Guitarist Paul Gilbert(MR. BIG) has announced clinic dates for Europe, due to take place this fall. All clinics feature performances with a full band.
Dates are as follows:
September
4/5/6/7 – Cagliari Italy – Fabrik (Guitar Campus)
8 – Fiorano, Italy – MAF
9 – Avezzano, Italy – Lucky Luke
11 – Padova, Italy – Terminal Live Music
12 – Milan, Italy – Land of Live
14 – Valencia, Spain – Centro Cultural
15 – Murcia, Spain – Sala Gamma
16 – Zaragoza, Spain – Sala Lopez
17 – Madrid, Spain – Ritmo y Compàs
22 – London, UK – Marshall Amps 50 Years of Loud (concert, no clinic)
23 – Plymouth, UK – Tor Bridge High School.
26 – Tourcoing, France – EF2M Ecole de Musique
27 – Nancy, France – MAI Music Academy International (exclusively for students)
29 – Athens, Greece – Guitar For Music School
October
1 – Aschaffenburg, Germany – Future Music School
Gilbert previously announced clinic dates for Australia. They are as follows:
October
8 – Brisbane, Australia – The Pincess Theatre
10 – Sydney, Australia – C3 Theatre
11 – Melbourne, Australia – 360 Theatre
13 – Hobart, Australia – UTAS Theatre
15 – Adelaide – Star Theatres
17 – Perth, Australia – John Inverity Theatre
Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone recently conducted an interview with vocalist Eric Martin of MR. BIG. Martin spoke about never auditioning for VAN HALEN, and playing in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. You can now watch the chat below.
Frontiers Records has set a February 28 North American release date (four days earlier in Europe) for MR. BIG‘s new acoustic live album, “Live From The Living Room”.
At the end of January 2011, during a week-long promotion trip to promote for its latest reunion album, “What If”, and tour, MR. BIG was invited to the WOWOW TV studios in Tokyo to perform a special show in an intimate setting.
When the talk of a broadcast first came up, the band wanted to present something different from what they’ve ever done before. Thus the idea of an acoustic show came about and a string quintet was brought in to enhance the project even more, with arrangements provided by Takashi Miyazaki. Although Paul Gilbert and Billy Sheehan hooked up electric on a few songs, the show was still very much acoustic in nature throughout. Pat Torpey played various acoustic percussion instruments during the gig.
Commented Eric Martin: “The idea for the show came out of a quick conversation the four of us had after a day of interviews promoting the new ‘What If’ CD.
“We did an acoustic show at the Hard Rock Café in Singapore in 1996 that, to this day, is one of my favorite live recordings. It had a stripped down, up-close and personal feel to it.
“If we were going to do something like that again it would have to be extra special.
“We were talking about the old days when musicians used to live together in a band house and practice day and night. Our favorite rock band posters and tapestries adorning the walls, family hand-me-down furniture, amps that doubled as lamp stands, friends hanging out and the usual cluttered mess on the floor, lyric sheets, guitar cases and chords, music stands, beer cans, pizza boxes, wine bottles etc. ‘Live From The Living Room’ was born out of that.
“We wanted to recreate a harmonious atmosphere and treat our fans to an informal jam session of songs from the past and present while throwing in a few surprises from our wish lists (strings, Japanese taiko drums).”
The result from that magic night in Tokyo is now here: 10 MR. BIG classics in a completely new and fresh dress and a portrait from the very first ever acoustic show from the band.
“Live From The Living Room” will be exclusively released in a glossy digipak and will include the following songs:
01. Undertow
02. Still Ain’t Enough For Me
03. As Far As I Can See
04. Voodoo Kiss
05. Take Cover
06. Around The World
07. Stranger In My Life
08. All The Way Up
09. To Be With You
10. Nobody Left To Blame
“What If…” was released in Europe on January 21 via Frontiers Records. The North American release, also on Frontiers Records, followed on February 8.
“What If…” is MR. BIG‘s first “all-original” album since the reunion of the four original members, Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey, back in early 2009. Sixteen years after the release of “Hey Man”, the new recording is set to bring back MR. BIG on the height of the current hard rock scene. The CD was produced by Kevin Shirley (AEROSMITH, RUSH, IRON MAIDEN).
Formed in 1988, MR. BIG forged its place in hard rock history by combining trademark “shredding” musicianship with awesome vocal harmonies. The original lineup produced numerous hit songs that ranged across a wide array of rock genres, be it ballads, heavy metal, or blues rock. Their hits included “To Be With You” (Billboard Hot 100 number one single in 15 countries for weeks, in 1991, propelling the band the band to huge international success and record sales in the multi-millions), “Wild World”, “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind”, “Just Take My Heart”, and a host of heavy metal songs that were played mostly during their live performances: “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy”, “Addicted to that Rush”, “Colorado Bulldog”, and “Take Cover”. Source: Blabbermouth.net
Journalist and musician Barbara Caserta of Italian web radio Linearock.it recently conducted an interview with guitarist Paul Gilbert (MR. BIG, RACER X) at Linearock / Radio Lombardia Studios in Milan, Italy. You can now watch the entire 39-minute chat below. Source: Blabbermouth.net
MR. BIG guitarist Paul Gilbert has issued the following update:
“Hello!
I am proud to announce The Great Guitar Escape. I have assembled some truly amazing musicians for this guitar camp, to be held in July 2012. For details, please check the website here.
We’re going to have a great time. I’ll see you there!”
The Great Guitar Escape runs from July 9th – 13th, 2012 at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, NY. Players of all ages, levels, and styles are welcome at the Great Guitar Escape. Whether you’ve been ripping up the fretboard for years, or you just know a couple of chords, there are plenty of new musical ideas waiting for you here.
From rock to blues to metal to jazz-fusion and more, Paul’s handpicked team of guitarists will give you insight into the techniques, styles, and life of the modern, working musician. The artistic and the practical will come together before your eyes and ears.
In addition to his daily Rock Masterclasses, Paul has set aside additional classes specifically to help the beginning guitarist get on the right track for technique and practicing. These classes (personally taught by Paul) will get your hands on the instrument and get you comfortable with making music in minutes. Paul remembers, “I took my first guitar lessons when I was six years old. My teacher taught me ‘by the book’ and I ended up quitting from boredom and frustration. It was years before I finally started again. I wish I could go back in time and teach myself the basics of how to play the guitar. It would have put me years ahead at such an important time of my life. If guitar is taught the right way, it can be surprisingly easy. No boring excercises. Just music! I’m excited to give you the start, that I wish I had been given.”
Although the focus of the camp is the guitar, there will also be workshops from world-class pros on drums, bass guitar, sound engineering, and guitar tech skills. And every evening you will witness all of these instruments come together for intimate, once-in-a-lifetime jam sessions.
For the list of instructors due to attend the camp, click here.
Gilbert kicked off his latest European guitar clinic in Nice, France on November 8th. Check out footage of Gilbert covering the JUDAS PRIEST classic ‘Hellion/Electric Eye’ featuring his wife Emi on keys. Click here for Gilbert’s complete clinic schedule.
A deluxe MR. BIG box set, “Raw Like Sushi 100”, will be released in Japan on January 25, 2012 via Victor Entertainment.
This deluxe box set consists of 2 DVDs and 2 CDs in a B4-size hard cover book.
The DVDs feature the concert “Live From The Living Room”, held at Toho Studio, Tokyo, Japan, in January 2011 and documentary footage of MR. BIG‘s 2011 Japan tour (with a running time of over 60 minutes; subject to change).
The CDs contain live tracks from MR. BIG‘s 100th concert in Japan, held at Osaka-jo Hall on April 7, 2011 mixed by Pat Regan and features K2HD mastering + the high-fidelity HQCD format (compatible with standard CD players).
The hard cover book contains 96-pages (all color) including photos of MR. BIG‘s 2011 Japan tour taken by William Hames, Japan tour data, a tour pass replica, and more. Size: 24.9 x 29.9cm.
For more details, visit CDJapan.co.jp. Source: Blabbermouth.net
MR. BIG bassist BILLY SHEEHAN has been confirmed to take part in the Bx3 European tour with fellow bass-basters STU HAMM and JEFF BERLIN. The first confirmed shows will take place on December 13th in Basel, Switzerland at Grand Casino, and December 15th in Zoetermeer, Netherlands at Cultuurpodium Boerderij. Go to this location for additional information and updates.
Stu Hamm’s brainchild based on the G3 concept came to be born with the help of Davidjames Entertainment Management in 2006. The first concert series toured the US, with the next stretch including international dates in 2007. After a four year hiatus the project is back with a full tour planned for December 2011 in Europe.
Source: Bravewords
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Guitarist Paul Gilbert (MR. BIG) has announced clinic dates for Europe, due to take place this fall. All clinics feature performances with a full band.
Click image to watch the video
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