Smashed KISS guitar at a throwaway price of $5,500

Paul Stanley of rock band Kiss performs during a concert on their Latin America tour, at the Jockey Club in Asuncion November 12, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Jorge Adorno

SYDNEY | Wed Mar 6, 2013 11:20pm EST

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Die-hard KISS fans looking for the ultimate in concert memorabilia from the group's current Australian tour need search no more. Why not acquire a guitar smashed onstage "in your honor" by guitarist Paul Stanley - for a mere $5,500?

Stanley, also a singer in the U.S. hard rock group known for its garish makeup, will also be selling the microphone he sings into for $3,000, along with special microphone and guitar combination packages, his website said.

If you purchase a KISS guitar during the Australian tour, currently underway until March 16, you also get to meet Stanley before the concert and view your yet undamaged guitar, which will be smashed that night in your honor, according to Stanley's website (www.paulstanleyguitars.com).

Not included in the price is your concert ticket.

"What a fantastic feeling I got seeing Paul Stanley smashing 'my' guitar at the end of an unbelievable show," gushed one fan on the website after buying a guitar during an earlier British tour.

(Reporting by Michael Sin, Editing by Elaine Lies and Michael Perry)

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The Latest! Remastered Led Zepellin, Smashed Bass Guitar, Glee, DJZ, Bandpage, and Soundscan

Jimmy Page is now remastering the Zeppelin discography for a re-release in 2013. They will be in the form of one box set per album.

The bass guitar smashed by Kurt Cobain in the video for Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" will be auctioned off in London. It is expected to be sold between $24,000 and $40,000.

It was to be expected. Glee is taking on PSY's "Gangnam Style" for an episode airing in late November. Actor Kevin McHale of FOX's crazed musical show said, "You know we had to do it."

Turntable.fm founder Seth Goldstein has just launched DJZ.com, an electronic dance music news hub website. With obnoxious reds, pinks, blues, and yellows, DJZ features  artist profiles, a feed of dance music news, a Soundcloud-powered music player, and upcoming shows and festivals.

BandPage, formerly RootMusic, is hosting a session on Google+ Hangouts with CEO J Sider and Incubus manager Steve Rennie. This public music talk show will start at 1:30 and end at 2:00 pm PST today, Nov. 1. Following the hangout, both Sider and Rennie will take open questions from people in the music industry.

This week’s Soundscan charts reveals that (hidden in the shadow of Taylor Swift's Red)Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid M.A.A.D City hit #2 with a little over 240,000 sales. Jason Aldean's Night Train claimed the third spot with 115,976, and Mumford & Sons's Babel dropped to fourth with 53,441.

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Gibson Guitar settles probe into illegal wood imports

A Chinese rock fan sits in front of a Gibson guitar poster during the four-day MIDI Music Festival at Haidian Park in Beijing May 4, 2006 as the week-long Labour Day holidays continue.

Credit: Reuters/Claro Cortes

By Tim Ghianni

NASHVILLE, Tennessee | Mon Aug 6, 2012 5:36pm EDT

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Gibson Guitar Corp, which makes some of the world's most prized guitars, will pay a $300,000 penalty under a criminal enforcement agreement with federal prosecutors, after it admitted to possible illegal purchases of ebony from Madagascar, authorities said on Monday.

The agreement, announced by Justice Department officials in Washington, caps a probe into the Nashville-based guitar maker that began in 2009 when it came under suspicion of importing banned or protected wood from both Madagascar and India.

"As a result of this investigation and criminal enforcement agreement, Gibson has acknowledged that it failed to act on information that the Madagascar ebony it was purchasing may have violated laws intended to limit over-harvesting and conserve valuable wood species from Madagascar, a country which has been severely impacted by deforestation," said U.S. Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

"Gibson has ceased acquisitions of wood species from Madagascar and recognizes its duty under the U.S. Lacey Act to guard against the acquisition of wood of illegal origin by verifying the circumstances of its harvest and export, which is good for American business and American consumers," Moreno said.

The century-old Lacey Act, originally passed to crack down on a booming trade in bird feathers used to adorn hats, was amended in 2008 to require that U.S. companies make detailed disclosures about wood imports.

Apart from the $300,000 penalty slapped on Gibson as part of the agreement, the legendary guitar maker will forfeit wood valued at $261,844 that was seized in the course of the investigation.

The Justice Department said Gibson would also pay $50,000 to the U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation "to promote the conservation, identification and propagation of protected tree species."

Gibson Chief Executive Officer Henry Juszkiewicz was not immediately available for comment, the company said.

(Editing by Tom Brown and Stacey Joyce)

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Gonna know his name: Austin guitar whiz Gary Clark Jr

Gary Clark Jr. performs during the ''In Performance at the White House'' series, hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama where music legends and contemporary major artists perform to celebrate blues music and in recognition of Black History Month, in Washington February 21, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Chris Kleponis

By Corrie MacLaggan

AUSTIN, Texas | Thu Mar 22, 2012 7:02pm EDT

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Gary Clark Jr. was shaking. He was around 15, with the X's of an underage club patron marking the backs of his hands. He'd brought his guitar to the Austin blues institution Antone's and had just been called on stage to play alongside Hubert Sumlin, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, James Cotton and Mojo Buford.

"They were some of the most low-down guys in blues," Clark, now 28, told Reuters during the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in the Texas capital, where he was born and still lives. "It was kind of a special moment, just kind of the beginning of all this."

For Clark, all this includes, just in the past few months, playing on the "Late Show with David Letterman", opening for Eric Clapton in Brazil and performing for President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama during a White House blues showcase that also featured B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Mick Jagger.

All from a guy who failed a public speaking assignment in high school because he was too terrified to show up for his presentation. Even now, the tall, lanky blues-soul-rock musician said, "everyone's always telling me to speak up."

Still, those who have been watching him for years in Austin say he's evolved from a shy performer to a confident band leader. He pivots from mellow songs - sometimes singing falsetto - to loud, hot displays of guitar intensity, as he did during a late-night show last week during SXSW.

"You gonna know my name by the end of the night," Clark, wearing a black hat, sang as part of the title song of "Bright Lights", his major-label debut EP from Warner Bros.

JAMMING IN THE GARAGE

Clark started playing guitar at age 12, a year after his friend Eve Monsees, whose house was so close to his that he could hear her jamming down the street. They started playing in their garages after school.

"Sometimes, we'd open the door, and there'd be people outside clapping and stuff, just seeing these kids play," Monsees said.

To celebrate her 15th birthday, the pair played at a blues jam at Babe's on Sixth. At that point, their only performance had been at their middle-school talent show.

"I didn't know about blues jams or anything," Clark said. "I was just kind of hooked from there. I loved being on stage, I loved the music."

They returned regularly. Together, Clark and Monsees would explore places like Antone's Record Shop (of which she is now a co-owner), discovering Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Freddie King and Hound Dog Taylor. Their dads would take them to hear live music. Local musicians including Jimmie Vaughan - brother of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan - took Clark under their wing.

Clark was a teenager in 2000 when Austin music writer Michael Corcoran first saw him play.

"He was a big flash of energy and excitement," said Corcoran. "A lot of times, blues can be pretty boring. It was just electrifying."

But Clark also understood restraint, Corcoran said. Unlike many people his age, he resisted playing everything he knew in every solo.

'INSANE' GUITAR SKILLS

Clark fan Joel Boehm, an Austin lawyer, saw him play dozens of Wednesday nights at Austin's Continental Club several years ago. During the guitar solos, the audience would stand entranced, not talking, just fixated on the music, Boehm said. He said he's watched Clark become more confident, engaging more with the audience.

"It's not like he has the rock-star swagger," Boehm said after watching one of Clark's SXSW shows. "It's that look in his eyes, like ‘I know something you don't.'"

Some high-profile people are noticing, notably since he played Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2010. Alicia Keys has gushed about him.

"Even if you're not listening to blues, this guy's on everyone's radar right now," said Wendy Geller, a Los Angeles-based music blogger for Yahoo! Music. "He's got pretty insane guitar skills."

Clark has also dabbled in acting, appearing in the 2007 movie "Honeydripper" with Danny Glover. But he said he realized he'd have a lot of work to do on acting in order to seriously pursue more roles.

Meanwhile, Clark - who still pops into the blues jam on Sixth Street (the place is now called Friends) - is at work recording a full-length album. And this year, he's set to play at Coachella in California, at New Orleans' Jazz Fest and at Bonnaroo in Tennessee.

"I kind of feed off of the energy of the people," he said of live audiences. "It's like, oh yeah, we're all in this together, we're all just kind of going through this crazy life together, and for a few minutes, we can come together, and just let it go and have a good time."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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