December 28, 2010

Glenn Jones Interview Smorgasbord, & Music Too!


Dwars session and interview

VPRO
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Recorded 13th November 2004
Broadcast 14th April 2005
-Friday Nights With
-Lauren’s Blues
-Teething Necklace
-Linden Avenue Stomp [with Jack Rose]
-Richard Nixon Orchid
-Sphinx Under Curious Men

Download it here


All rights reserved by Spinning On Air
Great show with David Garland in the WNYC Studio.  Talking...Music...press play, you know you want to.



See all the photos HERE

All rights reserved by Spinning On Air

December 23, 2010

Grossman's Delta Blues - Used Book Find

I found this Stefan Grossman Delta Blues TAB book at the used book store the other day.  Wasn't going to buy it as I have more books than I know what to do with...but as I was flipping through it I noticed it has one of those old plastic records in it.  Two sided even.  So, I had to have it!




 

December 21, 2010

Harlem Slim - King of the Delta Bluesmen - Delta Thug


Harlem Slim is from New York (hence the name?) and now resides in Houston TX working at Fullers Vintage Guitars and teaching. He has recently made a shift to flamenco music. A musical direction I have also taken after many years of listening and playing the blues. But this CD is pure Delta Blues played on resonator guitar with plenty of slide work. I believe some of these tunes are by Slim, but most are classic delta covers. Dyin' Crapshooters Blues is an excellent effort as is Poor Boy.



Track List
1. Cross Road Blues - 2:36
2. Dehlia - 3:16
3. Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues - 4:22
4. Just As Well Get Ready, You Got To Die - 3:52
5. HKind Hearted Woman - 4:20
6. Me & The Devil Blues - 4:50
7. Poor Boy - 3:37
8. Sweet Home Chicago - 4:01
9. T'aint Long Before Day - 2:37
10. The Organ Grinders Monkey - 0:57
11. Walking Blues - 5:14

=======================================


Another release by Harlem Slim. This one starts off with some distorted electric work, there are a couple of them on this one. Harlem's also got a couple guests on this one as well. But it mostly comprised of his familiar vintage 30's resonator sound. Good stuff!

Artist Website

Get it HERE

Track List
1. Harlem Breakdown (Slim) - 2:40
2. 32-20 Blues (Johnson) - 3:06
3. Main Street Rag (Slim) - 1:47
4. Back Door Friend (Hopkins, Lewis) - 4:46
5. Statesboro Blues (McTell) - 5:23
6. 42nd St. Stroll (Slim) - 1:30
7. All Around Man (Carter) - 3:28
8. Cocaine Blues (Jordan) - 3:15
9. Delta Thug Stomp (Slim) - 2:05
10. Terraplane Blues (Johnson) - 6:14
11. Bluebird (Hooker) - 4:07
12. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (Traditional) - 1:14
13. Evil Spirit (Slim) - 1:30
14. When I Lay My Burden Down (Traditional) - 4:14
15. Plantation Song (Slim) - 2:00
16. Preachin' Blues (Johnson) - 3:55
17. Conjure Man (Slim) - 4:02
  

December 19, 2010

Richard Johnston - Deep Blues Festival

A friend of mine has been lucky enough to see Richard Johnston many times on Beale St in Memphis and by all accounts he kicks some serious butt.
If you aren't familiar with him he usually is a solo performer playing guitar, singing and the drums via a special setup operated by just his feet. He also plays a cigar box guitar quite often. You can tell when he is playing the cigar box guitar because it is strung with a bass string to improve that over all groove thang in the performance. If you know what I mean, and I think you do.
This is a soundboard recording from: The Deep Blues Festival at Washington County Fairgrounds, Lake Elmo, MN on July 18th, 2008
If you like this style you should also check out John-Alex Mason I've been going to his shows in Colorado for a long time. He used to do just the acoustic blues but Johnston showed him how to set up the one-man-band deal and that's been his dominant style for a couple years now.

Get it  HERE

A documentary has been produced about Johnston

Visit Richard Johnston on the web!
  

December 15, 2010

Pat Donohue - "Mudslide" Guitar Tab

According to Chet Atkins, Pat Donohue is "one of the greatest fingerpickers in the world." Any praise that could be given to a guitar player seems insignificant next to such a statement, but Donohue's work warrants even more acclaim. He was named the 1983 National Fingerpicking Guitar Champion, and continues to garner recognition as an exceptional musician and entertainer. Fans of National Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion have been treated to the fingerpicked guitar work of Pat Donohue for years, whether they know it or not. Donohue started appearing as a guest performer in the '80s and has been a regular member of the show's house band since 1993. -from All Music Guide Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC

I recently purchased the video you see above and to your right. Excellent video that includes Mudslide. I found this very helpful in fleshing out the little nuances of this song that are difficult to include in a tab. And like many guitarists, Donohue never really plays a song the same way twice. So between this rendition and the embedded one below you have a few options for embellishments, intros and outros.

Thanks to Vicki Taylor for writing this song down for me.

I've transferred it to Power Tab and I'll include a text version as well.

Notes on the tab and some tips:

Look for some text above the music denoting a section 1, 2 & 3 and a chorus section. Since I'm musically illiterate, I have no idea how to use the secret coda to guide you through the music. But it is very simple, play section 1 - chorus - section 2 - chorus - section 3.

If you have played a little slide before then it should be fairly simple to figure out what parts are fingered vs. played with the slide. Nonetheless I tried to note "NS" for 'no slide' above the sections that are fingered.
Download the tab here: TEXT FILE
                                    WORD FILE
                                  

Of course you should visit Pat Donohue' site
Consider buying this video from Amazon or Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop

Drop.io Drops the Ball

From the Drop.io blog:

The drop.io service will be closing onDec. 15. Until then, people will be able to use existing drops they’ve created, but won’t be able to create new drops. After Dec. 15, drop.io will be closing and all user data and content will be deleted, so please download files you have stored on the service before then.

Well that really sucks. Nearly ALL the downloadable content on this blog is on the drop.io servers.  Oh, and hey drop.io, you never ran out of effort when it came to sending me promotional emails.  But not ONE email warning me of this shut down.  Not one. 

Bite me, Drop.io

Good thing I visited the blog, just by coincidence. 

So...

Though I will try to get all content transferred to another host, undoubtedly I will miss one here and there.  So drop me a comment on the the post that doesn't have a working link.

Mean while I've been recycling some of the old posts as I re-link the music.  Hope you've found some old gems you didn't know were here. 

On the bright side I've actually shelled out some cash for the new storage site and this will enhance your download experience.  No more ads, no wait times.  Don't you feel special?  The d/l will now (90%) of the time just save the file to your computer and no more re-directs and all that crap!
  

December 9, 2010

Jack Rose's 1997 Island Koa Slide Guitar

by Buck Curran


photo by Buck Curran


This summer Shanti and I visited Glenn Jones and took photos of Jack's guitars in Glenn's back yard. It was quite surreal looking at those instruments in the afternoon sun and thinking never again would Jack conjure music out of those bodies of wood and steel. The most curious thing I noticed when looking at all the guitars; underneath the strings on the top between the soundhole and bridge, a patch of white residue that looks like violin bow rosin. I hadn't noticed this before, but I guess most of the time hanging out with Jack was in room lighting. Glenn informed me that for the longest time he didn't know what it was either, but after sometime realized it was the residue from Jack's white thumb picks. I had to laugh when I thought about Jack shredding his thumbpick as he fingerpicked, but it holds testament to Jack's attack on the strings and the strength of his hands. Of course, not so hard to understand when watching him perform or when listening to his records. His right hand was a beautiful thing of power and precision. 


photo by Buck Curran


Jack's guitars include two Taylor dreadnoughts, but the significant guitar of the batch is a unique handmade slide guitar. A Weissenborn style lap guitar made of very lightly figured Hawaiian Koa and featuring a metal saddle and nut. The instrument, serial number 97099 Island Koa Instruments was made in 1997 by English luthier Pete Howlett. This guitar can be heard on Jack's best recordings, and the piece Now That I'm a Man Full Grown II from the 2005 release Kensington Blues is a perfect example of the dynamics and power he could summon with this instrument. There is also some great footage of Jack playing this guitar on the highly recommended DVD The Things We Used to Do released by Strange Attractors Audio House this year. 




One thing is for certain...Jack really loved and cared for his guitars. Looking at his Island Koa (though the finish is worn) and both Taylor guitars, I noticed they are structurally in great shape. He may have played hard, but it was the strings that took the blissful punishment. Jack and I exchanged quite a few emails over the years, talking about guitars a lot of the time I really got to know what his preferences were when it came to acoustic guitars. I was building a guitar for him when he passed. I really felt like I could've built him the perfect guitar and it's sad to think we'll never be able to finish that collaboration. It's very clear when thinking about Jack himself and when listening to his music...the World is a much better place for the Life that Jack put in it while he was here. He will be missed always!
~Buck Curran 8 December 2010


Buck and Shanti Curran are the Indie folk dou Arborea 
and are working on a new release.






December 8, 2010

Jack Rose & Glenn Jones - New DVD Review


If you haven't seen the trailer for this yet, check it out.



As you can see, it’s very nicely shot with some great angles on the playing. It definitely has plenty of good camera work for the guitar geek in me. I love the pans across the strings, especially that low E string when it’s been tuned down to C and is floppin’ all over the place.

The DVD kicks things off with two duets,
Linden Ave Stomp and
Miss May’s Place


Then Jack takes over for the first studio section. First up are the lap slide songs,
Gage Blues
Revolt
Levee and
Song for the Owl

Rose switches to the 6-string and performs
Dusty Grass
Fishtown Flower
The World Has Let Me Down
Kensington Blues and
Blessed be the Name of Lord

Rose gave up playing the 12 string at some point of his career, so we don’t get to see him play that instrument. But it’s all good because Glenn Jones is up next and takes us thru his world of bizarre 12 string tunings and partial capos. In some ways it’s surprising that these guys played together when you see them play in this DVD, there’s a real shift in the feel as you are watching this video. We go from Rose’s muscular playing that is very bluesy to Jones with the more expansive, longer, intricate pieces, nearly all from the recently released “Barbecue Bob in Fishtown.”

Jones starts us off with
Redwood Ramble Misremembered
Barbecue Bob in Fishtown
1337 Shattuck Avenue, Apartment D
A Geranium for Mano-a-Mano
David and the Phoenix and
A Lark in Earnest
The last song is new territory for Glenn, a piece for the banjo.


At this point we get to see some concert footage of the two, playing separately, in a club in Philly. Continuing with Jones in the live performance we get two more songs from “Barbecue Bob in Fishtown” and that just about covers the entire release! The live set is three songs, one each on 6-string, banjo and a slide medley on a reso-guitar.

Jones plays
Dead Reckoning
Keep it 100 Years
Medley: Island 1 / Against my Ruin

Rose performs an equally diverse set
Cross the North Fork
Luck in the Valley
St. Louis Blues

Closing out the DVD is an interview with the two musicians. This may be my favorite part of the entire DVD. I have always been rooted in the acoustic guitar. I’m not sure I can get into any deep philosophical reason for it. It’s always just been the instrument that spoke to me. Even before I discovered the blues of Mississippi John Hurt, Ackerman’s stuff and of course Fahey, I was in love with the acoustic. I always loved the rock songs that had am acoustic base to them. Like the backbone of Heart’s “Crazy on You” and Led Zepplin’s “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.” I don’t know if it’s the clichéd sounding “well it’s organic” or what there is about it. But while I have always really appreciated the electric and the power it wields, when it gets down to it I would rather play an acoustic.

So I really identify with how Rose talks about starting off on the acoustic and eventually coming back to it with all that electric playing in the middle. As much as I love electric players of all kinds I want to listen to it more than play it.

Name dropping is always a useful part of any interview to discover new artists. Byron Coley even mentions Ragtime Ralph!

Glenn talks quite a bit about driving Robbie Basho around on an east coast tour, very interesting. The highlight might be Glenn’s impersonation of Fahey, it’s quite funny.

And DO NOT miss the discussion of “pussy chords.” According to Rose: Glenn uses “pussy chords,” hilarious!

This is a fantastic deal for the money. Nearly two hours of great music and a 37 minute interview. This DVD really has it all, duets, solo performances by each, both “studio” and in a live setting and to top it all off, an interview of the two.

Head on over to Strange Attractors Audio House and pick up this DVD ! Regular shipping is free, even the big river company can't beat this price.



Keep on pickin' and grinin'!
   

Jack Rose - NPR and Andrew Stranglen pay Tribute

Tim Bugbee/Tinnitus Photography
Time for a little more Jack Rose content! 
Andrew Stranglen has sent me a couple tunes to share with all of you! 
Andrew is certainly no Fahey traditionalist!  Instead preferring electric sounding mixes, flabby low-tuned guitars and usually improvising as often as not.  It's great!
Hit the link to d/l 2 songs: "I Didn't Know Jack" and "Dis Wam Me"
About "I Didn't Know Jack" - "I recorded at home with a crappy mic and a soundhole p.u.and the mic's not prominent at all in the mix Tuning is open C/NO, it's Open A7th tune to open C then drop it down to A, then tune the high string from C# to C for that 7th nice and flabby drop tuning"
About "Dis Wam Me" - Recorded with a ZOOM, part of a larger project Andrew is working on.
Get Andrew's tunes HERE

Rose has been garnering some attention on NPR as of late.  Here's some links to those in case you missed them.

Tim Bugbee/Tinnitus Photography

 

And some older stuff too!






Also, Rose's new CD is now out, Luck in the Valley
  

December 7, 2010

Jack Rose Guitar TAB


You can't ask for much more than the effort some people put into tabbing out songs.  I've done a few myself and I find it a long and tedious process.
So a big thanks to crabbe_head over at the FaheyGuitarPlayers forum for taking the time to work these out!


Download them:

Jack Rose - Kensington Blues

Jack Rose - Blessed be the name of the Lord, from raag manifestos

 icon Enjoy!

A Collection of Jack Rose Links

Unfortunately I never got to see Jack Rose play, never met him. But when I finally discovered his music, namely the releases on VHF, I ordered all three of them at once. I wasn't worried that I wouldn't like them. I knew I had found a hell of a guitar player. I've bought about everything of his I could get my hands on ever since.  If you like Rose's music, please make the effort to buy some.

This simply a collection of the links about Jack Rose, about his death and about his music.




BUY Jack Rose from EMUSIC icon

December 5, 2010

Podcast - Christmas Music & Jack Rose Tribute

In this first episode I play some tracks from the new Sean Smith Christmas release as well as tracks by Mike Fekete and Ragtime Ralph. The second part of the show is a tribute to Jack Rose where I play a wide variety of his music.

DOWNLOAD the show.

Show Notes

00:53 – Sean Smith – Christmas Time is Here, a Meditation from “Christmas”

03:14 – Mike Fekete – Silent Night, KAOS 89.3 Olympia WA broadcast

09:58 – Ragtime Ralph – White Christmas from “Vol. 4”

14:23 - Sean Smith – Christmas Morning (Improvisation I) from “Christmas”

15:32 - Sean Smith - Christmas Eve (Improvisation II) from “Christmas”

17:03 - Part Two – Jack Rose

18:20 – Jack Rose – Tex from BBC Maida Vale

31:55 - Jack Rose – Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground from BBC Maida Vale

36:01 - Jack Rose – Kensington Blues from Peel Sessions

39:16 – Jack Rose – Buckdancer’s Choice from split 7” on Funeral Folk (same cut as Dr. Ragtime CDr)

41:40 – Jack Rose – How Green was my Valley from split 7” on Funeral Folk

43:53 – Jack Rose – Knoxville Blues from Dr. Ragtime CDr



Credits, etcetera…
Thanks to Tompkins Square, Mike Fekete and Ragtime Ralph for permission to play selected cuts.
Jack Rose cuts are bootlegs or out of print.
Thanks to James “Tapeleg” Gralian for the voice over introduction.
Into and outro bumper music by Ragtime Ralph
Produced by J Scott Moore

Thanks for listening.

The Big Post of Jack Rose Bootlegs

One year ago today Jack Rose left this world.  This is the first of a series of posts paying tribute to Rose and his music. 

Today is all music.

The first five of these are new to this site.

The rest has been posted here before but are now collected all into one post. 

Hope you enjoy, raise a toast to the memory of Jack Rose.

Thanks to Ghost-Capital for this one.


1 Teoc 2:57
2 Gage Blues 3:11
3 Old Country Rock (Bill Moore) 1:51
4 Buckdancer's Choice (Sam Mcgee) 2:23
5 Knoxville Blues (Sam Mcgee) 3:29
6 Flirtin' With The Undertaker 3:05

(17th Nov, 2004)
01 Tex 13:33
02 Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground 4:07

(08-12-2006)
Great set of 12 string and lap style!

01 Cathedral Et Chartres
03 Sun King Rag
04 Now That I'm a Man Full Grown II
05 Flirtin' with the Undertaker
06 Rappahanock River Ragg

Kensington Blues
St. Louis Blues
Sun Dogs
Black Pearls





Jack Rose
Brickbat Books
Philadelphia PA July 10 2009
Personnel on this one is Nathan Bowles on washboards and banjo throughout, Harmonica Dan joins on a few tracks, and Glenn Jones joins in on the last two tracks.
01 Kensington Blues / Blessed Be the Name of the Lord / Luck in the Valley
02 ?
03 Soft Steel Piston
04 Woodpiles on the Side of the Road
05 Walkin' Blues
06 St. Louis Blues
07 Special Rider
08 When Tailgate Drops, The Bullshit Stops
09 Linden Avenue Stomp / Moon in the Gutter
10 Moon in the Gutter [continued]
Get it HERE



Jack Rose
"Dr Ragtime & His Opium Jass Hounds"
Brickbat Books
Philadelphia PA Feb 27 2009

01 Sunflower River Blues
02 Kensington Blues
03 Calais to Dover / The World Has Let Me Down
04 The World Has Let Me Down [continued]
05 Dusty Grass
06 When Tailgate Drops, The Bullshit Stops
07 Linden Avenue Stomp
08 St. Louis Blues
09 Walkin' Blues
10 Special Rider
11 Fishtown Flower
12 ?
13 Luck in the Valley
Get it HERE


September 4, 2009Night Light Chapel Hill
recorded by threelobed
1. -intro-2. Everybody Ought To Pray Sometime3. -4. Sail Away Ladies5. Kensington Blues6. Luck In The Valley7. Soft Steel Piston8. Some Happy Day9. Hand Me Down My Walking Cane10. Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord11. Knoxville Blues12. Revolt13. Special Rider14. Goodbye Booze


The Black Twig Pickers & Jack Rose
Now Music & Fashion, Alexandria, VA, USA March 7, 2003
The Black Twig Pickers
01 Old Plank Road  02 Nine-Pound Hammer 03 ?04 ? 05 Going Down the Road  06 Handsome Molly  07 31 Week Blues  08 Sittin' on Top of the World  09 Worried Blues  10 Once I Had a Fortune  11 Where'd You Get Your Whiskey?
36 minutes.

Jack Rose
01 [tuning]02 Flirtin' With the Undertaker  03 Whiskey Before Breakfast  04 Mississippi Sawyer 05 Black Pearls06 Buckdancer's Choice / Nobody's Business
26 minutes.





thanks to http://twitter.com/oldmanwall for this one
   
  



London, 12th March 2008


01 intro (00:29)
02 Linden Avenue Stomp (04:14)
03 Miss Mary's Place (02:55)
04 Bells/Gage Blues/St. Louis Blues (10:08)
05 Revolt (03:14)
06 Levee (04:15)
07 Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord/Kensington Blues/? (10:49)
08 tuning (01:24)
09 Fishtown Flower (03:01)
10 Dusty Grass (05:43)
11 Flirtin' With The Undertaker (03:07)
12 Buckdancer's Choice (03:26)
total 52:44







Cafe Oto, London
3rd November 2009

Jack Rose
Nathan Bowles
Mike Gangloff

01 [intro/tuning]
02 Bright Sunny South
03 Little Sadie
04 Revolt
05 Soft Steel Piston
06 All Over the Floor
07 Luck in the Valley
08 Blessed Be the Name of the Lord
09 Kensington Blues
10 Sail Away Ladies
11 Buckdancer's Choice
12 Hand Me Down My Walking Cane
13 Special Rider
14 Some Happy Day
15 Everybody Ought to Pray Sometime
16 [drink break/encore]
17 Lick Mountain Ramble
total 70:39




The owner of Three Lobed Recordings made this available.

Setlist:
01 Kensington Blues
02 Blessed Be the Name of the Lord
03 Cross the North Fork
04 Rappahannock River Rag
05 St. Louis Blues
06 Gage Blues
07 Miss May's Place
08 Linden Avenue Stomp / Now That I'm a Man Full Grown II (false start)
09 Now That I'm a Man Full Grown II



Jack Rose is clearly one of the most successful musicians of the many that John Fahey has influenced.  Musically, Rose is a success! He has taken Fahey's music and launched it into the realm of technical virtuoso. He plays American Primitive on the 12 string with an obvious nod to Fahey, but he steps out into space as well. Playing long, intricate pieces that no doubt challenge him as much as they do the listener.
This is a radio broadcast.
Tracks 2-4 are Found on the Kensington Blues release, 5 & 6 can be found on the Dr. Ragtime & Pals release.
Here is the info received with the files. I made some spelling corrections to the titles.

January 16, 2007

DeSmet studio's
Amsterdam, Holland.
Broadcast: February 1, 2007
Dwars, Concertzender
The Netherlands
01 Intro
02 Kensington Blues
03 Cross the North Fork
04 Rappahanock River Rag
05 Dusty Grass
06 Miss May's Place
07 Closing

Buy his music here: vhf recordsthrill jockeythree lobed
      

November 20, 2010

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Rare Cuts & Recollections

When I first heard SRV in 1983 I couldn’t believe my ears. Dominating the charts at the time were people like Michael Jackson, Men at Work, the Police, Hall & Oates and Prince. Hmmm…nothing bluesy about that. Although that isn’t really a fair way to look at it, I had yet to really discover a way to find music other than what was being played on the radio. So the fact that SRV was able to get on the charts in the Eighties was a stroke of luck for me. The Eighties would proceed even further downhill with chart toppers like Culture Club, Wham!, crappy Dire Straits and ZZ Top efforts and the eventual rise of the hair bands. Sometimes I think SRV and the music he opened up to me was all that kept me sane. Hyperbole, you say? Perhaps.
I became a huge fan and went to nearly every show in Colorado including his first tour through town at a great little venue known as the Rainbow Music Hall, that was Aug. 16th, 1983. The show cost me $5.20. In all I saw SRV 9 times and I even got to meet him backstage at Red Rocks in 1989. They wouldn’t allow pictures but here is the autograph I got along with all my ticket stubs and the backstage pass.
I’ve also posted some of the t-shirts I collected over the years.

Sometime in early ’89 the record store I worked at got a new Columbia rep and I was on him from day one about Stevie. When is a new album coming out? When is he coming to town? Apparently he realized I was a pretty big fan and not only did he get me backstage but he got me this totally cool bright green SRV shirt to boot! Dig those double-pleated pockets! I think I could fit a laptop in each one. Ah well, the embroidered SRV is pretty cool.

In October of 1990 I got to meet Jimmie Vaughan at an industry convention in Dallas. It was a mere months after the death of Stevie and he had been scheduled to play for us. Instead, Jimmie got up there and gave a eulogy of sorts and showed the debut of the video of Tick-Tock from the Family Style release. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Jimmie was kind enough to sign an autograph for me later that day.

The 2007 release of Solos Sessions & Encores has made many of these available, but there are still a few missing. Fortunately I have some of them on vinyl. I’ve also included a couple that are still available but that the average SRV fan may not be aware of and that were not included on the Solos Sessions & Encores release. There are some other appearances by SRV with unlikely artists such as Don Johnson, Teena Marie, Stevie Wonder and James Brown. Most of these are available or despite Stevie’s work are too painful to listen to so are not included here.
Solos, Sessions & Encores, Cut 3 is “Don't Stop by the Creek, Son” w/ Johnny Copeland from the 1983 Texas Twister, (now out of print). But SRV was also a guest on “When the Rain Starts Fallin'” a cut that is not included on the Rounder re-release of 1990. So I have included it here.



Cut 4 is Miami Strut, an instrumental with A.C. Reed from 1987’s  I’m in the Wrong Business. Stevie lent a hand on two more cuts, “I Can’t Go On This Way” and “These Blues Is Killing Me”. Again, included here.
Cut 5 is Na-Na-Ne-Na-Ney from Bill Carter’s Loaded Dice, 1988. This one must have got by me back in the day. I don’t recall ever hearing about it so I do not have it, nor can I find it. If anyone out there has it let me know.
After that there is some unreleased and or live stuff, followed by one cut from the David Bowie release.
Anyone ever notice Bowie “playing” the guitar solo in the video of Let’s Dance? With a pair of white gloves on… It’s just a video, I know, but to insinuate that he is playing those tasty licks? Lame.
Ok, a few more things to add.

In 1985 Blue Note released Twilight Time by Bennie Wallace. SRV on a Blue Note jazz release, amazing the recognition he was getting, he was on top of the world and everyone wanted Stevie to play a solo on their record. On an album full of guests including Dr. John, Stevie made two appearances, “All Night Dance” and “Trouble in Mind”. This one is out of print.

Distant Drums by Brian Slawson (1988) has got to be one of the more unlikely musical hookups a blues guy like Stevie could have made. This is a very cool piece. Be sure to check out the pictures of SRV & Slawson here.

Famous Blue Raincoat by Jennifer Warnes, (1986) is another rather unlikely meeting of the minds, but I think it worked well. Stevie plays some nice tasty licks on this one. I actually own the 45 rpm single of this one.

Get the music HERE
Hope you enjoy.
      

November 18, 2010

Tompkins Square Label 5th Anniversary Sampler



Hey folks, Other Music Digital Music is offering a free sampler download from the Tompkins Square label. 

From the site:

It's a fine, fine label, and we're excited to be marking their 5-year anniversary with this FREE, Other Music-curated download sampler, featuring 12 of our favorite songs from their great catalogue. Additionally, for the next two weeks we are offering every Tompkins Square album on Other Music Digital for the very low price of $5.99.


   

November 16, 2010

Yair Yona - Official Bootleg #2



The second Official Bootleg release, features some tunes from the upcoming second album along with some old tunes and covers of Bert Jansch and John Fahey.

Recorded in Tel Aviv, October 20th 2010

released 15 November 2010


BUY Yair Yona from EMUSIC icon      

November 14, 2010

Arborea - Red Planet - Update, Almost There

Update - Hey folks, just wanted to let you know that the project is doing well and as of this writing is only a few hundred dollars from funding.  So if any of you fence- sittershave been meaning to throw a little support their way, now is the time.

Buck and Shanti Curan, the duo also known as Arborea have a Kickstarter project going on and I think you ought to check it out.


This project needs some funding to get off the ground. If you like their music, just visit the KICKSTARTER page to see how you can help. The project needs funding and there's a deadline.  Check it out!!! If the project doesn't fund, you owe nothing. 

Buck Curan most recently curated the Robbie Basho tribute release, We Are One, In The Sun.  If you haven't heard much Arborea, check out their cut from that release.

Blue Crystal Fire by Arborea

Keep up with news via their FaceBook page.

BUY Arborea from EMUSIC icon

November 11, 2010

JAMES BLACKSHAW St Leonard's Church 16th October 2010

10/10/07 with Eli Keszler and Black Forest/Black Sea (photo: Susanna Bolle

JAMES BLACKSHAW
St Leonard's Church
Shoreditch
London
16th October 2010

01. All Is Falling
02. Tuning
03. The Cloud Of Unknowing
04. Tuning
05. Past Has Not Passed
06. Talk and Tuning
07. Transient Life In Twilight

Download it HERE

Support the artist - buy the records - go to the shows
http://www.myspace.com/jamesblackshaw
http://younggodrecords.com/Artists/?C=1988

And the winner, BY A MILE, of the CD give away is rleaf2003 with his killer, hybrid poem-comment.  It deserves a reprint:

Roses are red, violets are blue
I hope I get this cd via you,
and if I do..
heres what I'll do:

I'll play it for me,
my daughter and wife
in my car and truck &
and for all of my life

Echoes of Thompkins
ringing down the street
coming from my headphones
as my feet touch concrete

Walking to the store
to buy IA4
I thought I had won,
but alas, I dreamed this folklore

So once again I support IA4,
but hope Santa/ or the postman
knocks on my door,
and says: Ryan you won :)

Nice one!  Dude, shoot me your addy and I'll drop the CD in the mail.

November 10, 2010

An Interview with Pat O'Connell

(Photo by Michael Lenzi)
All week Delta-Slider will be running interviews with artists from the Imaginational Anthem Vol 4 release.  Today we are talking to Pat O'Connell.
 Considering the critical acclaim that this series has garnered, how do you feel about being included in this 4th volume?
  It’s a thrill to be included on this. The comps are very well done. Actually, of the four, Vol. 4 is my favorite. Seems like there is more consistency between each track. In compilations, I prefer that to lots of variety. For example, on the previous comps, you go from 12-string guitar to banjo to lo-fi blues-to hi-fi jazz, long tracks, short ones, etc, etc. This volume sounds like 10 performances that are very aligned with each other.

Your compositions are very melodic. Do you think part of that comes from your background as a songwriter?
  Yes. For me, the melody is the thing that really conjures an emotion. When I used to write rock songs, the melody always came first and was more critical than the lyrics.

You've said that you don’t play the dissonant sounds that are in vogue right now among many solo guitarists. What is it about that that doesn’t appeal to you?
  I don’t think it is entirely because it doesn’t appeal to me. In fact, some of my favorite guitar music I listen to has plenty of dissonance. For example, John Fahey had that amazing ability to play something that is going along nice and pretty then he just slips in a blue note or a minor chord or something unexpected that is sort of twisted, but genius at the same time. I always try to achieve stuff like that but rarely succeed. I don’t know, when I start playing stuff that’s bluesy or discordant, it starts sounding to me like I’m playing outside of my skin or something. Like that’s not what I’m meant to do. It’s hard to explain.

You used to sing, why the transition to instrumental? Do you sing or perform any songs by some of your influences, for example the blues players?
  Me? Sing blues? I don’t think so. Simply put, I just don’t have a very good singing voice. When I used to sing in a band, the hardest part was just trying to sing in tune. Recording vocal tracks was a nightmare for me. I kind of faked my way through it and actually managed to come up with some decent stuff once in a while. Believe me, nothing moves me like hearing a great vocal performance, but I guess I finally just decided that it wasn’t worth the effort. I don’t think that had anything to do with starting to play instrumental guitar though. It was just a nice coincidence that I started to get into finger picking. Suddenly I could satisfy my urges to compose, without the roadblocks of vocals and lyrics.

Looking in from the outside, I see a guy that went from a 90's rock band to a solo guitar instrumentalist. How did you get from A to B? Or was that part of your playing always there?
  Like many others, it all started for me as a teenager with Rock and Roll and songs I heard on the radio. Then, as time passed I simply kept exploring, constantly checking out different music, of any genre really. Some stuck, some didn’t.
But when I found something I liked, I kept digging deeper, reading liner notes of albums and finding who influenced that artist then seeking out those influences and so on. Just soaking everything up like a sponge and developing my preferences. For example, you’re 16, just got your driver’s license, driving around and you hear a Tom Petty song on the radio and everything is great. Sounds familiar, right? Well, maybe you go to Kmart and buy a Tom Petty cassette and read in the liner notes how he was influenced by Bob Dylan. So you borrow a Dylan album from a friend, read the liner notes and he mentions Miles Davis or Leadbelly. You’ve never heard of either of these characters but the names sound cool so you wonder and keep searching, and on and on. This isn’t what happened with me but that’s the basic idea. Exploring. But to be more specific, you may recall there was this sudden buzz about Nick Drake maybe 10 or 15 years ago. So I checked him out and was quite blown away and bought the box set. His finger picking is incredible to me and it may have been what started me thinking about trying to focus on playing acoustic guitar. Once you start down that path it can keep you busy for a while. There are just countless artists to explore and the nice thing is it’s all relatively obscure. So when you discover something new you have that feeling like it’s your little secret.

I think you have mentioned to me that you like your solo guitar to be just that, solo. No overdubs, simple recording methods…can you comment on that?
  When it comes to finger picking acoustic guitar, to me, it’s just by design a solo form. Adding other instruments just distracts from the intimacy. From a composing standpoint, I like the idea that with just one instrument, you are very restricted. There’s only so much you can do. So the challenge (and the art) is to play something that moves a listener within those constraints. I’ve messed around with drones and banjo harmonies, harmonicas and other stuff but they usually seem arbitrary. Don’t get me wrong I love duets and small combos. But with the type of picking that I do, which is basically like a version of Travis-picking, solo is the only way that works, for my ears.

Do you think you will ever go back to playing in a band? Or: Do you think your solo playing will ever be anything more than solo? In others words, do you see yourself going down the road that so many of the new solo guitarists have gone down: adding percussion: synth, or whatever?
  I’m not very interested in adding percussion or synth for the reasons I mentioned in the previous question. As for other solo guitarists doing this, I haven’t heard an example of this yet that I’ve enjoyed. But hey I’m sure some folks dig it. So no, my solo playing will most likely be just me and a guitar. Will I go back to playing in a band? Absolutely. But I will most likely play bass guitar. That’s really what I’m more comfortable with. Been listening to a lot of 70’s funk and soul records lately. I’d like to find a band like that. Although Albuquerque is not exactly a hotbed for that sort of thing.

How does your rock background in rock affect your playing now? Or does it?
  Most pop and rock & roll songs are 2:50, have a little hook and have verses and choruses. If you break down most of my songs you’ll find that they are structured the same way.

Who's the most famous person in your cell or email?
  My Aunt. She’s famous for her tuna casserole.

If you could sit down and jam with any musician dead or alive. Who would it be?
  Grant Green

How did you learn to play your style?
  First, I just kept trying to learn how to play tunes off the records. Trying to copy tunes like Creole Belle, Freight Train, John Henry, Vastopol, stuff like that. Of course, nowadays, there are also so many instructional books and DVDs and tablature on the internet. I take advantage of those things as well. Anyway, as you become comfortable copying other people’s tunes it’s natural to start trying variations so you can play them your way. Then of course, you start trying to create your own tunes, but it’s really using all that stuff as a guide. I was finding that what I liked best was playing picking patterns as opposed to a looser more freestyle picking. I love when a pattern is developed then you just put slight variations in it to see what happens. Once you get it down, it doesn’t take a ton of dexterity, like for example playing a ragtime piece. It’s kind of easy, yet the hard part is arranging it into a good tune. Also, the open tunings are a big part of my style as well. Picking patterns work best for me in open tunings.

Is the 12 string guitar or a slide piece something we’ll ever hear from you? Or are you mainly interested in the 6 string?
  I enjoy playing slide and I’ve recorded a few tunes. So yes, that’s a good possibility. 12-string however is a different story. I’ve dabbled, but I just can’t get used to it. Also, I tend to change tunings a lot and the thought of tuning a 12-string does not sound appealing.

How did your musical career start?
  I only had a “career” in music for a few years back in the 90’s when I was with Number One Cup. It started when we signed our record deal and ended when we broke up.

In the arena of solo guitarists, who is an important player to you?
  The most important must be John Fahey. He pretty much sums up everything I like about solo guitar.

How important is Ray Kane’s work to you?
  Of the Slack Key players, he is probably my favorite. He leaves a lot of space between the notes and never tends to get too “sappy”, which some slack key guitarists are guilty of. Also, his tunes for me are easier to copy than other slack key players because they are relatively simple and there is such clarity in the picking. So I learned a lot from him.

It sounds like Hawaiian Slack Key style influences your compositions. Is that accurate?
  Absolutely. I love that stuff. It is to Hawaii what country blues is to the rural south. Sort of a homegrown folk style that gets passed down to each generation. If you listen to it a lot and then learn some of the tunes yourself, it can easily seep into your own compositions.

Future projects we should know about?
  I’m working on recording some traditional guitar tunes. Hopefully I’ll feel like assembling them and releasing something some day.

Be sure to check out Pat O'Connell on CDbaby
Pat is also on MySpace

Leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of IA4 on CD.  I'll pick the best one on Friday.










And don't forget that you can buy IA4 on vinyl, very limited edition and well priced.  Get it HERE
Probably much shinier than this old thing.









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