Only One Day Left To Enter Guitar Trivia Contest!
Just a reminder that the Guitar Trivia contest ends tonight, August 20, at midnight CST. All you have to do is add a comment to that post with the correct answer and you will be entered to win a Guitar Lifestyle t-shirt! I’ll randomly select and notify the winner after the contest closes. Good luck!
Tallan “T-Man” Latz Banned in Wisconsin
The Associated Press reported last week that a young 8-year old blues guitarist named Tallan “T-Man” Latz was recently banned from playing in bars in Wisconsin:
An anonymous e-mail sent to state officials complained that Tallan was too young to perform in taverns and nightclubs because of state child labor laws. His booking agent even got an anonymous letter threatening her with death if she keeps booking him.
While I think sending death threats and being jealous of another guitar player (especially an 8-year-old prodigy) is ridiculous, I actually agree with the decision to ban Tallan from bars. While Tallan is obviously a unique talent, I don’t see the benefit in regularly putting him into a bar environment at such a young age. He’s still able to play at other venues, just not in bars.
I think we’ll be hearing a lot more from Tallan in the future, but you won’t be hearing him in bars in the near future. Here’s a video clip of Tallan playing with Les Paul this past June:
Guitar Trivia Contest - Win a Free Shirt!
I thought it might be fun to have a guitar trivia contest and give away a Guitar Lifestyle t-shirt!
The rules are simple: correctly identify the guitarist by commenting on this post and you will be entered to win the shirt! I’ll randomly pick a winner from the list of people who have correctly answered the trivia question. It’s that easy!
Now, on to the trivia question.
Name the guitarist who:
- Fronted a hard-rock/metal band in the 90s that reunited in 2004, and
- Has an ESP Signature guitar, and
- Played guitar with David Bowie, and
- Studied jazz guitar in New York
As noted above, simply correctly identify this guitarist by commenting below, and you will be entered to win the free shirt! Note that if you win you’ll need to provide your e-mail and mailing address in order to get the shirt shipped to you. The contest will be open until 12:00 midnight on August 20th, 2008. I’ll notify and announce the winner on August 21st, 2008.
Good luck!
Eric Clapton - Outside Woman Blues
If you’re a fan of Cream’s Disraeli Gears album, you’ll probably enjoy this acoustic rendition of Outside Woman Blues, played by Clapton and recorded for a Classic Album DVD covering the Disraeli Gears album.
(via the Acoustic Guitar Blog)
Joe Bonamassa on the Les Paul
Joe Bonamassa discussing why he chose the Les Paul as his instrument of choice:
“One night, I was doing this classical thing I do using the volume control, and I was playing it on a Strat,” Bonamassa said. “When I finished the show someone came up to me and told that I sounded like Stevie Ray [Vaughan] playing a violin. Well, bless his heart, and God bless Stevie Ray, but it sounded nothing like Stevie Ray. And please don’t get me wrong, I was heavily influenced by Stevie, but what it showed me is that if you waltz up there with a Stratocaster and play anything remotely resembling the blues you’re going to be compared to someone else.”
Unfortunately, I think he’s right. If you strap on a Strat and play a blues lick, you’re going to be compared to Stevie Ray. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, but I imagine it can get frustrating if you’re trying to make a name for yourself as a guitarist and songwriter.
Pre-Gig Rituals
Many athletes are superstitious. Whenever they get on a streak, they try and do the same thing before each game. For example, they may wear the same shirt and the same socks, or they may eat the same food before each game.
Are musicians similarly superstitious? I.e. if you gig regularly, do you have a pre-gig ritual that you must follow before every show? Do you have to listen to the same song before every show? Do you have to have a group hug before every show?
I haven’t gigged in a long time, so I don’t have any pre-gig rituals. However, if you gig regularly, let us know if you have any pre-gig rituals!
Jack Johnson’s Positive Impact
CNN recently posted an article titled Jack Johnson’s big green business machine, which discusses Johnson’s eco-friendly recording and touring:
“We shrink our carbon footprint always, but we have all these nonprofit groups that we all work with,” says Johnson. “Money from the shows goes to these groups and helps bolster their memberships so that after we leave the town, these groups can continue to do good things. So more than just lessening our negative [environmental] impact, it’s actually leaving a positive impact [wherever we tour],” says Johnson.
Additional actions taken by Brushfire tours will include fueling tour vehicles with sustainable biodiesel, offering eco-friendly merchandise, working with venues to create waste management programs, onsite recycling and encouraging fans to use alternative transportation.
It’s good to see Johnson’s efforts getting national attention. Hopefully, more artists will consider their impact on the cities they play in as they travel across the nation and the world.
Do you want to be a guitar player, or do you want to play guitar?
During one of John Grisham’s recent book tours, Grisham answered questions posed by readers. One reader posed the basic question “How can I become a writer?” I thought Grisham’s response was fantastic. He essentially responded by saying “Do you want to be a writer, or do you want to write?” It was a very thought-provoking answer, and I think the same logic applies to the guitar.
I think most of us got into playing guitar because we wanted to be a guitar player. We were inspired by our favorite guitarist(s), and we picked up the instrument to try and recreate the music that we loved. Moreover, many of us wanted to be a famous guitar hero that other people look up to like we looked up to our heroes. Wanting to be a guitar player is not a bad thing. However, at some point, those of us that stick with the instrument must make the transition from wanting to be a guitar player to wanting to play guitar.
You might be wondering, “What’s the difference?” The distinction is this. Wanting to be a guitar player is an external motivating factor. The focus is on how other people perceive you. By contrast, wanting to play guitar is an internal motivating factor. You are playing guitar because you want to, not because you want others to perceive you as a guitar player. If you want to play the guitar, you will do so even if no one else knows about it. It takes a lot of hours woodshedding in order to be a great guitar player, and most of those hours are spent alone hunched over the guitar. And, spending all that time requires a great desire to play the guitar.
Although I think wanting to play guitar is more important than wanting to be a guitar player, I’m not suggesting that you can’t want to do both. In fact, some of the best artists are those that love the guitar so much, they can’t think of doing anything other than being a guitar player and playing the guitar all the time. The choices are not mutually exclusive. However, I don’t think you can ever be a great guitar player unless you want to play guitar all the time.
Guitar Lifestyle T-Shirts!
I love t-shirts. I feel like a good t-shirt sets the tone for the day. If I’m in a guitar mood, I’ll put on a guitar-related t-shirt, and the shirt will help keep me focused on the guitar throughout the day, even if I’m not around my guitar. It’s also a great conversation starter; it lets people know that you’re a guitar player. And, one of the things that I’ve wanted to do ever since starting the Guitar Lifestyle Web site in 2005 was to create a guitar-related t-shirt. To that end…
I’m very pleased to announce the availability of the Guitar Lifestyle t-shirt! The Guitar Lifestyle Web site is currently being redesigned by my friends at Purr Design, and the Guitar Lifestyle t-shirt sports the new logo design that they have come up with, which I’m very fond of. The shirt is available in several different colors: Military Green (shown), Black, Cardinal, Navy, Red, Royal, Brown, and Charcoal.
The shirts are fulfilled by CafePress, which is a well-known online provider of custom-made products. I have the Military Green shirt and am very impressed with the quality of the shirt. The shirt is pre-shrunk and 100% cotton.
If you love the guitar and guitar-related t-shirts like I do, show the world with the Guitar Lifestyle t-shirt!
David Gilmour Stratocaster
DavidGilmour.com is reporting that a Fender Custom Shop David Gilmour Stratocaster, which is modeled after Gilmour’s famous Black Strat, will be released on September 22, 2008. The release is scheduled to coincide with the release of Gilmour’s “Live in Gdansk” album, which will also be released on September 22.
Here’s what DavidGilmour.com has to say about the guitar:
In the two years that the guitar has been in discussion, a number of prototypes have been produced, and the final version was only approved when David was happy that all elements combined to make a sound that was as close as possible to his own guitar’s. The ‘Black Strat’ comes in a hard case (by G&G) stuffed with extras: Phil Taylor’s ‘Black Strat’ book, a set of GHS David Gilmour Boomer strings, a copy of the 3-disc version of Live In Gdańsk, a cable by Evidence Audio, a deluxe Fender leather strap, and a David Gilmour plectrum. The interior of the case is a plush green, including embroidered David Gilmour and Fender Custom Shop logos.
There will be two models: a relic model and a ‘New Old Stock’ model:
• The ‘Relic’, which replicates the ‘Black Strat’ as it is today with aged parts and worn paint, plus all the wear and tear of David’s heavily-used 30-year-old guitar – with no backplate.
• The ‘New Old Stock’ model, which replicates the ‘Black Strat’ as it is now – but with all-new parts, ‘new’ paint finish and an additional white plastic backplate. The NOS model should be found at a lower retail price than the ‘Relic’.
Looks nice!
* Photo credit: DavidGilmour.com
(via Strat-o-Blogster)
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About
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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