U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Brannon recently sent us these photos he took of Air Force Central Command band High Altitude performing for the coalition forces stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Below is SSgt Brian McNally as High Altitude covers “Plush” by the Stone Temple Pilots in the Fest Tent at Kandahar Air Field.

As Brannon explained to us via email, everyone in a combat zone is required to be armed, even musicians like Staff Sgt. Matt Carlton, who below strums his Fender Stratocaster with a Beretta M9 on his belt.

Thoughts, prayers and gratitude go out to all of the men and women serving our country.

Austin’s psychedelic rock bunch the Black Angels premiered new song “Telephone Blues” yesterday on Spin.

“It’s about no one hearing your calling, while everything around you is crumbling, about being left lonely and nothing seeming holy,” guitarist Christian Bland told SPIN.com.

“Telephone” will appear on third album, Phosphene Dream, available Sept. 14, and at just over two-minutes long, is a departure from some of their previous work.

“Most songs are shorter (on the new album), because we used a producer, and a producer’s job is to help you hone it in within three minutes and 30 seconds, or four and a half,” Black Angels multi-instrumentalist Kyle Hunt told Fender News back in March. “We come from the Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan and the Doors, and they all had long, eight-minute songs; six-minute songs. The Velvet Underground—their songs are simple and pretty and not tons of changes, and that’s the beauty of it. It’s the drone and repetition so we had to learn how to get that hypnotic sound within a three-and-a-half-minute thing where it’s exciting and explosive, and still has some song form.”

The Black Angels can also be heard on the latest Twilight soundtrack Eclipse on its track “With You in my Head,” a collaboration with UNKLE.

Photo by Kevin Westenberg

Spin’s new Q&A with Gavin Rossdale is an excellent read, covering the reunion of Bush, their October slated album, Everything Always Now and its first single “Afterlife,” which is getting steady radio play and ranked at #37 on this week’s Top 50 Billboard Rock Songs chart.

“Our sound is a bit evolved,” says Rossdale in the Spin interview. “It’s interesting seeing the reactions to [first single] ‘Afterlife.’ It’s like, ‘You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.’ Some reactions are, ‘Man, this is great! I love it! Bush is back!’ Others are, ‘This sucks. You should listen to what they were like in 1995.’ You can’t win. I would be easy to recreate the same sound — just turn the guitars up and be a little more reckless. But everyone is meant to evolve.

“With this record it’s about finding the balance between uplifting music that’s got real energy and real vibe, but isn’t bone crushing. Bush, to me, was never a heavy band, but we always had the right amount of thrust. I hope we captured that with this record.”

Check out the complete Q&A here, and click here to purchase tickets for their Sept. 25 reunion concert at the Epicenter Music Festival.

The 12 nominees for this year’s coveted Barclaycard Mercury Prize for top album were announced on July 20. We’re happy to see that a few of the artists we work with made the short list this prestigious and coveted award, which celebrates recorded music of all genres by British or Irish artists.

So congrats to Squier signature artists Biffy Clyro, who received a nod for their album Only Revolutions, Wild Beasts (Two Dancers), Villagers (Becoming a Jackal), Foals (Total Life Forever) and Mumford & Sons (Sigh No More).

The overall winner will be announced at the Barclaycard Mercury Prize awards show on Sept. 7. For more details on the award, click here.

In other Biffy Clyro news, their new single “God & Satan” will be released on Aug. 23, backed by three new b-sides “Hawkwind,” ”11 Bodies” and “51 Trumpets.”  Click here to pre-order.

Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Ari Shine has been handpicked to support Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) on his entire tour this August.

Shine is touring in support of his his latest full-length release, Ghost Town Directory.

Previously earning comparisons by Village Voice and Time Out to a young Elvis Costello, Ghost Town Directory finds Shine teaming up with co-producer Noah Shain (Atreyu, As Tall As Lions) to assemble 10 gritty pop tracks already being hailed as his most direct and realized work to date.

Tour Dates:
JUL. 31 – MINNEAPOLIS, MN – 400 BAR
AUG. 1 – CHICAGO, IL – SCHUBAS
AUG. 2 – ST. LOUIS, MO – OLD ROCK HOUSE
AUG. 3 – NASHVILLE, TN – EXIT/IN
AUG. 5-  CLEVELAND, OH- GROG SHOP
AUG. 6 – PITTSBURGH, PA – CLUB CAFE
AUG. 7 – TORONTO, ON – THE UNDERGROUND
AUG. 8 – MONTREAL, QC – TBA
AUG. 9 – WASHINGTON, DC – DC9
AUG. 11 – BOSTON, MA – TT THE BEARS
AUG. 13 – PHILADELPHIA, PA – NORTHSTAR BAR
AUG. 14 – NEW YORK, NY – MERCURY LOUNGE