BANDS: Sleater-Kinney,
Wild Flag
While some younger fans may be more
familiar with her work on the excellent
Portlandia, Brownstein is one third of
seminal riot grrrl/indie rock act SleaterKinney. The high energy, socially conscious
group made a major impact when they
debuted in the ‘90s. To power her way
through punk rock riffs, jagged solos and
melancholy melodies, Brownstein uses
one of her custom made guitars—semihollow T-styles with humbuckers—built
by Reuben Cox, who owns the Old Style
Guitar Shop in L.A. She also employs
Gibson SGs, a 1972 model in particular,
or the very SG-like Guild S-100 Polara, as
well as a Rickenbacker 425. All of these
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TONE TALK //
run through a Boss Blues Driver and
DigiTech Whammy into a Vox AC30, a
Music Man HD-130 2x12 combo, or both.
Brownstein’s approach to the instrument is
stripped down, and matches the feeling of
Sleater-Kinney’s immediate, punk rock feel.
There are no 20-minute jazz odysseys to
be found here; it’s in your face and you’re
going to like it.
“...fans may be
more familiar
with her work
on the excellent
Portlandia ,
Brownstein is one
third of seminal riot
grrrl/indie rock act
Sleater-Kinney.”
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