it was like all the gears kind of locked into place, and all of the sudden, I knew what I wanted to say on my next record. I knew how I wanted it to sound.
From playing guitar with her father to playing pranks on her tour mates, Lindsay opens up to GGM about what inspired her involvement in music, how she hopes to inspire others, and what’s next on her bucket list. Your current producer is Kristian Bush of Sugarland. What’s it like having someone produce your music who knows what it’s like to perform? There’s a special relationship between an artist and their producer. Being a good
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INTERVIEWS I understood why I love the music that I loved so much. Sometimes we love songs, or we even love kinds of foods, and we don’t know why we love them. He helped me go through that process of self-discovery, which really the only way you can learn it is by sitting there by yourself and figuring it out. He’s an incredible producer and gives me exactly the tools I need to go figure out the problem without telling me how to do it, so I can create it my own way. You played all the instruments on The Continuum Project? Not many artists could do that. I did, and it was such a crazy learning experience. Obviously, I’m a huge guitar nerd. Piano was my first instrument, having started playing when I was six. But recording everything took learning to a whole new level. I had to really put things under a magnifying glass like I have never done before. It was a priceless learning experience for sure. So, you also play the drums? The drums are the only instrument I do not play physically, but I’m a studio nerd too and can program them in my studio, recording drum tracks and looping beats. There was one song on the album I had programming issues with – it took me two hours. I couldn’t figure it out. So, it was a steep learning curve with that whole process, but I’m really happy I did it. Are there certain guitars you like to record with? I’ve played so many different kinds of guitars. When I was growing up, I played tons of Les Pauls. In fact, I only played Les Pauls performing live until I was about 17 or 18. For the past seven years or so, I’ve been working with Fender, and I love the sound of a Strat. In the studio, I play a lot of Strats. I love single coils. That’s what I’m playing a lot live these days. You just find a lot of Strats in my records. You also find Teles, Les Pauls, and even a J35 we put on some tracks. Your latest single off The Project is “Champagne.” It has a catchy chorus and offers a shout out to someone named Aretha. Should we assume this is Aretha Franklin? That’s right, it’s the queen herself. Now, every time I sing it on stage it takes on a whole other meaning. She has always been
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Photo by Kirk Stauffer
a huge influence on me ever since I started singing as a little girl. Aretha is the one and only! I just figured since in the song I’m singing about girl power and about women doing what they need to do and about being strong role models, why not quote the queen herself? When were you inspired to start playing guitar? I started playing piano when I was six. When I was eight, I started playing guitar. At 8 years old, it was a lot cooler to play Shania Twain songs on the guitar than play piano. My dad played guitar, and the first song he taught me when he put a guitar in my hands was that opening riff to “Stairway
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to Heaven.” From that point forward, I fell in love with the guitar. Did you have any female musicians that influenced you at the time? Absolutely. Of courses, Bonnie Raitt was a huge role model of mine. She’s such a player and such an incredible songwriter and performer. Sheryl Crow, Jennifer Batten, and then Tommy Emmanuel, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Susan Tedeschi, and Derek Trucks. The list goes on and on and on and on. We could talk about my influences for an hour. You performed at CMA Fest, have toured with the likes of Brad Paisley, and you’re
INTERVIEWS
Photo by Kirk Stauffer one offs over the past year, but our portion of the tour with him starts at the beginning of September. I am so excited. If you were to tell ten-year-old Lindsay that she was going to have a feature on a Keith Urban album one day, she would call you crazy. But the fact that Keith asked me to sing on a song on his record Graffiti U is just another cool thing. When we play “Horses” live, it’s a really special moment.
now with Sugarland. Next, you’ve got Keith Urban coming up, right? It’s been an incredible year, and I’m just so grateful. I’ve gotten to tour with some of my role models. We were out with Brad for a year and a half, and I learned so much from him just by watching him play. As a guitar player, he’s perfect. He never makes mistakes. He’s so generous and it was so much fun being out on the road with him. The Sugarland tour has been awesome. It’s just so cool to be out on the road with my producer. Seeing Kris and Jennifer back out on the road together, I’m so excited for them. To get to be a whole part of that is really special. Touring with Keith is a huge bucket list moment for me. As far as a player, he’s probably the most similar to my style, because I really come from a blues rock world. I see a lot of that whenever I watch Keith play. We’ve been able to play a few
Tell us about some of your tour pranks we’ve been reading about. I learned from the best in the business. Brad Paisley is probably the best prankster you’re ever going to meet. Touring with him, anything can happen. Especially the last weekend of a tour, anything can happen. On the last night of our Weekend Warrior tour, his crew dressed up as criminals and then another crew member dressed up like a cop wearing shorts and sunglasses and his hairy legs – he was just rocking it. They were chasing each other across the stage as I was singing. They also painted these pink bars that sat in front of my mic, like a jail cell. It was just crazy. I needed to get back at Brad, of course. I bought one of those Lightning McQueen motorized toddler cars because Brad has that song on the Cars movie. One night while he was performing “Mud on the Tires,” I drove that car onto the stage, and I had taped this sign on the back of it that said, “Got mud?” The car was so small I had to put my feet on the hood and steer the wheel in between my knees. The slow speed at which this thing goes just added to the humor. So, when Brad saw it, he started laughing and missed a couple lines in the song. That was my main goal – to make him miss some lyrics. And it happened. So, Brad can mess up after all, right? Yeah! A few weeks ago, we were in Greenville, South Carolina, and their hockey team is called the Swamp Rabbits. Somebody in catering found the head of
the mascot’s costume, so we were joking around about the costume. And, of courses, don’t tempt me with a dare. So, I found the mascot costume, and during Sugarland’s encore, we all go out at the end. I put on the costume and went on stage. It looked like a really fat chipmunk. My hips were like four feet wide. Jennifer was beside herself laughing. At the end, the girls walk up from the back of the stage and Kristian didn’t realize what was going until we were in the middle of the song. He almost fell over laughing. Tell us about the guitar that Fender made you. I painted a different guitar for every song on my record The Project. The idea behind it being that I wanted the album to live beyond a three-minute song on the record. I wanted fans to be able to watch these colorful guitars while they were looking at audio videos on YouTube. I wanted something to be going on in these videos. I said to myself, “What if I time lapsed me painting a guitar for every song. And every guitar is different. And then we gave the guitar away to charity or something at the end.” And so that’s how this kind of started. And so, I painted 12 guitars. We gave away a bunch of them to charity, a few to fans, and I ended up playing the “Waiting on You” guitar live all last summer while opening for Paisley. And this poor thing, I used acrylic paint, because I’m not a professional painter. I just basically, slapped paint even over the pick-ups. And paint started chipping off of it because I’m using it in all these hot summer festivals. Billy from Fender saw this, and he ended up scanning in my design and made me my own version of my “Waiting on You” guitar, which was so sweet of them. And I named her Betty Van Halen. So, now I have Betty Van Halen I which is the original guitar and Betty Van Halen II. I just love Fender from the bottom of my heart. They are just truly an amazing company to work with. Do you see yourself as a role model? And what would you want to tell young girls that are wanting to play guitar? It is the coolest thing for a fan to come up to me and be like, “Lindsay, you’ve inspired me to start playing the guitar.” It’s one of the coolest things, and it gets me really emotional. I remember when I was growing up how much Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt,
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INTERVIEWS Shania, and all of these incredible female artists and musicians inspired me to start playing. I only hope that I can be half of the role model that they were to me when I was growing up. And if I were to give some advice to girls learning instruments, I’d say, follow your heart, play music that you love, learn songs that you love because you’ll want to practice more, and always remember the reason why you love to play music. Martin Guitar has their Museum Sessions on YouTube which you’ve participated in performing “Criminal” and “Waiting On You.” What guitar did you play? I love working with Martin Guitar, they’re such a family-based company. You can really tell when you walk around the floor, because
sometimes it’s a grandmother who passed it down to the daughter who’s now passing it down to the granddaughter who works the same job, on the line, in the factory. It’s just a great environment to be part of. The museum is incredible. It has guitars that date back hundreds of years and tells the whole story of how Martin got started. My favorite Martin guitars are OOs or OOOs or OMs. The day I was in the museum, I played an OO-28 on stage. I usually play an OMJM or an OM-28, but there’s something I love about small body guitars, and, of course, they have a very nice selection of them at Martin. They have a way of making small body guitars sound huge without being this massive thing that for a girl can sometimes be a lot to play every night.
Are you and Kristian working on singles now, or a full album? We’re working on a new album. We’ll be promoting “Champagne” over the next few months, but then we’ll be getting back in the studio in November and December to record our next record. What’s the best way someone visiting Music City can get the full Nashville experience? There are so many incredible songwriting venues in this city. If you were to go to one thing, go see some songwriters play, either at the Bluebird or the Listening Room – they have great songwriting rounds every night. You also need to go to Carter Guitars or Gruhn Guitars because their selection of instruments is so cool. It’s amazing just to go browse and see what they have.
Lindsay Ell’s Guitar Gear: Guitars: Betty Van Halen #1 and #2 #1 - American Standard Strat – the guitar I painted for first single off The Project, the “Waiting On You” guitar, rosewood fretboard, standard single coils covered in acrylic paint #2 - American Professional Strat – two Tim Shaw designed V-Mod single coil pickups and one Shaw Bucker humbucker pickup, with the new “deep C” shaped neck profile, rosewood fretboard designed by Fender after my “Waiting On You” guitar Herbert Custom Brad Paisley model – ‘57 Strat, custom vintage pickups, ‘50s style neck, gold hardware, maple fretboard The Red Betty Center block junior limited edition Gretsch semihollowbody, Filter Tron neck pickup, Seymour Duncan P-90 bridge pickup, with Bigsby B12C
Strings: D’Addario XL Light Top/Heavy Bottom (10-52) & D’Addario NYXL (10-52) Cables: D’Addario Custom Series & American Stage Instrument Cables Pedals: (in series of signal flow) »» Wireless - Shure ULXD4Q - quad channel digital wireless receiver »» -535 Q Wah pedal »» -Rockett Audio Archer Ikon pedal »» -Ernie Ball VP JR Passive Volume pedal »» -Xotic BB Preamp Pedal »» -MXR Digital Reverb »» -Dunlop EP103 Echoplex Delay pedal »» -Boss DD-7 Delay pedal »» (Using voodoo lab pedal power 2 plus)
Continuum Guitar American Standard Strat guitar I painted for The Continuum Project, rosewood fretboard, standard single coils
Amps: »» -Vox AC30S1 1x12 – the more stripped down and straight forward AC30. A single channel design based on the Top Boost channel of the AC30. 30-watt combo amp. Two 12AX7s preamp tubes and four EL84 power amp tubes. Specially voiced 12” Celestion speaker, with studio quality digital reverb »» Z Wreck – with custom Dr. Z “Lindsay pink” tolex, head and two 1 x 12 cabs. One cab backwashed behind stage. Three 12AX7 preamp tubes and four EL84 power amp tubes. 2 x 12” Celestion Gold speakers.
Picks:
B-Rig:
Les Paul Goddess 490R neck and 498T bridge pickups, ebony fretboard, 24.75 scale length, ‘60s slim taper neck, chambered violet burst, steward Macdonald aftermarket bridge
D’Addario Heavy (1.0mm)
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Fractal Ax8
INTERVIEWS
Anita Cochran:
“You gotta fight like a girl.” By Tara Low
Anita Cochran is a dreamer and a fighter. Born into a musical family, Cochran began playing and singing in her family’s band when she was five. She knew being a musician was all she ever wanted to do. As an adult, Cochran is a successful solo country music artist and was deemed the first female country music artist to write, produce, and play multiple instruments on her 1997 debut record Back To You.
What was your writing process for this deeply personal song? As a songwriter, naturally, you write about things that go on in your life. After I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I debated whether to talk publicly about it. I finally decided that I needed to speak publicly about this to bring awareness to people and to encourage women to get more educated about breast cancer.
Her dream? To play the Grand Ole Opry, which she accomplished making her debut in 1997. Her fight? In 2017, Cochran was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now, with her new single, “Fight Like a Girl,” she’s adding philanthropy to her dream. Through her music, she’s hoping to empower, inspire, and help others as she fights her own battle.
The whole month after being diagnosed was an awful nightmare for me. When you’ve been told you have cancer, you have to do all the research to find out what you’re going to do, pick out your doctors, decide on your treatment. It was just a crash course for me because I knew nothing about breast cancer. It really didn’t hit me hard until after my fourth chemo treatment when I got really, really sick. I wanted to call my doctors and tell them I just can’t do this. Then the next day came, and I was feeling a little bit better. I decided I’ve got to fight through this no matter what, no matter how sick I get. I need to share this. That inspired me to write the song.
Among the award-winning musician’s hit songs is “What If I Said,” which reached #1 on Billboard and across all radio charts in the U.S. and Canada. Cochran was the winner of the Gibson Guitar Award for “Best Country Guitar Player.” Adding to her many career accomplishments, Cochran also added actress to her resumé with her appearance on The Dukes of Hazzard as the character Anita Blackwell. Cochran spoke with Guitar Girl Magazine about her background in music, dreams, guitars, and the fight of her life. “Fight Like a Girl” is receiving a lot of praise and is an inspiration for many.
It’s a beautiful song, and the accompanying video is powerful. It won Best Music Video at the Creation International Film Festival, correct? Yes, it did, and that was a nice surprise. The more exposure it gets, the more awareness is out there, and the more it can help people. My goal is to help people get through their battles. I’ve always had songs
to get me through tough periods of my life. I hope this song can inspire people to keep up their fight no matter what it is. I wanted this song to be a theme song for people as they fight through whatever battle they are going through in life. It doesn’t have to be breast cancer, it can be another type of cancer or another kind of illness or any sort of battle that they’re going through. I’ve gotten some really great responses from people, and it’s been really uplifting to me because when I see other people inspired by it, it inspires me more to keep fighting, to keep sharing my story, and to try and help more. There’s been an outpouring of community support. Your friends started a Go Fund Me page for you, and they also held a benefit concert. It’s been amazing. My friends have really stepped up to the plate and been there for me. It’s scary when the doctor tells you “you have cancer.” It’s a life-changing event. How am I supposed to make money? How am I supposed to work? How am I supposed to make a living and make money to pay my bills? I’ve been blessed to have friends around me throughout this whole thing. I don’t know if I could have done it without them. So, I encourage people, if you know somebody who has cancer, be there for them. Be a chemo buddy. Sit with them while they’re getting chemo. Just sit with them. Bring them lunch when they’re going
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INTERVIEWS
through chemo. Cook for them. Bring them food to their house. Play games with them. Do something! Let’s switch gears. Tell me about your background in music. Everyone in my family, including all of my aunts and uncles, play guitar and sing.
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They all started a band with a couple of their cousins and made a record in 1968. I joined when I was five years old after my mom and dad taught me how to play guitar, and my dad taught me how to play banjo and mandolin. I became their rhythm guitar player, and I would sing. They always wanted to perform country music for their
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livelihood. We traveled all over Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky. It was pretty amazing to share that with my family. My parents brought me to Nashville since I was a little kid every year. We were tourists. We would come down and go to Grand Ole Opry and go to Opryland
INTERVIEWS and all that stuff. They always wanted to perform country music for their livelihood. My dad was a great musician, great guitar player. I was named after Anita Carter from the Carter family, and my oldest brother Faron was named after the country music singer Faron Young; so that goes to show you how much my family loved country music. So there never was anything else for you. It was always going to be country music, it was in your blood. Definitely. My whole life growing up, all I ever had in my head was playing at the Grand Ole Opry and hearing myself on the radio, that’s it. So, it came true, my dream came true. My dad was a great musician, a great guitar player. He was really the main one who taught me how to play guitar. He played a lot of Chet Atkins-style guitar. He taught me the chords, and I used to play and practice with him every day. I was also a huge fan of Vince Gill, Steve Warner, and Ricky Skaggs. They were the three that really made me want to learn how to play electric guitar – lead guitar. I just was like, “I want to play like them.” So, I literally would sit for hours and hours and hours rewinding cassettes trying to learn their solos. I played by ear, never had any musical lessons. Everything was by ear. Quite different than today, right? Right. I didn’t have YouTube, I couldn’t watch what they were doing. I just had to hear what they were doing and try to figure out their solos. I keep telling Steve Warner and Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs that I owe them a lot of money for the free lessons they gave me over the years growing up. I tell everybody to try teaching your kids at a really young age because when you’re that young, the only problem we have is a short attention span. At a young age, you don’t know to be afraid or to be nervous or to be scared. It just never dawned on me to ever be afraid to play in front of people or anything like that. It’s so much easier to teach young people to play than it is older people. They learn so much quicker. When I was first learning guitar, my first real guitar was a Gibson B-15. It was a little smaller Gibson guitar, but it was still a big guitar for my size – four years old at that time. When I turned five, my dad had a Martin D-35. He gave my Gibson to my uncle
and gave me his Martin D-35. My dad bought the Martin D-45 with all the pearl inlay and all that pretty stuff. I hated it. When he gave me that guitar, I hated it because it was so big. It was all I could do to get my hands around it to play it. I was so mad at him for getting rid of my Gibson, because it was a little smaller. But back then, they didn’t have a lot of small guitars for kids to play. Now they got baby Taylors and all kinds of little guitars that are great for kids to start playing on. Even little electric guitars. I didn’t get my first electric guitar until I was 18. It was the first thing I put on my Visa card when I got my very first Visa card. Do you think it’s better for a young person to start off on acoustic or electric? I think playing electric guitar for people who are just learning is easier because the strings aren’t as thick, and the neck isn’t as thick. But playing acoustic guitar teaches you the technique in your touch. A lot of people don’t realize that part of being a really good guitar player is not about just knowing notes and being able to play fast, it’s about the touch that you have when you play. A lot of people who think they play guitar, they play it so hard they don’t let the wood speak. Some guitars are so expensive because of the design and the wood. If you’re just hitting it as hard as you can, you might as well go buy the cheaper guitar down the street and play it because you’re going to get the same results. You’re not allowing the voice of the wood to speak. It’s got to work with your fingers. The sound has got to come out naturally from the wood, along with what you’re doing. It’s a blend between your fingertips and what the wood is made from. They’ve got to speak to each other. Besides your parents, what other artists inspired you? I’m a huge Chet Atkins fan, thanks to my dad, but Vince Gill, Steve Warner, and Ricky Skaggs were the three who really made me want to learn how to play electric guitar. Then, when the Judds came out, I was a huge fan. Don Potter played all the acoustic guitars on the Judds’ music. His guitar playing spoke to me as much as the Judds’ vocals did. I had just gotten my electric guitar, and I didn’t want to have an acoustic guitar in my
hands anymore. But then all of a sudden, I heard Potter play the acoustic, and he made me fall completely back in love with the acoustic guitar. Then my goal was, “I wanna play acoustic guitar like Don Potter.” Tell us about your instruments. What’s your line up? I’m mainly a Tele player, and that’s what I’m known for playing. I love a Tele when it comes to electric, but really it depends on the song I’m playing. I’ve got some great Gibsons that I’ll go to when it’s a blues or a ballad/folk kind of song. I’ve got some great Gibson guitars that I love, my Gibson 335 is one. I was with Fender and Gibson for a long time, and they both endorse me. I’ve got some really great instruments. What would be your advice for a young girl wanting to become a musician? The first thing I ask is, “Is there anything else in life you want to do other than be a musician? If there is, go do that first.” To be a full-time, professional musician you have to love it, eat it, breathe it. It’s got to be everything about you, and it’s got to be to the point where you just can’t imagine doing anything else because it can be such a tough business to be in. You have to have that passion and that want and that desire to be able to power through it. People make a mistake. Parents will go out and buy their child a guitar and then wonder, “Well, why don’t they want to play it? I bought them this nice-looking guitar, and they don’t want to play it.” What people need to understand is you need to buy a guitar specific to that person. You can’t buy a cheap guitar and say, “Here, learn how to play.” If the strings are too far off the neck if it’s a cheaper guitar, take it somewhere and have the strings lowered, so the action is lower. It makes it so much easier for someone who’s trying to learn how to play. A lot of people don’t realize that. They think they buy a guitar off the shelf and it’s perfect, and it’s not. The biggest thing is if you really want to learn to play and it be your career, you really have to love it so much that there’s nothing else in life you wan to do. I wanted to play the Grand Ole Opry, andI was going to hear myself on the radio. That was all I was going to do. And it came true, my dream came true.
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INTERVIEWS
Karen Waldrup:
Living her full potential with Justified By Tara Low Country music artist Karen Waldrup believes fully in “ask and you shall receive.” Whether asking comes in the form of inspiration from her Creator, or if it comes in the form of funding for her new album, Justified, Waldrup is receiving all the love. Recorded at the legendary Sound Emporium in Nashville with equally legendary producer Garth Fundis, Justified boasts a collection of songs woven together by a thread of positivity. Among them is “I Hope You Dance,” a Lee Ann Womack cover and late addition to the album that Waldrup performed on Facebook live to video viral success. Guitar Girl Magazine chatted with Waldrup to discuss her multimedia business strategy, her musical process, and, of course, the new album. To add to Waldrup’s accomplishments, she brought home four awards at the Nashville Industry Music Awards for Artist of the Year, Song of the Year for “Warm In Your Sunshine,” Best Live Country Performer, and Best Country Solo Artist Female. Your new album, Justified, was released in July and was funded with an Indiegogo campaign. You have great fans! I sure do. When I launched the Indiegogo crowdfunding, we were not exactly sure how it was going to go – obviously, nobody is. I had a lot of fans at the time, but once the viral video started to happen, it went from having 20,000 fans to 500,000 fans, and that was indescribable. The difference in the amount of support, not only emotionally, financially, at shows – it’s just crazy. So, because of the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, it kind of kicked that whole thing off. What was your inspiration behind Justified? This was my dream record – it was the record I moved to Nashville to make. It was that record that I wrote songs my whole life for. I didn’t know it was going to be Justified.
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Photo courtesy of Evolution PR
The Lord sure did surprise me. I really wanted Justified to be a positive record. I wanted the theme to be about positivity. When someone listens to the record, I want it to make their energy better after they listen to it. When Garth agreed to produce my record, we sat down with my whole catalog and went through all the songs that I had written during my whole career. We selected the songs that we felt added a good, positive energy to the world, and that was really fun because it allowed the record to feel very inspirational. The creation of it can feel really inspirational as well when you add the community aspect, which was the Indiegogo crowdfunding. I never imagined that the experience would be so rich and filled with love. It got a lot more love because of the people who were involved than it would have had we not had them. Was this your first time working with Garth? It was my first time working with him, and I’d love to work with him again. He was that “Dream Producer.” I wanted that person who was going to push me. I wanted to feel what it felt like to hurt in the studio. I wanted to feel like, when I walked out every day, it felt like I’d given it my all. Until that point, I had really just gone in and done little demo tapes here and there with little, low-budget recordings, and it never felt like I was giving my all. How long did it take you to record the entire album? It took all of 2017. Garth and I couldn’t be more opposite when it came to production. I was very “let’s go, let’s do it, let’s make it happen.” He was very much pulling back the reigns and making sure that the details
INTERVIEWS were there, the horn parts were right, the players we selected were right, the tones of the background singers were right. He was behind me scrutinizing everything with a very detail-oriented comb. Now that the record’s done, I’m so glad he did because there are songs on that record that we hadn’t even written yet – some of my favorites ones like “Colorado Kiss.” If he hadn’t pulled me back, I would have a record of 11 songs that were all totally different. On the songs that had cowriters, are those people you work with on a regular basis, or was Garth instrumental in connecting you with them? It was a mix. There were some opportunities that happened because of me and some that happened because of Garth. For instance, he would say, “Hey, I really like this writer you wrote with on this song. Can you write with her again?” Or he’d say, “Hey, I don’t really like this song for the record that much. Can you try to do something a little more upbeat?” He was guiding me based on songs that he knew we didn’t have in order to create the overall theme. Garth was very instrumental in pushing me in the writing process as well as in the production process. And honestly, he is just the freaking coolest guy. As far as the instrumentation on the album and the musicians behind it, I read that you like to bring horns into your music so you can draw on your Louisiana influence. Tell us about the musicians on this album. I have a horn player, Chris Schaffner. He’s my right-hand man and an incredible saxophone player. We play all my shows together, and we were able to use him on the record. He played on all the horn parts, which he and Garth coarranged. Garth is a horn player himself, so he was able to bring some of that knowledge to the table. Then when it came time to use horns, we were able to stack Chris’s parts. When it came time to do trumpets, we brought someone else in, but pretty much every single horn part on that record is Chris Schaffner. You’re endorsed by Epiphone Guitars, which is a division of Gibson. What is your go-to guitar at the moment? I have an HC835 Gibson and then my Epiphones. I have an Epiphone electric and an Epiphone acoustic, but I play a Gibson primarily. I really like their product a lot. The guitars are really reliable and stay in tune. Once, the band and I drove from Nashville, Tennessee, all the way to South Louisiana,
and when we got onstage, my Gibson was still in tune. What is your songwriting process? God sends you ideas when you least expect it. Sometimes you’ll be in the shower or you’ll be running around town and you get an idea. It sounds like the nuggets are coming out of the sky – the whole song idea – and you’re just grabbing them. Sometimes they’re not even that great, and you don’t even end up writing anything because it’s not even that good of an idea. But then sometimes, you end up writing an entire song just around one tiny nugget. Right now, I’m working on one, and I just have the melody and the groove. I don’t even have the key yet, but I have a lot of lyrics because I can’t stop. They keep coming to me, but I don’t have time to sit down and craft the song right now. So, as the lyrics come to me, I just make notes on my iPhone. Then, whenever life slows down and I have an hour or two, I can sit down and go, “Okay I hear this song, it sounds like it’s probably in this key. Let me see, let me play around.” Usually it’s how God sends it. I can hear it, but I have to get my guitar out to know what key it’s in. Then, I’m able to fuse the notes within that key to structure around the song. Then, I use the lyrics. It’s like a puzzle. During your Indiegogo campaign, you heard a preacher say, “The moment you take the burden off of yourself to be important is the moment you start living your true potential.” What impact did that statement have on you? It changed my whole life. Before I heard the preacher say that, I felt this burden. I think it’s easy as an artist to feel that burden to be great. I felt this need that everything had to be great – the music, the videos, everything. Really, all you have to do is just do what God tells you to do and play music. When I heard the preacher say that, it just hit me in my heart. I felt like I had received permission to just do what I do, and not feel so stressed about whether or not the radio stations were going to like what I was doing, or whether or not the industry was going to be on board. I really do believe when you create music, you create music for the person who is listening. If the person who is listening connects and feels and is moved by a piece of art, then nothing else matters. When I took that burden off of myself, I was able to just go, “Okay, I’m gonna make a record
based on who I am as a person and how I was born.” The preacher spoke the night of November 14, and then, on November 16, I went viral – less than 48 hours after I committed to that mindset. You have been referred to by some as the “Digital Content Queen,” and your fans are referred to as the “Waldrup Worldwide Family.” I think when people receive, they’re more likely to give. I do a video every Wednesday called “Waldrup Wednesday.” It’s totally free, and I think that’s the secret. When the fans know there is a video coming every single week and they don’t have to pay for it, it’s like they become a part of the process. They commit, and I’m able to give, and then I’m also able to ask. At the end of Waldrup Wednesday, I always ask for something. I’m partnering with a charity called Mission of Hope Haiti, and I’ve asked for the fans to make a contribution, because we’re trying to build a high school there. Talk a little more about your charitable work. The band and I went down to Haiti for five days, and we played music all throughout Haiti for different types of people – orphans, elderly, people in the community, children. I’ve never played more music in five days than I did in Haiti. There was also a guy behind me with a camera following me around, and he was able to create this Waldrup Wednesday video. I learned the problem is in the lack of education there. I believe that if there is a way we could educate some of these kids – these orphans who are being dropped off on the orphanage front porch by starving mothers… My mission is to help build them a place where they can go to high school. We’re using Facebook’s “Donation Button” platform for people to be able to make direct contributions to Mission of Hope Haiti. All I have to do is stand back and hope that a song moves people. What advice would you offer a young artist who would want to pursue a career in music? I think the most important thing to understand is that your career has to be about music. If the music is what you’re in it for, then you’re going be happy. You’re going to be able to accomplish anything you want to do because all you have to do is the music. If it’s about any other element of it – the fame or the parties – you just aren’t going to get paid enough to sustain yourself.
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INTERVIEWS
Rachele Lynae: Finding Peace from the “Guy In The Sky” By Alison Richter
Rachele Lynae was not long out of high school when she packed her possessions, her guitars, and her dreams, and left home for Nashville. With her goals set on the music industry, she traveled across the country on her own to attend Belmont University. Although young, she was no amateur by the time she arrived in Tennessee. Lynae was born in Kodiak, Alaska, and grew up in Lynden, Washington, where she was surrounded by country and Christian music. She began singing in her church choir when she was five and was writing songs by age 12. She performed in musical theater as a teenager and recorded her original material in a local studio. Nashville was the obvious next step in her trajectory. After graduating from Belmont, Lynae put all her efforts into learning the inner workings of Music Row while pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter. She recorded a five-song EP and scheduled appointments with industry professionals, where she presented her demo and expanded her knowledge and network. Her music caught the attention of Momentum Label Group and singer-songwriter Jamie O’Neal, who produced Lynae’s self-titled debut album. Shortly after its 2014 release, she was opening for Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini, The Band Perry, and others, while enjoying chart success with “Fishin’ for Something,” “Whole Lotta Nothin’,” and “Quicksand,” which became a Number One top trending video on CMT.
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INTERVIEWS It comes as no surprise that Rachele Lynae’s career took off so quickly. As a singer, songwriter, and performer, she can hold her own next to established artists in any genre — her voice is that powerful and her message equally strong. But achieving success and generating hit singles is not enough. There is a spiritual component to her work, and that means walking in faith and gratitude and using her talents to do more than entertain. During the 2017 holiday season, in the wake of the California wildfires, she partnered with Music for Relief to raise funds for victims, gifting her song “Guy In The Sky” to donors. On June 25, 2018, she officially released the single and lyric video. You have a new album in the works. Can you tell us anything about it? I’m still narrowing down the songs. I’m a songwriter, and the sheer number of songs I have for this project – there are so many. The last time I counted, my list was at about 20, so I have to make some hard decisions. I’m in the thick of it. It’s more likely that we’ll do an EP, but I can’t promise right now because the music will determine that. Once you get into the studio, there’s magic that happens. The songs take on a life of their own, and you just know. You’ve been signed for six years, and you’ve been singing and performing a lot longer than that. When you look at the timeline, beginning with the demo EP you recorded after college and until now, what do you see? Early in my career, straight out of college, before I started working with Jamie, I needed something that I could take to meetings when I was asking people to coffee to pick their brains and learn and grow my contacts. I was such a baby in this whole thing. I think my songwriting is one of the biggest things, but I’ve grown in every way. I’ve learned to go a lot deeper. You learn the rules so that you can break them with time and experience.
Living in Nashville and working with the songwriters is like going to songwriting school or camp. You become a better writer. I’m glad that I did have to learn “This is what you do,” and how to fit in that box of “Nashville songwriting,” because now those things are second nature and I can play with them. As a vocalist, when I came to Nashville, I had minimal vocal training. I had lots of experience. I’d been singing since I was little, I sang in high school and in college, I toured and did a lot of Christian music, and I sang in church, as many of us have done, but I didn’t have a lot of training. When I went to Belmont, I worked on being able to open up my voice and sing more freely. With age and experience, from performing all of the time as opposed to a lot of the time, I found that your voice
get to the hook or the chorus. The way you structure a song is part of those rules — or the box, if you will. Also, not reusing words unless it’s the hook or chorus. It’s like learning grammar. If you’re writing a piece, you have to understand sentence structure and paragraph structure and how to formulate the whole thing, but once you know that, you can take your creative spin on it and break those rules sometimes and do something cool. I do some songs that don’t have your traditional chorus, or the biggest hook is in a different spot than the beginning or end of the chorus. There might be places where it is cool to repeat words a lot. Until you know what those rules are, you don’t know how to twist them in a way that grabs people and works in a cool way.
Sometimes the guitar picks you, and that’s what happened with my Martin. continues to mature. You think that at 21 you’re an adult and your voice is mature, but it keeps changing. I’m able to do more the older I get, and the longer I keep using it. “The box of Nashville songwriting” — what is that box? What is Nashville songwriting, and how does it differ from other types of songwriting? Before I came here, I didn’t cowrite. I wrote what came naturally to me, and some of it was a bit more abstract. There’s nothing wrong with that, but with country songwriting, you’re focusing on the story. You want people to understand what you’re trying to say. You need to capture the specifics because that’s what makes the songs universal. Song structure, of course, is huge, and that’s part of it — the verse needs to be like this, don’t take too long to
In addition to writing and singing, you also play guitar. What do you use in the studio and onstage? I have three guitars. I rarely record with them. I’ve been playing guitar a long time. I play in all my shows and at songwriter events. And when I’m writing, it’s crucial to me, but there are amazing studio guitar players in Nashville, and part of being a good musician is knowing where your strength is. I have a Breedlove Cascade Series that I take on the road with me. It’s got a great sound and feel, and it’s a sturdy instrument. I have a 1980 Martin M-38 that I love, but I’m nervous every time I’ve tried taking it on the road! So, it’s one that I write and record my demos with at my home studio or that I bring out when we’re with friends. It’s so warm-sounding. I got it when I was still living in
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INTERVIEWS Washington. I was looking for a guitar, and I needed something sturdy and smaller because I’m a small person, and when I play guitar, it tends to swallow me a little. But that didn’t happen. I picked up this guitar and started playing it, and oh my gosh! Sometimes the guitar picks you, and that’s what happened with my Martin. There is a pickup that has been put in this guitar, but it doesn’t work so much. It needs to be miked. So, I got the Breedlove, which has a pickup and has been great for me onstage. I also have a USA-made Fender Telecaster and a Fender Pro Junior III amp that go on the road with me. I don’t use pedals because I play more acoustic than electric. At this point, I don’t travel with a guitar tech, so all the switching around is time between songs. So, I try to keep it as simple as possible with just my amp and a tuner. Your husband, [drummer] Tim Creedon, owns 11 Productions Studio, where you are an artist and vocal coach. Is this where you are recording the new album? I’m recording with David Dorn, who plays keyboards on a lot of sessions here. [Note: Dorn coproduced “Guy In The Sky.”] We’re at his studio. Tim and I work together when we can, but he’s also a lighting director, and he’s currently on the road with Maren Morris. When did you begin coaching? I work with vocal production. When people come in to record with us, they may or may not have a lot of studio experience. For me, I like having someone who can say, “Try this,” and “Do that.” I learned the value of that when I was working with Jamie and when I recorded with Chip Westerfield in Washington. When someone is giving an emotional delivery, sometimes you need to be told about your technical delivery. My husband is not a vocalist, so as a singer with a degree in commercial voice, I’m able to help people find those little tricks to get them where they want to be in the studio. How has being part of a production company helped take you to the next level as an artist? I think it stretches you whenever you do something new. When we start to get comfortable in any aspect of life, we tend to want to stay in that place. If you don’t stretch and try new things and grow, you
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can get stagnant. When you push yourself to do something new, it affects every part because you’re training your brain to know that you can hit a note better, you can do
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it better, you can play a song better. When I try something like working in the studio or coaching, it’s not totally different, but it helps me to try new things. I’m still
INTERVIEWS growing, and when I approach something else, I’m learning. Your faith is foremost in your life. How does it guide you personally and professionally? Oh, man. In every single way. This career path is not the one you choose if you’re looking for security in your life. It’s always all over the place, and there’s no such thing. Even the people we think of as the most successful are still thinking about the next project. There’s no guarantee. It’s constantly changing. So, to know and to believe in something that is not constantly changing, and to know that no matter what those changes are, I’m at peace and I’m OK and I’ll be taken care of — having that is huge. It opens up my creative process because I am free to not waste my time worrying. I can spend that time being inspired and fostering positivity. On the business side of things, creative people are very passionate and therefore very emotional, and there’s bound to be times when you don’t see things the same way. Knowing how to love and respect people, and understanding God’s heart for loving people, has really helped me in situations where I’ve seen people lose their cool. I’ve managed to remember who I’m representing, and remember God’s love, and remember that I can be loving, even in a difficult situation. When I remember that, it has made every difference. I’ve seen working relationships as well as friendships fall apart, where I’ve been able to hold on to those because of my faith and because of the one that’s guiding me. Let’s talk about “Guy In The Sky” and the importance of using your talent as a means of giving back. There’s a concept that I try to live by. I sometimes succeed, sometimes don’t. It’s giving your first fruits to God. Some people think of that as giving money to the church, and that’s definitely a part of it, don’t get me wrong, but our talents are some of the most valuable things we have, and I feel I’ve been so blessed to have music in my life. With the fires … I feel so lucky that I have never dealt with the loss of a home. I feel comfortable in my living situation; I have a roof over my head, all of my things are here, and we’re blessed with so much. How can we not want to help other people who
are going through something? And to use music — music is something I always think of as a therapy of sorts, and I hope that my songs help people in that way. But with “Guy In The Sky,” I wanted to do something over the holidays to raise money through music to help people that were displaced and in this horrible situation. This song being so emotionally deep, and a song about faith, a song that is noticing that we’re asking God for a lot — when we find ourselves in those desperate situations where we need something, we’re always crying out and saying, “Help us, and if you do this, I’ll never do this, I promise.” The way He does come through and continues to help us, we’re constantly treating God a little bit like a vending machine. It’s a song meant to inspire thought, but also to say that in spite of everything, God keeps coming through, through the love of other people, through the love of people who are willing to give back. And I want to be that person. I want to be the person who can be the hands and feet and who can be there delivering something. It’s important that I take opportunities to use the music not just for therapy, which is a great thing, but also in a logistical way. With this song, we encouraged people to give and gifted them with the track. I want to do more of that in the future. I’ve done singing for benefits and for St. Jude, and in high school I worked closely with World Vision, getting kids sponsored and things like that. It’s always been really important to me, giving of your first fruits, and that includes the gifts and talents that I have, and so I need to give those back as well. People always think of finances when they think of charity, but sometimes it’s our hands and feet. You’ve got to get in there and do whatever you do. I’m a musician, and I can give songs. Do you have words of advice for young women who aspire to work in the music industry? Gosh, if you ask me at any time of day, my answer would be different because there’s so much I could say. For young women coming into any area of the entertainment industry, you need to surround yourself with people who understand everything you have to offer and who don’t try to
put you in a box as a woman. I believe I am seeing women be a little bit more supported and the attitudes changing, but still, if someone is saying, “As a woman, you can’t do that,” don’t listen to this and don’t internalize it. Sometimes even people with good intentions might say things that are “rules,” because they think that’s how it has to be, but it doesn’t. You need to be you. If anybody tries to say that you need to be something else, then they don’t get it and move on. It’s OK. They don’t have to get it, but you find what makes you the most you, let that totally shine, and surround yourself with people who get that. There are so many constraints put on women. You need to be bold and do it for yourself, because nobody else is going to do it for you — and they shouldn’t, because the most awesome things come from you knowing who you are and being unfazed to be that person. When you find the people that get it, you’re not going to run into a lot of issues. If you come to a town like Nashville or L.A. or New York and you’re looking for your team, be very cautious about what someone’s intentions are for you and what their intentions are behind helping you. What are they trying to get from you? We can all work together and get mutual help. There are relationships that make sense, and that’s business, and that’s good, but you need to make sure they are on the same page with you before you let them have any say over your career. I know girls who have been told, when they had an opinion about their business, their band, “Just focus on singing and going to the gym.” I’ve had people say, in a nicer way, similar things to me. At that point, you have to realize that people get stuck in their head and what they perceive the limitations to be, and you’ve got to realize those limitations do not exist. Whether it’s some man that does not understand the power of a woman, or if it’s someone who just doesn’t understand the power of you, you bring more to the table than just your talent, your look, or whatever. You have something to say, and that’s why people want to hear your music. You’ve got to hold on to that. In the words of Taylor Swift — everything else, just shake it off.
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INTERVIEWS
Jessica Lynn’s
“Let’s Don’t” Makes You Wanna Let’s DO! By Ché Zuro
After catching a couple of Jessica Lynn’s shows at Winter NAMM 2018 in Anaheim, California, I was a fast fan. Seeing her work so hard performing all over the convention, checking in with the manufacturers she is endorsed by, taking time for autographs and photos with fans, while never losing her electrified spark, smile, and personality, made me want to know more about her! I was able to catch this rising star for a chat at the same time she was releasing a single, a video, and had just returned to the States from a successful European tour. Jessica, you are always so busy working hard: writing, recording, touring, and promoting your music! What prompts you to write a new song? Do you get your ideas lyrically first, or do you find a riff on the guitar or a drumbeat or a melodic idea first? Please tell us a little about your process of writing your music. Real life is definitely what prompts me to write new music. I find inspiration in little things that people say or do while I’m out at the grocery store or working out at the gym, or that I overhear in a conversation. Usually, when I write, it comes to me very fast, and I hear the entire song completed in my head as it’s going. So, the melody or the chords don’t usually come separately, but as one. I’ve written songs in this way in as little as 20 or so minutes. I’ve also dreamt of songs many times and woken up with them almost completed in my head. Songwriting has always come very
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naturally to me, and it’s when I feel most “in the moment” in life. It can be very difficult to allow oneself to be vulnerable when writing songs, so do you prefer writing alone or with other songwriters? How do you think you write the best material? This is a tricky question to answer because there are many pros and cons to both ways of writing. I really enjoy cowriting with other people because they bring things to the table that you would never think of. Or, maybe they will strum a chord or a riff that prompts you to think of an entirely new melody that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. However, writing alone can be somewhat of a very emotional experience
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and also a very freeing experience from things you may be going through that you may want to put to music in your own special way. I really enjoy doing both, but I am definitely pushed more as a writer when I collaborate with other people, which is so much fun for me. You play guitar, keyboards, AND drums? What advice could you give some of our budding musicians here at Guitar Girl Magazine? Suggest what you think your best way is for someone to get started. I started with classical piano lessons, which gave me a really good foundation of theory and then moved to the other instruments on my own. My dad showed me my first few chords on the guitar, and then I just played
INTERVIEWS
the song? Did you have “staying home with your loved one” in mind when you started to write it? How are your fans responding to it? (This fan LOVES IT!) Thank you so much! I am very excited about this song. I cowrote it with two amazing writers and producers in Nashville: Clay Mills, who is a ten-time ASCAP awardwinning songwriter/producer, and Joey Ebach, who is an insanely talented songwriter. I came into the writing room wanting to write about how when you have the right love, even when you have nothing at all, you have everything. My husband is also my lead guitarist, and we have been together eight years, and we are the best of friends. This one’s for him!
along to my favorite records using internet tabs. I learned drums by playing along to the American Idiot album by Green Day. My BEST advice would be to play out as MUCH as you can. There is a big, big difference between playing home in your bedroom and out in front of an audience. When I first started, I took every gig I could from coffee shops to nursing homes. It really shapes who you are and develops you into a performer and not just a musician. If I could recommend one thing to do, that would be it! What guitars do you use for live shows? Songwriting? Travel? What other gear do you have that you love? My absolute favorite guitars that I always use live are my D’Angelico guitars. I have been playing them almost exclusively for almost five years now, and I am just in love with the company and the people that run it.
digital wireless microphone and a Helix unit to my setup! The Helix has been an absolute lifesaver live since no matter where I am or what I’m playing through, I always have my guitar sounds, and their microphone is the best sounding wireless I’ve ever sung on.
Also, I’ve been a Line 6 user for years. I’ve always used their wireless gear in my live rig and have recently added their incredible
Let’s chat about your new tune, “Let’s Don’t,” that dropped on June 25 while you were on tour in Europe. Who composed
Your “Crazy Idea” and “Not Your Woman” videos are so much fun to watch because of the great tunes, your high energy, interacting with your band plus seeing how the camera loves you! Your new video for “Let’s Don’t” released August 7 stars you and your husband, Steve, for whom, and about, you wrote the song! How difficult was it to shoot a real-life story with your real-life partner in front of a video film crew? Thank you so much. This was by far the easiest music video I’ve ever made! Being
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INTERVIEWS that the music video is totally our real life made it so natural! We had a really good time letting an audience into all the dorky things that we do at home. Every activity featured in the video is honestly showing my fans what we are like together, so I’m super excited about this video. You just returned from a fantastic tour all over Europe! Is it different to perform country music in Europe versus here in the States, since country music originated here? Europe was amazing. This summer was my best tour yet, and I came home feeling so blessed that I get to travel the world playing my original music. It has really been a dream come true. It is definitely different performing country music in Europe than here in the States. They tend to like either really traditional country there or the more rock ‘n’ roll side of country, which we do in our live show, so it works! The bro-country style that is very popular here in the States is almost nonexistent in mainland Europe. The audiences there are spectacular, however, and we have such a wonderful time performing for such appreciative crowds who just love live music.
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Tell us one of your fun stories from this last tour. There are so many! It’s hard to pick! Being there for two months, every day was an adventure. One of my favorite moments from the trip happened while walking around Disneyland. The day before we performed at the park, we went just to be tourists and go on all the rides and have fun. We were walking around, and my husband starts yelling, “Oh my God! That’s ‘Crazy Idea!’ ‘Crazy Idea’ is playing!” I couldn’t believe it. It was such a special feeling, standing there with my family, hearing my song pumped throughout the Disneyland park. I’ve been an avid Disney fan my entire life, and that was such a cool moment that I’ll never forget. With the supposed demise of CD sales, how will you continue to write, record, and sell your material? Do you have any plans for a full-length “record,” or is that now seemingly obsolete? Now, unfortunately, everything is digital! I always thought there was something really special about holding a CD in your hands, reading the notes inside, and looking at the photos. We do sell many hard copies of my
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music at my live performances, but for the most part, everything is downloads. I would love to record a full-length album, but the way the business is today it makes more sense to keep releasing singles. I hope that I have the opportunity to do it soon. You recently sang the national anthem for the “AAA 400 Drive for Autism” Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, a huge televised event. What is next on the horizon for Jessica Lynn? That was a really cool moment in my life. The people at the Dover International Speedway and at NASCAR were so incredibly nice, and it was an experience I’ll never forget. I am a big supporter of our troops and veterans, and it was an honor to perform the anthem on national television for such a patriotic organization. Being that we just returned home from Europe, we are now planning our USA tour dates for this upcoming year, and I will be doing a lot of writing. The best thing about this business is that you never know what’s just around the corner. Photos courtesy of Artist
INTERVIEWS Cam at CMA Fest: Girls Can Play Guitar! By Victoria Shaffer
On Women in Country Music: I am a part of the Grammy Task Force Committee. After what happened at the Grammy’s with the “women need to step up” comment, they brought in a whole group of people to help look at diversity. They brought forth The Annenberg Study, which is basically an entertainment industry study that lays
out the basic numbers we can compare in terms of what people are getting paid and what percentages of demographics make up the industry. When they looked at music, from what I can remember, female producers make up something like 2% of the industry, female songwriters make up 12%, and female musicians/singers max out at what I believe was 22%. The thing is, girls are extremely involved in the arts during their adolescence throughout school, at an equal rate as boys, but it appears that when it comes to making it a job, women don’t do it nearly as often. That’s where I feel there are so many barriers we have to figure out. You look at life on the road, and how women get treated on the road, whether that be part of the crew, a fan, or as a musician. Many talented female players will get invited to demo sessions, but then
when it’s time for union money and a real gig, they don’t get called. You look at some of the awards that come out, I’m on the ACM Board and this year that was a topic of discussion. I spoke up on this issue expressing that I was really disappointed because all of these top musicians that are nominated for these upcoming things are men. It sends a horrible message. There are several issues in place that are causing barriers, and we’re already in the minority by a lot. So, the question remains, how are we going to change them? We gave away a Taylor Guitar onstage and I know it doesn’t sound like giving away a guitar on stage is that big of a deal, but showing it is exposing women as musicians. Girls can do all of this stuff. Girls can play guitar!
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
Sweet Tea Trio at CMA Fest: Authentic country with a little bit of rock By Victoria Shaffer Tell us a bit about working with Kid Rock? Victoria: We are extremely lucky that he loves us so much. He discovered us in a YouTube video where we were singing a song that we had written for a hunting company. His fiancé loves to hunt, so he told her to check out these three chicks. Eventually, he thought that there was actually something more there. He sat on it for a bit, and after a while reached out to invite us on his cruise. When he emailed us, we honestly thought it was spam. We thought there was no way Kid Rock could be emailing us.
But if we’re talking Guitar Girl, Nancy Wilson is my jam. She rips it. I want to be a little mini her. Kate: Trisha Yearwood. There are also so many emerging female musicians coming into the industry. It’s awesome. Girl Power!
he sees a lot in us. It’s a blessing he has basically taken us under his wing. He’s helping us with our record, and he is even managing us now. He has been a light in our lives, and we just love him.
Kate: Yeah! Because at the time they were referring to him as “Bob,” and we didn’t know that was his real name! So, we were extremely confused.
Who are the female performers that have influenced you the most? Savannah: Shania Twain, for sure.
Victoria: But that’s how everything began to flourish. We’re really thankful because
Victoria: The Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, a lot of the ‘90s women.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before? Kate: Authentic country with a little bit of rock. Victoria: We have so many different influences that it blends into the sound where you kind of question, is this country? Is this rock? We for sure drop that bluegrass element in there, too. Savannah: And tons of harmony. That is what I personally live for, is all of our harmonies and vocal arrangements.
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
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INTERVIEWS Stephanie Quayle at CMA Fest: Her relentless pursuit to capture her sound By Victoria Shaffer Through your song “Drinking with Dolly,” it is apparent the admiration you have for classic female country stars. Could you tell us a bit about how they’ve inspired you? It all started off with my mom. She would sing to me as a little girl, and we listened to a very wide range of music, but then growing up on a farm, it was almost all country. My dad was really into rock ‘n’ roll, so that’s where the Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, and Joni Mitchell come into play. I was also always drawn to women like the Judds, Reba, and, of course, Dolly. Their music tells such an incredible, inspiring story. That’s what I always wanted; if I was going to do this, it had to have a purpose.
Photo by Rachel Deeb
What would you say to other women out there who admire you and want to get into music? Just start playing and collaborate. Always be around people that stretch you to be
better. I think that who you surround yourself with is everything. Everyone you interact with is going to impact how you play and how you perform. To be able to take criticism in a way that pushes you forward and doesn’t paralyze you. We’re creating things that either make people feel good, or they turn it off. Knowing how to navigate those waters is incredibly important. I think it’s also really important to know that this is a business. Have your business head on your shoulders as well. Be able to differentiate the artist side of yourself with the business side. If you need to write songs for yourself, get those out, but also remember that we are here to inspire our fans. Give them something that they can really sink their teeth into. Whether that’s hope, encouragement, empathy, or roll your windows down, feel the breeze, and escape into the music. As artists, we have such a responsibility.
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
EmiSunshine at CMA Fest: old school music turned upside down By Victoria Shaffer You’re so young and already incredibly talented; what or who was it that inspired you to get into music? I started singing at a very young age because of my grandmothers. They were singers, and it runs in my family. I’ve honestly been singing ever since I can remember. I started writing music when I was around five years old and playing the ukulele when I was seven. After that, I just started playing any instrument I could get my hands on. You play so many different instruments; is there one in particular that resonates with you most? Probably the ukulele. It was my first instrument I learned to play, and I absolutely love it. I have a deep connection with my ukulele because of the sound it makes when I’m playing it. I’ve always been extremely partial to the ukulele.
of music, but there was a lot of Loretta Lynn. My mom told me all about her and her story, and I just thought wow, she is a powerhouse who has so much spunk.
Photo by Magnolia Pearl courtesy of Music City Media Any female musicians or singers that have inspired you? Mostly Loretta Lynn. I’ve always listened to a lot of her around my house. My house revolved around all different types
What would you say to other young girls that also want to get into playing and performing music? For me, I started at a very young age, but some people wait until later on. One thing I can say is that always remember who you are is the best version of you. Keep your kindness, keep your compassion for others, and don’t change that for anything. If you do that, you will be on the track you’re supposed to be on. If you want to play music and get out there and show people who you are, put in the practice. People are going to come around and try to tell you what to do, but one thing you always have to do is stay on your path and listen to your heart.
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
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INTERVIEWS Brennley Brown at CMA Fest: Country Music is My Heart and Soul By Victoria Shaffer What female performers inspire you? I’m going to name just a few because there are so many to choose from. I love Dolly Parton and all that she stands for; I love her voice, she is so unique and stands up for what she believes in. I love Miranda Lambert. Incredible artist. I love that Miranda can just stand up on a stage and sing a song without any production – just stand on stage and be so authentic towards who she is. Those are my top two, but the list goes on and on.
of years, and through The Voice journey, I found where my heart really was, and that was country. How was The Voice experience for you overall? What were some of your major takeaways? It was an incredible experience that I am so grateful to have been a part of. It was crazy, let me tell you. The days started with getting up at 5 am, going to band rehearsal, going to stage rehearsal, wardrobe, recording, and then on top of it all, I was a freshman in high school. I was doing school for five hours a day, so it was a huge learning experience. Being from a small town, you know, not having a lot of opportunities to get out there and perform, especially at my age – 13, 14 – and then being able to go on The Voice and get to share my voice, talent, and who I am with America, was just incredible.
Have you always been interested in specifically country music? Country music is my heart and soul; growing up I listened to a lot of different music. My Grandpa was really into rock, but my dad was really into country, and my mom was into Christian, so it was a real blend of things. Over the last couple
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
Southern Halo at CMA Fest:
Sisterhood, Southern Girls, and new music Just Like In The Movies By Tara Low Tell us about your single, “Anything is Possible.” Hannah: Anything is possible. It’s literally plain and simple, but we love it so much. We wanted to send out a good message that was fun and positive. We needed it personally. We think our fans will enjoy it. It’s a good message to spread to them as well. Natalia: It means the world to us. We released it early in the year, and it is still going well right now. We’ve been on the road every single week since we released it. We are heading to New York next week for more radio tours, and to the Radio Disney Music Awards the week after that, so, we’re just staying busy. What about your latest album? Natalia: So, we actually just released the second new album called Just Like in the Movies and it’s a month old and we are so excited about it so far. We just love every single song in the album like a child.
writing a movie script with dialogue and everything. Then days later, we were like, ‘why don’t we just make the new album?’ A sound track to the movie script, hence Just Like in the Movies was born. So, tell me, what it’s like to be a southern girl. Natalia: It is so much fun. Christina: It’s so good to be a southern girl. True grit right here. Photo by Chuck Arlund Christina: We have 14 original tracks, 10 of which Natalia co-wrote or wrote by herself. We are so proud of her for that. Natalia: It’s actually a concept album. We’ve been obsessed with the concept ideas since we were really babies, because we were brought up listening to all the classics on vinyl. So, I actually had a dream one night and I told my sisters about it. Long story short, right after that, we started
Natalia: We were born and raised on sweet tea and mud, you know, being able to dress up a bit and put some pearls on. And then, have some southern hospitality. So, we just love it. Pearls and cowboy boots, right? Hannah: That’s right. We actually have a song on our new album called “Southern Halo” and it’s basically talking about southern women. So, you guys should check it out. Christina: Yeah, guys!
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
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INTERVIEWS Kalie Shorr at CMA Fest on female empowerment and transitioning to country music By Tara Low How did you transition from rock to country? I’d always known I wanted to do country, but living in Portland, Maine there were no country bands to play with. I have always loved rock music and loved the guitars and lyrics and all that. I was very into it, but I was like, “I want to play country music,” and I remember trying to beg the guys to cover “Jolene.” I was like, “Well, I know Dolly Parton sings it, but the White Stripes did it, too,” and they’re like, “Okay, I guess we’ll try.” But I always loved the space between rock and country, like Johnny Cash covering Nine Inch Nails and the White Stripes covering Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn. There’s so much space between the two. It’s really cool. What guitars do you play? I’m endorsed by Taylor and Fender. I play a Taylor 716ce acoustic with dark mahogany wood, and it is a beautiful, beautiful acoustic with the sunburst and has the cutaway because I play high up on the neck. Then for my Fender electric that I just took on tour, I
play a Tele Deluxe with double humbuckers. It’s absolutely beautiful with a Strat neck, so it’s easier to play with tiny hands. I feel like that guitar was built for me, and her name’s Mary Ann. Then my pedal board’s name is Wanda, because in the Dixie Chicks’ song, “Goodbye Earl,” it says, ‘Mary Ann and Wanda were the best of friends.’ That was really fun to bring on tour. Let’s talk about your music. You address issues like gender inequality and female empowerment. What is your message to women in music? I feel very lucky to have been involved with
Song Suffragettes for so long because it really gave me a lot of clarity on what it means to be a woman and what it means to support other women. I think it’s made me a better woman. At the end of the day just talking about it a lot and thinking about it, always having it in the front of my mind with everything I do being like, “How does this represent other women? How does this help other women? How does this inspire other women?” I don’t think I would have that if I hadn’t been involved in that group, especially just because society doesn’t say it to each other so much. It’s easy to listen to other voices. But just realizing that I am setting an example. I try really hard to be conscious of that, and it’s reflected in my music. My first single was called “Fight Like A Girl.” I wrote it about the gender inequality problem in country music. It’s directly addressing a radio consultant who said something really wrong about female artists. It’s called “Tomato-gate.”
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
Sarah Lawton at CMA Fest: I am a big fan of female empowerment By Victoria Shaffer What was it that inspired you to pursue music? It’s always hard for me to answer that question because it was something that was always just in me from a young age. Also, there’s really no one else that is musical in my family. My parents did buy me a little keyboard when I was about eight or nine, and I’d just sit for hours and hours playing and attempting to write my own music. It was my singing teacher that got me into country music. I’d listen to Martina McBride, Dolly Parton, Trisha Yearwood, and from there I fell in love with country music. The lyrics, the stories, there’s just so much more depth in country music than any other genre. I instantly connected with it. I started writing and traveling around back home in the UK to perform. But, as soon as I came to Nashville, I just knew that this is where I needed to be.
can relate to the music, hear the message, then that’s the main thing for me. I’ve been that girl who’s been a million miles away from where she wants to be, feeling like I’m never going to get there. But if you work hard, meet the right people, and persevere, you’re going to keep progressing.
For people who might have never heard you before, how would you describe your sound? I have so many influences from Shania Twain to Trisha Yearwood, all the way to Stevie Nicks. I hope that they can hear the country in the music, but also my English influences. The Annie Lennox, the Chrissie Hynde. I am a big fan of female empowerment. I never want to bring girls down. It’s all about bringing girls up. If they
How do you feel your UK roots influence your country music sound? At first, when I wanted to come here, I thought that they would never accept a girl from England. It’s going to be so hard. I tried to do different things since as a young girl you get steered in different directions, but I always came back to country music. It was the last time when I tried to do something different that I knew I just had to do what was in my heart. Pursue what I feel strongly about. When I stuck to that path, is when things started to happen for me.
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
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INTERVIEWS Irlene Mandrell at CMA Fest: It’s the best year ever! By Victoria Shaffer You’re obviously from a very musical family; what music did you grow up listening to that inspired you to then become a musician? We listened to a lot of country. My dad actually sang and that’s how he met my mom. My mom was in a church in Illinois where she would play piano. My dad was an evangelist, and he went to that church to sing. From there on, we were always associated with music. My mom taught Barbara to read music before she could even read. Barbara was kind of a musical prodigy. She would play and demonstrate steel guitar when she’d only been playing for three months. She then took up saxophone in junior high, but they had to move her up to the high school band because she was so advanced. Barbara was then hired, as a teenager, to play in my dad’s band. My mom played bass in the band, and Louise and I stayed with my aunt and uncle. We had just started learning instruments – I was learning the drums. Louise said we’d
They needed a drummer, and I felt like I needed to play drums if I wanted to be a part of everything.
better keep these up if we don’t want to get left behind! So, I feel it was more than just being inspired. I love music, and I wanted to be a part of that. I love that you began playing drums at such a young age! What made you decide to learn the drums? It was absolutely the only instrument left!
What other female musicians did you look up to? Well, time flies so fast, but it was only five years ago that Barbara got inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame. I went, and they put a video together of some of her years on stage, and it included all of her different instruments. Even though I remembered how great she was, I hadn’t seen her perform in years; and as the video played on, I thought, oh my gosh I forgot just how amazing she was! Louise is such a great fiddle player, too. It’s always been them; but not only as musicians but as entertainers. That’s one thing my dad always said that when you’re on stage, don’t look like someone could play the record and just have a picture of you. Be an entertainer and make a show. I was always very proud.
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
Jada Vance at CMA Fest: I love to be on a stage in front of a crowd By Victoria Shaffer What was it that made you decide to try out for American Idol? It’s always funny when I get asked that question because it’s kind of ironic. My friend’s mom told me that this was the first year that American Idol was going to be doing the small-town bus tour. She said they’d be coming to cities nearby and dared me to audition, basically joking that I was too shy to do something like that. I went home and told my mom that we needed to leave for Bowling Green, Kentucky early tomorrow morning so that I could try out for American Idol. My own mom even joked that I couldn’t do it! It all kind of got started from a dare and from me feeling the need to prove myself.
experience of being on Idol, on national television, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. I am very grateful for what I gained from the show.
Photo by Anthony Valenzuela What were some of the lessons you took away from your experience on American Idol? I think the main thing I took from Idol was my fan base and the amount of exposure that it presented. After that, I got to meet some really cool people. Without that
Who are some of your female musical influences? Most of my influences are women. Growing up, I got my first Dolly Parton cassette tape when I was six, maybe eight years old. I grew up doing bluegrass, so I listened to a lot of the Judds and Loretta Lynn. Once I got a bit older, middle school aged, I started listening to Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert. A lot of the ‘90s artists inspire me as well; Martina McBride, Faith Hill, and Shania, of course!
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
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INTERVIEWS Lockwood Barr at CMA Fest: Inspiring girls to play banjo By Victoria Shaffer What inspired you to begin playing the banjo? I grew up in a really musical household. There was something like 17 instruments in the living room! My mom played dulcimer and piano, and my dad plays banjo. I have his banjo, and I get separation anxiety from my instruments, so he must really love me to let me have his. He bought it when he was a teenager; it’s a 1972 Gibson Mastertone. He does, however, like to remind me that it’s on loan. He was able to come out for a few of the CMA Fests in past years, and I would bring the banjo to the booth between shows. People were always curious about the banjo, and I love to inspire kids to start playing. It’s funny though because someone will complement the banjo and my dad will come out of nowhere and claim it as his. It’s hilarious. But my mom grew up in Nashville and sang
professionally for a time in college. She would come home during summers and do festivals. She actually backed up the Dillards, so I feel very grateful. Even though my parents were business people and went to grad school and everything, they were always very open to me playing. When I told them that I wanted this to be my career, they were always on board. Basically, I was surrounded by really wonderful musicians growing up. What would you say to young girls out there who want to get into singing, playing, and songwriting? I would say a couple of things to them. Number one, stay in school. I think one of the most valuable lessons I learned when I got here was good writing, is good writing, is good writing. Even if your English teacher is annoying, and you don’t want to read
that book, you’re training yourself to be a good songwriter and storyteller. The other thing is, we’re always our own harshest critic, so just start. Just kind of rip the Band-Aid off and do it. I played in school, so I couldn’t avoid the fact that people who knew me were going to be listening to me. But, there is value in that too, because I’d have friends come up and say that they had no idea I could do that and that I was so good. Some days I needed that. It would happen at a time where I thought I sucked and them saying I was good kept me going. Also, it’s important to be adventurous! Some of my best gigs have been at dive bars where no one knew me. Another thing I was told is that it takes 15 years to become an overnight success. That’s me now, and that was me back in middle school and high school writing. No amount of progress is too small.
Photo by Shane Stever
The entire interview can be found on at GuitarGirlMag.com.
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INTERVIEWS
Re Mattei:
From Uptown Girl to Downtown Nashville By Tara Low
Re Mattei is a Berklee College of Music graduate, songwriter, international performing artist, and an all-around guitar girl. A transplant to Nashville, Re (derived from “Marie”) has applied her own signature to the contemporary country music scene. As a talented composer and instrumentalist, Re has been called a “must-see” performer, who proves herself night after night in Music City. Re opens up to GGM about her love of music from an early age, her latest album, surviving in the industry, and what really inspires her. You launched your successful music career by earning a music degree from Berklee and performing lead guitar for an
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all-female, Top 40 band called the Uptown Girls. How did this play out? At the time, I didn’t know what I was going to do after college. Just two weeks before graduation, I found a note in my mailbox from a girl who was looking for a guitar player requesting that I call her. Of course, I called, and she said her all-female band was going to be touring and needed a female lead guitarist. So, I went to Austin to audition, and they hired me right on the spot. A few weeks later, after I graduated, we rehearsed for about a month or so, and then went out on the road. We had a really good agent who booked us shows up and down the East Coast. We even went overseas and performed for the troops, playing in Japan, the Philippines, and lots
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of other different places. I was with the Uptown Girls for a little over three years, and it was a great experience. After that, did you go out on your own as a solo artist? After my time with the Uptown Girls, I came to Nashville to play lead guitar with a singer and fiddle player who landed a record deal. But his wife had a nervous breakdown a week before we were supposed to go out on the road, so I ended up stuck in Nashville. After a while I went back on the road again, but eventually came back and started writing and singing around town. I had different people try to help me with my music career around town, but I stopped for a while because I needed health insurance
INTERVIEWS and didn’t want to be broke. So, I quit music altogether and went to work to make ends meet. But I wasn’t happy working outside of the music industry. I was sinking and felt like part of my soul had died. In 2013, I decided to get back into music and came out with my first single, “Country Love.” That launched me back on the charts and got me performing again. When did you start playing guitar? When did you get your first guitar? I started playing music when I was nine years old and was about 12 when I got my first guitar. I copyrighted my first song when I was nine. At that time, I’d decided I was going to be a writer. I’d wake up early in the morning and write down all these song ideas. I then realized that I really needed a way to perform my songs, so I started taking guitar lessons. I’ll never forget my teacher, Tony Tesch, because he started me in the Berklee books before I even went to Berklee. He introduced me to Wes Montgomery, and because of him, I fell in love with the jazz. What is your songwriting process? The process depends on who I’m writing with. In recent years, I really don’t like to pull out my guitar right away. I went to a Nashville Songwriters Association song camp one year, and I learned that it’s good to put down your instrument and try to write something without it. When you write with an instrument, you tend to use the same chords or the same tempo and give it the same kind of feel. When I write with others, they’ll all pull out their guitars, and I’ll just say, “I’m not going to pull mine out yet.” Sometimes it leads me to a whole different place in writing than I would have ended up if I had picked up the guitar right away and began with a certain chord or rhythm. I have a book full of song ideas. For example, if I’m driving in my car, I’ll use a voice recorder to record whatever song idea that pops into my mind. Sometimes I’ll already have a melody in my head, which may be just a verse idea, and I’ll take those ideas and write them down on paper. It’s funny how in a writing session, I’ll start with an idea. Then we’ll all start talking about the idea, and soon it’ll turn into something totally unique and different. I think that when we write with other people, it always takes the song to a new level because you have all these other perspectives and
melodies based on their past experiences that they bring and contribute to the song. How would you describe the music you create? Would you label it strictly country, or do you have any other genres you mix with it? I love ’80s music. Some of my work will have a bit of an ’80s feel to it at times, some of the beats and some of the stuff. In my live shows, I do some things that rock out a little bit more. I’ve actually even written some country gospel songs. I went to jazz school, so I really learned to respect all different genres. With me, it all depends on the song. You will hear a combination of music, and I think that kind of shows in my writing, in my playing, and in my performing. Tell us about your guitar collection. When I was performing in Singapore, I bought a customized ‘78 Stratocaster from this awesome guitarist. I like a versatile guitar. For me, that pickup really gives me a thick, mellow, and dark sound, but also a brighter sound that works for country music. For an acoustic, I really wanted a Martin, since it’s well known for that great, typical country sound that you hear in the studio. I went into a Guitar Center, and I played every Martin. But my hands are smaller, and since a Martin neck is very thick, it’s just not a comfortable guitar for me. An employee suggested I try a Taylor. So, I played a Taylor Auditorium and fell in love with it. My Ovation has a special place in my heart because when I first started learning guitar at age 12, my parents bought me an Ovation, which I consider to be my first serious guitar. When I play my Ovation, it reminds me of my parents, who have always been so supportive of my career. That guitar was also on the road with me when I toured with the Uptown Girls.
awesome guitar player. Not many people at Berklee played country music at that time because it was known more as a jazz school. But Pete did, and I was in all the same classes as him. I was writing and singing at the time, and asked Pete if he wanted to play guitar with me. He said, “Of course!” So, we performed together. Eventually, I went on the road, and Pete left Berklee. We all moved on and unfortunately lost touch. In 2013, I was getting ready to record in the studio again when I called Pete and asked him to play with me. He agreed and played on my three-song EP that I only sell at shows. One of the songs on it is “Country Love,” which went out as a single. Pete never charged me for his work. I tried to pay him, but he wouldn’t let me. Pete was on the road with a lot of famous people like John Denver. Vince Gill commented that Pete was one of the best guitar players he’d heard. Unfortunately, he developed a congenital heart defect and passed away. He was an incredible player, and his passing was very hard for me. You’ve posted some “Pete Licks” videos on your social media accounts. What are you hoping for people to take away from viewing these? When Pete died, it was really very heartbreaking for me. I wanted to show the world the true Pete Huttlinger and how I knew him. In the first couple of videos, I actually went into detail about Pete; he had a lot of educational CDs and DVDs you can learn from, and one of them is about the 50 Greatest Guitar Pickin’ Licks. I’m currently posting one of these videos per week as a tribute to Pete Huttlinger.
Now, what about your wish list? I could probably have hundreds of guitars, but I really want an old Telecaster so badly. I love that old Tele sound. One of these days I’m going to have one. It’s true what they say: You can just pick up a guitar and know it’s supposed to be yours. Someday, I’ll pick up one of those older Teles and I’ll know.
You have a new album titled Believin’ Is Seein’ due out this fall, which I believe features mainly originals. Is that correct? The songs are all originals except for one, and that’s my latest release called “Feels Like It’s Gonna Rain.” A while back, someone gave me “Feels Like It’s Gonna Rain” to listen to and asked if I could find someone who might want to record it. I listened to that song for six months, and every time I did, I just felt like it was meant for me. It was written by three people, one of which is Carrie Underwood.
The other guitar on my wish list is a Collings Pete Huttlinger Signature acoustic. Pete went to Berklee with me, and he was an
Tell us about some of the musicians who worked with you on Believin’ Is Seein’. Jason Roller plays fiddle, electric guitar,
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INTERVIEWS and acoustic guitar. Marshall Richardson plays the drums for me in a lot of stuff. Dow Tomlin is the bass player I use on almost everything I’ve done. Scott Neubert plays guitar and mandolin, and he’s on a lot of my stuff, too. In fact, when I played during CMA Fest, I was at the George Jones, and Scott was the guitar player that played. I use Steve Peffer a lot on keyboards. He plays a Hammond organ, and you’ll hear it in almost all my songs, which I think gives it a little bit of unique flavor. What I love about these guys is they also play on the road, so they’re not just studio musicians. They take my songs and make them unique, rather than sounding like every other country song. I feel like these guys do a great job hearing what’s in my head and helping it to become a Re Mattei kind of sound. They’re easy to work with and are a great bunch of guys. Who produced Believin’ Is Seein’? Bart Pursley and I produced it. Being able to coproduce the album was one of the things that was really important to me when it came to picking a producer. Bart is great because, for example, if I feel we should add to the melody or vocals, he lets me do it. It’s a very relaxed relationship in the studio, and we work well together. Aside from me, he’s recorded acts such as Big & Rich and has such a long list of people that he’s engineered and produced, it’s amazing. He’s been in Nashville for a lot of years and understands the music business and the artists. He’s really good at bringing out the best in me. I’m grateful to have a good team behind me. Being in Music City, you must be exposed to a lot of big-name talent. Who are some of your musical influences in the industry today? I would have to say Carrie Underwood, and not just because she cowrote one of my songs, but because she represents country music in a very good way. She’s very talented at what she does and does a variety of different styles of country. Some of her stuff is more traditional, and other things she does are more contemporary. Overall, she’s been a great addition for women in country music. I really like Miranda Lambert, too. She writes a lot of music that I think people can relate to. Vince Gill is a great country guitar player, and he has a beautiful voice. He’s
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such a great musician, singer, and guitarist. I love Maren Morris. She’s a little newer to the business – and she’s young – but I really feel like she has an old soul. Her writing is so mature, but it reaches so many people. Maren has really brought a unique sound to the music scene, and I really like that. As far as other guitar players, of course, Brad Paisley. He’s just a phenomenal guitar player. There’s so many good people like Brad who are out now that I really enjoy. There’s a lot of new talent, and what I love is that they’re starting to collaborate with each other. I love when artists lift each other up, share each other’s talent and writing abilities, and perform songs together. I just love to see that. Do you feel a shift in a positive direction for women in country music? Yes, I think we’re seeing more female talent that will stay around. For example, Carrie Underwood has been out now for quite a while, but people still love her. Her songs still do well. I really think she’s going stay around. At one time you had Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, and I see Carrie
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Underwood as being the new generation of that, which says a lot about women’s role in country music. It seems that country music on a whole is getting back to its traditional sounds. Jon Pardi had a song out recently that was a little more traditional sounding. Chris Stapleton’s work is a little more traditional sounding. So, I think we’re seeing a little shift in the overall sound of country, too. Any advice you would like to offer to a young woman wanting to pursue a career in music? Just follow your dream. Do it your way, because there is no one right way. Make sure it’s true to your heart and authentic to you. Whatever you enjoy doing, however you enjoy playing, make it authentic. Don’t go after what people think is how you should do it. If you stay authentic and do the things you love, then that’s going to shine through. People will see that. If you’re jamming with a bunch of guys and they don’t realize you can take a solo, just say, “Hey guys, I’d like to take the solo.” Sometimes you just have to remind people of what you can do.
INTERVIEWS
Rebelle Road:
Connecting the Vibrant Present & Past of California Country By Nikki O’Neill These are the words of Adrienne Isom, KP Hawthorn, and Karen Rappaport McHugh who make up Rebelle Road, a powerhouse entity dedicated to championing and showcasing California country and Americana artists, especially women. They’re combining their longtime experiences in music marketing, festival production, visual presentation, and life as touring artists and record label owners. Through artist showcases, boutique festivals, industry panels, and an upcoming record label, podcast, and documentary, they’re making their presence known at AMERICANAFEST®, SXSW, and the music scene in their hometown of Los Angeles.
the ‘50s Bakersfield sound and the ‘70s country rock artists coming out of Laurel Canyon. But the twang of the Golden State has a rich and fascinating history that goes further back. Among its pioneers you’ll find female artists like Rose Maddox, a charismatic singer-songwriter/fiddle player who was a leading figure of the West Coast scene in the ‘40s. Also, Hollywood created the singing cowboy and the outfits through its movies.
back from the Dust Bowl roots of Oklahoma and all those Okies who ended up in California, like Gene Autry and Woody Guthrie.
As we meet up with Rebelle Road in L.A., their passion for Cali country’s colorful, eclectic, and rebellious present and past is unmistakable.
California is one of the epicenters of country music, and casual fans might know of
Rappaport McHugh: There are so many aspects of country music here. It goes way
Rappaport McHugh: You’ve got this connection—Route 66—going across. While a lot of musicians did end up in Texas, many also came out here. They formed the Western sound. This music used to be called “country and western,” but that sort of got eradicated.
Hawthorn: This is the biggest agricultural state in the nation. So that bred a whole bunch of different people, who all basically are country folk. They worked here picking fruit, had babies, and played music together as families.
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INTERVIEWS We need a community. We need our own festivals. We need a touring road. We need to have a place. Fast-forward to 2018. Now you have artists like Calico the Band, Nocona, Molly Hanmer, Alice Wallace, and many others spread out across a large state in dire need of connected artist communities and a defined path for touring. One major part of Rebelle Road’s mission is to fill this need. Isom: We’ve played in bands forever. We’re in this thing that we’re building. So, we know what’s really wrong with it, and we know what we want. There’s no defined easy touring way to come through California. We’re trying to connect and build a community and make a trail from here to Canada, so that people can tour the West Coast. Rappaport McHugh: Nashville and Texas have very strong artist communities, but from San Diego and all the way up to Northern California, a lot of artists don’t even know each other. So, we feel a need to foster the California country and Americana community and to be a part of it, because it used to be so rich. They have not been wasting time in moving towards this goal. In March of 2017, Rebelle Road hosted an artist showcase at SXSW, and in August, they threw their first festival in L.A.—the “Downtown Hoedown” with 12 music acts. Rappaport McHugh: At SXSW, we arranged that each one who came in would get a gift bag. We had platters of food out. Every artist came up to us and said, “I’ve never felt so welcomed, well treated, and respected.” Isom: If you’re used to getting out there and playing and hustling, you know how rough it is, and you expect nothing. If somebody just treats you nice, it means everything. The way your backgrounds complement each other is striking. Isom: We’re all the heads of our own departments. KP is a musician, sound engi-
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neer, and producer. Karen, she’s a marketing pro and a writer. The words don’t get better. And the art department—don’t touch it, it’s mine. Rappaport McHugh: Because we work together so well, we don’t need to outsource a lot of things that an individual artist does. When you’re alone, you have to hire a PR person, a marketing person, a branding person, a social media person, an image person... and so you’re spending lots of time on that, and the crafting of the art itself is challenging enough. How did you all meet and start Rebelle Road? Isom: Karen hired our band for Stagecoach Festival four years ago. Later on, I performed at an incredible outdoor stage and thought, “I need to throw a festival out here.” KP and I got talking about it. As artists in bands, we want to play, but you can’t get into festivals unless you know someone. Many artists who get in are repped by CAA and other big agencies. Nobody is getting into anything fairly ever. So, in March of 2017, we scheduled a call with Karen since she has festival production experience. She wanted to partner with us, and a few weeks later, we had a meeting. There were 10 or 15 people in the room—whoever was into this idea. We ate, drank, and wrote a big chalkboard of ideas. The next day, only three of us kept going, every single day since then. Rebelle Road is not strictly for women. You have male artists at your events. Isom: I don’t want an all-women festival. I want things to be fair. Rappaport McHugh: We want to work with people who want more of a level playing field. We don’t want to say, “We’re exclusively about women,” and turn the tables the other way. We try to be gender-balanced in all the things that we do.
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In September, Rebelle Road heads to AMERICANAFEST in Nashville to host a “California Country Social.” This showcase has been Hawthorn’s project for the last three years. Hawthorn: I started a record label with my band partner because we could get the publicist and distribution if we had the label in place. We teamed up with Danny McCloskey at The Alternate Root (online magazine) since we were performing at AMERICANAFEST. But we also wanted to do our own event, because we were the only band from California that got a showcase that year. So, we did a California Country Social and had a bunch of people perform on our show who didn’t get a showcase on AMERICANAFEST. Then we did it another year and built it bigger. The label is gone, but now with Rebelle Road, we’re getting help from The Alternate Root, Spaceland Presents, and The Grand Ole Echo (Americana showcase in L.A.) to promote it. We’ll have a segment with a house band playing classic California country songs, where people will get up and do one or two songs each, including artists from Nashville. Rebelle Road is also releasing their first artist on their new record label, Rebelle Road Records, in 2019, and a documentary is in the works, but the trio can’t say more about these ventures yet. However, a podcast is coming soon... Tell us about your upcoming podcast, “Stories from the Highway.” Rappaport McHugh: We have a deal with a production company. KP will be the host, and she’s already been doing lots of interviews for it. It’s thematic to Rebelle Road, and the idea is to showcase artists and give them an opportunity to talk about life on the road. Karen and Adrienne, is Rebelle Road a tough venture to combine with being active artists? Hawthorn: What’s really neat about it is that it’s a giving thing. We film these small parlor events where artists play in a living room, and we have a YouTube channel where we link all the videos. It’s fun to care about somebody else, how good they sound and look. And then you make friends with them... they reach out when they’re on tour or coming back into town. They’re all becoming a family to us.
INTERVIEWS
Take Five with Tenille Arts By Tara Low
Raised in a small town in Canada, 23-yearold Tenille Arts is making a name for herself in country music. This up-andcoming country music artist began writing music and learning guitar at the age of 13. With her sights set on a career in country music, she made the move to Nashville three years ago to pursue her dream. Earlier this year, Tenille took home five awards from the Saskatchewan Country Music Association for Female Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year for her single “Raindrops, Dirt Roads” from her first album Rebel Child, Album of the Year for Rebel Child, Video of the Year for her single “Cold Feet” from the album, and Single of the Year for “What He’s Into.” A national TV debut performance of “Moment of Weakness” on ABC’s The Bachelor landed the rising talent a recording deal with Reviver Records. Tenille recently had the opportunity to open for Reba McEntire, and she posted on social media with the hashtag Feeling #FANCY!, “I can’t even believe I’m saying this right now... but Reba McEntire asked me to open for her!” Tenille’s newest single “I Hate This” is out now. “I Hate This” is your latest single which was released in July and is receiving rave reviews. Tell us about the inspiration behind the song. My cowriter Adam Wheeler had this idea and I immediately felt connected to it because I think this is a feeling that a lot of people have had in their life. If you’ve ever gone through a breakup or a break in a relationship, you’ve probably felt this way. We thought “I Hate This” was something that a lot of people say, but it hadn’t really been said in a song before. Reba McEntire asked you to open for her at a show in August. How did that
opportunity arise and how was the experience? I found out about the opportunity about a week before the show! My manager texted me and said we got the offer to open for her and I couldn’t believe it. The night of the show was incredible!! Reba made time to come say hi to me after the show and it meant the world to me. Her crew was so amazing, and everyone was so nice. It was truly an honor to stand on her stage and sing to her fans! Originally from Canada, you moved to Nashville to pursue your career in country music. How has your life changed since the move? My life is completely different now! I had been traveling back and forth on writing trips since I was 14 years old, so to finally move there was a big step. Since moving, I signed a publishing deal, a record deal, and I started working with a management company, a publicist, and a digital marketing company. It’s been amazing to see how passionate everyone is about my music. It takes SO many people to make things happen! When did you first learn to play guitar and what guitars do you play? I learned how to play guitar when I was about 13 years old. I’m mostly self-taught, but I’ve had a few great teachers over the years. My first guitar that my parents got me was a Larivee, and my second guitar is a black PRS Acoustic. With several awards under your belt from Saskatchewan Country Music Association, having been nominated for an Award at the CCMA Awards next month, and your music climbing the country charts, what’s next? I’ve been out on radio tour, and I’ve been writing as much as I possibly can and recording whenever I’m back in Nashville. New music is next, and hopefully a tour very soon.
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INTERVIEWS
Lit’l Miss Country Is Making Her Mark By Leah Helms
Ruby Leigh Pearson, Lit’l Miss Country, is a young singer and guitarist from Missouri. Although it is impressive that she is performing at only 11 years old, what is really impressive is the success that she has achieved despite only starting her second year as a musician. According to friends and family, Ruby just started singing one day and impressed many around her. When someone in Nashville heard one of Ruby’s very first videos she posted, they sent it to George Gruhn of Gruhn Guitars and said this little girl needs a guitar like yesterday. George Gruhn watched the video and agreed and set everything in motion. She received her first instrument, an LXM Little Martin Guitar, which led to her learning to play guitar in a very short period and receiving many endorsements. Ruby often performs traditional country and covers of classic country songs by artists like Loretta Lynn and Hank Williams. Since beginning her career just over a year ago, Ruby has taken advantage of the opportunity to perform with and for many notable musicians. She has played with George Portz and the Friends of Bluegrass, Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee, Rhonda
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Vincent, Tony Jackson, and opened the show for the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. She performed at her first competition, an open competition karaoke contest held by St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, where she sang a cappella all the way to the finals. She was hand selected by Dr. Dale Smith and signatured in by him to represent her home state of Missouri in the national finals of the American Kids National Championships, where she won two gold medals, a silver medal, and an additional national gold medal for a performance above and beyond the expectations of all the judges. She also won a Crystal Vase for Finesse, and a Crystal Star for Best Dressed.
INTERVIEWS
About performing, Ruby says, “I love performing; it makes me feel so good when I see people smiling and enjoying my music.” The young performer also has proven herself in several other competitions. Ruby Leigh Pearson is the 2018 Country Music Division Overall World Champion in the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA), considered the Olympics of performing arts. She won gold in country music and silver in gospel when she competed against 64 other countries at the event in California. She also won the Loretta Lynn So You Think You Can Sing Competition and the Dolly Parton Mountain Soul Vocal Competition. Ruby shared her excitement with us about performing at WCOPA: “Being hand selected to represent the USA is such a huge honor by itself, but to bring back the Overall World Championship title to the USA is amazing! I’m so glad that everyone had enough faith in me to do this. I would have never dreamed I would be a world champion at anything; heck, I really didn’t know I could even sing just a year ago!”
In her year and a half of playing, Ruby has received many deals and endorsements from brands. Her first endorsement was from Roadie Tuners, whom she represented at the NAMM show in Anaheim. She also works with Martin Guitar, Graph Tech Guitar Labs, Vocalz VU, Guitar Socks, Optima Strings, Fishman Music, CNZ Audio, Zither Music Co., and CAD Audio. Recently, D’Angelico presented Ruby with a Bob Weir SS electric guitar. Ruby says of her endorsements, “I’m very proud to work with what I feel are the very best companies in the music business. I have turned down some endorsers because I did not feel I could be honest about their products and that would not be good for me or them. It’s not about how many; it’s about where your heart is and how you truly feel about the product; and it’s a commitment from both of us to make it good for each other.” The young artist is also getting recognition in music publications. In 2017, Ruby Leigh Pearson was named one of the top 15 unsigned artists in the world by Fair Play Country Music Magazine.
Ruby is not slowing down. She has even more success planned for the future. She has been invited to play with Mickey Gilley (one of Ruby’s biggest fans) again for the sixth time. She was also nominated for the Junior Artist of the Year award as part of the 2018 Josie Music Awards. And, look for Ruby’s appearance on the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour soon. Ruby Leigh Pearson has accomplished a lot for her young age in only one and a half years, and the future looks promising for her, especially if she continues to learn her craft and book appearances and competitions with the tenacity she has already shown. Ruby says, “I am so lucky that God has given me such an amazing gift. I will let God open the doors like he has been doing so far and let him lift me even higher than I could ever dream to fly on my own!”
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Music Releases
MUSIC RELEASES (COMING SOON)
New Reveille The Keep September 7, 2018
Ciera MacKenzie Weeping Willow September 7, 2018
Ana Popovic Like It On Top September 16, 2018
Mandy Barnett Strange Conversation September 21, 2018
Brynn Elliot Time Of Our Lives September 7, 2018
Carrie Underwood Cry Pretty September 14, 2018
EmiSunshine and Grant Maloy Smith “Fly Possom Fly” September 17, 2018
Lauren Balthrop This Time Around September 21, 2018
Runaway June Runaway June September 7, 2018
Ann Wilson Immortal September 14, 2018
Emily Hackett By The Sun September 21, 2018
Amy Helm This Too Shall Light September 21, 2018
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Music Releases
WILDWOOD “Hourglass” September 21, 2018
Loretta Lynn Wouldn’t It Be Great September 28, 2018
Heather Morgan Borrowed Heart October 5, 2018
Sarah Borges Love’s Middle Name October 12, 2018
Ashley Flynn & the Riveters Ashley Fynn & the Riveters September 21, 2018
Madeline Kenney Perfect Shapes October 5, 2018
Martha Scanlon The River and The Light October 8, 2018
Jess Glynne Always In Between October 12, 2018
Nobody’s Girl Waterline September 28, 2018
Kristin Hersh Possible Dust Clouds October 5, 2018
Nora Collins Backseat Falling October 12, 2018
The Watson Twins DUO October 12, 2018
Emma King Electric Soul Therapy September 28, 2018
Vanessa Peters Foxhole Prayers October 5, 2018
Anna St. Louis If Only There Was A River October 12, 2018
Ace of Cups Ace of Cups November 9, 2018
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GEAR: REVIEWS
Martin Guitar OME Cherry Acoustic-Electric Guitar By Ted Low
New this year is Martin’s OME Cherry acousticelectric Orchestra Model guitar in a 25.4” scale with a 14-fret mahogany neck and ebony fingerboard. In Martin’s continuing effort to manufacture guitars made from sustainable woods, this gorgeous guitar meets the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The gold open gear tuners are a nice compliment to the overall beauty and of this instrument. When I first picked up this guitar to play, I found it to have a very polished, acoustic sound. Once plugged in, the Fishman Matrix VT Enhance NT1 electronics allow you to rock a little without sacrificing the natural acoustic projection from the fine woods this guitar is made from! Taking an inventory of such woods in other parts of the guitar, the OME Cherry has a Sitka Spruce top with scalloped bracing boasting a natural semi-gloss finish, Cherry back and sides, and the head plate is made of African blackwood – all adding to the overall
feel and wonderful sound. To add to the aesthetics, the binding is antique white, and the inlays are mother-of-pearl in diamond and square patterns giving it a vintage appeal. True Martin style! The sound is superb with definitive projection free from any noise except the resonance that comes from its quality strings and reverb off its natural woods. The body is full, but comfortable to hold from a strap while standing to perform or sitting while relaxing and making your own acoustic sounds. This guitar is ready to perform onstage by seasoned professionals and is also well-suited for guitar enthusiasts in their home studio. Comes with a sturdy hardshell case.
Street Price $1,999.00 MartinGuitar.com
C. F. Martin & Co.® RETRO Acoustic Strings Light 12 MM12 Monel By Ché Zuro These nickel-based alloy blend strings were put on my Tacoma PM-15 to test them out at a couple of gigs. These strings are said to “mellow quickly to a warm vintage tone that brings out the unique, woody sounds in your acoustic guitar.” The first thing I loved about them was the tone. They still had the jangle high end sound that I love but with a rich resonance underlying that trebly sound. After playing them and digging it for a while in the room, I took the show on the road to really test drive these strings. I am typically hard on my guitars and especially tough on the strings, usually having to change them every other gig. The sound coming through my amp was really nice. Not as high-end sounding as they were in an acoustic setting, but still a nice round tone, with the high-end notes that I am always looking for. I could play for
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hours, and the tone stayed really nice. After a couple of gigs, they did get a little dead sounding, and even cleaning them did not help. But, as I mentioned, I am tough on my strings and usually have to change them every other gig, so this wasn’t unusual. They sounded really good while they lasted. I would definitely purchase these again and would love to try a heavier set of them for my guitar that I always have tuned to alternate tunings, thus needing a heavier string to not only keep it in tune, but to keep the strings from breaking. Note: Played in March and April 2018 in high altitude, with various winter and spring temps and low humidity.
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Price $8.99 MartinGuitar.com
GEAR: REVIEWS
Roadie 2 Guitar Tuner By Sasha Vallely As a guitar teacher mainly for students starting from scratch, obviously the first thing I teach all my students is how to tune their guitar. Some manage sufficiently. Others, especially the younger students, struggle a little at first. I usually tune it for them the first few times. I also teach lessons remotely. Needless to say, I was excited to test out the Roadie Tuner 2 as both a tool for my new students and for myself so that I could play around with some different tunings hopefully with ease. I play guitars in standard tuning, and I have two different baritone guitars. I spend a lot of time before shows trying to get them all in tune as fast as I can as sometimes you have a quick turnaround between sets or not much time for soundcheck, so anything that could possibly make this a little easier for me gets a vote in my book. There are many different tuners out there that vary in size and price, some clip to the instrument’s headstock and use a microphone or vibrations to help you tune each string, some are pedals or gadgets you plug directly in to, and you can even use your smartphone as a tuner with many different tuning apps to choose from. They all pretty much follow the same format which is as you pluck each string, the display will tell you if you’re higher
or lower than the desired note. You then tighten or loosen the string, pluck it again, check the tuner’s display, and repeat until each string is in tune. With the Roadie 2, you select what instrument you are tuning and what your desired tuning would be, pop the tuner on the instrument’s tuning peg, pluck the string, and it automatically tunes the string to the desired note. The Roadie 2 has a high-tech look to it, yet its high-quality plastic makes it extremely lightweight. It has a center grip, a power button and selection wheel on the left, a display on the top, and on the right is where you connect your guitar peg. The peg connector is designed to fit over most instrument pegs. The power button on the opposite side has an LED that lights up in blue when on. When tuning, it will either light up green for “in tune” or red for “out of tune.” It can even determine if you’re trying to tune the wrong string. On the display, there is a built-in menu which you control using the selection wheel. You first choose what kind of instrument you are playing; either electric, acoustic or classical guitar, ukulele, mandolin, or banjo. If you use the Roadie app, you are also able to download other instruments, as well as the brand of instrument. It is charged via USB, and the charge seems to last for quite a while.
Sheptone Pickups Reviews – Heartbreaker Humbucker Set and AB Custom Strat Set By Steve McKinley “Tone is my religion” is the motto and the mantra at Sheptone Pickups. Guitar pickup shaman Jeff “Shep” Shepherd is the driving force and the guiding light behind their full line of electric guitar pickups. As his story goes, over 10 years ago he was determined to discover and recreate the elusive mystical mojo of a set of authentic
1958 Gibson “Patent Applied For” (PAF) humbucker pickups. He paid a small fortune for a pair and began winding his own pickups. He continued to experiment on his creations, learn the age-old methods, and make exacting adjustments until he was confident he had perfected the technique necessary to recreate these legendary humbuckers. With his depth of knowledge of magnets
I tried this for myself both at home and before a show in a noisy club. I also let one of my beginner students give it a try to see how easy it was for him to use it. At home, it worked great on both acoustic and electric with different tunings. I loved watching the pegs automatically tune the guitar, and it was relatively fast and easy to use. I didn’t manage to test it out to restring a guitar, I would be interested to see how fast and easy that would be. It definitely made me want to test out different tunings and was fun to use. When I tried it before a show, however, it was a little more difficult with the dark backstage lighting and extremely loud music from the bands playing before me as I play in some pretty loud music venues in Atlanta. This was the only downside for me. It was fun to use, made tuning my guitars during practice and recording, and I would recommend giving it a try.
Price $129.00 RoadieTuner.com
and their preparation, types of windings, and the different wires and bobbins used, he went on to examine and understand the unique properties of a number of different landmark vintage humbuckers. The results of his hard work and tenacity are the offerings now coveted worldwide. So, if you have the conviction for religiously superior tone, your destination is Sheptone pickups. “Supernatural Voodoo” When Guitar Girl Magazine was asked to do a review of their pickups, we were most happy to oblige.
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GEAR: REVIEWS
Here we’ll be covering the Heartbreaker Humbucker Set and the AB Custom Strat Set. We’ll highlight various design features of each and take them for a long and enjoyable joy ride/test drive. Starting out with the Heartbreaker Humbucker Set, which, as the name implies, were designed to capture that “Holier Than All” Jimmy Page tone. The set we received had an uncovered bridge pickup and a covered neck one, just like on Jimmy’s legendary 1959 sunburst Gibson Les Paul, referred to as “Number One,” and, without question, one of the most iconic guitars in all of rock music. Features: • Vintage construction techniques used • Alnico 5 magnets • 42PE wire • DC resistance to spec (I measured them, and it was 8.37K for the bridge and 7.33K for the neck…nice.) I installed them in my trusty 1998 heritage cherry Gibson Les Paul with the Gibson 50s wiring and plugged into a JCM 800 2x12 combo with no effects. Now, on to hearing just what these sweet babies could really do. After warming up for a few minutes, I let it rip. I dove into a number of Led Zeppelin’s greatest megahits, and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was as if the clouds had parted and the sun shined straight down the stairway from heaven itself. The amazingly sanctified distorted chords, the angel’s voice singing solos, the holy organic picking dynamics, and the devilishly pleasing feedback…it was religious. The tones from the albums came to life as if I
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were Jimmy Jr. I ran through the majority of the electric Led Zeppelin hits and was absolutely floored. If you want to sound like Jimmy Page, the Sheptone Heartbreaker Humbucker Set are the keys to Valhalla to wield the “Hammer of the Gods.” You don’t have to just take my word for it; check out the Tone Clips on the Sheptone site to hear it for yourself. I ended up happily playing for about two hours because they sounded so incredibly good. I took a break to have lunch and to give time to clear my ears. Next up were the Sheptone AB Custom Strat Set, which are modeled after late ‘60s vintage single coil pickups for smoking blues tone like Stevie Ray Vaughan used, which is probably why they’re Sheptone’s most popular single coil pickups. “The tones are infectious and irresistible.” Features: • Vintage construction techniques used • Beveled poles • Wound to average vintage specs using #42 wire (around 6K) • Hand charged Alnico 5 magnets • Middle pickup is Reverse Wound/ Reverse Polarity to eliminate noise when pickups are selected together • Heavily potted to reduce feedback • White, cream, and black covers available With these, I dropped them into a Fender Mexican Standard Stratocaster to hear what difference the AB Custom Strat Set would make. For points of reference, the modern stagger was used to match with the MIM
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Strat neck 9.5” radius. Also, I use Fender pure nickel 10-gauge strings and plugged into a Fender Twin Reverb with the reverb set pretty low. I first strummed a few jazzy George Benson chords, and the improved clarity and sparkle were immediately noticeable and most appreciated. As the chords rang, I admired them like the Crown Jewels…stunningly beautiful and charming. The lows were full, and the highs were clean and crisp. The attack had a nice spank to it, and the bell-like tones sang. I proceeded to crank up the preamp for some grit and immediately tore in to some get down blues with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy,” followed by Hendrix’s “Red House” and back to some Zeppelin with “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” The tones are infectious and irresistible. I thought about pulling out my 60th anniversary Stratocaster with Custom Shop Fat 50s for comparison but decided against it as the Sheptone’s have a “words can’t truly describe it” supernatural voodoo. With the Sheptone AB Custom Strat Set, I was in heavenly sonic bliss. Truly, words don’t do them justice enough, but, again, check out the righteous Tone Clips on the Sheptone site, and you’ll hear the magic. “It was religious.” To wrap it up, for vintage PAFs and hot blues, the Sheptone Heartbreaker Humbucker Set and the AB Custom Strat Set set the mark for the gold standard. I wholeheartedly agree with Shep when he says that they are the last pickups you’ll ever need to buy. For pricing and more information visit: Sheptone.com
GEAR: REVIEWS
Fender Newporter Acoustic-Electric Guitar By Guitar Gabby If you are looking for a guitar with acoustic feel but electric sound, meet the Fender Newporter Special from Fender’s California Series announced earlier this year. This acoustic-electric guitar easily transforms an acoustic sound into an edgy performance. I played this acoustic in my home studio to see what it could do and was thoroughly surprised. I loved the solid design. The Newporter Special has a solid mahogany back and sides with a solid Sitka spruce top finished in matte black which is stunning. Fender described the single cutaway body as their exclusive Newporter body shape, which I found easy to play while still looking sleek. Often times, acoustic guitars have chunky bodies, making it difficult to wrap your arm around the body to play. This guitar has a body build that made it easy and fun to play sitting or standing. The headstock is the traditional Stratocaster 6 inline design painted in the same matte black finish as the rest of the body giving this guitar the traditional Fender feel and vibe. Playing this guitar, I was able to move up and down the neck with ease and was surprised with the quick action. When it came to tuning this bad boy, the preamp system installed gave a precise tuning while still giving me control over my bass, middle, and treble settings. Additionally, the Fishman®-designed pickup system made this guitar sound warm and electrifying. I played one of my favorite songs by my band, “Another Tear,” and was pleased to see the similarities between acoustic and electric sounds of the guitar. For me, I am always looking for an acoustic-electric that gives me the same feeling I have when I play my clean electric. The Fender Newporter is one of those guitars that any guitarist can play for any gig, no matter what genre. This guitar is amazing, and I would use it for any gig!
Fender Specifications:
• Fender-exclusive Newporter body shape
• Painted solid Sitka spruce top; •
• •
• • • • • • • • •
painted solid mahogany back and sides Fender- and Fishman-designed pickup/preamp system with Volume, Bass, Treble, with Tuner and Phase Controls Matching painted 6-in-line headstock Mahogany neck with slimtaper “C”-shaped profile, pau ferro fingerboard, bone nut, maple dot inlays, and Modern Viking bridge 25.6” scale 20 frets 15.75” fingerboard radius Factory Strings: Fender® Dura-Tone® Coated 80/20 Bronze (.012-.052 Gauge) Bridge pins: Ebony with Mother of Pearl dots Chrome hardware Sealed nickel tuning machines Satin finish Includes deluxe gig bag
$699.00 Fender.com
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GEAR: REVIEWS
Fender Effects Pedals By Vanessa Izabella
This past January at the Winter NAMM Show, Fender announced six new effects pedals. These innovative pedals have a lot of unique features that utilize technology and ideas that will bring them to the forefront of new products. The six pedals are the Santa Ana Overdrive, Pugilist Distortion, Marine Layer Reverb, Mirror Image Delay, The Bends, and Level Set Buffer. All the pedals are crafted from lightweight and durable anodized aluminum. Also, say goodbye to those old pedal battery doors with their tiny screws; all these have magnetic battery doors! Below is a brief list of highlights I found for each pedal.
Santa Ana Overdrive ($199.99) The Santa Ana features new FET (fieldeffect transistor) technology that makes it sound more tube-like (which I loved). A reactive input allows for more versatility when strumming the guitar at different intensity levels. Overdrive voice A & B allows for even more flexibility of tone. I loved this pedal. I could recreate some of my favorite tones as well as make some new ones. It was great to be able to explore the distortion dynamics from a light gain when I rolled off the volume, and a heavy grit when I cranked it up.
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Pugilist Distortion ($99.99) This pedal also offers up a variety of features guaranteed to sound good with any amp rig. This pedal features two dual gain engines. One is a lower gain, and one is a little higher. The pedal has a “blend” knob that allows you to blend the two together. It also features a series mode, which allows you to put one channel into the next, creating a very powerful and adjustable tone palate.
Marine Layer Reverb ($149.99) I really enjoyed this pedal. I was able to tweak around with it and get some really interesting sounds. It’s a pretty simple pedal that packs a whole lotta reverb punch. It features three different types of reverb: Hall, Room, and Shimmer. You can create some very modern, layered sounds with this beauty.
Mirror Image Delay ($149.99) This pedal was also a blast to experiment with. It features three classic delays: Analog, Digital, and Tape. It has dotted-eighth delays, which is pretty much a staple for modern music. Some settings provide a second tone that can be adjusted to make
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all sorts of coloration sounds for the modern guitarist and songwriter.
The Bends ($129.99) This pedal preserves your natural playing dynamics and volume using its built-in compressor. With the help of dual audio paths and a blend knob, you can dial in the right amount of dry and compressed signal to achieve the tones you desire.
Level Set Buffer ($99.99) This pedal is like the glue that holds your pedalboard together. It helps level out the sounds and levels of your other pedals in your chain. It has a mute switch and an input for a tuner. This pedal is ideal if you play multiple guitars at a gig. You won’t have to make many adjustments to your pedals if you are switching from a guitar with humbuckers or a single-coil guitar. I really enjoyed playing through these pedals, and I think there is something that most guitarists would benefit from in this lineup. I’m looking forward to getting a few of these into my pedalboard. More information can be found at Fender.com
GEAR: REVIEWS
Thalia Capo By ChÊ Zuro The Thalia Capo in Chrome Finish with Black Ripple Inlay arrived in the upgraded Celebrity Gift Box packaging, which includes 2-pull out drawers with a slot for each of the 14 fretpads included with every capo (included with standard packaging). What a beautiful way to store your capo and accessories when not in use. I was excited to use it ASAP. Trying it out at my next gig, I was amazed that I could place it from the top or from under and that immediately it was in place. When playing, I had no buzz across the strings, which a lot of the time happens with regular capos I have used. Trying to adjust the capo in between songs is always an issue, especially when you can’t tell if a string will buzz until you are starting your song. This one just went right into place every time, no problem. This capo felt like magic in my hands and on the neck of the guitar. I also loved the way that it can sit behind the nut rather than on the headstock of the guitar where they sometimes get squeezed out by a small tuner. Included with every capo is a series of fretpads that match the fretboard radius of your guitar (chart included), and also includes fretpads for the mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and 12 string instruments. These are simple to replace as the mechanism to put the capo on your guitar is the same way to release the fretpad in order to try a different one. Once you figure it out, it is simple. In my opinion, Thalia Capos are pretty amazing tools for string instrument players from a usability standpoint, as well as aesthetically. Prices seem to start at around $74.99 depending on materials and go up from there. For more information and pricing: ThaliaCapos.com
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GEAR: REVIEWS
Montecito Tenor Ukulele By Ted Low
I just received my Fender Montecito Tenor Ukulele and after opening the box and pulling it from its careful packaging, I was stunned at the beauty of this fine little instrument. It’s part of Fender’s California Coast Series of ukuleles which are named after beaches along the coast of California. I wanted to start plucking away, but I first had to take a trip around the tiny little guitar noticing first the iconic Fender Telecaster headstock with four tuners laid in a row that smack of quality to the touch. The gloss finish over its Koa wood gives it a rich glow and to hold it in your hands and under your arm is to appreciate the structure and strength of its construction. This uke is adorned with abalone binding around the perimeter of the top and around the sound hole, as well as the back, and strikes a stunning contrast to the caramel color in the body’s finish. This is a Tenor Ukulele, so the sounds emanating from its sound hole are rich and full, and with 15 frets, higher notes can be reached to enhance the sounds you make. The solid top enables you to hear the notes clearly resonating with sustain.
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Fender Specs for the Montecito Tenor Ukulele: • Tenor-sized ukulele • Solid koa top, back, and sides • Abalone-bound top, bound back and fingerboard; abalone rosette • 4-in-line Tele headstock with vintage-style tuners • No-tie bridge; bone nut and saddle • Includes gig bag
$249.99 Fender.com
GEAR: REVIEWS
The Hug Strap Ukulele Strap By Tara Low We met The Hug Strap company at Summer NAMM in Nashville and found their product to be quite unique and creative. The great thing about their new All-In-One Hug Strap is that it was designed to be used with any size ukulele with or without strap buttons. The strap comes in three pieces: two fabric pieces and a nylon headstock strap. If your instrument has a two-button configuration, the headstock strap will not be needed, but the company suggests that you keep it and the two rubber washers that are attached in case you need them in the future. I tried this strap on the Fender Montecito ukulele which did not have any strap buttons. The nylon headstock strap wraps around the headstock underneath the strings. The lower, thinner portion of the fabric strap wraps around the waist of the ukulele underneath the strings. Once the strap is attached, it can be easily adjusted to your preference. The soft fabric and plastic hardware protect your instrument from scratches. I loved the vibrant colors they offer, and the pattern of the cartoon squirrels on the soft cotton fabric of the strap I tried adds a whimsical feel and looked great with the Montecito. The strap hugs
the instrument with care and you can be assured you’re uke is in good hands. The Hug Strap website offers information on how to attach the strap to different instrument setups: ukulele with no strap buttons, one strap button, or two.
$34.00 | TheHugStrap.com
Jodi Head Hootnanny Guitar Strap By Tara Low Famed musicians Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Emmylou Harris, Patti Griffin, KT Tunstall and dozens of others can be seen wearing Jodi Head Guitar Straps. Jodi Head Guitar Straps has been handcrafting high-quality guitar straps for several decades. All of their straps are made in their shop in New York City and come in a wide variety of styles and materials. The strap we have is from their hootnanny line and is made of a beautiful, soft cotton jacquard print with webbed backing and green leather ends. The chrome hardware is sturdy. The strap is 2 inches in width and would look great with an acoustic guitar.
$38.00 | JodiHead.com
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LESSONS/TIPS Meghan Patrick performs on August 5, 2017 at the 3-day Watershed country music festival held at the Gorge Amphitheater at George, Washington, USA Photo by Kirk Stauffer
Essential Techniques for Playing Country Guitar By Marco DiSandro
Did your spouse leave you, taking your dog, truck, and house (maybe it’s a mobile home)? If so, you’re the living embodiment of what so many country songs lyrically depict. Fortunately, you still have your guitar and can find solace in picking a few country tunes. Country music has been a staple in American culture due to the relatability of what it offers; story-songs about hardships, relationships, indulgences, and even historical events can spark a connection with an audience. A well-timed country ballad will suit you right no matter your current station in life. Country music offers you, as a guitar player, something no other genre can. Accompanied by the upbeat rumble of a piano or the subtle resonance of a pedal steel guitar, the snaps and twangs of a guitar riff cut deep and complement the melody beautifully. It’s no small wonder why country is a favorite among many experienced guitarists. Let’s take a look at some essential techniques of playing country guitar. By perfecting these styles, you’ll be right at home in Music City.
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LESSONS/TIPS Open String Runs Country music exhibits a lot of cascading and shimmering sounds. This is from a technique – some would say “philosophy” – of alternating between playing open strings and fretted notes for occasional licks and riffs. The form is very flashy and sounds great in a solo for both acoustic and electric guitars. The open strings are key parts of these licks and add emphasis to notes and key changes. The simplest way to start practicing your open string runs is by applying it to the E minor pentatonic scale, which will use all six strings. Considering the fact that you’re hitting a lot of open strings, don’t hesitate to use pull-offs to get a sharper sound – after all, just because it’s country doesn’t mean you can’t add some bluesy flavor to the mix. Hybrid-Picked Double-Stop Lines Hybrid picking allows you to play long, flowing melodies that sound great and can add a very distinctive edge to any song. Hybrid-picked double-stops, or two-note chords, function not only as a small, harmonized chord in itself, but also work to provide melodies and guitar solos. This technique is straightforward, simple, and definitively country. An example of the way double-stops operate would be picking a lower string (low E or A) while your ring or middle finger would pluck an upper string (high E or B); this picking and plucking motion can occur simultaneously or individually. The concept is to balance picking with the guitar pick and plucking with free fingers of your strumming hand. Adding in some slides along the neck really gives your song a fuller sound. Boom-Chicka-Boom Mastering the boom-chick rhythm technique of playing is as essential as it is enjoyable. Playing “booms” and “chickas” will help you show off your guitar chops and play a variety of country songs, including the vast majority of Johnny Cash tunes. Beginning with plucking a bass note on the root of a chord (aka the “boom”), you’ll follow through with the remaining strings of the chord (aka the “chickas”) before plucking a second
bass note of the chord and following through on the strings again. This method is typically performed with downstrokes, but you can toss in some up strums on the chickas if you want to clearly differentiate the two alternating pieces. You can do this on a variety of different chords – the standard E chord is a great place to start, alternating between the E and A strings as your bass notes. Even the D chord works for a more uptempo rhythm, switching between the D and A strings for your go-to bass notes. This technique can be played either at a slow or fast tempo. In fact, you can start out slow and dramatically crank it up to a faster notch, like the momentum of the trains Johnny often sang about. Country Scales Country is a broad genre, so there is a huge range of scales you can choose from. The best of these would be a “country-fried” version of the pentatonic scale. This version of the pentatonic scale incorporates a flat third into your standard major pentatonic scale. With this scale, you’re striking the root, the second, the flat third, the third, the fifth, the sixth, and the root again. Start getting the motion down in an easy key, such as G or C, using your first, second, and third fingers. You’ll get it down in no time, and once you do, you’ll be able – through adding bends and dropdowns – to find hundreds of licks and fillers for your country tune. ~~~~~ Don’t try mastering these techniques all at once; start with the country scales and meander through the two-note chords. Starting with something you’re familiar with (i.e., the pentatonic scale) and just changing it a bit will work wonders for your country style. Along the way, listen to a sampling of country songs throughout the decades. By starting with Hank Williams and working through the top-tier country musicians of today (e.g., Brad Paisley), you’ll get a good idea of not only the prominent role guitar serves in country music, but how it – and the genre – has changed throughout the course of history.
Photo By: Maureen Jamieson
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LESSONS/TIPS
Creating Country Chord Progressions By Leigh Fuge
Country guitar playing stretches back as far as most people can recall. It predates most modern styles of playing and shares more similarities with blues and rock and roll than most people even realize. In this lesson, I’ll be breaking down the country chord progressions that you might come across while learning songs and may even fuel you with the tools to write your own country hits. The Chords Country music tends to be made up predominantly of major chords and dominant seventh chords. The Progression One common progression you see in country music is the I-IV-V progression. You may recognize this progression as being familiar to blues and rock and roll guitar playing, and so you should. It’s the same group of chords. Whatever key you play in, if you choose your I, IV, and V chords, you can get an instant country flavor. Some country hits, such as Johnny Cash and June Carter’s “Jackson,” not only use the I-IV-V progression, but they also follow a 12-bar blues style progression in the key of C. Country artists often add a min VI chord from their chosen key for a contrast. Building the Progressions To start building our country progressions, we first need to decide what key we are playing in; then we need to use a simple formula based on the major scale of that particular key.
For this lesson, we’ll talk about the key of C major. To choose our chords, we first need to figure out the notes of the major scale in that key:
I C
II D
III E
IV F
V G
VI A
VII B
From this, we can see the primary chords we want to target are C, F, G, and A. Remembering the formula of which notes should be major/minor, we end up with: C major, F major, G major, and A minor. You can use seventh chords to supplement your major and minor chords. One easy way to do this is when you have a repeat of chords for a few bars, change one of the bars to the dominant seventh version of the chord you’re playing. You can also split the bar in half; for example, if you have a bar of C, you can play the first half as C and the second half as C7. Both of these will add another layer of depth to the progression. Strumming Pattern For the following three examples, we still stick to a simple strumming pattern. It will include a down strum on each beat and an upstroke on the “and” of beats 3 and 4 as eighth notes:
The Major Scale Chords: • I - 1st chord: major • II - 2nd chord: minor • III - 3rd chord: minor • IV - 4th chord: major • V - 5th chord: major • VI - 6th chord: minor • VII - 7th chord: diminished
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The most common chords we’ll be using in country music are the I, IV, and V chords, which are all major chords. It’s not uncommon to throw in a minor VI chord for some texture or even to change the dynamic of a section.
1 Down
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2 Down
3 Down
& Up
4 Down
& Up
LESSONS/TIPS Example 1
Example 2
Example 1 This is a typical country pop/rock style chord progression utilizing the I-IV-V and min VI chords. It’s an 8-bar progression, which could be a good progression for a verse/chorus of a song. It goes between the I and V chord for the first 4 bars before moving to the IV and min VI chords for bars 5 and 6, respectively, and ending on the I and V for bars 7 and 8.
Example 2 This is an example of how the min VI chord can be used to change up a progression. If you imagine this progression as a direct follow-up to the previous, you could visualize this as your bridge in a song or a change of mood. The min VI chord takes the same groupings of chords but adds a somber overtone.
Example 3
Example 3 This is an example of how you can use your I-IV-V chords and create a 12-bar country style loop. Think Johnny Cash style country for this.
Try It Yourself One great way to find your own voice with progression writing is to try these in different keys. Map out your major scales for other keys, and find your I-IV-V and min VI chords, and try to use them to create your own progressions. The strumming patterns here are for demonstration; you can make the patterns as simple or complex as you feel fit. One thing worth trying is fingerpicking through the chords as you run the progression. The most important thing to take away is that when you’re being creative, enjoy it. Strum away and enjoy the process of creating music. Some progressions will work better than others, but use these tools and craft your own country masterpiece.
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LESSONS/TIPS
The Art of Practicing Guitar By Vanessa Izabella Having taught music lessons for over 12 years now, I see some reoccurring themes with my students, and I find the most important one to address is “How to Practice.” It may sound like a simple thing, right? Just keep repeating and repeating something until you can perform it correctly, right? Well, it isn’t that simple. Without going too far down the wormhole about science and the way most human brains function, I have found a group of pointers that I offer to my students, which has helped them make the most out of their practice time. After all, practicing is a skill in itself, and it too will get easier with time and, of course, practice!
1. Practice time is quality over quantity. A very focused 5-10 minutes can yield more progress than a distracted and unfocused 30-minute period. Find a quiet space where you can sit and practice without distraction. Turn off the TV, silence the cell phone, and get to it. 2. Have a game plan. Know what you are trying to accomplish in your practice ses-
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sion. Are a few measures in a song holding you up? Make the goal to improve that passage, even if it’s ever so slight. A metronome is a great gauge to use to try to improve a song, exercise, or section of a song – it offers you tangible figures. For example, when working on finger agility and running some scales, if you are running them comfortably at 110 beats per minute, try to push it to 120 or higher by the end of your practice session. 3. Work material in sections. Playing a song through and through and still making the same mistakes is a slow way to improve. Figure out which measures are giving you trouble. If it is one measure, an 8-bar block, a 16-bar block, or an entire song, start with one measure at a time. Once you feel good with that measure, move on to the next. After the next measure, add the previous measure, and so on and so forth until you piece it all together. 4. It is all in the transitions. Having smooth transitions from one part of a song to another can really make a song come together. This small detail can be often
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ignored, but it is very important when trying to put entire songs together. 5. The most important point of all. Be kind to yourself. Learning guitar, or any instrument for that matter, takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so don’t worry about it if that song doesn’t sound exactly like it does on the radio on day one, or even day 30. The more you practice and improve, the easier learning songs gets. At some point, you will want to learn more until you want to get your hands on anything you can learn. If you feel hung up on something, shelve it for a while and try something new. You will be surprised that, when you go back to it later, it will be a little easier than before. That’s my advice on practicing guitar. It takes some self-discipline, but it is all for the cause. Being able to play guitar is a great ability to have. Take some chances, learn a song in a different style, remember to keep things fresh, and mix things up once in a while. Until next time, Happy Strumming!!
LESSONS/TIPS
Using Vocal “Twang” for Country Singing and Beyond By Milena Thomas A vocal concept that is very important for singing country and other popular styles of singing is twang. The term has dual meanings, and knowing the similarities and differences between these meanings is important for singers of not only country music but all vocal genres. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, one definition of twang is: noun: twang; 1. a nasal or other distinctive manner of pronunciation or intonation characteristic of the speech of an individual, area, or country. First, many people have heard the term twang used to mean a sort of brassy, nasally sound accompanied by the pronunciation differences of a Southern accent, often referred to as Southern twang. In my opinion, Southern twang is not only a vocal timbre but also a pattern of pronunciation in speaking and singing, affecting the vowels and consonants. For example, Southern twang is often associated with the elongation of vowels, addition or emphasis of diphthongs or triphthongs, or even the elimination of vowels or consonants. While all the details of the wide variety of American Southern accents are beyond the scope of this article, it should be enough to note that the Southern accent or twang results in different sounds. In addition to this pronunciation twang, we also want to think about including some vocal quality twang when singing country styles, which I believe is prevalent throughout the genre.
Take the opening line from Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty,” when she sings, “…I’m just a girl, not usually…” You can hear twang when she uses a bright and clear quality, coupled with more forward and closed vowel sounds. There are so many more examples of singers who use twang, and you should start to see if you notice when you listen from now on. (If you want to know the difference between forward vs. back and open vs. closed vowel sounds, check out http:// www.ipachart.com/. And start listening to the vowels your favorite country singers use; you may be surprised to hear how much they differ from how we speak them in everyday life.) Keep in mind, some voices tend to be brighter and clearer naturally, but there is no reason you cannot learn to add some of this quality to your singing to match the style you are trying to go for. The other great thing about twang is that it actually makes singing easier, and many singers feel that singing high notes using some twang is beneficial.
better acoustic space and making singing easier, so we don’t need to work so hard to be heard, which is a great benefit. A word of caution: This narrowing should not be thought of as tightening or squeezing the throat, however; so, if you feel some fatigue when trying your twang, make sure you get some professional advice before you keep going with it.
If you are interested in what twang is from a more technical point of view, I recommend this checking out videos on the topic by voice teacher Karyn O’Connor of Singwise vocals.
So how can we go about applying twang to our voice? One of the best methods is to go to an extreme to compare and contrast a non-twang sound with a very twang sound. For example, a lot of teachers employ the use of a very bright and nasal “Nya, nya, nya,” like you are a child teasing someone on a playground, or even a fake baby cry sound, very bright and nasal “Wah, wah, wah.” Some even use a whimper like a puppy dog. Try vocalizing on these very bright sounds on some scales, and then use them in a song you are working on.
She explains that what is happening when we apply twang is a slight narrowing of the portion of the pharynx (the throat) just above our vocal folds, which causes the resonance of the voice to be higher, around 3000 Hz, which is also a frequency that the human ear is most sensitive to hearing. This means that we are essentially setting up a
As with any vocal technique, I recommend recording yourself singing with varying degrees of twang or applying it on certain phrases for effect and listening to what you like best. You can also take some of your favorite songs by other artists and listen to how and when they apply twang, now that you know what you are listening for, and then try to emulate it yourself.
Kacey Musgraves performs on July 29, 2016 at the Watershed country music festival at the Gorge Amphitheater outside of George, Washington, USA Photo by Kirk Stauffer
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Every month, we select a guitarist from social media that has tagged themselves with #guitargirlmag to be featured on our website and here in our magazine. So, head on over to Instagram and tag yourself.
You may be next!
Nikki Moore About Me: Emerging young an from country artist and musici love for music a has ore Alabama, Nikki Mo can rs. The first music Nikki way beyond her 18 yea of Outlaw Country e tur mix a s wa to ng remember listeni yrd Skynyrd Southern Rock like Lyn like Waylon Jennings and and, of course, Hank Jr. e was guitar. She started for music, but her first lov at She’s always had a passion ge and feels completely sta the es lov und nine. Nikki playing when she was aro home there. of the ic riffs bring the sound hip and distinctive, melod Nikki’s smooth musicians y. ntr n dash of today’s new cou past, while adding her ow like Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd inspiration from bands my get I n: atio pir Ins My be able to captivate an and Fleetwood Mac. To Skynyrd, Kings of Leon, sic makes me feel, mu ir ple feel the way the audience and make peo n working for e true; something I’ve bee would be a dream com since I was a little girl. My Gear: h Ernie Ball strings Fender Stratocaster wit h Elixir Taylor 814ce guitar wit s ing str
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word search and trivia
Word Search Puzzle Word List: Word List: ANITA COCHRAN BOSS CMA AWARDS CMA FEST COUNTRY CHORDS COUNTRY MUSIC COUNTRY TWANG DOLLY PARTON FIGHT LIKE A GIRL HUMBUCKER JESSICA LYNN KAREN WALDRUP LINDSAY ELL LORETTA LYNN MARTIN GUITAR MAYBELLE CARTER MIRANDA LAMBERT MONTECITO PATSY CLINE REBELLE ROAD ROADIE TUNER SHEPTONE SIX STRING QUEENS SOCAL DIVAS SONGBIRDS STRATOCASTER TELECASTER THALIA CAPOS THE HUG STRAP WOMAN WALK THE LINE
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
What top of wood is used for the top of the Martin OME Cherry? Who is known as the original “Queen of Country Music”? Who is known as the “Mother of Country Music”? What is the name of new exhibit at Songbirds Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee dedicated to female guitarists? Lindsay Ell pulled a prank on Brad Paisley on the last night of their Weekend Warrior tour. What did she do? What is the name of Anita Cochran’s newest song? The Fender Newporter Special acoustic-electric guitar is from what Fender series? Some of country’s biggest artists like Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Kacey Musgraves are performing on a tribute album to what iconic country music star? 9. Who was known as the “First Lady of Country Music”? 10. Who will be hosting the 52nd Annual Country Music Awards? Word Search and Trivia answers on page 79
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Contests
WIN ME at GuitarGirlMag.com SEPTEMBER Contests Win a Collective Journeys bracelet! Collective Journeys was born out of Candice King’s desire to give awareness to smaller charities that are making big impacts within their communities. Their mission is to shine a spotlight on special charities and give back to those who are doing amazing work with limited funding. Each month features a new charity. June’s charity was Project Q. U.S. only, Ends 11:59 p.m. ET 9/30/18
Win a Martin Gift Pack! If you’re a Martin Guitar enthusiast, then you will love this pack of goodies. Six packs of RETRO acoustic strings, a drawstring backpack, and a leather guitar strap. U.S. only, Ends 11:59 p.m. ET 9/30/18
OCTOBER Contests Win a Jodi Head Hootnanny Guitar Strap Jodi Head Guitar Straps are handsewn in New York City. The strap is from their hootnanny line and is made of a beautiful, soft cotton jacquard print with webbed backing and green leather ends. The chrome hardware is sturdy. The strap is 2 inches in width and would look great with an acoustic guitar. U.S. only. Ends 11:59 p.m. ET 10/31/18
Win a Collective Journeys bracelet! Collective Journeys was born out of Candice King’s desire to give awareness to smaller charities that are making big impacts within their communities. Their mission is to shine a spotlight on special charities and give back to those who are doing amazing work with limited funding. Each month features a new charity. May’s charity was Harvest Home. U.S. only. Ends 11:59 p.m. ET 10/31/18
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Coloring It’s said that coloring can relieve stress, so grab your coloring pencils, guitar, and notepad and DE-STRESS‌
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Book Reviews
What We’re Reading NOW! By Tara Low
Country Guitar for Beginners: A Complete Method to Learn Traditional and Modern Country Music By Levy Clay Fundamental Changes $19.99
Woman Walk the Line: How the Women in Country Music Changed Our Lives Edited by Holly Gleason University of Texas Press $24.95
Although it is geared toward the beginner guitar player, from my review, I believe you should have some basic knowledge of guitar and chords before jumping in to begin your musical journey to becoming the next Chet Atkins. In addition, experienced players to can learn a great deal of information to step up their guitarplaying skills and experiment with different styles and techniques. Clay also includes a suggested music list to help you define your own country style.
The women in country music have had a profound impact upon so many people; more than just their music, but the lives they lived and the messages they delivered. Nashville music critic, songwriter, and artist development consultant Holly Gleason delivers a masterpiece with her book Woman Walk the Line: How the Women in Country Music Changed Our Lives. From Maybelle Carter, Brenda Lee and Dolly Parton to Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves, and everyone in between, this work of art is a compilation of stories about 27 women in country music written by musicians, journalists, music critics, and family members that were inspired these amazing women. Rosanne Cash’s eulogy in June Carter Cash: Eulogy for a Mother, Taylor Swift’s tribute Brenda Lee: Rare Peer that she wrote when she was 18 years old, Kelly McCartney’s reflection on k.d. lang: Flawless, Fearless; they are all wonderful, moving tributes to the women that inspired them.
By Lindsey Borders
By Tara Low
This book is a “must have” for anyone wanting to learn how to play the traditional and modern style of country music. The advice, methods, and techniques discussed in this book are designed to encourage you to take your skills to the next level. Levy Clay’s book starts out with a brief history of the origins of country music, and then is broken into two sections: one dedicated to chords and rhythm guitar, and the other on scales, arpeggios and lead guitar. Each chapter is filled with chord charts, specific examples of chords and licks, along with variations of techniques for each major style of country music.
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word search and trivia answers
Trivia Answers:
1. Sitka spruce 2. Kitty Wells 3. Maybelle Carter 4. Six String Queens 5. Drove a toddler Lightning McQueen batteryoperated car onstage with the sign “Got Mud” while Brad sang “Mud on the Tires”
6. “Fight Like A Girl” 7. California Coast Series 8. Roger Miller 9. Tammy Wynette 10. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwoo
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