Jimi Hendrix would have been 69 years old today. I like to think of a world in which Jimi existed for more than the 4-6 years that he changed the face of rock music. But we only had him for a few years and boy did he jam a bunch of awesomeness in to just a few years.

I don’t want to make this a long post – I want to get back to listening to Jimi on his birthday. Here are my two favorite Hendrix recordings, as well as a couple of covers by people who do Jimi correctly.

Jimi doing Like a Rolling Stone live in Monterey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J2WdcW0ZY4

Jimi doing Bold As Love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xTcLrTabS4

And on to the covers…First up is a Chicagoan,
Stan Skibby, doing an awesome cover of Hear My Train a Comin’. I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Stan & crew a few times. In addition to being an amazing guitar player he is also a phenomenal human being. Check him out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgfRAw3LfUg

Next up is Stevie Ray doing Little Wing/Third Stone. This one goes without saying as one of the greatest-of-all-time interpretations of Jimi’s music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAG-kX_IlUw

To round out the covers, I offer you John Mayer doing Bold As Love. Say what you want about him being a douche, he kills this song. And kudos to him for introducing 16 year old girls around the world to the music of Jimi Hendrix. Oh, and Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan are the best rhythm section in the history of blues and rock music. Yeah, I said it :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQSGa8nZs8g

Working on a solo acoustic set…here’s my version of “Soulshine” by Warren Haynes. Allmans do a great version of it. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lyw1mteBzc

I had the opportunity to meet BB King on Saturday night, and all I can say is “wow.” This is a world class musician who has toured the world dozens of times, played over 15,000 shows in career lasting 60+ years, met heads of state, and changed the face of music…

…and he’s also incredibly humble.

I continue to be surprised by the amount of famous and ridiculously gifted musician’s I’ve met who are the most down-to-earth, humble folks in the world. (Bruce Hornsby, Stan Skibby & Brian Vander Ark come to mind…) BB was no exception.

After telling him that he was a huge influence on my guitar playing (and decision to study music), he said “You started playing at 6? I didn’t start until I was 11. By the time you’re my age you’re going to have a lot more experience than me.” I told him that I couldn’t figure out how to make the damn things (guitars) work, and he said “me either. There are a few guys who have really figured it out…Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, but I’m not one of them.” I said “if you haven’t figured it out yet, Mr. King, that doesn’t bode well for the rest of us normal guys!”

We then took a couple pics and he signed a show poster for me. (I wanted to pick up my 335 to have him sign it but didn’t have time to get it…) Then I went on my way.

There’s a lesson in here for all of us – greatness is complemented by humility.

I don’t normally stop famous people when I see them. I ate dinner next to (literally right next to) Randy Couture at a locals spot about a month ago, and despite my lady poking me on the leg every 45 seconds, I did not identify that I knew who he was or ask for an autograph or pic. We talked a bit and we had a great conversation with his girlfriend (who loves dogs and is from South Bend, IN). But I normally don’t like to be the douchebag fanboy – I prefer to leave them alone. I wouldn’t want people glomming on to me all the time, so I try to be respectful.

That said, Vernon Reid was a huge influence during my formative musical years, so when I had the chance to meet him, I took it!

After the Experience Hendrix Tour, I headed off for a bit with my drummer, music hombre, and BFAM Corey Owens. As we headed back to the casino to drink some water and prepare for our drive home, I spied the one and only Vernon Reid walking from the concert venue to his hotel room.

I said “hey, you played tonight, right?” He seemed to try to ignore us, looked around a bit and then said “yeah, man.” I told him he sounded great…better than last year. He clearly didn’t want to be fucked with so I tried to whip up a question that would make him think, complement him, and let him beat a hasty retreat if he wanted.

What I asked was “Who would you rather jam with – Joe Satriani or Steve Vai?” I asked this because he ended this year’s show jamming with Steve over Foxey Lady. Last year’s show ended with him jamming with Satch on Watchtower.

He said “Wow…” and actually thought for a second before saying that they were both sick players, but he really enjoyed the Vai experience. He also mentioned that there was talk of Satch showing up to create a Satch/Vai/Reid jam at the end of the night this year, but that Satch couldn’t pull it off with his schedule.

I also asked if he played a Parker guitar (which he clearly did) and he just said “yeah.” I figured he could have elaborated if he wanted to, but since he gave the one word answer I guessed he wanted to get up to his room.

After telling him it was great to meet him, Corey and I shook his hand and we walked off.

The Experience Hendrix tour opened their 2011 tour in Vegas last night. What a show! Just like last year, the bill was full of rock guitar monsters paying homage to Jimi. (I tried to record a bit of it but was slapped down by the man, so you’ll have to do with the written descriptions.) Just a few highlights:

Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) is an absolute shredder, and went back and forth with Kenny Wayne Shepherd (another guitar badass) Johnny Lang (another guitar badass) on a number of Hendrix classics.

Johnny Lang started an acoustic version of All Along The Watchtower with Chris Layton (SRV’s band) on drums, the guys from Los Lobos on guitar, and a sick slide player from a group called the Slide Brothers. This turned in to one of the hardest rocking versions of Watchtower that I’ve ever heard.

Just like last year, Living Colour and guitar player Vernon Reid rocked out everything they played. (I met Vernon later in the night – more on that in a future post).

Eric Johnson played a couple of tunes backed by Billy Cox, Hendrix’s bass player! Eric is a hell of a good singer and his fluid style combined with some obvious Hendrix quotes made for fantastic jams.

Mato (from Indigenous) also came out and played on a few tunes, although I was pretty disappointed with his performance. After hearing Pachyderm Studios 1998, I know the guy is a sick blues player. He seemed to really hold back on stage. I couldn’t tell if it was because he was trying to not upstage some of the other players or if he just wasn’t in to it, but I was hoping for a bit more from him.

At the end of the show, Living Colour came back on the stage so Vernon could jam with Steve Vai on Foxey Lady. That was about a 10 minute morsel of jaw dropping, guitar shredding awesomeness.

Here’s a link to the 2011 tour schedule. This is a “don’t miss” show.

Take a look at Sungha Jung – awesome young fingerpicker from Korea. Gotta love his determination…he’s young to be this good! He must be working his butt off!

Sungha Jung

Playin’ A Tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RVFQwl6n_M

I started playing guitar when I was 5. About a year later, my folks got me my first full sized acoustic guitar. I had the thing for years (10 or so) before learning anything about it. It is called a Madeira – a cheap import that Guild made in the late 60′s and early 70′s. While there isn’t anything special about the brand or the materials, something about this guitar has always been wonderful. It sounds almost like a Martin, with a very full, rich sound. I haven’t been apart from this guitar for more than 3-4 days in the last 27 years. I love it. Everyone who plays it can tell it’s a special axe, too.

About 5 years ago I started searching eBay for a second Madeira. There were several models; many of them were cheap laminate. My guitar was the higher quality solid wood version.

I’m very pleased to report that after years of looking, my Madeira A32sb finally has a twin sister. I purchased it on eBay last week and it arrived yesterday. I strung it up and was really pleased to find out that the sound is almost identical to my main acoustic. (I’ll post a side by side test here later in the week.)

Anyway, here are some pics of the new axe:

Although my acoustic guitar is one of my most treasured possessions, my folks probably didn’t pay more than $200 for it. Yet it’s been with me through tough times in high school, college, music school, and discovering this awesome career in internet marketing. I played it and sang for my wife on our wedding day with that guitar. I’d be devastated if anything happened to it so I couldn’t be happier to have a spare.

I put this together to clarify some jumbled up comments I made on the Chordie.com forums yesterday, but thought others might be able to benefit, too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41qB_1y_Zkg

My buddy Billy Kay is a successful online marketer, Las Vegan, musician, and now – music video star!

Billy’s doing what he loves: Making music and sharing it. Granted, he probably has a bit more disposable income for these projects than most guitar pickers, but still, you gotta give the guy a hand for going after it.

Billy Kay’s latest video is in post at the moment and will feature a very very sexy lady who is also a big time public figure. (I’m not going to disclose who since I’m not sure if it’s a secret.)

Anyway, check out his music at Billy Kay Music. It’s a bright, poppy, country-influenced singer songwriter sound.

And learn a lesson from Billy Kay: Use the internet to pay the bills but don’t forget to spend some time (and money) following your dreams!

I just had my first guitar lesson in 6 years. My teacher, Marc Seguin, was in cold-ass Montreal while I learned from the lovely desert climes of Las Vegas. Internet is something, isn’t it?

I was a bit skeptical of these jazz guitar lessons, which were held via Skype. I wasn’t sure if Marc was going to be able to effectively teach over an internet connection.

Boy was I wrong! Ten minutes in to the deal he had his metronome out and was showing me some new approaches to improvisation that I clearly ignored in music school.

The lesson was an hour, during which time he gave me enough practice material to last a month.

Long story short, it went really well. I was impressed with his approach to the fretboard and ability to communicate in terms that I understand. His prices are also extremely reasonable.

I highly suggest you check Marc Seguin out. You can reach him at JazzGuitarLessons.net