JasonShadrick

Before I started here there were a few blogs that really inspired me to start my own.  Considering my job, many people were asking me to somehow document all the great musicians I come in contact with on a regular basis.  Here are 9 blogs that helped me figure out how to blog, why to blog and what makes a blog succesful.

In no particular order:

GuitarNoize.com is one of the first guitar centric blogs I started to read on a regular basis.  It has a great look and feel and is a great place to find the latest guitar news that sometimes is overlooked by the mainstream.

Ariel Hyatt is a publicity wizard.  She was the first one to tell me how to make Twitter work for me and for that I am grateful.  If you are an independent musician, please do yourself a favor and check her out.

GuitarVibe.com is a really great site for concert reviews, gear reviews and some really nice interviews.  Since Zach is in the the tech industry, I really like the reviews on some of the guitar technology that is out there.

What is it with Australia and amazing guitar blogs? iHeartGuitar is a guitar news blog that features both some incredible interviews (Dave Mustaine, Ace Frehley, etc.) but lessons, album reviews and more.  I am really looking forward to finally meeting Peter at NAMM next January.

The Rock House Method Blog is not only a place to keep up on the latest Rock House news but a great resource for tons of lessons, articles and more from other websites and blogs.

John is one of our instructors at NGW and is always willing to help students (and fellow bloggers).  He has some great coverage from the summer and is one of the best examples of how to leverage the internet to create a great teaching studio.

Easily one of the most read music business blogs around, Hypebot is a great way to learn more about what is changing daily about the music business.  Bruce Houghton and his staff really do a great job of explaing complicated concepts in an easy to understand way.

Bob Lefsetz is a longtime commentator on the music industry.  Starting out as an actual letter and then progressing to an emai list, his blog is read by a large amount of the music industry.  He posts A LOT, so I would recommend checking it out from time to time and catch up.

Derek Sivers is the guy who started CDBaby and in turn empowered a generation of DIY musicians.  Much like his hero, Seth Godin, Derek’s blog is full of short useful posts that really make you think.  If I had to choose one of this list, this would be it.  HIGHLY recommended.

Here are some links and articles that I have found interesting recently.

Zack at GuitarVibe.com reviews the Gary Moore Lick Library DVD

I have seen a lot of these “Lick Library” DVDs around lately.  Zack gives it a pretty good review, but it seems like the series is aimed at beginner to early intermediate players.  Maybe if this is on Netflix, I might check it out.

Ethan Iverson Celebrates Lester Young

Ethan recently honored Lester Young’s 100th birthday with an exhaustive 10 part blog post

about his life and music.  He speaks of him and Miles and even interviews Lee Konitz about Lester.  One of the most well done music posts I have read in a long time.  Although not guitar related, it really is a must read. Also, if you haven’t been reading The Bad Plus’ blog Do The Math, start now.

Must Have Downloads for the New School Year

Dr. Joseph Pisano (@pisanojm) is a respected music educator who does a great job of integrating technology into the classroom.  This list is a great reference for both students and teachers.

Idea: Musician’s own website as definitive source of all info

Derek Sivers (@sivers) is a modern day genius.  Much like his hero Seth Godin, Derek runs a blog that offers practical real world advice.  This post seems like common sense to me, but looking at other band websites, I can see how they can get distracted and become spread too thin on the internet.

In contrast to the Col. Bruce Hampton video, here is another interesting instructional video for all you college guys going back to school:

Here are some links to some articles that are worth a read.

Why it is Good for Children to Play Guitar

The Farewell Show – David LaMotte is a great friend and singer/songwriter from North Carolina. In college I did an internship with his indie record label and that experience was invaluable. He recently retired from playing music for a living and is moving with his wife and newborn son to Australia to work on a Master’s Degree.

Anything by Seth Godin – Seth has one of the most read business and marketing blogs around. Extremely interesting stuff.

For those of us who use Twitter (I am @guitarworkshop), TwiTip.com is a great blog by Darren Rowse that is full of useful advice to get the most out of Twitter.

This weekend I will post some CD reviews of some of my favorite CD’s of 2008. It seems like the most popular posts on here are the ones that include downloads of my worksheets I use for lessons. Hopefully I can get a few of those done while I am away on vacation with the family in a few weeks.

Please leave a comment and let me know how you like the articles.