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Jim L · February 25th, 2004, 10:34 PM

I discovered that I'm much more happy if I can play something that I enjoy, and at the same time an audience can too.

The Jimmie Vaughan stuff, especially the first few t-birds records, is some of the best blues guitar I've ever heard, because it's always perfect in the context of the tune.

When I was in my teens I was an Eddie VH freak... but then I heard SRV, which introduced me to more blues based rock... which lead to Hendrix, and then T-bone, Freddie King, Albert Collins, etc. I've found that the more I listen to blues, the happier I am to hear a cool, appropriate solo with some taste compared to some blistering, I can play faster than you type of thing...

We had a gig in Vermont Sat night at a ski bar... I had so much fun because the energy was great. The audience was fun. I was happy playing rhythm guitar that was helping the groove and seeing the crowd boogie. My solos were accents. The highlight for me was right before going into The Thrill is Gone, calling to the band to follow my lead, and I changed the entire feel and tempo for the song... to keep people dancing. And it worked! It wass almost a Santana "Eyesight for the Blind" kinda feel (we had a percussionist on congas, which didn't hurt!).

There are a million guitarists out there who can play better, faster, more complicated stuff than I can... but I'd rather play for the groove... and play something tasty that fits...

and if that leads to girls dancing on the bar... all the better! (see my earlier post)

February 25th, 2004, 10:34 PM	#28 (permalink)
Jim L Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Merrimac, MA Posts: 379 13 Photos	what I discovered this past weekend... I discovered that I'm much more happy if I can play something that I enjoy, and at the same time an audience can too. The Jimmie Vaughan stuff, especially the first few t-birds records, is some of the best blues guitar I've ever heard, because it's always perfect in the context of the tune. When I was in my teens I was an Eddie VH freak... but then I heard SRV, which introduced me to more blues based rock... which lead to Hendrix, and then T-bone, Freddie King, Albert Collins, etc. I've found that the more I listen to blues, the happier I am to hear a cool, appropriate solo with some taste compared to some blistering, I can play faster than you type of thing... We had a gig in Vermont Sat night at a ski bar... I had so much fun because the energy was great. The audience was fun. I was happy playing rhythm guitar that was helping the groove and seeing the crowd boogie. My solos were accents. The highlight for me was right before going into The Thrill is Gone, calling to the band to follow my lead, and I changed the entire feel and tempo for the song... to keep people dancing. And it worked! It wass almost a Santana "Eyesight for the Blind" kinda feel (we had a percussionist on congas, which didn't hurt!). There are a million guitarists out there who can play better, faster, more complicated stuff than I can... but I'd rather play for the groove... and play something tasty that fits... and if that leads to girls dancing on the bar... all the better! (see my earlier post)