Ahead of his ‘1980’ Australian tour in March, Scottish music legend Midge Ure sat down with Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips on January 17, 2020 for a chat about his career. (See tour dates below) The interview was conducted for NAMM’s Oral History archive. The NAMM Oral History Collection is…

On January 17, 2020 P!nk’s longtime drummer and Gretsch drums endorsee Mark Schulman sat down with Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips for a chat about his career and gear. The interview was conducted for NAMM’s Oral History archive. The NAMM Oral History Collection is unique, unlike any other collection in…

At Winter NAMM 2020 Ibanez presented their new collaboration with guitar great Steve Vai, the gorgeous PIA (Paradise in Art) Steve Vai Signature guitar. The new model features a solid alder body and a five-piece maple and walnut neck, with a rosewood fretboard emblazoned with a multi-coloured blossom inlay. A…

The Beautiful Girls is the moniker singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Mat McHugh has used over the last couple of decades to perform, record and release his feel-good rhythms. Occasionally, depending on his vibe, he’ll use his own name too. It’s a brand (although he wouldn’t like that term) which…

Our recent interview with singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Harts could be summarised as a tale of two Fender Strats. One of them is a guitar he uses in his Harts Plays Hendrix show. It’s an upside down left-handed Strat, strung for a right-hander, a mirror image of the guitar…

Nick Lowe is post-punk royalty. The acclaimed producer, songwriter, author and pop culture icon, will return to Australia in 2020 for his first tour in seven years. Lowe will be touring with Los Straitjackets, a band known for channeling the peak years of the guitar instrumental, and for performing in…

Legendary guitar virtuoso MARTY FRIEDMAN will be returning to Australia, for the first time with his full “Super Band” in December. With a career spanning over thirty years with some of the world’s biggest heavy metal acts including Megadeth, on top of a stellar solo career, Marty Friedman is a…

Bass journeyman and entrepreneur Ben Wicks has shared the stage with an array of local and international artists in a career spanning two decades. Initially inspired by the bass licks of Joseph Lucky Scott on Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly soundtrack, Ben dove deeper into the world of bass and discovered the…

Legendary Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre been cited as a major influence on some of the world’s greatest players including Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Joe Bonamassa and his guitar solo on the classic Tull track “Aqualung” has been celebrated as one of the top 25 guitar solos…

In a career spanning five decades as a respected singer, songwriter and performer, Graeme Connors has become a part of the fabric of the Australian country music scene. From his own acclaimed albums such as North, The Road Less Travelled, Kindred Spirit and so many more, to his songs recorded…