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Here's my cover of Robben Ford's instrumental classic "Cannonball Shuffle", a song he wrote in tribute to Freddie King for his 2003 album Keep On Running. For the recording I used the audio from the camera recording I made for YouTube and layered it over a backing track in GarageBand. Please give it a thumbs up, leave some comments and hit subscribe!

Gear-wise I was playing my Gibson Les Paul Classic into a Fender '59 Bassman Reissue amplifier, with a Wampler Euphoria overdrive pedal throughout and a Way Huge Pork Loin as the solo boost. Reverb courtesy of a Strymon Flint.

Cannonball Shuffle - Robben Ford

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Here's my take on the classic rock anthem All Right Now by Free. I started recording from the chorus leading into the solo section, doing my very best Paul Kossoff-inspired guitar playing throughout. For the recording I used the audio from the camera recording I made for YouTube and layered it over a backing track in GarageBand. Please give it a thumbs up, leave some comments and hit subscribe!

Gear-wise I was playing my Gibson Les Paul Classic into a Fender '59 Bassman Reissue amplifier, with a Wampler Euphoria overdrive and Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer pedal throughout and a Way Huge Pork Loin as the solo boost. Reverb courtesy of a Strymon Flint.

All Right Now - Free

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Here's my cover of "Little Sister" by the legendary Queens Of The Stone Age, off their 2005 album Lullabies To Paralyze. Using a backing track of the vocals, bass guitar, and drums, I recorded and filmed two separate rhythm guitar tracks, and a lead guitar track, then combined the three for the final mix. Please give it a thumbs up, leave some comments and hit subscribe! 

Guitar: '05 Gibson Les Paul Classic.
Pedals (signal chain order): TC PolyTune Mini Noir, Electro Harmonix Micro POG, Dunlop Fuzz Face (red), Wampler Euphoria, Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer, Strymon Flint (reverb side).
Amp: Fender '59 Bassman Reissue.
Recording: BeyerDynamic microphone, Klotz XLR cable, M-Audio MobilePre USB interface, Apple MacBook, GarageBand '11.

Little Sister - Queens Of The Stone Age

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Originally written and performed by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on their 1967 album Axis: Bold As Love, here's my cover of "Wait Until Tomorrow" that combines Hendrix's version with that of John Mayer's from live albums such as Try and Where The Light Is. Using a backing track of the bass guitar and drums, I recorded and filmed the guitar track in one take, then mixed them using GarageBand. Please give it a thumbs up, leave some comments and hit subscribe!

Guitar: '05 Fender Classic Player 50s Stratocaster MIM
Pedals (signal chain order): TC PolyTune Mini Noir, Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer, Strymon Flint (reverb side).
Amp: Fender '59 Bassman Reissue.
Recording: BeyerDynamic microphone, Klotz XLR cable, M-Audio MobilePre USB interface, Apple MacBook, GarageBand '11.

Wait Until Tomorrow - Jimi Hendrix / John Mayer

I composed this track to accompany a Sony TV advert as part of an assignment for my degree at the University of Liverpool. The electric guitar parts were recorded straight into my MacBook using an M-Audio USB interface, and all other instruments were recorded within Logic using a MIDI controller.

Original Rock Track - James Sands

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My version of Joe Bonamassa's amazing song, such a difficult song to play straight through! I've made a shortened version using the best bits of the song, and without any vocals. Hope you enjoy!

Woke Up Dreaming - Joe Bonamassa

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My cover of the Leslie West version of "Third Degree", featured on his recent album Unusual Suspects. He had Joe Bonamassa join him on this one to play and sing, a brilliant song and album to check out! Used a drum backing track in GarageBand and recorded the rhythm and lead parts myself, using my '04 Gibson Les Paul Classic and GarageBand effects. Enjoy!

Third Degree - Leslie West & Joe Bonamassa

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My cover of the Black Keys song "Next Girl" off their Brothers album from a couple of years ago. I played it as an instrumental, playing something similar to the vocal line on guitar with a solo at the end. I didn't strictly follow the same structure as the original but it's close enough. Recorded it all in GarageBand using my Gibson Les Paul and editing a drum loop in GarageBand to fit the song. Enjoy!

Next Girl - The Black Keys

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A very good friend and guitar hero of mine, Mr Pat McManus, wrote a song in tribute to Rory Gallagher called "Return Of The G Man" that was featured on his album "In My Own Time". Since hearing the song it has long been one of my favourites to listen to, so I thought it was about time that I tried to learn it. 

After learning the song I decided to blend it with the Leadbelly song "Out On The Western Plain" that Rory used to play live. I hope that I've done both Pat and Rory proud and hope that you enjoy my playing.

For this recording I used a beyerdynamic microphone into an M-Audio MobilePre with GarageBand 09 and iMovie 09. The guitar used is the Canadian made 'Norman' acoustic and is tuned to DADGAD. I've added some bongos to make the song a bit more interesting too!

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Return Of The G Man + Out On The Western Plain (Pat McManus + Rory Gallagher)

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Originally featured on Rory Gallagher's 1982 album "Jinx", and a crowd favourite from then on, this is my rendition of the song "Big Guns". I've taken the backing track from the recent release "Play Guitar With Rory Gallagher", which features full transcriptions of 16 Rory song, along with studio recordings of each and backing tracks made from these original recordings. It's like you're playing with his band, thoroughly recommended!

For gear I used my (modded) Fender 50s Classic Player Stratocaster, went straight into GarageBand '11 using a M-Audio MobilePre, and used the effects and amp simulation built into GarageBand.

Hope you enjoy it, and please check out my other recordings!

Big Guns - Rory Gallagher

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With its name coming from the small cottage in Wales used to write much of the material for their third album,  Bron-Y-Aur Stomp is a country blues influenced hoedown released on Led Zeppelin's album "Zeppelin III" in 1970. It became a common feature of their acoustic shows, most notably their performance at Earl's Court in 1975.

The song was originally recorded in open F tuning (CFCFAF), but was performed live in open G (DGDGBG) to suit other acoustic songs played by Page in the set.

I've based this cover around both the original recording and the live version from Earl's Court, whilst adding in some improvised ideas of my own. The guitar is tuned to open F (CFCFAF) like the studio recording, with both a direct line in and a microphone used for the recording. Hope you enjoy it. Please give it a thumbs up, leave some comments and subscribe!

Recorded on a Lag T66ACE acoustic guitar, using the M-Audio MobilePre USB interface into a MacBook Pro.

Programs used: GarageBand 11, iMovie 11

Bron-Y-Aur Stomp - Led Zeppelin

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Released on Cream's 1968 album "Wheels of Fire" as a live version recorded at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, this cover of a Robert Johnson classic soon became one of the most popular songs in their live sets and even became better known than Johnson's original version.

I've recorded my own instrumental version of this Cream classic using an Epiphone Sheraton II and a Fender '59 Bassman reissue, with a Boss ME50 multi-effects board and an Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer for the overdrive. I daisy-chained the normal and bright channels on the amp to bring some brightness into the sound and get a better representation of the sound Clapton might have got from his Marshall head and cab combination. Please give it a thumbs up, leave some comments and hit subscribe!

For the recording I used a Beyer Dynamic microphone placed infront of one of the lower speaker cones, through a M-Audio MobilePre USB interface into GarageBand '11 on my MacBook.

Crossroads - Cream

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Davy Knowles' SoundCloud page: https://soundcloud.com/davy-knowles

This original song taken from Davy Knowles' album Coming Up For Air is one of my favourite songs of his, and instead of playing guitar over the top of him I decided to make myself a backing track. Using GarageBand, I took one of the built in drum loops, played in a bass guitar part using the keyboard of my MacBook, then recorded both rhythm and lead guitar parts straight into the computer with an interface. I used my Mexican Fender Strat with the tone rolled off a bit to try and make it sound like a PRS guitar as Davy uses. Enjoy!

Guitar used is a Mexican Fender 50s Classic Players Stratocaster, fitted with Fender noiseless pickups. The interface used was a M-Audio MobilePre USB, with amp modelling and effects from GarageBand '11 on a MacBook

Tear Down The Walls - Davy Knowles

James is an Irish blues guitarist and session musician currently based in London. Having been brought up surrounded by Northern Ireland's vibrant blues music scene, James has been performing at pubs, clubs and festivals across Ireland from an early age, as well as having travelled across the UK and mainland Europe. Over the years, James has had the opportunity to be opening act for prestigious artists such as Van Morrison, Robben Ford, Mud Morganfield, and Wilko Johnson, as well as having shared the stage with Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy), Johnny Fean (Horslips), Sandi Thom, and Leon Hendrix.

James graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2015 with a BA Hons in Music/Popular Music, having previously achieved Grade 8 qualifications in both Saxophone and Electric Guitar. His skills also include songwriting, arranging, musical direction, recording, and instrument tuition.

In addition to being an accomplished blues guitarist, James has been influenced by a diverse range of artists and can adapt to playing in a variety of styles including rock, funk, soul, jazz, folk, and country. He can also read notation and has performed in the band for musical productions such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Fame, The Man Of La Mancha, and 9 To 5.

In May 2017, James was one of the featured artists in the Rory Gallagher Rhythm & Blues Revue as part of the International Guinness Blues On The Bay Festival. He performed with legendary Irish musicians and former members of the Rory Gallagher Gerry McAvoy and Brendan O'Neill, alongside fellow guitarists Gwyn Ashton, Ben Poole, and Grainne Duffy.

James Sands

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