As the music world prepares to descend upon music week in Austin, TX during SXSW 2014, the Grammy-winning, iconic guitarist and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame artist SLASH has announced the Slashathon. Powered by Geeklist, Slashathon is the first-ever artist-focused hackathon whereby developers create applications and technology within a 12-hour period. The music-oriented Slashathon will offer developers a unique challenge to create solutions for musicians to engage their communities in new ways for an album release. Slashathon will take place Wednesday, March 12th at Capital Factory (701 Brazos St., STE 1601, Austin, TX). The entire Slashathon will be live-streamed all day, via Livestream here.

Slash will be joined by Bram Cohen (Chief Scientist & Founder of BitTorrent) and Robert Scoble (first employee at Microsoft, creator of hackathons, Rackspace) onsite in Austin to judge the Slashathon. Also, a major entrepreneur in the world of tech will make a surprise guest appearance. The Grand Prize includes a Gibson guitar autographed by Slash, $1,000 dollars and the opportunity to have Slash use the winning hack with the release of his new album, coming out in late 2014.

Register for the Slashathon at this location. SXSW badges are not required to participate. APIs available to developers to build with include Aviary, Dolby, Leap Motion, Gimbal, Raspberry Pi, Spotify, Codio.io, Elasticsearch, Mad Mimi, Yellow API, Paypal, Muzik headphones, Appery.io, PivotDesk, Import.io, OpenAura, Decibel, 3Scale and Lob. Furthr.la, and Geeklist will provide mentorship for all participants. Venue sponsorship provided by Capital Factory.

Slashathon - Wednesday, March 12th at Capital Factory, Austin, 701 Brazos St., STE 1601

8:30 AM: Registration

9:00 AM: API presentations

10:00 AM: Hacking begins

1:30 PM: Lunch

7:00 PM: Presentations

8:30: Awards

Ernie Ball, one of the world's leading manufacturers of guitar strings and musical instrument accessories, recently launched a new digital series with Slash and his band MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS. The innovative online series, titled Real To Reel with Slash, documents the entire in-studio recording process of the iconic artist's forthcoming third solo album, along with world-renowned music collaborators Myles Kennedy, Todd Kerns and Brent Fitz, returning to the studio for a third time.

From the first day of recording to the last, the multi-segment fly-on-the wall series will follow Slash and The Conspirators from pre-production at NRG Studios in Los Angeles to Studio Barbarossa in Florida, as they write, play, create and record the new album from start to finish.

Each clip will showcase a behind-the-scenes sneak peek inside the recording sessions, giving fans unprecedented exclusive access to some of the world's most legendary musicians. The segments will give viewers up-to-date, virtually real-time progress on the recording journey each week, along with commentary from the band members, gear talk, and more.

“We're incredibly excited to give music fans an inside look into the recording process of one of the most anticipated Rock albums of the year!” said Brian Ball, Vice President of Ernie Ball Inc.

Both Slash and Kennedy emphasize that creatively, it is was crucial for them to bring the recording process back to basics, keeping it simple by capturing the essence of a classic rock band utilizing the often forgotten art form of recording to two-inch analog tape.

"I love the process of recording live in the studio and the sound of a rock n roll band recorded on 2" tape as opposed to digital,” explains Slash. “I thought it would be cool to show some footage of us doing exactly that."

In Episode 1, Conspirator Brent Fitz talks about his part drum tracking in the recording progress of the new album:

In Episode 2, we meet Conspirator, Todd Kerns, who talks about recording bass for the new album: