We sent Earthless and Black Crowes guitarist Isaiah Mitchell all of our newly released Vintage Orange pedals to see how he got along with them. The result? Find out for yourself in the below video, where you’ll see them make their way from box to board before they are demonstrated both individually and together. Enjoy!
For more information on our Vintage Pedals, visit their product pages: Phaser // Distortion // Sustain.
The “Voice of Rock” for an entire generation of music fans, Hughes was recruited to Deep Purple in 1973 and became the band’s lynchpin bassist and singer until their initial split. Since then, Hughes has pursued a critically acclaimed solo career as well as collaborations with acts as diverse as Black Sabbath, Gary Moore and the 90s acid house group The KLF, before joining The Dead Daisies on bass and lead vocals in 2019.
Radiance is The Dead Daisies’ second album since Hughes joined the group. Described by Razor’s Edge magazine as “an unstoppable force in the world of hard rock” and a “thick and meaty deep-in-the-blues rocker that satisfies on every level” by Metal Injection, the immense bass tones on the album come courtesy of Hughes’ array of Orange Amplification gear, including the OBC810 cab, AD200 MKIII head, Crush Bass 100 combo and, of course, his signature purple Crush Bass 50 combo. Talking about his signature amp, Hughes said: “When you can go in the studio, take that bass combo and make your album with something like that, it’s truly outstanding. It’s gritty, it’s punchy: sustain is so important and it’s certainly got all that.” He added: “Orange all the way… It’s the future, it’s the way to go, you heard it from me!”
Catch rock legend Glenn Hughes fronting The Dead Daisies with his Orange equipment at the following venues this December:
Date Venue Location
3rd Dec Rock City Nottingham
4th Dec O2 Ritz Manchester
6th Dec O2 Forum Kentish Town London
7th Dec KK’s Steel Mill Wolverhampton
10th Dec The Academy Dublin
11th Dec Limelight Belfast
13th Dec O2 Academy Edinburgh
Orange Amplification is delighted to welcome JJ Julius Son, frontman and guitarist with the worldwide phenomenon Kaleo, as an ambassador for the company.
Kaleo are one of Iceland’s biggest musical exports. Their breakthrough album, A/B, took their music around the globe with its three hit singles, the Grammy-nominated No Good, All The Pretty Girls and the chart-topping Way Down We Go, which have featured in more than twenty hit TV shows including Suits, Orange Is The New Black and Grey’s Anatomy. The band’s Fight Or Flight tour, supporting the release of their critically acclaimed third album, Surface Sounds, has taken them across the USA, including appearances at Coachella, and seen them opening for the Rolling Stones in Europe.
Jökull Júlíusson, better known as JJ Julius Son, is the frontman and guitarist for Kaleo. As the primary writer for the band, as well as lead singer, guitarist and pianist, he leads the blues-driven group with passion and musical skill. Demonstrating a wide range of musical genres and influences, the diversity of JJ’s music moves from cinematic, classic rock through soft, folksy blues, into hard-hitting stomp rock. JJ appeals to a mainstream audience with his grungy guitar riffs, crying leads and electrifying performances.
JJ Julius Son uses an Orange AD30 on tour, in the studio and at home. Speaking about the amp, he said ‘the Orange AD30 is the only amp I’ve found that can handle the wide variety of tones and instruments that I use in a single show’.
The Orange AD30 is a one-stop shop for all shades of pure British chime and crunch. From shimmering cleans, edge-of-break-up jangle or fire-splitting classic crunch, this amp has it all, in a simple, road-proven package.Check out orangeamps.com for an interview with JJ Julius Son coming soon.
Long-time Orange ambassadors Wishbone Ash are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their iconic 1972 album Argus, and are embarking on a five-week UK tour tomorrow to support it, followed by an EU jaunt and US dates early next year. A full list of shows can be found here. In celebration of the anniversary, we spoke to frontman and guitarist Andy Powell about the album that changed the band’s career forever.
What can you tell us about the recording of Argus, and the impact that the album had on the band’s career?
Recording Argus was exciting because we upgraded from 8-track to 16-track. This allowed us to double-track the arranged guitar lines and vocals, which is why they stand out so well. Back in those days there were no effects pedals — reverb effects were achieved by using a plate echo and we tuned and intonated our guitars by ear using a tuning fork! I remember the release well, as the fans and the critics embraced it. Rolling Stone described Argus as an “essentially excellent” album and Sounds crowned it “Album of the Year”. Keep in mind our competition were albums like Deep Purple’s Machine Head and Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick. We were all so proud of the recognition at the time…and still to this day. It completely changed the band’s career! It took us into the big league as we started to headline our own tours in the UK. Prior to that, we’d been the opening act for bands like Rory Gallagher’s Taste or Mott the Hoople. Then we went over to the States, and landed the opening slot for the Who on tour. The first show was in front of 35,000 people at the Mississippi River Festival. It blew my mind — the sound system, the sheer number of people, the outdoor stage even had its own air conditioning for the performers. We learned so much from touring at close quarters with that band. That’s also when we first started to ship our Orange backline over to the States. The Orange gear would always impress sound guys due to its power and clarity on the big stages, and much of the guitar sound came from our Orange backline. At one point I was using two 200-watt Orange heads at shows!
How you feel about the album five decades later?
It’s the gift that keeps on giving — the jewel in the crown of our back catalogue. We’ve made some great records but this one was the perfect album at the perfect time in rock history, and that’s the difference. Albums are kind of like that. They can capture the times that a band is living through, and for us, Argus was exactly this kind of album. The riffs, intros and outros on the album have become timeless. Songs like The King Will Come, Warrior and Blowin’ Free are still received so warmly, 50 years on. I still today enjoy playing my song Leaf and Stream, as well as the anti-war song Throw Down the Sword, one of my finest moments as a soloist on the album. Sometime World is another song with a solo of mine that I’m really proud of. We had no idea that the arranged twin lead guitar harmony sound that we developed would go on to become the inspiration for so many other bands in the rock and metal fields, including Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden and Opeth. Thin Lizzy’s Scott Gorham shared with me that when Thin Lizzy moved to London and witnessed Wishbone Ash at the Lyceum, bassist Phil Lynott said afterwards that Wishbone had the sound they needed. Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris even remarked to Guitar World in 2011, “I think if anyone wants to understand Maiden’s early thing, in particular the harmony guitars, all they have to do is listen to Wishbone Ash’s Argus album.”
I agree, it truly is the gift that keeps on giving and it’s really stood the test of time. How does it feel being able to share it with newer generations, and seeing such a wide variety of ages at your shows?
I love it when I look into the crowd and see mothers and fathers with their kids at shows. That wouldn’t have been the case back in the day of course when a good 80% of our audience would have been young lads, but now it shows that our music can stand the test of time and be universally appealing, and of course so many girls love playing rock too these days. I love that. Seeing and hearing these crowds join in on the rousing chorus of Warrior confirms to me that our music can fire up the imaginations of new generations of fans. Recently, young wounded vets have come up to me after shows and told me how Warrior kept them focused during their fight. That’s very humbling, and reaffirms the power of the music and lyrics. “A slave I couldn’t be”, especially, rings true with the struggle in the Ukraine and I can bet, without a shadow of a doubt, having played there a few times, that there are still actual young warriors who turn to this piece of music for their strength.
Powered By Orange Amps In Partnership With Volume.com
Orange Amps is proud to partner with Volume.com and Marcus King for a free livestream concert when King plays two sold-out shows at the historic Ryman Auditorium in his hometown of Nashville this week, on Thursday 29th and Friday 30th September.
These exclusive livestreams will see the GRAMMY® Award-nominated artist, performer and songwriter headline the Ryman for the first time along with special guests. Orange Amps and Volume.com will be there to broadcast these much-anticipated concerts, shot in high-definition 4K using nine camera angles for a full cinematic experience and livestreamed direct to mobile phone, computer or laptop.
This summer, King released his second solo album Young Blood, which debuted at number one in the Billboard Blues Albums charts and which he has been touring worldwide. The Ryman concerts this week will see him play tracks from his new album using his 30 watt all-valve MK Ultra signature amp, which he helped design in collaboration with Orange Amps.
Both shows will be livestreamed for free exclusively on Volume.com at 9 pm CT on 29th and 30th September, and can be watched from The Marcus King Band’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, as well as Orange Amps’ YouTube channel and Facebook page. Viewers can watch the first 15 minutes of the concerts on these pages, after which the show can be viewed for free at https://marcusking.volume.com (please note that five minutes later, viewers will be prompted to enter an email address to continue watching). The shows will be available to view for free on demand for 30 days after each concert.
Volume.com is a 24/7 free livestream platform that allows engagement between artists and fans to help musicians build and monetise their craft from ticket sales, subscriptions, merchandise purchases, or by using Volume.com’s unique online tipping system.
Find out more about the Marcus King MK Ultra signature amp at orangeamps.com, and see details on the latest Marcus King show dates at marcuskingofficial.com/tour
Tyler Shelton from The Northern Kentucky Derby sent us these photos of his dream Orange amp, which he drew up himself (disclaimer: this is not an actual amp or work in progress):
We’ve teamed up with Boris to giveaway 2 x sets of tickets for their upcoming US tour. There’s one competition running on our Facebook page and one on our Instagram, so why not enter both to double your chances?! All you have to do, is simply leave a comment with the show you’d like to attend, and tag the person you’d like to bring.
Good luck!
Orange Jams is a series of live sessions hosted by Orange & Jam in the Van which features Orange ambassadors from across the globe. This session features Orange Ambassadors Golden Core live from Vaterland in Oslo, Norway.
The Guitar Butler dual-channel guitar pre-amp is tailored to provide comprehensive, exceptional service to your signal chain. As a standalone unit or part of a larger rig, allow the Guitar Butler to manage your tonal affairs.
The Guitar Butler is perfect for guitarists that are looking to get their pre-amp tones from their pedalboard, running straight into either a power amp/speaker cabinet combination or directly into a PA system. In this demo, you see the Guitar Butler in action with Boris guitarist and long-time Orange ambassador, Wata. Enjoy!