When Bob Dylan first arrived in New York City in January of 1961, he was 19 years old, baby-faced and Woody Guthrie-worshipping But it did not take very long for people to discern he was not exactly like the other folksingers on the scene had gotten involved in socialist organizations in college and soon became immersed in the political and social world that was Greenwich Village in the late '50s In her words: "The world was very small then and the head of all the left wing organizations were in the Village." This is how she came to meet and eventually marry folksinger Dave Van Ronk and started doing some rudimentary management work for him "Van Ronk's wife, Terri, definitely not a minor character, took care of Dave's bookings, especially out of town, and she began trying to help me out," Dylan wrote in his memoir Chronicles: Volume One an electric can opener,' Terri once said as we walked past the shop window of a hardware store on 8th Street 'Who'd be stupid enough to buy that?'" It is the earliest known recording of Dylan Dylan would eventually bring Albert Grossman on as his manager — "I know he can do much more for you than I can," Thal recalls saying to Dylan then — and released his debut album in 1962.  UCR spoke with Thal about the famous 1961 tape and her experiences with Dylan before he became a household name.  Do you remember your first impression of Dylan when you met him?Well by the time I met Bob — I'm a year older than him '61 when he hit New York...I was like I thought he was some kind of remarkable....He was not a great guitarist It took a while to realize that I was watching Charlie Chaplin and there was something charming and memorable about the guy I thought he was some kind — I won't use the word genius Why don't you use the word genius?Well I don't know if that's what I would have said at that point You gotta go hear him.' The next night because that was the reaction of people in the folk music world the folk music world was a supportive one at that time And Bob had the immediate support of more people in the folk music world It does still sound like you thought he was special or different in some way.Yep Bob and I hung around together immediately Suze Rotolo [Dylan's girlfriend] was in the picture then Gotcha. I've read that you don't feel like Suze's character in A Complete Unknown [Sylvie Russo played by Elle Fanning] was portrayed appropriately.I think they turned Suze — they turned an extraordinarily smart Can you talk a little about her as a friend and a presence around the Village She obviously had a very positive impact on a lot of people and most of the people in folk music really limited themselves to music One of the things that struck me over the years is that folksingers and the folk music world — I mean any world of artistic young people at that time was somewhat limited were not really that interested in literature And she was one of the people who brought a broader perspective to the people she met than most others in the folk music world And also to the extent that she was with Bob that she was seen as somebody who — I don't like the word "educating" Bob but who was introducing Bob to culture that he didn't know but there was a whole realm of culture Suze was aware of and it ranged from the French Symbolists to visual artists to Bertolt Brecht and Suze was known for introducing Bob to a lot of that READ MORE: The Best Song From Every Bob Dylan Album this tape you made of Dylan in 1961...tell me about the reaction you would get when you would play the tape for people.I took the tape to a recording studio and I had a little cassette made or something like that that I could physically carry to an out of town club And that's why the thing got bootlegged I assume the recording studio let somebody make copies which ultimately was issued as a bootleg with dreadful sound But the reaction that I got was pretty universally: "Why should I hire this guy when I can hire Jack Elliot?" And Jack Elliott was a folksinger the reaction I got from the club owner in Springfield and the club owner at the Club 47 in Cambridge and the club owner in Philadelphia was exactly the same "Why should I hire this kid when I can hire Jack Elliott?" This is only a little bit of the range of the songs that he plays And this young man could be very successful and you're going to want to be one of the people who introduced him You had a lot of faith in his potential then but thinking back on it now — Dylan is 83 years old still touring the world — was that something you could have predicted in 1961 Did you think he was going to go the distance?Not like that We could not have predicted that anybody we knew would ever What is something you don't think people know or understand about Dylan that you wish they did? That he's a very funny guy with a very wise sense of humor...that a lot of putting people down publicly That he has one of the most extraordinary memories of anyone I've ever seen and he can do something that I think is very unusual He can take another piece of it and put it in the back of his head so that he can use it 20 years later And then he can take some of it and totally pitch it And that is one of the things that marks — whatever kind of genius Dylan is the things that mark him – he can pull that out Is there anything else you'd like people to know about the Gaslight tape?The tape represents a deliberate public statement by somebody who was just beginning to find himself or to think of himself professionally And I think that the mix of what he did is kind of interesting you listen to his "Song to Woody," and that's a world Bob walked out of I think it's still part of Bob's reality His earliest known demo recording from 1961 is currently up for auction. She taped it.\nRead More When Bob Dylan first arrived in New York City in January of 1961, he was 19 years old, baby-faced and Woody Guthrie-worshipping "Van Ronk's wife, Terri, definitely not a minor character, took care of Dave's bookings, especially out of town, and she began trying to help me out," Dylan wrote in his memoir Chronicles: Volume One Dylan would eventually bring Albert Grossman on as his manager — "I know he can do much more for you than I can," Thal recalls saying to Dylan then — and released his debut album in 1962.  Gotcha. I've read that you don't feel like Suze's character in A Complete Unknown [Sylvie Russo READ MORE: The Best Song From Every Bob Dylan Album The shred virtuoso also talks about working with Steve Vai and Brian May for his new album Bumblefoot… Returns! might strike some as a strange album title. After all, its creator, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, never really went away; in fact, since the release of his first record, 1995’s Bumblefoot, the electric guitar virtuoso been downright omnipresent issuing nine other solo albums while spreading his guitar and vocal talents across a diverse array of bands “I’ve been around a good while,” Thal says “long enough to see everything change in the way we make records They handled distribution and oversaw the business and I designed my album cover on Windows 95 It wasn’t so easy to put music out 30 years ago There were gatekeepers who controlled what people got to hear The process could really grind you down.” recording albums at his New Jersey home that he says “sound just as good as something I could do in a big studio it’s a dream come true — I can record a song and in two days the whole world can hear it This is why artists tour so much — we can’t depend on just one revenue stream.” The all-instrumental Bumblefoot… Returns is a sustained blast of musical razzle-dazzle encompassing everything from molten metal to turbo-charged orchestral pieces to high-velocity cosmic blues “A lot of the songs come from random moments of inspiration “I could be driving my car and a melody will come to me In the case of ‘Moonshine Hootenanny,’ I watched a documentary about blues players He was playing a zydeco rhythm that reminded me of guys playing washboards in jug bands so I grabbed my fretless guitar and playing I felt like I was in the movie Raising Arizona.” “I’m so happy that Steve is on the record,” Thal says “I didn’t impose any restrictions on him; I just sent him the track and reveled in what he sent back.” He adds with a laugh “I’m still trying to figure out what he did.” Thal followed a similar tactic with another iconic guest, Brian May, who has been recovering from a minor stroke he had last September May's instantly recognizable guitar work shines on Bumblefoot's lush ballad “Once in Forever.” “When you ask Brian May to play on your song you want Brian May to be Brian May,” Thal says He and I have been emailing each other for the past 15 years We also played together at a festival called Starmus It's a combination of astrophysics and music and I was thrilled when he agreed to do my record.” which also features collaborations with Guthrie Govan and Derek Sherinian Thal was only too happy to share a few sage pieces of advice for fellow guitarists Play Along to Songs You’re Unfamiliar With “This is something I started doing as a kid it really helped me build pitch recognition and intuition "I would take an album I was totally unfamiliar with and I’d play along to it and try to catch on It was crazy at first: ‘What’s going on in the verse is that the chorus?’ But by the time I heard the verse again I would play along to both sides of a record and then I’d do my normal practice routine What I took away from it was that I didn’t have to be afraid to play Not knowing what to expect was very liberating and confidence building and that came in handy when I started to play with other people And because I was strictly going by my ears — I was listening and reacting instantaneously — it sharpened my pitch recognition and then it switches and you have to find your next move fast you don’t have to think about the distance between chords You can predict that C chord and jump to it.” Play Quick Trills With Every Combination of Fingers “There are different types of muscle fibers in the body There's slow-twitch and there's fast-twitch fibers you're engaging the fast twitch reflex muscles So by doing quick trills at 80 bpm with every finger combination you’re loosening your digits up and building your endurance I can’t overemphasize the word ‘loose’ here You shouldn’t tense your hand or fingers; everything must be relaxed “This kind of exercise should feel like a burst of electricity that jumps out of your hand I liken it to when you look down and you see a spider crawling on your hand your hand shakes like crazy and you don’t even think about it “If you’re given a song to learn for rehearsal or maybe a recording go that extra step and learn all the parts — drum fills It’s just a good idea to know the whole song when people are discussing parts and changes But you never know when you might be asked to sing something or play another instrument I’ve seen it happen: Somebody doesn’t show up Does he not care?’ Don’t be that guy I’m the kind of guy who gets somewhere 15 minutes early and sits in his car I’ll call the other people and be like I’m here,’ just to let them know they don’t have to worry about when I’m showing up.” Let’s say your band is made up of five people; if everybody gets to have a say — which isn’t always the case but here it is — out of five ideas you should expect to get one of yours through you’re probably going to have four out of five of your ideas shot down That’s okay – don’t be offended the other four people may have had their ideas shot down When somebody gets their way about something they feel passionate about Don’t be controlling — just go with the flow and see where it goes you may find that their ideas were better than yours too — the whole band looks good.” guitarists blast out flurries of notes over whatever chord the rest of the band is playing They go through scales and patterns mindlessly It all sounds like something they do by habit It makes it clear that they’re not really thinking about the music — they’re just engaging in an exercise “I have a good tip for connecting to the music: Play one note per chord it will force you to think about what should come next You’re giving yourself a break and allowing yourself to hear the tones You can hear the structure of sounds as they connect and you’ll have a better sense of where to go next It might take a while to get this down — you’ll want to break into the usual flurry of notes you’ll hear the music in a more interesting way with this one-note-per-chord technique.” “If someone is going to do the right thing they'll do it on their word and a handshake they're going to whether there's a contract or not If you sense that someone might be a manipulative You're passionate and hungry to achieve your goals The 'industry' is filled with opportunistic frauds Try to minimize exposure to the ticks and leeches; they're hard to get rid of cleanly once they attach themselves to you.” Joe BossoContributing WriterJoe is a freelance journalist who has interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar World He is also a former editor of Guitar World contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band who can’t manage that?” Mike Stern's top five guitar tips include one simple fix to help you develop your personal guitar style "It’s like you’re making a statement And you never know where it’ll lead." Pete Thorn shares the tip that convinced Joe Satriani he was the right guitarist for the SatchVai Band it’s completely out of tune!’ ” Samantha Fish names the one thing that can ruin every gig Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal is back at it again with “Bumblefoot… Returns!” While this album is purely instrumental Thal says it’s diverse in its range of stylistic overtones with hints of the prog-rock foundation I was singing and there were lyrics and vocal melodies and you’re writing for the range of your own voice and the style of your own voice It’s what you hear when you’re writing songs You can expand on melodies and do things that your voice can’t do.” When the pandemic stalled life as we knew it and realized he had all this free time and decided to use it to do all the things everyone wanted him to do but he never had time for but decided to tackle another instrumental album and found himself writing and writing essentially finding what became the soundtrack of his life you are writing about what you’re experiencing and you want to share that and have other people step into your shoes and feel it too these songs remind you at that time in your life and what you were doing and how you were feeling it takes you back to that and I experience both all the time.” seeing what was done at different time periods and while looking at the photos you see it’s not all coming from the same place Fueled by the despair and heartbreak stemming from the pandemic he mentions the PTSD from it all is similar to “The Passerby” episode of The Twilight Zone in 1961 not realizing the toll that’s being taken on them ‘Funeral March,’ where I put in the sound of steps on the gravel almost symbolizing the military and the sound of the bell and the timpani drums As I was building the orchestration around [the piano] crying violin to make it say what it needed to say All the songs build themselves along the way.” Along with the creative depth of the themes of the record Thal recruited an impressive breadth of talent Derek Sherinian (Alice Cooper / Bill Idol) He mentions that he didn’t originally plan on having guests but the songs essentially chose their features this album pushes all the right buttons and Thal is just looking for the basics of responses I just hope it puts a smile on people’s faces Issue 73 featuring Pinhead Gunpowder is available now This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website  Learn more Thal shares her story of discovering the star and making his first ever recording manager and confidante Terri Thal tells all about her time discovering promoting and nurturing the future folk star and much-bootlegged Gaslight Café gig that put him on the map As an active participant in the '50s and '60s New York Greenwich Village scene Thal had taken on the role of manager for her husband and always had her ear to the ground for new talent Dylan confirms the importance of Thal in his story and she began trying to help me out," he writes Thal made the recording as ammo when pursuing bookings for the unknown up and comer “But the reaction that I got was pretty universally: 'Why should I hire this guy when I can hire Jack Elliot?,'" says Thal who sounded like Woody Guthrie… At that time a lot like Woody Guthrie… And the reaction I got was exactly the same 'Why should I hire this kid when I can hire Jack Elliott?'" Dylan found his feet and while she would later graciously step aside allowing Albert Grossman to propel Dylan’s career in the role of manager ("I know he can do much more for you than I can," Thal recalls saying to Dylan) her role in Dylan’s future has never been in doubt I thought he was some kind of remarkable,” she recalls and there was something charming and memorable about the guy… I thought he was distinctive… I took the tape to a recording studio that I could physically carry to an out-of-town club "And that's why the thing got bootlegged… I assume the recording studio let somebody make copies which ultimately was issued as a bootleg with dreadful sound.” the original demo - which auctioneers RR Auction claim boasts "clear high-quality recordings of six early tracks" - is sitting at a price of $31,460 Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues Daniel GriffithsDaniel Griffiths is a veteran journalist who has worked on some of the biggest entertainment and covered countless new releases in the fields of music He’s the ex-Editor of Future Music and ex-Group Editor-in-Chief of Electronic Musician He renovates property and writes for MusicRadar.com you will then be prompted to enter your display name "I have a very emotional relationship with my machines”: Djrum on how a catastrophic technological failure led to one of 2025’s best electronic album It was unbelievable”: The making of Robert Palmer's Addicted To Love “You have everyone from senior citizens to little kids who like heavy metal music It's a very friendly community”: Scary Ghost’s Tobias Forge reckons you've got metal all wrong Guitarist and composer Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal has officially introduced his new instrumental album Bumblefoot…Returns 2025 and explores tracks from metal to orchestral to blues The upcoming album is available for pre-order on vinyl full art disc sleeves and UV art pressing on slide 4 The CD includes an 8-panel foldout square poster and the cassette features ten panels of artwork The first single “Simon in Space” is out now and “delivers an electrifying ride through chaos and intensity.” The track is accompanied by an animated music video that was created by Bumblefoot and Radek Grabinski Independent and fueled by love and dedication. Donate to fuel us figuratively and literally. Mention "☕️" or "coffee" and $5 of your donation will go to a random staff member to keep them energized! Former GUNS N' ROSES and current ART OF ANARCHY guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal is back with a brand-new instrumental album, "Bumblefoot ...Returns!", set for release on January 24, 2025. Thirty years after his debut solo instrumental album, Bumblefoot revisits his roots with a 14-track masterpiece that spans genres from metal to orchestral to blues. The album's opening track, "Simon In Space", serves as its first single, delivering an electrifying ride through chaos and intensity. In addition to the single, an animated music video created by Bumblefoot and animator Radek Grabinski is also available, as well as a retro-inspired video game, which is coming soon. Bumblefoot commented: "From an early age, my passions were guitar and astrophysics, cosmology — the song 'Simon In Space' merges the two. Simon is my cat, haha; that's him featured in the artwork." Soon fans will be able to immerse themselves in a retro-inspired video game based on the single. More details will be announced soon. "Bumblefoot ...Returns!" features collaborations with iconic musicians, including Brian May, Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Derek Sherinian, Jerry Gaskill and others, showcasing Bumblefoot's innovative guitar techniques, such as his signature fretless guitar and "thimble technique." On the album, Bumblefoot shared: "It's been 30 years since releasing the debut 'Adventures Of Bumblefoot' on Shrapnel Records, and I haven't done a fully instrumental album since. Writing during the pandemic, these songs became a soundtrack to my life — from heavy fretless growls to bluesy tributes to legends like Lonnie Johnson. It's a reflection of the moments that shaped me." He added: "Working on WHOM GODS DESTROY's album inspired growling heavy fretless parts like 'Simon In Space'. Watching a blues documentary inspired 'Moonshine Hootenanny'. Losing loved ones led to writing 'Funeral March'. Songs become a soundtrack to our lives." The album is available for pre-order now on vinyl, CD, and cassette, with exclusive merch bundles at bumblefoot.com. 01. Simon In Space02. Planetary Lockdown03. Moonshine Hootenanny04. Chopin Waltz Op64 No205. Monstruoso (featuring Steve Vai)06. Monstruoso II – Departure07. Cintaku08. Once in Forever (featuring Brian May)09. Andalusia10. Anveshana (featuring Guthrie Govan)11. Funeral March (featuring Ben Karas)12. Griggstown Crossing13. The Thread14. Liftoff Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006 and appeared on 2008's "Chinese Democracy", an effort which contained music that had been written before he came into the group. The disc took 13 years to make and was only a modest seller, moving just around half a million copies. Thal never officially announced his departure from the GN'R, but a source confirmed to Detroit music writer Gary Graff back in 2015 that the guitarist had been out since the end of the band's second Las Vegas residency in 2014. Thal later revealed that he was focusing on his solo career and other projects after spending eight years playing in GUNS. Thal spent a few years recording and touring with SONS OF APOLLO, which also featured drummer Mike Portnoy, keyboardist Derek Sherinian and bassist Billy Sheehan. SONS OF APOLLO released its second studio album, "MMXX" (pronounced: 20/20),in January 2020 via InsideOut Music/Sony. ART OF ANARCHY's third studio album, "Let There Be Anarchy", was released in February 2024 via Pavement Music. Joining founding ART OF ANARCHY members Jon Votta (guitar),Vince Votta (drums) and Thal in the band's new lineup are vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JOURNEY, SONS OF APOLLO) and bassist Tony Dickinson (SOTO, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA). Terri Thal has two passions: folk music and social justice. “My Greenwich Village: Dave, Bob and Me” is a personal story of the world of folk music in 1960s New York written by a Jewish woman from Brooklyn who, although not a musician, was an intrinsic part of this scene. Terri describes Greenwich Village as a community that was supportive, musically exciting and one in which people had fun. Terri tells us what it was like to hang out in the Village coffee houses, to host folk singers like Tom Paxton and Phil Ochs who hung out at her apartment, and to be a manager. We hear her view and involvement of the 1960s socialist organizations, and how she later merged her professional work in not- for-profit agencies. Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved President Donald Trump orders 100% tariffs on foreign-made movies to save “dying” Hollywood We look at the Trump factor in global elections after Australia’s Anthony Albanese wins a second term as prime minister on an anti-Trump wave Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠here⁠ Find the Recommended Read ⁠here⁠ Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising It’s been five months since the fall of the Assad regime. Syria is no longer at war but the challenges in rebuilding a fractured country persist. In this episode of the Reuters World News podcast, Timour Azhari travels to a country caught between chaos and reinvention. \n\nSign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here Find the Recommended Read here and Ukraine have signed the minerals deal sought by U.S Trump struggles to explain weak economic data as he reaches the 100-day mark And the UK’s new-look populist Reform party looks to shake up the political landscape in local elections *Please note this podcast has been republished adding a line introducing correspondent Andrew Macaskill\n\nSign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here Find the Recommended Read here A blackout in Spain and Portugal exposes the region’s weak point. Europe’s energy security is fragile and facing challenges on a number of fronts. Relying on U.S. liquefied natural gas to plug a Russian supply gap after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is risky. But what are the alternatives? Host Carmel Crimmins talks to correspondents Marwa Rashad and Riham Alkousaa about Europe’s energy security dilemma. Plus, we hear why some German businesses want to return to Russian gas. Thal's new solo album continues his run of productivity. He remains an active member of ART OF ANARCHY and WHOM GODS DESTROY, not to mention his routine guest appearances, his production of other artists and his teaching of young musicians. Indeed, Thal's post-GUNS N' ROSES life has found even more doors open for him, especially on the studio work and behind-the-scenes side, which, as he told BLABBERMOUTH.NET, is where he truly feels at home. Blabbermouth: Your first solo album arrived 30 years ago. What comes to mind when working on "The Adventures Of Bumblefoot"? Blabbermouth: And now it takes two seconds to do something like that. Blabbermouth: You can apply this to both of your solo records, but it was the "kitchen sink" approach. You were trying everything musically, even a song like "Q Fever", which is like a Frank Zappa funk song. Ron: "Oh yeah. There's definitely a Zappa thing there, especially with the vocals. [Hums melody line.] That was a fun one." Blabbermouth: Even if you think about where you fit on the label in the mid-1990s, you weren't the usual shred guy that Varney had. Ron: "There were a lot of neo-classical virtuosos and a lot of fusion virtuosos. Then me playing all this weird shit out of left field. [Laughs] It was definitely something different for the label. It was not their usual thing." Blabbermouth: Maybe that's the beauty of it. Ron: "You gotta be you. That's the whole thing, for better or worse. You have to be genuine and I'm a weird dude." Blabbermouth: Is it fair to say that "The Return Of Bumblefoot" is your "pandemic album"? Blabbermouth: Do you recall the name of the documentary that inspired the blues song, "Moonshine Hootenanny"? Ron: "I don't remember what it was. It was something on TV, like the old blues players. Lonnie Johnson pops on and I didn't know a lot about his stuff. He was playing this riff. Immediately, I got this feeling in my gut that lifts up. I was like, 'I like that!' I had to grab my guitar and go to the fretless neck. I needed to take that feeling and let it out. Then I thought of 'Raising Arizona'. It needed a voice. [Hums melody] The whole song was built from there." Blabbermouth: How are you dividing your time these days between the solo stuff, ART OF ANARCHY and WHOM GODS DESTROY? Do you prioritize anything here? Ron: "They are all priorities. I'm doing it all, day and night, just multi-tasking everything. I'm doing a lot of mixing people's albums and doing guest solos. I was busier in 2020, sitting in this chair, than with all the touring I was doing before." Blabbermouth: We touched on this when talking about your first solo record, but how important has it been to never really pitch your tent in one spot? Is that what has kept your career going? Blabbermouth: You've had ART OF ANARCHY going for a few years and WHOM GODS DESTROY just came out in 2024. What's your experience with starting new groups at this stage in your career? Editing by George Hay and Aditya Srivastav Una Galani is Asia Editor of Reuters Breakingviews, based in Hong Kong, overseeing a team of columnists across the region. She was previously in London, Dubai and Mumbai. Breakingviews is the global financial commentary brand of Reuters delivering agenda-setting insight in real time on the most important events impacting global markets and companies. Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp has announced the return of its Hall Of Fame induction gala celebrating campers' achievements and honoring legendary mentors at the iconic Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood Proceeds will benefit the Rock Fantasy Dreams Foundation a 501(c) nonprofit dedicated to "Changing Lives And Spreading Joy Through Music" by helping underprivileged musicians attend Rock Camp The gala will recognize outstanding campers who have written albums as well as mentors like Darryl Jones (THE ROLLING STONES),Eva Gardner (P!nk),Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-GUNS N' ROSES),Teddy Zig Zag (GUNS N' ROSES SLASH'S BLUES BAND),Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH Holmes (TED NUGENT) and Joel Hoekstra (WHITESNAKE) The event will also honor iconic late mentors who left an enduring legacy at Rock Camp with special awards celebrating their contributions to music and the Rock Camp community The evening will feature an all-star jam session led by Britt Lightning lead guitarist of VIXEN and musical director of Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp For tickets and details, visit rockfantasydreamsfoundation.com Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp has become part of American popular culture — from a Mick Jagger cameo in "The Simpsons" to "Rock Camp – The Movie" 1 documentary on iTunes with a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes chronicling once-in-a-lifetime experiences Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp has built a tradition of extracting ordinary people from their daily lives and giving them the opportunity of a lifetime: to live out their dreams of performing with their musical heroes Past Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp mentors have included Alice Cooper who said of his participation: "It's an amazing experience and it makes you remember where you came from." Bob Dylan and Bob Neuwirth with Alan Price of the Animals This is a tale of two women and two men named Bob The Bobs were friends and collaborators, both musicians and painters. One Bob is very famous and alive; the other, far less famous, died on May 18, 2022. The Bobs have  been reunited in a sense with an online auction featuring their artifacts and memorabilia: a 1975 Martin D-41 acoustic guitar Thal was Dylan’s first manager and promoter She recorded what’s being called his first demo tape 1961 recording of six songs at the Gaslight Café in New York City She used a reel-to-reel Ampex tape recorder and brought her recordings to folk music clubs outside the city to try and secure bookings for the young singer-songwriter-guitarist newly transplanted from Minnesota was Neuwirth’s longtime companion of nearly three decades; she’s the producer of Untitled a work-in-progress documentary about Neuwirth’s life and music featuring footage from a 2022 tribute concert in LA Neuwirth, also a singer-songwriter-guitarist, was Dylan’s close pal and playing partner back in the Greenwich Village days of the early ‘60s and then a ringleader of Dylan’s famous multi-act Rolling Thunder Revue tour of 1975-76 “Neuwirth would often say they put a living room on the stage,” Batson said of the bill that featured “The idea of almost like a commedia dell’arte troupe picking up people along the way — this collaborative creativity mixing poets with musicians with playwrights.” “Right from the start you could tell Neuwirth had a taste for provocation and nothing was going to restrict his freedom,” Dylan wrote in Chronicles: Volume One He could talk to anybody until they felt all their intelligence was gone he ripped and slashed and could make anybody feel uneasy If there was ever a renaissance man leaping in and out of things I got a kick out of everything he did and liked him.” Thal and Batson were both in Boston in late February at the Boch Center where many of the auction items were on display “It was good times,” said Thal, speaking of those early pre-fame folk music days in Greenwich Village. “There was an incredibly accepting world that really wanted to welcome people. It sounds silly, but it was real.” In 2022, Thal published a book about those days, My Greenwich Village: Dave, Bob and Me Thal had been studying at Brooklyn College but gained entry into that world via Village mainstay “Nobody thought anybody we knew would ever become what Bob has become culturally,” Thal said this guy is more than good.’ We were very impressed and when I say we I’m talking about me and Dave and most of the people around the burgeoning folk music scene in New York.” “is one of the few people who made an interesting transition from a limited kind of musical genre — we didn’t use the word back then but we use it now — through writing and speaking in metaphor I think it was his use of metaphor that turned so many people onto him.” is expected to go for at least $20,000 at the auction which closes March 12 but I never really thought about it very much,” she said “It was kept on the top of cabinet in my bedroom I had that and some other stuff that I paid no attention to.” a musician-producer who’d co-led the Hoboken-based new wave band the Bongos “got really enthusiastic about it and pushed me to listen to the thing.” She decided to put it up for auction because Bootlegged versions of the tape have long circulated “I always said ‘Don’t copy it’ and they said ‘Sure.’” But she believes that someone made a copy when she went to a studio to have the Ampex reel copied so she would not have to schlep the original around with her when she visited and pitched clubs “There were multiple reproductions and the sound on those bootlegs was dreadful,” she said in August 1962 Dylan left Thal to sign with manager Albert Grossman “I kind of shrugged at the fact that he was doing it,” Thal said He should not have signed with Albert and then come to me saying ‘Albert wants to manage me.’ I felt he should have been honest and should have said ‘Albert can do a lot more for me than you can and I would like to work with him.’ I certainly more than understood that She stayed friendly with Dylan for another year “he started to slowly move socially into the Grossman world.” But she said she knew from talking to Neuwirth that “there was this mutual attraction.” “I think Neuwirth had a way of telling people the truth and being able to pull out what was essential in a situation He could do that with Dylan and I’m not so sure there were that many other people in Dylan’s life who could do that Neuwirth got too deep in the drink and for all the fun he had on the Rolling Thunder tour, he later regretted he hadn’t played better.  He finally got sober in 1978, after going to Paris and making a movie in 1976 called Couleur chair with Dennis Hopper (One can only imagine what those two got up to off-set.) “He had 40-plus years of sobriety when he died,” Batson said Neuwirth also continued to paint — that’s how Batson said he primarily defined himself — and play music. He released his eponymous debut album in 1974 – the first of five, plus a 1994 collaboration with John Cale – and decades later remixed and remastered it. It was re-released last September “Bob started that project before he died,” said Batson “and he really wanted to change things on that record Batson continues to work on the documentary. Raising funds for the film, she said, is the primary reason she joined the team for the auction. Consisting entirely of Neuwirth’s songs, the concert featured T-Bone Burnett (who was also on Rolling Thunder) and Eric Clapton who played an acoustic version of Neuwirth’s “The Call” on last year’s tour. Of “The Call,” Batson said, “People have responded because the song is about old friends, musicians who are talking together.” The song may not specifically be about Dylan and Neuwirth having an imagined chat, but it’s possible to listen to it with that interpretation. And having Clapton cover the song may lend Neuwirth’s songwriting a posthumous gravitas. Neuwirth is dead, but his music lives on Jim Sullivan wrote about music and pop culture for The Boston Globe from 1979 to 2005. Currently, he writes for WBUR’s ARTery, among other sites. He is the author of two 2023 volumes of Backstage & Beyond: 45 Years of Rock Chats and Rants. I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association Vashon Island Visual Artists will hold its Spring Studio Tour It will feature well-known local actors Cate O’Kane and Dedra Whitt You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience February 16 (ANI): To strengthen security in Dwarka and its surrounding islands particularly in response to recent illegal encroachments a military exercise titled 'Jal-Thal-Raksha 2025' was organised at Bet Dwarka.The large-scale drill involved participation from 11 Ahmedabad and 31 Jamnagar Army units as well as the Indian Coast Guard and Marine Police.Retired Lt Col Amol Awate detailed the exercise and said "Keeping in mind the security of Dwarka and its surrounding islands and the recent illegal encroachment the Indian Army organized Jal-Thal-Shakti Exercise 2025 Indian Coast Guard and Marine Police participated in it..." "The exercise was monitored by the District Administration of Devbhoomi Dwarka it was practised what kind of coordination should be there between the government departments and paramilitary forces and defence forces during a terrorist attack or war...," he added A video from the exercise showed security personnel being deployed to the coast via hovercraft where they practised securing critical infrastructure and responding to potential land-based threats.Earlier the troops of the Indian Army recently participated in a comprehensive training exercise christened Ex Winged Raider The exercise focused on special airborne operations demonstrating a high level of operational readiness and inter-service coordination.According to a release the exercise involved rehearsing various airborne insertion techniques from both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft enhancing the skills of participating personnel The exercise also witnessed a first in the Eastern Theatre in terms of training on airborne operations from the Chinook Helicopter Military exercise 'Jal-Thal-Raksha 2025' organised at Bet Dwarka to secure islands & to tackle illegal encroachment Haryana govt announces monthly honorarium scheme for senior artists UP CM Yogi Adityanath expresses need to increase working days of sugar mills in state Punjab should not resort to petty politics over water: Haryana CM Saini In a boost to Civil Defence amid tensions with Pakistan MHA to organise rehearsal across 244 categorised districts on May 7 474 crore AI project with World Bank support Families of Agniveers from Haryana to get ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore in case of casualty Haryana cabinet approves proposal to amend policy concerning fixation of land rates copyrights © aninews.in | All rights Reserved Metrics details it remains unclear whether early intervention offers a survival advantage we performed an updated analysis of the Thal+ZLD vs ZLD trial to evaluate OS after approximately 18 years of follow-up We also evaluated TTP to MM and myeloma-free survival among all patients and in the different risk groups Patients with small asymptomatic lytic lesions on plain skeletal survey radiographs were eligible ZLD 4 mg was administered every 28 days; the dosing was later changed to every 3 months for the first year to mitigate the risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw Patients in the Thal+ZLD arm also received Thal 200 mg/day The study enrolled patients at Mayo Clinic and Memorial Sloan Kettering but this analysis only included Mayo Clinic patients Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout The data generated in this study is available upon request from the corresponding author Clinical Course and Prognosis of Smoldering (Asymptomatic) Multiple Myeloma Initial versus deferred melphalan-prednisone therapy for asymptomatic multiple myeloma stage I-a randomized study Long-term survival of stage I multiple myeloma given chemotherapy just after diagnosis or at progression of the disease: a multicentre randomized study Cooperative Group of Study and Treatment of Multiple Myeloma Pamidronate versus observation in asymptomatic myeloma: final results with long-term follow-up of a randomized study Thalidomide in the treatment of relapsed multiple myeloma Thalidomide for previously untreated indolent or smoldering multiple myeloma International uniform response criteria for multiple myeloma A phase III randomized trial of thalidomide plus zoledronic acid versus zoledronic acid alone in patients with asymptomatic multiple myeloma New criteria to identify risk of progression in monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance and smoldering multiple myeloma based on multiparameter flow cytometry analysis of bone marrow plasma cells Risk stratification of smoldering multiple myeloma incorporating revised IMWG diagnostic criteria International Myeloma Working Group risk stratification model for smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) Lenalidomide-dexamethasone versus observation in high-risk smoldering myeloma after 12 years of median follow-up time: A randomized Randomized Trial of Lenalidomide Versus Observation in Smoldering Multiple Myeloma Multiple myeloma: 2022 update on diagnosis Download references This study was supported by R01CA100080 from the National Cancer Institute; the Predolin Foundation NA and SVR analyzed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript provided critical revision and final approval of the manuscript version for publication The study drugs thalidomide and Zometa (zoledronic acid) were provided by Celgene Pharmaceuticals and Novartis Oncology has received grants from NIH and research funding from Celgene for clinical trials has received research funding from Celgene and Novartis for clinical trials has received research funding from Celgene and Janssen and received a travel grant from Pfizer served as a consultant for Millennium Pharmaceuticals and received honoraria from Celgene and Bristol-Myers Squibb and received research funding from Celgene The remaining authors declare no competing financial interests Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-024-02192-z Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article in collaboration with the Indian Coast Guard and Marine Police conducted the large-scale military exercise ‘Jal-Thal-Raksha 2025’ at Bet Dwarka The exercise aimed to strengthen island security and enhance coordination between various security forces The drill was observed by multiple government agencies ensuring preparedness against potential security threats Welcome to the Current Affairs Section of Adda247 If you are preparing for Government Job Exams then it is very important for you to read the Daily Current Affairs All the important updates based on current affairs are included in this Daily Current Affairs 2024 article Arnold Schwarzenegger's incredible story — from bodybuilder to Hollywood actor to American politician — all began in Thal he lived in a one-floor apartment that overlooked a castle and surrounding forests and farmlands in the village But it was also where he experienced a "tough" childhood at the hands of his "tyrant" father and the bedroom where he first dreamed of becoming a star In "Arnold," Schwarzenegger called Thal "a beautiful The forest-covered hills of Thal were first settled in the 10th century Today the village has a population of around 2,300 people Schwarzenegger recalled how venturing to the city in 1961 was an eye-opening experience — it was there that he first saw a movie-theater poster for "Hercules," featuring bodybuilder Reg Park His family lived upstairs while the forest ranger lived downstairs "We had a castle across the street built in the 1100s so this was our playground," Schwarzenegger said "I always like coming back here," he said of Thal "I think it's always good to stay in touch with your roots and where you come from."  The home now operates as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum Schwarzenegger gave his blessing to the project before it opened on his 64th birthday in July 2011 he recalled dreaming of a life of bodybuilding The bed is in the corner of a large room that also features a closet and desk He called his father a "tyrant," and said he'd smack and beat his sons with belts and make them "compete against each other." Schwarzenegger said his father's behavior became worse when he drank There is also a washstand, alongside jugs that they used to collect water, the BBC reported. Today, his original dumbbells and workout machine — a pulley with weights attached — are on display at the museum, the BBC reported. "I would be working out in my house and there was no sound nothing," Schwarzenegger said in "Arnold." "And I could think and concentrate and visualize how I'm going to become a bodybuilding champion how I'm going to make millions of dollars." There's a replica of his governor's desk in the museum as well as a collection of his movie memorabilia including a Harley Davidson motorbike from one of the Terminator films The bronze statue by sculptor Ralph Crawford was unveiled in 2011, when the museum opened to the public, according to its website. Schwarzenegger left the home in 1966 to pursue his dream of becoming Mr. Universe, and the following year, at the age of 20, he became its youngest-ever winner Manufacturing Today India Home > Chemical & Pharmaceuticals > RCF selects L&T for ₹1,000 crore fertiliser plant project at Thal RCF is aiming to strengthen its position in the fertiliser industry Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) has awarded a ₹1,000 crore contract to Larsen & Toubro (L&T) to build a new fertiliser plant at its Thal facility with a capacity of 1,200 metric tonnes per day (DAP basis) will be constructed on a lump-sum turnkey (LSTK) basis RCF’s board of directors approved the contract on 9 October 2024 as part of its ongoing efforts to expand its production capabilities The new fertiliser plant is expected to be completed within a 27-month timeline marking a significant milestone for RCF in enhancing its fertiliser production and meeting growing demand in the agricultural sector This development aligns with the company’s strategic vision of upgrading and expanding its manufacturing facilities RCF’s board had also approved a ₹514.6 crore contract with Topsoe for revamping its ammonia plant at the Thal complex The revamp project focuses on reducing specific energy consumption with Topsoe providing a basic engineering design package (BEDP) ensuring it remains competitive while contributing to the nation’s agricultural growth Both the partnership with L&T and the revamp with Topsoe are expected to enhance the company’s operational efficiency supporting its long-term sustainability goals Our Solutions provide accurate, reliable financial data and cutting-edge analytical tools to help you harness the complexities of financial markets. Our purpose is to augment the efficiency of Pakistan’s financial markets by expanding accessibility to data, Realtime news and analytical tools to all, with technologically innovative and cost-effective solution. Our passionate team work diligently to continuously improve our solutions. 2025 (MLN): Thal Limited (PSX: THALL) reported a decline of 12.56% YoY in its after-tax profits for the nine months of fiscal year 2025 with the company’s profit after tax decreasing to Rs6.23 billion [EPS: Rs68.18] compared to a profit of Rs7.13bn [EPS: Rs80.42] in the same period last year (SPLY) The company's top line showed an increase of 12.87% YoY which marked a 15.18% improvement from Rs1.9bn in 9MFY24 standing at 9.37% compared to 9.18% in SPLY The decline in profits was attributed to higher taxation costs Other income expanded by 14.22% YoY to stand at Rs4.5bn helping mitigate the overall profit decline distribution and selling expenses rose by 13.55% YoY and administrative expenses also saw an increase of 7.57% YoY to reach Rs1.47bn compared to Rs797.5m in the corresponding period last year The company’s levy fell by 32.56% YoY to Rs322.34m reflecting a positive adjustment during the review period Copyright Mettis Link News To see more commodities please register for our portal © 2024 Mettis Link News All rights reserved​ This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page will report to CEO Philippe Rousselet and co-CEO Fabrice Gianfermi Kathryn Thal has been appointed Vendôme Pictures’ senior vice president of development and production will further expand the Paris-based company’s connection with the U.S Thal will oversee all English-language movies and television shows from development to production and delivery chairman and CEO Philippe Rousselet and co-CEO Fabrice Gianfermi Thal previously served as Black Bear’s vice president and previously worked for Anonymous Content She spent her tenure there building out and servicing international co-ventures while sourcing project-related opportunities She started her career at ICM Partners before moving to HBO Netflix and eventually Hunting Lane as manager of development Vendôme is best known for producing “CODA.” That Sundance sensation won three Oscars for distributor Apple TV+ at the 2022 Academy Awards, including Best Picture (the first such honor for a streaming feature film). The company is currently in pre-production on Andrew Niccol’s sequel “Lords of War” starring Nicolas Cage and Bill Skarsgård The studio has also acquired the remake rights to adapt the award-winning human rights documentary “A Fire Within.” “I have consistently been impressed by Kathryn’s strong work ethic and unique combination of experience,” Rousselet said “She has a keen eye for source material and a proven track record developing film and TV properties I’m excited to welcome her to Vendôme as we continue to grow.” “I am thrilled to join Philippe and Fabrice’s team at Vendome I have collaborated on a number of projects with Vendome over the years and have always admired Philippe’s creative instinct and dedication to character-driven yet commercial storytelling I’m looking forward to progressing and helping to build their slate of global TV and film projects.” KARACHI: The Sindh government has shown its disappointment over the construction of Greater Thal Canal (GTC) Phase-Il by declaring it ‘most destructive project’ for the province and has sent a summary to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to stop it Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Asif Hyder Shah on behalf of the Sindh chief minister and government has sent a two-page summary saying that the Punjab province intends to construct Chaubara Branch Canal Construction Project - Greater Thal Canal (GTC) Phase-Il -- and its Canal Command Area Development (CAD) The Greater Thal Canal offtakes from Chashma Jhelum Link Canal at RD 180+222 and the Canal Command Area (CCA) is 1.739 million acres The summary added that work on Phase-l of the Greater Thal Canal Project was started by Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) in 2001 with design discharge of 8,500 cusecs against the maximum allocation of 5,900 cusecs for the canal as per Water Accord 1991 The total requirement of the Greater Thal Canal Project is 2.497 MAF from flood supplies and it would irrigate Khushab Despite protest from all sections of the Sindh province the water availability NOC was obtained with 3:2 majority from Indus River System Authority (Irsa) under Para-2 and Para-4 of Water Apportionment Accord 1991 the dissenting notes of the Sindh Member Irsa and Federal Member Irsa The Sindh Assembly in its sitting held on February 28 2003 had passed a unanimous resolutions against the construction of Greater Thal Canal as it is against the interest of the people of Sindh The Water Accord was signed amongst the provinces on March 16 The ten-daily allocations were made part of the accord by the CCI on September 16 1991 as per Para 14(a) and 14(b) of the Water Accord the Punjab province included allocations of water to conceive Greater Thal Canal in the Water Apportionment Accord 1991 Para 14(b) of the accord instructs that the "actual average system-uses for the period 1977-82 would form the guideline for developing the future regulation pattern These ten-daily uses would be adjusted pro-rata to correspond to the indicated seasonal allocations of the different canal systems and would form the basis for sharing the shortages and surpluses on all Pakistan basis" It is imperative to mention that the GTC project was not in existence at the time of 1991 Accord there was no pattern in existence for preparation of ten-daily uses of the GTC Sindh's objection to allocation to Greater Thal Canal at that time is part of the record once again passed a resolution and expressed grave concern over construction of Jalalpur Canal and Greater Thal Canal (Phase-Il) and demanded immediate stopping of the process and construction of these projects in the best interest of the people of Sindh the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in its meeting held on December 22 subject to the condition that the Planning Commission would hold a meeting with representatives of the Sindh and Punjab and accordingly submit the final recommendations to the Ecnec In this regard two consultative sessions were held in the Planning Commission under Member (I&M/I&RC) on December 28 2022 under the Planning Commission deputy chairman to discuss the issue wherein the Government of Sindh vehemently opposed the construction of the project till the distribution of water was implemented according to Para-2 and ten-daily allocations as approved by the CCI at the time of Water Apportionment Accord in 1991 approved the project with certain conditions regarding credible monitoring mechanism to ensure that the Punjab remains within its allocated share and installation of Telemetry System etc Ecnec considered the summary submitted by the Federal Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives and decided that the matter would be taken up at an appropriate level and forum as required under the Constitution ignoring the fact that the Greater Thal Canal (Phase-Il) was not part of the its agenda and despite strong reservations shown by the Sindh government granted its assent for controversial GTC project subject to the approval of the CCI Ecnec also directed the Sindh government to present its views regarding techno-economic viability of GTC (Phase-[1) Project to the CCI A considered view of the Sindh government is that the GTC Project (Phase-II) would negatively impact the economy of Sindh as the province would lose its established share of water Technical viability involves the technical requirements constraints and capabilities of the proposed project to determine whether it is feasible to construct and maintain it within the given constraints and available resources adding that the constraints with regards to the GTC relate to availability of water and the province of Sindh believes that no additional water is available in Indus River System which can be diverted for the proposed project The system-wise allocations worked out on ten-daily basis were approved by the CCI on September 16 The GTC has an authorised allocation of 1.87 MAF in Punjab's share in ‘Kharif’ there is no allocation provided for it in the Rabi season The total allocations provided to all canals in Pakistan under the ten-daily allocations are equivalent to the seasonal allocations provided under Para-2 of the accord the allocation of 1.87 MAF for Greater Thal Canal gets its existence under Para-2 of the Accord the project does not have any place in the allocation as the accord is not being allowed to operate as per Para-2 for the last 22 years or 50 Irsa shows water shortages for the last two decades Sindh has also suffered more than upper riparian due to non-availability of ground water and sea intrusion construction of Greater Thal Canal will further aggravate freshwater availability in Pakistan in general Economic viability necessitates profits of the project to be high enough to justify investment It has also been observed that the project seems to be a move to regularise the operation of Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal and bringing new areas and fallow lands under plough at the cost of existing canal command areas of lower riparian provinces Besides factual/ legal position described above Pakistan has been declared a water stressed country having per capita annual freshwater availability of 1,017 cubic meters close to scarcity threshold of 1,000 cubic meters which was 3,950 cubic meters in 1961 and 1,500 cubic meters in 2009 The summary further described that Pakistan has been placed at number three by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the list of countries facing acute water scarcity and UNDP & PCRWR fear that per capita freshwater availability will further decline to 860 cubic meters by 2025 and in accordance with Article 154 of the Constitution The CCI is responsible to formulate and regulate policies in relation to the matters enumerated in Part-II of Federal Legislative List (FLL) and to exercise supervision and control over related institutions Article 155 extends the purview of the CCI to resolution of disputes among the federation and the federating units regarding their rights on water from any natural source It further authorises the federal or provincial government concerned to make a complaint to the CCI in this regard The CCI can either decide or recommend to the president setting up of commission consisting of persons having knowledge and experience in irrigation The summary concluded that in view of the said facts the CCI is requested to consider to stop the implementation process and construction of Greater Thal Canal (Phase-II)-Chaubara Branch Canal construction project and CAD Phase-1 till the concurrence of stakeholders is achieved Copyright © 2025. The News International, All Rights Reserved | Contact Us | Authors In a new interview with Rockin' Metal Revival former GUNS N' ROSES and current ART OF ANARCHY guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal was asked to name one "Spinal Tap" moment from his decades of touring and performing live He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "My biggest 'Spinal Tap' moment was definitely [playing with GUNS N' ROSES at the] Rock In Rio [festival] in Brazil in 2011 And the rain was like a few inches high on the stage; they were sweeping it up It was almost as high as the top of the pedal boards And I remember trying to play on the fretless guitar my skin was so… And I couldn't… It was like trying to play on a wet balloon — trying to push through it all; everything's soaked." He continued: "There was this lovely girl in the front row that had a 'Star Wars' stormtrooper helmet that she was holding give me the helmet,' and I figured I would put it on and play with it on for a bit shit.' And as soon as I said the 'S' curse I have this helmet that is gonna take a little bit of effort to remove.' And that's not good when you're trying to play guitar in a song And I can't see anything; it's completely fogged up And the iconic solo [to 'Welcome To The Jungle'] that I had to play was about to come up and it was This is not gonna work out well.' So if I remember right I managed to get the helmet up at least like over my eyes and keep it there where I just had to stop playing and pull this helmet back so I could see what I was doing And those few seconds that I stopped playing he next day I got hundreds — hundreds — of furious e-mails from Brazilians saying how I like destroyed their life and death threats and all this stuff every once in a while someone will send me an e-mail with a screenshot of me wearing that helmet Thal added: "So that is absolutely a 'Spinal Tap' moment." Bumblefoot recently completed work on his first solo instrumental album in nearly three decades Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006 and appeared on 2008's "Chinese Democracy" an effort which contained music that had been written before he came into the group The disc took 13 years to make and was only a modest seller Thal never officially announced his departure from the GN'R but a source confirmed to Detroit music writer Gary Graff back in 2015 that the guitarist had been out since the end of the band's second Las Vegas residency in 2014 Thal later revealed that he was focusing on his solo career and other projects after spending eight years playing in GUNS Thal spent a few years recording and touring with SONS OF APOLLO keyboardist Derek Sherinian and bassist Billy Sheehan SONS OF APOLLO released its second studio album "MMXX" (pronounced: 20/20),in January 2020 via InsideOut Music/Sony The song is taken from the band's third studio album Joining founding ART OF ANARCHY members Jon Votta (guitar),Vince Votta (drums) and Thal in the band's new lineup are vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN SONS OF APOLLO) and bassist Tony Dickinson (SOTO All smiles: Coach Lee Wan Wah (centre) posing with Japan’s Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami who won the International Challenge men’s doubles title in Saipan at Northern Mariana Islands PETALING JAYA: Former Malaysian international Lee Wan Wah is taking over the job as the men’s doubles head coach at a time when none of Japan’s pair is in the top 10 But that itself is a challenge Wan Wah is relishing who was once Malaysia’s top pair with Choong Tan Fook has been promoted from a junior to senior coach in November last year He will be the only Malaysian left in Japan after the departures of Tan Kim Her and Jeremy Gan has left for India while Jeremy has joined Wong Choong Hann and Tan Bin Shen in Hong Kong who is leading the top players for the first time “There’s not many pairs that are at the top right now so I think it’s a good challenge for me,” said Wan Wah who was recently back home to celebrate Chinese New Year with his family in Ipoh Japan’s top two pairs are world number 11 Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi and Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura (18) Since winning the world title in 2021 in Huelva Hoki and Kobayashi have been inconsistent although they can be exceptionally superb on a good day Wan Wah said Japan had different set of challenges “Japan do have good players but just that the system only allows those in the top to participate in bigger tournaments that’s why it will take more time for the younger pairs to improve,” he said Their top three younger pairs are Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami (59) Kyohei Yamashita-Hiroki Midorikawa (91) and Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi (109) “My goal is to improve the standard of not only the top pairs but the men’s doubles department as a whole,” he said Wan Wah said he had stepped in at the right time as new pairs would emerge and try to establish themselves ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games Some of the old pairs such as former world champions Hendra Setiawan-Mohammad Ahsan of Indonesia and two-time Olympic Games winners Wang Chi-lin-Lee Yang of Taiwan will not be around to spice up the competition due to retirements while many are switching partners “It’s a usual occasion when top pairs leave at the start of a new Olympic Games cycle So this would be a good chance for the younger pairs to participate in bigger tournaments and raise their rankings,” he said Wan Wah believes one of the countries that have really stepped up during this transition period is Malaysia and he is quite keen to see how they will fare under Indonesian maestro Herry Iman Pierngadi “Malaysia have been doing very well lately in men’s doubles We have to wait and see if Herry will further improve their level,” he said Malaysia have produced two men’s doubles champions – professionals Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (Indian Open) and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Indonesian Masters) “I do speak Japanese mostly when I’m coaching I can converse in their language now but not their advanced level So I would rate myself at primary level,” said Wan Wah expect Wan Wah to spice up the men’s doubles competition with his coaching ability by raising more new faces from the Land of the Rising Sun We would love to keep you posted on the latest promotion During an appearance on the 100th episode of the "Infectious Groove" podcast former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal discussed one album that had "a huge impact" on his life: VAN HALEN's fourth LP He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I was 12 years old I was sort of like an Angus Young [AC/DC] kind of guitar player and there was a kid hanging out there who asked me if I heard VAN HALEN so he played me a recording of the intro to 'Mean Street' on the just-released 'Fair Warning' album And just like anybody that heard VAN HALEN for the first time I never heard that kind of guitar playing before I've never heard that kind of guitar playing ever again That intro was just a sound I had never heard before It just changed the course of everything and how I looked at playing guitar and making music and the role that guitar has in a song and in music I started really experimenting and digging deep to find who I was It will always be one of my favorite albums And I am so grateful that I got to be on earth at the same time VAN HALEN was." Thal previously spoke about Eddie Van Halen's influence on his playing in an October 2020 interview with the WDHA radio station He stated at the time: "I heard 'Eruption' and I was just blown away immediately It changed my life — it really changed my life I got a cassette of 'Eruption' and I went home and I spent months learning it Just little by little and just hearing a couple of notes on a cassette and I opened it up and I flipped the reel the other direction and I put it back together He continued: "I had a cover band when I was 13 years old called PARADOX And we played — half the set was RUSH and the other half was a bunch of VAN HALEN I subscribed to Guitar World magazine and would read every Eddie Van Halen interview And I started innovating — I started taking apart my guitar then doing all the tricks that he was doing [like] dipping your pickups in wax to change the amount of feedback And that's what made me start to really experiment and dig deep and try and find my own voice Because nobody had as much of a personality and identity and unique spirit in their playing that they put out as he did as a guitar player everything that he brought to the table — the guitar tone the way he used a Variac to change the voltage and bring a different sound out of a Marshall amp and he created this new kind of tone that was called the 'brown sound.' And just the originality of his style — the way he played just what his fingers did and all the tapping that he did like the big ending of 'Eruption' and then things like the intro to 'Little Guitars' quickly picking one string and hitting on notes on another string like [there were] two people playing one guitar the guitar's role in a song was completely different and you overdub the leads.' But he made it this live personality of just this ripping high-energy entity in a song And on albums too — he changed the way a guitar's role was on an album where you would have breaks in between songs with little unique guitar parts and his long guitar intros and things that you just did not hear on rock albums — at least not like that He absolutely was the number one game changer Thal is currently a member of SONS OF APOLLO Rolling Stone magazine ranked Eddie Van Halen No 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007 A memorial honoring Eddie in his former hometown of Pasadena California was officially unveiled Monday morning (October 11) « Back Terri Thal mentions that she used to be involved in music Thal rattles off a list of artists she managed: Paul Geremia Dave Van Ronk — names any serious fan of folk music would recognize And then comes the kicker: “I was Bob Dylan’s first manager.” “The Mayor of MacDougal Street,” inspired Joel and Ethan Coen’ new movie and played a key role in the Greenwich Village folk music scene that’s the setting for the film’s story of a single wintry week in 1961 “Inside Llewyn Davis” tells the tale of a handsome and he’s impregnated a young woman who wants an abortion That’s not the Village folk scene Thal remembers who saw a screening of the film before it opened She was an 18-year-old Brooklyn College student Queens-raised jazz musician and merchant marine who had turned to folk music Their chance encounter at an Upper West Side party blossomed into an 11-year relationship in which they were husband and wife for the last seven and even heckles a performer in the gray confines of The Gaslight one of the key coffeehouses on MacDougal Street Things were far more “collegial,” Thal says Everyone wanted their friends to make it.” “We were one of the few couples around,” she says “Nobody else had a place.” So their apartment at 190 Waverly Place quickly became a place where their many friends could find food Singer Tom Paxton was one who “used to sometimes sack out on the couch It wasn’t because he was homeless — it was because it was late “I remember one night when David and I looked around and there were 13 people in the house So we went to the movies,” she says with a shrug Some details of the film converge perfectly with the Van Ronks’ life seeking royalties for his album “Inside Llewyn Davis” — whose title and cover were modeled on “Inside Dave Van Ronk.” the label owner snatches away the garment and hands over $40 “That happened.” The character was modeled There’s also a parallel between Davis’ lack of success and Van Ronk’s career “He recognized that his music was never going to attract huge numbers of people,” Thal says “I remember booking him onto some television show He was there singing “Samson and Delilah,” hanging in a stupid cage surrounded by a bunch of young women — semi-undressed young women Van Ronk was highly influential as a mentor to others who went on to major success But Thal — who has a history of activism from the ’60s when she worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to her current role with West Branch Conservation Association — takes serious issue with one aspect of the film She’s appalled by the filmmakers’ depiction of Davis openly visiting a doctor’s office to arrange an abortion for Jean (Carey Mulligan) who’s musically and romantically partnered with Jim (Justin Timberlake) the idea of this guy going and sitting and talking to a doctor in his office There were no doctors [openly performing abortions] It was a very cavalier treatment of something that was pretty horrible life has been good to her in Rockland County where she now shares her life with a man who Thal spent 27 years with sculptor Paul Orentlich who ran Tin Can Alley Antiques at 41 Carmine St “It was an experiment that lasted,” Thal says Thal got to know New City lawyer Martus Granirer and made a photo of a huge espresso machine that wound up as the cover of a 1959 Folkways album “Inside Llewyn Davis,” now in limited release A new force of progressive metal has emerged — WHOM GODS DESTROY a formidable group formed by keyboardist Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION),guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES SONS OF APOLLO) and vocalist Dino Jelusick (WHITESNAKE Along with the potent rhythm section of bassist Yas Nomura and drummer Bruno Valverde WHOM GODS DESTROY has recently signed a worldwide deal with InsideOut Music Sherinian and Bumblefoot have built upon the creative link they developed as two of the key elements of supergroup SONS OF APOLLO and now set their sights on a new path with WHOM GODS DESTROY who are getting ready to present the musical odyssey that is their debut opus Bumblefoot explains how WHOM GODS DESTROY got started: "Derek and I began writing new music in 2020 The songs all went through a lot of changes developing...you can definitely hear what each person brings to the music – when it adds up it's a mix of melody and intense heavy prog." Working with powerhouse vocalist Dino Jelusick they knew they were building something special "These guys are all just mind-blowing," he says He's one of the greatest singers out there Bruno and Yas are downright frightening; there's no limit to what they can do Sherinian agrees: "All three of these musicians are super talented with great energy Ron and I knew that we could do something great with him." Jelusick expresses his excitement as well: "What I love about this band is that it doesn't have any limits It came together back in 2020 when we started talking about it Yas and I started working separately not knowing we were both asked to do this Bruno was the last piece of this puzzle and I'm glad the recommendation came from me While a first single by WHOM GODS DESTROY will be launched alongside its promotional performance video clip in January you can already check out various teaser clips and introductory snippets on the band’s social media outlets make sure to follow the band online and stay tuned for a lot more activity as well as further updates on WHOM GODS DESTROY and "Insanium" coming soon WHOM GODS DESTROY is (from left to right in photo from Greg Vorobiov): Bruno Valverde - DrumsYas Nomura - BassDino Jelusick - VocalsDerek Sherinian - KeyboardsRon "Bumblefoot" Thal - Guitars Former Guns N' Roses man and Sons Of Apollo star Bumblefoot picks ten career-altering albums Assessing his selections for the 10 albums that changed his life singer-songwriter and guitar virtuoso Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal notes that many of them couldn’t possibly exist in the music business of today “I think what we’re exposed to depends on the economic structure of industry,” says the former Guns N’ Roses axeman An A&R guy could afford to put a band in the studio with a producer They would live there and nurture the work they were creating Today it’s a lot of independent contractors or bands getting just enough money from a label – as long as they have a song that sounds like it could get pushed to a radio format and that affects the kind of music you’re hearing,” he elaborates and there’s good and bad that comes with that The good is that it puts power in everybody’s hands and the bad is that the internet is flooded with choices You have to go fishing in a sea flooded with information and you have to take the time to find what you’re looking for.” “I guess it’s like being in the biggest record store in the world Among Thal’s picks are classics by Kiss along with a few more obscure records by bands such as TNT and King’s X have a transportive quality that takes him right back to the time and place he was in when he first heard them “I can remember everything about hearing these records and I can step right into the body and frame of mind I was in when I experienced them the way it plays with all of your senses in a way no other art form can and I was sitting on Bobby’s bunk bed listening to the stereo Albums were all over the place because their older brothers bought them “When I heard Paul Stanley shouting to the cheering crowd I felt something I’d never experienced before I just stared at the speakers and imagined that I was in the arena at the show I didn’t want to be policeman or a fireman or an astronaut or a dog groomer anymore Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock “I got an acoustic guitar from a neighbour and played it like a drum I started writing songs about the solar system We put on shows in the backyard and at the school I made a banner and put together a show with cups of confetti I did everything a band was supposed to do and it was all because of hearing Kiss’ Alive!” “What I love about the Beatles and George Martin Those ominous cello lines and the intensity of the orchestral arrangements – they rounded out these rock songs and turned them into masterpieces “Kiss and The Beatles were both so important to me as a child but for very different reasons: Kiss for the energy and for making me want to get up on stage and rock out and the Beatles for the true love of music and sound “I listened to Strawberry Fields Forever over and over but I would have to lift the needle before the end part because it scared the shit out of me Those dissonant flutes and the siren were horrifying “There’s so many great songs on the record – Your Mother Should Know They were making sounds mere mortals couldn’t dream of The Beatles exposed me to things that were beyond reality.” “We’re back on my friend Bobby’s bunk bed I remember seeing the album cover with a naked ass on it those five songs are some of the most beautiful things ever recorded keyboards and vocals is absolutely spellbinding “This wasn’t one of Yes’ more popular albums – it certainly wasn’t as big as Fragile It’s a must-hear album for anybody who has ears.” “I didn’t hear this album until several years after it came out I was 12 years old and I was into the current metal of the day – Ozzy AC/DC – but I didn’t know Van Halen yet I was more like Angus Young in that I was into hyperactive blues-rock playing “At a band rehearsal somebody asked me if I knew how to tap on the guitar so he showed me the Eruption-type triplets Then he put on Fair Warning and played me the intro to Mean Streets “I had never heard a guitar make that kind of sound It was just like the moment when I first heard Kiss’ Alive I realised that you could use the guitar for so much more than a utility instrument for writing songs I started getting very experimental to see how far I could take it That’s how I came up with some of my own techniques building my own guitars – it all started after hearing Fair Warning.” “I heard this album right before Diary of a Madman came out Randy’s use of the whammy bar struck me right away – I’d never heard it used in quite that way He was the start of things getting experimental the way he merged classical guitar and metal into this perfect and singular style I got my first Marshall and an MXR Distortion Plus I also knew that I had to get a guitar with a vibrato bar It was kind of this weird design that I came up with I was all excited and brought the guitar to my teacher and boom – the springs snapped and the thing broke “Randy definitely was a huge inspiration to me in terms of getting my tone in shape but because of him I also started getting into classical music My grandmother had all of these classical 78s so I would listen to them and started to learn how to play them on the guitar.” “I was 14 and I saw in the paper that somebody was selling a Fostex reel-to-reel recorder I went over to the guy’s place to buy it ‘You look like you might like this.’ I didn’t know what to think – should I be insulted and when I popped it on I was taken aback by the singer I’ve spent the rest of my life trying to sing like him Tony was looking to do something outside of the band and that led to us doing some shows together We’ve done a lot more stuff in the past few years He’s an awesome guy and a close friend ‘You look like you might like this.’ So that definitely changed my life.” “Music at this point was a lot of hair metal being shoved down our throats I was listening to the old-school metal and progressive rock from the ‘70s I connected more to that stuff – it wasn’t about partying and things like that “King’s X made music that I was starving for They took the music back and brought it to a deep “There was a lot of good stuff happening around this time they were doing things that were very special in terms of the bass sounds and the way they filled musical spaces like the way they snapped their fingers around a microphone and the way they used the piano Not since Queen or perhaps Queensryche with Rage for Order was there a band that went back to this kind of care and artistry It was enlightening and enriching to hear great songs with the kind of production that takes you on an emotional ride.” “I remember browsing in a record store what’s this?’ I looked at the guy at the counter and asked ‘Is this good?’ He shrugged and said Go home and try it.’ I went home and listened to it and a half hour later I begged my parents to take me back to the record store so I could get Maiden’s first album “They had that amazing Brit-punk energy but they added it to the new sound of old-school metal All the bands were turning up the intensity level but Maiden did it better than anybody else I painted Iron Maiden album covers on the backs of dungaree jackets for $20 a shot That’s how I made money to buy music gear “I even saved up enough to buy the Ibanez Roadstar guitar that I turned into the Swiss Cheese guitar the same one that became my main guitar for 13 years I toured the world with that guitar and recorded all of my albums with it but I wouldn’t have gotten it if it weren’t for painting Iron Maiden covers on dungaree jackets And I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t buy the Killers album “This was the most recent Rush album to have come out when I was about 12 years old I was hanging out with my friend Bob at the park near our school We were drinking beer and hanging out with some girls although I was really pretending to drink because I didn’t like the taste of beer I remember hearing Moving Pictures and flipping out I went out and got Permanent Waves and all the other Rush albums Half of our set was Rush and the other half was Kiss The Rush songs we did were things like Beneath By-Tor & the Snow Dog – a lot of the early stuff “But Moving Pictures is the album I really remember as being the soundtrack to that time the guitar playing is phenomenal – I mean It’s Rush taking you on a new kind of journey.” Joe BossoJoe is a freelance journalist who has interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar World, Guitar Player, MusicRadar and Classic Rock He is also a former editor of Guitar World contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records Hear Deftones frontman Chino Moreno’s remix of The Cure track Warsong “We didn’t like how metal was made in Europe or in America They were talking about dragons and castles”: Iggor Cavalera explains Sepultura’s ‘Satanic’ early albums The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now Contact us: news@app.com.pk Copyright © Associated Press of Pakistan Bumblefoot talks tone and changes as he returns with new band Whom Gods Destroy: "Over the pandemic as well as rhythm section Yas Nomura and Bruno Valverde.  Their debut album, titled Insanium, is out now via InsideOut Music just a month after the release of a record from Thal’s other band Art Of Anarchy there’s another solo instrumental effort finished and ready to be unveiled in the very near future It doesn’t take long to figure out the man we’re speaking to feels like he has little time to waste… was formed after the dissolution of another supergroup Sons Of Apollo with Thal and Sherinian choosing to continue their creative exploits under a different guise And if you listen to just about any track from this inaugural release it’s once again clear there’s a striking chemistry at play – with many a midrange conversation between the guitars and keys the pair thriving on an almost telepathic level.  but this particular musical alliance between Thal and the keyboardist has certainly not run its course.. we recently worked together in Sons Of Apollo,” explains Thal when quizzed on the ins and outs of their creative partnership “This time we stepped it up and it definitely feels like the next chapter for the two of us I always wanted to go a bit heavier and turn up the intensity of everything Let the heavy be heavier and the passion be more passionate I think of it as a day at the gym where you stay a little longer and sweat a little more.” which of these new tracks ended up soaking the towels most but one definitely comes to mind first thanks to its usage of both necks on his trusty Vigier signature.. “There was a lot going on guitar-wise.. I definitely fucked myself there!” he laughs doesn’t sound super hard but some of the riffs and leads are so out there There are little things that probably don’t sound like much until you try playing them And it was all recorded years ago so now I’m trying my best to remember it all.  I’m using both necks on my double neck Vigier at the same time There are a lot of little things in there that are going to make my life hell I could have made it easier and written something like Smells Like Teen Spirit but no I had to push the boundaries with two necks at once and make life problematic!” From his work in Guns N’ Roses and Asia to the groups listed already Thal has vast amount of experience sharing sonic space with keyboardists and other guitar players While his solo releases tend to be more of a melodic one-man band affair where he’s usually joined by a drummer and perhaps a few guests on woodwind or stringed instruments in a group context he prefers to welcome more musical information to coexist alongside him it’s something that stems from his childhood and the artists that captured his imagination early on...  Other than maybe Led Zeppelin and Van Halen I was raised on music that always had more than one guitarist Maiden and Queensrÿche who had those twin harmonies It’s nice to have someone else in that range.. I get to hide behind them so the attention isn’t on me!” It turns out his recent homework has been something seemingly simple my soul calmed down a bit and so did my vibrato I feel like my vibrato changed,” admits Thal “It used to be very wide and frantic and even tried out a gentler side-to-side vibrato That’s probably what I’ve paid more attention to recently certainly more than I did in the past… especially the way he’d come from the bottom of the neck right up high and then bend It’s how you let people know it’s you playing.” Speaking of building a familiarity between the musician and the listener here are the three most essential pieces of gear that Thal relies on to create his signature sound.. it’s carbon fibre holding it together As for pickups I use a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and a Chopper in the neck position "I can choose between the bridge as a humbucker the bridge and neck out of phase and finally just the neck but there’s a little something extra thrown into the volume knob that means it doesn’t go too dark or dull as you turn it down I can roll my volume down nearly all the way down and it won’t get muddy – it will sound like a clear and shimmery clean guitar.  it was mainly for the Chinese Democracy songs like There Was A Time so I can choose which neck I’m using: one is fretted with a rosewood fingerboard and the other is fretless made out of an alloy or stainless steel kind of metal They won’t tell me what it is and would have to kill me if they did But it has lots of sustain and sounds great it was mainly for the [Guns N’ Roses] Chinese Democracy songs like There Was A Time where Buckethead would introduce a killswitch into his leads I’m not much of a killswitch guy.  A post shared by Whom Gods Destroy (@wgdestroy) “I have a magnetised hole in the bottom horn where I can pull out a metal thimble that I use on the smallest finger on my picking hand I use it to tap on the string beyond the fretboard to essentially replace the non-existent frets instead of touching the string to a metal fret I am touching a metal thimble to the string in hopefully all the right spots It works great for the bridge pickup.  “You can also hold the thimble in front of the bridge and the string will then ring a shorter distance stopping at the thimble rather than the bridge It’s almost like moving the bridge forwards and changes the scale of the guitar – your frets will become higher in pitch than they normally would be You’re essentially taking away the intonation of the guitar I can even do that after a bend to create jumps that wouldn't be physically impossible The thimble can also come in handy for tapping I can get the same notes but keep my picking hand in the same kind of area instead of moving it onto the fretboard and then back again.” “This one thing has replaced 95% of my rig We all have certain things we just look at and can instantly get what we need intuitively I didn’t need to read the instructions I got a lot deeper into the parameters of it and started to fine-tune the exact sounds I wanted.  I use the Helix for absolutely everything beyond my guitar “I use the Helix for absolutely everything beyond my guitar I’ve been getting more compliments on my tone than when I was running the most wonderful analogue rig You lose that when you play a gig and the house engineer puts a microphone that might not be the best one for that particular speaker cabinet at an angle that is maybe not optimum It’s hard to get that consistent ‘best sound’ in those scenarios But this fuckin’ Helix absolutely did everything I could possibly want!  “The one I use is the step-on floorboard version They all sound great and have the same guts Anything I do with the plug-in will sound exactly the same on the pedal I like having the same exact sound every time!  it allows you to do things that would be impossible in the analogue world I tend to run two different amps: one being a clone of an Engl and then there will be a second amp and cabinet that I mix in enough just to fill any frequencies that might be missing Then I sew them back together and put that into another IR of a cabinet at 50%.  It smooths it out and sounds so much more like sound moving through air in a room You can control any parameter through the expression pedal – instead of it being a wah or volume it could be changing specific elements of the EQ or the amount of reverb or the delay time You can have one amp fade out and another fade in There are so many wonderful things you can do that would be hard or impossible to pull off in the non-virtual world.” this is something I got my hands on last summer and I’ve been using ever since As I’m not going to have a wall of speaker cabinets that I can stand next to and get feedback from this thing is going to do that for me.  "You can have it as a momentary switch that you just step on or you can keep it on while also controlling the speed it comes in how loud it is compared to your dry signal which harmonic you’re hitting and more It’s fun to hold a note and let the overtones come in.  There were new sounds and ideas happening that weren’t there before… just look at Rage Against The Machine!” Insanium, the debut album from Whom Gods Destroy is out now via InsideOut: more info Amit SharmaAmit has been writing for titles like Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Guitar World for over a decade and counts Richie Kotzen Guthrie Govan and Jeff Beck among his primary influences He's interviewed everyone from Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy to Slash and Jimmy Page and once even traded solos with a member of Slayer on a track released internationally he's played alongside members of Judas Priest and Uriah Heep in London ensemble Metalworks as well as handling lead guitars for legends like Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols "I switched to a Stratocaster - I got a really good deal in the middle of the night for $120 - and then in 1972 Lowell George showed me his MXR compressor pedal”: Bonnie Raitt on how she developed her famous slide guitar style “The melodies work so well in this CGDGAD tuning I’ve absolutely fallen in love with this arrangement”: Magic Mike Dawes is at it again – he’s turned a Sleep Token track into a work of solo acoustic guitar genius Johanna Thal was one of the best-known fashion editors of the Weimar Republic and influenced the tastes of many women A request to the Company Archive by her son unearthed a compelling family story “People are fond of saying: ‘Fashion is a tyrant.’ This is generally said by people who have little in the way of a closer relationship to fashion Those who approach it lovingly do not feel its tyranny Let’s put it this way: Those who are able to adapt to the rapidly changing ideals of outward beauty and attire with a schooled eye This paean to fashion was written by Johanna Thal one of the best-known fashion journalists of the Weimar Republic She contemplated ingenious and timeless hat fashions the question of “pleats or flares in dresses?” and the triumph of the jumper form-fitting spring dress that encased the body like a sheath and was characterized “by the all but imperceptible intimation of the waistline.” In March 1930 thinner materials of the sort demanded by current tastes for fine Johanna Thal was an influential trendsetter in her own right – yet today she is largely forgotten At least until a call reached the Company Archive the former opera intendant and dean of the American Academy in Berlin inquired about documents concerning the Ullstein editor on behalf of a friend Yael Hirsch was in fact acting on behalf of her father “My father lives in London and will turn 98 on 20 March He has never read any articles by his mother many documents were lost after bombing raids on February 3 destroyed the headquarters of the publishing house on Kochstrasse in Berlin What remained were special “Ullstein Album” fashion issues with a text by Johanna Thal There’s a picture of her in the “50 Years of Ullstein” anniversary issue of 1927; she’s mentioned in a piece on the “B.Z The Ullstein newspapers digitalized by the AS Syndication text archive do feature 13 articles by her in 1920 in “B.Z am Mittag” as well as 64 articles in “DAME” between 1919 and 1930 Johanna Thal also regularly published uncounted other articles under the initials J Thal’s texts offer more than just an overview of the fashion of that time Her articles are also exemplary pieces of contemporary history and reveal much about the first phase of women’s emancipation hairstyles or public presentation – embodied the ebullient spirit of the era Not to mention: Employed women could now change their wardrobes seasonally Berlin was particularly notable in this regard with its hundreds of fashion businesses centered around Hausvogteiplatz in the district of Mitte – in close vicinity of the Ullstein headquarters The publishing house was adept at addressing the needs of women The newspaper “Dies Blatt gehört der Hausfrau” (“This paper belongs to the housewife”) offered practical information for everyday domestic life as well as tips on health and the “three Cs” – clothes The sewing patterns from the Ullstein pattern department were provided as inserts in the magazines almost everyone knew the slogan: “Sei sparsam Brigitte nimm Ullstein-Schnitte” (“Be thrifty Brigitte It established itself as a cosmopolitan and modern magazine: sophisticated This was manifested in topics such as “women and cars” “women and travel” and “women and fashion” Its women editors introduced an elegant style based not on pedigree or wealth but on individual elegance and refined taste fashion was more than just a practical matter Johanna Thal: “An old legend says that a person who knows both fashion and people in equal measure can draw meaningful psychological conclusions from the way in which a woman is dressed not only with regard to her taste and sense of style but even regarding her temperament and constitution It can be determined with a high degree of certainty not only how she is Even her rejection of this or that particular fashion says so much.” Her son Frederick Hirsch can now learn all this while reading her texts her father had never thought of looking into his mother’s professional life in Berlin who was born and raised in London but has now lived in the US for 20 years he had thought of his mother’s job as “completely normal.” When he visited her in the editorial office he was introduced as “the little Thal boy.” Fashion didn’t interest the youngster at that time so he didn’t pay much attention to what his mother did Later publications like the books by Uwe Westphal on the history of the fashion capital of Berlin through 1939 piqued his interest Yael Hirsch had intended to come to Berlin last year “to see what might be discovered.” But Covid-19 prevented her visit so she asked her friend Pamela Rosenberg for help Email correspondence and telephone calls with the two brought a moving history to light 1886 as Martha Johanna Wulkan in Mährisch Ostrau (Ostrava) in what is today the Czech Republic The origin of her professional name Thal is not known for certain she was married to the journalist Julius Hirsch who worked for the “Neue Freie Presse” of Vienna Hirsch also worked at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin and for a theater organization The couple had two sons: Friedrich (1923) and Heinrich (1926) Wolfgang (1901) and Hans (1904) from his previous marriage to an actress The significantly older half-brother Wolfgang became something of a father figure to the younger boys the family lived at some addresses in Berlin The artists George Grosz and John Heartfield were among their guests Johanna Thal chatted with the wife of the physicist Albert Einstein about his violin playing with Elsa Einstein saying that her husband could play better if he practised more the nanny Else Erfert took care of the household and the sons survived the war and maintained contact with the family after 1945 The political and societal changes at the beginning of the 1930s buffeted the Hirsch family as well Her father had recounted how dire the poverty and desperation was on the streets of Berlin after the stock market crash of 1929 His mother had always been very upset when she gave food for needy people from her kitchen – so strong was the contrast between that and the elegant world of fashion about which Johanna Thal wrote When his son Friedrich once complained that he hated all the propaganda films that were shown at school and would be exempted from watching them you must watch every film in order to understand exactly what we are all going through.” For her part Johanna Thal was able to keep working for Ullstein the frequency ebbed considerably after February 1933 She was no longer to be found in her erstwhile stomping grounds the special editions of the magazine “DIE DAME” on the topic of fashion The last documented article by her was printed in January 1934 as there was for all Jewish editors at Ullstein Because Johanna Thal and her husband were Austrian citizens Friends initially showed little understanding for the move One actually derided them for having let such a “criminal” get the better of them But events would soon catch up to them in Vienna as well After the annexation (“Anschluss”) of Austria in 1938 Thus all Jewish editors had to leave the “Neue Freie Presse” Hirsch received a job with the Jewish community where he had contact with the “Central Agency for Jewish Emigration” The de facto head of this SS organization was Adolf Eichmann As Julius Hirsch told his family after the pogrom night in 1938 Eichmann said the following in the presence of Julius Hirsch: “Those who are afraid right now should wait and see what’s coming next.” there were considerations to send the younger brothers on a children’s transport to England Johanna Thal’s cousin Oscar Friedman was already living there and acted as guarantor for the British authorities Wolfgang Hirsch also supported the idea from Switzerland the costs of the Kindertransports were high for that time Ultimately Johanna Thal and Julius Hirsch consented their sons Friedrich and Heinrich set off for England on the last transport from Vienna my father and his younger brother would not be alive” Their parents were deported to Theresienstadt in August 1942 where Julius Hirsch died just a few weeks later A few letters from the Nazi concentration camp to Wolfgang Hirsch have been preserved The letters of Johanna inquire about the welfare of the children she wrote only that she was doing well and that she worked peeling potatos Johanna Thal was sent on a transport to Auschwitz and murdered there shortly after her arrival The family’s four sons had to make their way in an unfamiliar world one of the owners of the textile company Bunzl & Biach There he rose to the position of managing director and with his talent for languages traveled widely – including in Eastern Europe Yael Hirsch: “His travels were the source of endless stories.” His brothers both made careers as actors and singers briefly stationed in Hamburg after 1945 as an entertainer with the British military acted under the name David Hurst in the US alongside Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau in “Hello Dolly” featured in “So Little Time” with Maria Schell and played Ambassador Hodin on “Star Trek.” where he taught singing at the renowned Juilliard School half-brother Wolfgang had a role in the famed silent film “Nosferatu – A Symphony of Horror” by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau in 1921/22 His interpretation of the title role in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s play “Nathan the Wise” at the Deutsches Theater became legendary as did his lead role in the film “Professor Mamlock,” in which he plays a Jewish chief physician who initially resists the Nazis’ repressive measures against Jews who worked as an interviewer for Steven Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Oral History Project only learned that the drama was required reading in GDR schools in the course of her request to the Company Archive The powerful performance by her uncle and his voice evoked memories She had visited him together with her father before the fall of the wall in East Berlin and remembered her uncle as a generous man She still remembers this: “He drove his car – I think it was a Trabant – very fast and knew all the guards at the border.” Or they knew him A first attempt by the then-US citizen in 1987 had been rebuffed by the GDR authorities Hurst died in reunified Berlin on September 15 she had empowered women to navigate the fashions of the seasons and years with style and resolve strengthening their confidence in their judgment and warning them against wagging tongues Her text “The flattering and unflattering in fashion” of February 29 concludes with these words: “It is therefore all but impossible to create an instruction manual for flattering and unflattering clothing there is only one thing to do: work on oneself refine one’s taste and dispense with the ambition of looking fashionable at all costs From 2001 to 2018 Lars-Broder Keil was an editor in the domestic politics section of the WELT Group with a focus on contemporary history Since June 2018 he has been employed in the company archive The corporate archive of Axel Springer is growing and a number of researchers have gifted us their research material And we also have some great new books – most of which were written by our own employees an arson attack destroyed the chalet of the WELT publisher a Swiss author claimed responsibility for the fire—not for the first time his description of the incident does not fit in with the findings of investigators in Zurich The “Golden Steering Wheel” celebrations in Berlin’s Axel Springer on November 9 were interrupted by a very surprising event: The fall of the Berlin Wall A memorial to 18-year-old Peter Fechter was already erected at the Berlin Wall on the day he died It is also part of the story of Axel Springer Axel Springer laid the foundation stone for the company’s Berlin headquarters At a historical location with a journalistic mission German TV legend Wolfgang Menge began his career at Axel Springer reporting as a correspondent from places like Tokyo and Hong Kong We honor him on what would have been his 100th birthday She married the folk singer who was in the inspiration for "Inside Llewyn Davis." And she was witness to and participated in shakeups that rattled society’s foundations Greenwich Village was the epicenter of a folk music revival amid a surge in political activism And Terri Thal was in the middle of all of it An ardent socialist and later wife and manager of folk singer Dave Van Ronk — dubbed “The Mayor of MacDougal Street” — Thal didn’t tolerate being treated as “an appendage of ‘the famous man,'" she writes In the male-dominated music world of the time “I cursed like a man; I drank like a man,” she writes and sometimes with men I didn’t know — just the way I thought men did with women.” Thal, a longtime New City resident, tells her story in a new memoir titled “My Greenwich Village: Dave, Bob and Me” (McNidder & Grace name-checking scores of performers from that era whom she befriended she will be speaking at the Bitter End in Manhattan for “Terri Thal and Friends: Greenwich Village and Me,” with musical accompaniment by Tom Paxton and Happy Traum Paul and Mary and Tom Paxton were among the musicians who wandered in and out of their lives — and a young Bob Dylan crashed on their couch during his early days in New York City Thal and Van Ronk were a striking pair in the cafes of the Village — she at 5’ 11’’and he at 6’ 3’’— and wherever they were Born Terri Lichtenthal to Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn Thal was introduced to folk music by her older sister who brought home records by Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie where she got connected with the burgeoning music scene “I backed into folk music from that,” Thal said in a recent interview “My introduction was much more a political one than a Washington Square one.” Her involvement in social justice causes would become an avocation that led her to the March on Washington in 1963 where she heard the Rev Thal’s left-leaning associations landed her under surveillance in 1981 when she allowed lawyers for Kathy Boudin who was later convicted of murder in the infamous Brink’s robbery to make phone calls from her New City home “I just heard this kid who’s a (expletive) genius So she went to hear Dylan —  then barely out of his teens — at a Village “basket house,” and glimpsed a raw performer who hadn’t yet gained a foothold in the music scene “Bob was neither a great guitarist nor a great singer,” Thal writes “His voice was rough and he had a distinctive disconcerting way of emphasizing odd syllables He stumbled about on stage and one leg twitched Dave and I thought he had brilliantly absorbed the way Charlie Chaplin had moved Dylan began staying with the couple periodically in their fifth-floor walkup on West 15th Street soaking up their politics and immersing himself in their records and books Thal became Dylan’s first manager in the spring of 1961 “He’s too freaky for a folk music audience,” one club owner told her A reel-to-reel tape she made of Dylan performing original songs at the Gaslight Cafe is said to be his first known live recording Thal took the tape around to club owners to introduce them to the young troubadour with Dylan’s dedication scribbled on its back cover Thal had a hand in getting Dylan booked at Gerde’s Folk City where a New York Times’ review by Robert Shelton in September 1961 brought publicity that culminated in a contract with Columbia Records Dylan eventually left her to sign with the influential manager Albert Grossman although they remained friends for some time afterward Thal and Van Ronk were at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 when Dylan “went electric,” performing a rock’n’roll set backed by members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and shaking up the folk music orthodoxy “We didn’t freak out about it,” she recalled “Bob had a rock background before he came to New York … I thought the Butterfield Band was great and to have them back him did not throw us at all.” Thal later divorced Van Ronk and stopped managing folk artists as the music scene changed In 1972 she became public relations director of the New York Society for Ethical Culture She moved to her family’s former summer cottage in the Lake Lucille community off South Mountain Road in New City in the early 1980s Thal has stayed active in political, social and environmental causes, including the successful fight against a desalination plant in Rockland. She lived for years with Martus Granirer “I was born in a time and place where I’ve been able to fight for justice and when my mother’s protests about the plight of being a woman are being addressed My family didn’t encourage me to live my life in the worlds of folk music and social justice and everyone accepted me and my activities She adds: “I continue to foster social change which I think is needed in this time of division and dissention Qualifying rounds of Thal Jeep Rally were completed at Chaanga Maaga near Muzaffargarh today.           Overall 86 racers of various categories participated in the qualifying round Mir Nadir Magsi finished the track of the qualifying round in 1 minute 34 seconds 20 points and stood first Asif Fazal Chaudhry finished third in the pre-paired category Syed Asif Imam finished the track in one minute and 46 seconds and stood first.      Dina Patel stood first position finishing the track in one minute and 51 seconds the main competitions of rally will begin tomorrow with stock category in the racing.  Competition of prepared and women categories will be held on Sunday.             Colourful cultural events have also been arranged during the four-day event of the rally.