Standing on their Shoulders

Programmer and technologist Scott Hanselman recently posted about the people who helped him to get to where he is, and he challenged his readers to write about the people that helped us get to where we were. There were many people who helped me along the way as a guitarist, so I thought I’d post about them in response to Scott’s challenge.

First and foremost, my father helped me to get started playing guitar. I remember fairly early on in my life wanting to play guitar. It took me a while to convince my parents to buy me a guitar, as I had a history of only playing with toys for a short period of time. No one else in my family plays a musical instrument, so I’m sure that they figured it was just a phase. However, after a while I was finally able to convince my parents that I was serious about wanting to play guitar. Even though it was over 15 years ago, I still remember going into the music store with my father and picking out the guitar I wanted: a Strat-style Washburn Lyon guitar. I also picked out a 15 watt Dean Markley practice amp. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was in heaven. I’m sure my family got tired of hearing Smells Like Teen Spirit over and over again, but I’m grateful that they put up with it.

I really wanted to start playing guitar because several of my friends had picked up the instrument and I saw how fun it was. Several of my friends in particular were instrumental (pardon the pun) in helping me improve as a musician. We would get together and jam all the time after school, and we even played a couple of shows together. One of the most exciting musical experiences I’ve ever had wasn’t as a musician, but as a spectator watching my friends play Ugly Kid Joe’s I Hate Everything About You as part of a school talent show. The crowd roared after they finished, and it illustrated to me the power that music has. During that time, I really learned a lot from my friends, and I’m appreciative for having the opportunity to play and learn from them.

After college, I really didn’t play that much for several years, as I was getting started in my career and expending most of my effort in learning what I needed to know for my career. However, after getting married, my wife encouraged me to pick the guitar back up, and I’m grateful she did. My passion for the guitar was reawakened, and I owe it all to her support and encouragement.

There are many people today that still encourage and inspire me. To my wife, my family, my friends, my fellow bloggers, and musicians, I thank you for the encouragement and inspiration you provide to me each day. As Scott says, I will do my best to take that encouragement and inspiration and pay it forward.

Who’s shoulders are you standing on?

January 29, 2008 | Filed Under General | 1 Comment 

Links

This is a collection of links I’ve found interesting over the past week or so.

Artist News

Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock - New album from Joe Satriani due out on April 1, 2008, with one of the weirdest album names I’ve ever heard

Vox and Joe Satriani Join Forces on Effects Line - Speaking of Satriani, he has joined forces with guitar and amp maker Vox to create new effects pedals (via GuitarToyBox.com)

Guitar Tips

99 Ways to Play Better - 99 tips from guitar players on how to play better. Some great advice (via Mad Stratter)

Master That Riff! 31: Metallica - Master of Puppets - Learn to play one of the riffs that made me want to play guitar

Music Business

Music lessons - Internet marketer Seth Godin details things that you can learn from the music business. Some pretty interesting analysis

Free the Music - Last.fm has announced that you can now play full-length tracks and entire albums from the major labels for free on their Web site (via Daring Fireball)

Music Producer Steve Albini explains his studio and the record business - 37 Signals discusses information about Albini’s studio, as well as essays about the music business

How is the music business like a shopping cart? - IG wonders what music might be like if the music business started paying attention to music instead of the medium it’s delivered in

Don’t miss lessons Radiohead, Trent Reznor offer - CNET states that the attempts by Radiohead and Trent Reznor to innovate and pull the music industry forward indicate that the music business is probably better left to businessman. I disagree…it’s those “businessmen” that have caused many of the problems that the industry is currently facing (via TDS)

General Music

Tom Petty’s Los Angeles - Map and information about how L.A. is represented in Tom Petty’s songs and history (via Taylor)

January 27, 2008 | Filed Under Links | 1 Comment 

More NAMM Coverage from Around the Web

Here’s a roundup of some more NAMM coverage from around the Web:

Modern Guitars has posted a photo gallery from the show.

Rich Murray has several posts about the show:

Mark McGuigan has several more posts about the show:

Jon at Guitar Noize has posted information about the upcoming Steve Vai distortion pedal from Ibanez.

January 27, 2008 | Filed Under NAMM, General | Leave a Comment 

Back Door Slam

This past Sunday, I was able to see Back Door Slam opening for James McMurtry at 3rd and Lindsley. I really liked the songs I’d heard from Back Door Slam prior to the show, so I was looking forward to it. I wasn’t disappointed.

Guitarist Davy Knowles is a phenomenal guitar player. His obvious influences are Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Robert Cray. However, Knowles is not a clone of these artists. He brings his own style to the genre.

During the show, they played a mixture of original songs and covers, with the covers including John Hiatt’s Riding with the King, Robert Cray’s Back Door Slam (from which they took their name), and Hendrix’s Red House. The standout of the night for me was the cover of Red House. The band was really locked in tight during the song, and Knowles really shined.

My friend Taylor commented that the bass player is an unsung hero in a trio like this, and I would agree. Bassist Adam Jones and drummer Ross Doyle both played great during the show and really created a great foundation for Knowles to play over.

Although James McMurtry played a solid set of music, I wish that I could have seen more of Back Door Slam. What I did see was fantastic, and Davy Knowles is certainly one of the best young guitarists I’ve seen in quite a while. If you have the chance to see them live, I’d highly recommend it. I plan on catching them the next time they travel back through Nashville. The video below is of Back Door Slam playing Red House at the South By Southwest Festival in 2007.

January 25, 2008 | Filed Under Reviews | Leave a Comment 

New Addition to the Family

A couple of weeks ago, I welcomed a new addition to my guitar family. Meet Lucille:

lucille.JPG

As you can see, Lucille is the Epiphone version of B.B. King’s signature Gibson guitar called Lucille. I’ve always loved the tone that B.B. gets live and on record, and when I was looking for a new guitar, I wanted something a little different than a Strat or a Les Paul. A hollow-body seemed to fit the bill.

One interesting feature of the Lucille guitars is a Vari-tone control. This feature provides 6 different tone settings that allow you to choose from different tones, even simulating single-coil tones. Another difference between the Lucille guitar and other hollow-bodies is that the Lucille guitar does not have f-holes, which helps reduce feedback.

I’ve only had the guitar for a few weeks, but so far I’ve been very pleased. I love the tone that the guitar produces, and it plays very smoothly. This guitar is pure blues!

January 23, 2008 | Filed Under Guitars | 9 Comments 

NAMM Coverage from Around the Web

Below are some links to interesting tidbits from The NAMM Show.

Mark McGuigan has linked to some interesting videos from the show:

Jon at Guitar Noize has a few links:

And, Harmony Central has posted some NAMM Highlights videos

January 22, 2008 | Filed Under NAMM, General | Leave a Comment 

Winter NAMM Show 2008 Day 1

A lot of information is being reported today from the NAMM Show. Several sites are providing coverage of the show, including the following (via John Jinright):

Harmony Central

Music Gadgets

Gear Junkies

Pro-Music-News

Sonic State

Sweetwater

Some of the notable announcements from the show include the Peavey Mike Stone Signature MS-1 guitar, which is a collaboration with Queensryche guitarist Mike Stone and Erik Buell from Buell Motorcycles.

Randall has announced a series of Kirk Hammett Signature products, including an amplifier and amplifier modules.

Gibson has announced 15 new guitar models, including: Jimmy Page Les Paul Custom w/Bigsby, Steve Jones Les Paul Custom, Lee Ritneour ES-335, Johnny Winter Firebird, Slash #1 Les Paul Standard Ages and Signed, Mick Jones Les Paul Custom, Alex Lifeson ES-355 VOS, Les Paul Axcess, The Ultratone, ES-339 Figured, and the ES-359.

Martin has introduced two new acoustic guitar models: D-28M Elvis Presley Commemorative Limited Edition (only 175 total) and D-28 Elvis Presley Commemorative Edition.

N-Tune has come out with an onboard tuner that looks interesting. The tuner installs under your volume knob, and you pull up on the volume knob to tune and then push back down when you’re done. You can see a video of the tuner in action below.

January 17, 2008 | Filed Under NAMM, General | 2 Comments 

The NAMM Show

It’s that time of year again…time for the NAMM Show! The show runs from today through Sunday, January 20, and is being held in Anaheim, CA.

If you don’t know, the NAMM show is an industry trade show where guitar/music manufacturers and retailers get together to show off and view the new gear coming out this year. I’ve never been to a NAMM Show, but I hope to go one day. In the meantime, I’ll try to keep up with all the announcements on the Web.

Some manufacturers have already announced new products. For example, ESP has already announced that they will be introducing 50 new guitar and bass models at the NAMM Show. One of those models will be a new Richie Sambora LTD SA-2 guitar. Gretsch has also already announced several new models, including a beautiful Chet Atkins 125th Anniversary Limited Edition.

I can’t wait to hear and see what else gets announced!

January 17, 2008 | Filed Under NAMM, General | Leave a Comment 

NeedToBreathe with Sons of William

This past Sunday, we were able to catch NeedToBreathe with Sons of William at 3rd and Lindsley here in Nashville. We went primarily to see Sons of William, but I had never heard of either band before hearing about the show. I was pleasantly surprised by both bands.

The show was broadcast live on the radio, and as a result the Sons of William set was fairly short. However, they managed to pack a pretty good set into 30 minutes despite some equipment issues early on. I would have liked to have seen a longer set, as they really seemed to be hitting their stride during the last few songs. What I heard was good, though, and I would recommend you catch them if they come to your area.

I had heard that Sons of William were good, but I knew nothing about NeedToBreathe. Surprisingly, they ended up being the highlight of the night. They really put on a great show! They have recently released a new record called The Heat, which was co-produced by the band with Rick Beato and Collective Soul’s Ed Roland. Some of their songs have been featured in the movie P.S. I Love You and on the tv show Newport Harbor. They played quite a few songs from the album, and I really enjoyed them.

Overall, the show was fantastic and I’d highly recommend checking out either band if they come to your area. You can watch a video below of “Shine On” from NeedToBreathe’s first album Daylight.

January 16, 2008 | Filed Under Reviews | 2 Comments 

Slash at CES

Slash was recently the “ringer” Bill Gates brought out on stage to help him win his Guitar Hero battle against Microsoft executive Robbie Bach and gamer Kelly “TipperQueen” Law-Yone at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). You can watch a video of the “battle” below. (via Listening Post)

January 9, 2008 | Filed Under Artist News, General | Leave a Comment 

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