Guitarist Mick Murphy of the Los Angeles based heavy rock band and DIY enthusiasts MY RUIN recently received an unexpected birthday gift from the legendary guitar designer and visionary Grover Jackson when the two met for the first time backstage at a recent CHEVY METAL show in Anaheim, CA.

Murphy comments: “I grew up reading about Grover Jackson in rock magazines and books when I would read about RANDY RHOADS in my early teens. I’ve been a huge Rhoads fan ever since I learned to play guitar and always thought Grover’s guitars were innovative high quality instruments. I was loaned the prototype of the GJ2 Glendora Spirit Of 79 to use at a couple Chevy Metal shows and was introduced to artist rep Mitch Devine of GJ2 by mutual friends and photographers Gary and Jill Bandfield of Tour Bus Live and instantly felt attached to it. My wife (and My Ruin vocalist) Tairrie invited Mitch and GJ2 co-founder Jon Gold from the company down to celebrate my birthday at House of Blues earlier this month and they brought Grover who coincidentally, shares the same birthday as me.

Getting to meet the man himself and hearing what he had to say about guitars, music and Randy from back in the day made the evening quite memorable. Grover stayed for the show and after our set he surprised me by signing the back of the guitar I had been playing and giving it to me as a birthday gift. Needless to say, I was stunned and a bit overwhelmed by his generosity.

The limited edition Spirit Of 79 series is a ‘distressed’ modification of the GJ2 Glendora guitar line which harkens back to the early days of his guitar making career in both look and feel. I’ve been told that production will be limited to 40 guitars in all which makes the gift even more special. I look forward to playing it on stage and in the studio as much as possible in the near future!”

Chevy Metal is a suped up classic rock cover band featuring Taylor Hawkins of FOO FIGHTERS and Wiley Hodgden. You can check out Murphy and his Spirit Of 79 with Chevy Metal in this short video shot at House of Blues in Anaheim, CA on July 17th:

My Ruin released their new video, for the track 'Moriendo Renascor', featured on the new album, The Sacred Mood, which was released on June 11th via TuneCore, Bandcamp, iTunes and Amazon.

As a follow up to their 2011 critically acclaimed last album A Southern Revelation, My Ruin returned to Soundtrack Black Studio in the hills of East Tennessee to once again work with friend and studio owner Joel Stooksbury, who mixed, engineered and co produced the new album along with My Ruin guitarist Mick Murphy.

Tairrie B had the following to say about the new album and cover art:

"The Sacred Mood is a subtle reinvention for My Ruin. In an industry that is ever changing, we’re not a band who pays attention to the current trends. We’ve found our sound and we simply do what we do while staying true to our roots. I think our fans appreciate our integrity and we appreciate our fans. We offered the last album as a free download where people could donate to the band if they wanted and it was a great success but we are taking a different approach with our new album which we are self releasing once again. Unfortunately, we have learned over time that most record labels are not for us and we seem to do better on our own as a DIY independent band which is what we always have been, today more than ever with our eighth album The Sacred Mood as a testament to our staying power.

The atmosphere of the new album is heavily drenched in the heat of the South where it was recorded and fueled by insomnia filled nights in Los Angeles where it was written. The cover was designed with this in mind by a talented Manchester, UK based artist and illustrator named Kayleigh Brookes who also happens to be a longtime fan of the band. The art that goes with the album is very different than anything we’ve previously done before. We decided to use real elements of nature mixed with iconic illustrations to create something unique to My Ruin that would go with the otherworldly language of the lyrics. We wanted an ethereal image for the cover and chose the moon for the background because we felt it evoked the mood of the album as a whole. The image was actually inspired by a photograph which was taken by Tor Burrows who has worked with me creating music videos for My Ruin’s last two albums and is currently working on a teaser commercial for the new album which we plan on debuting in April. I really enjoy working with Tor on our videos and being that I have always worked alone when designing the artwork for many of our previous recordings, I thought it would be an interesting change to collaborate with someone on this side of things.

We are releasing The Sacred Mood digitally and designing a unique hardcover print and e-book to accompany it. Included in the book will be photographic images and illustrations of the band, lyrics, musings, a few short stories and original art pieces. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time and our new album has given me the perfect opportunity to make it happen. We're looking forward to sharing it with the fans of our band who have continued to follow us over the years and those who are just discovering our music for the first time."

A behind-the-scenes studio video for the making of The Sacred Mood can be seen below:

My Ruin have been tapped to support ROYAL THUNDER on August 25th at the Slidebar in Fullerton, CA. Go to this location for more information and updates.

For information and updates on My Ruin go to MyRuin.net or check out their official Facebook page here.