Our friend Pete Thorn had a sweet new pedal board made for him and here’s a comprehensive walk-through of the various pedals and their applications. What’s on your pedal board?? Tell us in the comments below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kpAPH4iEgI

GuitarTV is pleased to announce a great new, forward thinking mobile app as a sponsor this month. This app is going to spread your music both locally and worldwide. Read about their service below and don’t forget to Show them some love by visiting their site…

Loud 9 is a streaming music app for Android (iPhone coming soon) which allows independent artists to stream their music to new fans both worldwide and directly within your zip code and surrounding zip codes.

Artists upload original music directly into the app from their mobile device & fans simply download the app and can begin creating custom local music stations based on Artist, Genre, Rating, and Location. Visit www.loud9.net & check them out on Facebook www.facebook.com/loud9app

The son of legendary studio session guitarist Tommy Tedesco, created a documentary called “The Wrecking Crew.” Denny Tedesco gives us a glimpse into the lives of incredible session musicians who were hired to play behind (or instead of) famous pop acts in the 1960′s-1980′s. Sounds really cool… so why haven’t we heard more about it?…

Completed in 2008, the film uses 132 musical cues (sections or full songs) that record label execs want Denny to pay for. Over the last several years, Denny & his crew have paid off the majority of the songs used and featured in the movie. In 2012, only 25 songs left to pay off remain before it can be commercially released. Check out Tommy Tedesco in our Periodic Table of Guitarists and read the full article here on the New York Times. Fundraising efforts are available through their website http://wreckingcrew.tv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xs2kJn6PBE

GuitarTV attended a music + entrepreneur collective lecture series last night in Santa Barbara and was floored by Seymour Duncan’s burning guitar playing. Yes, we know Seymour’s name most commonly as a leading pickup manufacturer but its very apparent he is an artist through-and-through. He was on a panel featuring several technology companies and after an hour and a half of tech-talk, when it was Seymour’s floor, he chose to speak about Roy Buchanan, Jeff Beck & the start of his company. It was very interesting to hear his stories about winding custom pickups and creating unique products for influential artists from the 1960′s onward. Check out Seymour, Frank Falbo & his band “Flat Foot Joe” burning down the house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY03627V180

MusiciansFriend.com is offering a coupon for 13% off orders today, Friday the 13th. Perhaps we will buy the Red Witch “Famulus” distortion pedal.

Use Coupon Code: 13FRIDAY. Valid 4/13/12 Only!

GuitarTV traveled to New York City to interview the best classical guitarist we have ever heard. Head of The Juilliard School Guitar Department, international sensation, former student of Andres Segovia, – we are talking about the one-and-only Sharon Isbin.

This in-depth 40 minutes interview with Sharon showcases various classical guitar playing techniques, tips and performance snippets from her latest release “Guitar Passions” Please enjoy Sharon Isbin (www.sharonisbin.com)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTeecl-AU-E

Buy Sharon Isbin's "Guitar Passions"

Jim Marshall, founder of Marshall Amplification has passed away at the age of 88. We have been told that if you were just mulling around London, and you spotted him walking out of his door, he would show you around his factory & talk for hours on end about music. There are now hundreds of Marshall amplifier models & configurations in existence today. We’re sorry to see such an influential person – responsible for the sound of rock & roll – go. RIP.

In August of 2010, ten very talented Guitar Center video contestants were selected to attend a “Private Sessions” taping with Steve Vai for a promotion they were having. Among them was a very funny young man by the name of Ben Levin. Ben, then a senior at The Berklee School of Music, asked a slew of questions in a modest-mannered yet quirky voice about the music industry & his mind keeping up with his brain...

After the event, I introduced myself & we became friends. Over the last year, Ben has completed his studies at Berklee, released 3 full-length records & done 3 national tours with his band “Bent Knee” & “The Ben Levin Group” – two avante garde ensembles – and he’s even released a comic book in support of them. Needless to say, Ben is a productive force, gathering an equally eclectic following.

Here now, Ben’s latest release on is available today. It’s called “Invisible Paradise” and features Ben playing in his madness. Enjoy this comical but insightful lesson on playing in 7/8 time signature by “Dr” Ben Levin. Our Q&A interview is below…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qEUIp7ASJE

GuitarTV: What has graduating music school & having a freshly-formed career showed you so far? 

Ben: I’ve learned a lot about my priorities. During music school, you are encouraged and pressured to practice music constantly. When I first graduated however, I had a hard time justifying spending hours practicing guitar when rent and food cost so much. I would spend a lot of time sending out press releases and doing business stuff instead. This lead me to feel anxious all of the time and I started to consider promotional gimmicks that directly violated my own sense of integrity.

Luckily, I stopped myself from doing anything stupid and started to reassess my priorities. I realized that I would much rather have an honest relationship with my audience and my art and that I can accomplish my goals with or without fame. For me, wanting to be famous is the equivalent of wanting to be popular in middle school. It’s a damaging notion and a distraction from the important things that inspire me to write music in the first place. Now I am happier and getting more fans anyway.

GuitarTV: Tell us about this release. 

Ben: Invisible Paradise is a piece of music divided into seven movements about change and the temporary nature of paradise. It takes place right after my previous concept album Pulse of a Nation in which humanity sees its last days. In the new album’s story, the human race is viewed as a mysterious extinct species much like the dinosaurs, and a new society develops around distorted interpretations of human culture.

When I wrote it I was feeling really good, and simultaneously worried that the good feelings would soon revert to the depression I had been

experiencing in the previous months. And for that reason, the album jumps around from mood to mood very quickly and changes constantly. I am so proud of this album and I love the musicians who played on it!

Ben Levin – Guitar, Chris Baum – Violin, Courtney Swain – Voice, Gavin Wallace-Ailsworth – Percussion, Jed Lingat – Bass, Josh Friedman – Piano, Tyler LeVander – Drums, Mixed by Vince Welch & Engineered by Adam Brass

GuitarTV: Do you have tour plans?

Ben: We are going on an east coast USA tour from June 9th to June 22nd. I am in the process of booking now, but the dates will be posted at www.BenLevinGroup.com in the near future.

GuitarTV: You play a JEM & you won the “Steve Vai Private Sessions Contest” through Guitar Center. Is there something about Steve’s music that you relate to? Does it inspire you?

Ben: Next to my parents, Steve Vai has been my greatest source of inspiration. I love his music and guitar playing, but my favorite thing about him is his willingness to change things up. Every album of his is unique and he is very courageous to be spending so much time pursuing orchestral music even though a lot of his fans just want to see him shred (I should note that his orchestral music kicks ass.) It is his fearlessness that has lead him to have such an amazing solo career.

My next albums in the coming years have a lot of vocals on them. I will be singing a good amount, which is scary. It’s a big change of pace and aesthetic, and I am not a very experienced as a singer yet. But you know what? Steve Vai probably worried about that too, but that never could have stopped him from making amazing vocal music and his voice sounds great. I will always buy his albums and go to his shows. I am very grateful to him and winning the Private Sessions contest was a real honor.

GuitarTV: Anything else?

Ben: I think I’ve said a lot of stuff, but I just want to thank my parents and teachers for always telling me to just go for it.

Its easy to take for granted just how genius BOSS pedals are. We see them all of the time, used and new, stage or bedroom and we knowhow to piece a whole group of them together. Consider this though: No matter what the effect, they’re all the same shape. For some perspective, think about how many iterations the iPod has seen as the technology has evolved, yet these guys have stuck to their design guns since ’76. They’re reliable, have a small footprint & are simple (knobs over digital parameters for settings, please).

Almost anywhere you go- from that bedroom in Signapore to Steve Lukather’s pedal board, you’re going to find the exact same product. Although the voice walk-through is a bit “Coming attraction movie-like”, check out this video BOSS created to show what goes into a stompbox. Pretty neat. *For the inspired, here’s every available BOSS pedal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iHGhN8dET4

Chris Farley + Marshall Amplifier Salesman= Big Bob. Yes, he’s Big Bob, he sells Marshall Amplifiers & we love this guy… Enjoy! For the inspired, All current 144 Marshall Models on MusiciansFriend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGy0pPllHVQ

Homeless (by choice) most of his life and moving town to town illegally hopping freight train cars, Pinecone Fletcher has honed his craft busking the street corners of America for nearly two decades. Singing songs of travel and his fellow hobos, Pinecone has entertained countless numbers with his brand of “Hobo” Blues.

From the legendary Honeyboy Edwards to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pete Anderson and Baby Gramps, Donnie Sumner, Warran Haynes and Derek Trucks, Pinecone Fletcher has performed with some of the most respected and influential musicians in American music.

In 2010, Pinecone was selected as a top finalist in Guitar Center’s “King of the Blues” contest. When the day of the final performance arrived, judges stipulated that Pinecone’s 3-stringed “hobo king” guitar was not elligible because it didn’t have the mandated 6 strings. Well, Pinecone taped 3 strings to the front of his guitar and went right on stage…

Check out Pinecone talking about his special brand of guitars, “Hobo King,” download his only publically available album here, Produced by Brad Morrison (Phish) and visit his website for more info. Special thanks to audio engineer Joe Vezzetti & Amalia Moreno at Favored Nations for this interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxqR9fcq5HY

Pinecone Fletcher's Album- "Hoboin"