We caught up with endorser Jay Turner recently, and boy has he been busy! After doing a whirlwind tour of UK and Italy with Rod Picott (25 dates in 30 days!), he returned home for more fun. In addition to Picott, he's been working with Blues singer Joanna Cotten, opening shows for BB King across the US, and also doing dates of her own.

In between tours and local work, Jay is finishing up two solo CDs. Solo Duo Trio is scheduled for January release, while Nine Ladies Dancing is due in February. Check out some teasers on Jay's MySpace page. He's also on The Remnants' new CD, which was just sent off for mastering. And on December 28, he'll be recording a live CD with Gary Brown and Bushmaster. Now, that's busy.

Through it all, Jay counts on his Eden rigs to give him the perfect tone and the features he needs to get the job done. "Joanna's gig really brought out the importance of having a very good DI," Jay says. "The halls we've been playing were designed acoustically to support acoustic performances: symphony, opera, etc. Now, bring the rock in and you get instant overpower. How do I play the room? Let the monitors do the work. One great P.A. and a monitor guy that was on it. Just be sure to ask and you shall receive. The eden DI put a smile on the faces of all. I didn't use the cabinet at all."

Jay also says jokingly that there are two kinds of bass players: "those who are working, and those who aren't!" As you can see, Jay easily falls into the first category. Let's just hope he has time for the holidays!

Endorser Wes Switzer has had a busy few months. He and his band - The Zach Hillyard Band - managed to fit tracking a new CD into their touring schedule. The first single, Fall, was just pre-released as a download only single. Mixed and engineered by Michael Woodrum and mastered by Nathan James, the single offers a taste of the band's latest work, which will be available in its entirety in late December.

As for the sessions, Wes said he had a blast, as always. "With the Zach Hillyard Band, my focus is the groove, and the tone. Luckily, I always have a pocket groove behind me with a great drummer like Francesco, but my tone is brought out by my Vigier bass, and Eden WT-800. The producer was always happy with the sounds he was getting, so he felt comfortable bumping it in the mix and it made the album radiate bass. It's a beautiful thing!"

Eden endorser Craig Murray and his band Crash the Machine have been busy promoting their new CD with great success. On MySpace, the self-titled album rose to #4 on the California PowerPop/Independent chart, and #52 for the US chart. The band also rose to #4 in the Rock category, and #2 in the Pop category, at OurStage.com.

"It's been amazing, really," says Craig. "We've been working hard for more than a year. Suddenly, we're averaging more than 15,000 plays a week on MySpace!"

The increased interest has led to a January, 2008, feature article on the band at Artist Launch Magazine, as well as a recent feature on Sacramento's KWOD 106.5 in the band's hometown. Check out the new music, and learn more about Crash The Machine on their MySpace page.

Pawel Maciwoda, bassist for seminal Hard Rock favorites the Scorpions since 2003, recently joined Eden's roster of Endorsers. Currently supporting their newest release, Humanity - Hour 1, Pawel is using our D-810RP cabinets to bring on the Thunder.

Scorpions is the only German band to enjoy a decades-long international career. Their professionalism and determination have kept the band on top when other units would have folded under the pressure of maintaining a strong presence in the face of a rapidly changing market.

Welcome to the family, Pawel! Eden is proud to welcome you.

Read the press release here.

Just yesterday evening, Artist Relations Manager David Karon caught up with Genesis in Chicago as they continue their sold-out US tour. Bassists/guitarists Mike Rutherford and Daryl Stuermer are both using a stack of WT1205s and D410XLTs to provide arena-filling bottom end.

David brought along photographer Jon O’Gara to grab a few quick shots, possibly for use in an upcoming ad. While Jon furiously snapped pictures, David had a few minutes to speak with Mike and Daryl, as well as their technician, David Rule. “Everyone loves the rig,” Karon said, “especially David, who has the responsibility of keeping everything up and running. They’re all digging the sound and the easy set-up. David also loves the fact that everything has performed flawlessly.”

Over the three night run here in Chicago, Genesis will perform for over 66,000 fans. Web Guru Bill Henshell was lucky enough to catch the show. “It was awesome,” he enthused. “The band is really on top of things and the show is absolutely state-of-the-art. You should see the light rig! And, of course, the bass sounds awesome!”

For further information on the concert tour, check out the Genesis website.

Just this morning, we heard from endorser Ron (B6) Buckner of Buckner Funken Jazz. The band is one of Denver's hottest Funk acts and is always doing something fun. For instance, this summer, the band played a series of festival dates, including People's Fair, the South Park Music Tour and more. They even played Denver's Supreme Court! Moving forward, the band will perform at Denver's OktoberFest on October 6th.

Through it all, B6's Eden rig keeps him grooving. "Man, you know me," he said in this morning's conversation. "I'm your biggest fan. As long as I've got my Eden rig, I know it's going to be a good show."

To learn more, check out Ron and Buckner's Funken Jazz here.

Eden's favorite young rockers were back in the news recently as they competed in Duckapalooza September 8th, sharing top honors. Sponsored in part by sister divisions Randall and Washburn, the event featured a dozen bands, including headliners The Smithereens, DROP, Odd Zero, The Lennys and Bagshot Row.

Before the major acts took the stage, several local bands competed in a battle to choose three prize-winning bands. 33-1/3 tied for first place based on audience response, and barely missed out on the tie-breaker. When you consider that the average age of the band is three years younger than the next-youngest band, you have to admit that they carried themselves extremely well.

Our Web Guru, Bill Henshell, was on-hand for the day's festivities and was again floored by this group of budding stars. "The band really rocked!" he said. "The crowd was competely blown away by the talent and poise they displayed." As we said before, if things keep going so well for them, we're going to have to sign their bass player to a real endorsement deal . . . before someone else does!

33-1/3 on MySpace

Crash the Machine Releases New CD

Endorser Craig Murray and his band and his band Crash the Machine released their first CD over Labor Day weekend. The release part was held at the Sandbar in Sacremento. "It was a very cool gig," Murray said. "Great sound, great facilities and a ton of fans to help us celebrate. We even had a few fans join us on-stage to play with the band. It was a blast!"

When he's not busy pounding out the low end, Craig is the Choral Director at Rio Linda High School, and runs their "rock school" program, teaching students all facets of the music business, including writing, recording, rehearsing, promotions and more.

You can check out the band on their MySpace site. Follow the links to purchase the CD or downloads.

EQ Magazine Praises the Thunder Rig

The September 2007 issue of EQ Magazine includes a Bass Management feature by Scott Rottier in which he lists his recommednations for bass amps in the studio. We were pleasantly surprised that Scott chose the WT800 and D410XLT as a personal favorite. Here's what Scott had to say:

The powerhouse Eden WT800 World Tour head (billes as one of the greatest live amps, but alos a personal favorite for the studio) consists of a tube hybrid stereo amplifier with a "conservative" 400 watts per side into 4 ohms. If you're looking to move some serious air, this is the head for you. Match it up with the D410XLT 4x10" dual port enclosure, and you're left with an incredibly aggressive sound that amply translates the sound you've chosen for your live performance into the mix. this is an incredibly versatile combination that works particularly well for slapping/popping funk style bass, and killer hip-hop tones.

Thanks, Scott! We're tickled pink (er, gold?) to know you like our Thunder Rig so much.

Eden Debuts YouTube Channel

Let's face it. The best way to get videos in front of the widest audience possible is to broadcast on YouTube. So, this week, Eden debuts its new YouTube channel. We've already loaded up a few videos and will be adding more as quickly as possible. Now, all the videos you see on our web site will stream from YouTube and will also be available to the entire YouTube network.

"This is going to open up a new world for us," says US Music Marketing Director Jody Dankberg. "Moving forward, videos will a be a significant part of our promotional and training efforts. Broadcasting on YouTube allows us to reach a much wider audience, reaching millions of potential new Edenites."

All videos will still be available on Eden's site, but will now stream from YouTube's servers. To see all videos, click here.

We just caught up with Uriah Duffy, taking a short breather between gigs. He's recently been working with Eric Martin (Mr. Big), doing festival dates across the left half of the continent. And, according to his email, he's having a blast.

"Eric has got to be one of the best singers ever!" he wrote. "The songs have tons of cool parts, yet are so well written, they're easy - they play themselves!"

Uriah also pointed out that he carted his own Eden rig instead of using provided backline. "There wasn't enough time to coordinate things properly,' Duffy said, "and you know I won't trust my sound to anything but Eden!"

In additon to Uriah, the band includes Tal Morris (Sons of Champlin, Huey Lewis, CCR), Matt Isola, Monroe Grisman (Mandolin legend David Grisman's son), Amber Morris and Allyson Page. Check out Eric's site for more tour dates and info.

Look at the last page of the August issue of Bass Player magazine and you'll see Sean O'Bryan Smith smiling back at you. That's because he's on the Soap Box this month, expounding on the same philosophies that drive his Music Business survival column in Eden's School of Music section of this site. In fact, according to Sean, it was the MBS column that initially caught the attention of Bass Player's editors.

"When [contributing editor] Brian Beller first learned of my column, he immediately asked me to do a Soap Box. Then Greg Olwell walked me through the writing process. He made it very easy and kept it fun. I'd love to write more for them in the future."

Last we saw of Sean, he was neck deep in columns, preparing more words of wisdom for the Eden site, and writing charts for more shows with another Eden columnist, Roy Vogt. "There's a lot going on, especially with the upcoming release of the new CD. But it's all weaving together very nicely, and I'm really looking forward to the next few months.

We caught up recently with endorser Shaun Smith in between tours and diapers. You heard right - diapers. Shaun and wife Julie are the proud, new parents of Shelly Ann, born just two weeks ago. "Being a father is great," said Smith, "but it's the only job where you get less sleep than you do on a tour bus!"

Touring is something Shaun knows a little about. His "boss", Billy Currington has been touring almost non-stop for the past four and a half years. Currently the band is out in support of Doin' Somethin' Right, Billy's latest effort, which recently went platinum. The single Good Directions (Billy's second #1 hit) topped the charts for three weeks.

So, when not touring and not changing diapers, how does Shaun fill his time? "Right now, I'm picking up one of our dogs from the groomer," he laughed. "When I'm not on the road, I'm a pretty basic, normal guy. Now, I just get less sleep, so I'll have to go back out on tour to catch up."

Shaun's Space

Rock of (Under) Ages

OK. Show of hands. How many of you reading this were playing paid gigs at the age of twelve? And I'm not talking about your kid sister's Birthday party, either. I'm talking headline gigs.

33-1/3 (thirty-three and a third), a group of barely-teeneagers, recently headlined the Sleepy Hollow RockFest, July 4th, 2007. And as you can see from the photos, they're already serious about their gear. Bassist Matt Reedy (age 13) uses a Nemesis RS combo to pound out the Low End, while Molly Ahern (age 12) on keyboards uses a Nemesis Silver Series combo to perfectly recreate the many sounds she uses in a typical set.

The band has been together for only a year and a half, and already has a killer set list, including cuts from The Beatles, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and many more. And you've just got to hear guitarist Harrison Fosco (age 13) rip through Van Halen's Eruption. I mean, geez, I don't even know if Eddie can still play it this well! Other band members include Sara Thompson belting out the vocals and Jules Riedl slamming the drums.

Future goals for 33-1/3 include continuing to headline all-ages shows at every opportunity, expanding their song list with even more challenging material... and headlining a stadium tour after they graduate.

'Way to Go' to Matt and his band mates. I've got a feeling we're looking at a future Eden endorser here. A big Eden THUMP to all of you.

Check out 33-1/3 on the Space and the Tube.

New Darkest Hour video features Paul Burnette with Eden VT300B/810RP rig.

Paul Burnette of Darkest Hour has been using Eden rigs for quite a while. Lately, however, he took delivery of a brand spanking new VT300B all-tube head and an 810RP cabinet to go with it. And he loves it! It was just a happy accident that it showed up in time for him to use it in their latest video for the song "XX", from their fourth release for Victory Records. In fact, it was such a close call that Paul didn't have time to get a rack for the head! The new CD will be in stores July 10, but you can watch the video here.

Some guys get all the luck and, evidently, John Montagna is one of them. Not only does he play with the Alan Parsons Live Project, he's recently been touring with Todd Rundgren. The two met while working on the all-star Beatles tribute, Walk Down Abbey Road and it seems the Wizard was duly impressed. So when Tony Levin had to sub out several dates on the TR tour, Montagna got the call.

John had nothing but good things to say about the tour, writing that "it was a blast for me to slide into the rhythm section with [Jerry] Marotta and guitarist Jesse Gress. Todd's hard-core fans welcomed me into the fold with open arms, and it was good times all around. Best of all, I got to rock out with one of my earliest musical heroes!"

Read John's Email here.

Aaron Bouslog and Gary Jones of Deeper Blues laying tracks for the upcoming Deeper Blues CD.

The last thing Special Projects Coordinator Lane Baldwin needs is something else to do. As David Hisownself says, "we work him like a dog and feed him all the biscuits he wants." Then, of course, there's the new Internet radio show, Bass Talk with Abe & Lane™ (sponsored by Eden), which launches July 1st. Now, he's in session with Deeper Blues, recording their first CD and preparing to tour the band later this year.

Deeper Blues blends a thoroughly modern sound with a solid, traditional mind-set to produce an emotionally-charged balance that's quickly creating an international buzz. Already known for their blazing live shows, the band will now pack as much of that energy as possible into a dozen or so studio tracks.

Recording at Noise Gate Studios (Pekin, IL) with Kevin Grose and Kevin Schmitt at the desk, Lane is sharing production duties with guitarist Gary Jones. "So far, we've been very productive," said Lane. "We're far more worried about the vibe than about achieving 'perfection.' And the vibe has been very strong."

The band also features Aaron Bouslog, who Lane calls the band's 'Secret Weapon.' "The guy's not even out of college yet and he's already one of the best drummers I've ever worked with. And, boy, is he focused!"

Asked about bass solos, Lane laughed out loud. "Let's not go there," he said. "If you want to hear killer solo bass, go listen to Roy and Sean, Ariane and Snow Owl. Any one of them will blow you away." When pressed, however, he admitted,, "well, there may be a song or two that feature a 'low-strung' guitar kind of thing, but the rest of the time, it's all about laying down the deepest groove we can. So... NO bass solos!" Then, with a sly grin, Lane added, "I think."

Abe White and Dan Shafer fire off another tune at the Rock & Load show in Nashville.

Rock and Load Takes Nashville by Storm

It might surprise you to hear "Nashville" and "Rock & Roll" used in the same sentence, but for decades Nashville has had a thriving rock scene. That wasn't enough for singer/songwriter Dan Shafer, however. Grateful for his own success, Dan wanted to do something to help new performers create some industry buzz. Gathering several industry heavies, Dan put together the Rock and Load showcase.

Rock and Load has been going full blast for several months, and has gained a strong industry following. Each Wednesday, the show goes on at Code Blue, with Dan and his band (including Eden endorsers Abe White holding down the bass, and Dave Webb acting as first-call sub) doing a set of Dan's latest offerings, then showcasing two or three bands. The night ends with a super-jam on classic Rock covers.

The latest development for Dan and his crew is to be boradcast live on RealityRadio.biz. Even better, Dan is working with the station to produce a radio show to immediately precede the showcase. These are the same folks that will be bringing you Bass Talk with Abe & Lane™ beginning July 1st.

In a recent phone interview, Dan told us that there are a lot of opportunities opening up for the Rock and Load show. "I don't want to give anything away yet," he said, "because I don't want to jinx it. But, if things continue as they are, we're going to have some very big news to announce soon."

Keep an eye on this page for further developments.

Too Many Notes - Too Many Strings - A Whole Lotta Fun!

Eden enthusiasts may already know that our good friends Roy Vogt (Professor Roy) and Sean O'Bryan Smith (Music Business Survival) both pursue solo careers in addition to the thousand other things they do. And when Special Projects Coordinator Lane Baldwin put together the list of bands for our recent Eden Night @ the Rock & Load Show, he suggested that the two do a combined set featuring the latest solo work of both. "I just knew the two would work well together," said Lane. "They have similar styles, similar philosophies, and wicked senses of humor."

Roy and Sean's combined set was the surprise hit of the show. While a bit outside the norm for the Rock & Load show, offering a serious Jazz/Funk romp, the two left behind a wake of dropped jaws and stammering compliments. "These guys are great!" said Dan Shafer after the very first song. "How soon can you get them back here?"

In addition to chops, humor was on prominent display as Roy explained to the crowd that the duo had so many notes to play in every song that they were dropping a few tunes from the set list so they could bring us "even more notes per song". The crowd roared approval and the bass players about died laughing. Sean continued the "too many notes" spiel in his next turn at the mic, and then proceeded to blaze through about a bajillion notes a second. Suffice to say that when it comes to Mutant Ninja Bass, Roy and Sean are the Senseis of Low.

The two are now planning to do several dates together, including a return to the Rock & Load show. "This was just way too much fun to only do once," said Sean of the evening. "While this first stint was sort-of thrown together due to prior commitments, we're both looking forward to getting more serious about the duo gigs. In fact, I think we're even going to rehearse for the next time."

Roy echoed Sean's sentiment. "One of the greatest challenges a solos bassist faces is to figure out how to keep the true bass line going while he solos. Doing this duo gig with Sean allows us both to let the other bass take care of the bottom while we're busy with the melody. And I couldn't ask for a better person with which to do this. I mean, the guy plays even more notes than me, and plays them extremely well. And, yeah, I think we'll rehearse at least once in the near future, so that should be a cool, new thing."

Keep an eye out for this Dynamic Duo of DownLow. If they ever play your town, you're sure to love the show.

Like many large cities, Washington, DC has a thiriving music scene. And in the middle of it is WAMA - the Washington Area Music Association. Every year, WAMA members vote on the best music of the year, honoring each winner with a Wammy. And this year, like many previous years, Johnny Castle took home several trophies.

Johnny's band, The Thrillbillys, won for Debut Album of the Year for Live! At The Sunset Grille, Song of the Year for If Love is Blind, and Songwriter of the Year for Thrillbilly David Kitchen. The Nighthawks, a DC institution, took the big award for Blues - Blues Group of the Year.

"I can't tell you how pleased I am," Johnny said in a recent telephone interview. "Most of us pray we get to play with one killer band. I get to play with two! It just doesn't get any better than this.

Spock's Beard is gearing up for a U.S / European tour to support their newest CD. Endorser Dave Meros checked in with us to offer a few details. The tour starts on May 26, with four U.S. dates to kick things off. The it's off to Europe for 15 more dates.

Dave tells us they're also filming one of the shows in Holland for a DVD. They'll also have a two man camera crew tagging along for most of the European tour. The crew will be shooting footage for a show on a new cable TV network. "It's kind of a cross between MTV / VH1 and the Discovery Channel," David said. "They are going to do a documentary on us to portray what a rock band deals with on the road. Should be. .. . interesting."

Visit the band's web site for full tour information.

This just in! Endroser Steve Cook just called to let us know tha Trent Tomlinson and the band will be appearing live at the Grand Ol' Opry on Saturday, March 17. The performance will be broadcast live on GAC (Great American Country) at 8PM (Eastern). Also appearing will be Gretchen Wilson and the legendary Loretta Lynn.

"It's always cool to play the Opry," Steve said, "the entire staff is so wonderful." This will be Steve's sixth appearance at the legendary Nashville concert hall, "but this one is the best, because Loretta's on the bill."

Paul Brunette and the fellahs in Darkest Hour are in Vancouver working on their latest offering. Due out in July, the new CD is being produced by Devin Townsend at Warehouse Studio. Paul tells us they're having a blast recording this, their 5th, CD. "This one's gonna blast the mustache off Tom Selleck," Paul says, only half-joking. "At least, if he gets too close to the speakers."

Eden endorser Michael Brown may well have the Greatest Gig on Earth, playing for Ringling Brothers - Barnum & Bailey Circus. The road is always great for funny stories and cool hangs. Well, here's a picture of Michael's Greatest Hang on Earth - with none other than Bootsy Collins. Shown here between Boots and his lovely wife Patti, Michael said in his e-mail to us, "somebody pinch me! Was that really Bootsy? Now you know the circus is cool!

When he's not busy teaching the new generation how to Rock, Craig Murray provides the foundation for Crash the Machine, an up and coming band out of California. Craig just dropped us an email to let us know they're now in the studio, recording ten tracks for their upcoming CD. At the helm is Tomas Costanza, who has been hailed as one of the Top Ten rising producers. "We wanted to do an album that would be on par with a major label release," Craig wrote, "and there's no one better than Tomas to help us achieve our goal."

Keep your eyes peeled for further updates. Or you can check out the band's blog to live the entire experience as it happens.

We caught up recently with Johnny Castle of the Nighthawks. This year looks to be just as busy as ever, with the 'Hawks and Nighthawks hitting the road this month to being a packed touring schedule for 2007. The band is already heavily booked through July with gigs for the last of the year coming in daily. Stops will include long-time favorites, the Laughlin River Motorcycle Run, Daytona Bike Week and a side trip to Key West, and a few goodies to be announced later.

In April, Johnny and the boys will return to Wolf Trap Farm Park. "This is first time back since we recorded the live CD / DVD last year," said Johnny in a recent phone interview. "It's always great, but this time it should be even better."

Continuing a decades-old tradition, the band will again perform with Blues legends Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sumlin. As for the busy schedule, Johnny jokingly refers to it as a necesary evil. "Actually,' he continued, "we have the best of both worlds. We still get out to see everyone, but most of the runs are short, so I can get back to my baby, and to my Thursday night gig at the Sunset Grille.

A year ago, Eden endorser Wes Watson and his wife Wendi were blessed with a daughter, Arabella. And what a sweetheart she is. There's only one problem. Arabella has a very weak heart. Born with a congenital heart defect, she's less than a year old and has already gone through a pair of operations as well as a pair of pacemakers (one temporary, one permanent). Obviously, this has all come at significant cost, both emotionally and financially. And you can be sure there's a lot more "doctoring" on the horizon.

Faced with a mountain of medical bills, Wes turned to his brothers in the Christian Metal band, StrangeLand. The band immediately began planning a benefit concert to help defray the medical expenses. (Click here for show time and info.) Eden and Randall are sponsoring the event and providing full backline support. In addition, our own Special Projects Coordinator and long-term endorser Lane Baldwin will be bringing his band Deeper Blues to perform.

Not satisfied with just performing at the event, Deeper Blues has pledged $100 to the cause, and Lane has challenged all Edenites (forum members) to contirbute, setting a goal of $5000 from the forum. In order to help make this possible, StrangeLand has set up an account for Arabella at the Heartland Bank in Pekin, IL..

For further information on the concert, or to make a donation (check or PayPal), visit Arabella's Heart.