After nearly five years, the highly anticipated Judd Hoos sophomore CD is now a reality.  Rarely does a recording effort involve such a length of time and such a monumental effort to produce! The actual recording was accomplished in two separate commercial recording studios, one hunting lodge in rural South Dakota, numerous motel room/studios and a few sessions that occurred as the band was rolling down the road on the way to covering the nearly 40,000 miles they travel each year.  Logistics aside, the CD is a labor of love for the guys in Judd Hoos.  The process is also unique for another important reason.  The band underwent a major line- up change a year into the initial songwriting and after the recording had started.  Drew Lerdal, guitarist and a founding member of Judd Hoos left at the end of 2009 to pursue a career as a producer/studio engineer in Minneapolis.  The decision was made to bring in two exceptionally talented guitarists,  Andy Young & Zach Fronce in order to fill the void created by Drew’s departure.   Although Lerdal was no longer on the road performing, his contributions to Judd Hoos were far from over.  Lerdal continued to work as a producer on the project even contributing vocals and guitar on a few tracks.  “Drew will always be a part of Judd Hoos in my mind”  says bassist Chris Hornick.  It’s clear that Lerdal’s experience as a member of Judd Hoos gave him the insight and trust from the band to wield the kind the creative control a producer needs to bring out the best qualities in the music.  Judd Hoos “Two”  contains 14 tracks covering a wide variety of musical territory.  The heavy hard-rock groove of “Stand Up” and “The End” the up-tempo power-pop of “Mistakes” and “Again & Again” and the dramatic tension of songs like “Livin” and “Selfish”, all demonstrate  the maturity and confidence that has developed within the group. “All the time we spend together on the road travelling, playing shows and basically living like a second family, made it possibly to come together creatively a lot quicker than I thought,” says guitarist Andy Young.  The CD captures the intricate balance of two distinct guitar styles complimenting the soaring vocals, unique harmonies and powerful drive from the rhythm section. “It’s a fun trip through our collective influences, this CD shows you why Judd Hoos is hard to define in just one genre,”  says drummer Shane Funk. After selling nearly 5,000 copies of “Better Intentions” the bands first album, the interest from fans for a follow album up has been constant.  Bob Zwart, the bands frontman and vocalists says, “We’re excited to see how people react to this one!” The reaction from a number of radio stations in the Midwest has already been positive with the single “Stand Up” getting airplay in several markets including KDDX (XROCK)  and KSQY (KSky) in Rapid City, SD. The calendar for 2013  is nearly full and will take Judd Hoos to at least 8 states performing 120-130 shows and cover a  vast number of miles.  “We love playing live and experiencing the crowds reaction to the new songs everywhere we go,” says guitarist Zach Fronce.  Judd Hoos “Two” will also be available at Juddhoos.com  and on  iTunes, Amazon, Zune, CD Baby  as well as dozens of other online sources in early June.

I personally love elephants so I had to show off this cool custom guitar pick design! These picks were made for musical artist Florent Mothe.

Florent’s first album “ROCK IN CHAIR” is currently available on iTunes for download, or to purchase as a CD in France. Here is a link for iTunes : http://bit.ly/Mothe_RIC

Spring 2012 the Swedish band La Fleur Fatale embarked on a journey to and through California. During two intense weeks they played with legendary psych musicians and met people who was part of making the 60’s into what it later became both musically and spiritually. And in the meantime connecting the past with the present. What is the difference between then and now? Is the Anonymous movement now what 60’s anti war movement was back then?  May 3rd the documentary was released, for free, on YouTube. And May 3rd the band also released a new single, “How Long Is Too Long”, written by Duncan Faure of Bay City Rollers and Rabbitt who they met when filming. “They are really one of my favorite bands now along with Beatles plus a few others.” Duncan says.

During Easter they also recorded yet another single together with Ebbot Lundberg (The Soundtrack Of Our Lives) that will be released after the summer.

The documentary can be found right HERE (link to YouYube).

http://www.lafleurfatale.com

Check out these custom picks made for the band Nest of Snakes!

The design is a simple black artwork, and it was made on our yellow delrin pick material. Even thought the colors are basic, we liked the intricacy of the design and how it fits really well into the pick shape…they just look cool!

To design and order your own custom picks, visit www.claytoncustom.com today!

“Nest of Snakes is a trophy case of local talent. It consists of Jason Boten formerly of Superchief, who plays guitar and sings, Larry Enos who also plays with Sons of Walter on bass, Tom Brighton who splits his time with September on guitar and vox, and drummer Derek Deutramont who was formerly with the Albino Spiders.

Their sound is heavy but not all-encompassing. It’s composed of a variety of different influences from all over the rock and roll map. The two tracks I heard brought to mind such classic acts as Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, but I also heard glimpses of early Soundgarden and Motorhead. Despite having a heavy foundation, the music is also rich with melodies, a trait that sometimes gets lost in the Des Moines metal scene.”

To find out more, visit

https://www.facebook.com/NestOfSnakes

Check out these awesome custom picks made for the band Darby O’Gill and the Little People. The band has been performing Traditional Irish, Celtic punk and other various genres in the Las Vegas Pub scene for close to 11 years. Their goal is to make their audience’s drinking experience the best time they can barely remember To find out more about them, you can visit their website at www.darbyogillband.com, and they are also on facebook, twitter and myspace.

This pick design first caught my eye because of the name…same as the Disney film from 1959 starring Sean Connery. I think it is a clever name for a band that plays Irish and Celtic punk music! I also really liked the colorful and traditional look of the design itself, which was printed on our acetal material guitar picks.

To order your own custom picks, visit www.claytoncustom.com today!

We just wanted to share a little bit about a great organization that we are honored to work with. Guitars Not Guns was founded by Ray and Louis Nelson.  They became foster parents in 1992 and it was through this experience that Ray decided to provide foster kids with guitars and lessons. He began asking friends and strangers for their used guitars to pass along to foster kids. This act of kindness became his passion and as a result there are classrooms across the USA and in Canada. GNG’s goal is to help stop violence in schools and on the streets by providing a music program for at-risk teens and other deserving children. They want to divert as many children as possible from the self-destructive behaviors of drugs, alcohol and crime connected to gang activity. By providing children and teens with guitars and lessons they hope to engage their creative potential. It’s all about helping underpriveleged kids and teens. GNG is an all-volunteer organization and provides their programs at no cost to students! We recently just made the custom guitar pick shown here for them on our White Delrin picks. Photo by Caren Armstrong.

http://www.guitarsnotguns.org/

Check out these cool picks! We loved the blue Flotsam design that was submitted for custom guitar picks by the band Treading Lemmings. This art was printed on our acetal guitar picks, which work great for graphics that include color backgrounds that cover most of the guitar pick, such as the blue background in this design. We also liked how the fine detail in the creative logo turned out so well, even on small guitar picks!

In March 2013, The Treading Lemmings released “Flotsam”. The EP serves up five delicious new tunes. Much more akin to a fine dining experience than a to trip to the local diner;”Flotsam” provides depth, complexity, sweetness at times, and occasional bitterness for balance. With the typical lyrical finesse of Christopher Quinn, this project was also spiced up by some special guests: Nashville fiddle ace, Kurt Baumer, played on a homage to Keith Moon in “Goodnight Moon,” and inter-continental arrangement help was provided by the Dentists’ (seminal 90s Brit-pop) Bob Collins on “Doing Time On Placid Drive.”

To learn more about The Treading Lemmings, visit the following sites:

http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/TheTreadingLemmings

Http://www.facebook.com/treadinglemmings

The custom guitar picks were created and ordered by Clayton customer Andy Hunt (aka Ricky), who plays rhythm (Rickenbacker) guitar for The Treading Lemmings. With the release of the new vinyl EP “Flotsam”, he wanted a new promotional pick to toss from stage. He worked with artist Carl Yonder www.carlyonder.com to take his artwork from “Flotsam” and turn it into a guitar pick design using the Clayton custom design tool.

To order your own custom guitar picks, visit www.claytoncustom.com today!

Jesus “Chuy” Michel is a Los Angeles based guitarist, composer, producer who is currently the lead guitarist for the Latin Alternative group Pastilla (Sony/BMG). He has also worked with some of Latin Americas top artist such as Carlos Baute (Warner), Vampiro (Sony/BMG), and Serralde (Universal). He has done countless national / international tours and played on various albums. Chuy is considered one of the top guitarist in the Latin Alternative/Pop community. Chuy was born June 29 !984 in Los Angeles California to Mexican immigrant parents. He is the oldest of three brothers (his younger brother Ivann is the drummer for Pastilla). His musical journey began at the tender age of 5 when his grandmother brought him an acoustic guitar from vacationing in Mexico. He quickly picked it up and continued to play vigorously. There was always music in the Michel household. Chuy grew up listening to music his parents where fond of such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Rod Stewart, and The Byrds. At the age of 16 Chuy started to perform with various groups throughout the Los Angeles music scene and quickly became recognized as one of the top guitarist in Los Angeles. Eventually he was invited to play with Pastilla(Sony/BMG). With Pastilla, Chuy has played countless concerts throughout the U.S., Latin America and Europe. And has headlined some of Latin Americas most important music festivals such as Vive Latino in Mexico City, Mexico, and The Coors Light Indie Music Fest in Aguadilla  Puerto Rico. Chuys participation with Pastilla has resulted in some of the most commercially successful work group has produced including the hit album Amarte. While still a active member of Pastilla, Chuy has collaborated with several national and international touring acts such as Grammy Award winning artist Carlos Baute (Warner), Serralde (Universal), LILO (Universal), Mexican guitar hero and Jaguares/Mana guitarist Vampiro (Sony/BMG) just to name a few.

http://www.chuymichel.com/