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General Interest
“He’d get people that were completely sober drinking again”: Zakk Wylde on why Dimebag Darrell was the “life of the party”
![[L-R] Zakk Wylde and Dimebag Darrell](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Zakk-Wylde-Dimebag-Darrell@2000x1500.jpg)
Alongside being an incredible guitar player, Dimebag Darrell was a notorious party animal. In fact, he could convince just about anyone to let loose and have a good time – even if that meant occasionally being a bad influence.
In a new interview with Classic Rock, guitarist Zakk Wylde recalls how the late Pantera axeman was always the “life of the party”, able to transform any event into a chaotic night to remember. “Dime’s energy was so contagious,” Wylde explains. “He’d just walk in the room, and he’d be the life and soul of the party. It was nothing but a good time all the time with him.”
Though, that focus on having a “good time all the time” sometimes meant Dimebag could be somewhat of a devil on someone’s shoulder. “He’d get people that were completely sober drinking again… Wylde says. “Or, if somebody had a gambling problem, he’d get them playing poker without knowing.”
Of course, Dimebag never knowingly dished out beers to alcoholic. When his brain was in party mode, he sometimes needed a tap on the shoulder to keep him in check. Wylde laughingly remembers how a confused Dimebag would protest with a cry of “What? I’m just getting this guy a drink!”, before someone explained “Bro, he’s a major alcoholic! You can’t do that!’
The same goes with the gambling antics. Unaware of someone’s vices, he’d sometimes be shocked when a person stepped in and told him to dial things back. Wylde re-enacts how Dimebag would often respond: “What? Nobody told me!!”
Even Dimebag’s brother, the late Vinnie Paul, branded the iconic guitarist as the “wild life of the party” in an old interview with Metal Hammer. “He loved to entertain people and loved to put a smile on people’s faces and he didn’t care how he did it,” Paul explained. “Whether it was with his guitar, doing a picture backstage with some fans, signing some autographs or just being himself and hanging out being the life and soul of the party.”
The party animal mentality was something that Dimebag had throughout his life, even before his Pantera days. “If there was a party to be had, he was always the first one grabbing the bottle and firing it up,” Paul said. “People expected Dimebag Darrell to be the crazy motherfucker off the Pantera videos, and he didn’t want to let them down. But at the same time, he also needed what he referred to as his ‘Dime Time’ – just to chill.”
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“Nothing happened unless Cliff said, ‘Yes’”: Master of Puppets producer on Cliff Burton’s influence on his Metallica bandmates
When Cliff Burton died as a result of Metallica’s 1986 bus crash, the band didn’t just lose a bassist – they lost their unofficial leader. Prior to frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich becoming stepping up to the place to run the show, the young band looked to their eldest member as a guiding light.
In a new interview with Metal Hammer, producer Flemming Rasmussen recalls the influence Burton had on his younger bandmates. While working alongside the band between 1984 and 1988 for a trio of records, he reveals that Burton always had the final say on 1984’s Ride The Lightning and 1986’s Master Of Puppets. “Lars and James were the ones out there promoting the band, but Cliff was the oldest, and the one with a musical education, so they leaned on him to get shit done,” he explains.
While Rasmussen acknowledges that Hetfield and Ulrich tend to take the reigns nowadays, he explains that that certainly wasn’t the case back then. “The thing about Lars and James being the leaders of the band didn’t emerge until later,” he says. “At that point it was a four-piece unit [and] Clifton was important to the structure of the band.”
“He took part in all of the decisive processes,” the producer adds. “Nothing really happened in Metallica unless Cliff nodded ‘yes.’”
Despite Rasmussen’s recollections, drummer Ulrich has gone on record admitting that him and Hetfield didn’t immediately gel with Clifton’s creative lead. When Burton joined Metallica in 1982, the band were dubious to follow his advice.
In an archival interview with Classic Rock magazine, Ulrich said: “Cliff had been in the band for a few years and he brought in a lot of harmonies and melodies [for Master of Puppets]. It took a little while for James and I to open up to some of Cliff’s ideas about harmony and melody, because we’d never played stuff like that before.”
Thanks to Burton, the band began to push themselves to try more intricate, exciting riffs and structures. “After a while we got it and that’s when we started experimenting more,” he explained.
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Taylor expands its Gold Label Collection with three Grand Concert models – including a signature model for singer-songwriter Ben Harper
Taylor has expanded its Gold Label Collection with three new Grand Concert models – including a new signature model for singer-songwriter and three-time Grammy winner Ben Harper.
The trio of new acoustics take Taylor’s classic, compact Grand Concert body shape and give it a deeper body for improved air resonance, warmth and low-end presence, while preserving the intimacy long-loved by Grand Concert fans.
And as new members of the Gold Label Collection – which launched in 2025 to blend vintage acoustic warmth with modern innovation – they feature Taylor’s signature Gold Label voicing, with fanned V-Class bracings and Action Control Necks, a patented neck system which offers improved resonance and on-the-fly string action control.
Elsewhere, each of the three new models features a torrefied Sitka spruce top for a “seasoned, played-in sound from day one”, 24.875” scale length, Honduran rosewood “Curve Wing” bridge, cream binding with a black and white top purfling, cream/black rosette, cream Crest fretboard and peghead inlays, and a gloss finish.
Heading up the trio is the Ben Harper Gold Label 512 Special Edition, a new signature model for the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Having grown up working on instruments at his family’s Folk Music Center in Claremont, California, Harper brought “both a luthier’s ear and a touring musician’s practicality” to the partnership, Taylor says.
Features include mahogany back and sides paired with a Honduran rosewood fretboard, as well as an array of custom visual stylings, like a golden-brown shaded edgeburst top, cream pickguard, bronze mini tuners, bone bridge pins and a custom Ben Harper interior label. The model also incorporates Taylor’s new Claria electronics.
“If I could dream up a way to collaborate with a guitar maker, this would be it,” Harper says. “There was a simpatico relationship between what I do and what Taylor does that I recognised right away.”
Credit: Taylor Guitars
Meanwhile, the Gold Label 512e Grand Concert is marked as the collection’s “most approachable entry point”, with a solid mahogany back and sides paired with a torrified Sitka spruce top, plus a Firestripe pickguard and LR Baggs Element VTC electronics.
The Gold Label 712e Grand Concert pairs its torrefied Sitka spruce top with an Indian rosewood back and sides, as well as a West African ebony fingerboard, Firestripe pickguard and LR Baggs Element VTC electronics.
Credit: Taylor Guitars
“I wanted to feature the classic Grand Concert shape in its full, non-cutaway form and give it a warmer, more blended voice,” says Andy Powers, Taylor’s Chief Guitar Designer, President and CEO.
“The result feels instantly familiar in size and balance, yet delivers a richer, more robust sound with clear focus and a surprisingly strong lower register for a Grand Concert.”
Price-wise, the Ben Harper Gold Label 512e Special Edition is available now at $2,999, while the Gold Label 512e and 712e are priced at $2,799. All three models come with a Taylor Deluxe hardshell case.
Learn more at Taylor Guitars.
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Eric Johnson dismisses the idea that vintage guitars are always better than modern ones: “It’s not the perfect guitar just because it’s old and worth money”
Does a guitar’s age automatically make it superior? It’s a debate that continues to rage in the guitar community, particularly among lovers of vintage instruments.
On one side, players like Lenny Kravitz swear by the mojo of classic instruments, claiming modern gear just can’t capture the tonal magic of vintage guitars. On the other, an equally fervent camp of guitarists argues that modern instruments can match – or even surpass – the classics in playability and tone.
Consider Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of Steely Dan, who once chose a $140 Squier Telecaster over a 1958 vintage model because it “sounded better”. Blues-rock guitarist Chris Buck has echoed this view, saying he doesn’t “subscribe to the idea that all vintage instruments are great” and that “older” doesn’t automatically mean “better.”
Chiming in on the debate, Eric Johnson, too, cautions against assuming an old guitar is automatically “perfect” because of its age. Speaking on the new issue of Guitarist, the Grammy-winning virtuoso reflects on decades of collecting and trading vintage instruments and the lessons he’s learned along the way.
Asked about his most incredible guitar find, Johnson recalls an original 1954 Fender Stratocaster he purchased decades ago: “Probably my original ‘Virginia’ Strat. I think I paid $175 for it,” he says. “But that was many years ago, when they really were going for a few hundred bucks back in the late 70s.”
“I mean, in today’s money, it was still a good deal, but, yeah, you could just get them pretty cheap. Back in those days, I remember you could go into a music store and there’d be several old 50s Strats. You just took your pick, you know? They’d be under $500.”
Johnson also reveals there are “a number of” guitars he regrets selling, including that same ’54 Strat, which he parted with after the electronics got damaged and he had it rewired.
“It never quite sounded the same. It was a wonderful guitar,” he says. “I wish I had just kind of gone, ‘Okay, just put it in the closet and someday you’ll run into an old pickguard,’ you know what I mean? ‘Just don’t freak out.’ But I was like, ‘Ah, it’s no good any more. I’ve got to find another one.’”
Since then, he’s found himself in a cycle of buying and selling vintage Strats, chasing after that elusive perfect tone.
“I’d buy a ‘54 Strat and then I’d sell it, buy one, sell it… Just keep trading them off. And I’ve been disappointed in some of those,” he admits. “I don’t think that every single old guitar necessarily means you’re going to get the perfect guitar just because it’s old and cool and original and worth money.”
“I have bought vintage guitars before and you think they’re okay, but once you start playing songs and playing with a band and doing what you do, you realise they’re not really going with you like you need them to.”
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Got £300k to spare? Slash’s legendary Les Paul from Guns N’ Roses reunion tour is up for grabs at upcoming music memorabilia auction
Entertainment memorabilia auction house Propstore is set to host its next Music Live Auction on 30 April in the UK, with bidding open worldwide. The sale will feature more than 400 lots spanning generations of iconic music acts, from Guns N’ Roses and Queen to The Beatles and Ed Sheeran, with a combined estimated value of £1.5 million ($2 million).
Arguably the star lot of the auction is Slash’s Gibson Les Paul ‘59 Custom Shop guitar, estimated at £150,000–£300,000 ($198,000–$396,000). This is no studio-only relic – it was a workhorse on the historic Not In This Lifetime tour, Slash’s first full run of dates with Guns N’ Roses since leaving the band after 1993’s Use Your Illusion tour.
That reunion tour spanned 175 shows worldwide, from Coachella to stadiums across the globe, and became one of the highest-grossing tours in music history, earning over $584 million. Slash’s Les Paul was a constant companion on stage throughout, its flame-patterned maple top photo-matched to live performance shots included with the lot.
Crafted by Gibson’s Custom Shop, the Abilene Sunset Burst Les Paul ‘59 features a mahogany body and neck, nickel hardware, and Slash’s personal modifications – including cloth-taped access panels and his signature double-sided adhesive tape pick setup on the headstock.
The guitar also bears Slash’s autograph and shows “light performance wear, including indentations and surface scratches above the bridge”, left behind from the guitarist’s jewelry striking the strings during live performances.
Credit: Propstore
“The weight of the guitar, the way the neck is, the humbuckers; all that stuff just appeals to me as a guitar player. [The Les Paul] really is the best all-around guitar for me,” Slash has said of the instrument.
Collectors will also find a Les Paul Custom 20th Anniversary guitar used by Noel Gallagher during the recording of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants and Heathen Chemistry (est. £10,000–£20,000).
Other standout items include a John Lennon and Yoko Ono Double Fantasy promotional poster signed on December 8, 1980 – just hours before Lennon’s death – accompanied by an audio recording of Lennon retracing his signature when the ink failed. The lot is estimated at £60,000–£120,000 ($79,200–$158,400).
Paul McCartney’s handwritten first-draft lyrics for Goodbye are also up for auction, estimated at £55,000–£110,000 ($72,600–$145,200), alongside handwritten lyrics signed by Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding, and Mitch Mitchell (£35,000–£70,000 / $46,200–$92,400).
A public exhibition of highlight lots will be held from 22–25 April at The Cumberland Hotel in London, allowing fans and collectors to inspect these legendary items in person.
Check out the full catalogue at Propstore.
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“She’s still rocking the gatekeeping”: Billy Corgan and Courtney Love agree that Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon is “the worst”
It’s not every day two alt-rock heavyweights sit down and casually reopen the vault on ’90s indie drama.
Appearing on Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast, Courtney Love joins the Smashing Pumpkins leader for a wide-ranging chat, trading war stories about their rock journey and dishing plenty of unfiltered dirt on the industry and its players.
The conversation, which finds former frenemies comfortable spilling alt-rock tea, soon drifts toward the idea of “gatekeeping” in indie circles – a charge they level at Sonic Youth, or more specifically, its bassist Kim Gordon.
“I barely know Thurston [Moore], but he was never a gatekeeper type,” says Corgan. “But his partner was the worst.”
“She was the worst, and she kind of still is,” Love adds, with Corgan noting, “Oh she’s still rocking the gatekeeping.”
From there, the discussion spirals into a mix of personal anecdotes and not-so-buried grievances. Love recalls a run-in in Europe in the ’90s where Gordon was “really horrible”, while Corgan points to an early backstage encounter that set the tone for their relationship.
“I came into their dressing room because we were all playing this festival – Kurt [Cobain] was playing, Nine Inch Nails was playing, [The Pixies’] Black Francis was playing, Urge Overkill was there… I was a fan [of Sonic Youth], and I came in to pay my respects, and I was treated so rudely by her, and that was the beginning of the horrible relationship,” says Corgan.
The feeling, it seems, hasn’t exactly been one-sided. In her 2015 memoir Girl in a Band, Gordon took her own shots at both artists, writing, “I have a low tolerance for manipulative, egomaniacal behavior, and usually have to remind myself that the person might be mentally ill… Courtney asked us for advice about her ‘secret affair’ with Billy Corgan. I thought, Ewwww, at even the mention of Billy Corgan, whom nobody liked because he was such a crybaby, and Smashing Pumpkins took themselves way too seriously and were in no way punk rock.”
Back in the present, The Hole frontwoman turns her attention to Kurt Cobain, offering her interpretation of the Nirvana track Heart-Shaped Box. She claims the line “Hey, wait, I got a new complaint / Forever in debt to your priceless advice” was “literally about Kim,” pointing to what she describes as Cobain’s frustrations with Gordon’s influence (Sonic Youth famously helped Nirvana sign to DGC Records).
“He was so mad at her,” Love says. “Kurt’s whole thing was… he hid his light under a bushel for Bleach, because, one, Seattle, which he wasn’t from, two, Kim Gordon.”
Recounting early encounters with Cobain and the wider Seattle scene, Love continues, “When I first saw Nirvana in Portland, Oregon, there was … Jason Everman [who played in Nirvana and Soundgarden]. And he had long hair like a Soundgarden guy. And I watched Kurt at a little club called Satyricon turn his Fender all the way down. I saw it. I’m not stupid. I saw it and that’s what led to me and him having an interaction. I was like, ‘You fake guitar player, I get it.’ But that was the Seattle element. And I didn’t know till I hung out with him about the Kim…. I know I was scarred by Kim. So scarred that I had to write her a letter kissing her ass to get – you don’t go for the husband, the cool husband. You go for the wife. And she produced my first album to her eternal regret.”
Watch the full interview below.
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Deathcore guitarist explains why Wes Borland is the “greatest nu metal player” and is “pushing a genre forward”
Chris Garza, guitarist and founding member of Suicide Silence, believes Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland is a nu metal guitar genius, and is possibly the greatest player within the genre as a whole.
Though highlighting other greats, such as Korn’s Munky, Garza feels Borland has pushed the genre forwards, and praises him for also maintaining Limp Bizkit’s core (and well-loved) sound across their discography.
- READ MORE: The weird gear of Wes Borland
Asked to pick his favourite nu metal player during his Garza Podcast, he says (via Ultimate Guitar), “It’s a no-brainer… As far as the well-rounded[ness] and the insanity and creativity, the look, the sounds, you gotta go Wes Borland. Wes Borland, I think, is the greatest nu metal guitar player of all time.
“Because also, it’s one guy [doing] all that. I can’t do that, I need Mark [Heylmun]. I need the other guitar player to bounce things off of. If my shit sucks or his shit sucks, we can kind of gauge something, then come into some kind of agreement. But one guy? You’re writing all that stuff, dude? All those melodies and stereo verses and the riffs and pushing a genre forward. There’s nothing like it. And I’m pretty blown away that it’s one person.”
He goes on to expand, “We talked about Mike [Mushok] from Staind already. It was kind of close because he’s also very creative. But Wes, what he did is he maintained [the band]. Limp Bizkit never lost their heavy sound. The second record was still insane, and then the third was still high-gain amps and top-string riffs and exactly what you want from Limp Bizkit.”
Borland has always shown off some pretty strange looks when on stage with the band, and during their final support slot for Metallica’s M72 World Tour in Denver last June, Borland appeared onstage dressed as a skeletal version of an ‘80s-era James Hetfield– complete with white high-top sneakers and a “Metal Up Your Ass” t-shirt.
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How indie-rock rising star Dionne went from playing guitar for Laura Mvula and Florence + The Machine to launching a solo career
Dionne was born with music in her blood. Growing up as the youngest of three classically-trained siblings – one a cellist, the other Mercury-nominated singer Laura Mvula – she first learned to play the violin at just seven-years-old.
“I was always taught there’s a right and wrong way to hold the bow,” the Birmingham-born London-based artist recalls of her “technical and so precise” introduction.
Because of this traditional grounding, it wasn’t until the age of 16 that Dionne first picked up a guitar, and it wasn’t exactly a great one when she did – namely, her dad’s Stagg acoustic. While she has great affection for the guitar that started off her journey, she eventually found herself drawn to the sound and look of a different type – the electric.
Three years later at university, she picked up another humble guitar in the shape of the Yamaha ERG121 S-type, but it was vital in her evolution as a guitarist and “opening up a different way to perceive an instrument”.
Rather than being told what to do, as she had been in her classical education, it was a case of feeling her way round it. “I asked my friends on the guitar course to show me how I should place my fingers,” she remembers. One particular reply surprised her: ‘Just do what feels comfy and natural to you’. Although she recognises that this was just their approach and “there is a very technical side to playing guitar”, such a lack of restrictions felt alien.
More than that, the freedom she experienced when playing guitar was initially difficult for her to understand. Nonetheless, Dionne jumped in at the deep end during her last year of uni. Upon her sister Laura’s orchestral-leaning debut album, Sing to the Moon getting signed to Sony, she and her brother soon joined her live band, playing violin and cello respectively.
Image: Press
Opportunity Knocks
However, as Mvula’s sound evolved to incorporate synths and, crucially, electric guitar, Dionne’s own creative spark was ignited. “I started properly messing around on guitar and decided that I knew I wanted to share music at some point in the future.” Realising that guitar interested her most, she told Laura about her ambitions. “I knew that I wanted a guitar to be in my hand so I could learn more,” she recalls, counting Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Funkadelic’s Eddie Hazel, Eric Clapton and Nile Rodgers among her live guitar heroes.
“I said, ‘this is what I want to do. Guitar is my instrument. I don’t want to play violin anymore’.” In a bold move, she gave her sister an ultimatum: Dionne would only stay in Laura’s band if she could play guitar. While she reflects on this as “completely ridiculous, because I literally couldn’t play anything at that point”, Mvula was characteristically supportive. “Even though there’s a million other guitarists that would do the job 1,000 times better, she must have thought ‘they’re not my sister’, so you can come with me’.”
Dionne’s wish was granted and, soon after, their live debut on UK TV had been booked. However, due to having very little time to prepare, her guitar solo intro on Overcome didn’t go as well as she hoped. “I definitely bit off way more than I could chew,” she recalls honestly.
Thankfully, those she toured with placed equal importance on her artistic development as the band’s overall performance. “They gave me the confidence to think that it was okay to explore an instrument as I was working and touring.”
When the album cycle came to an end, she joined the London Contemporary Voices (LVC) choir and found herself in an audition – unbeknownst to her, it was to join Florence + the Machine’s live band on tour. Playing acoustic and then electric guitar – “I think they saw that’s where my true passion lies” – was a privilege, Dionne says.
Image: Press
Stepping Out
Leaving Laura’s band and joining Welch’s helped her to grow, she reflects. “It was really important for me to have some space from my sister’s world and artistry”, she says of the time spent finding herself as an artist. After touring with Florence – “where I was just Dionne” – she realised something: “there’s a space for me that doesn’t have to go hand in hand with being Laura’s sister. That definitely helped me see myself differently.”
Those latter shows also boosted her confidence – especially her relationship with the guitar – so much that she started penning her own lyrics. Quickly, her guitar became key to her songwriting, especially for making chord loops. “It’s easy when you’re playing your own stuff,” she suggests, “because I’m trying to express myself. It’s not somebody else’s vision”.
Making her own music and pursuing a career as a solo artist has always been “the secret inside” of her, Dionne says now, reflecting that she was “probably coasting” during the years touring with her siblings. “There was no reason for me to delve any deeper,” she recalls, sharing that she would instead write poems in her downtime; after one resonated particularly strongly on her Instagram page, she had an epiphany: ‘maybe I should let out what I feel more, and form it into more of a song’.
However, the path to going it alone posed several personal hurdles. Alongside worrying about comparisons to her sister, she was concerned that any success would lead to “being judged and observed… people’s opinions coming at you all the time. Being in music is like psychological warfare,” Dionne continues, “you’re basically a start-up business, and it’s so tough”.
Despite the harsh realities of her chosen industry – she currently coaches tennis and tutors beginner piano and violin to help pay the bills – Dionne has become one of the most exciting new names on the scene. Having found a sound that is uniquely her own – an epic fusion of indie and rock; the seductively cinematic I’d Be Yours wouldn’t feel out of place soundtracking a Bond movie – Dionne is finally stepping out of the shadows and into her own spotlight.
Comfort In Sound
Watching her perform in Manchester recently, where she stormed the Co-op Live arena in support of Florence + The Machine’s ‘Everybody Scream’ UK tour, it’s abundantly clear how at home Dionne feels when she is on a stage. Undaunted by the scale of the room, she certainly made a lasting impression – though she’s very open about wanting to push herself further. “There’s so much more I want to do with guitar and learn,” she says, specifically citing that jazz “would open up another dimension for me”.
This interest in constant discovery stems from her sister’s ethos when it comes to music: “it’s always been about exploring, expression and being authentic”. Dionne has also carried Mvula’s outlook on live performance through to her own band, which comprises drummer Duayne Sanford and lead guitarist Al Shaham.
Image: Press
“I don’t believe in mistakes,” she says. “If you hit a wrong note, it doesn’t matter. For me, I think it only adds to the experience for someone that’s listening and participating. We are human, we’re not machines.” Dionne goes on to suggest that “you have to go beyond what’s comfortable to find out where the magic is”.
She also believes that promoting an open dialogue is of high importance. “If you’’e playing sharp or flat, or you’re not in the pocket, that needs to be communicated in a way that is neutral so that you can learn and adapt,” she says, going on to offer advice for anyone who may be on a similar artistic journey. “For musicians, you can’t necessarily control what situations you walk into, but I think you can control how you want to respond.
“So the main thing I would say is to be teachable. But, equally, put the time into whatever craft is yours, and have confidence in your own ability. To have that self-assuredness of taking the time to explore and figure out what it is that you do well, I think that’s what’s really fun about making your own music.”
Amid all the lessons that she’s learned along the way, Dionne’s goals remain the same: to make a living from her artistry, and to inspire others. “As a female, and as a brown female, I love that I play instruments,” she says, arguing that more needs to be done to improve representation. “We have a long way to go so that people feel as though things are accessible to them and that they are allowed to explore certain instruments.”
Dionne’s debut EP, ‘Cooked’, is out now
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Podcast 542: John Craigie
Singer-songwriter John Craigie joins us this week to talk about his new album, I Swam Here.
We also talk about Craigie’s unique humor during his sets, his Beatles covers, album covers, and so much more.
Plus…a really exciting Fretboard Summit update. Our next Summit takes place August 20-22, 2026, at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Register today: https://fretboardsummit.org
We are brought to you by Peghead Nation: https://www.pegheadnation.com (Get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription with the promo code FRETBOARD at checkout).
Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar: https://mmguitarbar.com
Above photo: Savannah Lauren
The post Podcast 542: John Craigie first appeared on Fretboard Journal.
“I’d listen to it in my bunk on my Walkman in private”: David Ellefson kept his love of Metallica’s Master of Puppets a secret from Dave Mustaine
David Ellefson has confessed that he would secretly listen to Metallica’s Master Of Puppets album away from his Megadeth bandmate, Dave Mustaine.
Mustaine was fired from Metallica in 1983, which led to him forming Megadeth. Despite Metallica ultimately being their main thrash opponents because of this, Ellefson remembers being completely wowed by their rivals’ 1986 album, which marked their third studio release and received a widely positive reception from both listeners and the media.
Speaking to Metal Hammer, Ellefson recalls, “I remember thinking, ‘These guys are really fucking doing it, man.’ You had the intensity of Battery, which really upped the thrash game, then you had Welcome Home (Sanitarium), which was this dark ballad, and then you had Orion, which could almost be on a King Crimson album.
“In a way, it was the first metal prog album. The whole thing was almost an hour long, but there’s only eight songs on it, and the songs are five, six, seven minutes long. No other thrash band was doing that at that time.” Going on to address Mustaine’s rocky history with the band, Ellefson adds: “I made it known that I liked the album, but I’d definitely change the channel when he got in the car.
“When we were on tour, I’d listen to it in my bunk on my Walkman in private. I studied that record and what they were doing: ‘Fuck man, we need to do that. How do we do it?’ We were never going to sound like them, but it really upped the game for me when it came to songwriting.”
Ellefson played bass for Megadeth until 2021 when he was let go following allegations of sexual misconduct after explicit videos were shared online. Ellefson denied any wrongdoing and filed a ‘revenge porn’ lawsuit against the person who uploaded the videos to social media.
Though Megadeth are now retiring, Ellefson won’t be returning to the band or joining them on their farewell tour, as Mustaine has said he wouldn’t want their shows to feel like “puppet show Megadeth”.
Mustaine has also honoured his background with Metallica by recording a new version of Ride The Lightning for Megadeth’s final and self-titled album. Though many first believed it to be a roast of the band that let him go all those years ago, he has clarified that it was done out of respect.
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The best desktop amps for portability and uncompromising sound quality
Using a combo amp for practice at home is like bringing a paving slab to a pillow fight. For fewer ruffled feathers in your vicinity, you’d be better off using a desktop amp. This relatively new category of amplifiers can give you excellent sound while keeping the volume respectful(-ish), and many of them offer a wide range of digital amp models and effects to help you find your sonic sweet spots.
Desktop amps are usually even smaller than a classic practice amp, with neat enough proportions to live on your desk. You can even carry one along to a jam session, where many models will run cordlessly after a thorough charge-up.
But what really sets the best desktop amps apart is their on-board smarts. Driven futurewards by innovations from the likes of Positive Grid and JBL, cutting-edge models fold in capabilities to help with practising, recording and writing music with your guitar at home. With the right desktop amp, you can tap into AI-powered backing tracks, tuners, metronomes, smartphone operability and Bluetooth connectivity, all from a little box on your desk. Equally, there are simpler desktop amps from the likes of Boss, Orange and Earthquaker Devices that prioritise excellent sound in a neat package.
Headphone amps – another sub-category of practice amps – offer similar advantages to a desktop amp, so we’ve included a few of these supremely portable and neighbour-friendly amplifiers among the potted reviews below.
At a glance:
- Our pick: Positive Grid Spark Mini
- Best for automated accompaniment: JBL Bandbox Solo
- Best affordable desktop amp: Boss Katana-Mini X
- Best pocket-sized amplifier: Fender Mustang Micro Plus
- Best analogue headphone amp: EarthQuaker Devices Easy Listening
- Best budget desktop amp: Orange Crush Mini
- Best all-in-one headphones: Positive Grid Spark Neo
- Best premium desktop amp: Yamaha THR10II
- Best FRFR desktop amp: HeadRush FRFR GO
- Why you can trust Guitar.com
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Our pick: Positive Grid Spark Mini
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A truly portable desktop amp, the Positive Grid Spark Mini has a pint-sized form that’ll comfortably find a spot on your workstation, or even inside a backpack. It’s louder than it looks, with a 10-Watt pair of 2-inch drivers behind the grill, and a base-integrated passive radiator which enlists the surface beneath it as a bassy sounding board.
There’s masses to love about this miniature amp: excellent adjustability via the minimal on-unit controls, practice-friendly features including Bluetooth pairing and ‘Smart Jam’ backing tracks, outstanding app operability and – most importantly – stunning sound quality across 30 amp type presets. We believe it’s one of the best practice amps ever made.
Need more? Read our Positive Grid Spark Mini review and our review of the Steve Vai variant.
Best for automated accompaniment: JBL Bandbox Solo
Credit: JBL
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Trust a smart speaker brand to create one of the cleverest practice amps on the planet. You might still be peeking at it mistrustfully from behind your Vox AC30, but the JBL BandBox Solo is a potential game-changer for solo practice sessions and desktop creativity.
It has the sort of smarts we’ve come to expect from a feature-packed desktop amp, including a good range of presets for guitar (as well as for vocals and bass guitar), adjustable on-board effects, looper, drum machine, tuner and metronome – but what’s really revolutionary about the BandBox Solo is its play-along possibilities. Connect your chosen audio via Bluetooth, and you can use the amp’s ‘Stem AI’ processor to remove the guitar, vocals or other instruments from the mix, creating a custom backing track. If you have songs to learn, this amp is uniquely equipped to help you do it.
Best affordable desktop amp: Boss Katana-Mini X
Boss Katana-Mini X. Image: Press
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If you like the form factor and impressive sound quality of the best desktop amps, but not so much the app-heavy user experience or the pricing, then this one’s for you. Loud, versatile and affordable, the Boss Katana-Mini X is more of a ‘familiar’ guitar amp than many of the others featured here (though it does double up as a Bluetooth speaker, which can’t hurt).
Our reviewer was impressed with the Katana-Mini X’s clear tones, ample tweakability, generous selection of on-board effects, and its power, which proved a match for busking or a campfire singalong. It’s genuinely portable, too, with a carry strap and up to ten hours’ runtime on a single USB charge.
Need more? Read our Boss Katana-Mini X review.
Best pocket-sized amplifier: Fender Mustang Micro Plus
Delay Level on the Micro Plus. Image: Adam Gasson
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This tinier-than-pocket-sized headphone amp is the height of portability, cramming a great selection of sounds (25 amp models and 25 effects!) into the smallest ever Fender amplifier. Keep one inside your guitar case, combine with some decent headphones, and you can enjoy excellent amplified sound wherever you may be. It allows easy control via the dial and display, or finer adjustment via the Fender Tone app.
We were blown away by the sounds on offer here, from classic tweed and black-panel tones to oddities including Super Sonic and Excelsior amp models. The effects include some superb Fender pedal emulations, and you can combine these with your favourite amp sounds to create your very own presets.
Need more? Read our Fender Mustang Micro Plus review.
Best analogue headphone amp: EarthQuaker Devices Easy Listening
Image: Press
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An ultra-simple amp simulator with tone based on the Fender Deluxe Reverb, the EarthQuaker Devices Easy Listening is ideal for guitarists who like their desktop amps simple and sweet-sounding. Don’t expect bells and whistles; do expect excellent tone.
Like the Fender Mustang Micro Plus, this is a headphone amp – so you’ll need to plug in some decent cans to experience the Easy Listening at its best. The reward for making this small effort is clear, clean, tonally balanced sound, right up and down the pedal’s single adjustable parameter: volume. The Easy Listening won’t give you a full amp experience, let alone the bells and whistles some desktop amps offer – but it’s a great little option to have kicking about.
Need more? Read our EarthQuaker Devices Easy Listening review.
Best budget desktop amp: Orange Crush Mini
Mmmmmm, Orange Crush. This distinctively-hued line of amplifiers is famed for its warm tone and juicy amp overdrive – and the Orange Crush Mini gives you a taste of that sweet signature sound in a concentrated, 3W format.
Eschewing the connected features you’d get from the likes of Positive Grid and Blackstar, this is a straightforward mini practice amp with standout on-board drive. There are some handy extras including an aux input and a built-in tuner, but you’ll spend most of your time playing with the shape, gain and volume controls on the top panel, creating sounds that punch above this amp’s negligible weight.
Need more? Read our Orange Crush Mini review.
Best all-in-one headphones: Positive Grid Spark Neo
Image: Press
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A headphone amp in the truest sense, the Spark NEO magicks Positive Grid’s sounds and smarts into a pair of wireless over-ear headphones – with far better results than we ever heard from forerunners like the Vox AmPhones.
These cans connect to the peerless Spark app, which gives you access to 33 amps, 43 effects, and over 100,000 community-made presets in the ToneCloud user library. (Side note: it’s also abnormally straightforward to set up.) Plug the supplied dongle into your guitar, pair up the headphones and you’ll be rewarded with midrange punch, clear high-end and thumping bass response, in myriad tonal flavours to suit your taste.
Need more? Read our Positive Grid Spark Neo review.
Best premium desktop amp: Yamaha THR10II
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Yamaha is widely considered to have pioneered the desktop amplifier category with its THR5 and THR10 models, both of which launched in 2011.
This newer installment, the THR10II, carries the same industrial-chic design DNA as those early models but adds new musical possibilities, with an expanded selection of digital amp models, Bluetooth playback for easier play-along practice, and plug-in-and-play recording via USB.
With two speakers pushing out a combined 20W, this is a beast compared to the average desktop amp. It’s dreamily easy to use at home, offering the rare advantage of wireless connectivity to your effects chain via a Line 6 G10TII transmitter (sold separately). Admittedly, you pay a premium for these little luxuries.
Need more? Read our Yamaha THR10II review.
Best FRFR desktop amp: HeadRush FRFR GO
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For real, for real, the only trouble with amp pedals – like the EarthQuaker Devices model featured above – is that you can’t hear them out loud. Here’s where an FRFR (flat frequency, flat response) amp comes in. These workhorses push out an unvarnished guitar sound, so you can hear the tone of your chosen amp modeller as the maker intended it.
This HeadRush model is a great desktop example, with good sound, excellent cordless runtime and approachable pricing. Modestly sized and equipped with Bluetooth connectivity and basic EQ controls, it’s the perfect solution for hearing or rejigging your digital modelling setup at home or in the studio.
Need more? Read our HeadRush FRFR GO review.
Why You Can Trust Us
Every year, Guitar.com reviews a huge variety of new products – from the biggest launches to cool boutique effects – and our expert guitar reviewers have decades of collective experience, having played everything from Gibson ’59 Les Pauls to the cheapest Squiers.
That means that when you click on a Guitar.com buyer’s guide, you’re getting the benefit of all that experience to help you make the best buying decision for you. What’s more, every guide written on Guitar.com was put together by a guitar obsessive just like you. You can trust that every product recommended in those guides is something that we’d be happy to have in our own rigs.
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Marshall protein powder and AI-powered gloves that play for you: These are the best guitar April Fools hoaxes we’ve seen this year
It’s that annoying day of the year again – when you feel you can’t trust anything you see online.
However, April Fools Day does spring up some funny content across the guitar community, and the team here at Guitar.com have tasked ourselves with finding the best and most creative hoaxes from across the internet.
This year, we’ve seen AI-powered guitar gloves, shit-stained relic’d guitars and even Marshall-branded protein powder. Come to think of it, it’s probably best that the minds behind these wacky ideas are not left to their own devices more than one day a year…
We stress again that these are not real.
Marshall Gainz
It takes muscle to lug around a Marshall combo, and so the legendary amp builder has come forward with its own protein powder, Marshall Gainz. It comes in a single “Vintage Vanilla Plexi” flavour, in a 2kg tub which “goes to 11 servings”. That’s a hefty serving size of over 181g… “I used to hate hauling amps around all day. Now, with Marshall Gainz, I can’t get enough,” says muscle-bound rockstar André Vaillant, who’s tasked with being the face of the launch…
AI-powered guitar gloves
“AI plays. You take the credit.” That’s guitarguitar’s promise with its new AI-powered guitar gloves, which auto-pluck and auto-fret so you, the human guitarist, don’t have to do anything at all.
“Using cutting-edge AI technology as well as groundbreaking mechanical components, the AutoPluck & AutoFret allows you to program any song or style to play instantly,” guitarguitar says.
“Wanna sound like your favourite player? Don’t Fret, we’ve got it! With “artist packs” (sold separately) you can take the right hand of your favourite strummer, as well as the dexterity of your favourite fretter and mix and match the profiles of some of the greatest guitarists in history.”
Strandberg Arc REACH – a two-foot tremolo arm
Headless guitar purveyor Strandberg has always been on the cutting edge of guitar design, and it continues that philosophy with the all-new Arc REACH Tremolo system, which consists of a two-foot-long tremolo arm, enabling use by “picking hand, fretting hand, teeth, toes, or any other performance-ready point of contact”. REACH, of course, stands for Range Extended Articulation Control Hardware.
“Arc REACH opens the door to a new level of ergonomic expression. From subtle vibrato to dramatic divebombs, it is designed to reduce the distance between player intention and tremolo response for faster, more intuitive control,” says Strandberg.
Victory MKXXL
Celebrating the success of its MKX amp head, Victory has conjured up an XXL version – the MKXXL – with “double the features, double the power, double the tone, and double the X!” “Today only,” the brand reiterates…
Wampler Pedalcab
On the heels of the Pedalhead – a pedalboard-friendly 240-watt stereo power amp and IR loader unveiled during this year’s NAMM Show – Wampler has concocted the Pedalcab, a compact speaker system with two 1.2” speakers and true bypass. You can also take advantage of a killer deal – buy one get one full price – because “mono is just stereo for quitters”.
“Warning: Excessive volume can cause your pants to flap in an excited manner. Wampler will not be held responsible for the consequences of any such incidents.”
A new relicing process by Danish Pete at Andertons
In a bid to circumvent the often costly nature of relic’d guitars, the team at Andertons have devised a new method of wearing guitars in. The only thing is the camera crew haven’t been allowed to film Pete “Danish Pete” Honore’s somewhat questionable aging process. But we think we get the idea…
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Essential Tips: How to Prepare and Bring Your Best to Every Performance
Doug Irwin, who made Jerry Garcia’s $11.5 million Tiger guitar, has died
Doug Irwin, maker of Jerry Garcia’s legendary “Tiger” guitar – which recently sold at auction for a record-breaking $11.5 million – has died aged 76.
In a statement posted to the Irwin Guitars Facebook page, tribute is paid to “a master craftsman, a visionary and someone who dedicated his life to his work”.
“His guitars were never just instruments,” the statement reads, “they were built with intention, precision, and soul, becoming part of the music and the artists who played them.
“To his family, friends, and everyone who had the privilege of knowing him, Doug was more than his work. He was a presence, a character, and someone whose impact reached far beyond words.
“His legacy will live on through the instruments he created and the music they helped bring to life. He will be deeply missed and never forgotten. Rest in peace, Doug.”
Doug Irwin first met The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia while working at Alembic. As Guitar World notes, Garcia bought one of Irwin’s first Alembic builds, the Eagle – for $850 in 1972.
Irwin would go on to build several instruments for Grateful Dead guitarist – in keeping with the animal-themed nomenclature – including the iconic custom Wolf, which sold at auction in 2017 for a cool $1,900,000, and later Garcia’s main instrument, the Tiger.
That six-string – fitted with a cornucopia of additional controls and now boasting legendary status thanks to its years of use by Jerry Garcia in the Grateful Dead – became one of the most expensive guitars ever sold at auction last month when it sold as part of the Jim Irsay Collection for $11.5 million. In that list, it’s now second only to David Gilmour’s Black Strat, which sold on the same day for a staggering $14,550,000.
Doug Irwin made two additional guitars for Garcia over the course of his career: the Rosebud, a development of the Wolf outfitted with MIDI capabilities; and the headless Wolf Jr.
Jerry Garcia died in 1995, and the world lost another Grateful Dead alum earlier this year with the passing of Bob Weir, who died aged 78.
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Steve Vai struggled to play Brian May’s Red Special guitar due to its strange neck: “I just remember thinking, ‘I can’t play this thing’”
Imagine how cool it would be to walk into a bar and see one of your biggest heroes there, and have them invite you to play their most legendary guitar – this is what happened to a young Steve Vai, when he crossed paths with Queen’s Brian May.
A 20-year-old Vai had just moved to Los Angeles, and there May was in the Rainbow Bar and Grill. Not only did they chat, but May invited him to a Queen rehearsal, where Vai struggled more than anticipated with May’s famous Red Special. The guitar was built by May himself as a teenager with help from his father.
“It was bizarre because I had just moved out to LA, I was 20 years old. Just a year before that, I was in my teenage bedroom with Queen posters and Led Zeppelin all over the walls. And I walk into the Rainbow, and there’s Brian May standing at the bar. And I just thought, ‘How is this [possible]?’” He tells Q1043 New York (via Ultimate Guitar).
“He was so kind. He actually invited me to a Queen rehearsal. And I was just this unknown kid, and there I was. I was at Zoetrope, and there’s Freddie [Mercury] and all the guys, and then there it was, the Red Special. I said, ‘Is that it?’ And he goes, ‘That’s it. You wanna play it?’ And I’m like ‘Oh my gosh!’
“I just remember thinking, ‘I can’t play this thing,’” Vai admits. “The neck is like a bat, it’s got like, what, gauge .08 strings? But it was a miracle to actually have the guitar under my fingers, and he allowed that. And Joe [Satriani] and I have had a great relationship with him since.”
In January, Vai received a custom-built reimagining of the Red Special. Made by master luthier Andrew Guyton of Guyton Guitars, the instrument channels the spirit of May’s original DIY classic with the addition of Vai-approved updates, including a quilted maple top, jumbo EVO-gold frets, a mahogany neck and a translucent green finish.
Vai shared the guitar with a post on Instagram, where he also reflected on his first encounter with May’s Red Special: “After idolising that guitar my whole youth, holding it was seismic. I thought, ‘This is it, I’m finally going to sound like Brian May.’ But much to my chagrin, I didn’t of course. I sounded like me. And between the gauge .08 strings, ultra-low action, and a neck the size of a small tree, I played it like a baby giraffe on roller skates. Still, it was heaven.”
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Six classic Electro-Harmonix pedals are now available in plugin form
Electro-Harmonix has teamed up with MixWave to bring six of its legendary pedals to digital form across four plugins.
Created using “detailed component-level modelling”, the new plugins are said to faithfully capture the analogue circuitry of the original pedals, while able to “integrate seamlessly into modern production workflows”.
First up, EHX’s gamut of legendary Big Muff fuzz/distortion pedals – the Big Muff Pi, Ram’s Head Big Muff and Russian Big Head, have been condensed into a single plugin with the Big Muff Pi Fuzz.
“From smooth sustain to aggressive low-end punch, the plugin captures the unique response and tonal differences that made these variations so widely loved,” EHX says. “Switch between circuits to explore the full spectrum of Big Muff tones in a single plugin.”
Next up is the Deluxe Memory Man Analogue Delay, which brings the “pinnacle of BBD analogue delays” into plugin form, offering “lush chorus, expressive vibrato and pitch-warped textures”.
There’s also the Electric Mistress Flanger/Filter Matrix, a classic modulator for “dream chorus-like textures, jet plane woosh and everything in between”, and, finally, the Small Clone Chorus.
“Few companies have shaped the sound of modern music like Electro-Harmonix,” the brand says. “From soaring fuzz to lush chorus, sweeping flanger and expansive analogue delay, our pedals have defined countless recordings for generations of musicians and producers.”
In terms of availability, each plugin can be purchased as an individual download. Alternatively, you can get all four plugins at once with the EHX Classics Bundle, which has an introductory price of $109 (down from $149). You can also save 15% by signing up to the MixWave newsletter in the popup that appears when you visit the website.
To learn more about the new EHX Classics, head to MixWave.
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Classic Guitar Pedals As Plugins
“Ozzy’s like, ‘I really f**king need to cut back on the calories’”: Zakk Wylde on the time an air stewardess mistook Ozzy Osbourne for Meat Loaf
![[L-R] Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde, Meat Loaf](https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ozzy-Wylde-Meat@2000x1500.jpg)
Zakk Wylde has revealed Ozzy Osbourne’s hilarious reaction when he was once mistaken for Meat Loaf by an air stewardess.
In a new interview with Classic Rock – in which he recalls his experiences meeting a number of rock legends throughout his career including Lemmy, Slash and Dimebag Darrell – the Black Label Society frontman remembers joining Ozzy’s band as a young guitar player at around 19 or 20.
Wylde says despite the nerves that came with joining the band of Ozzy Osbourne – “a guy whose records I had grown up listening to,” as he puts it – the Prince of Darkness was, in fact, not a “big rock star ego guy”.
“If we ever got turned away from a restaurant because they were full, he’d never go: ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ He’d go: “[deflated] I guess they don’t like Black Sabbath.”
Wylde remembers Ozzy telling him a story about him flying on a Concorde shortly after his Sabbath departure.
“He’s sitting there, bummed out, and the stewardess is like: ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe it’s you!’ She’s giving him drinks, getting him food, and he’s just floored by it. He’s going: ‘Maybe things aren’t so bad.’
“As the plane lands, she says: ‘Can I get a picture?’ So she takes the photo, and then she goes: ‘Oh, wow, thank you Meat Loaf!’ Ozzy’s like: ‘I really fucking need to cut back on the calories.’”
Ozzy Osbourne died in July 2025 at the age of 76, just two weeks after performing at Black Sabbath’s mega last-ever show, Back to the Beginning at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.
Following the show and before his death, Ozzy was texting Wylde expressing a desire to record another album, Wylde remembers.
“He was saying, ‘I want to make another record, like when you were going through your Allman Brothers/Lynyrd Skynyrd phase with No More Tears. So it’ll be heavy but melodic.’ And I said, ‘Surely you must be kidding.’ And he goes: ‘No, I’m not kidding – and don’t call me Shirley!’
“I was figuring Ozzy would do his rehab and hopefully get better, and we’d make another record and maybe Mom [Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy’s wife and longtime manager] would do this gig once a year for charity and give him something to strive for.
“Every night when I’m saying my prayers I say hi to him.”
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Courtney Barnett on Kurt Cobain Jaguars, writing for the song, and why she’s learned to push down the feeling she’s “wasting everyone’s time” to nail her guitar solos
When Cournet Barnett was 18, she was hopping around at open mics, performing original songs to anyone who would listen. Soon enough, however, she found herself playing guitar in her first-ever band: the gritty, Melbourne-based grunge collective, Rapid Transit.
The music was riotous, punchy garage rock that only lasted a year, with the outfit releasing a one-off self-titled cassette in December 2010. Barnett is no stranger to seamlessly slipping into new projects – from Immigrant Union to The Olivettes. But, now, as she mulls over her past on a call from LA, it’s clear that phase in her life was one she recalls fondly.
“It’s so cool that you found that,” she enthuses. “I loved that band. I love that music that we made. My friend Chris, that was his band. I joined other bands and did whatever felt fun at the time. Chris and I worked in this bar together, and he asked me to play guitar in his band, and it was so different to what I was doing with my songs, and I loved it.
“Actually, I’ve never really written like that. I didn’t even know what key the songs were in or what chords we were playing! I just remembered all my parts, but I didn’t understand absolutely any of the theory or anything that was going on.”
Image: Lindsey Byrnes
Learning Curve
There are few better ways to cement your place in the music industry firmament than getting a nomination in one of the super prestigious “Big Four” categories at the Grammy Awards, but that’s exactly what happened to Barnett a decade ago when she was nominated for Best New Artist at the 58th Grammys.
Ten years and one month later, she released her poignant, brilliant new album, Creature of Habit. Reflecting on her coming-of-age guitar moments, the Australian musician picks out a quietly confident trick.
“It’s wild to think back to that time now. I would still be scared to go into an open-mic. There’s something really nerve-wracking about it. But I was looking at all those moments as a place to learn, and that’s something I’m always trying to do,” she says. “Every step of the way, with every different-sized show, it’s always good to remember that I’m just trying to serve the song and the storytelling. It doesn’t matter what size the venue or whatever it is, I always want to do a good show.”
It’s early morning and Barnett’s dog, Rosa, is pacing around the flat, eager to get outside. In some way, there’s a similar glimmering enthusiasm of routine in Barnett’s latest full-length album. Creature of Habit emerged in the quiet of Joshua Tree, where she could experiment and chip away at her album, sticking to what felt like the right path. Wisdom, then, is something Barnett is coaxing out of all situations. She explores openly, sinking into the feelings of creative limbo, looking, searching for a moment that strikes, something that feels authentic and right.
“There’s a beauty in an in-between moment of figuring something out and capturing that sound in the studio. It’s usually a guitar solo or something like that that I would typically leave to the last minute and do it based on feeling,” she says. “I’m figuring it out in the moment, and I feel like I’m wasting everyone’s time, but then, at the same time, I think it captures something really raw; it’s right on the edge of falling apart, or you can hear me searching for the notes and I like that. It feels really, really honest.”
Image: Lindsey Byrnes
Breaking The Habit
Finding those moments and little breakthroughs is, as anyone who has tried to write a song can surely attest, is where the real magic is found. But even after more than a decade of making her own music across myriad projects, Barnett still cherishes the lessons she’s learned on the back of Creature Of Habit.
“I think my biggest lesson for this album was about finishing things, especially lyrics,” she reveals. “I left a lot of the lyrics to the last minute and, often, didn’t finish a song. I kind of thought that I’ll figure the rest out later and I’ll get around to it or in the moment, I’ll figure it out, but that just psyched me out and stressed me out.
“It’s normally a bit more structured and things would be more finished. I was experimenting, but I knew if I didn’t have a deadline, I wouldn’t get anything done. I would sit around looking at the sky and waiting for some grand idea to happen.”
One of the album’s standout tracks is Mantis, and this was another song that taught Barnett some valuable lessons in the studio – and was so impactful that the insect the song was inspired by ended up being the album’s cover.
“When I finished writing that song, I felt the album come together like that,” she reveals. “The song felt like the glue. I don’t 100 per cent know why, but it just made all of the songs make sense as a collection, instead of them just being random songs placed together.
“I couldn’t come up with the chorus. I had some random lines that didn’t really make sense. Then, one day, I was at home, and I looked up at my windowsill and saw this praying mantis. I was in a moment where I was feeling really lost and really sad, and I was really having a hard time, and this tiny little mantis felt like this weird sign from the universe. This supportive little creature was kind of telling me I was, I was going in the right direction, and so it became this symbol for me.
“Around that time, I was getting up every morning, I was making a coffee, and then I was sitting down to write, and one of the phrases I wrote one morning was something about being a creature of habit. Then, a year or so later, I was coming up with the album title at the last minute, which I always do, and I thought that line represented all the songs really nicely, both in a kind of abstract way, but also quite an obvious way.”
Tried And True
The album’s title is the sort of thing that obviously promotes discussion about Barnett’s tried and true ways of doing things, and when it comes to her captivatingly jagged and raw approach to guitar, she has a relatable process for how it all comes together – finding the familiar and then pushing beyond it.
“It’s funny how there are always little things that I fall back on,” she explains. “I always pick up a guitar and I’ll go to the same chords I learned as a kid with my guitar teacher, and the pentatonic scale. When I’m soloing or finding notes, I find myself following similar patterns, and then I have to force myself to kind of break out of that. I’ll definitely jump on the tremolo arm often, if I feel kind of lost I’ll make noise with it. But if I pick up a guitar, I go to a G-A-G, and play some kind of country-style strumming pattern – that’s my go-to.”
Fruitful collaboration has been a regular feature of Barnett’s career, and so it’s fitting that the album’s lead single, Site Unseen, sees her working with another indie-rock big-hitter in the shape of Kathryn Crutchfield, aka Waxahatchee.
“I wrote that song at the last minute before we went into the studio the first time,” Barnettt recalls. “This album was recorded in a couple of different sessions, and I wrote it at the last minute. I was sitting with my girlfriend in the studio, and we were talking, but I had the guitar in my hand and the melody in my head.
“I was so distracted, because I was like, ‘Oh my god, what if I forget this song that I’ve kind of written as we’ve been talking…’ My girlfriend was saying something and I was like, ‘I’m so sorry, but I need to record this song and can we just stop talking for one second?’ I did a voice memo of this song idea and then a couple of days later, I showed the band, and we tried to track the song, but I hadn’t really fleshed it out properly.
“Then, six months later, I did a different version of it that wasn’t right and then another one. Finally, it sounded right and I had this idea to get Katie. I asked her if she would be interested in singing this harmony idea that I had floating around in my head, and I thought her voice would be so perfect for it. I really love her songwriting and I think she’s such an amazing artist. I just knew that her voice would be perfect. So I texted her and asked her and she was into it. She did a vocal and it all sounded right to me, but it was a real journey. It took over a year to get it right.”
Image: Press
Going Big
For many fans, the squall of Barnett’s guitar is a magical component of her music, though it was something that took a little bit of a back seat in the sparser arrangements of 2021’s Things Take Time, Take Time. When she started talking about Creature Of Habit, she declared that the guitars would be more overt this time around – a notable thing that begs the question why she felt the need to make such a promise…
“Lots of people seemed to comment that my last album wasn’t guitar-heavy,” she says. “It seemed to be a bit of a comparison, not so much for me, but a few observations from other people. But this does feel bigger, wider and louder. I wrote Things Take Time… in a small apartment during Covid lockdowns on acoustic guitars. It was quite small, quiet and intimate. With this album, I started writing it in the desert with big landscapes and no kind of noise restrictions. I was just playing more guitars, playing electric guitar instead of acoustic on that album. I think, sonically, they’re so different.”
Speaking of playing electric guitars, it would be remiss not to chat about Barnett’s most synonymous guitar – her lefty Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar that has been a constant companion throughout her musical life, and was a key player on Creature Of Habit too.
“I’ve just been using it for so long, and I don’t have that many guitars,” she demures of the guitar’s significance. “I don’t like rotating between a lot of guitars and always come back to it like that. It feels like such a workhorse and it does everything I want it to do; I can play all my songs on it. They all sound good to my ear on that guitar. At the moment, I have that guitar and this white Strat, and they’re the two guitars that I use. I don’t really have any other ones here. I find that Jag can do everything I want it to do.”
A little over a decade on from the debut album that propelled her to global indie-rock stardom, Barnett has understandably learned and experienced a huge amount, but it’s also a career that seems to have gone by in a flash.
“It’s funny that 10 years feels so long ago, but also so like it was kind of just yesterday as well,” she agrees. “It’s such a weird way to look at a time. It feels like another lifetime. I was thinking about this album the other day and there’s always this feeling of nerves and vulnerability as you’re just about to release something. I’m so proud of it and I’m just excited to release it and to perform the songs. I have been working on this for three years, so it feels like such a journey.
“But when other people listen to the music, it kind of becomes something else. People interpret it in different ways, and often I learn more about the music once it‘s released. It’s really interesting to see how songs evolve over time and how they kind of change. Sometimes they might even change meaning or just gain a new meaning. I sat with these ideas for so long. I struggled with a lot of the lyrics. I went through a lot of emotional turmoil and I learned a lot. Now, I can let it go and I can move on with all these lessons learned and perspectives gained. It feels like I can take a breath. It’s a nice bit of closure.”
Courtney Barnett’s Creator of Habit is out now via Milk! Records
The post Courtney Barnett on Kurt Cobain Jaguars, writing for the song, and why she’s learned to push down the feeling she’s “wasting everyone’s time” to nail her guitar solos appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“Supremely stupid idea – we’re going to be so emotional”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee look on to the opening show of Rush’s reunion tour
Rush’s Fifty Something reunion tour has to be one of the most anticipated rock tours in recent memory, as guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist Geddy Lee – with drummer Anika Nilles in tow – head out on the road for the first time in 11 years, and since the tragic death of Neil Peart in 2020.
Speculation has swirled in recent years as to whether Rush would ever head back out on the road, and comments made by Lifeson earlier in 2025 didn’t help, when he said: “I’d rather be remembered for that legacy than return as the top Rush tribute band. Some days I wake up wanting to go out and tour again and some days I don’t.”
But the prog legends sent shockwaves round the rock world in October when they announced plans to head back out on the road once again in 2026. Demand for the shows was so high, in fact, that the band shortly after added 17 more dates.
Rush fans haven’t got long to wait now, either, with the first shows of the trek – not one, not two, but four – at LA’s Kia Forum on 7, 9, 11 and 13 June. As it happens, the venue was where Lee and Lifeson played their last-ever show with Neil Peart in 2015.
And in a new interview with Classic Rock, the pair acknowledge the emotions that will come with performing their first reunited shows at the same venue.
Likening it to “returning to the scene of the crime”, Lifeson says: “Staring at that same clock where it ended, yeah.”
“Supremely stupid idea,” Lee replies. “It’s a massively stupid idea, because we’re going to be so emotional already, that first show without Neil, and then to be in that building. What the fuck was I thinking?” Lifeson concurs: “Yeah, what were we fucking thinking?”
Later in the interview, Lee continues: “Without Neil… I’ll be frank. There are some songs you play where it kind of hits you, it’s bad, and it feels weird. And it’s appropriate that that happens. You know what I mean?
“If we just picked up and went on without feeling any tug of anything, that would be absurd, that would be a whole other thing. And there’ll be moments in both sets where we’ll pay tribute to him. We’re working hard on that, making sure that it’s appropriate.”
Noting the “emotional and logistical aspect” of deciding to reunite as Rush, Lee adds: “There was nothing about this decision that came easily, except when Al looks at me, and I look at him in the studio and we go why the fuck shouldn’t we do this?”
View a full list of dates for the Fifty Something tour at Rush’s official website.
The post “Supremely stupid idea – we’re going to be so emotional”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee look on to the opening show of Rush’s reunion tour appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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