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The Latest Breaking News from Frank Zappa

“He had his own vocabulary. He had his own way of constructing chords. His own understanding of how they go on the neck”: Steve Vai on why Allan Holdsworth – the fusion virtuoso who wrote his own rules – was the GOAT

Most players Vai can work out where they were coming from. Holdsworth, he admits, was something different entirely

MusicRadar

“The year that I spent with Frank was the first and only time that I’ve ever had serious instruction”: Adrian Belew reflects on his game-changing year with Frank Zappa – and what the avant-garde musician taught him about music and the business

Belew was discovered and handpicked by Zappa in 1977 after the latter saw him playing at a bar in Nashville

Guitar World

"A high point in the FZ catalogue!" Frank Zappa's One Size Fits All gets lavish 50th anniversary reissue

Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention's 1975 album One Size Fits All has been resized, reupholstered and remastered for its 50th anniversary

Louder

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“He picks his tools up and strikes the living crap out of himself with them. There was blood flying everywhere”: How a street musician who played with Frank Zappa inspired one of grunge’s greatest songs

Inspiration came from an unlikely place for one of the biggest 90s grunge hits

Louder

“They asked me to play the E string of a Chapman Stick with a bow for six minutes. Somebody else got that gig”: Why Nick Beggs passed on his audition for Blue Man Group – and what he learned from Frank Zappa

Nick Beggs played bass in Kajagoogoo – and almost every band you can think of

Guitar World

“A lost gem featuring the best of the best being put through their paces by the ever-controlling bandleader”: Frank Zappa’s unaired TV special Cheaper Than Cheep

A nearly forgotten 1974 afternoon show, with an audience of 100 and a short-lived Mothers line-up, rises from the avant-prog titan’s basement

Louder

“You’re talking about somebody who’s touched by the hand of God. You can’t even fathom it”: Paul Gilbert worshipped his playing, he tutored Luther Dickinson, and he remains, decades after his death, perhaps the greatest little-known guitarist of all time

He was made a guitar legend by his jaw-dropping speed, but Shawn Lane is more worth remembering for his sheer fretboard versatility – he aced country sessions, while blowing minds onstage equally with Southern rock bands and Indian classical-influenced ensembles

Guitar World

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“They told me to start playing along, but I didn’t even know what key the song was in. And by the end they said, ‘You’re the only one who made it to the end of the song — you’re hired!’”: The madness of Captain Beefheart’s masterpiece Trout Mask Replica

“Man, it was weird!” recalls bassist Rockette Morton

MusicRadar

Kennedy: A Gen X Rebel's Journey From MTV to Fox News

The Fox News personality reflects on her evolution from a contrarian Republican to a libertarian and her belief that personal freedom, humor, and not giving a shit are the keys to a better America.

Reason

Neil Peart called him 'the Wood Whisperer' and now he's blended metal and timber in DW's new SonicPly shells

Fusing up to 12 plies of wood with two plies of aluminum they promise presence and power like no other

MusicRadar

“He saw what everybody saw: they could play, they had a ton of energy and they were authentic”: The weird story of Frank Zappa and AC/DC

The story of AC/DC’s most unlikely famous fan

Louder

“In 1989 I paid a scalper $400 for a ticket to see The Who play Tommy. It was worth every cent”: Mike Portnoy on his top prog songs and artists, and why the Rolling Stones have the greatest-ever prog album sleeve

The Dream Theater drummer’s musical world includes Rush, Yes, King Crimson, Roger Waters and Frank Zappa – alongside the Bee Gees

Louder

“I became a punk – I hid my Pink Floyd records and I now had an uneasy relationship with the music”: Siobhan Fahey’s lifelong passion for prog is only hinted at in Bananarama’s name

A Frank Zappa show bored her to sleep, but the Shakespeare’s Sister masterming has remained in love with Roxy Music, Hawkwind and Syd Barrett

Louder

"He was very grumpy, ignoring people." Why teenage guitar prodigy John Frusciante walked away from an audition to join Frank Zappa's band before hooking up with Red Hot Chili Peppers

In another universe, John Frusciante might never have joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Louder

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MusicRadar

“If you’re a bass player in a rock band, you are by definition a moron”: As Frank Zappa’s bassist, Scott Thunes rose to legend status, then turned his back on it all

The bass enigma delivers the inside track on Zappa’s genius and why bass players need to know their place

Guitar World

“Bass players aren't supposed to have ideas. If you're a bass player in a rock band, you are by definition a moron”: He was Zappa’s bassist and remains a low-end enigma – but Scott Thunes has never held back on his opinions

Scott Thunes blazed a unique trail with Frank Zappa – but maintains solo bass is a complete no-no

MusicRadar

"Window or aisle, how would you like to return home?": Dweezil Zappa on how his dad ran his band

No drugs, no improvising, no overplaying

The Independent UK

Moon Unit Zappa on her childhood and father Frank

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The Independent UK

Moon Unit Zappa on her childhood with dad Frank, groupies and guns: ‘I was primed for subservience’

INTERVIEW: Long before Elon Musk started giving his children weird names, the daughter of rock star Frank Zappa was dealing with being little Moon Unit. Now she’s written a book about ‘truly the worst experiences of my life’ as the eldest child of her erratic, unconventional parents. She talks to…

The Conversation

Four records that embody the joy of the double album – from the Beatles to Outkast

In the summer of 1966, a race was on between two very different opponents. On one side was Bob Dylan, the established and bestselling folk artist. On the other was new act The Mothers of Invention, a genre- (and mind-) bending band led by avant garde composer Frank Zappa. The…

Louder

“I went to Genesis on Friday, bought the album on Saturday, then went to the show again on Sunday, and I knew all the words”: A glimpse into the prog world of Lifesigns’ John Young

Keyboardist on Kate Bush’s baking, Frank Zappa’s humour, Patrick Moraz’s romance, Eva Cassidy’s mystery – and buying his own band’s album from Amazon

Louder

“They can steal pretty much everything. They haven’t figured out a way of stealing the live experience. And they still have to pay for that!” Adrian Belew on survival, orchestra music and Frank Zappa

Now touring with King Crimson offshoot Beat, the Bowie, Shatner and Hancock collaborator has long been confident that the future is secure on the road – which pleases him because he loves it

MusicRadar

“Every one of them said yes without hesitation": Hank Marvin and Roger Taylor have just remade a '60s classic for charity

With a little help from Simon Phillips, Peter Erskine, Nick D’Virgilio, Eric Manegold, Vinnie Colaiuta, and more

Guitar World

“I got together with Jeff a few years ago. The famous white Strat was sitting on the couch so I said, ‘Jeff, pick it up and play it!’” Rockabilly rover Mick Rogers on playing with Frank Zappa, touring with Kiss, and rootsy jams with Jeff Beck

The veteran rocker recalls how Frank Zappa helped him get his first Les Paul – and also got him kicked out of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band – and discusses his recordings with Jeff Beck, which Rogers says were the last the late virtuoso ever made

Guitar World

“One of the coolest guitars I own”: Dweezil Zappa has some absolutely wild guitars in his vault – but his insane one-of-one fretless Gibson SG is one of his favorites

Zappa has an eye for weird and wonderful instruments, and this heavily modded example – which began life as a Roxy SG – might be one of his finest

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