You Can Pick Your Friends
Posted on June 13th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Music, Picture stories, Youtube.
And you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.
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Rig and settings:
60th Anniv American Fat Strat Deluxe
Fender Hotrod Deluxe - clean channel
Volume 2/12
Treble 9
Bass 5
Mid 8
Reverb 3
Presence 9
BBE Green Screamer
Boss DD6 echo
Warren Haynes Joins Junior Brown at Wanee 2008
Posted on April 16th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Music, Weird Nights Out.
It was Friday night of Wanee Fest 2008 when Gov’t Mule was into its second set back at the main Peach Stage. Though I’d been dancing my ass off with the Mule and cherishing every second of this experience, I knew but one thing: I cannot miss Junior Brown.
Truth be told, Junior was one my primary reasons for shelling out $185 (after fees and taxes) for a 3-day ticket to this thing. I mean, yes I was dying to see Ratdog and yes I was dying to see moe. play again, but since starting my own guitar journey, Junior was the can’t-miss.
Apparently this was also the case for the flock of bluesmen who met me at the Mushroom Stage at 12:15 in hopes that even though the Mule was running its second set late (all the acts were running behind), we’d get a chance to be in FRONT for the Junior Brown set. I was pleased and relieved to know that my decision making process to leave a Gov’t Mule set in exchange for Junior Brown was sound, judging from the caliber of guitarists standing around me.
One of them was Tony Tyler, who I mentioned in a previous post. A wild frock of curly blonde hair and a goatee frame, I noticed him first as he approached the stage area. With him were a handful of other guitarists whom I’d seen the previous evening at the campground jam. More on the campground jam in a later post. Gladly, they’d been also driven to Junior’s set.
I struck up conversation first with their drummer, a young blonde kid that looked just like Derek Trucks. He gets that a lot, he said. Then, an older fella wearing a ‘Got Duane’ t-shirt with a mustache, the one playing the flametop Les Paul the night before. I told him I had recently picked up the guitar, and how I wasn’t the same since. He was very friendly and engaging — smart guy, I could tell right away, wish I’d gotten his name — and he even gave me some advice, loosely paraphrased here:
The way I get my tone is to crank the mids up as high as they can go, and then start bumping up the trebs and the bass until you get it right. I prefer my [tube] overdrive to be just just close to the breakup point but not distorted.
Then, conversation struck up with a second of the dudes from the night before. He told me that “all of these guys, we’re truly close friends,” and that they were from a smaller town in Georgia, I forgot the name. He motioned to the mustache fella, the blonde kid (Tony), and to a bunch of other guys, who I ended up chatting brienfly with about music, guitars, and Junior Brown.
I was very glad to be talking to these guys. It was surreal, as the night before I was in total awe of their guitar chops at the campsite jam, and now, here I was, getting to talk to them and jaw around about gear and tone and the festival, influences…. shit, I was in newbie guitarist heaven. It probably showed.
Below is one of the two short videos I caught of Junior Brown and Warren Haynes jammin’, tradin’ licks and havin’ fun. I believe they played Dust My Broom, and I know they ended with Johnny B. Goode, at close to 3am.
Wanee Fest 2008 - Junior Brown and Warren Haynes Jam
Posted on April 14th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Music, Picture stories, Weird Nights Out.
Photos from Wanee Festival - 2008 - Live Oak, Florida. I do not know the names of the guys in the campsite jam photos except Tony Tyler, the blonde headed fella on the right side. That dude could PLAY, folks lemme tell ya. He reminded me of a young Trey Anastasio. When I met him while waiting for Junior Brown to come onstage, I told him so. His face lit up, thankfully, as the weight of this conpliment didn’t escape him. Really, really nice guy… from somewhere up in Georgia. Apparently, all these dudes in the photos are musician buddies from wherever they live. I’d love to visit for a show or two, as these guys know their shit. They were remarkably friendly and approachable, all of them.
Some photos from Wanee Fest in Live Oak.
Campsite Jam - unknown band. I did meet and talk with all of these guys, but the only name I got (or retained) was Tony Tyler, the fair haired fella in tye die.
Junior Brown / Warren Haynes shots were taken up close before my camera went kaput.
16 Photos
Ubuntu Studio Screenshot
Posted on March 19th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Linux, Music.
Ubuntu-Studio has proven to be a handy little suite for everything you’d want in a home recording studio. Here’s a screenshot taken just after laying a bass guitar track onto a stereo recording straight from Sooperlooper. Click the thumb to nlarge for details.
Moonset at theerion’s [He’s Gone - Grateful Dead Europe 72]
Posted on March 14th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Music, Youtube.
Southern Culture on the Skids at Skipper’s
Posted on February 28th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Florida Living, Friends, Music, Weird Nights Out.
My first SCOTS show…. amazing! Skipper’s Smokehouse is an intimate little venue with a few bars, heated chiki-huts, and barnyard style seating for smallish shows, though I’m sure the place can pack up pretty well. Southern Culture on the Skids is an amazing band, and we got to chat briefly with them after the show. I LOVE small venues for reasons like this. The Demolition String Band was the opener, and they rocked pretty good, too!
Happy Valentine’s Day
Posted on February 14th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Felines, Music, Youtube.
Too Hip, Gotta Go
Posted on January 23rd, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Chris' Stuff, Music, Youtube.
Guitar Lesson - 2 Chord Gravy
Posted on November 17th, 2007 by Chris.
Filed under: Chris' Stuff, Music, Youtube.
Originally recorded for the “Dad and Dave” video series, this is a great lesson for beginning guitarists. It illustrates the possibilities, rhythmically and tonally, of using two humble chords, Am - D7. Hope you enjoy, and if you want to see more of my musical efforts, check out my Youtube Channel.
Stumblin’ through the Blues
Posted on September 23rd, 2007 by Chris.
Filed under: Chris' Stuff, Music.
Going through my older videos this morning, I find that in retrospect, I’ve strayed very far away from what initially drove me to play guitar last year. First it was Trey. Then, it was Jerry. Then, it was “the 3 Kings” (Freddie King, BB King, and Albert King). Then, it was Brian Setzer.
What was it like, back on April 1st (no fooling), to have the Blues?