The Players
News and happenings from the world of your favourite guitarists
Guitarist was saddened to hear of the passing of UFO rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Paul Raymond, who died from a heart attack on 13 April, aged 73. UFO had only recently completed the UK leg of their farewell Last Orders tour on 4 April at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Raymond joined the band in 1976 to play alongside Michael Schenker on the classic Lights Out album the following year. Before UFO, he worked with blues bands Chicken Shack and Savoy Brown and would go on to play in the post-UFO Michael Schenker Group for their second album, MSG.
Devin Townsend toured the UK for a run of solo shows last month with his first signature acoustic model by Prestige. The Empath ($2,699), named after Townsend’s latest album, is a dreadnought cutaway model with torrefied Adirondack spruce top and solid Indian rosewood back and sides. Other features include scalloped Adirondack spruce bracing and a Fishman Matrix Infinity pickup.
A new Led Zeppelin documentary charting the band’s seminal first two years will be released later this year to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The as-yet-untitled film is directed by American Epic’s acclaimed Bernard MacMahon, who won Page and Plant’s admiration for that previous work on American roots music. John Paul Jones also lent his involvement to the project, which is now in post-production and will feature rare archival interviews with the late John Bonham as well as new ones with the three surviving Zeppelin members.
The Australian fusion instrumentalist Plini has released an amp-modelling plug-in with Neural DSP. Archetype: Plini features three amp models
with an overdrive/boost and solid-state-inspired compressor available, too. Each virtual head has its own nine-band graphic equaliser, and there are six movable mics for the cab. Rounding out the package are tape delay and multi-dimensional reverb algorithms. It’s available now for €114 and you can try it for 14 days for free.
Old bandmates Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart are set to reunite for their “most in-depth concert in over 35 years” on 27 September at LA’s Hollywood Bowl. The guitarist and vocalist played together in the Jeff Beck Group between 1967 and 1969, recording the Truth and Beck-Ola albums. Their 2009 performance of People Get Ready on stage at Beck’s show in LA was their last together.
Roger Waters and Nick Mason made a surprise reunion last month in New York at the Pink Floyd drummer’s Saucerful Of Secrets gig. Their performance of the Waters-penned early Floyd classic Set Controls For The Heart Of The Sun was their first onstage together since 2011 when Mason performed select songs during Waters’ performance of The Wall.