Chuck Berry. Eric Clapton. Jimi Hendrix. Stevie Ray Vaughan. Kurt Cobain. These men are renowned not only for pioneering guitar play and changing the way their respective generations regarded and approached the instrument, but also for writing amazing songs and singing them with an unmistakable passion that has helped elevate those songs – and the artists themselves – to legendary status.

Get ready to add Newton Faulkner to that shortlist.

A bold prediction, perhaps, but not a foolish one. Faulkner is a new kind of guitar hero, who caresses the fret board of his rare, custom-made acoustic six-string with a precision and flair that few artists can achieve even through the more forgiving action of an electric axe. Tutored for two years by the late, great Eric Roche at the Academy of Contemporary Music, Faulkner executes a synergy of styles, incorporating hammers, pulls and taps with multiple harmonics, using the guitar as both a melodic and a percussive instrument simultaneously, and varying between classical scales and plagal modes. He frets notes with either hand, his left hand approaching the board from both above and below the neck – making for a playing technique that is as visually engaging as it is aurally pleasing.

And all this on top of instantly memorable vocal lines, ranging from sweet falsettos to full-throated emotion, and occasionally hanging in the balance between rap and scat: hot AND cool, all at once. Small wonder, then, that guitar legend Jimmy Page acknowledges Faulkner as “a star of tomorrow.”

Newton is being championed by some very influential people, including DJ Johnny Walker, who saw Newton perform at Ronnie Scott’s and was so impressed he immediately booked Newton for a session on his Radio 2 drive-time show for that week. After receiving an amazing response to this, Newton was then booked for a live session on the Dermot O’Leary show. Add to this tips from Lesley Douglas (Head of BBC Radio 2 & 6music) in “Music Week,” The Independent On Sunday (as one to watch in 2006) and the “Record of the Day” industry website, and one can easily understand why Newton’s Full Fat EP is such a highly anticipated release for a new UK artist.

The Full Fat EP will be released March 27, 2006. 

The new collection, which features the previously unreleased song "You Know You're Right," debuted in the Top Five in virtually every major territory around the world. The much-heralded "new" track has been warmly embraced by a public starved for new Nirvana material, topping Billboard's Album Rock and Modern Rock airplay charts for four weeks.

The compilation disc — whose release was delayed by a very public legal dispute between Cobain's widow Courtney Love and her husband's former bandmates, bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl — also features such Nirvana standards as "Come As You Are," "Lithium," "About A Girl," "Sliver," "In Bloom," "Dumb," "Been A Son," "Heart-Shaped Box," "Pennyroyal Tea" and "Rape Me," along with the grunge anthem "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and live versions of Cobain's "All Apologies" and David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World."

During its seven-year existence, Nirvana emerged from the indie-label underground to achieve worldwide commercial success. In the process, the band permanently altered the face of contemporary popular music, playing a pivotal role in opening the mainstream music industry to the raw sound and do-it-yourself ethic of punk-derived indie rock.

The multi-platinum success of the band's second album and major-label debut, 1991's Nevermind, ushered in the idea of alternative rock as a mass-marketable genre. But the band's subsequent album releases, namely the 1992 odds-and-ends collection Incesticide and the full-fledged 1993 studio effort In Utero, made it clear that the band's musical potency, and Cobain's ability to channel dark, unsparing introspection into compellingly crafted songs, transcended any movement or scene that the band was perceived to represent.

Further evidence of Cobain and his band's ongoing influence is the fact that Journals, a new volume collecting some of the late artist's writings, debuted at number one on the New York Times' Hardcover Nonfiction best-seller list.

Grohl, who now leads Foo Fighters, resists the mythological aura that has sprung up around his former band. He recently told The New York Times that he has no intention of reading Journals. "The legend, the myth of the band — I'm not interested in it," Grohl stated. "People find this hard to believe, but my memories of Nirvana are really good. I think of the people, the road trips. I think of the white Chevy van that we used to tour in, that stunk of gasoline. I remember us having a really good time. Obviously, it did not end well, but my memories of Nirvana are just so much more powerful than any myth, and I won't let anything destroy that."]]> 2003-01-14T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/233489 Artists, Beatles, The, Cobain, Kurt, Foo Fighters, Grohl, Dave, Hawkins, Taylor, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The, Musical Styles, Rock, Musicworld, Feature Bittersweet and hopeful, the title of Foo Fighters' latest album could be perceived as a reference to the band's origins. There Is Nothing Left to Lose certainly sounds like a statement of resignation following the death of Nirvana singer/songwriter Kurt Cobain. Foo Fighters was founded when Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl embarked on a solo career after Cobain's demise. Having since proved his skills as a bandleader and singer/songwriter himself, Grohl has transcended his grungy past while preserving his historic place in rock history.

Since rising from Nirvana's ashes in 1995, Foo Fighters have released three platinum-certified albums, including their self-titled debut and their 1997 sophomore effort, The Colour and the Shape. The band has been hailed for its hell-raising performances and off-stage hijinks. Indeed, the group's videos successfully replicate the madcap mischief of The Beatles' Hard Day's Night.

In recent months, Foo Fighters have made uproarious appearances on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Daily Show and MTV's Total Request Live. The band's video, "Big Me," was a hilarious send-up of the Mentos mints commercials, while their "Learn to Fly" clip featured the group portraying passengers on a surreal plane ride - including Grohl as a blushing bobbysoxer.

All this zaniness has not gone unnoticed. Talk show host David Letterman personally requested that Foo Fighters perform upon his much-publicized return from heart surgery. The Red Hot Chili Peppers - no comic slouches themselves - picked Foo Fighters to open their Summer 2000 tour.

But while Grohl and his comrades rarely pass up an opportunity to clown around, the quartet performs with dead-serious rock intensity. Foo Fighters consists of some of the most revered young musicians in modern rock, including former Alanis Morissette drummer Taylor Hawkins. Bassist Nate Mendel was plucked from the celebrated art-rock band Sunny Day Real Estate. Guitarist Chris Shiflet completes the line-up. Under Grohl's leadership, Foo Fighters has morphed into a pop-rock band reminiscent of Cheap Trick and the Cars.

Foo Fighters became a reality after Grohl's self-produced demo tape resulted in a recording deal. Featuring tracks composed and performed almost entirely by Grohl, those original tapes were remixed and released as the Foo Fighters' first album. The disc's platinum success necessitated the formation of a real band.

Compared to their modestly-recorded debut, Foo Fighters' sophomore album, The Colour and the Shape, was a sonic gargantuan that yielded the hits "Monkey Wrench," "My Hero" and "Everlong." With the addition of Taylor and Shiflet and several platinum recordings to their credit, Foo Fighters might consider naming their next album There Is Nothing Left to Prove.