Hi everyone

i managed to find my way to introductions. i just wanted to say thankyou to everyone for being so friendly and taking an interest in what i do. so i thought i should tell you lovely people a little about myself, ive been listening to Joe for about 2 years now. i think i actually first heard of him via a friend of mine, who i think posts on here aswell. his a nice chap called Scott (thebluesman1962) and i remember he sent me a video of joe doing just got paid, in germany i think. i sat and listened to the extended guitar solo and i think my head almost exploded! ive always loved the blues, especialy blues with a rock edge and big chops like gary moore, srv, walter trout and those guys but i think joes sheer mastery of the instrument is somthing completly unique and special, his a technical wizz and still doesnt loose a shred of his soul. but anyway i just realised im preaching to the converted

so ive been a rock player mostly, i played in a great band up in scotland called ninetysix4 for a couple years to a certain degree of success. i realy enjoyed my time in that band, they are a great bunch of guys and super talented musicians. probably the best time i had with the band was in shanghai china, we landed a great gig in a huge park in the middle of this huge city. i got to play infront of 30,000 for the most packed shows and probably 1 million people over the week and best of all i met my girlfriend who had traveled there aswell dancing with a band called fun in the front seat.

i guess in the end ninetysix4s rythem section is so strong and tight that it doesnt allow a great deal of freedom for a lead guitarist, plus i have always been leaning towards wanting to be a bluesyer kinda guy. so i have been practicing very very hard the last few years trying to get to a level where people can recognise and apreshiate my playing. its quite funny because i have arrived at my own style now and i can see alot of paralels to joes playing which have happened by accident, ive always been a huge paul gilbert fan who as im sure you are aware has a terrifying picking technique which i have taken alot of influence from where Joe is a huge eric johnson fan and has taken a great deal of influence from him when it comes to negotiating those big pentatonic runs. and like joe i spend alot of time listening to the early blues masters, the 3 kings in particular. most of what i listen to is good old blues rock like stevie ray and walter trout

anyway its great to be on the forum talking to like minded people who share my love of joe, probably the best blues guitarist of our generation.

if you would like to take a look at my playing have a little look at the link, i did a rocked up going down. any comments on it are always great and i dont mind a bit of constructive critism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6AsHu3Q5zM

hope everyones keeping well, im looking foward to hearing back from everyone

Sammy