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 The Guitar Breaks 'Festival of Guitar' is the very first of its kind! A unique, guitar-packed weekend of live guitar sessions online with great guitarists & industry leaders. And we are delighted to be partnering with BOSS for the festival! Over the weekend of October 24th & 25th you can access a magical line up of guitar antics with Guitar Breaks. And all you need to do to gain access to the whole festival is register for your free weekend pass. Artists include: Rob Harris, Chris Buck, Kirk Fletcher, Ariel Posen, Sam Bell, Josh Smith, Mike Goodman, Bruce Dickinson, WaterBear College of Music. More TBA soon! And entry to the festival is FREE! We are delighted to be partnering with our friends at:
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We recently asked you to let us know what your favourite style of guitar playing is. As a result of your involvement, we've collated the results and you can see how it has panned out below. NB: Any styles that polled 4 votes or less have not been included in this result.  Just wanted to let you know that Andy's Guitar Workshop in Brighton has been postponed, due to the continued effects of the coronavirus. We are now planning for the workshop to be moved to Spring 2021. If you are already attending the event, we hope that you understand the need for this change and that it is not too inconvenient. If you are interested in attending, you can still join Guitar Breaks and Andy Guitar in Brighton, England. We will be staying at the funky Hotel Pelirocco at night and based at the über-cool WaterBear College of Music and The Brighton Electric Studios during the days. Located right on the sea front, the Hotel Pelirocco is England's most rock 'n roll hotel! If you want to join us, click here and follow the deets!  Looking forward to seeing you then! Join us on Monday 15th June at 19.00 UK time for chats, stories and maybe even a song or two with Ariel Posen. A different type of interview, all together!  Lockdown Live Interview with Peter Honoré Friday 29th May @ 19.00 British Summer Time (GMT+1) Pete will be chatting, jamming, answering your questions and generally have some fun on the Guitar Breaks Facebook page! Wanna ask Pete a question? Just message us directly. See you Friday!  Lockdown Live Interview with Chris Buck Thursday 21st May @ 19.00 British Summer Time (GMT+1) Chris will be chatting, jamming, answering your questions and generally have some fun on the Guitar Breaks Facebook page. Chris has been successfully carving out his own furrow of blues-rock mash up, with a sprinkling of modern pop vibe thrown in to confuse the purists! Working with industry leaders including Fender, Yamaha and Victory amps, Chris carries the torch for some of the biggest names in the guitar world. Wanna ask Chris a question? Just email us here: enquiries@guitar-breaks.com. See you Thursday!  Join Josh Smith LIVE at www.facebook.com/GuitarBreaks Sunday 17th at 20.00 BST (GMT+1). Josh will be answering your questions, playing guitar and generally having some fun during this weird time for us all! If you want to ask Josh a question, feel free to message us on Instagram, Facebook or email: enquiries@guitar-breaks.com. See ya then!   I took part in one of those Facebook '10 album covers' things recently.........and it got me thinking.
Specifically it got me thinking about Rush. Now I'm aware that there is an element of the 'marmite' about Rush. Many music fans love them unreservedly. And others? Well they just don't see the attraction. Anyway, I was struggling to choose a single Rush album to feature in my top 10. And this is what happened next...... NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE RESUMED TOMORROW. IN THE MEANTIME…… I know I’m not supposed to make any comment on these Facebook posts, however this particular album cover has left me with no choice. I was, and remain, a massive Rush fan. I own every one of their ‘early’ albums (12 in total) on vinyl, from the eponymous first album in 1974 through to 1984’s Grace Under Pressure. We did eventually part company as we both grew and diversified around this time. But I have continued to follow their work with interest and have subsequently bought albums (and created Spotify playlists) from their later cannon. And, although I know it’s not true, I like to believe that they have followed me too. Rush may not have always been ‘cool’ (according to those who just never got it), but they have always had integrity. It is exactly because they refused to bow to label pressure to produce something a bit more ‘commercial’, and have absolutely furrowed their own path in spite of external forces, that they are so loved. And boy could these guys play! As a young wannabe guitarist, one of the very first things I learned to play (after ‘She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain’) was the riff to ‘Fly By Night’. I spent days and weeks trying to work out ‘La Villa Strangiato’. And every guitarist, bass player and drummer I know has tried to nail ‘YYZ’. Most with limited success. People who know me will tell you that I am a massive Jimmy Page fan. And that is true. However Jimmy’s playing in Zeppelin has always been the zenith. But Alex Lifeson, well he made me believe that being an awesome guitar player was ever-so-slightly achievable. I have stolen so many licks, chords and phrases from Alex Lifeson over the years it’s embarrassing. Alex (he’d be okay with me calling him ‘Alex’) taught me that it’s okay to be the best version of yourself that you can be, and wear your influences on your sleeve. And for that I say thank you. Lyrically, Rush have nearly always been driven by the Professor. Neil Peart’s love of literature has influenced pretty much every song on every album. Yes there were futuristic concepts, yes there were songs about trees (although its not about trees). But I defy anyone not to find something that resonates with them. For me, there are so many lyrical moments that stop me in my tracks. It would be impossible to mention them all, but I shall give an honourable mention to ‘The Spirit of Radio’: ‘All this machinery making modern music can still be open-hearted. Not so coldly charted, it’s really just a question of your honesty. Yeah, your honesty. One likes to believe in the freedom of music. But glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity.’ The precise moment when Geddy Lee sings these words (and boy can he sing) is so utterly joyous, intelligent and insightful, that even now (40 years later) I cannot help but sing along at the top of my voice with an emotional tear in my eye. There was such a unity between the members of the band that their chemistry was tangible. It’s impossible to imagine anyone else being in Rush! They played so well together, I used to wonder how any musicians could ever be that good. The fact that they made it look simple is part of the magic. Because it’s not easy to be that together. It is not easy at all. The recent and unexpected death of Neil Peart really hit me, and many many others, hard. He was so talented, so intelligent, so motivated. He was an explorer, he was a loner. He appreciated the success of Rush, but he never truly understood the trappings that came with it. He loved literature and became an author. He loved the drums and was a student to the end. And he loved Rush. So I’m picking ‘Permanent Waves’ purely because I have to pick one. And it is a seriously good one. It may not be the first Rush album to influence me, but it represents a lifetime of joyous musical exploration and discovery. And you know a band is good when they make you feel like you’ve been part of it all. If you know Rush’s music then please enjoy this playlist on Spotify. If you don’t know their music, or think you know better, please listen as well: My Rush Playlist Author: Ian Edwards enquiries@guitar-breaks.com Well as you can imagine, the current state of play with the Coronavirus means that we must all act responsibly in order to protect each other and bring an end to the virus.
Guitar Breaks is committed to the welfare and well being of all of our guests, special guests and their families and friends. To ensure that we do our part to try to bring an end to the current situation, we have taken the decision to postpone both Andy's Spring Guitar Workshop in Brighton, UK, and the Josh Smith Workshop in Italy. Both Andy and Josh are disappointed but are also determined to re-schedule their workshops later in the year. For more details and to stay on top of the latest developments, join our database here: enquiries@guitar-breaks.com Stay well out there, Love Team GB xx |
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