Stevie Ray Vaughan: Never Another Like Him

Hey everybody I'm back for my third week of blogging on Music Reviews by a Musician and I've decided to start off the week with something special to me.



Stevie Ray Vaughan

Last Friday I talked about what makes a guitarist special and I mentioned one in particular; Stevie Ray Vaughan. The reason I focused on SRV for Friday's blog is because he is my first and truly number one inspiration for my guitar playing. Stevie Ray Vaughan is a very special guitarist in many, many ways. His tone, phrasing, stage presence, soul, and heart poured through every song he played and made him the soul reason in my opinion that blues music became popular again in the 1980's.

From his debut album "Texas Flood" until his untimely death in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990 in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin; SRV completely turned the world of guitar and blues music on its ear and made people stop and listen to his music when they heard it.

His fiery Texas style guitar playing combined with elements of R&B, jazz, early blues pioneers, and influence from other artists like T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush, Lightning Hopkins, and most notably Jimi Hendrix on top of countless others became a centerpiece for a remarkable career.

From early hits on songs like Pride and Joy, Texas Flood, Voodoo Chile, and Love Struck Baby to later hits such as Couldn't Stand the Weather, Crossfire, Tightrope, and The House is Rockin, SRV turned on a whole new generation of guitar players to the blues. And his effect is still being felt today some 20 years after his death.

Countless young artists are doing their best to pick up where SRV left off after his passing and keep the blues alive. Guys like Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Tyler Bryant, Jonny Lang, and even John Mayer all have elements of SRV's playing infused into their playing styles and they are all doing their part to keep alive a type of music that is slowly dying away amidst the mainstream music today.

But even then no matter how hard these guys try there is no way to duplicate or match what SRV did and still does today. He was a phenomenal talent that will never, ever be matched in my opinion. He is simply an amazing talent and the odds of someone like him coming along in the future are very small. If I were a betting man I would not put money on that. That is why I feel that there will never be another like him.

Until next time keep on rocking away music lovers,

JAS

Image coutesy of Joe Bielawa, Creative Commons/Flickr

A Bad Day=A Good Day for Songwriting

So I've been having a bad day since I woke up this morning. Nothing has been going good and things are falling apart around me. I've had these days before and I'm sure I'll have them again. But out of all the shit that goes wrong there is one good thing that comes out of it every time and that is a great song.

Songwriters all over the world are fueled by emotion. Emotions can be good, bad, whatever it may be. Many of the greatest songs are written when someone feels like they have been kicked in the gut twenty times and left there to wallow in their own sorrow.

"You get kicked in the heart by someone who's aware of it or not,
and you get sent alone into a room, and if you have a little bit of
intellect, a little bit of talent and a lot of loneliness, you'll probably
make it."- John Mayer

Mayer really said it best with this one. Mayer is one of my favorite musician/songwriters out there today and I'm sure many others feel the same. I'm not the most talented singer, or guitar player, or songwriter in the world but I know that I do have some talent otherwise I would have quit playing a long time ago. It funny though how when I have a particularly bad day, creativity begins to flow out of me like water over a dam in a flood.

Songwriting is an art form and relating to people is the biggest key in writing something that is meaningful and not a piece of garbage like some of the crap out there today. Whether or not I ever get famous, at least I know that what I am writing is meaningful to at least somebody out there and it helps me vent my frustration so I can move forward.

Many songwriters are like that. We tend to write things about personal experience that hopefully somebody will relate to. Maybe in the next few hours, I might have another song like that to add to my catalog. If anything I do know this, my creativity is flowing like a mother fucker right now so I better end here.

Until next time keep on rocking away music lovers,
JAS