Hopefully what my new band will be like…

It’s all about the ladies

Top 5 Favourite Movies

1.   The Razor’s Edge

2.   Rushmore

3.   Lost in Translation

4.   Mulholland Drive

5.   500 Days of Summer

Enjoy…

How to create a successful (i.e. one that makes money) band…

Ok.. This is going to be a top ten list of the things you do if you want to be in a successful band that I have discovered..

1. Your band is only going to be as good as the singer – you can be the hottest player in the area but if your singer can’t stay in key or can’t remember words your DOA

2. Find the best drummer you can – no joke it can make mediocre musicians sound great

3. Know your role – it’s a fun business but a business so if you are good at figuring out songs be that guy if your singer is good at promoting let him be in charge of that, if your rhythm guitar player writes decent songs let him be the writer

4. Any money you make for the first year re-invest in equipment – Owning a good PA is a necessity for a cover band

5. Play to your strengths – if your singer is better at rnb then metal do rnb.. or find a good metal singer. And keep the songs in his\her comfort zone range wise..

6. Any grievences with bandmates handle them outside practice or the show – go get a drink and talk it out on an off day

7. Plug the hell out of your band – Use the internet as much as you can and get your friends/family to show up for at least the first year until you can get into places with alot of foot traffic. Also be nice to these people they are helping to support want you love to do.

8. Be humble – Don’t get a big head, thats crazy.. word gets around you are a jerk. Plus really do you think you are all that because you are in like the best local band.. get a big head when you are packing stadiums. I betcha the guys that stick around and are big are still pretty nice…

9. Be your own booking agent or get someone to do it for you – Let the straightest guy/girl in the group do this and always be polite and be professional word gets around if you are not.

10. Learn 50 Songs – A good number to have in the can.. and learn dance songs if at all possible. Girls dancing is what you want, then guys hang out to watch and buy beer.. it’s how it works

P.S…

Also be nice to the crazy weird guy thats always at the club he usually knows the owner and for some reason he\she listens to their opinion

P.S.S..

Watch how much you drink – It’s kinda a cliche but all cliches have a little bit of truth to them

This is what goes through my head before every Edgewood show…

Sweep the leg Johnny!!!!

Analog Vs. Digital Effects

My thoughts on this are pretty straight forward, If you are going to play live do not use digital effects. I have tried, it’s just so tempting to get like 20 effects for $200 – $300. The problem is that you might not notice it right away but it’ll start sounding brittle and well digital not organic at all. This might be cool if that is what you are going for but take that money and get 3 or 4 name brand individual pedals and start turning some knobs. Boss, Ibanez, mxr, there are tons of them just stay away from digitech and DOD… Blech!!! I also like that it’s like a crayon box where you pick out what you need to color with just at that time.  I play country so I have a Boss compressor, Delay, and an Ibanez tubescreamer. I also have a boss phaser, Maxon chorus ( both to just break up the sound a little because we play for 4 hours a night ), and a boss Equalizer ( for a volume boost for solo’s). If I was playing hard rock I would more then likely keep the same pedals and switch out the amp using the distortion on it ( Mesa triple Rectifier for heavy stuff, or a Bogner… or an older  Marshall for Rock stuff replacing my tubescreamer for a Ratt pedal… I’m also a big fan of the Roland Jazz chorus amp It’s super clean ( Tube amps vs. solid state is another article) )

Anyway I know this is a long rant but just learn from my mistakes and get single individual pedals instead of a multieffects thing. The bad thing about this is there are always exceptions, the average person who is not a guitar player listening to it might be fine… Also I’m a fan of true bypass, where the signal is not effected by the pedal in some adverse way. On boutique pedals, I like them… well I like the ideal of some small group working in their basement trying to come up with something they hear in their head. Looking for a certain sound reminds me of my dad who as a mechanic he is always trying to fine tune or get more horsepower out of his motorcycle. You never stop trying, you might be satisfied for a while but eventually you get the bug to experiment to see what works a little better and thats a fun thing for a guitarist. On Boutique pedals, right now I am eyeing a Nashville pedal from Eden Analog http://www.edenanalogeffects.com/Nashville.html… I want a new crayon for my box.

Sad but true for most of us… =(

Finding the perfect Distortion Pedal

Distortion pedals are a hot mess. I’m a carpenter and my pedals are my tools but I just can’t find a distortion pedal I like. I have tried a blues driver ( OD pedals are used interchangably for this discussion), Boss OD pedal, Metal zone, Turbo Distortion, Rat pedal, and now I’m trying a Marshall jackhammer pedal. Hopefully that last pedal will work. I have a tubescreamer that I do like. It’s great for most stuff but I need something for Jason Aldean stuff and harder rock songs. The open back twin reverb is probably not helping but I love the clean Bakerfield sound it can do. Another amp with an A/B switch would probably be the answer but I can bring myself to lug another amp around, the twin weighs a ton. I hate digital modeling effect thingy’s live, they are sterile and I like analog knobs not parameters. Oh well the search continues…

Update:

I give up, the Jackhammer didn’t work out… I blame the twin, it only plays nice with the tubescreamer.  Now I added a chorus pedal and now only have the one overdrive pedal. Maybe I get a Bogner and add an a/b switch, my back and car are going to hate me.. LOL

 

My favorite local guitar player – Tony McElwain

When I was 14 I had a band before I had a guitar. When I got one it was a really heavy Celebrity by Ovation that I rented from the Doo Wop shop on Bardstown RD. I rented it from a guy named Tony McElwain and he was in a band called the Velcro Pygmies at the time. They were doing college alternative stuff like REM, The Cure, and The Cult. Stuff that I saw late at night on MTV’s 120 minutes. He told me they were going to be playing Phoenix hill that night and were going to be live on the radio. I listened that night and it was pretty frickin amazing. I still can’t get the sound he got on The cult’s “She sells sanctuary” and I still can’t get the intro to “Killing an arab” by the Cure. It was crazy to me that somebody that I talked to was actually playing on the radio. When I was 19 I couldn’t hold down a job because I really didn’t care about anything except playing the guitar. Tony got me a job there and helped me to develop a work ethic. When I was working there I tried to steal his licks, I watched his disipline when forming a band, and he took me to his shows while he was playing out. I definately wouldn’t be playing country music if it wasn’t for him. The guy just loves music and he’s weird but in like the best way. He was just a regular friend with all the musicians in town: the metal guys, the cool alternative people, country musicians, Jazz players. And I never seen him act differently around any of them.  They all respected his ability.  Seriously if you get to see him play you’ll know what I mean, he’s really a badass, and he has the greatest tattoo ever… Thanks brother

CD Review “This Time” by Dwight Yoakam

I love this CD so much…

Dwight Yoakam was a turning point for me. My grandma gave me a bunch of tapes my grandpa had after he passed away and there was 3 or 4 that were Dwight’s along with some Johnny Cash. My grandpa drank everyday and wasn’t the best to my dad and grandma but man he loved me so much. So I listened to try to understand the guy… I don’t know if you can glean any info into somebody’s psyche by checking out their music but it gave me a direction for my guitar playing when I got stuck so I’m grateful.

Track1. Pocket of a Clown - If this CD had a weak spot it would be this song but I can’t fault a guy for trying to stretch his writing skills. If I was Pete Anderson I would have cut the girl backup vocals but Pete’s the man so what are you goin do?  =) 

Track2. A Thousand Miles from Nowhere - So frikken great and sounds as big as an open sky. If you were just travelin by boxcar, with your guitar, and reading  jack kerouac this song would be on infinite repeat.

Track3. Home for Sale - When the organ comes in at the bridge you’ll hear some of the best lyrics I have ever heard…

Track4. This Time - Buck Owen’s influence is all over this.. and if you don’t like Buck Owens then F^%K you!!

Track5. Two Doors Down - I hate going to bars if I’m not playing…  so if you see me without a guitar in a bar then this song is going through my head

Track6. Ain’t that Lonely Yet - Sometimes you get hurt so much by somebody that you have to put the breaks on it…

Track7. King of Fools - Channeling Buck again and I’m a sucker for tremolo on a guitar…

Track8. Fast as You - This song is so much fun to play live.. and Pete Anderson is the man. I can’t play his solo’s on this.. but I keep trying. Plus girls dancing is what it’s all about…

Track9. Try not to Look so Pretty - Women just don’t know what effect they can have on us… I think of ‘Helen of Troy” when this comes on… This is what Paris had on his ipod when he was trying to get her to run away with him.

Track10. Wild Ride - A stones influenced rocker and I love the slapback on his vocals.. I want to sneak this into our setlist

Track11. Lonesome Roads - Quintessential country song to me… sometimes these subjects can sound comical by lesser artists but it’s great here. You need a hounddog, a harmonica, and some heartbreak and your set.

It’s a good bookend to a country collection… and on the other side put the movie ‘SlingBlade”. His band in that reminds me of  “Edgewood” LOL… I’m the guy in the wheelchair