We’ll cut to the chase. Here’s our first video preview of “White Heat” by Cetan Clawson and the Soul Side.

We’ve made no secrets about how excited we are to work with Cetan Clawson. The 21-year-old electric blues prodigy has the talent to follow in the footsteps of Stevie Ray Vaughan, and a style reminiscent of the great Jimi Hendrix.

At 2 minutes, 13 seconds, “White Heat” is exactly that: a fireball of fast, frenetic, and incredibly challenging guitar work that doesn’t take a break for two seconds. This isn’t just random fretwork, though… every single note contributes to the amazing groove of the song. The bass and drum parts are no slouches, either! We’re certain you’ll want to pick up “White Heat” as soon as the Rock Band Network store launches.

Special thanks to Chris for staying up late last night to create a special intro/outro sequence for our preview videos.

We are excited to announce that “nerdcore” singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton has joined the RockGamer Studios roster with his track “Creepy Doll”.

Already featuring two tracks on Rock Band (“Still Alive” and “Skullcrusher Mountain”), Coulton had previously pledged his support to the Rock Band network. Today we are happy to confirm this, and expect “Creepy Doll” to be available for purchase day and date with the launch of the Rock Band Network store.

If dolls give you the heebie-jeebies, you’ll be right at home with this Burton-esque tale of a man who takes his big city money and buys the house at the top of the hill. No creepy house would be complete without… a creepy doll.

Unofficial video below:

Special thanks to JoCo for supporting Rock Band Network and for choosing RockGamer Studios!

RockGamer Studios is proud to show you the very first gameplay footage of “Arigato” by Costa Rican band Gandhi, which we authored for Rock Band Network.

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I always use Bang Camaro as a prime example of a band that rose from relative obscurity to fame and (hopefully soon) fortune with the help of music games.

Having their songs included in Guitar Hero II, Rock Band and Rock Band 2 (it doesn’t hurt that Bennett is an employee of Harmonix), the Boston army of a dozen-plus knows that when it’s time to play “Pleasure (Pleasure)” at a live show, everyone in the crowd is going to sing along, thanks in great part to being featured in Rock Band.

Ned Jordan at The Gamers’ Temple scored a sweet interview with Bryn Bennett, Bang Camaro’s co-founder and lead guitarist, in which he speaks about “games, music, and music in games…”

I encourage you to read the full article, but here are some of the more juicy tidbits for you artists on the fence about publishing your music via Rock Band Network.

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Here’s our first mention in a press article, from Costa Rican news site Vuelta En U. It mentions our involvement in authoring Gandhi’s “Arigato”. Unfortunately for our non-spanish-speaking readers, the article is… in spanish. But seeing as we are super cool, we have translated a few choice bits for you:

GANDHI WILL BE IN ROCK BAND by Víctor Fernández G.

“That feeling of ‘How cool would it be to play like Gandhi’ is not so out of reach anymore… virtually speaking.

Today we found out that this quartet will soon be part of Rock Band, the popular video game in which players can form a virtual rock group and perform well-known songs, scoring points depending on their skills.

Hit single ‘Arigato’ is the band’s song chosen for Rock Band, and according to their guitarist Federico Miranda on his website, it would be ready by the end of this year to be included in the Rock Band Network.

Gandhi’s inclusion into the popular franchise was propelled by an old acquaintance of the band: Costa Rican guitarist, composer, engineer and author Richie Nieto, who now resides in Canada. Nieto is part of RockGamer Studios, a New York-based company chosen and trained by Harmonix (Rock Band’s creators) to author songs into the game’s format. According to Nieto, Gandhi is the first band they are working with, and ‘Arigato’ will be their first contribution to the Rock Band Network, which will allow independent authors, musicians and labels to expand the catalogue of songs to be available for the game.”

Sweet, eh? I’m personally very excited that we’re starting to pull the Latin Rock community into Rock Band. There is a wealth of talent and material there, so keep tuned… lots of more great stuff to come!

I just read a very interesting article in the New York Times about the upcoming game The Beatles: Rock Band, and there are a few excepts in there that outline the advantages of having your music featured in a rhythm game.

The story is a whopping 9 pages long, so let me share with you a few of the more memorable sections:

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If you want to keep up to date on on our progress, what artists/labels we’re working with, and our current state of mind in general, the best way is to follow RockGamer Studios on Twitter by visiting http://www.twitter.com/RG_Studios

Help us reach 1,000 followers for a chance to win an Xbox 360. Once we hit the magic number, we’ll run a contest to give one lucky winner a brand new Xbox 360 with 60GB hard drive. So what are you waiting for? Help us spread the good word!

Are you a fan of Rock Latino? If so, you’ll be happy to know that Costa Rica’s own Gandhi is making its way to the Rock Band Network! Their first track headed to Rock Band will be “Arigato”, the title track from their latest studio album, Arigato No!.

Federico Miranda, the lead guitarist for Gandhi, can’t believe his music will be featured in Rock Band:

“RockGamer Studios absolutely rocks! They have it all figured out – from the playing technique to the animations to the rock sound. We had only fantasized about being on Rock Band and now our music is available to players of Rock Band worldwide. RockGamer Studios made it happen!”

For us at RockGamer Studios, it’s a personal dream come true to help Spanish rock make a splash on the Rock Band Network, and help expose gamers around the world to this storied genre. Richie Nieto, mixer and author at RockGamer Studios, has had the honor of working with Gandhi in the past:

“Having recorded two albums with Gandhi, it is a pleasure for me to work on their fantastic track ‘Arigato’ for the Rock Band Network. It’s my hope that the quality of this band and their material will set a precedent for including much more Spanish Rock in the future, and allow gamers all over the world to discover and enjoy it.”

Check out the video for Gandhi’s first Rock Band release, “Arigato”, here.

Would you like to see more Gandhi, or other Spanish rock bands, make it to the Rock Band Network? Leave your thoughts in the Comments section.

We are extremely excited to announce that RockGamer Studios has partnered with Cetan Clawson, who Bryn Bennett of Bang Camaro introduced to us as “basically the next Hendrix. Simply unbelievable.”

RockGamer Studios and Cetan Clawson have reached a deal to turn “White Heat”, the title track from his new album, into a playable track for Rock Band 2.

Ramsey Dean, Cetan’s manager, warns all you expert guitar players, “Cetan Clawson’s wild playing style will re-define the expert level of the music gaming experience with “White Heat”. We’re looking forward to seeing the gamers on YouTube trying to replicate his moves.”

We look forward to authoring “White Heat”, and suggest you check out his website:http://www.cetanclawson.com.

Are you excited to see Cetan Clawson on Rock Band? Share your thoughts in our comments!