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Soundcheck

Monday, April 02, 2007
  • prince is a guitar man
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    Guitar Men

    British journalist Will Hodgkinson noticed the love affair between men and the guitar, so he decided to learn to play himself. Today on Soundcheck Hodgkinson explains how with lessons from a few rock stars he was playing in front of a live audience in just 6 months. Also: a live performance from the band The Broken West.

Twangs for the Memories

British journalist Will Hodgkinson noticed the love affair between men and the guitar, so he decided to learn to play himself. He enlisted the help of Johnny Marr (Smiths), folk legend Bert Jansch, and Byrds founder Roger McGuinnand and within six months he was playing in front of a live audience. He writes about the journey in a new book.

Guitar Man: A Six String Odyssey at Amazon.com

The Broken West

LA has again become a fertile ground for many young bands. The Broken West, a five-piece band, plays melodic power-pop that reflects the Echo Park and Silverlake neighborhoods that serve as an epicenter of this new scene. They play live in studio

The Broken West's MySpace page

Picking the Digital Lock

Apple's iTunes Music Store will soon offer EMI's entire online catalogue in a higher-quality audio format without anti-piracy protection. (Sorry, Beatles fans -- EMI is keeping its tight grip on the Fab Four, for now.) Aline van Duyn of The Financial Times joins us to discuss what the Apple-EMI partnership means for digital music consumers.

Financial Times article on Apple-EMI deal

Irma Thomas

Soundcheck

August 22, 2008
New Orleans singer Irma Thomas has survived 50 years in the music business - and at least two hurricanes. She joins us to talk about her record, Simply Grand.

Bon Iver

Soundcheck

July 30, 2008
Singer-songwriter Justin Vernon spent a winter holed up in his father's hunting cabin in remote Wisconsin, recording songs about solitude that would be released under the name Bon Iver. He joins us to play some of them live.

Who's On Top and Who Should Be?

Soundcheck

August 14, 2008
Soundcheck looks at the artists who are reigning atop the Billboard albums chart -- and what their rankings tell us about the state of pop music.

The Next Big Things

Soundcheck

Paste magazine editor-in-chief Josh Jackson joins us to talk about Johnny Flynn, Janelle Monae, Bon Iver, Amy MacDonald and other must-hear artists who made Paste’s list of "The Best of What’s Next: 26 Emerging Artists You Should Know."