Nirvana to be elevated to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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In 2014 the US Rock and Roll hall of fame are set to induct among others Nirvana and Peter Gabriel.

The ceremony takes place next April where Kiss, Hall and Oates, Peter Gabriel, Linda Ronstadt and Cat Stevens will also be elevated to the elite musical club.

This is first year Nirvana have been eligible to win their place in the Hall of Fame as it is 25 years since their first release and a panel of industry experts put them forward to receive the nod.

Brian Epstein the former Beatles manager, who died in 1967, will also be honoured for his life's work.

Another award winner is Andrew Loog Oldham, the record producer and manager who propelled the Rolling Stones to worldwide fame, collecting an award for his contribution to the music industry.

US group the E Street Band, known for their collaborations with Bruce Springsteen, are also being inducted into the Hall of Fame through a musical excellence award.

Nirvana shot to fame in the early 90s as the most prominent band in the Seattle grunge scene, they produced a series of hits including Smells Like Teen Spirit and Come As You Are.

The three critically acclaimed full-length studio albums were a revelation, they went on to be one ofthe best-selling rock bands in history with an estimated 75 million sales. Famously frontman Kurt Cobain's committed suicide in 1994 aged 27.

British musician Peter Gabriel was already inducted in 2010 as a member of rock band Genesis, while Cat Stevens - now known as Yusuf Islam - has been nominated for the honour in the past.

With trademark black and white make-up and costumes Kiss are known for their extravagant performances, where as Darryl Hall and John Oates the song-writing and performance partners have scored six US number hits in their career.

This year's inductees were selected by more than 600 music industry personnel from a long-list of candidates, whose first work must have been released at least 25 years ago.

Would you like to be able to play your guitar as if it were a keyboard?

There are many different guitar add-ons of varying quality and usefulness, each claims to add another dimension to the guitar playing experience and often many do not deliver. The Hammer Jammer however, may just be one that does deliver on its potential.

It's an interesting concept in that it allows you to add a percussive element to you guitar and almost play it as if it were a keyboard. This claim is that this could act as a source of inspiration for both acoustic and electric guitar players, allowing you to innovate playing styles and techniques.

Check out the demo video above and don't forget to let us know what you think. Would this device be useful for you or do you think its a waste of time? Or has anyone actually used it and what were the results?

I believe the video is a interesting demonstration of how useful this device could be in your performances, not only for providing inspiration for composing, but also for adding textural layers when recording. It comes cheap at around £20 too and fits on any guitar without modification!

Click here for more details

Gibson Full Guitar Line-up for 2014 Revealed

The 2014 guitar line-up has just been revealed by Gibson, with the prestigious manufacturer making some interesting and innovative changes.

Check out a gallery of the new guitars over at Music Radar. 

2014 also signals the 120th anniversary of the manufacturer, leading them to roll out a whopping 28 models, many of them with distinctive new pickups, features and finishes. Including some nice colour variations, new specifications to their existing guitars and some reductions in pricing. Some of the more eye catching colours include a transparent seafoam green colour on the Les Paul Classic, a transparent faded denim colour on the Les Paul Traditional and the SG Futura – Min-ETune in glossy turquoise!

On many of the new models a 120th Anniversary logo has been placed on the 12th fret position. Alongside other new features like the widespread implementation of the Min-ETune automatic tuning unit, PLEK fingerboard set ups and four new pickup types, alongside undercut frets (meaning many models with lack the 'nibs' of binding that have traditionally covered fret edges on Gibson fretboards).

Not to mention other new additions such as redesigned strap buttons, cryogenically treated fret wire, Max Grip speed knobs and the widespread deployment of GraphTech nuts.

If you would like a full run down of each new guitar Music Radar have a detailed breakdown (linked above) and of course visit the official Gibson website for more details.