Instruments tell stories through their appearance as much as through their sound.Pat Graham's photographs capture the intimate relationship between musician and instrument told by the signs of wear of fingers on frets or keys, chips, scratches, and modifications by the artists who have played, beaten on, bled over, and made them their own.For more than ten years, Graham has been documenting these amazing instruments and collecting stories about them from musicians on the ro...

Mötley Crüe's gleeful glam debauchery and unstoppable anthems have made them metal gods, selling over 72 million album copies worldwide and landing their band biography The Dirt on bestseller lists around the country. Mötley Crüe is—amazingly—the first photographic history of the band. Legendary rock photographer Neil Zlozower's images capture the band's rise from their breakthrough album Shout at the Devil through rock 'n' roll excesses to follow with the unprecedented a...

New York Times bestselling author Allen St. John started off looking for the world’s greatest guitar, but what he found instead was the world’s greatest guitar builder.Living and working in Rugby, Virginia (population 7), retired rural mail carrier Wayne Henderson is a true American original, making America's finest instruments using little more than a pile of good wood and a sharp whittling knife. There's a 10-year waiting list for Hender...

From humble folk instrument to American icon, the story of the guitar is told in this "exceptionally well-written" memoir by the NPR commentator ( Guitar Player).In this blend of personal memoir and cultural history, National Public Radio commentator Tim Brookes narrates the long and winding history of the guitar in the United States as he recounts his own quest to build the perfect instrument.Pairing up with a master artisan from the Green Mountai...

Ultimate Slap Bass is one of the most popular books ever written on the slap bass technique. In this book, the first in the series of three, the technique is covered from the absolute basics. The book starts with basic slapping and popping technique and moves on to cover ghost notes, using hammer-ons and pull-offs. It also covers popular scales and modes for the slap technique and includes a detailed history of the slap bass technique. There are 63 exercises in this book and all have free ...

Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, U2, Peter Gabriel, and the Neville Brothers all have something in common: some of their best albums were produced by Daniel Lanois. A French-speaking kid from Canada, Lanois was driven by his innate curiosity and intense love of music to transcend his small-town origins and become one of the world's most prolific and successful record producers, as well as a brilliant musician in his own right.Lanois takes us through his childhood, from bein...

Alan Cross is the preeminent chronicler of popular music.Here he provides a history of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, and The Clash.This look at the band -- "The Only Band That Matters" -- is adapted from the audiobook of the same name.

The first biography of the artist who “essentially invented indie and alternative rock” (Spin)A brilliant and influential songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, the charismatic Alex Chilton was more than a rock star—he was a true cult icon. Awardwinning music writer Holly George-Warren’s A Man Called Destruction is the first biography of this enigmatic artist, who died in 2010. Covering Chilton’s life from his early work with the charttopping Box To...

Alan Cross is the preeminent chronicler of popular music.Here he provides a history of alt-rock pioneers The Ramones.This look at the band -- "Four Leather Jackets, Two Chords and an Attitude" -- is adapted from the audiobook of the same name.

Weve all looked upon the UK Top 40 at some point in the last few years with undeniable disdain, whether it be for the seemingly eternal dominance of dance music or the baffling success of mediocre one hit wonders. But thats not to say that the charts cant restore your faith in music; Wasting Light, the seventh studio effort by Foo Fighters shot straight to the top of the album charts upon its release, showing that despite the overwhelming suggestions of the contrary, Rock and Roll isnt dead...

By 1987, David Bowie was at a creative, critical, and commercial low. His most recent album was dismissed by the music press, his latest tour written off as a disaster. Fifteen years after becoming the most colourfully controversial superstar in recent rock history, Bowie was seen as a spent force.Almost twenty years later, Bowie has re-established himself at the very peak of his profession in one of the most extraordinary comebacks in rock history. His 1995 release of the critical...

The First Time I Heard David Bowie is Part III in an ongoing series where musicians and writers tell their stories of first hearing the music of an iconic artist or band. In this third volume (following the opening installments, which covered Joy Division / New Order and Cocteau Twins), forty different musicians and writers remember their initial experiences hearing the influential rock chameleon David Bowie, whose musical legacy now spans nearly five decades.Contributors to the Da...