Back Home, Eric Clapton's first album of new original material in nearly five years, will be released on Reprise/Duck Records on August 30th.
Featuring twelve songs, five of which were penned by Clapton with creative collaborator Simon Climie, Back Home also includes "Love Comes To Everyone" by George Harrison, the Spinners' "Love Don't Love Nobody," a rendition of Stevie Wonder and Syretta Wright's "I'm Going Left," and compositions by Vince Gill, Doyle Bramhall II and others. See below for a complete song listing and writing credits.
Produced by Eric Clapton and Simon Climie, who together also wrote the album's debut single "Revolution," Back Home additionally spotlights an all-star backing band, many of whose members have worked extensively with Clapton over the years. Included are drummer Steve Gadd, bassist Nathan East, guitarists Andy Fairweather Low and Doyle Bramhall II, and keyboardists Billy Preston and Simon Climie.
Among the special guests appearing on Back Home are Steve Winwood (synthesizer), John Mayer (guitar), Robert Randolph (dobro), Chris Stainton (Fender Rhodes), Stephen Marley (percussion), Abraham Laboriel, Jr. (drums), Pino Paladino (bass) and Toby Baker (keyboards). The album also highlights string arrangements by Nick Ingman and performances by the Kick Horns.
"I wanted to make a studio album without quite knowing what it was going to be," remarks Clapton on the creative impetus behind Back Home. Working closely with Climie, Clapton began recording over a year ago, working around his touring schedule and family commitments. "We kind of resigned ourselves to the fact that it was going to take a long time," the multi Grammy(R) Award-winning artist continues, "but when we got stuck or if it wasn't moving fast enough we'd stop and do a Robert Johnson song. That would clear the air and we'd go back and carry on for the new album. As a result, we ended up with a complete Robert Johnson album first, which was released last year as Me And Mr Johnson"...
An accomplished jazz, pop, funk, gospel, fingerstyle, and contemporary Christian guitarist, Mark is noted for his soaring and melodic electric leads similar to Larry Carlton; his smooth, jazzy, nylon guitar stylings like those of artists Jonathan Butler and Peter White; and his smooth/jazzy/funky rhythm playing inspired by studio giant Paul Jackson, jr. (Paul Jackson, Jr. is guitarist for BeBe & CeCe Winans, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandros, Anita Baker, and many more).
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guitar tips: The Capricious Caddis
This study is one that I use frequently as a warm-up exercise. It is also included in the soon to be released book from Mel Bay publications entitled Getting into Fingerstyle Guitar. This study is called "The Capricious Caddis." A caddis is a water bug, and because this piece uses slurs it reminded me of the erratic or "capricious" movements of a water bug. The entire piece is based on slurs, which are also known as "hammer-on’s" and "pull-off’s." In order to properly execute slurs and other challenging fingerings, it is very important to keep your fingers and left hand in the optimal position.
In addition to slurs, there are many instances in fingerstyle pieces in which the player must achieve long stretches or unorthodox hand positions in order to achieve the desired harmony. These hand positions are much easier to achieve if the correct "hand posture" is adhered to. Let’s look at some of the main points of correct "hand posture". These points describe the "general" or "home base" hand position. Of course your hand position changes angles throughout the performance of a piece, but this is the basic position ...
Joyce Cooling:
Guitarist,
Vocalist,
Songwriter:
A few short years ago, guitarist and songwriter Joyce Cooling took a good, hard look at her life. Glued to the TV like the rest of us, Cooling remembers the days after 9/11 and found her perspective on life jolted. "I asked myself," she recalls, "Is what Iím doing as a musician meaningful?" After lengthy, ardent talks with her long-time collaborator and partner Jay Wagner about a potential life without a career in music, Cooling proclaimed, "I don't know about you, but this girl's got to play."
Cooling has always wanted to make music.
Growing up in New Jersey and New York, she absorbed a wide variety of music and amassed a huge record collection. "My collection contains Ornette Coleman, João Bosco, and Bill Evans, but it also includes James Brown, Maurice Ravel, Jimi Hendrix, Abbey Lincoln and Aerosmith as well music from all over the world," she notes. "I like R&B. I like folk. I like heavy metal and headbanger stuff. I like punk. I like rap. I just like good music. There are no boundaries with me."
Coolingís penchant for the eclectic continued when she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1980s and began dabbling in keyboards and percussion. Music had long been the most passionate part of her life, but an actual career as a musician started taking shape only after she began hanging around an African drumming class taught by C.K. Ladzekpo, a renowned Ghanaian percussionist. Integrating the polyrhythmic sophistication of West African music with her passion for melody and harmony, Cooling focused her attention on playing, singing, and songwriting. "Everything crystallized when I heard Wes Montgomery's solo on If You Could See Me Now. From then on, it was as if guitar had chosen me."
Teaching herself to play guitar by ear, she developed a personal style of finger picking that has given her playing its unique sound and feel ...
Blonker, Dieter Geike:
In 1979 "blonker" turned from a regular group into a one-man-project. Dieter Geike, the man who had written "Indigo" and defined the sound of the band with his immaculate guitar playing, carried on alone and started a quiet, but impressive solo career.
Since the creation of the gem "Indigo", Geike alias "blonker" has further developed and refined his vision of beautiful, timeless, melodic instrumental guitar music on a series of highly acclaimed and successful albums ...
Official USA Fan Club for world renown instrumental guitarist Nokie Edwards, former lead guitarist of The Ventures.
Nokie Edwards is universally recognized as one of the world’s premier guitarists. He was born Nole Edwards in 1935 in Lahoma, Oklahoma, hence the nickname, "Nokie" which was given to him by his father, Elbert. Nokie’s mother, Nannie, was a Native American Cherokee, and Nokie is proud of his Cherokee heritage.
Nokie lives in Oregon with his wife, Judy. They have four children, two girls and two boys: Tina, Patrick, Kim & Seth. They lost Kim in 1988 in a car accident. There are six grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Judy Edwards is president of the Nokie Edwards Official USA Fan Club.
Nokie’s Roots
Nokie learned how to play guitar at the age of five; by the age of eleven he could play all string instruments. He turned professional at the age of twelve when he performed on a country station in Idaho. Nokie’s family then moved to Washington State where he played regularly at community fairs and festivals, including landing the coveted role as a featured performer at the historical "Ezra Meeker Days" festival in Puyallup Washington. When Nokie turned seventeen, he went to Oregon were he played in dance halls. His guitar virtuosity was unmatched and unprecedented; he was making $300.00 a week while others were making $75.00 a week. Before eighteen he was given a raise to $350.00 a week. For the next few years Nokie was a welcome regular on the regional music circuit, his star appeal ascended immensely ...