Learn to play Rockabilly Guitar with the Greats

This old VHS video on  learning how to play rockabilly guitar has surfaced on YouTube. 

Check it out...it features rockabilly greats, James Burton, Brian Setzer, Danny Gatton, Joe Dalton, Arlen Roth and Scotty Anderson.

Lucky 13 celebrates 20 years

The Lucky 13 label is celebrating 20 years in the clothing game.  Back in 1991, Bobby Kloetzly along with Arnie Sakamoto and a few of their friends started the line out of a building in Westminster.  They quickly became a staple in Southern California, especially in the punk rock, psychobilly and rockabilly music scenes.

They're now based in Santa Ana and run like a well-oiled machine with about 80 per cent of the total manufacturing happening on-site.

Their headquarters also has a band rooms, so when artists decide to stop by, they have a place to chill.

Bobby Kloetzly spoke to Kelli Skye  Fadroski from The County Orange Register about the 20 years of Lucky 13.

He admitted that, while being in the business for 20 years is no small feat, there have been some rough patches along the way.

I definitely wasn't expecting to make it this far, he says. Not that we had any goal in mind in particular, but that we did make it through a couple of tough times with this company is pretty exciting. All of a sudden we realize Hey, it's our 20th year this year' and we needed to do something about it. So we've had a couple of events and we're making a couple of limited edition items and we're having a lot of fun with it. There are a lot of people that have been with us along this road and everyone is kind of shaking their heads at the same time going, Wow, where did the time go?' Twenty years, just like that.

As Kelli reports:

Lucky 13's style, for women, includes pin-up and 1920s-40s style dresses in various colors and patterns, pencil skirts, halter tops and button-up cardigans. For men, the fashion features a lot of collared work or bowling shirts in various colors and patterns that include embroidery. T-shirts and tanks include traditional style tattoo flash such as skulls, roses, crosses, vintage pin-up girls, anchors, cars, motorcycles, guitars and more. Lucky 13 even designs clothing for babies, tweens and toddlers.

A Celebration of Rust and Grease

The 11th Kustom Kills and Hot Rod Thrills show took place last weekend under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

It's been reported in the New York Times as being the biggest and best of their annual shows, gathering "rat rodders" and other customizers, along with rockabilly bands to Union Street.

The usual mix of rusty and matte-black cars was supplemented with gleaming, freshly painted retromobiles and elegant hydraulically suspended models. At the show, rust is no longer a must.

Amid the burble of undermuffled engines and the bleating of horns from the highway ramp, a variety of vendors proffered more than just the usual T-shirts and hot dogs. Three dollars would get you an engine bolt — and a complimentary beer. Female rockabilly models signed autographs and posed for pictures. Men had their hair cut by a barber on the spot.

Rockin': The Rockabilly Scene

For those that love it, rockabilly isn't just a music genre, it's a way of life.  In Andrew Shaylor's latest book, Rockin': The Rockabilly Scene, the photographer has been granted exclusive access at events in the UK and US to  capture the raw energy and the commitment of the rockabilly community to authenticity. Featuring the history of the subculture by rockabilly legend Jerry Chatabox, the  book evokes the passion and intensity of a scene that is as exciting today as it was more than 50 years ago.

My Central Jersey says the book is the best and most comprehensive of its kind. 

It's a brilliant story in photographs of an historic period in rock 'n' roll that has been souped-up and repolished for a new counter-culture movement.

In the book’s foreward, UK Rockabilly Rave organizer Jerry Chatabox cites the wild stage show and brightly dyed hair of Sonny Burgess, the then-racy songs and dress of Charline Arthur and the hard drinking, hard partying lifestyle of the “world’s first real rock star,” Hank Williams, as just a few examples of how far back these tenets of punk rock really go.

$33.33 at Amazon

Rockabilly Hair and Make up

Sara Ashouri is a Make-up Artist who blogs on make up, with the latest reviews and how-tos.

She recently posted that one of her favorite styles to experiment with and wear is the rockabilly look.  Sara says a bandana in the hair is one of the edgier, yet easiest looks to achieve.

Here's what she says you need to do:

Line the bandana up like a triangle. You can fold the bandana to make it smaller for when it goes around your head. You hold it by the two ends, and while your hair is up in a bun, you place the bandana underneath, closest to your next, with the two ends at the very top of your head. Then you just tie it and secure with bobby pins if needed.

As for makeup she says for her it's all about the eyes, full lashes, carbon black eyeliner  - and the lips.

Keep in mind you can always experiment with look in your own way. A red lip isn’t the only color you have to do to achieve the look, especially if its worn during the day. Other colors I love playing around with are baby pinks, mauves, corals, and hot pinks. Just make a semi-bold statement with your lips! And be sure to have that clean looking winged liner. Two of the main important things of the make-up.

It's Elvis Week

It's Elvis Week in Memphis, Tennessee - the annual commemoraton of his death.  As part of celebrations, British musician pete Best (the Beatles' original drummer) and several rockabilly artists will kick things off with a concert at Levitt Shell in Overton Park, where Presley performed in 1954.

Other activities include a tribute artist contest, riverboat cruise, gospel singing, memorial service and candlelight vigil. In addition, Elvis Presley Live: The King in Concert at the Orpheum theater will feature Presley's vocals from the film, Elvis: That's the Way It Is, accompanied on stage by a band and harmony singers.

Elvis Week guests will include Presley's musical director Joe Guercio and guitarist John Wilkinson, biographer Peter Guralnick, longtime friend George Klein and photographer Alfred Wertheimer.

Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977.

Adele Up for Rockabilly

While British singer Adele has had huge success with her album, 21, she's revealed that her latest influences are country, rockabilly and bulegrass thanks to her recent US tour.

Adele told The Sun that the melodies and to-the-point lyrics she's found in a lot of American styles of music is something she definitely wants to pursue from now on.

"I want to spend some time in Austin in Texas and Nashville, Tennessee, and learn about it," she said.

Adele will be touring the UK and US through until October 21 and is then likely to start work on a new album. 

Her breakthrough sophomore LP, 21, reached number one in album charts in 17 countries. In the UK, Adele has spent more time at the top of the charts than any female artist in history.





Check out Adele's "Rolling In The Deep"

Chloe Moretz Goes Rockabilly

Drew Barrymore has directed the video for Best Coast's single "Our Deal".  It's now out and kind of what you'd expect from a  hipster West Side Story featuring Chloe Moretz, Miranda Cosgrove, Donald Glover, Tyler Posey and Alia Shawkat.

Chloe Moretz says she loved her greaser-hip wardrobe.

"I never dress like this in real life so it's fun to embody something else and become a different person and get to rock out a little bit, you know?" she says. "I love my fight look with the red leather pants. It's really cool and it's crazy! I've never worn red lips before on screen so it's very exciting. I absolutely love it."

The entire cast dons an ingeniously styled wardrobe boasting a taste of every decade — 50s rockabilly, 70s punk and 80s attitude and all make an appearance in the myriad of torn-up jeaned vests, Converse high-tops, chains and applique wolf-head leather jackets.

Whole Lotta Shakin in Central Park

The Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson, performed in New York's Central Park on Wednesday night.  Irish singer Imelda May was there to join her on stage for a rendition of the Jerry Lee Lewis classic  “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” that led into Jackson’s own signature hit “Let’s Have a Party.”

Imelda May - Mayhem

If there's an overlap between burlesque and rockabilly, Dubliner Imelda May embodies it. While she looks amazing in skintight leopard-print and red lipstick, musically she shows there's nothing retro about rockabilly.  For her it's a living, vital genre. 

Mayhem is May's third album and was originally released in Ireland and the UK in September and October of last year respectively and spawned an impressive four singles.

She wrote virtually every song (apart from a cover of Tainted Love, which has been rejigged as a feverish waltz for guitar, drums and voice), and sings them with heart and humour.

Except for the two more-than-competent country-inflected numbers, “Eternity” and “Proud and Humble”, May and her band otherwise remain true to their core repertoire of upbeat rockabilly and slower balladry.

“Kentish Town Waltz” is a strong step forward in terms of making May’s slower tracks almost as compelling as her upbeat work, but on Mayhem the softer side generally continues to play second string. The propulsive “Let Me Out” brings the main body of the album to a classy conclusion, not least because of her husband and guitarist Darrel Higham’s dynamic solo.

Things are going well for May these days. Professional support from Jeff Beck and Wanda Jackson, with whom she’s performed several times, including at a gig in Central Park earlier this week, is helping May become as well known in North America as in her homeland.
 
Mayhem is an essential listen for those who believe, as May does, in the living, breathing powers of rockabilly and the blues.

$7.99