Also starring Lamb of God & Mastodon, plus Marty Friedman, Bruce Kulick, Towa Bird, Eric Gales' pedalboard, Goo Goo Dolls, our EVH SA-126 review and more
(Image credit: Jen Rosenstein / Future)
As you might've guessed by now, our September 2024 issue brings Slash, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram and Samantha Fish together on the cover for the first time since, well, ever.
And for those of you who are keeping track, this is cover number 4,357,201 for Slash, cover number 2 for Samantha Fish and, depending on how you count them, cover number 2 or 3 for Kingfish. Hell, let's call it 3.
Why did we cram these three humans into a Los Angeles photo studio and take a billion photos of them? Because they – and other great artists, including Warren Haynes, Larkin Poe, Robert Randolph, ZZ Ward, Eric Gales and Jackie Venson – are hitting the road together for a little something called the S.E.R.P.E.N.T Festival.
Slash w/Samantha Fish & Christone "Kingfish" Ingram | Behind-The-Scenes Guitar World Photoshoot - YouTube
Which you can read about in the new issue. And speaking of which, here's what we've crammed into GW this month:
>>> With his S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival, Slash – a favorite son of the '80s L.A. hard rock scene – has put together a summer blues tour for the ages. The GNR guitarist talks B.B. King, some unexpected gear choices and why and how his blues passion was reignited (and what that means for the future).
>>> Christone “Kingfish” Ingram discusses hitting the road with Slash and Experience Hendrix, his LP-style signature guitar (made by Fender), his five essential blues tracks and how it felt growing up as a blues-digging outsider.
>>> S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival co-star Samantha Fish talks meeting Slash (during this issue’s cover shoot), her five essential blues tracks and why you might need a swig of R.L. Burnside’s A Ass Pocket of Whiskey.
>>> ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons – a longtime Slash amigo – discusses his Hoochie Coochie Man gear, Kingfish and the B.B. King album he can’t live without.
>>> Gary Clark Jr. – the one-time "savior of the blues" – has thrown off his many labels and delivered JPEG Raw, his most musically diverse offering yet.
>>> Lefty giant Eric Galesshows off (and explains) (his pedalboard!
>>> Ahead of their joint Ashes of Leviathan tour, Lamb of God’s Mark Morton and Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher look back on having rocked the boat and torched the metal scene with their respective 2004 releases.
>>> On Drama, his vintage-gear-fueled new album, former Megadeth man Marty Friedman promises “the absolute purest, highest-percentage, highest-calorie version” of who he is as a guitarist and artist.
>>> Bruce Kulick – the steady-as-a-rock guitarist during Kiss’s non-makeup era – discusses the making of Crazy Nights, Hot in the Shade and Revenge (and, um, not being asked to take part in the band's final shows).
>>> No amp company launched over the past two decades has infiltrated the market quite like Blackstar Amplication. As we learn from two head designers, their secret lies in understanding what modern guitar players need – and then thinking outside the box.
Plus new interviews with Towa Bird, Nick Johnston, Goo Goo Dolls' Johnny Rzeznik, Witherfall's Jake Dreyer, Parlor Greens' Jimmy James, Blushing's Michelle Soto, Jamie Dickson and Orianthi.
Gear-wise, we explore the history and allure of the Gibson Explorer and review a whole bunch of stuff, namely:
>>>EVH SA-126 Special
>>>Orangewood Guitars Juniper Sunburst Live (Rubber Bridge)
>>>Warm Audio Warm Bender and Ringerbringer pedals
>>>Dophix Medici More Fuzz.
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
