The current issue of Fretboard Journal features a photo essay of our store. It’s a great article about some of the “more interesting musical instrument shops in” Chicago. Here is a bit more of what they have to say:
“Chicago-based photographer Eric Futran explores two of the city’s more interesting musical instrument shops in this issue’s photo essay. Though just blocks apart, Andy’s Music and the Chicago Music Exchange offer a stark contrast to one another. In Andy Cohn’s cramped space, guitars, tablas and djembes fill each room; while in Scott Silver’s Chicago Music Exchange, the focus is on rare and collectible electric and acoustic guitars. Stunning photos of great instruments (from the East and West) abound.”
I never got to meet Kurt Cobain, but I did have the opportunity to interview him, through a series of trans-Atlantic phone calls and faxes. In the months before his death, Kurt had been designing a guitar with the Fender company (what came to be known as the ‘Jag-Stang’ guitar – a custom built Fender Jaguar, Fender Mustang hybrid). Kurt enjoyed his dealings with the company and had consequently agreed that he would, at some point, grant an interview for Fender’s Frontline magazine. When I first contacted him to do that piece – in February 1994 – Nirvana was in Europe on what would be their final tour. Kurt was, somewhat understandably, less than eager to submit to interviews at the time, but it was made clear to him that the idea of the piece was not to prod him about any of the sensational rumors that were circulating about the band but to just let him speak frankly about his music. He graciously consented.
Sean Seth is one of our wonderful customers here at Chicago Music Exchange, and he is here sharing his experience with us. This past weekend, after visiting the Chicago Music Exchange, he spent the rest of the weekend listening to some great music here in Chicago. It was during this experience when he had the chance to bump into one of the worlds most famous blues players, Buddy Guy.
In July 1973, Led Zeppelin played three shows in New York City at the legendary Madison Square Garden. The night before their final performance, over $200,000 of the band’s cash was stolen from their safe deposit box and never recovered in what would become the largest safe deposit theft in the history of NYC. That’s where the story ended, until now.
Meditate for a moment on the sound of The Beatles in the mid ’60s—those amazing three-part harmonies aside—and your mind’s ear is likely to land upon that stirring 12-string jangle and zing that was, for a time, a trademark of the Fab Four’s instrumental assault. In addition to being great and prolific songwriters, charismatic singers, and definitive pop idols, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison were consummate gearheads. They knew the power that a new sound could possess, the way a new instrument could be wielded as a tool to help a track jump right out of the groove and into the listener’s consciousness. For a period of a couple years from 1964, the Rickenbacker 360/12 12-string electric guitar served as exactly that for Harrison: it was the sonic attention getter, it helped many Beatles classics to really pop.
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Check out the Rickenbacker 360/12s we have in stock!
Oftentimes it seems rock and roll artists live exalted lives untouched by the frailties and vulnerabilities that loom over the rest of us. But of course that’s an illusion. Through the years countless artists – often in their prime – have been stricken with cancer. Many have lost their lives to the disease, but others have survived and subsequently made it their mission to bring attention to issues such as early detection and alternative treatments. The seven artists below represent just a few of many who’ve overcome the disease.
15 years ago this week, the world lost a great artist.
Dig around on the ‘net, the Fender Frontline magazine was one of the last interviews he gave…
On a personal note, I am glad I got to see Nirvana live…despite being a big fan, I clearly remember having something else going on (a college exam the next day) and heavily debated going to the show or not…I figured I’d just catch them the next time they came around; but unfortunately, there was no ‘next time’…rest in peace brother, and thanks for the music.
Here’s Dweezil Zappa waxing eloquent on the seldom-seen Fender Duo-Sonic™ student model guitar from the late 1950s and its modern-day descendant, the new Squier Classic Vibe Duo-Sonic 50s.
