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EXPLAINED: Nick johnston - The Real Truth

Mastodon fans! Get a t-shirt unavailable in the shops and an exclusive Metal Hammer cover, only through Louder

Celebrate the release of the metal masters’ album Marrow Deep in style

Metal Hammer

Mastodon masterclass: Nick Johnston reveals his insane soloing techniques

Luscious legato, hot hybrid picking, busy blues bends and creative chromaticism are the trademarks of Nick Johnston. Here are five of his favorite lead approaches

Guitar World

“Nick said, ‘I’m not here to fill Brent’s shoes. I want to help write the future of Mastodon’”: Troy Sanders on rebuilding Mastodon and why new guitarist Nick Johnston was an instant fit

Mastodon’s biggest line-up change could have derailed them. Instead, it inspired one of the most ambitious albums of their career

Guitar World

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“We’re thrilled we’ve got other members who are just over the moon to be in the band with us”: Mastodon share new single with Josh Homme – and add another member to the band

The band will release their ninth album, Marrow Deep, on August 28

Guitar World

“I kept seeing him out the corner of my eye, where he’d be with his guitar”: Mastodon’s first single with their new guitarist is a powerful tribute to Brent Hinds

Your Ghost Again is the lead single from the band’s ninth album, Poisonous Weapons

Guitar World

“Finding a twin humbucker guitar that looks and sounds as good as this is far from easy”: Schecter Nick Johnston Traditional HH review

The newly appointed Mastodon guitarist gets heavy with his first dual humbucker signature, which comes in a fitting Silverburst-esque finish

Guitar World

“The Silver Burst is synonymous with the band. We were talking about how cool it would be to continue that tradition”: Nick Johnston embraces his Mastodon turn with his most metal signature Schecter yet

The guitar completes Johnston’s “evolution” from a single-coil loyalist to twin humbucker convert

Guitar World

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Mastodon’s Brent Hinds had an “entire album” of unreleased solo songs, according to former bandmate

“He sent me the whole album of tunes,” says Duane Trucks, who drummed in Hinds’ psychobilly side-project Fiend Without A Face

Metal Hammer

“He’s gonna be on the new record, for sure. He’s writing like crazy”: Mastodon have seemingly confirmed their new guitar player – revealing Nick Johnston is writing and recording for their next albums

The guitarist had been drafted in as a touring guitarist following Brent Hinds’ departure, but it seems he’s part of the band’s long-term planning

Guitar World

“They kicked me out of the band for embarrassing them for being who I am”: Brent Hinds says he was forced out of Mastodon – despite claims his departure was amicable

Hinds has seemingly shed more light on his surprise Mastodon departure in a recent comment on social media

Guitar World

“I know I’m being judged right now. I read comments saying, ‘You’ve got nothing on Brent.’ I’m not worrying. I feel free”: How Nick Johnston went from instrumental virtuoso du jour to joining Mastodon and playing Ozzy Osbourne’s final show

The Canadian instrumentalist has taken the leap from small clinics to festival stages in his stride, and thanks to his 10-year relationship with Schecter, he’s got a custom Silverburst to match his new bandmates

Guitar World

“It’s a team of terrifying quality – but the result is no face-melting noodle-fest. Everything stems from musical ideas”: Gavin Harrison and Nick Johnston’s Early Mercy

King Crimson and Porcupine Tree drummer and new Mastodon guitarist deliver strange, beautiful music with help from Allan Holdsworth bassist Evan Marien

Louder

“Brann told me I’d be the first person he’d call if anything ever came up. That’s what he did”: How prog fusion ace Nick Johnston ended up replacing Brent Hinds in Mastodon on tour – after a casual coffee hang

Johnston has replaced Hinds on the band’s current tour

Guitar World

Mastodon recruit prog fusion virtuoso Nick Johnston as surprise new stand-in guitarist following Brent Hinds’ departure

The Canadian instrumentalist – known for his rock and fusion chops – has linked up with Bill Kelliher and co for the start of Mastodon's 2025 Infinite Arc tour

Guitar World

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MusicRadar

“Proof you can fit guitar solos into perfect two-minute pop songs”: Towa Bird stars in the top five guitar albums of 2025

If you’re looking for that last-minute Christmas gift for the guitar player in your life, help is at hand!

Guitar World

“This year has been one long vulgar display of Bowers”: The best guitar songs of 2024 – as chosen by Guitar World editors and pro players

With the help of pals including Eric Gales and Vernon Reid, we run down the songs that lit up the guitar-o-sphere this year, including a remarkable hardcore breakthrough, a virtuoso collab for the ages and the prodigy that everyone’s talking about

Guitar World

“People quickly realized my guitar was cheaper than a Mexican Strat and better made… I still don’t know how they make it at that price point”: Nick Johnston on how his signature Schecter conquered the world

The Canadian instrumental mastermind continues the quest for tension on his latest album, Child of Bliss, and proves once again that he is totally the sort of player to torch the rulebook

Guitar World

“I’ve used Gibsons and Fenders in the past, but, honestly, nothing compares to how good my signatures sound. It’s almost a joke!” How Nick Johnston found tonal nirvana by plugging straight into the amp

Just a couple of his best-selling Schecter signature models, an amp and a taste for adventure, and Canadian six-string phenom Nick Johnston had all he needed to make the album of his career

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AAP

'I'm a fighter': Pesutto pushes back on leadership talk

The Victorian Liberals are fending off speculation of an imminent challenge to John Pesutto's leadership after two senior staff departed suddenly.

Guitar World

Nick Johnston names 10 guitarists who shaped his sound

The Schecter-toting virtuoso on the guitarist with the deepest “licktionary”, the song that forever changed his approach to music and discovering Eddie Van Halen via Animaniacs

The Guardian - UK

Rugby’s rickety structure leaves Championship’s future up in the air

Historic English clubs cling on to their heritage as many worry that the RFU does not care about preserving them at all

The Guardian - UK

‘On our knees’: RFU accused of running Championship down deliberately

The Premiership could be slimmed down to 10 teams as Simon Halliday pleads the case for a funded professional second tier to remain

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