Results tagged “guitar”

Ever since Giuliani time, we've seen fliers advertising guitar instructions from Dan Smith everywhere. Like many New Yorkers, we've often wondered, is this "Dan Smith Will Teach You Guitar" one man, or one thousand? Curiosity finally got the better of Websterism, who interviewed the man behind the fliers. He explains the secret to his success:

The latest victim of the deadly '09 is guitar legend Les Paul. He was 94 and at a White Plains hospital where he succumbed to complications from pneumonia today. Even into his old age, and with arthritis, he was performing at the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway. His biography is stacked with genius, but he's probably best known for pioneering the development of the solid-body electric guitar, which is, you know, the backbone of the rock and roll sound. CNN lists off his many accomplishments both behind the guitar and in the studio, and talks to Gibson's CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, who told them more about the man behind it all; "The world has lost a truly innovative and exceptional human being today. I cannot imagine life without Les Paul. He would walk into a room and put a smile on anyone's face. His musical charm was extraordinary and his techniques unmatched anywhere in the world." After the jump catch him playing the Iridium just two years ago (and here's a video from his younger years).

http://gothamist.com/2008/02/13/naked_cowboy_to.php">sued M&M's maker Mars Inc. for $6 million, claiming a commercial showing a blue M&M in a cowboy hat, boots, and white underwear and holding a guitar in Times Square infringed on his trademark look? Well, a federal judge sent most of the lawsuit to pasture, but is allowing the Naked Cowboy's claim that it seems like he's endorsing M&M's to stand.

This is way better than School of Rock; over in Mr. R's class in Brooklyn, the little ones are becoming luthiers. Mr. R, Paul Rubenstein, works for Working Playground and teaches high school and middle school kids how to make electric guitars and amplifiers, a program he started 5 years ago. He tells us:

"We make them entirely from scratch (except for the tuning machines) including the pickups. It has just grown since then... now we make amplifiers and square wave oscillators too."

Continue reading "Video of the Day: Brooklyn Kids Rock"

Times Square fixture The Naked Cowboy (Robert Burck) is singing a litigious song these days against Mars Inc., maker of M&M candies. He is claiming that the company is infringing on his trademark, i.e. singing in tighty-whities, cowboy boots and a Stetson, with a six string slung on his shoulder. Burck wants $6 million after the company started broadcasting a film on a billboard screen in Times Square showing anthropomorphic M&Ms re-enacting famous scenes, structures, and places around NYC. A blue peanut M&M is shown in briefs, boots, a hat, and strumming a guitar while singing in Times Square.