Gibson Partners With Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival

 

Gibson has partnered with Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival for its highly anticipated return to Texas on September 26 and 27, 2026, at the Moody Center in Austin. Featuring Eric Clapton, Gary Clark Jr., Buddy Guy, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Trey Anastasio, Joe Bonamassa, and more. Tickets for Crossroads Guitar Festival are available now at crossroadsguitarfestival.com.

The two-day festival will unite generations of celebrated guitarists, including an all-star roster of Gibson signature artists featuring Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Billy Gibbons, Sierra Hull, Marcus King, and Keb’ Mo’, representing a wide range of musical styles and generations. Beyond the performances onstage, Gibson will be on the ground throughout the weekend with an immersive festival booth offering fans hands-on access to guitars, exclusive product experiences, photo opportunities, and more.

Throughout the weekend, festivalgoers can visit the Gibson festival booth, where more than 30 Gibson and Epiphone instruments and MESA/Boogie amplifiers will be on display and available to plug in and play. The festival booth will give fans the opportunity to experience the instruments firsthand and connect with Gibson at one of the world’s premier celebrations of guitar music.

The Gibson booth will also offer a world-first preview of the forthcoming Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom Eric Clapton 1964 ES-335 TDC Reissue, scheduled for release in summer 2027. Inspired by Clapton’s original 1964 Gibson ES-335, the new model celebrates one of the most recognizable and historically significant guitars associated with his career.

Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom Eric Clapton 1964 ES-335 TDC Reissue, scheduled for release in summer 2027.

Fans at the festival will be able to enter for the opportunity to win one of the Eric Clapton signature guitars when the model launches in 2027. Festivalgoers can take their place atop the celebrated Gibson Guitar Throne, a striking installation constructed from 100 real electric guitar bodies and necks that has been exhibited at music events around the world. Attendees can have their photo taken on the throne for the opportunity to be featured across Gibson’s social media channels.

The seventh Crossroads Guitar Festival will celebrate the 28th anniversary of Crossroads Centre Antigua, the treatment and education facility founded in 1998 to support individuals affected by alcohol and substance dependency, as well as their families. Through Gibson Gives, the philanthropic division of Gibson, the company is proud to continue its support of Crossroads Centre Antigua and its mission to provide treatment, education, and compassionate care. Gibson’s partnership with the Crossroads Guitar Festival reflects the company’s longstanding belief in the power of music to support healing, strengthen communities, and create meaningful, lasting change.

Guitar Center will also offer on-site retail, giving attendees access to an exclusive, curated collection of products tied to the festival. The Guitar Center Experience will feature a rare showcase of iconic instruments from the retailer’s renowned Legends Collection, including the original 1964 Gibson ES-335 played by Eric Clapton during his time with Cream. The historic guitar serves as the inspiration for Clapton’s forthcoming Epiphone signature model, which fans can preview at the Gibson festival booth.

Continuing its longstanding tradition of honoring artists who have made significant contributions to music, Guitar Center will also induct an artist into its famed RockWalk during the festival. The honoree will be announced at a later date.

More information about the Gibson and Crossroads Music Festival partnership

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Celebrate 50th Anniversary With 'Origins 1971-1978' Box Set

The Tom Petty Estate has shared a comprehensive new box set, Origins 1971-1978, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Petty & The Heartbreakers, out November 6 via UMe. Digging into the vaults, this collection traces the sonic formation of the band in the white-hot 70s era, and features collaborations with legendary artists Al Kooper, Leon Russell, Jim Gordon, Emory Gordy and more, across country, folk, punk, reggae, rock and soul originals.

The announcement arrives ahead of tonight’s Americana Awards, where Petty and the Heartbreakers will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. The original members of the Heartbreakers, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Stan Lynch and Ron Blair, will open the show with a special reunion performance alongside Grammy-winning superstar Chris Stapleton. Heartbreakers Steve Ferrone and Scott Thurston will join for a final song.

Origins 1971-1978 will be available in three configurations: a five-LP box set, a four-CD box set and an uber deluxe edition, each with Blu-ray and DVD. The centerpiece of the vinyl editions is an 88-page fanzine featuring liner notes by David Fricke and Bud Scoppa, track-by-track annotations from the original band, complete album credits for the first two albums and a trove of unearthed archival photos and memorabilia, alongside polaroids, postcards, collectibles and more. 

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At the heart of the collection is No Sleep Til L.A., which will be available as a stand-alone LP, CD and limited-edition Zoetrope. More than a rarities compilation, it is a 12-track document of Tom Petty becoming Tom Petty — tracing the years between Mudcrutch's earliest recordings and the formation of the Heartbreakers as he searched for the right players, the right sound and ultimately the right band.

Spanning recordings from Miami to Tulsa to Los Angeles, the album follows the band's journey from their first-ever studio session at Criteria Studios in 1971, through the formative Tulsa sessions where Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Stan Lynch and Ron Blair learned to make records, and into Los Angeles, where it all finally clicked into place. It captures a singer, songwriter, and bandleader in rapid development, growing more assured with each session. Seven of the twelve tracks have never been released before. Five more tracks appear here in new, hi-res mixes. The LP will also be available in a limited edition “Galaxy" color variant. A Zoetrope version of the record will be available on November 20.

In a special preview of the collection, “Parade of Loons,” a previously unheard Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers track that takes you back to 1978, is out now. An imaginative new music video takes us into an animated world of Heartbreakers fandom, directed by Peter Sluszka and starring Iain Armitage of Young Sheldon fame. Check it out below.

Origins 1971–1978 includes metallic limited-edition versions of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ debut album and their 1978 follow-up, You’re Gonna Get It!.

Each track has been newly mixed and remastered from the original multi-track tapes, including 50th-anniversary editions of the band's first two albums, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and You're Gonna Get It!, by longtime producer and engineer Ryan Ulyate. Both editions feature extended versions of eleven tracks, including “American Girl” and “Breakdown.”

The additional discs trace the earliest chapters of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, deep from the family’s vault. A musical diary of the band's Gainesville roots through their cross-country move to Los Angeles and into their first taste of success.

Live from the Record Plant 1977 features a highly sought-after, fan-favorite broadcast, now released in its entirety for the first time. Recorded for San Francisco's KSAN-FM at the Record Plant in Sausalito, this high-fidelity recording captures the band’s intense energy even during their early period, including a guest appearance by the legendary Al Kooper.

The Cut Out Bin continues the exploratory spirit of No Sleep Til L.A., gathering five tracks that show Petty working as a solo artist alongside session musicians—including a yacht rock track with Leon Russell—before ultimately concluding that the Heartbreakers were the right vehicle for his songs. More experimental than the band's later work, the tracks offer a rare look at the road not taken.

The set closes with the band's 1978 performance on the BBC’s The Old Grey Whistle Test in the UK, where Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers first broke through internationally. The audio has been restored by Ryan Ulyate and is now available for the first time in high definition. 

BBC host Bob Harris, who wrote an essay for the Blu-ray booklet, shares: “[It was] one of the greatest performances we had ever seen by a band at the top of their game. They played music from another planet to a room packed with manic fans, in one of the most iconic venues in the world. It was an experience so powerful that five decades later we could still remember every chord, every song, every solo.”

The DVD captures the band's live performance on the BBC program The Old Grey Whistle Test, and a Blu-ray disc featuring the complete collection of all 51 songs in high-res stereo, Atmos and 5.1 immersive mixes rounds out the set.

Sir Cliff Richard Announces 48th Studio Album

  

Today, 67 years after scoring his very first number one with The Drifters with "Living Doll," Sir Cliff Richard has announced the release of his 48th studio album Only Number Ones, featuring 12 of his personal favorite chart-toppers from The Beatles to Harry Styles. 

Releasing November 27th, the new album sees Richard put his unique stamp on classic and contemporary Number Ones spanning eight decades. A deluxe edition will also bring together all 14 of Cliff Richard’s original classic Number One singles. 

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With each of his last five albums reaching the top five in the UK official album charts could Only Number Ones give Cliff Richard another number one album to celebrate his 86th birthday year?

Carefully selecting 12 of his favorite Number One tracks by artists such as The Beatles, The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and Harry Styles, the album was produced by Sam Hollander and Josh Edmondson and recorded in February this year. 

“I suggested to Warner Music that I record an album of songs that made it to No.1," Richard says. "Thank heavens they agreed!! I listened to dozens of songs and chose 12 of my favorites. This record is my tribute to fabulous artists who had recorded wonderful tracks that achieved the number one position." 

In full celebration of Number Ones, the album will also be released as a Deluxe Edition featuring all of Cliff Richard’s 14 original Number One tracks from 1959’s "Living Doll" through "Bachelor Boy," "The Young Ones," "Summer Holiday," "Congratulations," "We Don’t Talk Anymore" and more including his three Christmas Number Ones "Mistletoe and Wine," "Saviours Day" and 1999’s "The Millennium Prayer."

Released in what will be his 86th birthday year, Cliff Richard is inviting fans to join him for a special afternoon tea on October 15 (the day after his actual birthday) at the Intercontinental Hotel in Park Lane, London to toast his birthday and his brand new album. 

Joe Satriani And Steve Vai Unite for 'The Sea Of Emotion' Album, Out November 6th

 

After more than five decades of friendship, musical exchange and separate careers that helped redefine what the electric guitar could do, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have finally made a record together. The Sea Of Emotion, the first studio album from SatchVai, will be released November 6, 2026 via earMUSIC. The announcement arrives alongside the release of “Mayhem,” the album’s blistering new single is out now. Have a listen below.

The story began in 1973, when 13-year-old Steve Vai began taking guitar lessons from his 17-year-old teacher, Joe Satriani, in Long Island. Neither could have known where that shared obsession with the guitar would lead. More than 50 years later, after establishing themselves as solo artists and sharing stages around the world through the legendary G3 tours, they have brought their musical histories together on one album.

“We’ve been planning this since 1973,” Vai says with a laugh. “Just unconsciously.”

The album came together after a G3 reunion tour created an unexpected opening in their schedules. What began as a suggestion to record a single track quickly expanded when Satriani sent Vai two finished pieces, “The Sea of Emotion, Part 1” and “Part 2.” Vai knew immediately that the time had come.

 

The process was anything but predictable. Although the two musicians share a deep musical history, similar influences and a lifelong understanding of the guitar, they discovered that they write very differently. That contrast became one of the defining elements of the record, with ideas moving back and forth as the songs took unexpected turns.

“The biggest surprise was that we write in completely different ways,” Satriani explains. “And that’s what made the project so fun and interesting.”

Photo: Larry DiMarzio

The album brings together two musicians who have spent decades developing unmistakable individual voices, while giving each the freedom to push the other somewhere new. Producer and keyboardist Eric Caudieux helped keep the process honest, while a formidable group of longtime collaborators supplied the rhythm section, including drummers Gregg Bissonette, Jeremy Colson, Kenny Aronoff, Matt Chamberlain and Mike Mangini, and bassists Billy Sheehan, Bryan Beller, Philip Bynoe, Matt Bissonette, Marco Mendoza and Henrik Linder.

Across The Sea Of Emotion, SatchVai move from the raw rock ’n’ roll of “Mayhem” and “Bronco Freight Train” to the darker, cinematic “Old Sins Have Long Shadows,” the unruly swing of “Zoot Suit Riot” and the arena-sized “I Wanna Play My Guitar,” featuring singer Glenn Hughes.

At the center of the album is the three-part “The Sea of Emotion” suite, which reaches back to the Carle Place school field where the two teenage musicians once spent time dreaming about music. “The Sea of Emotion, Part 3” even begins with a vintage reel-to-reel recording from one of Vai’s early lessons with Satriani, a glimpse of two young guitarists still searching for their voices.

“It illustrates just how far we’ve come,” Satriani says. “We’re these two kids who haven’t found our sound yet, but we’ve got enthusiasm. We’re chasing something, and we’re determined.”

For Vai, the album ultimately represents something more personal than a meeting of two celebrated guitarists.

“That’s when I really feel, like, wow, we really did it,” he says. “It’s a beautiful coming together of me and my friend in a very intimate musical way. That was the reason we did the record.”

For more info, visit satchvaiband.com.

'The Who By Numbers' Revisited As Super Deluxe Edition

The Who By Numbers, released in early October 1975, is the seventh studio album by The Who and marked a watershed moment for the band, as its songs were, for the most part, more introspective and personal than those they had released previously. The record was a commercial success, peaking at #8 on the U.S. Billboard chart and #7 in the U.K., partly due to the success of one of the album’s lighter moments, Squeeze Box, which became an international hit, reaching the top ten in the U.K., top 20 in the U.S. and #1 in Canada. 

Fifty years later, The Who By Numbers is to be reissued this October as a five-CD/single Blu-Ray super deluxe edition boxset featuring a 100-page hard back book with photos, memorabilia & exclusive notes from Pete Townshend and Who expert Andy Neill, 92 unreleased tracks and mixes, brand new Atmos, 5.1 & Stereo mixes by Pete Townshend, 11 of Pete’s original demos for the album, tracking sessions from Ramport and Shepperton Studios, early mixes,  guide vocals, the fullest version of Live At Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, June 12, 1976 released to date and on the Blu-Ray audio and video from a previously unreleased Who concert shot on 2” videotape from Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan.

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The Who’s show at Pontiac, Michigan, on December 6, 1975 set the record at the time for the largest-ever indoor rock concert attendance, with 76,896 people. The entire show has been exhumed from The Who’s archives and professionally cleaned up, with remastered audio. It now stands as one of the few existing visual records of this memorable Who tour, their last with the irrepressible Keith Moon.

Six months later, The Who played three British football grounds under the banner Who Put The Boot In. The first of these, at The Valley, the home of Charlton Athletic, was recognized by the Guinness Book Of World Records as the world’s loudest rock concert. The third show at Swansea FC’s Vetch Field was recorded for a proposed live album, and over the years, songs from the Swansea concert have appeared on official Who releases. Now, the available original mix tapes have been remastered and returned to their original order. The show was Keith Moon’s last proper show before a British audience, capturing the level of performance power The Who attained over the year-long tour.

Check out a previously unreleased version of "Imagine A Man" below.

Produced by Glyn Johns, who had previously worked with the band on their 1971 album Who's Next, The Who By Numbers, despite its light-hearted John Entwistle-drawn sleeve and massive hit single, features some of the darkest songs ever recorded by the band. This new super deluxe edition sheds light on the making of the album and the state of mind of its composer, Pete Townshend. As he puts it in the 100-page making-of-the-album book that accompanies the box set, “I could feel a new wave or reaction and rebellion coming in the music business, the big bands were becoming careless and self-indulgent. I wanted my songs to continue to have a cathartic function for our audience. When punk hit a few years later, I was not surprised.”

Jimi Hendrix Experience 1970 Berkeley Performance Set For October Release

On October 16, Experience Hendrix/Legacy Recordings will release Magic Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Experience Live At Berkeley (First Show). Produced by Janie Hendrix, original Experience recording engineer Eddie Kramer, and John McDermott, this historic 1970 concert is receiving a proper release for the first time, and will be available on 2LP vinyl, CD, and all digital platforms.

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The final lineup of the Jimi Hendrix Experience (Hendrix on guitar/vocals, Mitch Mitchell on drums, Billy Cox on bass) performed two sets on May 30, 1970 at the Berkeley Community Theatre. For almost three years, the musician had been an international superstar and was widely hailed as the highest-grossing live act in rock. At this point in his career, Hendrix had decided to only tour on weekends because his primary focus was on building Electric Lady Studios, his own state-of-the-art recording facility in Greenwich Village. Demand for these two East Bay concerts far outstripped the venue’s 6,600 total available seats, leading to several thousand fans being turned away. 

Many swarmed the plaza in front of the theater, breaking windows and rushing the doors before the first performance. Others scaled the walls to gain entrance through the roof. Concertgoers who had purchased tickets were forced to elbow their way through the angry mob while being pelted by rocks. Promoter Bill Graham’s security force had never witnessed this level of aggression before. The Experience, who made it inside safely via a back door, ripped through repertoire both familiar and foreign to the audience. The audio was captured onto tape by Hendrix’s front-of-house engineer Abe Jacob, who had worked with him on previous tours.  

Listen to “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” from Magic Boy below.

The fascination with this Berkeley performance and its lore steadily grew over the years when two early posthumous releases featured recordings from that set; "Hear My Train A Comin'" made it onto Rainbow Bridge (1971) and the electrifying rendition of "Johnny B. Goode" can be heard on Hendrix In The West (1972). The 1971 concert film Jimi Plays Berkeley includes extracts of “Purple Haze" and "Star Spangled Banner," stoking the fires further. Magic Boy finally assembles the performance in the order it was experienced by attendees. The album provides fans with the opportunity to hear Hendrix confidently shift between familiar favorites such as “Fire” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” to then-brand new material like “Ezy Ryder" and "Freedom" before they had been completed in the studio. Hendrix also incorporated Band Of Gypsys material into the set list; "Message To Love" and “Machine Gun" were executed with returning drummer Mitch Mitchell’s unique flair. These Berkeley recordings have been newly remixed by Eddie Kramer from the original multi-track tapes, and mastered by multiple-Grammy Award winner Bernie Grundman. 

Janie Hendrix commented, “Jimi called himself a ‘Magic Boy,’ so this title has a very personal meaning. He was always reaching for something new—exploring, experimenting and pushing his music forward. At Berkeley, you can hear that journey happening in real time. He gives the audience the songs they already loved while opening the door to where he was headed next. More than fifty years later, that magic is still there. Magic Boy lets us experience Jimi’s brilliance, energy and imagination all over again.”

Foreigner Announces 'Head Games' Super Deluxe Editions

Following last year’s acclaimed Deluxe Edition of Foreigner 4, Foreigner continues its 50 year celebration with a newly remixed and remastered edition of Head Games, the band’s multi-platinum third studio album, originally released in 1979, available October 30 on CD/Blu-ray and black vinyl. 

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The collection will also be available the same day via DSP. To celebrate the announcement, the newly discovered unreleased track “Trouble” with Peter Frampton is available digitally. Check it out below.

Featuring the iconic hits “Dirty White Boy” and the title track “Head Games,” the expansive new collection has been overseen by Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson and the band’s longtime production collaborator, Wyn Davis. The collection also features a new essay by acclaimed music journalist and author Ken Sharp detailing the history and creation of this iconic album.

The 1979 debut of Head Games featured Lou Gramm (lead vocals, percussion), Mick Jones (lead guitar, piano, backing vocals, lead vocals), Ian McDonald (guitars, keyboards, synthesizers), Rick Wills (bass, backing vocals), and Dennis Elliott (drums). The album was notable as it marks the first appearance of bass guitarist Rick Wills, and the last album to feature original founding members Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood. It was also the last Foreigner album to feature founder and lead guitarist Mick Jones on lead vocals. 

Head Games Super Deluxe CD/Blu-ray edition features the original 10-track studio album newly remixed, alongside a full disc of outtakes and alternate versions that offer a revealing look inside the album’s recording sessions. The collection also unearths a previously unreleased concert from the Head Games tour, capturing Foreigner at a pivotal moment in the band’s rise, featuring classics including “Cold As Ice” and “Feels Like The First Time.” A Blu-ray completes the package with an immersive Dolby Atmos mix of the original studio album. 

In addition to the Super Deluxe CD/Blu-ray set, Head Games will be available in multiple configurations, including a standalone 1LP vinyl edition of the newly remixed 2026 album; Dolby Atmos versions of both the complete Super Deluxe audio collection and the newly remixed original 10-track album; and a Digital Super Deluxe Edition available for streaming and download.

Among the collection’s most significant discoveries is the previously unreleased track “Trouble,” recorded in May 1979 during the original Head Games sessions at Atlantic Studios in New York. Recently discovered during research for the new Head Games boxed set, “Trouble” was originally co-produced by legendary producer Roy Thomas Baker and has now been newly remixed for its first commercial release. The track also features a newly added guest guitar appearance by Peter Frampton, a longtime friend of Mick Jones. “Trouble” will be released as a special 7-inch single backed with “Zalia,” another non-album rarity from the Head Games era; and is available as a D2C Exclusive on Rhino.com and on the band’s merch store. 

Originally released in September 1979, Head Games cemented Foreigner’s position as one of the defining rock bands of its generation. The album followed the enormous success of the band’s self-titled 1977 debut and 1978’s Double Vision, continuing a remarkable run that would ultimately make Foreigner one of the best-selling rock acts of all time.