It`s a subject of great interest both for its pseudo religious supranatural leanings and the degree to which this tradition has been perpetuated through different media to this day. The lone artist, soaked in liquour or absinthe, an artist struggling with, for or against the elements or humanity in defiance of tradition, change, oppression -a freedom fighter channelling the forces of good or evil through a talismanic or demoniacal engagement to the guitar. A vocal tradition hoodoo-esque, incantational, evangelical, proselytising, confessional, mean, base or sexual. What do you want your blues to be?
You can view the photos here.
An incantatory, elemental, almost Amerindian element to the blues, a rhythmic, hypnotism and hoodoo-esque quality exists in all of John Lee`s blues and he`s a severely underrated icon perhaps to my mind. Spot the Robert Johnson stylistics and hear the cold, dirty earth under his feet. It`s wake up time so ruminate upon your past, present and future…it`s all here…
Cheers, Jake Edwards.
Jake sums up John Lee perfectly.
I need some advice. And I always find this place a good port of call when I need a bit of that.
Dudes, I’m totally lost in my own practice. I have later stages of Jamorama going off here, Jam Lead going off there, Songpond going off all over the place and a ton of Floyd tabs I’m hammering in to my face, brain, ears, fingers and guitar. But when I do one thing I always think I could to another and the back again. It’s like I want everything right NOW!! Any good advice on how to focus? Or am I doing the right thing??
Mondo, ha ha ! glad to hear you are keeping yourself busy. Man, you are probably doing the right thing without any shadow of a doubt. To be completely honest with you the core component in playing the guitar is time: henceforth the longer you can spend with it in your hands the better a relationship you will have across both mental and physical spheres with the guitar. I previously mentioned to try to find a guitar that feels right, find an amp that feels right and spend as much time learning how they all work in a holistic – symbiotic sense…its a system = you, guitar, amp and the air between… If you are always using materials to learn Mondo thats good, but are you also spending time just picking up the guitar and using it by itself…..also…listen to as much music as you can…. let me know what you think man…I hope this helps you out too.
Best regards,
Jake Edwards/
Cheers dude! Yeah, great advice. I got told by a few people that I should focus on one thing and only that thing till I had it down. But that’s like chaining myself down, man. So I practice everything, listen to everything and try and get my hands on as many guitars down the music shop as I can. Even following people who make music like yourself, HLM and others that are on that musical journey gives me great inspiration and drive.
It’s just like, I got the basics down. Used to the guitar and feel comfortable with it. And now after I got that first hurdle done I am at the a cross roads. But this cross road has 1000′s of roads leading out from it. I wanna run down every one. I’m just gonna soak it all up. Maybe I’ll meet the devil if I stand at them long enough?
Cheese for the advice, dude. It’s always sound stuff.
Ray
Mondo,
ha ha , thanks…it`s always good to focus upon one thing yes, but every second upon the guitar opens up such a wealth of possibilities, that in a world of limitless choices decision making becomes complex. Keep making the odd video and in another six months time you`ll be able to clearly visualise your progress, in a year you`ll be entirely surprised. I would never suggest not maintaining some focus upon areas you feel you need to improve, but never at the cost of fun, engagement, creativity and expression…Take your time to find a pace, schedule and curriculum that suits YOU, and no-one else, but don`t kill yourself over it – have fun, look for natural progression and what feels good, even if someone may say it`s wrong, its unorthodox…being different – being yourself is what makes a guitarist IMHO.
..the journey is as much a part of the destination as the arriving…because as you`ll discover the journey never ends…..keep on playing man, just keep on playing