Dunlop artist Bryan Beller, bassist/composer and sideman extraordinaire Bryan Beller (Dethklok, Steve Vai, Mike Keneally), has released his solo project’s first live concert DVD, Wednesday Night Live. An up-close-and-personal 4-camera document of the Beller band’s one-night-only 2010 show at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles, the DVD is a serious statement from an artist who’s quickly establishing himself as one of the elite bass playing and compositional voices in the rock/jazz fusion scene today.

We got a GREAT Friday giveaway for you diehard vintage MXR fans out there. This week we’re giving away a vintage reissue of a Distortion +, yup its the tone that made Randy Rhoads famous.

The “Big 4″—Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax—rocked for seven hours for the first time in the US in front of an estimated 50,000 fans in the California desert on Saturday. We made it out to the epic day of metal to hang out with the legends of thrash.

A little more than a month after original drummer Mike Portnoy’s sudden departure from Dream Theater, the band held three days of auditions in New York City. Over an amazing and productive three-day period, the band played, jammed and spoke candidly with seven of the world’s greatest drummers, learning about them musically, personally and professionally, and assessing the fit of each drummer’s incredible chops with the band’s trademark prog-rock sound.

Every year in April we travel across the globe to visit our European friends and fans at the world’s largest music trade show Musikmesse in Frankfurt, Germany. We had a great time—music lovers from all over the world poured in to check out our year’s new gear at the booth, where people were playing with the Green Rhino Overdrive, Bass Compressor, Custom Badass Distortion, and TIII picks for the first time.

It’s that time of the week again when we give something away to our diehard Dunlop fans. This week we’re giving away a Deftones pick tin – hot off the presses in support of their latest album Diamond Eyes and current tour. This is a killer album that has garnered many rave reviews, and the first since the absence their bassist Chi, who has been recovering from a car accident in 2008. You can help support our friend Chi at oneloveforchi.com.

Hey Rush fans – Premier Guitar Magazine went on location in Chicago, IL, at the United Center to talk with Alex Lifeson’s (of Rush) tech Scott Appleton about the gear Lifeson is using on Rush’s 2011 Time Machine tour. Appleton shows off all Lifeson’s gear, with a cool shout out to our Cry Baby Rack Wah and custom Dunlop picks. Check out the pic and video above.

Zakk Wylde performed the Sammy Hagar classic “Heavy Metal” with contestant James Durbin on last night’s American Idol. All the attention was on Durbin, who Wylde praised after the performance. He was great, but admittedly we were more interested in Zakk and his monster guitar playing. It was a nice spotlight for his signature Cry Baby, which he used during the solo.

And the most creative use of a stomp box this year goes to this guy!

For this week’s Friday Giveaway, be one of the first to own a Plain White T’s pick tin before it hits their merch store! These guys keep getting bigger and bigger, and are currently touring the US in their “Wonders of the Younger” tour. We’ve only got two to giveaway this week, so enter now before everyone else does.