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.
Frets on Fire
Frets on Fire is a cool-looking open source clone of the Guitar Hero series of games. It is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X (although the Mac version is listed as experimental).
The game supports importing Guitar Hero I and Guitar Hero II songs, but perhaps more interesting is that Frets on Fire supports songs composed by the community. You can even make your own songs using the game. The project About page boasts that hundreds of songs have been created by the community so far.
I downloaded and installed the latest release. The installer worked great and quickly finished without much user intervention, which isn’t the case with a lot of open source software. The developers really have done a great job. While the game is obviously not as polished as Guitar Hero, I didn’t have to pay $80 for the game. And, the game is quite a bit of fun!
You can play the game using the keyboard, a USB guitar controller, or a joystick. I played the game using the keyboard. Game play is fairly simple and straightforward using the keyboard, and it took just a few minutes to get acquainted with the controls. I was quickly burning up the fretboard keyboard!
I enjoy playing games, but I generally play in spurts of 30 minutes or so. Frets on Fire is perfect for gamers like me. You can start up the game, play a couple of songs, and feel satisfied. Or, if you’re so inclined, you can play the game and compete against other players from all over the world.
Because the game is open source, you can dig into the source code to see what’s going on under the hood. I can’t imagine that most people who play the game will want to do this, but as a programmer I’m interested in taking a look at the source code. The game was written using the Python programming language.
Overall, I think that Frets on Fire is a fun (and free!) alternative to Guitar Hero and is available for all of the major platforms.
Joe Bonamassa Live @ TPAC in Nashville
I had the recent pleasure to catch Joe Bonamassa as he traveled through Nashville on November 24th playing at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. This was the first time I’ve seen Joe in concert, so I didn’t know what to expect, though I had heard that he puts on a good show. It was by far one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while.
I’m a relatively new fan of Bonamassa, having heard his name for years but never really paying attention to his music. I’m paying attention now. After jamming with Bonamassa, Ted Nugent was recently quoted as saying “This kid deserves to be in the same class with Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmy Hendrix and Jeff Beck.” That’s some pretty heavy praise, but not unwarranted. Bonamassa is a fantastic guitarist and showman.
During the show, Bonamassa mentioned that his latest album, Sloe Gin, had been at the top of the Blues charts since it came out, only recently being replaced by the Stevie Ray Vaughan collection Solos, Sessions & Encores. I can attest that Sloe Gin is an excellent album. The album contains a generous mixture of electric and acoustic songs, and Bonamassa excels at both. The mixture extends to his live show with Joe playing an acoustic series of music, which was a highlight of the show.
Since I enjoyed the entire show so much, it’s hard to pinpoint any particular part that was the highlight. However, I did really enjoy Bonamassa’s covers of ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid” and Led Zep’s “Dazed and Confused” and would consider those a definite highlight. The encores were fantastic, as well.
I didn’t know this ahead of time, but it looks like Joe posts about his day on his Web site. His Nashville post includes such details as the Tyson after show chicken he ate for lunch, but also includes information about his trip to Gruhn’s Guitars and subsequent purchase of a 2006 National Resophonic guitar (which he did not play at the show). Most interestingly, though, is his conversation with the Gibson Custom Shop guys about a JB Limited Edition Les Paul. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with that.
Although his current US tour is winding down, I’d highly recommend checking out his show if it comes to your area. In the meantime, you can check out some videos that Joe has put online from the North Sea Jazzfest, which includes many of the songs from his current setlist.
* Photo taken by Al and courtesy of www.jbonamassa.com.
Music Roundup
My friend and fellow guitarist David has recently introduced me to some new music:
I’m a little late to noticing Rodrigo y Gabriela, as the CD was originally released in early 2006, but I’m glad to finally have heard them. The Amazon.com review starts off by asking the intriguing question “How did two Mexican-born heavy-metal enthusiasts end up at the top of the Irish charts?”. I would describe the music on this CD as acoustic heavy-metal, and both Rodrigo and Gabriela play nylon string guitars. And, they play them well. On their album, they cover Led Zep’s Stairway to Heaven (and manage to create an interesting version of the song) and Metallica’s Orion. The original songs on the album are very good, as well.
The Travis Larson Band is a rock fusion group featuring Travis Larson on guitar, Jennifer Young on bass and Dale Moon on drums. TLB play a brand of instrumental guitar music not unlike Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Steve Morse with a little bit of Rush thrown in. I’ve been greatly enjoying their Rate of Change and Burn Season CDs.
Could Martin Taylor have been anything other than a guitar player? Not with a name like that, I say. Martin Taylor is an excellent solo jazz guitarist, and has also performed with Stephane Grappelli, Chet Atkins, and many others. You can hear some of his music and watch some of his videos on Taylor’s MySpace page.
Guitar Wall Hanger
One of the things I’ve done over the past year or so is hang up all of my guitars on the walls of my home office. I have accomplished this through guitar wall hangers by String Swing. I hadn’t planned on hanging my guitars up, but I was running out of space on the floor in my office and was looking for other options. I happened to be in a local music store looking around, and these wall hangers jumped out at me! Hanging the guitars up seemed like the perfect solution, and so far it has been.
I’m using the wood wall hangers by String Swing, but they also makes a metal wall hanger. I haven’t tried any guitar wall hangers made by other manufacturers, because I’ve been really pleased with the wood ones by String Swing. They are able to accommodate my electric guitars, my bass, my classical guitar and my acoustic guitar.
I really enjoy having my guitars up on the wall, as they serve as beautiful wall pieces, and they are quickly accessible to me whenever I want to grab one and start picking! If you’re thinking about hanging your guitars up on the wall, I’d highly recommend String Swing wall hangers. They are easy to install and seem to work great. String Swing wall hangers are also available for violins.
How do you store your guitars when you’re not playing them?
Netflix
I’ve mentioned lala several times on this blog, and I’ve enjoyed trading CDs on lala. In the same vein, I thought I’d highlight another online service that I’ve really enjoyed over the past few years: Netflix. (Netflix is an online DVD rental service.)
Although most people are aware that Netflix carries pretty much all of the recent movie releases, you may not be aware that Netflix also carries a wide selection of music DVDs, including quite a few instructional DVDs. For example, I’ve recently rented Eric Johnson: The Fine Art of Guitar and Guitar Theory Basics. In addition to guitar-related instructional DVDs, Netflix carries instructional DVDs for bass, drums, banjo, piano, voice, harmonica, fiddle, and more.
There are also quite a few performance DVDs available for rent on Netflix. You can rent Stevie Ray Vaughan Live at the El Mocambo, Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains the Same, and Eric Clapton Unplugged. Basically, any popular music-related DVD that’s been released over the past 5-10 years is available on Netflix, as well as many obscure ones.
In my area (Nashville), I usually receive a new movie from Netflix within a day or two from sending in the old one. Since we’ve been members of Netflix, we never visit our local movie store, which rarely had anything new in stock anyway, and they certainly don’t have nearly the selection available on Netflix.
I highly recommend Netflix, whether you’re looking for an instructional DVD for learning how to DJ Bar/Bat-Mitzvahs or the latest release from Paul Gilbert, Netflix probably has the DVD you’re looking for.
Practicing: A Musician’s Return to Music by Glenn Kurtz
Most musicians know that practicing can sometimes become tedious. However, few musicians realize how much practicing it takes to become a concert classical musician. More specifically, to become a concert classical guitarist. Glenn Kurtz knows the level of dedication that it takes to attempt to become a performing classical musician.
In his book, Practicing: A Musician’s Return to Music, Kurtz describes how he quit music after realizing that he was probably not going to become a concert guitarist and his subsequent return to playing the guitar after years of giving it up. I came across this book in a local book store and was intrigued by the cover, which focuses on the sound hole of a classical guitar. As someone one spent several years in a classical guitar program in college, I can sympathize with how much time and effort go into performing classical pieces on the guitar. Consequently, much of Practicing resonated with me. Several passages especially resonated with me:
Whether you’re an athlete, a surgeon, a hairdresser, or a circus clown, technique defines the scope of your ability. It is both the refinement in what you do and the barrier to doing more, doing it better. When you want to improve at anything, therefore, you must develop your technique. It is the battleground between your habits and your ideal.
As guitarists, we know how important technique is. It’s what we work on each day to get better. But, as Kurtz points out, it’s also what holds us back.
Later, Kurtz continues his discussion about practicing:
Practicing is a story. Sitting down with your instrument, you imagine yourself into the future better than you are now, having passed through a limbo of work that changes you. The story creates continuity in change, giving the work context, so that each day’s small step adds up to a journey. As long as you keep practicing, almost any goal seems attainable, a matter of time and effort. Each day, each moment, might be fraught with frustration. Still, the story of your practicing absorbs your work, good or bad, showing you the way forward.
Kurtz’s story is probably not unlike many musicians who dream of being a concert musician only to find the road much different than they had imagined.
Included in the back of the book are Listening notes, where Kurtz identifies classical guitar music that he recommends listening to. He also includes Reading notes, where he recommends several guitar methods, as well as other books about practicing music.
I enjoyed reading Practicing: A Musician’s Return to Music, and learning more about Kurtz’s story. I believe Kurtz’s journey would be interesting for anyone who has ever dreamed of being a concert musician.
lala - 6-Month Review
It’s been about six months since I signed up with CD-trading service lala, and overall, I’m still pleased with the service. I’ve made almost 90 trades so far, so I thought I’d give another review since I’ve had a chance to get a pretty good view of how the system works.*
As I mentioned above, I’m still pleased with lala overall. However, I do have some nits to pick. Admittedly, some of my complaints might be unfair as I’m used to Netflix and it’s hard not to compare the sites, which is an unfair comparison; Netflix owns its own DVDs and controls their own inventory, whereas lala depends on users to supply their inventory. That being said, it can be frustrating when it takes several weeks before another user opts to send a CD on your Want List, especially when you’ve sent several CDs out to other users. Also, there’s no way to prioritize items on your Want List. This is a function of the system, but there are times when I’ve added a CD onto my Want List that I would have put at a lower priority than other CDs on the list if that option were available.
It’d also be nice to be able to trade CDs directly with another user. For example, if you find another user that has a CD you want and you have a CD they want, there’s no way that I know of using lala to directly trade with that user. If anyone knows if this is possible, then please let me know.
Some of the music that I’ve searched for on lala hasn’t shown up in any searches, so I can’t add that music to my Want List or to my Have List. I’m not sure where lala is getting it’s list of available music from, but it’s not as comprehensive as something like Amazon’s music listings. It’d be nice to be able to add a CD to their database, or at least be able to suggest that a CD be added. If this option exists, I haven’t seen it yet. That issue aside, the search service that lala provides on its site is very good, with suggestions appearing as you type.
lala has added the ability to buy new CDs from the site. I’ve recently purchased a new CD from them and that experience was very good. The price was excellent. Oftentimes, lala’s CD prices are below those of even Amazon. The shipping price was reasonable, and the CD arrived quickly. I’ll probably be purchasing more CDs from lala in the future. This is an excellent alternative to waiting for another user to send you a CD if you don’t want to wait.
There are some “social networking” aspects of lala that I’ve yet to tap into. For example, there’s the concept of friends, where you can add other lala users into your friend list. Then, your friends show up on your home page and you can quickly view their profile to see if they’ve added any music. If you’re a lala member and want to add me to your friend’s list, feel free to contact me or comment on this post.
After six months, I’d still not hesitate to recommend lala if you have some old CDs laying around that you’d like to trade for other CDs. lala makes it extremely easy to trade CDs, and it’s pretty cheap at $1.75 per CD received (there’s no charge for sending a CD). I’ve used other trading sites in the past, and lala has the easiest process I’ve found to trade CDs with other users.
* If you’re unfamiliar with lala, read my initial review.
Skydog: The Duane Allman Story
Skydog: The Duane Allman Story tells the story of Duane Allman’s rise from guitar-playing kid to guitar hero, which happens within the span of Duane’s 24 short years. It’s hard to believe that Duane Allman’s impact came in such a short time. Furthermore, it’s hard to believe that Duane Allman’s tenure in the Allman Brothers Band lasted less than three years before his untimely death. His legacy and impact on music has proved to be lasting.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I’ve been a longtime fan of the Allman Brothers Band, but I’ve never delved too much into Duane Allman’s background. Randy Poe provides an enlightening look into the drive and passion that led Duane Allman to ultimately create what is arguably one of the best rock and roll bands in history. For example, I had never known that part of Duane’s childhood was spent just outside of Nashville, or how he has appeared on the recordings of many legends, including Otis Rush, Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. In fact, Duane was the catalyst in getting Pickett to record the Beatles’ Hey Jude, which was a fairly big hit for Pickett.
Of course, Poe also describes how Allman came to be on the Derek and the Dominos recordings, as well as the famous Fillmore concerts with the Allman Brothers Band. There are so many aspects to Duane’s short career that Poe covers in this book, I found it hard to put down. Additionally, Billy Gibbons provides the foreward, and Poe includes an extensive discography and description of Allman’s guitars, with photos of Duane playing many of them.
All in all, I found Skydog: The Duane Allman Story by Randy Poe to be an excellent book, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Allman Brother Band or in Duane Allman.
John 5 - Songs for Sanity
In the past, I’ve pretty much ignored any coverage of John 5’s music, mostly because of his association with Marilyn Manson. I’m not really a fan of Manson’s, so I didn’t pay much attention to his guitar players. However, I’ve missed out on some great guitar playing. For some reason or another, not too long ago I stumbled across John 5’s MySpace page and checked out some of his music. I became intrigued and starting checking out his music in more depth.
I’ve been very impressed; as his fans already know, John is a phenomenal guitar player. He has a command of many different styles of music and somehow manages to merge Heavy Metal and Country chicken pickin’ so that it sounds great!
The first album of John 5’s that I picked up was his Songs For Sanity album, which is actually his second album. Steve Vai and Albert Lee make guest appearances on the album. This is one of the best guitar albums I’ve heard in a long time. The album starts out fairly heavy, but melodic. A few songs into it, he gets a little country. One of the more interesting songs on the album is called “Behind the Nut Love” which features him bending strings behind the nut of the neck. On YouTube, you can view a guitar lesson of John 5 showing how to play “Behind the Nut Love.” He also displays some beautiful acoustic guitar playing on the album, as well. Unlike some guitar albums I’ve heard in the past, the songs are interesting and the guitar playing is excellent.
John 5 has recently released a new album called The Devil Knows My Name. Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson make guest appearances on the new album. Although I still don’t care much for his imagery, I’m now a fan of his playing and I’m looking to hearing more from him. I’d highly recommend picking up any of his albums.
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Welcome to my guitar blog! My name is Josh, and this site is my attempt to celebrate the guitar, its history, and its players. Read more...
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