Jeff Floro's All About Guitar

The late 1960's and early 1970's - this was an exciting and vibrant time for music, especially in Los Angeles. And there was Fanny, headed by June and Jean Millington. They, as an all girl rock band, opened the door for groups like the Runaways and the Go-Go's. And June and Jean, along with such renowned artists like Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell, opened the door for many women artists in rock to come! But Fanny wasn't just a bunch of beautiful women, they were musicians with chops to spare!! Jean still is an amazing bassist and June is a consumate rock and blues guitarist. And her slide guitar playing is some of the best!! I will be talking to June about her playing, her influences, her guitars and amps, and explore her new autobiography "Land of a Thousand Bridges - Island Girl in a Rock & Roll World." We will also talk about her the Institute for the Musical Arts (IMA), and organization founded by June and Ann Hackler to help women develop into extraordinary artists.

It's another great night delving into the secrets of great tone! Since 1994 Larry Pollack has strived to raise the bar in the design and improvement of musical instrument electronics. His background in engineering, mathematics and music have guided him there for 40 years! Aero Instruments has been one of the most popular places to get custom made to order pickups for bass guitar, guitar, ukulele, pedal steel and other stringed instruments. Larry works with the players to get the sounds they want and need. We talk to Larry about the different types of pickups, the materials used to get certain sounds and take a listen to some of these renowned pickups! Joining us also in-studio are two of his clients: Jazz player and educator Jimmy Hewitt uses Aero pickups on his guitar and will be showing his setup. And sideman and session bassist David Inamine shows us his bass pickups he uses gigging.

We all have heard some amazing guitarists who can solo like there's no tomorrow. And it's

always fun to let loose and improvise! But life isn't always all soloing! As most session players know, a

lot of guitar playing in the trenches is playing in a rhythm section and accompanying a singer or group. But

let's take it further. What about when you the only instrument accompanying a vocalist? How do you best make

the song and vocalist sound great? Singer/Songwriter/Performer Susan Sheller joins me to talk about how she

uses her guitar to back up her vocals and effectively support her songs. Susan is a solo artist who has

opened for Leon Russell, Kenny Loggins, Robben Ford, Coco Montoya and Johnny Winter, among others. Just Susan

and her guitars (She has a great collection!) We find out how Susan uses her guitars to back her

up!

Tonight is another night of great chops and killer tone! Joining me tonight is guitarist

Steve Fister! Steve has worked with Steppenwolf, Pat Travers Band, Stu Hamm and Jack Cassidy. He was the

musical director for Lita Ford and has 9 solo albums under his belt. He is presently playing in the Tri-Fecta

with bassist Ric Fierabracci and drummer Ray Brinker, with their new album, "The Tri-Fecta - A Triple Threat."

We talk to Steve about his solo career and his playing in The Tri-Fecta, his tone, his gear, and take a look

at his new signature model guitar made by Godin!

It's another night of great tone! Bobby Cochran returns to the show (He joined us on our

"surf music" show with Tom Potts and Matt Quilter, 8-3-2015). Tonight we talk about his work as a guitarist

for hire, having worked with Steppenwolf, The Flying Burrito Bros. and Leon Russell. A man of many styles,

wearing many hats, we also talk to him about his famous uncle, Eddie Cochran (Summertime Blues), his tone,

technique, gear and his session work bouncing from Los Angeles and Nashville.

With the LA Amp Show coming up this coming weekend, it seems appropriate that I have a

pedal manufacturer that I met at the Guitar Pedal Expo, the sister show of the LA Amp Show. They had some

great pedals at the show and I ended up buying one a couple of months later. My guest is Sean Pierce Johnson

of Neunaber Audio Effects. Neunaber make some great digital pedals. We will be exploring them. I will also

be playing an exclusive clip from the new album by Those American Girls, "All Time Smash Hits," which I used

my Neunaber Seraphim Shimmer pedal on the Dolly Parton song "Try" sung by Alicia American and Ariel Petrie.

My guest host for this week is Loni Spector, the man who makes the LA Amp Show and Pedal Expo happen! We will

get a sneak peak on what to expect at the LA Amp Show!

Since 1975, Janet and Greg Deering started building banjos and Deering Banjos have become

the largest manufacturer of banjos in America. And with good reason! These banjos are quality made, and are

available in price ranges that everyone can afford. Joining us is Jaime Deering, Vice-President of Expansion,

at Deering Banjo. Also returning to the show is Deering Artist David Maldonado, a mult-instrumentalist and

recording artist. David will be bringing down his Deering Banjos and we will find out what makes Deering

Banjos the choice of some of the best banjo players worldwide!!

To continue with our look at new and innovative ideas and techniques being utilized in

teaching our children how to play music and how it can improve their lives in many other ways, we welcome back

Linda and Les Wise! We had them on before, on the FLO Guitar-Enthusiasts, once explaining their teaching

curriculum, The Deliberate Musician, and they had also returned with a case study to see the program in

action. Tonight we talk about their DVD program of The Deliberate Musician, which was made by Linda

especially for kids. The impact this can have on a child's emotional well being, besides the obvious benefits

to their musicianship, cannot be stressed enough. And to help me explore this with Linda and Les, I am joined

by last week's guest Jessica Baron, of Guitars In The Classroom. We will talk with Linda and Les about the

development of this special version of The Deliberate Musician for Kids and explore how much more it can

impact your child's future!

We are honored to have Steve Vai on the show tonight! Steve has truly pioneered guitar

playing and music and has taken the instrument into areas no one has gone before! We talk to Steve about his

playing, his writing, and some of the other things that have made him who he is today! Steve is very much

into supporting up and coming musicians and education and we talk to him about his involvement with the Make A

Noise Foundation and the Vai Academy. A fascinating exploration into the mind and spirit of Steve you won't

want to miss!!

If you have been playing professionally for some time, eventually you will need a manager.

How do you pick a manager? What's the difference between a manager and an agent? We talk to legendary

manager Bennett Glotzer about just that! Bennett was a lawyer that decided to become a manager and in 1967

started managing Blood, Sweat & Tears. Other clients he has managed are Procol Harum, Tom Rush, among

others. He formed Grossman-Glotzer Management with Albert Grossman in 1969 and managed Janis Joplin, The

Band, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Gordon Lightfoot, The Paul Winter Consort, and others like Gil Evans and

Otis Rush. In 1973 he moved to California and, untill 2003, managed artists like Frank Zappa, Nina Hagen and

Gang Of Four. We will talk to Bennett about how management has changed, dealing with new technologies, social

media, and, most importantly, the do's and don't's when choosing the manager for you!