In 2000, Jaguar ran an ad campaign with the tag line “Everyone dreams of becoming a rock star. What then do rock stars dream of?” The answer, of course, was Jaguar. Rock stars have sung about Jaguars (like Marc Bolan did in “Jeepster”), driven them, and even—in the case of Yngwie Malmsteen—wrecked them.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of Jaguar’s chief designers today resembles a rock star rather than a suit-wearing executive. With his gravity-defying blonde hair, designer jeans, and sterling-silver jewelry, Jaguar’s Wayne Burgess looks more like the Cult’s Billy Duffy than William Lyons, the legendary former Jaguar designer known as “Mr. Jaguar.”

For the past 14 years, Burgess has helped take Jaguar into the 21st century with bold, aggressive styling that maintains the brand’s luxurious and sporting images, all while expanding its reputation for innovation. Burgess was the chief designer of the Jaguar XF, and he currently looks after development of new designs for the XJ and XK as well. He also worked with Jaguar design director Ian Callum on two of the most beautiful car designs of modern times—the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage—back when Aston Martin and Jaguar were owned by Ford.

Considering Burgess’s sartorial style, it’s not surprising to discover that he’s a guitar collector and musician who plays in a melodic metal band called Scattering Ashes, which has an EP available through Amazon and iTunes. Burgess’s collection consists mainly of guitars that resemble those played by his heroes. Standouts include a 2004 Les Paul Standard with a tobacco sunburst finish (“like the one Slash plays”), a 1987 Les Paul Custom modified to resemble John Sykes’ Gibson, a Jackson RR5 Randy Rhoads model, a G&L Rampage like the one played by Jerry Cantrell, and a white Gretsch 5120 inspired by Billy Duffy’s Gretsch White Falcon. In fact, Burgess’s love of guitar may have helped him land the job at Jaguar in the first place.

“I did my interview at Jaguar with Geoff Lawson,” Burgess says. “Geoff was a guitar and American muscle-car nut. He had the prototype for the Fender Jaguar XK-50 Stratocaster hanging in his office, which was painted British racing green and had a burled walnut scratch plate, burled walnut fretboard with gold leaping-jaguar inlays, and all-gold hardware. We spent an hour and a half talking about guitars before he realized he should look at my portfolio. He took a look at it for about 10 minutes, then told me I had the job.”

Lawson passed away about four years later, but Burgess says that Ian Callum shares a similar love of the guitar, even though he doesn’t play. Some elements of Burgess’s guitar obsession have translated directly to the cars he designs, such as the Makassar Ebony premium wood option offered for the XF’s interior. “Ebony is my favorite fretboard wood,” he explains. “I thought it would look brilliant inside of the XF.”

However, Burgess says that his love of the guitar has influenced his car designs primarily in a more general sense: “The Les Paul is one of my favorite guitar shapes, and the Strat is equally beautiful in its own way. Both body shapes are inspired by the female form. They have hips, a waist, and curves. The most beautiful sports cars also have hips, a waist, and curves. Those are things that fundamentally appeal to the eye. Sexy, flowing forms, whether they’re applied to a car or guitar, will always have some appeal.”

B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck will be among the headliners for a February 21 appearance at the White House.

The performance is part of the “In Performance at the White House” series, and the show will be televised 9 p.m. EST February 27 on PBS.

The show, which will be taped in the East Room of the White House, celebrates blues. President and Michelle Obama will host the concert event in recognition of Black History Month.

The evening will include performances by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark Jr., Shemekia Copeland, Buddy Guy, Warren Haynes, Mick Jagger, B.B. King, Keb Mo, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, with Booker T. Jones serving as music director and band leader. —Damian Fanelli

Last week, the Rolling Stones uploaded the below video to their YouTube channel featuring a 1981 performance of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” at Hampton Coliseum in Virginia.

As the video’s description points out, halfway through the song, a fan jumps on stage and makes a run at frontman Mick Jagger. Like any good guitarist/bandmate would do, Keith Richards thinks fast and fends off the fan using his Fender Telecaster. Check out the video below for all the action (which starts at around 1:10 into the video.) —Josh Hart

The museum will be run by Bill Miller, a serious and longtime collector of Cash memorabilia. It will feature items donated by the Cash family and several items from the now-closed Johnny Cash Museum in Henderson, Tennessee.

The new museum will be on Lower Broadway in Nashville, “right in the middle of the hubbub,” said Cash’s son, John Carter Cash, to the Associated Press.

Cash’s daughter, singer Rosanne Cash, is supportive of Miller’s efforts:

“He’s been an incredible supporter of my dad and one of the largest collectors of memorabilia,” she said. “If anybody has the whole structure to put up a museum, he does. So I have a lot of trust in him and I think it’s great at this point. I think he’ll do something with dignity and class that’s historically important, not some kitschy thing. I’m very interested in seeing what he does.”

A project to preserve Cash’s childhood home in Dyess, Arkansas, is also under way. The house will be restored to what it looked like when Cash was a child. —Damian Fanelli

Paul Reed Smith Guitars has long held that there is a deep connection between cars and guitars. Since 2004, the guitarmaker has exemplified this belief by participating in professional motorsports. Now, for the third year, PRS embraced the automotive community by teaming up with GRAND-AM Road Racing to present one lucky Guitar Aficionado with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live their racing dreams.

Our winner, Tony Benken of Nashville, TN, received two VIP Experiences to the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24, January 28–29, which included:

• Two (2) hot-lap rides on the famed Daytona International Speedway® road course with champion driver Scott Pruett
• A replica of the PRS Private Stock Trophy guitar signed by living past winners of the event
• Two (2) weekend “all-access” race credentials, which include hot-pit access during the race
• One (1) Magnum of Scott Pruett’s commemorative 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At DAYTONA® Syrah
• A chance to meet with musicians performing at the race, including Pat Travers, Orianthi, Davy Knowles, and Paul Reed Smith
• Two (2) weekend passes to the first class GRAND-AM VIP suite, fully catered with gourmet food and wine
• Two (2) starter stand visits high above the Daytona International Speedway® during the Rolex 24
• Two (2) Gatorade Victory Lane celebration passes
• A private tour of race control, TV operations, race garages, and a team transporter

When asked how he felt about his weekend, Tony replied, “This trip was beyond anything I could’ve imagined. The guitar is stunning and plays like a dream. Meeting and taking hot laps with Scott Pruett was incredible. The suite was great and we even went to the roof to watch part of the race! Thanks PRS, Grand-Am, and Guitar Aficionado for an unbelievable weekend!”

During this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona, PRS President Jack Higginbotham awarded the overall winner, Michael Shank Racing No. 60, with a highly desirable, custom-painted PRS SE “GRAND-AM” 2012 trophy guitar.

“It was an honor to be part of the 50^th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona.  We have worked hard for 10 years to bring together the worlds of racing and music and we feel we accomplished that over the weekend in a way that eclipses our previous efforts.  Working with GRAND-AM, Guitar Aficionado, Guitar Center, and all the musicians to pull together each element was enormously gratifying to the entire PRS team,” said Jack Higginbotham, PRS Guitars President.

Everyone’s favorite top-hatted guitarist has just announced the release date for his upcoming second solo album. Slash will release the as-yet-untitled album May 22 through his own Dik Hayd International Label.

Slash revealed through his Twitter account that he began shooting a music video for a new track titled “Gotten” over the weekend.

“Myles and I basically collaborated on the new material,” said Slash of his new album. “The main thing is we wrote these songs together which is a big difference from the last album where I wrote each song with all of the different collaborators. The whole creative nucleus is between Myles and me. On top of this, the whole rhythm section of Brent and Todd brings something to the table and changes the dynamic completely from the last record–it’s much more cohesive.”

But it was just Slash and Kennedy at work on the new album. Slash is quick to heap praise on his backing band for being the glue that holds this record together.

“There’s Brent who is probably one of the best drummers I’ve ever played with,” said Slash. “He has a great way of playing very powerful rock n roll while still being able to keep it behind the beat and sexy. And then Todd has got to be one of the most overall talented musicians I’ve worked with, just a really great bass player. Todd’s very quick in the studio, a quick learner and creative as a writer; on top of that, he’s also a great singer.

On the note of releasing his new album on his own label, Slash commented, “It puts me more in the driver’s seat of how I want to market the record, but even more importantly than that, I’m not giving half of everything that comes in on the album to the record company.”

Handling production duties for Slash’s second solo album is Eric Valentine, who also helmed the sessions for Slash’s solo debut in 2010.

“The first thing we always talk about with Eric is he’s an extremely gifted musician, but he is basically as talented an engineer,” said Slash, “so it makes for a great combination as a producer. As a person he’s easy to work with–he’s very patient and he lives and breathes what he does. That’s a lot like how I am, we’re similar; I can call him at any moment and ask him a question or share an idea I have with him. He’s always in his element and it’s something that I can appreciate.”—Josh Hart

Neil Young has posted a brand new, extended Crazy Horse jam on the homepage of his website. If it is any indication of what can be expected from the group’s upcoming spring release, we have a grungy, fuzz-drenched treat in store for us!

By Damian Fanelli

A guitar solo from the George Harrison-penned Beatles song, “Here Comes the Sun,” has been discovered at Abbey Road Studios after 43 years.

The solo, which didn’t make the final cut onto one of Harrison’s two contributions to The Beatles’ 1969 Abbey Road album (the other song being “Something”), was found by Harrison’s son, Dhani, Beatles’ producer Sir George Martin and Martin’s son, Giles, during a recent visit to Abbey Road Studios in London.

Check out the video below:

Dhani (pronounced “Danny”) Harrison (left), George Martin and Giles Martin (right) are sitting at an Abbey Road mixing console playing and discussing the original masters of “Here Comes The Sun” (NOTE: We’re not exactly sure why they’re doing this — another Beatles compilation, perhaps?). Suddenly, at 1:01, they hear the hidden guitar solo, which was clearly played by George Harrison. Dhani is completely surprised by what he hears.

Giles Martin worked extensively on The Beatles’ Love project (the ongoing Las Vegas show and album), which involved creating revolutionary remixes of classic Beatles songs, often blending tracks from several songs together to create a unique soundtrack.

In other George Harrison news, a new iPad app will let Beatles fans check out the late Beatle’s personal guitar collection. The app, “The Guitar Collection: George Harrison,” will be released February 23, two days before what would have been his 69th birthday.

The app features photos, detailed descriptions, audio and video footage. Courtesy of 360-degree imaging by photographer Steven Sebring, fans can see the scratches, dings and worn threads on the guitars as if they were holding the instruments.

The app will sell for $9.99 at the App Store. For more on the app and Harrison’s guitars, check out the Spring 2012 issue of Guitar Aficionado magazine, which hits newsstands February 22.

Guitar Aficionado has teamed up with the Aspen Songwriters Festival to give our readers the chance to win an amazing prize package, courtesy of CF Martin & Co., Hotel Jerome, Colorado Tourism Office, and OnTheSnow.com.

ONE Grand-Prize Winner will receive:

• A Martin D-28 acoustic guitar autographed by John Oates

• 2 VIP Festival passes good for 2012 7908 Aspen Songwriters Festival admission

• Meet and greets with the Aspen Songwriters Festival visiting artists

• Accommodations for four nights at the Hotel Jerome

FIVE Runners Up will receive:

• 2 VIP Festival passes good for 2012 7908 Aspen Songwriters Festival admission

• Meet and greets with the Aspen Songwriters Festival visiting artists

Click HERE for rules & regulations.