No Guitar Is Safe

Simon McBride is one of the most exciting guitarists in the arena rock realm. As guitarist for Deep Purple (taking over after Steve Morse wrapped up his astounding 28-year tenure with the band in early 2022), Simon has given the British rock legends a fiery new guitar voice on everything from classic hits such as “Hush” and “Highway Star” to brand-new singles including “Arrogant Boy” and “Diablo.” In this episode I first relive the recent Canada/U.S. tour that I, as a member of Jefferson Starship, was lucky to be on with Deep Purple — my third in five years! — including playing for you a recent live recording I made of Simon’s astounding guitar cadenza in Calgary, Alberta on August 31. Then, I power up the time machine and take you back to a big backstage room at Rudolf Weber Arena in Oberhausen, Germany, to hear an encore of the great interview we did there on November 2, 2022. Catch Deep Purple on tour all over Europe starting late September!

Huge thanks to GuitarPlayer.com for making this episode happen. To play better and sound better, follow Guitar Player!

— JUDE GOLD, host and creator, No Guitar Is Safe

Can you play the secret "Tommy Alderson chord"? (This juicy power chord is MONEY!) Are you hip to the awesomeness that is a wet/dry rig? Want insight into one of the most badass classic rock bands still touring (Deep Purple) and their two great guitarists of recent decades (Simon McBride and Steve Morse)? Well, hit play! Tommy Alderson and I have been friends since my first tour (I play with Jefferson Starship) supporting Purple all over Europe, and now, as the bands unite for their third tour (Canada and the U.S.), it is the perfect time to release two interviews/guitar hangs I have done with Tommy, Purple's great guitar tech who also happens to be a great player — as you'll hear, from his work on D Corridori's album Feed the Right Wolf and other projects. The first interview you'll hear took place just before we left for this tour; the second takes us back in time to a great guitar hang/jam/interview that took place backstage at a huge arena we played in Oberhausen, Germany, in November 2022. Enjoy, and be sure to check out GuitarPlayer.com, who made this episode possible.

—JUDE GOLD, host/creator, No Guitar Is Safe

Winning Nuno Bettencourt’s “Play With Me” challenge at the age of 14 — and catching my attention just two years later at a semi-secret guitar event in Los Angeles — RANGGA RINGROSE has a fiery brand of shred guitar that is turning heads. He even caught the ears of Mr. Paul Reed Smith, who has made the young Southern California guitar phenom an endorsing artist. Now, having reached the whopping age of 17, Rangga becomes the youngest player ever to be featured on No Guitar Is Safe podcast, where, as you’ll hear, he blazes on various PRS guitars for you, as I try to figure out how he became so good so fast.

Huge thanks to GuitarPlayer.com for making this episode happen. To play better and sound better, follow Guitar Player ... and this podcast!

— JUDE GOLD, host and creator, No Guitar Is Safe

Two weeks ago I opened for BILLY IDOL — who, of course, was joined on stage by his forever guitarist STEVE STEVENS. This was a fun outdoor concert at the Lakefront Music Festival in Minnesota. It was great to say hi to Steve backstage for a minute, and super inspiring to watch him dazzle the the crowd with his great guitar playing — so inspiring, in fact, that I figured we ought to revisit this epic guitar hang from the summer of 2016 at his then-Los Angeles studio, where he plugged in, played his ass off, and showed us how he and Billy Idol forged one of the greatest singer/guitar player partnerships in rock history. Enjoy!

—Jude Gold, Host and Creator, No Guitar Is Safe

PRESENTED BY GUITAR PLAYER. guitar player.com

KIRK FLETCHER ’s dedication to all things blues related is infectious. He’s so great at playing blues guitar, I swear, just LISTENING to him play can make you a better blues player yourself. And, luckily for you, he plays a ton of guitar for you on this new interview. (Bonus: As you’ll hear in the middle of the episode, we DO revisit the juicy blues shuffles he showed us during his first appearance on No Guitar Is Safe several years ago.) Huge thanks to GuitarPlayer.com for making this episode happen. To play better and sound better, follow Guitar Player.

— JUDE GOLD, host and creator, No Guitar Is Safe

Let’s flashback to 2018, in the weeks after ELLIOT EASTON and THE CARS were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and we recorded this guitar deep dive and career retrospective with Easton in his home studio. On this episode Elliot plugs in and shows you exactly how he created iconic guitar parts that helped the Cars score many high-charting hit albums and singles. Elliot also shares music from his band, THE EMPTY HEARTS, and reflects on what he learned tracking Cars guitar parts with super-producers such as ROY THOMAS BAKER and ROBERT JOHN "MUTT" LANGE. Presented by Guitar Player magazine and guitarplayer.com. Hosted by JUDE GOLD — who, at the beginning of this episode, shows you how he recorded the guitar solo on Jefferson Starship’s forthcoming single.

Charlie Hunter’s love of all things groove-related is infectious — and after you take in this deep guitar hang and jam with the prolific 6-, 7-, and 8-stringer (Charlie’s custom bass/guitar hybrid instruments are always evolving) you’ll likely be inspired to take the art of “lockin’ it in the pocket” to a higher level in your own playing. Additionally, we dive deep into such musical topics as melodic phrasing, why Charlie keeps his iPhone in mono audio mode, his amazing new album with Ella Feingold (called Different Strokes for Different Folks), which single rock band he feels truly knows how to groove, and which guitar player knocked him out (literally!) when he was 12 years old. I was thrilled to record this episode at Earthtones Recording Studio in Greensboro, NC, with producer/engineer Benjy Johnson at the console. Thanks to GuitarPlayer.com for making this episode happen. To play better and sound better, follow Guitar Player!

— JUDE GOLD, host and creator, No Guitar Is Safe

From Gov’t Mule to the Allman Brothers Band to his prolific solo career, Warren Haynes has long been one of the busiest, hardest working guitarists in rock and jam band circles. In the deep guitar hang that follows, the famed guitarist/singer/songwriter plugs in a Les Paul and shares everything from how to approach Allman Brothers-style twin leads to how he learned to survive playing onstage with the late, great (and apparently very loud!) guitar legend Dickey Betts, to how to release multiple albums in just two years. Thank you, Warren. And thanks to GuitarPlayer.com for making this episode happen. Enjoy!

— JUDE GOLD, host and creator, No Guitar Is Safe

Today, I report on a behind-the-scenes tour of the GRAMMYS I was lucky to take on Day One of artist rehearsals at Crypto Arena, relive adventures from the three JEFF BECK tribute concerts I played earlier this month, and share with you one of the most inspiring guitar performances I saw at this year's NAMM convention — PHILIP SAYCE's soul-stirring, fret-melting set in the Anaheim Hilton's cavernous lobby. In fact, Sayce was so mind-bogglingly great that night, I decided to include in this episode an ENCORE of our May, 2022, interview/jam, recorded at his home in Los Angeles. ALSO: Hope you enjoyed the Eric Gales episode, which posted last week. Today's and last week's episodes are presented by Guitar Player and guitarplayer.com

Today we “fly the ‘copter” across the country to plug in with blues/rock powerhouse ERIC GALES at Earthtones Recording — the Greensboro, North Carolina studio where guitar phenom does most of his tracking. With his second Grammy-nominated album out (2025’s A Tribute to LJK — recorded in honor of his brother Manuel “Little Jimmy King” Gales) — plus a new signature model Kiesel guitar in the works (he plays one of the prototypes on this episode), tons of 2026 tour dates on the calendar, and an in-depth guitar course from TrueFire.com just released, Eric is as busy as ever. So, I appreciate him taking some time to talk guitar and music with me, jam with me, detail his guitar approaches and musical inspirations, and dive deep into the huge topics of gratitude, redemption, and helping others. Special thanks to Benjy Johnson at Earthtones Recording for capturing this episode, GuitarPlayer.com for sponsoring, and for TrueFire for setting the whole thing up.

— JUDE GOLD, host and creator, No Guitar Is Safe