Guitartropolis

Guitartown

last winter i was talking with a friend named Tony Buffalo who is the regional manager for Guitar Centers in  Colorado and surrounding states.i had mentioned a guitar festival called Guitartown at copper mountain, and expressed interest in performing there. Tony offered to put a word in for me as he and Guitar Center help sponsor the three day event. some time passed and i followed up with a phone call several months later and Tony thought that maybe the possibility for performing this year had past, but he invited me up to hang and meet some of the folks who organized the festival. of course i excepted and thanked him for the opportunity .months went by and a couple of weeks ago i received an email from Erin Kennedy. Erin is the marketing manager  for the village at Copper.the email was a request to perform at the festival for there Saturday 6:oo pm street party. i am exited and honored to have this chance to perform with my long time friends Larry Thompson [drums],Tom Capek [keyboards], Kim Stone [bass], and special guest, blues personality Scotty Cash [vocals].i owe special thanks to Tony Buffalo and Erin Kennedy for making this possible.here is a link for more info about Guitartown. i also want to thank my partner and editor for guitartropolis, Mitchell Ashley for his Yoda like internet skills. if you love anything having to do with guitar you will enjoy this gathering, so please come and join us.your dedicated stringstretcher, Michael Reese

Experience Something New, You Might Even Like It

The past two Sunday evenings I've been doing something I haven't done much before; putting my name on the signup sheet and going up to play at a jam band session. Sure, I've jammed with buddies at our homes, at some open mic nights, or after a rehearsal was over (we used to do a lot more of that kind of thing in God's House Band, maybe we should restart that tradition.)

The last two Sundays I've gone into Denver to sit in and play with the Acid Jazz Jam. To be fair, it wasn't a completely cold turkey jamming experience; I'd jammed once before with the Acid Jazz Jam maybe 2 or so years ago in Colorado Springs. Plus, I know most everyone in the band, particularly Michael Reese (who writes for Guitartropolis.com), Kim Stone (of Sypro Gyra and The Rippingtons fame), Tommy Gallagher and Wayne Hammerstadt. So it was definitely a friendly atmosphere in which to go up on stage and jam.

The first Sunday I played was a much different experience than the second Sunday. That first Sunday was fun, but it was also a loud-fest. Everybody (the jammers, not the Acid Jazz Jam players) was playing with volume  knobs at 11. Playing quieter meant turning around long enough to ensure your volume was still at 11, and then going right back to playing at 11. Even Kim Stone, who gives direction to the jammers on stage for entering, soloing, when to bring it up and when to end, had trouble getting the jammers to respond to even basic directions. None the less, it was still a very fun experience overall and I had a good time, though I have to say I felt pretty nervous and not as confident in my playing that night. I felt I played okay, but at that constant volume level, there just wasn't a lot of space to play in.

Last Sunday night was a very different experience. The jammers we much more attuned to Kim's instructions and generally did a much better job of listening, both to him and to their fellow jammer bandmates. Strangely enough, I was the only guitar player who signed up so I got play on all the jam songs. All of the pros in the Acid Jazz Jam were very supportive and very complementary of what I contributed. Tommy, Wayne, Kim and Michael consistently described my style as very melodic, with some of my solos sounding David Gimour-ish. To me, both comments are very high complements, and are very much what I'm shooting for (sometimes intentionally, and at other times I'm just lucky and it just happens that way.)

The dynamics of everyone's playing created a lot of space, and for a guitar player, that's fantastic. Not because you want (or should) rush in and immediately fill up that space with overbearing "look at me!" guitar playing. Rather, it opens up the possibilities for you to play nice, little tasty tidbits, or simple open sounding two/three/or-four note chord tones that add color and texture, not massive density. Then your soloing can more easily float on top of and mingle with the sounds of the band. It's one of the most pleasurable experiences when it happens that way. At one point we had four electric guitar players up there (Michael, Tommy, Wayne and myself), which was a real treat and is something I'd never done before. All of those experiences are what made the evening fun, and I have the band members and the other jammers to thank for creating such a great vibe to play in. You couldn't ask for much more in a jam type of setting.

Oh ya, and the nice complements the guys paid me...that's hugely motivating for me. It adds to my confidence and also says to me that guys who I respect enjoyed and appreciated what I contributed. They appreciated what I had to offer and it didn't matter that I'm not at their playing levels (most of the guys are full time, or pretty close to fulltime, professional musicians and have been playing guitar a lot longer than I have.) Most importantly, all of them are not only very personable, they are cool guys to hang with, or play with, or both. Egos at a minimum, which I think is the sign of a true professional.

There's one more Acid Jazz Jam night next Sunday (9:00pm-12:00am, at Dulcinea's on Colfax) in Denver, before the band pickups back up with their regular weekly gigs at the Ancient Mariner in Manitou Springs, CO. Trying something new has turned into a very enjoyable experience, and I hope some of my other friends will come down and join in on the fun.

Vision Meets Reality - a vision unfolds

I love it when a plan comes together. It’s Easter season and for me that means planning, playing and helping execute on all the stuff that goes into putting together Easter services. You may have read on my bio that I’m a worship leader, lead electric and band leader of God’s House Band (GHB) at Broomfield United Methodist Church (BUMC). During Easter and Christmas we move our contemporary services from our sanctuary (seats around 350) to our gym (called the FLC and holds around 625 or so.)

One of the songs I identified early on for Easter was Michael W. Smith’s Prepare Ye The Way from his most recent CD, A New Hallelujah. The song opening starts with what almost sounds like a drum line from a marching band. It’s a 32 bar intro that builds up to a big entrance by the band with what I’d describe as a mystical guitar line – it’s echo’y and and floats on a synth pad with a strong, but slow and open, drum beat.

I wanted to do the song but not have to compromise and create a lesser version of it during the drum intro. I wanted something close to the CD version but done in a way that’s true to GHB. After talking with Rich Guess, one of our really talented drummers, it was pretty clear we could pull this off. He’d write up a drum chart and Cody and Bruce, two of our drummers in GHB, would all play it together. (Rich is the primary drummer on kit for Easter.) Kewl… step one: share the vision. Step two: recruit talented people to grow and fulfill the vision.

We’re doing Prepare Ye The Way for our opening song. This song will make for a very powerful opening. My goal for attendees, both members and visitors, is to have them go “Wow. This is church? Cool! I want to come here.” In describing the opening to our set and lighting directors (both extremely talented and gracious people, btw), I described it as a “Pink Floyd opening” with backlighting silhouetting the three drummers opening the song. Dave and Kevin were already planning to use big lights timed to accents in the music, and adding the backlighting fit in really well. I just wish we had some smoke – I’m going to email David to see if we could have some. I can just hear and see the opening song in my mind’s eye, and how the whole thing will unfold. It’s so very cool we all had similar and complementary visions for the song.

Today we had the first of three band and vocal rehearsals before Easter next Sunday. It was also the first time the three drummers got together to practice their opening. We’ve been trying to see if we could borrow a big bass drum and marching snare from one of the outside instrumental groups that use BUMC for rehearsals. So far that hasn’t panned out and I was worried we wouldn’t have the needed drums to rehearse today.

Cody showed up early and started pulling out and tuning up some of the drums from an acoustic set we have. Bruce then showed up asking, “Do you guys need a marching snare? I have one that I bought years ago but never knew if I’d get to use it.” I said, “I think you bought that drum for just this moment.” Kewl – We’ve got the tools to pull this off. Then they rehearsed Rich’s chart he’d created. Wow, wow, wow! I cannot wait to do this song.

Following the drum entrance on this song, the band comes in with a powerful but ethereal sound. Layered on top is the sparkly electric line I described earlier that flows over the music. I was so looking forward to playing this part, but I’m singing this song and it’s better that I not sing and play on a really tight guitar part. I could probably do it but it would never sound as good. So, Dave stepped in, a guitarist who has a fantastic ear for playing together with other guitar players. He’ll deliver that guitar line while I’m singing so while I don’t get to play it, I’ll have the pleasure of singing on top of it and the rest of the music, enjoying it all the same.

I can’t wait. I love it when a plan comes together.

Playing To Your Strengths

One of the things I experienced while sitting in, making music with my friends on Saturday night was admiration. I really admired the talent, skills and sweet tones coming from the other two guitarists. There are parts of what both of the other two guitar players offered that I would love to be able to play.

Now, this was a venue and type of music I don’t have a chance to play nearly as often as what I play in my regular weekly gig. So it’s not like I was playing guitar on my own home field, if you know what I mean. It’s okay to be envious, because it really was admiration for the music both those two guitar players could create.

The side effect though was that I felt I didn’t play as well as I might, largely because I was comparing myself to the other players, and changing my game to try and move closer to what they were playing. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a huge pleasure and fun time sitting in, making music with my friends. And I’d jump at the next chance to do it again.

But what I realized is I didn’t let myself play my kind of guitar playing, I was too busy thinking how I might play something like the other two players (though my skill level is far from theirs.) It was the admiration thing again. I didn’t fully allow my guitar playing to play to my strengths. I’m much more of a Gilmore-ish and Clapton-ish type player, not so speedy but concentrate on very passionate, tasty tones, lines and licks. I’m very happy with my playing when I do that well. Speed isn’t my strength. By not allowing myself to play to my own strengths, I wasn’t as happy with my playing as I could have been.

I’m not beating up on myself, but just thinking back about what I learned from the experience, and how I could have offered my best to the band and the music. And what I come to, something I already know but don’t always practice, is everyone is best served when you offer yourself… you, to the music.

Bring to it what you have to bring to it. Bring to the music your voice, your style and your way of saying it. “Say what you have to say, and then get out,” my friend Michael likes to tell me. (There’s a lot of treasure hidden in that one line of advice.)

It makes you more confident in your playing when it’s you you’re offering, and not something that’s trying to match or come close to what others are doing. Keep your spirit, and keep the soul alive, the source of what you are bringing. And make sure it’s authentic to you.

Making Music With Friends

Welcome to the first blog post on Guitartropolis. If you're new to Guitartropolis (and most likely you are) I'd suggest checking out the categories list (in the right hand column), the About page and my bio to get a feel for what Guitartropolis is about. Enough for the introductions, lets get started. I’m just going to jump right in with this first blog post.

Over the past weekend I had a thoroughly enjoyable listening and playing experience. My friends Michael Reese’s and Scotty Cash’s band, Tobacco Road, reformed and had their first gig after a five year layoff. Scotty got some crazy idea about moving to Florida and trying to live life without wearing any shoes (something like that). He finally came to his senses and moved back to Colorado to do music with his friends. I think he realized how many friends are here and how much we missed him. Scott is your consummate up front, entertainment guy… at least in a guitar, edgy blues rock band sense. Every band needs a good up front man and Scott fits the bill so well.

Tobacco Road (TR) is completed by a tight rhythm section, lead by Bob on drums and the bassist Terry. Bob’s a very talented drummer who lays down some really tight rhythms (I especially like his hat work), and Terry has a great drive in his moving bass lines. These two guys were putting it in the pocket, and beaming ear to ear all the while because they were having such a great time.

Saturday evening at Ironworks Brewery in Lakewood, CO, was part band reunion, friends reuniting, and making of new friends. Some of the crowd came out because they know band members or were fans of Tobacco Road.  But many others in the place were new to TR, and it was obvious from their reaction they were immediately drawn in by the music these guys produced. Most importantly, the audience was having a good time. I think we’ll see TR playing some new venues now that they are back together.

I saw some really great things come together that evening. It’s very obvious this group of musicians are very talented, but the real joy was seeing how much they enjoy playing and making great music together. At its core, they’re good friends. The band was there to play and have fun, whether every ear and eyeball in the joint was locked on them, or everyone was distracted in conversations or the pool game. No matter, there was going to be some great music put out.

I talked with Michael (TR’s lead guitar player) a lot about this Sunday after the gig, and also how TR enjoys bringing in a few friends to sit in with the band. Guitar player and Fender rep, Jeff Bowen, sat in and laid down a lot of tasty rhythm, and classic chicken pickin’ and blues/rock riffs. Jeff’s got great chops and has a very classic Tele sound, including some sweet slide playing. I also had the pleasure of sitting in for the better part of the night, playing rhythm and jumping in with some solos here and there.

Now, not every band’s going to do that… ask friends to sit with them and play, but I think it’s part of the philosophy, maybe even the makeup of this group, because at its core they want and like to play with friends. I totally agree with that, as I’ve come to the same place in how I live my life. I want to work and play with people I enjoy being with, doing things I enjoy doing, (work, play or otherwise.) It’s great to see that same philosophy applied in a music setting. And it was infectious with the audience, drawing in everyone present.

Congratz to the members of Tobacco Road for a successful "first" gig. It was a great  restart to what I hope will be an even better season for the band. And thank you for allowing me to sit in a be a part of it. It was a very special experience and I look forward to the next time we can get together.

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