08/01

Hello and welcome to the latest update from your friends at J. D'Addario & Company. Inside this month's newsletter, read about the latest from our endorsees including Kenney Dale Johnson, Alex Acuna, Dave Alvin, Alphonso Johnson, Nickel Creek, John Hammond, Ricky Skaggs and many more. Please read on!

To submit artist news, please e-mail John Ferrante at
john.ferrante@daddario.com

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Consumer Quote of the Month:

"I play a Lowden guitar and am a long-time user of D'Addario strings. I just wanted to give you all the thumbs-up for the EXP coated guitar strings. That great D'Addario sound is still there and they are superior strings!" - Brendan of Dublin, Ireland (via e-mail)

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Artist Quote of the Month:

"Your new EXP strings are killin'! They stay bright and crisp for a long time, even in a hot place like Dallas, Texas! Thank you once again D'Addario!" - Guitarist Todd Parsnow

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Evans News:

Evans is proud to welcome Mr. Kenney Dale Johnson to our family of Performing Artists. Kenney has held the drum chair for Chris Isaak for the past 16 years. He and the band are currently in the studio working on their eighth album. In addition, Kenney can be seen on the Showtime Original comedy The Chris Isaak Show, which has received critical praise from the LA Times, NY Times and TV Guide. The band will begin shooting for their second season in this fall. Welcome aboard Kenney!

Evans is proud to become the official drumhead for the Hard Rock Live @ Universal Citywalk in Orlando, FL. The club's backline kit never sounded better!

Alex Acuna continues to add his special magic to numerous studio gigs and movie sound track sessions in Los Angeles. Alex is also busy mixing two of his solo Latin Jazz CDs with his bands Tolu and the Unknowns. In addition, Alex recently finished mastering a messianic CD entitled ALIYAH for which he produced and performed.

Dennis Chambers. Check out his latest news: just completed a tour with CAB (Bunny Brunell, Brian Auger, Tony MacAlpine), recorded 10 tracks with Santana, touring with Mike Stern, and working with Darryl Jones (bass player with The Stones) and Andy Summers (guitar player from The Police). Sounds busy, huh?

Gerry Brown is currently on tour with bassist Marcus Miller. The tour has been so successful that additional dates have recently been added.

During his downtime between Joe Walsh gigs, Drew Hester is touring with rockers Common Sense in support of their latest CD.

Johnny Rabb recently hosted a drum clinic with fellow Evans endorsees Tobias Ralph, Marko Djordjevic, and Tom Roady in Nashville; the clinic was co-sponsored by Evans. Tobias also conducted a Master Class focusing on Jungle/Drum 'n' Bass techniques for the acoustic drum set at The Collective in New York City.

Brian Mason, Percussion Director and Designer for the Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps and Instructor of Percussion at Morehead State University, has been busy indeed! In addition to spending his summer months with Phantom Regiment, Brian has been actively involved as a drummer/percussionist with the Dave Beegle Band, as a guest Percussion Clinician at the Smith/Walbridge clinic at Eastern Illinois University, and as a studio session ace laying down percussion tracks for Simple Truth's latest album, Hear The Word.

Congratulations to Thomas Pridgen for his acceptance into Berklee College of Music and for receiving the Jimmy Lyons Scholarship Award! Way to go Thomas!

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D'Addario News:

D'Addario is proud to welcome roots rocker Dave Alvin to our family of performing artists. Called "one of Americana's most important figures" by the Los Angeles Times, Alvin burst onto the music scene in 1979 with his legendary band The Blasters. Since that time, this talented Guitarist/songwriter has released several acclaimed solo records. His latest CD entitled Public Domain won Dave a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album.

RCA recording artists The Calling, featuring bassist Billy Mohler and Evans endorsee Nate Wood, begin a North American tour in Sept. The Calling's first single, entitled "Wherever You Will Go" has been riding high on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. The band will be touring with Lifehouse. Billy gets his great tone from D'Addario Prisms and Planet Waves cables.

Guitarist Chris Whitley's Rocket House is performing at the Gavin Triple A Summit this month in Colorado. Also on the bill at this radio industry convention is fellow D'Addario endorsee Ms. Lucinda Williams.

Bill & Bonnie Hearne, Dave Alvin, & John Hammond are featured on The I-10 Chronicles, Vol 2. This Virgin/Backporch release features tunes about life and love from the heart of Texas to the Florida coast. For more info, please visit www.backporchrecords.com

Andy Fairweather Lowe is currently on the road with Eric Clapton. Andy is using D'Addario EJ46 strings on his featured performance of Clapton's Tears In Heaven.

Squeeze frontman Glenn Tilbrook is currently on a solo acoustic tour. Glenn's band mates on this solo tour are his trusty D'Addario EJ26 & EJ38 acoustic strings!

Future rockers Orgy are currently writing and rehearsing material for their next album. The band is also providing a song for Zoolander, a Ben Stiller film coming out in September.

Ricky Skaggs is currently on tour, burning it up with his D'Addario EXP strings!

Bassist Alphonso Johnson's band Jazz Is Dead release their latest CD entitled Great Sky River. The band features D'Addario endorsee Jeff Pevar on Guitars, Rod Morgenstein on drums and T Lavitz on keyboards. The band will be on a promotional tour in support of the CD from August 8th through the 18th.

John Hiatt is currently featured on three-act tour with BB King and Buddy Guy. Talk about a stellar lineup! John is using D'Addario EJ17, EXL140 and EJ38s.

Look for Blue Highway's latest CD coming out on Rounder Records in September. The band recently performed at the Grand Ole Opry. In October, Blue Highway performs with Emmy Lou Harris in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Bluegrass artists Nickel Creek are currently on a nationwide tour. The band recently performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Guitarist Sean Watkins also released his first solo CD entitled Let It Fall. For more info, please visit www.sugarhillrecords.com.

Bassist Reginald Veal performs with Dianne Reeves at the Playboy Jazz Fest at the Hollywood Bowl this month.

Fiddler April Verch is currently in pre-production stages for a new recording, scheduled for release on Rounder Records. She is very excited to be working with one of her all-time fiddle heroes, Bruce Molsky, who will be producing the follow-up to her Rounder debut. April is presently on tour.

PJ Harvey's current album Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea has been nominated for the highly prestigious Mercury Music prize in the UK.

This month Aaron Von Cello hosts a clinic for the New York State School Music Association's Summer Conference. Aaron will be conducting the NYSSMA Director's Orchestra in a performance of his Pacific Northwest Suite for strings.

Eddie from Ohio releases their seventh CD entitled Quick. For more info on this acoustic quartet, please visit www.efohio.com.

Guitarist Todd Parsnow has been on many guitar ventures recently. Todd performed with R&B/Gospel act Mary Mary at Six Flags in the scorching heat in Dallas, is touring Japan with the Kirk Franklin band this month, and is recording for jazz saxophonist Joe Vincelli.

The Joel Rafael Band is featured on two compilation albums being released this month. The first, entitled Folkscene: Volume Three on Red House Records features a live version of "Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key." The second CD, entitled Pete Seeger Celebration: Volume Two on Appleseed Recordings features an awesome rendition of "Last Train To Nuremberg." The band just returned from the 4th annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, OK and will perform this month at the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival in Lyons, CO.

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In Classical news:

French guitarist Roland Dyens and D'Addario endorsee Elena Papandreou recently performed the Greek premiere of Roland Dyens' Concertomaggio for two guitars and strings in Athens Greece with the Orchestra of Colours and Miltos Logiadis conductor. It was the first time that Roland Dyens played this piece of his (commissioned by the Amadeus duo) and the first time he played with Elena Papandreou.

In addition to various recitals and masterclasses, guitarist Emanuele Segre recently participated in two particularly interesting events. Segre performed for 'Le Settimane musicali di Stresa e del Lago Maggiore' interpreting the 'Romancero Gitano' by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco for guitar and choir in the stunning Monastery of Saint Catherine on Lake Maggiore. This unusual combination is based on the seven lyrical poems by the Andalusian Garcia Lorca and evokes Spanish folklore motifs. Segre will also be at the 'Isola Musicale d'Europa' Festival in Elba where he will perform three times in the Portoferraio Theatre.

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Planet Waves News:

What the Pros are saying about Planet Waves:

"I have now cabled our entire backline with Planet Waves. Sounds and works great! Have had production and band techs noticing and inquiring about them. Been giving them my personal seal of approval and vote of confidence." - Daved, tech Robben Ford Band

News Flash: Planet Waves redesigns the Planet Lock!

Lock your guitar strap down tight with a Planet Lock. New design allows the lock to swivel, so it will fit better on guitars, especially instruments with end pins that are located on the back of the guitar's body. Perfect for all you Gibson SG players out there! The Planet Lock is also now made with an overmolded, soft rubber bottom which is safer for delicate guitar surfaces.

Coming Soon from Planet Waves:

The Planet Waves cable line continues to grow with the addition of in-line and offset 1/4" to 1/4" male adapters! Tune in next month for details.

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Vandoren News:

Eric Marienthal is currently touring with the Rippingtons. For tour dates, please visit www.ericmarienthal.com. Eric's third annual High Hopes benefit concert in Newport Beach was a huge success with special guest artists Vest Williams and Phil Perry. Eric's new record Turn up the Heat was recently released on Peak records.

Jazz Saxophonist Mel Martin and his group Bebop and Beyond 2000 will be performing at The First Annual Berkshire Jazz Festival in Great Barrington, MA on August 25 & 26. Mel will also perform with noted drummer Sylvia Quenca and, in addition, host two clinics.

Vandoren saxophonist and recording artist Steve Slagle just finished a 2-week tour with his Stryker-Slagle Band, ending with a live broadcast from NYC's WBGO studio. Steve uses Java alto #4 reeds to get his sound.

Get the latest D'Addario, Evans, Planet Waves, and Vandoren news at http://www.daddario.com