For fans of Orianthi, This Is It – her debut album Believe is out today. The 24-year-old guitar goddess has released 11 anthemic tracks, best described by Orianthi herself as “rock-pop with an 80’s vibe.” Produced by the famed Howard Benson (The All-American Rejects, Kelly Clarkson), the album features guitar solos on every song and lyrics that beg to be sung along with. Orianthi’s single, “According to You,” is available for free on iTunes as the Single of the Week, while other highlights include the hard-rocking “Bad News” and the instrumental track “Highly Strung,” a duet with …read more

I just got off the phone with Orianthi Panagaris, the guitar goddess from Adelaide, Australia who is preparing to take the world by storm. During the call, we discussed her influences, her love for guitar, her upcoming album Believe and what it’s like to be discovered by Michael Jackson on MySpace. The first time I heard her play, I was absolutely speechless. If you have never heard of Orianthi, prepare to be amazed.
Orianthi was only six years old when her love for the guitar began. She took an interest in her dad’s album collection, which included greats such as ”Jimi Hendrix, Eric …read more

Introducing Orianthi, the guitar phenomenon who is featured prominently in the upcoming Michael Jackson concert documentary, This Is It.  Already a renowned musician, Orianthi has been playing guitar since the age of eleven and was discovered by legend Carlos Santana.  After playing with artists like Carrie Underwood, ZZ Top, and Prince, she received a MySpace message from Michael Jackson’s musical director asking her to audition for his comeback tour.  Following a test run with the King of Pop himself, she was selected as his lead guitarist for his O2 arena dates in London …read more

A lot of bands are looking to bring something different to their live shows. Lately a lot of bands are planning on playing the entire track list of one of their classic albums, live. I don’t know if it’s to build hype and sell tickets or just to keep things kind of interesting. Whatever the reasoning behind it, I love it and think it’s a great idea. Metal icons Slayer did it with Reign In Blood as well as NWOBHM pioneers, Judas Priest are planning on doing it with British Steel. Mastodon are playing their new album Crack The …read more

ZZ Top has one of those classic vintage guitar sounds that can be very hard to emulate. You can play with your knobs and try to tweak your gain, but it almost seems impossible to capture Billy Gibbons’ tone. Luckily Gibson.com is kind enough to show us how to do it.
When it comes to guitar tone, Gibbons uses what you would expect any rockin’ blues man to have in his arsenal, including Gibson guitars and Marshall amps. He has also been known to use a Fuzz pedal and a couple of other devices too.
For our purposes, in building Gibbons’ …read more

Rock ‘n Roll’s legendary trio ZZ Top has just penned a deal with mastermind Rick Ruben to produce their next album. Their first since 2003’s Mescalero. Ultimate-guitar.com reported that BW&BK spoke with Billy Gibbons about the upcoming album.
“That starts pretty soon,” says Billy. “We just inked a deal with Rick Rubin that will be announced shortly. And I’m sure he’s got plans to make way to drag us off the touring trail back into the studio, which will be a nice excursion.”
Given his reputation for paring things back, would you be moving in the same direction, going for a …read more