Joe, Jon, or whoever else knows - I'm really sorry to hear about the guitar. Is there any distinct markings on the guitar to prove that it's Joe's? (serial number, etc.) If so, I think we should all stalk out our local music stores, look for the guitar with the marking, report it to the police, and contact the webmaster so Joe knows where it is and what's going on. We should also question anyone selling a Chromeboy on eBay, asking them for the serial number / distinct marking.

This is crap - I feel so bad that this happened to you, Joe.

I still can't find out anything about Steve Vai's Fire Strings performance. I am now fearing the worst - Steve "Even My Demos are Perfect" Vai probably messed up one note, and is too embarrassed to talk about it, release it on DVD, CD, etc.

anuj - thanks for the link for the first-hand review of Fire Strings. I really hope they recorded it.

Death Cube - I think it was "Blue Monday" by White Lion. Not the greatest band in the world, but this is a great instrumental. Also, my friend was big into Danzig, and I remember thinking - this is very simple, but cool. I could do this!

Just bought "Are You Experienced", "Axis: Bold As Love" and "Electric Ladyland" on CD - it was about time I upgraded my collection from LPs!

No baseball strike! http://www.msnbc.com/

jblaze - that would be awesome if they let you be Joe's "Guitar Guard". Maybe when Joe is not on tour, you could be actively trying to find his previously stolen guitars.

I read that George Harrison once followed a trail half way around the country to find one of his stolen guitars. He finally found the guy who innocently bought the guitar from a guitar shop, and they made a deal.

Interesting fact: after recording their best work to date, "Dark Side of The Moon", Pink Floyd started recording an album using everything but standard instruments to make music. They wanted it to be so off the wall that it would never be compared to DSOTM. However, after completing three "songs", they realized that the sounds they were getting from long rubber bands stretched across a table and the like didn't really sound that great, so they ditched the project.

Trivia question: anyone know the name of that scrapped album?

(I wonder if Joe might try something far out to follow SBM...)

Whojackafibby - you are correct!

Austin - I got the info. from "Saucerful of Secrets", a great book about Pink Floyd. I'll post some more tidbits as I'm reading it, if you are interested.

Austin - I like some of Aerosmith's older stuff. "Rag Doll" off of Permanent Vacation was the song that really got me into them.

My big thing now is reading books about classic bands - I've read: "The Beatles Anthology", "Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio", "A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song", "The Beatles As Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology", "Led Zeppelin Dazed & Confused: The Stories behind Every Song" (not very good so far), and "Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey". I also bought "Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight, Vol. 1", but haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

I'd like to read a good book about U2, The Rolling Stones, and a better book about Led Zeppelin. I may also check out the book about Aerosmith that you were talking about. Also, I'd love to read a book about Joe, and/or even the whole instrumental guitar scene, but I haven't found anything yet. I guess Joe is not controversial enough to have a book about him...

Austin - I like the book on Pink Floyd the best - "Saucerful of Secrets - the Pink Floyd Odyssey". The author, Nicholas Schaffner, has a great style of writing that almost makes it seem like a novel. He really covers the essence of the band very well. I would read anything by him - just like I'd watch about any VH1 Behind the Music - they are always great.

I also very much enjoyed the "Beatles Anthology" book. It's HUGE, and the print is small - it took me a full month to read, but it's the Beatles' story told by the Beatles. There's some great insights into the band as a whole and the musicians themselves. Some people have commented that it portrays the Beatles in too good of a light, but that's to be expected when you are talking about yourself! And there is a decent balance of their high and low points, but it's certainly not a "tell-all" expose.

PhrygianDominant - yeah, I'll probably have to read a book about Rush, too. They are one of those great bands that refuses to fade away.

Mr Nick - thanks for the Joe interview link. Wow, was it just me, or did the tone of the interview seemed tense and hurried? The questions could have been a bit better, but Joe's answeres were really short. Granted, it was cool that Joe did the interview, considering it wasn't a big name site, but I felt bad for the interviewer. Maybe Joe was just really busy.

An example of what I'm talking about:

Q: Are there many outlets, especially radio, that cater to your style of music?

A: Yes.

New interview...

http://www.guitar.com/features/viewfeature.asp?featureID=295

Sorry if this has been posted before.

Wow, some posters are over 400 already! Didn't seem like I was gone that long. I had a big family emergency that forced me to miss Joe's show in Baltimore a while back (and to miss about 2 months of my normal life), then I got slammed with tons of work from my job. Everything seems about back to normal now, though. I listened to Joe for the first time in a long time this week - I had really forgotten how good it all is.

I had posted a while back that my wife's grandparents were in the car with me one day, and I had SBM turned down low, they asked me to turn it up, then when we got back to the house, they wanted to know what albums I liked the best, etc. Well, it's been a few months and they haven't bought any CDs, so I decided to make a CD for them. (Joe - I sincerely apologize if doing this offends you, but I think it's at least somewhat justifiable considering I've owned your LPs that I've rebought on tape and then CD, and will probably buy at least SBM on SACD! Anyway, I'm not into file swapping and the like - I just figured they probably aren't going to buy it anyway, and they certainly aren't going to make tons of copies of it. And, after hearing the sample CD, they might just go out and buy an album - it's a thought, anyway!) Here is the track listing (they aren't really into the heavier stuff):

Love Thing, All Alone, Starry Night, Home, Midnight, Rubina's Blue Sky Happiness, Always With Me Always With You (from LISF), Baroque, Rubina, Sleep Walk, The Feeling, The Traveler, I Believe.

Let me know what you guys think. I spent a lot of time listening to the ends of songs and the beginnings of the songs I put after them, and I think it's a decent mix. I'm going to give it to them as part of their Christmas gift, so I do have time to re-arrange it a bit.

Webmaster - still anxiously awaiting the contest goods! I know you guys are busy - just reminding you in case I somehow got skipped over.

PhryDom - well, I didn't pirate yet (as I can perfectly legally make a mix CD for myself), and the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking I should just buy them "The Beautiful Guitar". I just wish it wasn't so freakin' expensive. I was reading my post, and I started to get a little spooked out. I'm sure people justify much more horrible things in the same way - coming up with enough reasons where it satisfies your concience. It's not a good thing to get into. Yeah, I'm just going to buy "The Beautiful Guitar" and be done with it.

Anyway, thank you all for the warm welcome back.

Dave Gruska

PhryDom - no, I wasn't "non-smoker", though I am not a smoker. Too many Dave's around here :)

BTW, Mal Waldron died on Monday. I'm pretty sure that he's the guy that wrote "Left Alone", the song Joe covered as "All Alone" on Time Machine. Great song - don't know anything else by him, though. Anyone heard the original? Again, sorry if this has been posted already - I can never keep up with all the posts (still waiting on that search functionality, Webmaster! :))

Dave Gruska

> Dave (PhryDom), Dave (McDave), Dave (Gruskada), Dave (Michelle's husband), Dave (Mustaine), Dave (Letterman), Dave (Grohl), Thomas(Wendy's guy), Stewart(pitcher), Lee Roth (Asshole), Eddings (Fantasy author), Dave Brubek, Dave Vanian (The Damned), Ello Dave (League Of Gentlemen), Dave Thomas (I used to work with him), David McCallum, Dave Matthews, Dave Weiner (SV's band), Dave Murray (iron maiden guitarist), Dave Evans (The Edge, guitarist from U2), David Beckham, David Coverdale

let's see: Dave Grusin (film music composer, worked on "The Firm", others), David Halberstam (wrote "The Fifties" - awesome non-fiction book), Dave Martone (instrumental guitarist - covered Joe's "Crush of Love" on a Joe tribute CD).

Good thread, Michelle :)

The Tobes of Ethn, here's a small sample of "Left Alone":

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000014IU/qid=1039195404/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/104-8030463-8911154?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

Time vs. Time Machine? Well, Time is one of my all-time favorite Joe songs. As I remember, he had the basic idea around the SWTA sessions, but felt it wasn't ready yet. Time Machine is a great song too, though definitely not as favored by Joe (at least in his live performances). I'd have to vote for Time, just because I can easily listen to that song on loop for quite a while - never thought to do that with Time Machine. Also, I LOVE when it kicks into high gear at the end (I'm not a real musician, so substitute "high gear" with whatever technical term describes it :)).

MarkusMack - not sure if anyone answered this, but yes, Brian May has let Joe try his homemade guitar. Joe wrote a post about it earlier in the year (on the old site). Joe said that he was dissapointed because he still sounded like Joe! He even used all of Brian's settings and whatnot.

Well, my house has been without heat since Wednesday night (right before the big snowstorm), and it is damn cold! The repairman comes on Tuesday - hopefully he can fix it then as well, or we may to have to live in a hotel for a while! Ah, the joys of home ownership... Anyway, in case anyone is looking for a good space heater, we have 5 of them (mostly borrowed, all different kinds) - they are all ok, but the Honeywell digital baseboard model is awesome (though it tends to trip the circuit breaker if you try to use anything else on the same circuit!)

Anybody know where I can find "The Beautiful Guitar" in a physical store? I guess I could have it shipped priority from Amazon, but it already costs $30! I've gone to a ton of stores already (Barnes & Nobel, Kemp Hill Music, Fye, Sam Goody, Best Buy). Help!

Michelle - I thought about having a store order it, but it's supposed to be a Christmas gift, so I doubt it would get here on time. Might be worth a shot, though. I probably should own it myself too, though, since the only other Joe album I'm missing is his first EP.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Webmaster, just a quick note to let you know that I still haven't received the CD and t-shirt that I won a few months back. Sorry for posting this here, but I didn't get a response via email. If you need my address again, please let me know. Thanks.

I posted a message yesterday stating that the Webmaster didn't respond to my email about the contest - actually, he did send a message to my work account (I was checking my home account). My bad - sorry, webmaster.