Experience Check...

[rscott4079]

So many of you folks seem so well-versed in the conversation of guitar, both construction and play, that sometimes I wonder where I fit in the hierarchy here. I was wondering if just for fun, you wouldn't mind describing your level of experience with the instrument; how many years you've played and how you view yourself as a player. I didn't want to make this a poll because I wanted to hear what you had to say about yourselves. Whether Beginner, Hobbyist or Pro, it would be nice to know a little about you. To know a little about the soul behind the avatar, as it were. Also, if you have a link to an example of your music, I'd love to listen.

 

As for me, I'm in my 40's and have been playing on and off since my teens. I consider myself a good strummer - a very talented sit-around-the-campfire kind of guitarist. I would fit right in with Jimmie Rodgers, Woody Guthrie and the Carter Family. I originally started playing rhthym guitar as a kid as an accompaniment to my singing. I taught myself by reading chord books and just noodling around with the guitar. As I've gotten older my voice is gradually going away, so I've been trying to place greater emphasis on the guitar itself, learning more flat and finger picking - trying to lend a little flavor to my playing. I can't read music and I've only started learning scales within the last few years. In the last couple years I've started collecting old, beat up guitars, particularly Gibsons. I admire them for their aesthetic appeal as much as their sound.

 

I've never gigged or played in front of an audience, but I've played with numerous little local jam groups. I don't have any recordings of myself, but I've just bought a used Tascam recorder off Craigslist and I'm hoping to figure out how to use it really soon.

 

Anyway, that's me. I'd really like to hear about you....

 

Thanks,

Rich

[pohatu771]

I'm a decent strummer, working on picking and leads.

 

Next semester I'm adding guitar as a secondary instrument, so I'm curious about where that will go. Normally, I would be playing classical, which I wouldn't mind, but the teacher started out, and continues to be, a rock and roll guy. I feel like he'll be very supportive of a more contemporary path.

 

As far as gigs go, I've done a bit but nothing big... or paying. I'm hoping to change that this summer. Looking for a girl that will sing and play, or I can't do one of my best songs. If I can't find a girl, I just need another guitar player so I can play lead or piano.

[ballcorner]

I started playing guitar at 16 because I had already been singing more than ten years - it was a right fit for me to learn guitar. I played kind of off and on until about five years ago when I started trying to play well.

 

I was a busker at one time - like 20 years ago - but it was all pretty basic three chord songs, again carried with my voice more than my playing.

 

I quit playing guitar all together twice - for six years in total. I started to take it much more seriously when I had a bad finger injury in 2005 that almost ended my ability to play at all.

 

Shortly after I learned to play guitar, the economy in Alberta, Canada started a downturn. A lot of people were parting with guitars they had purchased when times were good. D-18 Martins and Gibson SJs were in good supply and they could be bought for about 30% of their value. I didn't have great jobs, but I worked extra hours and bought up guitars. Twice a year I drove to Vancouver from Edmonton and sold the guitars in the better market. One time I took 32.

 

This is how I started as a dealer. I bought from the poor and sold to the rich in another city. I essentially do the same thing now - buying from people experiencing temporary financial problems and selling to other places via the Internet. It isn't quite that simple - but those are the basics.

 

I have a YouTube channel that has been temporarily downsized. I was doing reviews of different guitars, and while many became quite popular, I recently decided to do them in a different format. Nonetheless, you can see me play a bit here.

[Gitfidl]

I started (with lessons) at Karnes Music in Evanston IL in 1956. I also worked at Chicago Musical Instrument Company (as a HS kid) so my first two guitars were Gibsons. It is a big reason why I am attached to the brand. I playing in HS bands until I went in the Navy (rock, blues, simple swing-jazz). Then I was the **one** in my barracks and later on my ship(C-W and folk and bawdy). Got out and played among friends (but had a real job) until I got married -- married put a cramp in a lot of things -- but I raised two wonderful kids and now I have incredible grand kids. Got dee-vorced in 1986 and bought a Washburn J6 and played Swing and jazz and blues in Oraange County. Came to San Diego in 99 and been playing in 2 swing bands and 1 swing trio. Play also at folk jams, folk festivals, blues bars .. and also at the Cuyamaca State Park birthday party (C-W and folk). I read music so I can pick and I do improvise but not as well as I'd like to. I chord very well -- lots and lots of chords --but if you know 1 chord then you know 12 (the octave). If you know 3 variations of one chord then you know 36 -- so thats not as impressive as it sounds. Progressions: 1-4-5, 1-6-2-5, 2-5-1, 12 bar blues .. and that is the most of them. I play almost full time now. (retired two years ago)(it is not hard to get more "work" than you can handle -- so every once in a while I have to drop out of something and re-organize). At one point I was playing every Sunday at 2PM, every Monday evening at a jazz jam, every Tuesday night at a blues bar, every Wednesday afternoon in a swing band, every Thursday evening in a Swing band (dance), every Friday afternoon in a swing band (dance), every 3rd Friday in a bluegrass jam ... then people would ask if I'd play a pool party or a bluesgrass group. If you want to practice before -- that is pretty much a full time load. Oh and I was also playing at Ronald McDonald House and at the Alzheimers home -- also two assisted living homes. (and teaching) (and -- a Mariachi band at S.W. College!)

[ksdaddy]

My father played and sang as a hobby and my brother played in a couple local garage bands in the 60s. I grew up in the shadow of that and was constantly expected to surpass my father's ability but at the same time fall short of my brother's. I don't like being compared to others so I said screw it and stayed in my bedroom where nobody could hear me. To this day I won't play for anyone. I'll never live long enough to have that whole psychological thing ironed out so I shant bother.

 

I did try to put a band together back in '86 but we lost our drummer before we did anything with it. For reasons unknown, I was elected lead guitar player and actually had a fairly good time, especially when we'd do some surf instrumental stuff.

 

As to playing nowadays, I wonder if the whole 70s thing finally affected my brain because I easily forget how to play things I knew just a few months ago. So if I do spend a good amount of time playing on any given day I spend much of the time remembering how I used to play stuff.

 

I wish I spent as much time playing as I do talking about it.

[Taylor Player]

Long story short if I can here.... I was adopted at age 3 months by a family to whom music was very important. I was put into singing lessons for several years, piano lessons for about 8 years, Church organ lessons for about 3 years, played cello from 4th through 10th grade at which time the Orchastra program was cancelled at my school. In the 9th grade I told my parents I wanted to learn guitar. They were opposed due to the "Drugs, sex, rock & roll" mystique of a guitar player. They did allow me to spend my own money to buy a cheap used Hondo guitar from a local shop. I took a couple lessons from the shop for free after buying the guitar but found I was learning faster on my own. Today it is the only instrument I really play other than fooling around a bit on piano. After I got married and when my wife was pregnant with our first child, I felt the desire to find my birth mother. Being born in Buffalo NY and living in MN made that difficult, but 6 years later, I had a reunion with my birth mother, her mother, a 1/2 brother and 3 half-sisters. Turns out my Birth mother played guitar, her father played guitar, her brother played guitar and the guy she was "with" (my Birth-father) had been the piano player in a band she was in during high school. He had been married but separted when they were together. He had split when he found out she was pregnant and went back to his wife.

 

At any rate, I also managed to track him down in New Jersey and met him several years ago while I was in New York at a conference. He still playes piano at a piano bar for a hobby. So music has always been a part of my life and guitars were lurking out there waiting for me to discover them.

 

I have been playing now over 30 years, played in several bands from bluegrass to Christian contemporary at our church for several years. I now play for my own enjoyment and the occasional wedding, funeral or special service at church. I consider myself to be a pretty good fingerstyle player and strummer but can't play lead electric guitar worth a damn. Still, I love learning and constantly am on the search for new music to learn. I wish I had a recording device, but I don't.

[larryp58]

I'm 50 years old now, and I got my first guitar when I was 5. The old man who lived next door to me showed me how to tune it and showed me a D, C, and G chords. I just took that and ran with it. About that time, (mid to late 60's) rock 'n' roll was really flourishing with great bands and artists. They really influenced me. I started playing at school and with other guitar players around my hometown, and in local garage bands. After school, I joined the Navy and started playing bass and rythym guitar in a hard rock band that the USO sponsored. We got to travel all over Europe playing at public venues just for "saving face" with other countries and keeping good relations. All a part of the Reagan Administration. It was a really good time. After the Navy, I came home and played in several local bands. I got married and had a couple of kids so the late night playing the bars had to stop! So now, I've gone back to my first love that drew me to guitar and music. I play small coffee shops, etc. I play alot of Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Clapton, Springsteen, America, Eagles, James Taylor. I also play every Friday night in a bluegrass band which is the house band at a local bluegrass mill. This is really the most fun, 'cause these folks are definitely acoustic! I have had the opportunity to play with Doc Watson once. And I've got to jam with Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band one time. I play a lot at church also. I really don't consider myself a professional musician. Just a guy who has had a lot of fun just making music, and got to play with and for a lot of people. When it becomes a job, you kinda lose what it's all about anyway. Right? I have always loved Gibson guitars for their feel and sound. After 45 years of pickin', my Southern Jumbo TV is probably one of the best sounding acoustic guitars that I've ever played. And after 45 years of pickin', I still learn something new everyday! I can play just about anything that I hear and I consider myself to be a fairly decent picker. But there's always someone who's a little better and faster! My ol' fingers don't work like they used to, but they're still bending them strings!!! So I guess I'm just like everyone else on the forums.

[Gitfidl]

What is very interesting about guitar players is how different they are from other instruments. Horn players will say they took music in 7th or 8th grade and were given a french horn then played in a marching band or a drum and bugle corps (or even the Salvation Army band). Piano and violin will say they were forced to play Chopin or Bach from the moment they could sit at a keyboard and their mother thought they'd be a virtuoso. Guitar players began in the bedroom or garage and rarely got any encouragement (might even be discouraged) but did it anyway. Guitar players always hook up with something social (dances, churches, beach parties, hay rides, the doo-wop in the barracks). Mandolin and banjo the same. Drums almost always started in the garage (where else?) Today's keyboard players are different than the piano players -- different motivations. You don't see vibraphones any more -- very few tuba, Sousaphone, oboe, cello -- maybe they never get near guitar type music. Guitar players are chord oriented and many do not read music. They often do not count well (marching band musicians count very well) (I cannot imagine marching 1-2-3-4) trying to read 8th notes worse *dotted 8th notes* and trying to do flanks and turns and to the rear hup ... nor can I see how 100 teen aged kids can do it. (you see them in the Rose Bowl parade). I am always amazed when I see an orchestra (like Handel's Messiah) with such absolute precision (Lawrence Welk too -- every week for 30+ years -- 25 or 30 musicians and nobody making mistakes).

[Jinder]

I started playing guitar at 12, mainly with the intention to write songs, as I have done ever since. I've been playing professionally for ten years, since I was 18. At 19 I formed a band, Candlefire, which was my first taste of the music industry-we had a management deal within a year, then a couple of months later a record deal, then a couple of months later than that a single in the UK charts. Having said that, it ended as quickly as it started, and I left the band to form a duo, with whom I toured extensively. We were called Olas & Jinder and got a ton of great press...we were about to release our debut album on FrontSide Records when Pinnacle/3MV, our distributor, went bust and our album sank without trace.

 

I then returned to solo work, and, in the next four years cut six solo albums, five of which saw commercial release. I also signed to Folkwit Records, a great UK based indie, who put out two of my solo albums, 'I'm Alive' and 'Willow Park'-currently the only two still in print prior to this summer's reissue campaign.

 

Shortly after cutting my 2006 solo record 'I'm Alive', I started working with two friends of mine, Gavin Wyatt and Simon Johnson, as The Mercurymen. We aimed to be a modern acoustic harmony trio, akin to a 21st century Crosby, Stills & Nash. After putting out our debut EP on Universal subsidiary Flying Sparks, we signed to Sony BMG in February 2008, and recorded our first album together, 'Postcards From Valonia'.

 

We toured the UK extensively in '08, playing just shy of 200 dates including support tours with Level 42, Deacon Blue, Sinead O'Connor, Melody Gardot and several other acts, and played some great venues (O2 Arena, Liverpool Echo Arena, Royal Albert Hall amongst others). However, by the end of the year our relationship with Sony had soured, and we decided to leave the label. We are currently unsigned but are pursuing several other deals with smaller labels at present.

 

Also, in 2008 I started my own record company, Din Of Ecstasy, in order to release my solo material. It is a monstrous task to start one's own label, but it is also a fun challenge and something that is a really interesting thing to get around with little budget.

 

So in summary I've made seven records and have had a total of five record deals, but depending on the day, I am either a guitarist who pretends to be a singer, or a singer who pretends to be a guitarist.

 

I just absolutely love the instrument. Everything about it is lovely and amazing. A truly great guitar can be one of the most pleasurable things in the world.

 

I'm still writing, still touring, still making records, still learning and still enjoying every minute of it. It really is the best job in the world, even when nothing is going right, as is sometimes the case.

[TWilson]

I started fooling around with the guitar around 1963 because I wanted to join a folk group (Peter, Terry, Paul and Mary!), or the Limelighters, Kingston Trio, Chad Mitchell Trio etc. I just bought some song books with songs I was familiar with that had chord diagrams and went from there. While in the Army, I always tried to get guys who knew how to play show me things. One guy from Hawaii made the mistake of playing "A'Soalin", a song PP&M did, and I made him show me step by step how to finger pick that devil. I had never fingerpicked so it took some patience and, if I remember correctly, some strange green herb a friend sent him from the Islands. I seemed to sound a lot better for a short time after that. Anyway, I continued on when I got out and went back to college. I got togethet with small groups of people with like minded tastes and sat around on the floor playing and learning songs. There was this one lady who had a Hummingbird and a killer folk-style voice. We had a little wine and played and sang "I Shall Be Released" about a dozen times in a rowl. She played in standard and I was capoed up about 4 frets so we had the harmony thing going. That really inspired me and made me want to get better. I wish I had taken lessons like I did on the trumpet. Of course, I traded my trumpet in on my first guitar! Over the past 30 years I have played mainly for my own enjoyment and haven't had regular folks to sit around and play with. I did have a roommate who was going to Oregon State that played and accompanied himself on the harmonica and that was fun. Anyway, for all the time I've been at it I should be a lot better than I am. I did take my J-45 over to a friend's house a while back and played a few tunes for him and his wife to pay for the great dinner they cooked me. They were somewhat surprised and asked me why I wasn't playing in a coffee house down town. (could have just been being good friends) but at least I got the impression they didn't think I sucked. Anyway, my love of the instrument far outweighs my ability but it's something I can do almost whenever I want and it brings me joy! I've been doing more stuff using a pick as I always fingerpicked before. I do absolutely no Lead stuff which is something I'm interested in. I need to knuckle down and start learning scales etc. Has anyone ever used the "Caged System" for learning the fingerboard? It's nice to have a place like this where people with different degrees of talent but equal love of guitars can come together and express that. Ok, I need breakfast!!

[macaibhistin]

I grew up in northeastern Nova Scotia, a really musical place. My mom plays piano and I have a brother who can play every instrument known to man. He prefers loud rock guitar but he is also well versed in classical piano, drums, a bit of fiddle, and can do a mean acoustic set. I don't have his talent, but I do have his passion. I picked up a guitar around 1990 after being inspired by a local celtic/folk singer John Allan Cameron and after buying my all time favourite cd "Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol.2". Stan Rogers, Gordon Lightfoot, and Chris Hillman are also some of my big influences. Needless to say, my playing has stayed in that genre of folk, Celtic, country, bluegrass. I try to do lead, but it all sounds the same. I do enjoy singing and strumming with a bit of fingerpicking. In recent years, I've become more involved in playing music at my church and I think some really cool contemporary Christian stuff like Chris Tomlin and Robin Mark has shaped my musical direction (with no appologies to Deadgrateful). Having three young children (a 7 yr old and a set of 6 month old twins) really puts life into perspective and I can see how the music I play and listen to has a huge impact on my kids. So, I am increasingly critical of the stuff listen to and play. (I hope that is wisdom developing). I'm also playing the bass these days which is a lot of fun. I'm the first person I know to own a Gibson acoustic in town, and now a couple of more people in here have bought them. So, I hope I am getting the Gibson message out there in this northern exposure town.

[Gilliangirl]

What a great thread!!

 

When I was born (to a 14 year old) I was given up for adoption to a family that did not play any instruments at all. I was exposed to guitar early tho' because we lived in Halifax and I remember my parents' friends playing guitar in the kitchen. It was way past my bedtime, but I'd lie awake in my bed listening to it and loving it and wishing I could be there. When I was about 12, I babysat the neighbour's kids, and one of them (Stephanie) got a kid's guitar for Christmas. When the kids went to bed, I sat there with the guitar and the little Hal Leonard book and played that guitar til I had learned most of the songs in the book. About 2 weeks later, Stephanie came over with the guitar and told me I could borrow it because she wasn't interested in it. I had it until my mother made me give it back. I didn't get my hands on a guitar again til I was 16, when I bought my first one, a crappy old Mansfield that I bought at Richie's music in Chilliwack for $85.00. But I loved that guitar and have wonderful memories of sitting by the river with my friend Nancy and singing and playing John Denver songs, with a case of beer and *other* paraphernalia.

 

Then, in my early 20's the disco scene took over and I sat the guitar down in lieu of dressing to the nines (expensive clothes and high heels) and dancing til the sun came up at various nightclubs with my friends. I didn't pick the guitar up again until 1993, when I got inspired by U2 (Edge) and wanted to learn how to play some U2 songs. So, I bought my Seagull. Played that for awhile but then got caught up in my career (university.... late bloomer). Then, around 1996 I found my birth mother and discovered that she had played rhythm guitar in a travelling band for 7 years. Finally, pieces started fitting together. I had LOVED music my whole life, and now I knew why. (Found out that my biological father loved racing cars, which explained why I've owned 3 Mazda RX7's [first gen's] and used to race cars when I was 16).

 

Anyway, fast forward to around 2003. Started dating a guitar player. While he was a real piece of work, he was the best guitar player I have ever seen. I dragged out the Seagull and dusted it off and started playing again. It was disheartening to discover that I couldn't even string a few chords together like I could in my youth. But watching Wayne play, I was constantly inspired to get better. Then, I discovered Gillian Welch on Amazon! I had remembered seeing her at the Calgary Folk Fest a few years back, and was in awe that she and 'that other guy' could sing and play like that! Anyway, playing Gillian Welch songs seemed achievable to me and I set that as my goal. Then, I found the guitar forums and found wonderful friends who shared the same love of music and guitars.

 

Hmmm, what was the original question? Oh yeah, experience. To this day I can't play very well, but I don't care. I love playing and do it as a hobby. I have played a few times in front of audiences, and got a real charge out of that, but for the most part I just sit around and strum, either alone or with friends at jams. I find that if I have to sing, I have to scale down the difficulty of the song in terms of playing. If I don't have to sing, my guitar playing improves dramatically and I can concentrate on hammers, pull-offs, and speed. I do have songs online but I don't want people knowing how bad I am so I ain't posting a link!! :-D

 

So, it terms of a hierarchy, I'd be down at the bottom but I still enjoy learning (as much as my ailing memory will allow) and have very intention of staying on my musical journey til I die.

[BigKahune]

Another very enjoyable and interesting thread. Nice job rscott4079

 

I started at 8 years old with lessons on my father's 120 base accordion. I've played keyboards ever since (right now I've got a Yamaha DGX220). Played sax for a number of years in bands and an orchestra, as well as some jazz combos into the 70s. I started with guitars at about 15 years old (1968), sneaking in sessions on my brother's strat knock off. After my brother found out, I bought a dime-store Harmony acoustic with terrible action and paid some brutal dues on that beast. When I was 18 a bought a Epiphone 12string. In college I knew quite a few musicians and the music scene in the area was vibrant. Seemed like every coffee/sandwich shop and bar had a player or band working. I filled in many times for my friends. Even after I graduated, the scene remained vibrant for many years, but eventually, by the 90s, the ASCAP cops really put a damper on the scene and now it's actually unusual to see live performers - not only does the establishment owner have to pay the performer/s, but ASCAP goes after the proprietors - even if they're playing a frickin' radio (remember when they went after the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts for campfire song royalties - geez). Anyway, I've had plenty of experience. And as my collection of guitars shows, I like a variety of styles.

 

BTW - TaylorPlayer - get yourself a recorder. There are plenty of reasonably priced machines that can handle just about anything you might want to do at home, or at a gig for that matter. I encourage you to check it out.

[Taylor Player]

I agree 100% this thread has been a blast to keep reading!

 

Karen.... we have much more than bug spray in common... being adopted, having musical birth parents, loveing a good case of beer and *other* paraphernalia. :-

 

To BigKahune... I have been watcing the local Criagslist for Zoom H2 or H4 recorders and once my tax money get's here, I am thinking of investing in one, but I want to have my luthier tech check out my 64 LG1 first to see what he may need to do to it. If his adjustments are minor, I will be looking at getting a Zoom recorder, if I am looking at any neck reset issues or bridge replacements other than a new saddle and nut, maybe not....

[Gilliangirl]

 

Karen.... we have much more than bug spray in common... being adopted' date=' having musical birth parents, loveing a good case of beer and *other* paraphernalia. :-

 

 

 

[/quote']

LOL Paul I was thinking the same thing when I read your story. OMG, maybe we were separated at birth!? Maybe I'm your long lost sister! LOL

[zombywoof]

I am a hack.

 

I have been playing some 50 years . Got my first guitar for my birthday when I was I think 8. Got it from this old woman whose husband had worked with my grandfather and remained friends with the family. It was a 1930s Martin archtop that she had laying around. She taught me my first country blues numbers - stuff like Leadbelly and Elizabeth Cotton. I had the bug bad. I used to spend hours recording a friend of my father's collection of "race" 78 rpm records on a Roberts reel to reel recorder and then it seems the rest of my life trying to learn what I heard coming from the fingers of Lonnie Johnson, Blind Blake, Tampa Red, Son House, Charlie Patton, Memphis Minnie, Willie Brown, Tommy Johnson and the rest.

 

Then I saw the Beatles on the Sullivan show with those electric guitars. Man I had to get me one of those.

 

I played my first gig was in 1966. Spent a couple of decades dividing my time between a journeyman Chuck Berry-esque rock/blues outfit and acoustic blues band. Combined with teaching at a local artsy fartsy music center, I actually made a living at it for a few years during the 1970s. Somewhere along the way though it stopped being fun and I pulled the plug on the whole thing in the early 1980s. Spent a few years on the fringe of exile and then came back as a pickup guitarist - backing blues and folk singers. Still enjoy doing this. Also did and still do some sitting in with bands mostly playing slide.

 

I am still a hack.

[H]

I started playing guitar at 14, coming from a completely non-musical family, and was playing bass in a band at 15. I did the Liverpool pub circuit for four years in a band called The Combine, playing sixties stuff like Small Faces, The Who, The Kinks and some self-written stuff. All that went out of the window at 20 when I found the girl I wanted to marry and I settled down a little. I sold my bass, a Rickenbacker 4001, and bought a succession of cheap electric six stringers, all junk but the best I could afford after paying the mortgage.

 

I got serious again about six years ago when my marriage broke up and I started buying the guitars I'd always wanted. I don't read music but wish I could. I'm confident about my playing but less so of my voice these days - I'm a damn good shower singer but I dry up in company

 

I have ambitions to sing to an audience again though and I'm currently putting together a small set that I'll try out on my girlfriend and assorted close pals before I brave an open mic. Current fave learning project is the simple but fantastic Johnny Cash version of 'Personal Jesus'. Wish me luck

[Taylor Player]

LOL Paul I was thinking the same thing when I read your story. OMG' date=' maybe we were separated at birth!? Maybe I'm your long lost sister! LOL[/quote']

 

It's funny... My birth mom had 5 kids with 5 different men and I am the oldest. She put me up for adoption as she had just graduated high school and had no way to keep me, the next two she had she ended up basically running away to New York and becoming a playboy bunny at the clubs there and her mother raised them. When I was searching it was her mother and my half-brother and half-sister I found first. I kept searching and finally found her. She had had the last two (again with different men) but raised them herself. When we reunited in Arizona (where her mother was then living and my half bro and sis, it was the first time in over 25 years she had seen her own mother and my brother and sister as well as me and my family at the time. It was an amazing reunion but once again she has kind of dropped out of the picture. I am still in contact with my 1/2 siblings and know where she is but I prefer to let her make contact if she wants. The peace sign & dove strap I have in this photo was given to me by her when we first met and she found out I was a guitar player. It is from the 60's. I was born in 1961 in Buffalo NY as that is where the home for unwed mothers was at the time. She was actually from Rochester NY, and I ended up growing up in Rochester, Minnesota.... weird huh! (By the way, this strap looks awesome with my 64 LG1!!! I need to take a photo of that someday)

 

[Gilliangirl]

Wow! What a story! Isn't it cool when you finally get to meet the people you are biologically related to? It filled in alot of missing pieces for me. I love the guitar strap.... how precious it must be to you now. It seems to me they sent my mom off to an unwed mothers school too, because that's what they did in those days. The local police ran my father out of town, at my grandmother's request, because he wouldn't leave my mother (they had actually been a couple for years at this point). Sad really. He ended up marrying the wife of his best friend, who had been killed in a construction accident. He did it to help her raise her kids. Admirable guy. I am not in touch with him at all tho'. He was told I died at birth, and was quite shocked to get a call from my mom in 1996 saying that I was still alive!

 

Oh what a tangled web we weave....... :-)

[Michael]

Great thread! I have a very strange story! I started playing drums professionally at 16 with various rock bands and even got to open up for Poco for two nights to 15,000 people each night. Very scarry! I got to jam with Rusty Young and Timothy B Schmitt for our sound checks. Then came Vietnam and four years of no music for me. Then went to college and received two degrees in music, one in Music Education and one in Music Performance. I also played with the Broward Symphony Orchestra for seven years and was their Principal Percussionest. Got to play with people like, Doc Severenson, Della Reese, Gordon McCray, etc....... . Then I played drums six nights a week with a band for 14 years, in two night clubs in Ft. Lauderdale. There were also many other bands and gigs too numberous to mention. I finally wore out my shoulders and hips, back and neck due to all of the use. Lots of bad discs and arthritis. So, I changed to Bass Guitar and practiced for a few years and played professionally with an instrumental Surf Band called the Surfin' Tones for four years. Got to open up for America at the Datona Speedway, way cool! OK, so, then I got what is called trigger finger on both of my ring fingers and had to have surgery. Used my fingers too much! The moral of the story is to take it easy on your body parts, you can wear them out !!!! So, now I have bought a SJ 200 and have put together a Everly Brother's Tribute Show which will be launched later on this year. This is after much practice and research. My friend and I are recording all of the backing tracks so we will just be playing SJ's and singing while the rest of the band will be recorded. Kind of like Karoke. So far, so good, all apendiges are working well and I hope to be working again soon. I have also recorded a lot of CD's with many bands. OK, enough about me, how bout you all!

[Gitfidl]

I kind of felt like you were all family before this. Now I cannot help but feel it. We come from all over and have been all over... kind of true about guitar players -- they are troubadours (not orchestral types at all). I think it is good that life is not easy because that makes it easier to sort out the good stuff and know what is the good stuff. I guess all of that comes out in the sing (ultimately). Remember Paul Newman playing "Plastic Jesus" in Cool Hand Luke because it was the only hymn he knew? That's a guitar player. You are all terrific people and I feel privileged to be sharing with you. Most of you have had some serious challenges and overcome them. I respect that. AND they did not ruin your manner or outlook. I like that. And you instrument is guitar! That's beyond measure. Happy Easter to each of you and God bless you. (as Roy used to say "may the good Lord take a likin to ya!")

[Honky Dog]

I agree this is a great thread.

 

I'm 57 and was born in the easternmost part of Kentucky, the heart of Appalachia, which is a very musical place. My mom and dad played guitar when they were young, but had long since quit when I, the fourth of five kids, came along. I was very interested in music as a little kid. I had a little plastic guitar when I was about 3 or 4, but it got broken. My older sisters went to high school in the late 1950s, so we had all the great 45s from Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee, Fats, Buddy Holly, you name it. Those girls spent every penny on those 45s. I would sing those songs when I was 5, 6, and 7 years old. To this day I still remember the lyrics to "Hound Dog" and "Teen Angel."

 

One of my sisters got into the beat thing around 1959 or 1960 after she graduated high school. She liked folk music, and of course it was on TV a lot. So I really got into folk music, which I still like very much.

 

I tried guitar once when I was 12 or 13 or so, which was in 1964 or 1965. You can get the significance of that. I had trouble trying to get the thing tuned. The only info I could find was to use a pitch pipe, whatever that was, and where in heck would you find one of those things, and even if you did, how would you use it? I wanted to learn "House of the Rising Sun," which along with "Blowin' in the Wind," was the song you learned first. Also, I took a test once in school and a teacher told me I wasn't musically inclined. I think I was actually messing around during the test, which was not the exception but the rule for me. In any event, it gave me an inferiority complex that I still deal with some to this day. So I eventually drifted away from guitar and to the pool halls through high school.

 

My mom wrote lots of poetry over the years, and encouraged me to do so even when I was little. So I've done that to varying degrees over the years. I started doing more of it in college. Then it dawned on me that it really wasn't poetry I was writing, but song lyrics. So I took up the guitar again in college, mainly to try and write some music to the lyrics I was writing. My involvement has varied from time to time, depending on free time, etc. But I've been more dedicated and involved the last two years or so. I'm a strummer, mainly to accompany the songs I write and sing. Not saying my voice is good, but it's better now than it ever has been. Voice improves with practice, too, of course. So I continue to write songs and play them for enjoyment. I'm getting better at it, and I hope to give it a try in public at an open mic before too long.

 

There's my life story lol

[John Lee Walker]

I was very fortunate, while growing up, to have relatives (Mom and Grandma) who were very talented organ players, so my first exposure to music was the Hammond my Grandmother owned. I started playing guitar when I was 10, influenced by the Rolling Stones, Clapton, The Beatles, etc. By the time I was 16 I played in several garage bands and honed my skills by playing with older musicians and a local bluesman in Louisiana named Lucious Rubideaux. That's where I developed a love for traditional delta blues and the realization of how the blues tied into everything. I worked offshore and played the honky tonks and blues clubs on my breaks, some rough joints in Morgan City and Lafayette. That's where I met Jack Martin and the future members of The John Lee Walker Band. We formed a group called The Red Cypress Band, playing blues standards and swamp rock, traditional country and folk ballads. We had a gimmick of sorts where we would place cypress stumps around the stage and hang Spanish moss from our mic stands, and we also were the only club band in the area at the time (that I know of) to settle down for a set of acoustic blues. Some club owners loved it, some hated it, but we insisted on it and became known for it.

 

I had spent my summers in Jacksonville, Florida, visiting there due to my parents divorce, and frequented a teen club downtown called The Comic Book Club. There, at a cool chili place next door, I met Ronnie Van Zant and the guys in Lynyrd Skynyrd, who were called Lynard Skynard at the time before phonetically changing the spelling. Years later, when they had released their first LP, they played in Lafayette and I invited them to our gig at Slicks Ballroom, in St. Martinville. Ronnie liked us a lot and invited us to open for them the next night in New Orleans and it went from there and he was instrumental in getting us signed to Paragon Booking and we changed our name and hit the road opening for them and a few other name bands in the stable. Ronnie was a mentor and coach to us and several other bands, namely Molly Hatchet and Rooster, and had plans to produce our debut LP, manage us and promote us. We were slated to go into Studio One, Doraville, GA, in July '78, but everything changed in October of '77 when Ronnie died in the plane crash. We were not only devastated, but left without direction and purpose at the time. We floundered, had some bad times, then finally cut our record in 1981, but the music scene had changed and it was a commercial flop. The John Lee Walker Band broke up in 1983 and Jack and I headed west and formed a band called Night Shift and played the LA and Las Vegas clubs for a while. Our love for acoustic music never faltered, and we ended up an acoustic duo for years after Night Shift fizzled, getting back to the basics and doing what we really loved to do. Once you get into the circus of touring and get caught up in the business it is easy sometimes to lose focus on what you wanted in the first place. There's the music business, then there's the business of music. Those who have been there done that know exactly what I am talking about. Unfortunately, Jack passed away a year ago and I am solo now. We were proud to be interviewed and be part of a book written by Lee Ballinger titled 'Lynyrd Skynyrd: An Oral History', published in 1999 and available still at Amazon.

 

I still live my life on the open road, it's all I've ever known, driving cross-country in a big rig. I play open mic nights and my favorite coffeehouses when I can, locating opportunities on the internet wherever I happen to be for a weekend. Figuratively speaking, you could say I am still touring LOL. I do sessions now and then and soundtrack recordings and jingles with Suchecki Sound and Compadre Records in Austin, TX. After all I have done, playing acoustic solo is the most satisfying for me now. Back where it all started:) I do originals and covers, mostly outlaw country stuff, Hank Jr, Waylon, Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, JJ Cale, Chris Knight, Hayes Carrl, acoustic Skynyrd, etc., and, of course traditional delta blues. I started out playing Gibson acoustics, my fav for years was the J160, then went to Martins and Guilds, but now have come full circle, and I can honestly say my all time favorite is my customized Gibson J200 Modern Classic.

 

After all is said and done, I've seen the world in a southern rock band, opened for some major acts, played some top venues, lived the crazy good life, and the crazy bad life, but for me the best times are still playing acoustic; one man-one guitar. That's what it's all about, folks...

 

With a Gibson, of course:)

[Jayla]

I started playing my last year of high school in the late ’70s. Some friends were starting a band and needed a bassist. I had been wanting to learn and thought: “this is my chance.” I bought a bass guitar from a pawnshop (a “Crown” – a Japanese copy of a Gibson SG bass), putting $30. down and paying $10. a month until I paid it off several months later. By that time the band I was hoping to get in had broken up, so I learned to play by myself, listening to records and trying to figure out what the bassist was doing.

 

In college I took a “music fundamentals” course to learn to read and write. I also learned to play the piano there. Made some friends and started a rock band, learned a whole lot with them. One loaned me a guitar – a beautiful ’57 tobacco sunburst Gibson 335 – and I taught myself to play it by learning chords from the tabs in a Beatles songbook. Around that same time a friend who played piano was studying with Paul Smith (Ella Fitzgerald’s piano player), and he got me started playing jazz. We did standards from the book, and played at parties, restaurants, bars, weddings, etc.

 

I later transferred to a university, majored in music composition, and started playing with as many people as I could. I played in symphonic bands (flute), medieval music ensembles (recorder and krumhorn), jazz bands (bass), and rock bands (bass and guitar). By this time, mid-’80s, I was playing in two groups primarily: one a jangly, discordant rock band and the other a jazz ensemble doing a lot of Monk, Ornette, Mingus, Ayler, and a lot of free improvizing. Pretty much played all the clubs in town, in galleries, on college campuses, live on the radio, at music festivals, parties, a couple of weddings, etc. The rock band signed with BMI for songwriting rights, but we never got any label interest and after about 4 years of steady gigging gave up. The jazz band got picked up by an indie label (SST), who put out two of our records, the second of which got 4 stars in Downbeat on its release. We recorded a third but it was never released. After about 10 years, I left the group, and then just played and recorded sporadically in a number of experimental projects before quitting music altogether in the late ’90s. All in all I played professionally for about 20 years, though I never made a living at it.

 

In 2005 after about an 8 year hiatus, I bought my first acoustic guitar (a Gibson J-100 Xtra) and started playing again, by myself at home. I like to play jazz standards, rock and pop songs, and – my current obsession – pick country blues numbers. I’d like to play out again at some point, but don’t really know what I might do, a solo thing maybe, or try to find another guitarist or two and put together an acoustic duet/small ensemble. Maybe I never will. We’ll see…

[Johnt]

Now lets see....

I am 59 now and I was first transfixed by a guitar in around 1955. I really can't remember the indicdent but I would iamgine it was a film or a magazine or maybe watching the TV owned by the rich people down the road.

 

As I have mentioned before, for Christmas 1956 my parents bought me a kid "Elvis Presley" toy guitar which was the first time I touched a guitar.

 

Then the music scene came alive with Elvis, Cliff Richard and especially Cliffs backing group "The Shadows".

 

The Shadows played Strats and Precision Basses and I needed one of those bad so I made one from Plywood and a lump of 2 x 2. I hasten to add that it had fishing line as strings!

 

I would have been about 9 when my parents bought me an acoustic "Spanish" guitar. I learnt three chords and then became much more interested in Janet Hawkins and Monica Watson ( funny how I remember the names)

 

Took me to the swinging 60s and in 1964 I became a member of that ground breaking, progressive band "Wayout".

 

Wayout was formed at school and existed mainly as a vehicle to allow us to print cards which we duly handed out to Janet Hawkins and Monica Watsons sucessors.

 

We did cut a record..........in a kiosk on Portsmouth sea front, five of us cramped in, singing soemthing with a harp in the background.

 

Noe having set the scene you may imagine a strong and steady musical progression through the genres, each year getting a little better, each guitar purchases adding another musical colour to my prowess.

 

 

NAH!

 

The 60s consisted on flowers in the hair, too much acid and too many girls. Guitars were taken to "love -ins" as a prop. ( I recall by now the acoustic Spanish had been painted green/blue) There were a long succession of guitars and girls.

 

Got married for the first time in 74 which stifled musical creativity ( which was Ok because it had never appeared in the first place LOL)

 

Our first child Matthew was born in 78 and was disnosed as Spina Bifida, he and his mother were in hospital in London for 6 months. In that time I learnt the blues!

 

I bought my J45 in 81 largely to play in a worship band in church and there have been many guitars since

 

But still today rather than gigging or busking, I am painfully shy of my playing, consider myself a flatpicker first, strummer second and finger picker way third. Lets put it this way all my guitars need a re-fret up to fret 5 after a year or so!

 

Lead is something on a church roof!

 

We are getting this little get together organised in May at Gibsons showroom in London and AJ keeps on about having an open mike session. ( Secretly I am plotting if I can get away with turning up with my left wrist in plaster)

 

My playing has got better I know but now as I get older my joints aren't as supple as they used to be and I find that the 12 string especially hurts a little which forces me to keep playing it!!!

 

One day I will summon up the courage to join Ashford Folk Club where I am sure I will find that, excepting a couple of stars, all the guitarists are of a similar standrad to myself!