Jeff Floro's All About Guitar

If you are into classical and flamenco guitar, you are in for a special treat! We are honored to have in studio guitarist Eric Hansen. Eric has just released his new album Glistening and we are going to take a look at it and Eric's playing. Eric is in town to do a series of concerts with Jim Stubblefield, of Incendio, and Jim joins us in studio to talk about this new endeavor and guitar playing in general. And, as an added bonus, we have Dan Sistos in studio to join in the fun! We will talk about Glistening, Hansen-Stubblefield, guitars, tone, recording, and also Eric installing the Carlos Juan pickups in his guitars and Jim Stubblefield's main axe!

The best word to describe Marc Mann and his musical career is "diverse." Besides being a session guitarist and a touring musician for such artists as the Electric Light Orchestra and Oingo Boingo. He also played in the Concert for George alongside Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. He is a film composer and has worked for many years with Danny Elfman, credited for MIDI supervision and orchestration. Projects included Men In Black, Mars Attacks!, Planet Of The Apes, and Alice In Wonderland. Marc worked with Jeff Lynne (ELO) on the Beatles project taking tapes of John Lennon and finishing the songs. Marc also did string arrangements for George Harrison's posthumous album "Brainwashed." We talk to Marc about his guitar playing, his great tone, his gear. We also take a look at Marc's arranging, programming, orchestration and how guitar fits into the picture!

Steve Fister returns to All About Guitar and we talk about his new album and new band, "Electro-Acoustic!" Steve pulls out all the stops and raises the bar with this new album. We take a pre-release preview of this great album and talk with Steve about its development, exploring new techniques and guitars!

Los Angeles is a melting pot of different peoples, cultures and music. When we hear people talk about the "L.A" sound, people think of the work of the Wrecking Crew and all the hits and artists they propelled into the charts, but there were a lot more musicians and music happening from the 1960's and beyond. A lot of music has come out of East L.A. Groups like The Delgado Brothers, El Chicano, Tierra and Los Lobos were taking their Latin American roots and exploring soul and R&B and creating a very interesting mix. And Joey Delgado was in the middle of it, combining R&B, soul, rock and blues and creating a unique voice in the L.A. music scene. Joey Delgado joins us and talks about the East L.A. music scene, his guitar playing, incredible tone, the importance of rhythm guitar in the band The Delgado Brothers.

I had heard of Pearlman mics at NAMM, but really got my attention was when Carbe-Durand was on the show talking about their new album "A Bridge Between" and I was commenting how great the guitars sounded. Jean-Pierre mentioned that they use these new mics they got, Pearlmans, on almost all of the cuts. Dave Pearlman, the creator of these extraordinary microphones, is a guitar player, and a pedal steel player (stay tuned for Dave coming on the show with his pedal steel later in the fall). Dave has backed such artists as Dan Fogelberg, REO Speedwagon, Phil Everly, among others. He also has built a successful recording studio and won an award engineering a Grammy winning album. So Dave knows both sides of the microphone, in front and behind the console. We talk to Dave about microphones, what compelled him to bring a new set of microphones into the market, his take on great sound and how to capture it.

The sideman, the session guitarist, most people have heard their work but few know who they are. But these session musicians have made an impact on today's music just as much as the artists they have worked for. Two examples of great session/side musicians are Steve Postell and Danny Kortchmar. Steve was a member of the group Pure Prairie League and went on to work on Broadway on such shows as "Evita" and "The Man From La Mancha." He has composed for TV and film, was the music director for Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Princes Lea in "Aladdin"), has developed music education apps (On The Path) and fronts the "Night Train Music Club" featuring some of the finest musicians in the country. Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar has toured and recorded with such artists as James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Don Henley, and Carole King. He was a member of the Fugs back in the 1960's and is one of LA top session guitarists. We talk to these great musicians about their work, both past and present, and where it has led them and where they think it is going.

I am truly honored to have one of the great guitarists of our time, Albert Lee, on the show. He is the definition of great technique and great tone! He has played with such notables as Emmy Lou Harris, Joe Cocker, The Everly Brothers, The Crickets, and Eric Clapton, among others and has been an in-demand session guitarist for many artists. Albert's Telecaster tone has one of the most emulated by guitarists in rock and country! I will be talking with Albert about his tone, his technique, his gear through the years, and the development of his new signature guitar made by Ernie Ball/Music Man!

Rosemary Butler is known as an incredible vocalist. She has sang and toured with artists like James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Bette Midler, The Doobie Brothers, Jackson Browne, Kenny Loggins and many, many more! But she is also another important part of music history. Rosemary was the bassist and vocalist for the all girl rock band Birtha. (Birtha and Fanny were the two girl groups that paved the way for other women groups like the Bangles, The Runaways, etc.) We take a look at Rosemary's career: from being with Birtha and up to her latest new album, "You Just Watch Me."

At NAMM last January, I got a chance to check out the Yamaha booth and saw some amazing new guitars and amps. Yamaha product specialists Andy Winston and Armando Vega showed me the new Revstar guitars and the THR100H Modeling amp. These are great sounding guitars and they play great! And this new amp was really impressive! I was able to get Andy and Armando, both amazing guitarists by the way, to take a break demoing these great Yamaha products all over the country to come down to the studio and show us the Revstar guitars and THR100 amp. Andy and Armando will give us an in depth look at these guitars and amp and also give us a glimpse of what else is new at Yamaha!

Ali Handal is an amazing guitarist and artist! As a singer songwriter, she is just as comfortable playing hard rock as she is doing fingerstyle guitar, or rock. As a session musician, she has worked with people like Neil Young and Paul Williams. But she also is a teacher. Ali has written a book, "Guitar for Girls," and it is an excellent "Beginner's guide to playing Acoustic or Electric guitar!" We talk to Ali about her career, playing guitar, and her book! Joining me, as my guest host, is Jessica Baron, founder of Guitars In The Classroom. If you have a daughter that is interested in playing guitar, or you are interested in playing yourself, please check out this show!