through this direct link to the publishers (https://www.magazinesdirect.com/az-single-issues/6936969/guitarist-magazine-single-issue.thtml), or in selected UK stores. The second of these is the more specialist Guitar Techniques, published in the UK on April 5th, and is issue 347 (cover date also May 2023). They suggest with the help of their videos, you can “learn to play like David Gilmour” (a bold claim!) with five pieces detailed that “celebrate his rhythm, lead, slide and acoustic playing”. The magazine promises “a comprehensive look at the Pink Floyd guitarist’s emotive styles”. Elsewhere in the magazine, there are various technique tutorials from slide to classical. You can buy the magazine online, with worldwide shipping, through this direct link to the publishers (https://www.magazinesdirect.com/az-single-issues/6936964/guitar-techniques-magazine-single-issue.thtml), or in selected UK stores.
Today we have some more new music from respected guitarist Chester Kamen. We know that a good number of you have been enjoying these songs. Amongst many other artists, Chester has toured with Roger Waters, joining his band in 2002 and playing on subsequent tours, and with David Gilmour on his 2016 Rattle That Lock tour. He first played with David back in 1985 during the Live Aid show – David and Chester were both part of Bryan Ferry’s band for that show (as was Jon Carin). Chester has, like many musicians, kept himself busy whilst lockdowns and restrictions due to Covid-19 have called a halt to many things – in particular, live performance. In October, he shared his new piece of music called Take This, that runs for over 23 minutes. Chester told us that Take This is the first side of an album he is currently working on – following, or inspired by, the old Floyd blueprint of one long piece and several songs on the flip side. Since then we’ve seen the first few songs on the second side of the album: Brand New Day, Swimming, I’d Love To Turn You, Lover’s Lane, and Come The Revolution. The new song from Chester – Child Of The Damned – has just arrived, with what reminds us of an early 1970s Floyd vibe to it. Chester noted that there’s “not such a band feel this time. Just me in isolation in Scarborough with a 16 track tape machine and some bananas for food…” We’ll update you as he progresses with the rest of the album, as we know from feedback we’ve had that the songs are proving popular.
Well, it’s that time of year when we look back at the past twelve months, and forward to what the following year is likely to bring. Obviously life for all of us has been somewhat disrupted due to the obvious, with things like concerts on the whole a distant memory! Tour dates for Roger Waters’ This Is Not A Drill outing, and Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets, were originally planned for 2020, with some of them moving to dates this year (2021) and now postponed again to 2022. Whilst in the early days concert postponements and cancellations were disappointing and at times, frustrating or annoying for some, it now seems to have an inevitability to it, and events are routinely cancelled or postponed, some of which at very short notice. We’re remaining hopeful that things improve on the Covid front in 2022 to enable the various tours to happen. It partly relies on a decent take-up of the vaccination programmes ongoing in most countries, and also hopefully no further variants such as Omicron to come and spoil things. In terms of releases and publications, there’s the recently announced PULSE double Blu-ray and double DVD sets, complete with the long awaited return of the flashing LED on the spines. Could there be other things on the horizon? The Animals section has a caption up at the Los Angeles staging of The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains which mentions a release in June 2022, which if that happens, will be a very popular one indeed. There’s also the (slightly delayed) 320-page book from Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell – Through the Prism: Untold rock stories from the Hipgnosis archive, which should be fascinating! We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank you all so much for your support and kindness – the site is done purely for you, and as we approach the staggering total number of visitors since its inception of 100 million (the previous version of the site reached 21 million), we look forward to continuing to bring you news and information from the Floydian world! We might also have some prize opportunities coming your way soon… Whatever your plans for Christmas and the New Year (and we suspect that, like many, they will be smaller scale than in previous years, and potentially just sitting at home!) we hope you have a peaceful, happy and healthy time, and here’s to a 2022 that is significantly better for all of us!
NYC native Dash Hammerstein releases ‘Ghost Dance’, a song taken from his album Wild Apples released earlier this year. Second on the track listing, ‘Ghost Dance’ sets the tone for the sophisticated sound of Wild Apples. Dash Hammerstein possesses an old soul, and his music doesn’t shy away from a retro mishmash of influences; he …
