Your Mom Rocks!

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Did your Mom buy you that first guitar? Did she drive you to lessons every week or wait outside the concert hall to drive you home after your favorite band came to town? Probably even supported you when you told Dad you were dropping out of dentistry school to hit the road with that punk rock band? Not everyone was lucky enough to have a Mom who shared their passion for guitar, but if your Mom is one of those very special people, we want to honor her.

Have an awesome photo of your Mom rocking out? Or a great story about your Mom’s role in shaping your love for guitar? Share it with us and we’ll pick a few of our favorites and send those Moms a special Mother’s Day gift.

Your photo and/or story has to be submitted by midnight on Mother’s Day (it’s this Sunday, May 13th — don’t forget!). Plus, in honor of all of our Mothers, take 20% off any TrueFire course using the following promo code: MOMROCKS (valid this week only).

Just send zach@truefire.com an email with your TrueFire username along with your story or photo or both, and he’ll hook you up. We’ll share everything on Mother’s Day so you can show your Mom just how proud you are of her.

Click here to submit your photo or story >>

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New TrueFire Headquarters & Studio

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by Tommy Jamin, Director of Studio & Production

It’s the beginning of a new era here at TrueFire. As many of you already know, we moved into a new office and studio facility last July and have been serenaded over the last few months by the sounds of carpentry and moving trucks. We’ve recently transitioned the shooting space from our old building (which has since been further decked out for order fulfillment and extra storage) to our studio in the new building.

It has definitely been exciting, has quickly become home, and I wanted to share a bit of it quickly with you all. Click here to jump straight to the full gallery >>

The Office

The new digs: A two-story historic building only a few blocks away from the old 290 offices, with upgrades like a rooftop deck for entertaining guests, a luxurious kitchen suite (Jacqui’s favorite), and an overall modern industrial soho-loft-like vibe. We reworked the entire first floor to build the new studio soundstage, as well as additional office spaces, and a coffee bar that would make any (humble) barista proud. Coffee!

The Studio

As I look around this spacious new control room, and out through the glass into our new studio, I realize we’ve really stepped it up a notch! We now have over one thousand square feet in total to work with for shoots. There are three spaces for sets, curved walls for corner-less camera angles, a vibey interview set, and a really comfy couch in the control room for those lazy afternoon naps we all occasionally need.

Tie lines in the walls now move audio and video from room to room and we’ve installed insul-quilts on the ceilings, which dampen the reverberations with very little intrusion on our shots. Data storage has moved to a Data Robotics SAN, making working with and backing up our precious cargo much more efficient and secure.

Our new robotic cameras and digital video switcher facilitate high-definition and we’ve started exploring new lighting techniques to bathe our educators and their instruments in brilliant clarity on the screen. Despite what it might sound like, we’ve actually gone quite minimalist, and the greatest thing that this new studio provides us with: the versatility to try out new looks and lighting, new shooting and recording techniques, and plenty of inspiration for all involved.

It’s not only us studio cats getting all the cool gear either; we also have new toys that I know some of you will enjoy and use on your next visit too. There’s an Avid Eleven rack unit (thanks Corey), a Line6 HD500 Pedal Board (thanks to Jeff and Chris), new upgraded pre-amps in the control room, and a killer amp wall in the hall that’s loaded with some of the tastiest tones a guitarist could ask for.

The Full Gallery

It’s really an exciting time here, and things have never looked and sounded so good. It’s all for you and well, us too. We can’t wait to have you all here for some more good times, and to show you around the new TrueFire facilities soon!

Take care and be musical,
Tommy

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Robben Ford in the House!

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Robben FordWe’re very excited to announce that we’ll be producing an interactive video course with Robben Ford here in our studios in mid-April. While we have worked with Robben in the past, this will be his first full-blown interactive video course with us and everybody is very enthusiastic about the project and pulling out all of the stops on this one!

Help Design The Course!

Robben has some great ideas for the course’s curriculum and is very open to suggestions and ideas. Who better than our very own students to tell us what topics they’d like to see covered in the course?! So, we put a little survey together and would very much appreciate your participation.

All participants in the survey will be entitled to an advance copy of the course PLUS a 10% bonus discount. Square deal? Jump in!

>> Complete the Quick Survey Now!

But wait, there’s more. We’re also proud to announce…

Exclusive Robben Ford Live Workshop

Robben FordOnly 25 Seats Available! Readers of The Punch-In Have First Dibs!

Robben also gave us permission to stage a very special Master Class Workshop limited to just 25 students while he is here filming the course. This is a once-in-a-lifetime, mind-blowing opportunity to soak in a full day’s worth of Robben Ford genius up close and personal!

We’re staging the Robben Ford Workshop at a spectacular venue here in St Petersburg, FL on Sunday, April 15, 2012 between 11 am and 5 pm (with an hour for lunch). Cost is $235.

The class will focus on the basic building blocks of music theory, chord progressions, the use of voicings, listening and improvisation. There will be an emphasis on the importance of the blues in building a strong musical foundation, as well as the understanding and usage of advanced harmony to add dimension to simple music forms and chord progressions.

Readers of The Punch-In have first shot at these 25 seats. Act now or kick yourself in the proverbial for the rest of your playing days. These seats will go fast. Bring your guitar!

SOLD OUT!

Please feel free to contact us if you need help regarding flights, hotels, and other local information.