Chris Schmid is a German guitarist, producer and audio engineer. He was born in 1988 in Bavaria and has been playing the guitar for over 10 years now. His band Amplified Hate was founded in 2007 and played many gigs in 4 different countries. They shared the stage with all the big names in the hardcore genre. The band recorded three full length albums so far and the fourth album is in the making. His studio has very humble roots. It evolved from a little corner in a rehearsal room to a very modern and sophisticated workplace. For his current studio (S&C Recording Studio) the interior of an old farm house was completely gutted and rebuilt in 2011. Chris loves a challenge and is open for many different genres, but the bulk of his work consist of metal, hardcore and punk music. Guitar:  Washburn Parallaxe PXM20EFTBM Facebook: www.facebook.com/sandcstudio www.facebook.com/sandcstudio

I started playing the guitar at the age of ten in 1999 on my grandma’s old classical guitar. Because of my upcoming love to rock and metal music I changed to electric guitar in the same year. I took lessons by different teachers in my hometown Hamburg (GER) through the years. After a while I discovered my ability for singing and developed my skills to write songs with the clear direction to pay my rent as a musician. Soon I started to give guitar lessons and founded my first bands. In 2004 my main band Vogelfrey was born and the first gig followed in 2006 after a long time of changing members, songwriting and defining our folk metal style. Since then we toured all over Germany folkrocking clubs and festivals like Wacken Open Air (2012, 2014), Rockharz (2011, 2014) or Summer Breeze (2011). My conclusion as a state-approved Professional Musician in the field of popular music (rock, pop, jazz) in 2011 at Hamburg School Of Music (main subject electric guitar) built the fundament for earning my living with music which I do since then. Tutors like Marcus Deml, Sandra Hempl, Bernard Fichtner or Matthias Pogoda helped me to develop my identity as a guitar player and musician. In 2013 I joined the Washburn family and started to play the PXL20B, PXL10EC and WJ45SCE12 (12 string) on stage. To date I released two studio albums with Vogelfrey as vocalist, guitar- and bouzouki player („Wiegenfest“ (2010, SMP Records) and „Zwölf Schritte zum Strick“ (2012, SMP Records)) At the moment we’re working on our third creation to release it in 2015. So horns up and keep rocking the folk! Jannik Schmidt   www.vogelfrey.net

Jeffrey Kim Schroeder is an American rock musician, who became a guitarist with the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins (replacing co founder James Iha) in 2007. He is currently finishing his PhD in Comparative Literature at UCLA, where he specializes in Asian American Literature, Francophone Literature, and Critical Theory. On April 6, 2007, rock rumor webzine Buddyhead reported that Schroeder was the new guitarist for The Smashing Pumpkins, replacing James Iha in the new line-up. Schroeder toured with the band throughout 2007 and 2008 and appeared in the music videos for “Tarantula”, “That’s the Way (My Love Is)” and “G.L.O.W.” In June 2010, Schroeder appeared in a live Internet stream playing on a demo with the band’s current lineup. Following the departure of Ginger Pooley in 2010 to raise her new newborn daughter, Schroeder remained the only member of the band besides Corgan still present from the 2007 revival show in Paris.[1] On April 17, 2010 Schroeder played the first show with the newest lineup of Smashing Pumpkins which included Jimmy Chamberlin’s replacement Mike Byrne on drums and The Electric Prunes bassist Mark Tulin.

Who has once fallen under the spell of Heavy Metal can’t get rid of it that easily. That is exactly what happened to Fabian Schwarz. At the age of 22 he graduated in Classical Guitar at the „Herrman Zilcher” Conservatory in Würzburg, Germany, and is henceforth taking delight in his greatest obsession: METAL! With his current band THE NEW BLACK he’s on the road as often as possible to do the only right thing: ROCKING OUT! In addition to countless live shows and festivals such as Wacken, Rock am Ring and Summerbreeze, THE NEW BLACK supported international greats AC/DC, Black Label Society, Dragonforce, Alter Bridge and many more!  Furthermore Fabs kept filling in as live musician for other bands like the german Speed Metal legend Paradox, the Metalchartbreaker Powerwolf and the groups Stormwitch or the thrashers in Abandoned!Alongside his occupation as touring musician he teaches about 40 students per week at Würzburg’s music school each year. www.thenewblackofficial.de

Dave Sharpe is the guitarist for the metal Band,  Dead By Wednesday He is a self taught musician, a rarity these days. Some of his other projects include the role of guitarist and songwriter for the tech metal band  End-Time Illusion , along with a solo project  Dave Sharpe and The Solar Power . He continues to build a solid reputation as a premier metal guitarist, and we are happy to have him as one of our featured artists!

Jake Sinclair is a GRAMMY-nominated producer and musician who has worked with a wide variety of internationally acclaimed best-selling artists including Taylor Swift, 5 Seconds of Summer, Fall Out Boy, P!nk and many others. Originally from Boise, ID, the LA-based Sinclair started playing music at 7 years old and formed his first band at the tender age of 11. “I’d convince two kids to get their parents to buy them instruments, we’d form a band where I’d write all the lyrics and parts – basically micromanage it into the ground. Later I figured out there was a name for that: producer,” he laughs. At 18, Sinclair moved to Charleston, SC and started the band The Films with some high school buddies, relocated to NYC. It was through The Films and their major label deal that Sinclair ended up meeting friend and mentor Butch Walker, who produced The Films’ second album. Sinclair and Walker bonded while working together and when The Films split up, Walker suggested Jake move to LA. For years Sinclair had been hard at work producing smaller bands on his own & Walker pointed out that a change in local would offer the hard-working producer ample opportunity. Once in Los Angeles, Sinclair further honed his skills working with multi-platinum artists like Weezer, Taylor Swift and Train. After spending 5 years under Walker’s tutelage, Jake recently moved to his own studio at Infrasonic, in Echo Park. When he’s not putting the finishing touches on international pop hits (“She Looks So Perfect,” “Harlem”), you might find Sinclair writing depressing Hawaiian breakup songs for his pet project, Alohaha. jakesinclair.com

Grzegorz “Skawa”SkawiÅ„ski was born on the 6th of July 1954 in MÅ‚awa. He performed in various non-professional bands and, for a short period of time, attended secondary Music School in GdaÅ„sk. During his studies at the University of Gdansk he was a member of a band named HOROSKOP. However, it was a membership in a band KOMBI that brought him real popularity. Initially the band played rock music and the guitar sound was the base of many of their songs. Along with the third album the sound of keyboard became most important and Grzegorz was perceived more as a singer than a guitarist. As the bands front man, Skawinski performed with KOMBI thousands of concerts in Poland, the USA and many other countries. The turning point of Grzegorz’s career was his visit to the United States during which he had a chance to meet the world’s top guitar players. – I was warming up along with Paul Gilbert, Vinnie Moore and Steve Vai – recalls Grzegorz. – I went crazy back then! I told myself that not only did I want to, but also that I had to play like those guys! SkawiÅ„ski immediately started thinking about leaving KOMBI and setting up his own band, which would perform his favourite kind of music – heavy guitar rock. Since 1989, after his first solo album was released, SkawiÅ„ski began his solo career in a group called SKAWALKER. Along with great musicians: Waldek Tkaczyk and Zbigniew Kraszewski they created an album entitled ‘Skawalker’, which met with limited success. Another album released by SKAWALKER was ‘Sivan’ and made critics appreciate the band’s leader’s outstanding talent. In 1993 SkawiÅ„ski became Top Rock Guitarist according to ‘Gitara i Bas’ magazine, and the Third Best Metal and Acoustic Guitar Player. A year later he overpowered his rivals and became number one in three categories: Guitarist of the Year, Rock Guitarist and Acoustic Guitarist. At the same time ‘Sivan’ reached the top as the Best Rock Album. Nevertheless, in spite of critic’s appreciation, it did not become a best-selling record. Afterwards, SKAWALKER was preparing to launch a new album. The idea was to find a new singer in order to take the burden off Grzegorz’s shoulders. The choice was a young vocally talented girl spotted by the band’s drummer during one of the concerts. Shortly after, the group changed its name to O.N.A. Grzegorz faced a completely new situation. Over the years he had got used to the front man’s role. —  The new singer made us feel 20 years younger! – says Grzegorz today. The band immediately reached the top of the charts and gained popularity. Their first record brought Skawinski even more success. One year later O.N.A were nominated by Gitarowy Top – ‘Gitara i Bas’ magazine’s readers’ chart – in seven categories and their ‘Bzzzzz’ became the Best Guitar Album of the year. In March of 2003 the band’s last album was released, followed by their last concert in a Warsaw’s club STODOŁA. Afterwards, SkawiÅ„ski and Tkaczyk decided to continue their cooperation under a new name – KOMBII – resembling their first successful project. They invited the first drummer of KOMBI – Jan Pluta. KOMBII signed a long-term contract with UNIVERSAL in the spring of 2004 and recorded their first album – ‘C.D.’, which gained the Platinium Record title twice. In 2007 the band released another album ‘Åšlad’, which also became platinium.Their newest record – ‘O miÅ‚oÅ›ci’ has already achieved gold status. By the end of 2010 Grzegorz started recording his second solo album. Released in March of 2012, ‘Me and my guitar’, turns out to be a real success in many ways. Not only does it contain exceptional guitar compositions but it also shows Skawa’s great capability of producing outstanding guitar sounds and shows his great condition as a guitarist. The album has already been greatly acclaimed by critics and listeners. It reached Top Ten Best Selling Albums in the first week after the release. www.grzegorzskawinski.pl

Icar Smith “Mexican- American guitarist with 25 years of musical career, started studying guitar from his Brother Benjamin, the rest is history… 20 albums out. His musical education parts from joining Dick Grove’s School. He is a founder of Cristal y Acero rock group (1980-1989) (the band was granted the “Manuel M. Ponce” award for best original music for theater, given by the Union of Writers and Critics of Theatre in México City, for the music score of Kuman rock- opera which counted more than 1000 performances. The band was portrayed as the “Best Spanish Act” on the Metal Forces Magazine (UK 1985). As a band member, he worked for: Betsy Pecanins (here, he shared stage with such artists like Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmy Witherspoon, Freddie Robinson, Stiff Stiff Blues Band (1989) Transfusion (1991) Sergio Arau and the Montezuma Revenge (1992) (here, he toured with Los Lobos and performing for the American Theater Workshop and Pregones Theater in NYC) Los Humanos (1994) (Universal Music, awarded with the Golden Sun, CINPE 1997″ as the best rock band of that year. Icar also receives the nomination of the “Phonos” medal as the best guitarist 1996-1997 in the Mexican rock scene. In 1999 Icar is invited by Valor Kand of Chistian Death to record the solos on the “Born Again Anti-Christian” album (1999). Studio guitarist for several top artists in the Latin music industry and tours/performs with artists/bands such as: Michael Angelo Batio, Stu Hamm, J Hayes, Enanitos Verdes (Argentina) Intergalactic Circus (2000) Ricardo Arjona, Paulina Rubio (ERES Awards 1994), Fernando Arau, Ola Englund, Benny Ibarra Sr, Emmanuel, Simmy Simpson (NY), Polvo de Hadas, Carmen Leñero, Los Concorde, Transfusion, Trilce, etc. In 2003 Icar goes on a clinics-tour with super-guitarist Michael Angelo Batio in the main cities across México. He is currently an endorsee and clinician for WASHBURN guitars, BLACKSTAR amps, HIWATT amps, and D’ADDARIO strings and teaches music in clinics, seminars and private lessons. Writer for Musico Pro, Sound:Check, EQ en Español Magazines, reviewing music gear. Washburn Gear: WI66PRO WI560 PXM20 FRF

DIRTY SHIRT is a Metal-Industrial-Hardcore band from Romania. The band’s unique style derives from mixing the heavy sound of rock/metal with the festive ambiance of East-European traditional music, the eclecticism of world music (country, reggae, tribal rhythms), the electro sound of industrial music, the energy of hardcore, and the groove of funk. THE EARLY YEARS (1995-2000) In 1995, four young musicians from the small town of Seini (MaramureÅŸ County) in Romania laid the foundations of a new musical project they called DIRTY SHIRT. At the time, their music was a combination of diverse elements, such as progressive, alternative, power metal, hardcore, etc. They band quickly earned itself a good reputation in the Romanian underground, especially due to its pretty busy live schedule. It included several tours and the participation at well-known competitive festivals (Samfest, Samus Rock, Posada, Young Rock for Youngs, Metalfan, ConstelaÅ£ii Rock, and so forth) where they won several prizes. Additionally, their first demos received positive reviews in the specialized media. In 1998, DIRTY SHIRT won the Great Prize at the Top T Festival in Buzău, which gave them the opportunity to record their first full-length “Very Dirty” (Promusic Prod, 2000). Unfortunately, shortly after the release of the record, at a time when things really started to take off, the band was compelled to go on a several year-long hiatus due to personal reasons. THE NEW DIRTY SHIRT (2004-) Although band members were “scattered” in different corners of Europe, DIRTY SHIRT reunited in 2004. They also made several adjustments to their music. The demos released in this period brought to the fore several new musical elements, such as industrial metal and hardcore spiced up with folk, funk, and electronic influences. In the following years, the band had a busy live schedule, having many shows in Romania, Hungary, France and Belgium. They embarked on several national tours with important bands such as Tripod (FR), Babylon Pression (FR), Zeroscape (CAN) and Superbutt (HU). Additionally, they were also invited to play at major rock festivals in Romania (Maximum Rock, Samfest, Rock la MureÅŸ, Top T and East West Fest) where they shared the stage with many great bands such as Overkill, UDO, Crematory, Lake of Tears, etc. In 2009, the band recorded its second full-length “Same Shirt, Different Day” at the Kallaghan Studio in France. It was mastered by Alan Douches (West West Side Music, USA). The album was released in 2010 and received many positive reviews both in Romania and abroad. The period 2010-2011 was arguably one of the most prolific in the band’s history. Apart from the promotional tour (which included more than fifty shows in Romania, Hungary and Germany) and the participation at various rock festivals (Route 68, Student Fest, Rockin’ Transylvania, Fraureuth Open Air, and Dirty Fest), DIRTY SHIRT also made three videos (“Pitbull,” “Manifest” and “East West”) and released its first ever live DVD entitled “Live in the Truck.” Additionally, the band qualified for the national finals of the most important international music competitions: Wacken Metal Battle, Peninsula Talent Stage, and Global Battle of the Bands (it took the second place in 2011). In 2012, the band won several prizes at Bite My Music Global Awards, including the first prize for the song “East West” in the category “Best collaboration”. In the summer of 2012, DIRTY SHIRT recorded their third album “Freak Show” at several studios in Romania and France. It was mixed and mastered by Charles “Kallaghan” Massabo at 118 West Studio in Los Angeles. Since its release in February 2013, the album has received unanimous praise in both Romanian and international media outlets. The first single “Freak Show” was included in the social game RockStar Rising (Facebook, iPad), and two additional songs will be soon included in the music game RockBand as well. Furthermore, the song was the subject of an international remix contest with Propellerhead and Kallaghan Records as sponsors/partners. Four music videos have been released in 2013, all of them being available online on various media platforms (“Săracă Inima Me / Poor Little Heart of Mine”, “Freak Show”, “Bad Apples” and “Ride”). Last but not least, the band completed two Romanian tours and one European tour in support of the new album, which included over forty shows. In 2014, as winner of the Wacken Metal Battle competition in Romania, Dirty Shirt participated in the international competition at Wacken Open Air in Germany, where they took 2nd place, which is a notable achievement not only for the band itself, but also for the Romanian metal scene in general. In the meantime, the band have been hard at work on their next studio album “Dirtylicious”, a very ambitious project that will include a four-piece folk band. In addition, the tour in support of their latest album “Freak Show” continues with dozens of shows in Romania and other European countries. Another notable step forward was the signing of a management and booking (for Romania) deal with Promusic Events. DISCOGRAPHY: STUDIO ALBUMS: “Very Dirty” (Promusic Prod, 2000) “Same Shirt Different Day” (self-released, 2010) “Freak Show” (self-released, 2013) DVD: “Live in the Truck” (Est-Ouest, 2011) VIDEOS ( www.youtube.com/dirtyshirtoriginal ): “Săracă inima me / Poor little heart of mine” (2013) “Bad Apples” (2013) “Freak Show” (2013) “Freak Show” (2012): lyric video “Manifest” (2010): with two versions; note: the long version has “New Millennium” as intro “East West” (2010): featuring Candice (Eths), K-Lee & Daniel (Tripod), Mat (Babylon Pression) and Kallaghan (Sikh, RAS) “Pitbull” (2009): cover of Kusturica & No Smoking Orchestra (soundtrack of “White Cat, Black Cat”) “Gone” (2008): demo version “UB” (2005): demo version, inspired by the Romanian folk song „Cine iubeÅŸte ÅŸi lasă”. BAND CONTACT: e-mail:  [email protected] phone number: +336 13 91 12 29 BOOKING ROMANIA AND MANAGEMENT: contact person: Nelu BrînduÅŸan mobile number: 0040 726131516 e-mail:  [email protected] www.dirty-shirt.com

Edime Trinnes is a guitarist based in the Sao Paulo state of Brazil, who works as a session guitarist, as a guitar teacher, and plays in a band with his brothers and parents, named Trinnes. The band includes his brothers Junior (bass/vocals), Tales (drums), Igor (trumpet), along with his mother Teresa (keyboards), and his father Joao Carlos (sax). Edime, who has played the guitar since the age of 5, gets his nickname from Dimebag Darrel, his favorite and most influential guitar hero. Trinnes has made television appearances on Channel Rede Globo, Rede TV, and others in Brazil. In addition to teaching guitar, Edime conducts workshops and clinics around Brazil for Washburn Guitars and Marshall Amplifiers, as well as demonstrating product at Brazil’s Expo Music in the fall. Edime has studied music at IGT, Souza Lima, as well as Professor of Music Unicamp. He has played with some of Brazil’s best guitarists, to include Kiko Loureiro, Edu Ardanuy, and Pepeu Gomes. In addition, Edime has opened for many major Brazilian bands, including Charlie Brown Junior, Detonaltas and Capital Inicial.