4X12 Higher Spirit Edition

All That Shreds Magazine, in conjunction with host Andrew Banks of KATN / The Shred OGs Podcast, asks FOUR Guitar Greats a new question over TWELVE months.  Thus became the name “4 x 12”, just like the cabinets they shred through!!

In total, sixteen guitarists of various styles and experience participated.  We now have a Shrapnel Records, Blue Mouth Promotions, Higher Spirit, and an Over The Top segment on the 1^st, 7^th, 14^th, and 21^st of each month for an entire year!

So have fun comparing answers as some questions in the months to come will inform and surprise you!  Time to crank up your 4×12 and jam on this…

JANUARY – What plans, projects, events, etc. do you have planned for 2020 that we can all anticipate and look forward to?

Frank Marino:

I currently have a BluRay/DVD Box-Set out, titled ‘Frank Marino – Live At The Agora Theatre.’  My ability to go forward with touring will largely be conditioned on how well the Box-Set is received by the public.  There’s a possibility of a tour of certain parts of the U.S. commencing in April 2020.  If people want to help support the possibility, they can find info about the Box-Set at https://mahoganyrush.net/dvd, or view a Trailer for it at https://youtu.be/wVt0i_3sp-I

Randy Hansen:

First of all, I plan on dating Gwen Stefani (uproarious laughter!) and then begin working on some new music.  We may be releasing ‘Mirror Mirror’ in the US, working on that now.

We are also fine-tuning our live show.  The most recent change was opening with ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.  We just returned from playing The Olympia in Paris, France, and started the show with Sgt. Pepper because that is what Jimi Hendrix played there.  We used to open the show by coming out of full steam and blistering.  Now we have rearranged the set to start with Jimi’s version of Sgt. Pepper and build the intensity over the entire show.  It seems to be going over much better this way.

Roy Z:

Performing and playing-wise, I’m currently working on a Roy Z blues album where I both sing and play.  It will have an orchestra.  Also, by popular demand, I’m working on a solo metal album with a lot of celebrity guest musicians.  Leon Hendrix and I are working on some ideas together.  My band, Tribe of Gypsies, has some ideas in the mix.

Production-wise I have been working with Flor de Loto from Peru in who is a band that sounds a little like Jethro Tull, The Andys, and Iron Maiden combined.  I’m also working again with Aria, one of the biggest bands starting in 1985 from Russia on their next album.  I produced their thirteenth album in 2018 called ‘Curse of the Seas.’

I have some material laid out with Bruce Dickenson, need to find the right space to work on it with our schedules.  I’m working with The Ritchie Valens Foundation.  We have been able to accomplish several things and are proud of our efforts with the local Los Angeles youth.  Every May 13^th is now declared Richie Valens Day in Los Angeles County, and we have a stretch of the I-5 Freeway from the 170 to 118 that runs through Pacoima, his home town, designated as the Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway.  Next, we are doing a battle of the bands to inform the younger generation who Ritchie was and what his accomplishments were as the first Latino rocker with a number one hit, ‘La Bamba’ and a pioneer of Chicano rock and Latin rock.  He inspired many musicians of Mexican heritage, the likes of Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, and Carlos Santana.  Next is the renaming of the post office, and we will be erecting two statues in Pacoima.  I owe a shout out to Monica Rodriguez, our councilwoman, who is helping to make all of this happen!

Right now, that’s what I can say; all are works in progress.

Adam Rey:

Recording my second solo CD of instrumental guitar music.  Also, I’ll be recording more archived material in various genres that have been floating around for years.  I’m going into my 7th year in The Long Run-Colorados Tribute to the Eagles, a highly successful full-time regional act.

All That Shreds thanks this week’s guest guitarist for participating in ‘4 x 12’.  Please support each artist’s new releases, projects, tours, and the companies who endorse them.

Remember… AN OPEN MIND IS A BLOWN MIND!