Steve Clayton Official Blog

Attention Clayton customers! Today is the last day of our Valentine’s Day sale on custom guitar picks! Place an order with us today to receive 14% off of your entire order! Custom picks start as low as $24.99. To start designing your custom guitar picks, visit www.claytoncustom.com. You can choose your pick material, the shape, the gauge and various print options. You can then create your design using our web-based design interface. You can add text, images from our library, or upload your own images to the guitar pick template. Once your design is complete, you can order your custom picks directly from our site as well! When prompted for a promo code, use LOVE14 to receive your Valentine’s Day discount!

Today we wanted to share a little bit about one of our endorsed bands Top Dead Center ! Top Dead Center is truly a band to be reckoned with. Hailing from San Antonio, Texas, Top Dead Center has a contagious and intoxicating sound as brutal as the South Texas sun on the 4th of July. Their unique mix of influence from southern rock, vintage bar rock, and true heavy metal make Top Dead Center a true locomotive of music mayhem with a stage presence that guarantees a good time. Imagine the modernized bastard child of Mötley Crüe and Slayer having conceived Top Dead Center in the bed of a pickup truck outside Floore’s Country Store while Willie Nelson performed Whiskey River . . . it’s as brutal and awesome as that. Always a forward moving powerhouse of rock’n’roll wreckage in the South Texas region, the whiskey bent lineup have already recorded their debut album titled “A Train Ride to Hell,” which is available now. A brief tour through major cities in Texas will follow to support this release. Each member has an extensive musical history and experience in the Texas music industry. IN September 2010 TDC had an opportunity of a life time by opening up for rock legends KISS, after a three month competition with over 200 bands. Top Dead Center have shared the stage with several other regional and national acts with future goals to continue recording, touring, and spreading the South to every part of the U.S. . . . and then the rest of the world.

Members: Ol’ Mikey – Vocals
Justin Kase – Drums
ChRxis Crigger – Bass
Jack III – Guitar
Johnny Rodd – Guitar

www.topdeadcentermusic.com

This week’s Pick of the Week was created and ordered by customer Enzo Penizzotto. He is currently the bass player in The Bebe Buell Band (Bebe is Liv Tyler’s mother). The band consists of Bebe on vocals, Jim Walls (Das Damen) & Pete Marshall on guitar (Iggy Pop, Samhain), Zac Lasher (U-Melt) on keys, Louisa Mysteria Bradshaw (Angels are jealous of her singing voice) on backgrounds and New Jersey’s own Sarah Tomek on drums. They have a new album called “Hard Love” – the pick stems from the album artwork. Enzo played with Bebe back in 1998-2000 before joining up with joan jett in 2000. He reunited with her last year in July. Other artists that Enzo has worked with include joan jett (2000-2010), the Batusis (with Cheetah Chrome from the Dead Boys and Sylvain Sylvain from the New York Dolls), played on the newest Beggars & Thieves “We are the Broken Hearted” album recently released on Frontiers label, also Eddie Sperry’s Screed the Psychological Profile album.  In his downtime while at home, Enzo also subs on a Broadway musical show called Memphis. And he teaches from time to time at The School of Rock in Manhattan.  He was a founding member of his own band Speed McQueen, which he started at 19 with Mark Lewis (produced Fly Leaf) on guitar/vocals and Joey Crifo on drums. Speed McQueen was picked up by Mercury records and had records produced by Tim Patalan (Sponge) and Ed Stasium (Ramones, Rolling Stones, etc) and toured extensively. Enzo was born in New York City and still lives there. He has been playing the bass since he was 14 years old. Professionally since he was 19 years old. Enzo says that he has been using Clayton picks forever, specifically the Acetal Rounded Triangle in a 1mm gauge. Find out more about Enzo and his career  at www.enzopenizzotto.com. We thought that the Hard Love picks were a perfect feature design for the day after Valentine’s Day! To create and order your own custom picks for your next event or gig, visit www.claytoncustom.com today!

Brian Grilli is one of the most up-and-coming artists on the east coast. Born in Chicago, IL, he began his studies of guitar at age 8. Over the years, Brian has studied with some of the luminaries of the guitar world including Doug Seven, Ernie Inucci, Mark Dunn, among others.
Brian has had success in the USA in the band Rumble Fish with a top College Radio single “Want You Around” and International acclaim with The Glory Hounds with a Number One song “Pornstar” in Spain and Portugal.
He also has had Indie critical acclaim for The Glory Hounds album “Sex-A-Go-Go” and has been featured in publications such as Spin, Guitar World, Amplifier, Nine Volt, among others.
Brian and his latest endeavour The Trailerhood have been quickly becoming an East Coast favorite. Playing over 150 shows in their first year and opening for acts such as Danny Gokey and Sarah Darling. They are set to record their debut album in July 2012. Find out more about The Trailerhood at http://www.thetrailerhoodband.com/.
Brian is a proud endorser of Steve Clayton Picks and Accessories! Brian’s picks were made on our ultem material, which looks really nice with the black and red Trailerhood logo. If you would like to create your own custom guitar picks, visit www.claytoncustom.com today!

Some more photos from NAMM of Robert Kearns signing at our booth .

Last week we had a Facebook contest to share your band’s story on our blog, the winner was Aaron from Story of a Ghost ! Story of a ghost began their musical journey from the release of their single “Akimbo”, based loosely on the May 22 2011 tornado. Akimbo, was recorded in their home town of Joplin, Mo by producer Jerrod Naff, at Zombielife Studios. It has been featured on radio stations in their home state, as well as on the 2011 compilation cd for magazine, “The Dead Timez”. They are currently in the studio working on their self-titled e.p “Story of a ghost” that is expected for release on ITUNES and AmazonMP3 in early 2012. A national tour for 2012 is definitely in the works. (Bio)      links: www.reverbnation.com/storyofaghost

We now have a custom guitar pick that you can order in lower quantities of 30, 60 and 100 with a full or single color design (the pricing is the same for single or full color printing). The new guitar pick is called Carbonate. Our Carbonate guitar picks have a great sound and come in white with a glossy finish. They take about 10 business days to produce for either quantity. This pick is great for smaller events and promotions as well as personal use. We can imprint full color on these and often bright vibrant colors look best.  They are priced at 30 for $29.99, 60 for $45.99 and 100 for $59.99. Go to http://www.claytoncustom.com to design your pick today!

Josh from the band Red Jumpsuit Apparatus came out on Friday to sign at our booth!

We also had Steve Stevens come to our booth to sign posters . Steve Stevens is an American guitarist and songwriter. He is best known for playing guitar for Billy Idol, Michael Jackson, and Vince Neil. He also has critically acclaimed solo efforts (Atomic Playboys and Flamenco A Go-Go), collaborations (Bozzio Levin Stevens, a.k.a. Black Light Syndrome), and is an in-demand session guitarist. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Official-Steve-Stevens/

This week’s Pick of the Week was made for The Brian Davis Band, which formed in 2004 for a one-night-only concert to raise funds for the music departments in the local Catholic schools. That night was an overwhelming success both monetarily and spiritually and ended with a feeling of what’s next! Since then, that concert has grown to an annual event drawing near a thousand together each year in worship and has raised nearly $35,000 dollars for youth music programs.
  In 2007, the band was finding themselves more in demand for youth rallies, worship nights and church festivals. That demand came with a special call from God to begin to share their faith journey through original songs. As the songs poured out, the ministry continued to grow and touch the lives of countless Christians from their region. 2009 was truly a breakout year for the band; seeing their message spread to a larger audience, seeing their gifts helping the people of Uganda through a nationally released compilation album titled “Unified By Grace,” making their first television appearance on ” Lift Him Up Kansas” and completing their first studio album “Stand” which released in January of 2010.
The band is looking forward to the places God will call them to in 2012 and the opportunity to serve his people through their ministry.
For more information regarding the band visit them online at www.myspace.com/thebriandavisband42 or “like them” on Facebook!

The Brian Davis Band chose to have their picks made on our orange delrin material, which nicely supports their intricate black design. We loved the fine detail and creativity of their artwork. Brian told me that the design on the pick was inspired by Luke 12:24 which speaks of how the Raven, who has nothing, is cared for and loved by God. This passage intends to teach us that we, who have so many gifts, are loved as much… if not more. The Brian Davis Band has the same design for one of their t-shirts as well as on the front of their drum kit. To create your own custom guitar picks, visit www.claytoncustom.com today!