At: Guitar Center

Most lists of 100 things to do before you die involve travel to exotic locations and participating in some sort of extreme sport, but if you are a musician your bucket list should also include attending a KISS concert.

For the last 35 years KISS has staged a spectacle unlike any other in the rock and roll business—one that keeps getting bigger and better every time they go out on the road on tour. This year’s tour, called “The Hottest Show on Earth,” is a two-hour extravaganza filled with enough fireworks and pyrotechnics “to bring down low-flying aircraft,” promises KISS rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley.

“When we go on stage, we want people in the audience to go, ‘This is what a rock concert is supposed to be!” says Stanley. “Our show started out by us wanting to get up on stage and show people how it was supposed to be done. We wanted to be the band that we always wanted to see but never saw. We still go out there every night and try to be the ideal band.”

Read the exclusive interview as appears in our August Anniversary Buyer’s Guide HERE.

From his early days with British blues-rock powerhouse Humble Pie to the stratospheric, multi-platinum success of Frampton Comes Alive, there’s no mistaking his soaring and skillfully-crafted guitar playing. Peter Frampton discusses his remarkable career, shares guitar tips and tricks, and talks about his new album Thank You Mr. Churchill at Guitar Center Sessions. See the entire series of videos on our official YouTube channel.

“I know I’ve realized way beyond my dreams,” says Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. “I’ve actually been a professional musician since 1994. That’s a long time in which I’ve been lucky enough to keep a gig and be successful at what I do, which is also my passion: playing drums. So I’m very, very blessed to live this crazy, unimaginable life.”

Although he’s the idol of millions for his drumming prowess, Hawkins’ first rock ‘n’ roll dreams didn’t focus on the drums; rather, they were centered on the guitar because, as he puts it, “Nobody looks at the drummer.”

As a 10-year-old in Laguna, California, he tried in vain to play his neighbor’s six string, but the instrument didn’t feel right; it required “too much work.” Hawkins’ boyhood visions of rock glory might’ve ended right there. Luckily, however, that same neighbor had a drum set, and from the moment Taylor sat down at the kit, everything clicked; with two sticks in his hands, he was a natural.

Read and watch our exclusive interview with Taylor as it appears in our July drum guide.  READ IT. WATCH IT.

Continuing our commitment of supporting aspiring and emerging musicians, we’re excited to announce that Slash has hand-picked unsigned artists State Line Empire from San Mateo, California as winners of Guitar Center presents Your Next Record with Slash. Over 12,000 bands submitted for their chance to have a 3-song EP produced by the legendary Mike Clink (Guns N’ Roses) and have rock icon, Slash play on their single. After months and months of submissions and voting, we’ve found that band. Hear their music here. The band will be in the studio with Slash and Mike in the coming weeks… Expect great things from State Line Empire.

Slash says: “Earlier this year, Guitar Center and I set out to find a great unsigned rock & roll band with a lot of energy and some great songs and take them to the next level,” said Slash. “I’m proud to announce that that band is State Line Empire. They’re the real deal and we’re going to be hearing some fantastic rock & roll from them in the near future. I cannot wait to get in the studio with them.”

What the band had to say: “I can’t even put into words how awesome it was to get a call from one the greatest guitarists of all time to tell us we’d won Guitar Center Presents Your Next Record,” said David Pearl, bassist for State Line Empire. “A lot of people have told us that they love our music and we appreciate their support so much but to hear Slash say that our band is ‘rad’ was something that I will never forget. We’re incredibly grateful to Guitar Center for giving undiscovered bands like State Line Empire such an amazing opportunity.”

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Jeff Beck is one of the world’s greatest guitar legends—his peers Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page both are certainly better known and more commercially successful—but he’s undeniably one of the most fascinating, dedicated, enigmatic and influential artisans that ever played guitar.

During his Sixties stint in the Yardbirds Beck helped define the new sounds of hard rock and heavy metal. Then when bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath rose in popularity during the Seventies, he radically shifted directions, blazing a new path as a jazz-rock fusion pioneer. In the late Eighties and early Nineties when the instrumental shred-rock guitar phenomenon was at its peak, he released the eclectic Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop, a note-for-note tribute to rockabilly guitarist Cliff Gallup of Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps (Crazy Legs), and an Asian-inspired original score to a television drama about the Vietnam War (Frankie’s House). At the dawn of the new millennium he released three albums that went in a decidedly more electronic direction, although these efforts also dug deep into modern blues and Celtic airs while Beck expanded his unique lyrical, vocal playing style.

Join us for our exclusive interview with Jeff Beck as featured in our July Guitar Guide – HERE.

Watch the exclusive interview on our official YouTube channel HERE.