Category: Music
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The Sex Pistols are such a media driven band that one would think that there’s not much more you could learn about them. I even wrote a term paper in grad school mainly about the Pistols. The course was entitled, Music and Indoctrination. But there is still plenty to learn until Paul Cook’s bio…
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Budapest is a city that conjures an exotic image: Eastern Europe, Brahms’ Hungarian Rhapsodies… Palinka! I made my second visit there this past March and continued to find my way into the city’s fascinating cultural life, especially the music scene. The first stop was the jewel-like State Opera House (above) where I finally got to…
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With the clock starting to tick on the making of Saints & Sinners debut album, we headed back into Jeff Cook’s Underground Studio in Bushwick to record slide guitar. I had my trusty ’76 hardtail Strat along with a 2014 Fender Pro Junior and a couple of pedals. Bassist Dave Gerstein was along for the…
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The moon was almost full as I walked the last few blocks to The Shrine. When I got there I ordered a Heineken at the bar and it only cost five dollars – I don’t know if it was happy hour but it was a good sign. My high school friend Eric Alterman had invited…
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Green has always been one of my favorite colors… Saints & Sinners are currently in Jeff Cook’s Bushwick studio working on their debut album. The record will feature ten tracks including about half originals, some juicy covers (Robert Johnson, Sonny Boy Williamson, Freddie King) and some instrumentals with ten tracks in all. Christian Botta was…
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The first finger vibrato, employing a rapid rotation of the left hand wrist, is an essential blues and rock guitar technique that is well worth perfecting. B.B. King is the true master of this move, and although it may look simple, the mechanics can be somewhat elusive for those who are trying it out for…
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When I got the gig playing lead in Mancie in December, I was a bit unsure if I could do it right after ten years removed from my last alternative rock project, Cargo Culte. I had some ideas that I wanted to use, namely I had fallen in love with Joy Division over the years…
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Jimi Hendrix’s solo in “Hey Joe” is a lesson in how to play ‘greasy’ – the style where articulation effects with exaggerated emotion take precedence. Many of the essential blues rock techniques are used and they’re delivered in a hot and heavy style, often in combination or one right after the other. You can learn…
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The end of the year always makes me excited. I love the fall and always look forward to January, where a new year awaits. Yes, there is trouble ahead. But we can’t take it lying down. We’ve got to boogie. I’ve got some cool shows coming up and I just want to let you know…
On Practicing Guitar 