I was recently surfing YouTube (as I often do) looking up specific performances by my favorite artists and I came across this one of Eric Clapton playing Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" from the Bobfest concert back in 1992 or early 1993. Being a huge Clapton fan, I've seen (or listened to) just about every bootleg / legitimate concert media there is in existence on him and in my opinion, this particular performance is EC at the top of his game. We all have our favorite eras with his career (and he's had MANY), but to me.. it all came together for this single performance. It's perfect vocally, the band sounds amazing, his guitar playing is phenomenal, for whatever reason - that performance says it all. Keep in mind he had just recorded his Unplugged session just prior to this (and if I remember correctly when Ron Wood introduces him, he makes a comment about his short hair cut), so I think everyone was expecting him to come out and do an acoustic number. It's also interesting that he doesn't play rhythm in this, just plays on in the moments that he's not singing (very much of a BB / Freddie King thing to do), and to be honest I can't think of many other times he's played this way, I suppose it doesn't hurt to have Steve Cropper and G.E. Smith backing you up. Anyway, I love coming across performances like these on YouTube that would be otherwise extremely hard to find.

Gibson just announced a new limited edition acoustic guitar, The Keb' Mo' Bluesmaster (here's a link). I've always been a huge fan of both parlour style acoustics and Gibson guitars, so this guitar is really the best of both worlds. It looks almost identical to the "L" series Gibson that Robert Johnson played (at least the one that shows up in his 2 photographs), although this one has a built-in L.R. Baggs Element pickup with soundhole-mounted volume control. I also love the herringbone trim, very cool! If you're thinking about picking one of these up, you'd better move fast, Gibson is only making 300 of them - otherwise you'll have to pay double price by getting on on eBay. The price tag is $3,868 which isn't half bad considering what you're getting.

By the way, if you aren't familiar with Keb' Mo'... well.. then shame on you. (Google him)

Being a huge connoisseur of blues electric guitar, I thought it would be both fun (and somewhat therapeutic) to start a blues guitar artist series, where every few days I put together a lesson that highlights the guitar style by a well-known blues artist. I was hesitant at first because I know YouTube (and several other online video services) are really cracking down on copyrighted material (and yes that includes even playing familiar guitar licks or riffs) - so I wasn't 100% sure how to go about demonstrating an artists approach to a song if I couldn't use a familiar melody. Then I realized that the people that are passionate about playing blues guitar, might not necessarily care about learning a particular solo from an artist, but are probably more interested in learning technique and approach. It's not like we can all hum our favorite Buddy Guy lick, although we'd certainly recognize one if we heard it.

The way that I'm approaching this is by 1) recording a jam track (a backing band if you will) that reflects the artist (these are available to download for free), 2) Writing a simple solo that uses lots of the key licks / techniques that the artist would use, 3) creating tablature of that solo so that I can solidify it, and 4) putting the whole thing out on YouTube (and this site) for free. It gives me a great excuse to record music and share with others who are passionate about this form of playing what I've spent years learning.

On Sunday night I started with a B.B. King guitar lesson and have already had quite a bit of feedback from folks out there saying that they want more of these kinds of lessons, so later this evening (fingers crossed) I'll put out the second lesson in this series which will be a focus on Robert Cray. I'll just keep building these for a while and welcome any feedback regarding particular blues artists you'd like to hear / learn more about. I don't have any hard/fast strategy on which artists to feature, just doing the ones I love the most (and that list is pretty long). So be sure to check back here for future lessons!

-brian

Well folks, after giving it lots of thought, I’ve decided to make the beginner guitar course completely free along with all of the MP3s and tab that accompanies each section.  I realized that it didn’t make sense for me to start charging for lessons right off the bat, and since I’m relatively new to the online / guitar lesson scene - I thought it would be more beneficial for me to give away content and gain your trust for now.  So if you’re just starting to play guitar and looking for some really good free lessons, check out the beginner guitar course... nearly 7 hours of video content!  I’ve also finished putting together my schedule for 2010 and will be uploading lots of additional lessons so be sure to check back often! 

If you’re in the market for a new mobile phone check out the new Fender Edition from T-Mobile endorsed by Eric Clapton.  I’ve always been a HUGE Eric Clapton fan, and T-Mobile couldn’t have picked a better celeb to endorse that phone, but I have to admit it pains me a bit to see EC selling out.  He caught some flack back in the eighties for appearing in Michelob commercials and letting them use “After Midnight” as their theme song, but I guess not enough to deter him from plugging another product.  I don’t know anything about the phone but I have to admit I’m digging the wood-grain look.

Ok, so I’m walking through the Jewel (daa Jewelllssssss - if you’re from Chicago) tonight and I hear this killer ultra-twangy version of Jingle Bells playing over the store intercom.  It was so good in fact that I had to stop and use the Shazam app on the iPhone to be able to identify who it was.  Turns out it’s Gary Hoey.  I remember Gary Hoey from back in the 90s and to be honest had all but forgotten about him.. apparently this song came from his 1995 album “Ho Ho Hoey” (yes actual title).  I have no idea what the rest of that album is like, but if you’re into twang guitar (a.k.a. chicken pickin’) - you’ll like this one.  Here’s the link to Gary Hoey’s Jingle Bells