Rest In Peace

Today we recall the events of August 27, 1990, in which guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughn's life was ended abruptly and early.

From Wikipedia: On August 25 and August 26, 1990, Vaughan and Double Trouble finished the summer portion of the In Step Tour with shows at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, just outside of East Troy, Wisconsin. The show also featured Robert Cray & His Memphis Horns, and Eric Clapton, who played the closing set, also bringing all the musicians back onstage for an encore jam.
Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton recalls his last conversation with Vaughan backstage. He then remembers Vaughan saying he had to call his girlfriend, Janna Lapidus, in Chicago, before heading out the door to the helicopters, which had been arranged for flight (through Omni Flights) by Skip Rickert, Double Trouble's tour manager.

The musicians had expected a long bus ride back to Chicago. However, Vaughan was informed by a member of Clapton's crew that three seats were open on one of the helicopters returning to Chicago with Clapton's crew, enough for Vaughan, his brother Jimmie, and Jimmie's wife Connie. It turned out there was only one seat left; Vaughan requested it from his brother, who obliged. At 12:44 a.m. pilot Jeffrey Browne guided the helicopter off the ground. Moments after takeoff the helicopter crashed into a ski slope and all five on board were killed. Although the crash occurred only 0.6 miles from takeoff, it went unnoticed by those at the concert site.

The search for the wreckage began at 5:00 a.m., finally being located two hours later with the help of its locator beacon.[7] The cause of the crash was believed to be pilot error.[8] [9]

Chris Layton and Jimmie Vaughan did not find out about the crash until they returned to their motel in Chicago. The following morning Jimmie Vaughan was called to identify the body of his brother. The coroner's report stated that the cause of death was exsanguination caused by severing of the aorta. The severance was caused by high deceleration during crash impact.

Stevie Ray Vaughan is interred in the Laurel Land Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas.[10]

Gibson Robot

I'm certainly no expert, but I dig technology that makes life better. I can tune standard and drop D just fine, but I would love to more easily experiment in other alternative tuning options. If I had the money, this might be how to go. Reportedly, Gibson has had a retrofit kit available since June, but I have not been able to find anything about it on Gibson.com.

My Friend Chris Wilson

This crack-up is a guy I used to work with at Guitar Center in Salt Lake City. I used to laugh my butt off at him, and obviously still do. His name is Chris Wilson, formerly of ECO, then Good Charlotte, then The Summer Obsession, now Allegiance to the Fire. Last I heard he was filling in for MXPX.

The Darkness

The Darkness:

I Believe in A Thing Called Love

Fun tune, decent power chords and solos, and interesting falsetto, like the singer just got his balls in a vice.

Bad Religion

Click here for the Infected tab.



I like the simplistic, angst-laden poetry of Bad Religion. It is heavy at times, yet remains fun to listen to and play (especially if you dig punk power chords like I do on occasion).

From Wikipedia: Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Southern California in 1980 by Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitars) and Jay Ziskrout (drums). They are often credited for leading the revival of punk rock during the late 1980s, as well as influencing a large number of other punk and rock musicians throughout their career. In the 28 years since its inception, Bad Religion has had numerous lineup changes, and Graffin has been the only constant member, however the band currently features three of the original four members. To date, Bad Religion has released fourteen studio albums, two EPs, three compilation albums, one live recording, and two DVDs. Their 1988 album Suffer has been regarded by some critics as one of the most important hardcore punk albums of all time,[5] although it was not charted in Billboard. Bad Religion rose to fame with their 1994 major-label release Stranger Than Fiction, which produced their well-known hit singles "21st Century (Digital Boy)" and "Infected". Following Gurewitz's departure in 1994, Bad Religion declined in popularity and poor record sales continued until the release of The New America in 2000. Gurewitz returned to the fold in 2001, making Bad Religion a six-piece band, and contributed to their three most recent albums. The band has discussed the possibility of recording their next studio album that is expected to be released in June 2009.[6] They are particularly known for their sophisticated use of style, metaphor, vocabulary, imagery, and vocal harmonies (the oozin' aahs), whether reflective on matters of personal feelings or of personal or social responsibility.