The Shiny Darks have been endorsed with us since 2010, here is a little bit about their band:

It’s rock-n-roll with a kick to the face and a pat on the back. It’s true that “happy” and “positive” aren’t normally associated with aggressive music, but there’s more to The Shiny Darks than meets the eye. The thrillsome threesome from Houston, TX has managed to create a sound like no other- one that can start a pit and keep you smiling all at once. Epitomized in their newly released EP “Stab at Love”, The Shiny Darks’ transcend traditional punk, kick it up a notch, and slam it back down with some good ol’ rock-n-roll fun.
To create the magic, the Houston-based band took to the outskirts of the nation and found their resting place in Radiostar Studios (Weed, CA). It was there, through the eyes and ears of the great Sylvia Massy (Tool, Powerman 5000, Johnny Cash) and veteran studio/session musician turned producer Cameron McKenzie, “Stab at Love” came alive.
“Recording in Weed, CA with The Shiny Darks was definitely in my top five experiences of all time.” says Cameron. “Everyone there had nowhere to go but straight into rock history.”
“Recording The Shiny Darks could be the highlight of my career.” says Sylvia. “These guys live and breathe true rock-n-roll, dredged from the depths of dirty thoughts and high-school rejection. Bite marks bleed with the song ‘Stab’. Paul’s vocals and bass wrap around you like a warm strait-jacket. Gem’s drums drill into your temples like a lobotomy. Quenton’s guitars wake you up like a slap in the face. No kissy-kissy music here…”
“Stab at Love”, the first single off of the titular EP, explores loving and losing with the honesty of being freshly wounded. A heart that was, as the song pines, left “beating on the floor” now picked up and proudly displayed on the wounded’s sleeve.
“These songs are lyrically very personal to us. But everybody can relate. Love and loss in ‘Stab’ and ‘Photographs’, the desire for the ‘greener pasture’ and its ultimate disappointment in ‘Kennedy’, and surviving tough times in ‘Holiday’.” says Quenton Rockwell.
“Human nature is driven by two basic emotions: love and fear” says Paul Mendez. “These songs delve into the love side of things…mostly surviving the pain of it. We wrote about it and, to a degree, celebrate survival.”
Though “Stab at Love” boasts the flavors of rejection, pain, and agonizing heartache, the underlying theme which can all but be avoided is hope. The same could be said of each band member. Three very distinct personalities that are each tinged with optimism. “We want people to know that these times don’t last forever” says Gem Mendez (Paul’s baby sister). “There’s something else right around the corner. We wish for our music to touch those that have endured such pain and have fun with it, enough to take a peek at what good things are to come.”

www.theshinydarks.com

We have a really cool picks and a really cool band this week! This lovely pick is by the band Stephanie & THREE, which is local to Clayton, Inc. here in Southern Oregon. I love the shades of pink on the pick, and the design is just way to cool! Stephanie & THREE is an aggressive Rock ‘n’ Power-Pop Trio, that plays in clubs and venues throughout the Northwest.  We always love seeing local bands being successful. I posted a video below so that you can really see how awesome this band is!  Make sure to check out their website to find out where you can catch their next performance. www.threemusic.net

This week we have a different style of pick.  This is a full black overbleed on our Acetal material.  It looks like a black pick, but it actually is white on the other side.  This is a great option because you get the look of a black pick, but it is printed on our popular Acetal material.  We really loved Eldebrock’s design, plus they are an endorsed band here at Clayton. They have a very cool website at: www.eldebrock.net. Really, it is quite impressive there is some amazing flash animation on their site.  They currently have just released their debut album, which can be downloaded on iTunes. Their music is really unique, and they have clips of it on their website, so make sure to listen.  The band Eldebrock took shape in the early spring of 2009 when founding member, Del Bannerman(rhythm guitar), along with Richard Lalonde (bass guitar), recruited Jay Wegenast from Vancouver B.C. as the lead singer. The spring and summer of 2009 was spent in a small town in Saskatchewan writing the music for the debut album. Barrett Moore (lead guitar), who grew up with Jay in Forestburg, Alberta joined in late 2009 adding his own touch of Zakk Wylde and Slash influenced lead guitar to the tracks that finished off the sound they were going for.

This week we have a pick from the band Rock Sugar! You have to check out their website at: http://www.rocksugarband.com/. They have an amazing intro on their website. Here is a little description about their live show:

So pretty much everyone knows who Bret Michaels is.  If for some reason you don’t, he is the guy who is practically everwhere you look! He started his career as the lead singer of the metal band Poisen. He also starred in the hit shows, Rock of Love with Bret Michaels , its sequels, and was the winning contestant on NBC’s reality show Celebrity Apprentice 3.  He is also known for his signature bandanna.  Bret is an endorsed artist here at Clayton.  We have done a couple different picks for him, which are shown below.  Also below is a picture of him on stage using our picks. Currently Bret has a new show on VH1 called Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It., which is on Monday nights at 10/9 central, and repeats countless times a day on VH1. If you have not seen it yet please click this link to see a full episode of his amazing new reality show: http://www.vh1.com/shows/bret_michaels_life_as_i_know_it/series.jhtml Bret is also currently touring right now on his ROSES & THORNS TOUR. To check out if he is coming to a venue near you please check out his tour date schedule: http://www.bretmichaels.com/2010/schedule_files/schedule.htm

We wanted to share with you that we have just recently endorsed Eric Hulstedt and David Plagman of the band 9 Giants. David has been using our picks for 15 years now! We also wanted to share the band’s bio:

Formed in the summer of 2009 by accomplished songwriters Eric Hulstedt (Vocals/Guitar), Mark Matson (Electronics) and David Plagman (Guitar), 9giants started as a project to complete some of the musical ideas Eric and Mark had created from previous writing sessions. Greg Naylor (Drums) joined on soon after to boost the energy of the live shows.

Drawing from a wide range of influences and production, the 9giants sound is a high-energy mixture of electronics, loops, beats, samples, and guitars.

“Enano”, their debut EP, features their first single “Monster Mouth” which has already gained industry attention. 9giants will release their “Zwerg” and “Purduris” EP’s late 2010/early 2011.

All 3 EP’s were recorded, mixed, and mastered by Mark Matson and 9giants at their world-class studio facility. Mark Matson has engineered and produced music for Sheryl Crow, Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack, Kristine W, Jersey Boys, Activision, and Wayne Newton.

“Our goal is to release a 4 song EP every 4 months.” Says Plagman “We are always writing and recording new material.”

9giants also films and produces their music videos.

“All of us are really into sci-fi, music, film, TV and technology. We love to create in all mediums. We are fortunate to have the ability to explore all avenues of creativity, whether it is writing music or filming music videos.” says Hulstedt “We have surrounded ourselves with highly-creative people who we care about and are having a great time doing what we love.”

I loved their song “Monster Mouth”, and so did a lot of our staff in the custom department we all had it stuck in our heads after listening to it . They also have a really awesome Dexter based music video for it (just a warning there is some blood in the video) on their website. Check 9giants out at the following links:

9giants Website

Myspace

Facebook

We have been making Shannon’s picks for a few years now and they have been a staff favorite! We just love the guitar on his picks which looks like his very own “Heavenly Cloud” guitar which he plays at every show. You can see his guitar in his photo here and also his signature picks we just printed for him. Shannon uses our white pearl in 1.00mm. Shannon has been playing instruments since he was 3 years old! He joined the christian band Eternal Vision in 1997. Eternal Vision plays around 300 dates a year, to see their schedule visit their website. Here is what Shannon had to say about our picks: “Clayton picks are of superior quality, and produce a better tone than any other picks I’ve ever used. I sell the same custom Clayton Picks that I use, to my fans. I wouldn’t sell anything to them that wasn’t the best. Clayton’s products and customer service are the best in the business. Anytime you hear or see me play…. I’ll be using Clayton guitar picks.” - Shannon Shelby of Eternal Vision

We just endorsed Charly Rey who is a self titled rock band out of Mexico. Charly was  born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and graduated as an Attorney at Law from the University of Beuenos Aires in 1996. He started playing guitar at the age of 11. He studied classic, acoustic, electric guitar, harmony and composition with Enrique Berro and Damián Figueroa for 10 years. Charly also taught guitar from 1990-1995 and continued giving private lessons from 1995-1997. He released his first album “Respira” in October 2009. Charly will be starting a world tour with the mexican pop band OV7. Check out Charly’s music by going to his myspace. Charly has been using our picks for 3 years now and we are happy to have Charly now endorse our products.

We are very excited to announce that we have recently endorsed Big E and Dave Dunn from the band Dust located in Iceland! The band was formed by Dave in 2000, and has released 2 albums. Dust has also toured America twice now, hopefully they come again so that we can catch a show! I really loved their song T-Bird Romance from their latest album Radio Killer.  They play rock, and the play it well . Dust has been using our picks for a couple of years now, they currently use Acetal. Dust plans on releasing a new album Christmas 2010. Check them out out their website and myspace.

Sander Hoek of Kelly’s Vacation is one of our latest endorsee’s. Sander has been using our picks for over 3 years now! We are very happy to have him join our endorsement program. Sander has been playing guitar since he was 12 years old, and really shows off his experience in his music like, “Break to Me”. Sander is currently located in the Netherlands.

He teaches guitar, writes music and is the author of two guitar lesson books. We expect to see a lot from Sander in the near future! Check Sander out at his myspace, Kelly’s Vacation Myspace, and his personal website.