05/01

Hello, and welcome to the latest update from your friends at J. D'Addario.

Inside this month's newsletter, read about the latest from our endorsees, including Thom Hannum, David Northrup, Dave Matthews, Mark Egan, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Dennis Chambers, Robert Cray, Victor Indrizzo, Johnny Rabb, Bill Evans and many more. Please read on!

Artist Quote of the Month:

"Finally, I've found the ligature I've been looking for all my life." - Vandoren artist Paquito D'Rivera

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Evans News:

Evans is proud to welcome drummer Victor Indrizzo to our family of Performing Artists. Victor is currently holding down the groove with the eclectic Beck. Victor recently recorded tracks for the upcoming Macy Gray release and will tour with Macy this summer. Victor has also recorded and toured with Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris, Scott Weiland, and many others. Welcome aboard Victor!

Static-X, featuring drummer Ken Jay, is currently on tour with Pantera and Slayer. Ken keeps it heavy with Evans Power Center snares and G2 tom heads.

The BBC has commissioned Peter Erskine to write a composition titled "Music for Brass & Percussion." This evening of music will premiere on May 24 in Leeds, UK, and will be broadcast "live" on BBC Radio. Peter will follow that tour with a clinic at England's Orchard Percussion, and will then appear with his new group "Trio E_L_B" featuring guitarist Nguyen Le and bassist Michel Benita in Paris. All this and a 2-day clinic / concert gig at Wesleyan University in Fort Worth as well! Go Peter!

Dennis Chambers hosts several clinics with bassist Billy Sheehan at select Daddy's Junky Music locations. Visit <http://www.evansdrumheads.com/clinice/home.html> for more info.

Billy Ashbaugh is currently rehearsing for NSYNC's upcoming tour. The tour, which consists of 85 trucks and stops at 60,000+-person venues only, will be the biggest road production in the history of pop music.

Thom Hannum, Associate Director of Percussion at the University of Massachusetts and D'Addario Musician's Advisory Board member, is hosting clinics this month at the 11th Annual Athens Percussion Festival, the 11th Annual Mobile Percussion Seminar Regional, and at the 2nd Annual MPS at Leander High School in Austin, TX.

David Northrup is currently on the road with Travis Tritt. David can also be heard on Neville Brothers' guitarist Shane Theriot's Debut CD Highway 90 along with D'Addario endorsee Adam Nitti.

Thom Hannum is the Percussion Arranger for the Broadway smash-hit BLAST! The production has received outstanding reviews in the international press. Congratulations to Thom!

Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez is a whirlwind! Some of his recent activities include recordings with John Patitucci, Cuban singer/songwriter Juan Carlos Formell, and his own project with producers & engineers of The Wu Tang Clan. Live performances included gigs with Eddie Palmieri and Richie Flores and at the Maelstrom Percussion Festival. To top it all off, while in Istanbul, Horacio was honored to host the first drum clinic EVER presented in Turkey.

Johnny Rabb is currently finishing up his instructional book / CD for Warner Bros. Entitled Jungle/Drum 'N' Bass for the Acoustic Drumset, the book will be released at summer NAMM. Johnny recently performed at the Frankfurt Musikmesse and hosted clinics in France. His clinic tour continues at select Guitar Center and Sam Ash music stores this month.

Pat McDonald, drummer for the Charlie Daniels Band, has been busy indeed. The CDB is traveling the country headlining a bill that includes Trent Sumner and The New Row Mob, the Dickey Betts Band, and 38 Special. In addition, the CDB has been busy recording and has just finished mastering another live record from last year's Volunteer Jam tour. Pat relies on Evans EQ3 on the kick, G2 clears for his toms, black Resonants on the bottoms, and a G2 coated for his snare.

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D'Addario News:

"EXP strings remain bright for ages." - Graham Pattison (Joseph Arthur's guitar tech)

D'Addario sponsors the U.S.A. Songwriting Competition featuring a grand prize of $50,000! For more info, visit <http://www.songwriting.net>.

Check out feature articles on David Gray and Lucinda Williams in this month's Rolling Stone.

Bassist Mark Egan has just completed a new CD entitled Freedom Town. Look for a June release.

Al DiMeola recently completed a tour of Russia.

B.R.M.C releases their debut on Virgin Records. A must hear for fans of T. Rex and Jesus & Mary Chain, B.R.M.C. is currently on the road.

The Robert Cray Band releases a new CD entitled Shoulda Been Home on the Rykodisc label. Here's what Robert had to say recently about D'Addario's new EXP coated acoustic strings, "I really like the way the EXP strings stay bright and fresh."

Rockers Systematic will appear on the second stage of the upcoming Ozzfest tour.

Dave Mathews is currently on tour in support of his latest Everyday. Dave uses EXP17s for his acoustic 6-string, EXL115 on his electric 6-string, EJ39 on his acoustic 12-string, and custom gauges for his acoustic baritone.

Guitarist Chris Camozzi releases SlowBurn on Samson records.

Blues Traveler releases their latest, entitled Bridge.

Guitarist Willy Porter is on the road with Paul Simon.

Check out guitarist Jim Campilongo in the May 2001 issue of Guitar Player. Jim will be launching his new instructional site featuring monthly guitar tips, instructional mp3s, and bootleg mp3s. For more info, visit <http://www.jimcampilongo.com>.

Todd Parsnow has recently finished recording with Kirk Franklin for the soundtrack to the film Kingdom Come starring Whoopi Goldberg and L.L. Cool J.

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Planet Waves News:

Planet Waves guitar straps are creating quite a buzz out in the field. These high-quality straps are currently on the road with Styx, Fear Factory, David Gray, PJ Harvey, Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, The Wallflowers, and many, many more.

What the Pros are saying about Planet Wave cables:

"Planet Waves Cables are the cleanest-sounding cables we've ever used." - Dennis Smith (Andy Summers' guitar tech)

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Vandoren News:

Baron Raymonde will be touring the US with Rod Stewart.

Eric Marienthal hosts a clinic on May 26th at Whittaker Music in Long Beach, CA.

Bill Evans recently completed a sold-out tour of Europe with his group The Soul Insiders. Look for Bill's latest CD entitled Soul Insider to be released in June. For more Bill news, visit <http://www.billevanssax.com>.

Norbert Stachel is currently on the road with Tower of Power.

Thanks for tuning in!

Your friends at J. DAddario & Company, Inc.

http://www.daddario.com