Home › Forums › Blues Guitar Discussions › Which blues artists inspire you?
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September 12, 2020 at 12:51 pm #191604
Who are you listening too?
Who do you follow for blues inspiration?
This is someone who I follow and learn from.
Jon D
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September 12, 2020 at 1:47 pm #191607
For me, it’s always T-Bone Walker, early BB King, Otis Rush, Peter Green, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Jimmie Vaughan and lately Matthew Stubbs from GA-20.
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September 12, 2020 at 3:45 pm #191620
Main influence on electric these days is Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown – 50+ years and still going strong
Main influence on acoustic has always been Brownie McGhee – very advance player of his day
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September 12, 2020 at 4:08 pm #191624
Some great music there Keith..
..Billy..
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September 12, 2020 at 4:11 pm #191626
My listrning varies quite a lot, some of the kids of today are as impressive as some of the greats, i do tend to drift back to Peter Green though if im being totally honest.
..Billy..
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September 12, 2020 at 9:57 pm #191658
There is magic in Peter Greens guitar voice, his phrasing moved me long before I even knew who he was.
Jon D
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September 12, 2020 at 4:32 pm #191629
My listrning varies quite a lot, some of the kids of today are as impressive as some of the greats, i do tend to drift back to Peter Green though if im being totally honest.
Peter Green was great for sure. Shame that he got side-tracked as he did but at least he made a comeback in his latter years
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September 12, 2020 at 9:06 pm #191651
Aye, poor old greeny.strange how so many talented people seem to be tortured souls with huge demons which blight their lives.
Reading back on what has been written about greeny and so many others, who played, sang, acted or danced because it was their lifes passion. Could it be that success was their downfall, doing it for the love of it has surely got to be different to doing it for the accolades…..Billy..
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September 12, 2020 at 9:58 pm #191659
You have deep insight
Jon D
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September 12, 2020 at 4:44 pm #191630
Some great stuff here. how can you say what influences you most this is all fine stuff. If I could mimick any one player I guess it would be Buddy Guy on electric and if i could touch on any of Brownie McGhee I would be a very happy bunny.
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September 12, 2020 at 5:07 pm #191633
I’m of the thought that mimicking those I admire is only a start to finding my own voice.
In art school one of my instructors taught me that knowing the rules and styles of those who came before you is just the start, then is is your job to break those things in interesting ways.
I was born with songs inside of me, they have been locked up and I’m looking for the tools to let them out.
I look for that in people that I listen too, those who felt compelled to let the music out.
Jon D
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September 12, 2020 at 5:57 pm #191636
Jon I always felt the same but could not make the breakthrough when I was young but now the internet and Brain in particular have changed all that for me, save Ive hit 68!
but certainly better late than never. And yes of course one would like to leave ones own mark in style but getting sufficiency good to be an entirely free form player may prove long challenge.-
September 12, 2020 at 8:30 pm #191649
Yes, you are right, the internet has changed the way we learn and given us access to things that we did not have access to before the internet.
At this point I am a 15 year old kid, with almost 3 years of playing under his belt, who has some gear and wants to find some friends to play with.
I’m shy, and have never played in a band, never sat with a drummer or a singer or a bassist or keyboard player but I have jammed with a friend of mine one time, about a year and a half ago.
All this is happening in my 51 year old mind, a mind that is full of life experiences and I have resources a fifteen year old me never had, the one thing I don’t have a lot of is time.
But it’s a different world now, I have cameras, mics, and a full recording studio in my computer. The music industry that required me to find an agent, book gigs, go on tour and make records for the music executives to get rich on no longer exists.Perhaps there is a new way to perform, get recognition and produce music from right where I’m at, perhaps that is already what you and I are doing, perhaps we are already making more of a mark than we realize.
I choose to believe this is only a small part of something much bigger, and I’m gonna run like hell at this thing.
It’s all part of my rock and roll fantasy.
What are your thoughts on that?
Jon D
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September 12, 2020 at 9:15 pm #191652
Surely they all have that trait, they are all telling us a story only the words have been replaced by musical notes.
I recall Brian saying in one of his lessons( yes i sometimes do sit long enough to take in what he says, though not very often hahaha) that licks are a language, words or little phrases that go together, a bit like the alphabet, no one talks in the alphabet they use it to make words and phrases.
So imho learning the language has got to be more beneficial to your story telling than mimicking how others play/sound..no?...Billy..
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September 12, 2020 at 9:45 pm #191655
Yes, you are right, you may have had the experience of raising children, I have raised four children and they all learned their vocabulary by mimicking the words and phrases that come out of my mouth and the mouths of my family members, now those kids say the damnedest things, things I never taught them, because now they express their own ideas.
Even the last song I posted is full of my own phrases, things I am making up on the fly because I am not good enough to fully mimic the things I’m learning.
Brian says- Learn to play, not memorize ActiveMelody provides original lesson material each week designed to help guitar players improve their ability to improvise lead, rhythm, and fills. That is on the front page of this site, and his teaching has brought me to where I’m at.
I started by mimicking Brian’s teaching, my YouTube channel shows this, then I quickly transitioned to learning songs and trying to apply the theory and techniques that Brian teaches, these things work and the proof is in my playing.
So yes you are absolutely right that the language of music is more important to telling a good story than mimicking others.
Have you ever been moved by music but not understood what the Artist is saying, this artist speaks the language of music and touches my heart.
Jon D
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September 12, 2020 at 9:51 pm #191656
Tell me, what do you see when you close your eyes and listen to this? I would lay odds that its a good story.
He is self taught from an isolated place of ancient tradition.
This music thing is magic and timeless my friend.
I want to add my voice to this musical tradition.
Jon D
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September 13, 2020 at 12:35 am #191668
My favourites are jimi Reed, Howling Wolf, Bo Didley, John Mayall, Keb Mo, Taj Mahal, Willie Dixon, Alexis Korner, Steve Marriot, Rory Gallagher, the early Rolling Stones and a local Blues man Martin Philippi.
Dieter
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September 13, 2020 at 12:39 am #191670
Nice Dieter, you have some real roots players on that list
Jon D
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September 14, 2020 at 11:17 am #191774
Jon,
My most favorite and most inspiring blues players are people like Tab Benoit, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo SRV, the late great Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King. Here’s is a video of the late Smokin’ Joe Kubek. I like people who are under the radar. Joanna O’Connor is a gal from Chicago who when I lived there I would go see every weekend. She can cover Allman Brothers like nobody else. A great player and entertainer. -
September 28, 2020 at 1:03 pm #193029
THAT was GREAT – I have never heard him before…
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November 1, 2020 at 4:33 am #217415
Wow, the pure joy and ease of playing by Joanna Connor is remarkable. Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
Greg
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November 1, 2020 at 4:36 pm #218080
Great stuff, nice to hear about artists I’ve not seen before.
Jon D
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December 18, 2020 at 6:24 pm #224895
Old school Robert Johnson, Lightnin Hopkins. There is a lot going on there. Stevie for sheer amount of notes in a given song. BB for the lack of note yet saying the same thing. Bonamassa for the modern day homage to the past.
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