Home - Interviews - Brian Lippey (Guitar Shop TV)

MetalLife.com Interview With Brian Lippey (Guitar Shop TV)
By: Terry Bunch
Date: July, 2011

1. Metal Life Magazine: Tell us about what GuitarShop TV is all about.

Brian Lippey: "Guitar Shop TV (www. guitarshoptv.com) is an exciting new online TV show designed for passionate guitarists and music lovers worldwide. GSTV is positioned as the place to go for the coolest gear, interviews and performances by top guitarists and bands, an exciting Artist Showcase competition, and backstage access to the most exciting venues around the world. Guitar Shop TV is a unique community and resource for anyone who shares a common passion: great guitar music!"

2. Metal Life Magazine: Where does the content come from? Do you have a team of writers or can anyone submit content?

Brian Lippey: "Our video and written content has been derived from a wide variety of sources, including direct interviews with prominent guitarists and bands, vintage guitar collectors and dealers, recording engineers and producers, live performances at leading clubs and concert venues in New York, LA, Nashville, Austin and Chicago, and articles submitted by our team of writers. We welcome article ideas and submissions from our viewers, particularly suggested featured artists and up and coming bands, To date, GSTV has filmed over 200 hours of original, unique video content, and has completed its first 12 episodes, with an additional 40 episodes in its post-production pipeline. The show's season premiere took place in May 2011, and is projected to attract a large number of dedicated viewers with solid worldwide growth potential."

3. Metal Life Magazine: What has been your favorite "celebrity" moment so far?

Brian Lippey: "Ted Nugent-He's a great guy, unpredictable, funny, smart, a great player and still going strong after an amazing number of years of incredibly loud rock and roll!".

4. Metal Life Magazine: Who would be your dream interview?

Brian Lippey: "Kirk Hammett, Zakk Wylde, Jeff Beck, Brent Mason and Robben Ford in a Roundtable Discussion and debate"

5. Metal Life Magazine: You are a guitar player yourself. Tell us about your playing history.

Brian Lippey: "I started playing guitar when I was 8 on a big old Gibson L-50 archtop and I've been hooked ever since on a wide range of styles---My guitar teacher was a big African-American guy named Rosevelt Spann, and he taught me at a young age how to play in a measured way and always listen for the pocket…Besides giants like Wes Montgomery, Les Paul, The Beatles and the Stones, I listened to a lot of the early British Blues players, Clapton, Peter Green, Jeff Beck, and through those guys circled back to the roots---BB, Howlin Wolf, Albert King---Hendrix and Led Zeppelin totally changed my perspective and influenced my style for a long time, as well as Metalica and the classic Metal Bands-In more recent years I've also come to appreciate great blues/jazz cats like the Larry Carlton and Robben Ford and some great players coming out of Brazil---I'm also now listening to a lot of country guys like Brent Mason, Buddy Miller and Vince Gill, all amazing players."

6. Metal Life Magazine: What is your favorite guitar to play?

Brian Lippey: "I have a 1968 Gibson ES 355 that is my favorite all around guitar, but I also have a few Strats that I love to use for Rock and Blues."

7. Metal Life Magazine: Describe your favorite gear set up (pedals, amps, etc.)

Brian Lippey: "Very basic stuff: I love a half stack 110 watt Marshall for Rock and Metal, I have a Fender Twin Reverb for Blues and Rock, and I have a Vox Valvetronic that's very versatile, great sounding amp for everything else---I use a Zen Drive and a Line 6 Pod…that's it!"

8. Metal Life Magazine: Who would say are the top 3 most influential guitar players to date?

Brian Lippey: "There are so many amazing players in every genre, and everyone has his favorites... for me it's Jeff Beck, Robben Ford, and Hendrix."

9. Metal Life Magazine: Who is your favorite guitarist rising star?

Brian Lippey: "I'm more of a rock/blues guy so my answer to this one reflects that bias--- I like Matt Schofield, an impressive young English Blues guitarist....He's a very talented player with amazing discipline and phrasing..."

10. Metal Life Magazine: What are your future plans for GuitarShopTV? Planning any expansions, new sections?

Brian Lippey: "We just recently launched our show and website after spending our first year focused exclusively on programming and production, so our immediate goals are to expand our community of viewers by delivering interesting and entertaining high quality content. Right now we're operating out of New York, Los Angeles and Nashville, and want to build a worldwide community for guitar music lovers ---We plan to add Austin, Chicago and London this year and eventually other international locations in Europe, Latin America and Asia…As our Membership community grows, we plan to add other features such as global concert coverage, special events and webinars, private sales and giveaways. We're also planning to significant expand our Artist Showcase coverage and feature some of the most exciting new bands from around the world across genres: Rock, Metal, Blues, Jazz, and County."

11. Metal Life Magazine: How would a band or event planner let you know about their project?

Brian Lippey: "We welcome suggestions, feedback and ideas---Send us a note to info@guitarshoptv.com, find us on Facebook.com/guitarshoptvonline or Twitter @guitarshoptv"

12. Metal Life Magazine: Anything else you would like to share?

Brian Lippey: "Guitar Shop TV is particularly interested in knowing about exceptional players and bands, cool clubs and venues, events, and interesting guitars and collections to feature on our show---The best way for viewers to learn the latest happenings in the guitar world, submit ideas, and join our community is to sign up for a FREE membership at www.guitarshoptv.com"

Find out more about GUITAR SHOP TV here.