JasonShadrick

Today I am heading out to the annual circus that is NAMM. If you are unable to make it out to sunny California in the middle of January, there are a few places where you can keep up with the show.

I will be posting some pics and videos here in addition to Twitter (@jasonshadrick)

Premier Guitar has a dedicated page here to collect all of our pics, videos, tweets and anything else we can squeeze out of the show. Of course I will be contributing to that as well as the Twitter account (@premierguitar).

So it begins…

A lot of things have changed for me over the last year, including my commitment to music. It has grown by leaps and bounds. Recently, I was talking with a co-worker and we collectively decided that we had won the guitar lottery. Neither of us are ground-breaking, world-changing players, but we were in the right place at the right time with the right skills. Not only have I found the coolest job possible during the last year, but my musical vision has widened.

Therefore, I present you with a list of the albums that opened my eyes (and ears) over the last year.

Dirty Side Down – Widespread Panic. It took me a little time to fully get into this album. Once I spent some time listening to it and then going to see the band live, it all clicked. Now that Jimmy Herring has had some time to find his space in the band, I think WP is finally hitting their post-Mikey stride.

American Patchwork – Anders Osborne. From the opening de-tuned riff to “On the Road to Charlie Parker,” this album had me hooked. I had heard about Anders before this, but never really got into him until this album. In August, I went and did an interview with him in Chicago and he came across as genuine and frantic all at the same time. Two traits that true artists always have.

Orchestrion – Pat Metheny. To really get what this album is all about, you need to forget that it is a “solo” album. I think with Metheny’s last album, the need to create a long-form piece had been met. With Orchestrion you really hear how Metheny’s “sound” comes through. This is probably the tour I most regret missing this year.

Live at the Jazz Standard – Wolfgang Muthspiel & Mick Goodrick. I would consider this album on of the better modern jazz duo albums of all time. Both Muthspiel and Goodrick are intimately familiar with each others playing. This type of connection betweeen two musicians is rare and to have it translate to an album is somewhat of a musical unicorn.

Georgia Warhorse – JJ Grey and Mofro. Pure Georiga blue-eyed soul. JJ has been around for a while, but this album combines the swamp feel of his homeland with the uptown horns of New Orleans. Also, the songs are GREAT. Check out the documentary vid and dig the solo acoustic version of “Gotta Know.”

10/31/2010 – Phish. I didn’t get the chance to see the boys from Vermont this year, but from all the accounts I have read, Phish 3.0 have been melting faces and busting out some new jams. This Halloween show from Atlantic City found them paying tribute to one of their main influences by covering Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus from front to back. I think for anyone who wants to like Phish, but hasn’t found something they dig, give them the second set of this show.

Living Proof – Buddy Guy. The solo on the opening track “74 Years Young” will make you reconsider the direction of your life. Guy rips into an unbelievable solo that is bursting with fire, intensity, and nearly 3/4 of a century of being one of the most legendary blues-stringers to pick up an axe. Pay attention.

Sugarcoating – Martin Sexton. I am a huge MS fan, and this album continues where the last one left off with a groovy band sound and some great writing. The only downer is the title track where Sexton takes a political slant with his lyrics. Martin, please leave the political stuff at home.

Blues, Ballads, and Favorites – Jimmie Vaughan. For his first solo album in nearly a decade, Vaughan captures the ’50s vibe perfectly and lays claim to the title of MTP (most tasteful player). His trademarked capoed guitar is in full force with a tone that is less Albert Collins and more Gatemouth Brown.

Groove Alchemy – Stanton Moore Trio. If hearing Stanton Moore play drums doesn’t make you either dance or pick up a drumstick and want to hit something, then check your vitals. Here, Moore along with organist Robert Walter and guitarist Wil Bernard head up to Levon Helm’s barn to combine funky, organ dance grooves with some burning modern jazz.

Roadsongs – Derek Trucks Band. After listening to this album and seeing Derek at the Crossroads Festival this summer, I firmly believe we will one day (probably very soon) be speaking his name alongside Beck, Clapton and Page. The sound he gets on this album is equal parts Duane Allman and Aubrey Ghent. You can tell the band has been hitting it hard and luckily on this night in Chicago the tape was rolling.

What albums did you really dig this year?

image courtesy of brent_nashville

Describe your first experience playing music.

My first experiences playing music were my goofing around with my first guitar at 5, guitar/theory lessons when I was six, recorder ensemble during my elementary education. But my first musical EXPERIENCE was putting on records by The Beatles, Wilson Pickett, Aretha, Eddie Floyd, Credence, Ahmad Jamal, Ken Nordine,Kai Winding, Chico Hamilton, Bay City Rollers, many others, between 3-5 yrs of age. That was my favorite activity, and probably still is.

What has been your most significant musical experience?

Probably the answer to question #1. Or when I heard the White Album

at age 6. Or hearing David Russell in concert when I was 14.

What is the best advice on pursuing a career in music you were ever given?

My teacher, John Holmquist, when I was a student at CIM: “Music Business is two words”, and “Never play your music faster than your ability to articulate it clearly to your listener”. That 2nd quote is a very important lesson for the aspiring professional guitarist that perhaps more guitarists could take to heart.

What is your favorite sound?

Too hard to answer, but at least this week it’s Bernard Purdie playing drums on “Caves of Altamira”. Name some of your biggest non-musical influences. My father: “even if this doesn’t become your job, you can always come home from work and play guitar for your own enjoyment” (he told me this when I was 11) and “even if there’s 1 person in the audience, you should play for that person, because they came to hear music” (when I was about 12).

What is the most memorable concert you ever attended?

Aforementioned D Russell concert, Julian Bream in ’88, Cleveland Orchestra Mahler 2nd 1999, Mitsuko Uchida in Philly playing a Mozart Piano Quintet 2000?, Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny trio setting and with Gary Burton. Too many, I know.

Put your iPod on shuffle and name the first 5 songs that come up.

No iPOD, but since we’re talking “pop” songs…this week only,

don’t get it twisted…

- electric relaxation, a tribe called quest

- refuge of the roads, joni mitchell

- black cow, steely dan

- death of auto-tune, jay-z

- bleed, meshuggah

Keep up with Jason at www.jasonvieaux.com

This is a guest post from Peter Hodgson, who is the editor of the iheartguitar blog.  It is one of my top 5 blogs I would recommend to anyone who is interested in guitar.  If you are interested in contributing a guest post, please contact me here.

One of the most effective ways of injecting excitement into a riff is syncopation. In a nutshell, syncopation is when you play a note on a beat where you probably wouldn’t expect a note. Now, when I’m playing guitar I tend to approach rhythm differently at different times. When I’m soloing I’m led by whatever melody pops into my head. As a result, the rhythm can be a bit unconventional. But when I’m playing metal rhythm, I’m all about the 16th note pulse. I keep the 16^th notes in mind even if I’m not actually playing them – for example, even when I’m playing a chugging 8th note riff I’m listening to the notes in between as well, and every now and then I might fill those spaces with little accents. Try it some time: picture the musical bar as a version of that board game Mastermind, except instead of four rows to put the pegs in, there are 16. Each peg represents a note or chord, and there’s ya rhythm.

As an example of syncopation I present to you a couple of riffs from my song ‘Just One Thing,’ which you can hear a rough mix of on my Myspace at www.myspace.com/peterhodgson The first riff has a note on every one of those 16 spaces, but some of them are accented chord stabs and others are palm-muted. The result is a steady pulse punctuated by jarring but kinda cool chords in places where you don’t really expect them, and this track has burned the brain of many a drummer for the first few listens. Initially it seems like an odd time signature, and it’s fun to watch a drummer take out the slide ruler and metronome to try to figure out where the ‘one’ is, only to realise the underlying beat is so simple that even a guitarist like me could come up with it.

Another way to approach this riff, if you’re not into the whole ‘thinking in 16th notes’ thing is to run the riff through a few times then only think about the fretted notes, letting the open-string notes in between take care of themselves by going on semi-autopilot with your alternate picking. That’s a method I find especially handy playing some Muse riffs where I’d rather enjoy the riff than think about the maths behind it.

The autopilot alternate picking method ain’t gonna help you in Riff 2 though. This one is purely chord-stab, with no chuggy muted notes in between. You need to pay close attention to the rhythm to get this one to work. Once again, imagine 16 slots. Okay? Okay. Now, in the first bar of this section, the chords fall on sub-beats 1, 2, 5, 10 and 15/16 (the last two actually being a three-note chug). Let’s try this with capitals and lower-case letters: BA-BA-ba-ba-BA-ba-ba-ba-ba-BA-ba-ba-ba-ba-BADDABA.

Obviously this kinda stuff is best used as a springboard for your own riffs and ideas. You could probably even use a 16-sided dice (you have one in your junk drawer, right?) to help you come up with random note locations. Above all, just have fun with it and don’t hurt yourself.

Download the TAB (PDF)

A big reason I wanted to start the 7 Questions project is to enlighten some of my readers to musicians who deserve wider recognition.  Mary Halvorson is a guitarist who has recently gained some critical attention, but still unknown to a large audience. Originally from Boston she gravitated to more avant garde jazz music at an early age. She then went to Wesleyan University where she met an important mentor in Anthony Braxton.

Mary’s style is equal parts angular and melodic.This gives her music an interesting feel but it also doesn’t become repettitve. I have yet to see Mary live, but hope to real soon.  Currently she is residing in Brooklyn and gigs all over.  Make sure to check her website and pick up her latest disc, Dragon’s Head on Firehouse 12 Records.

Describe your first experience playing music.

Sad to say, I honestly don’t remember. I played classical violin from ages 7-11, so likely it was something to do with the violin. The Violin Years are a blur. However, I do remember my first gig on guitar. It was at Berklee College of Music summer program when I was probably fifteen. We were playing Little Sunflower by Freddie Hubbard. I was so nervous and my hands were sweating so much that my pick slipped out of my fingers and fell on the floor.

What has been your most significant musical experience?

Meeting and playing music with Anthony Braxton.

What is the best advice on pursuing a career in music you were ever given?

Have low expectations.

What is your favorite sound?

Church bells.

Name some of your biggest non-musical influences.

Astrology and cities.

What was the most memorable concert you ever attended?

Probably the Art Ensemble of Chicago in Boston when I was a teenager. It was doubly memorable because I was with my father and it was his most memorable concert as well. It opened up a whole world for both of us.

Put your iPod on shuffle and list the first 5 songs that appear

“Mean Old World” by Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers

“Are you Lonesome Tonight?” by Elvis Presley

“Divining a Hot Spot” by Gorge Trio

“A Night in Tunisia” by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

“Madness” by Miles Davis