Topic: New member
Hi guys,just a note to introduce myself. My name is Mike,I'm 41 and I live in Seattle,Wa. I've been aware for several years of Joe and his amazing playing as a guitar prodigy after reading about him in the various guitar rags, back when I had time to practice and play all the time, bought the Bloodline album and was blown away! Over the years I gradually quit playing,due to all the things that happen as you get older(Too tired,can't crank it up or the neighbors will get pissed,don't have time...etc.)and sold all my gear. Even though I don't play anymore,I'm still a guitar freak. Last Dec. I was flipping through the channels on TV and saw and heard this incredible blues player. I stopped and checked it out wondering who was this guy and where could I hear more!The show was a local public access show called Blues to Do and the host said it was J.B.,he had a new album out and he was playing that weekend at Jazz Alley. That night I went to the store and bought copies of all of his albums.I had often wondered what happened with him after Bloodline and am damn glad I found out! I went and saw him that weekend and was blown away! I bought the Rockpalast DVD and let my dad borrow it and he thought it was great also. I took my folks and some friends of theirs to see him at the Moore Theater last Sat. What an unbelivable show! I bought Sloe Gin and haven't stopped playing it.What a great album. Anyway look forward to hearing from any body who are guitar freaks like me...Mike
As far as playing goes, I just used to sit down,put a CD in and work out songs section by section,rewinding over and over untill pretty soon I could play the whole song. I think it really helped develop my ear and I got so I could pick things up pretty quickly. It is somewhat time consuming,but I got to be a pretty fair player after a couple of years.There used to be a magazine called Guitar for the Practicing Musician that had a lot of songs wrote out in tabliture which is fairly easy to figure out but I don't even know if it is still in print. They would probably only be doing todays lame music anyway! I did finally take some lessons but didn't learn a whole lot and my teacher finally said I just should join a band and start playing. I've been thinking about getting back into it but I just can't decide what guitar I want to buy. I like Strats,but I also love the fat sound and sustain of Les Pauls. I used to have an Ibanez RG 550 that was a good one(one of my other heroes Joe Satriani plays them!) so I don't know,I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and buy one of them. Stevie Ray is another of my heros and I was fortunate enough to meet him a month before he died, after a show at the Gorge Ampitheater. I was devistated when he was killed. It took about two years before I could listen to his albums again....Mike