Guitars...they're fun to talk about, look at, GAS over etc...but...

[meandi]

...the bottom line IS, they're fer makin music.
Thought it would be interesting to have a thread about what everyones musical thang is.

Today being Saturday, I have a 5 hour rehearsal tonight with the 5 piece, where I'm the rhythm guitarist.
They've been together about 8 years...recently lost the bassist & the rhythm player, who's spot i got...120 song play list that the bassist & I are still comming up to speed on, so no gigs scheduled yet.
Genre is 60s/70s British pop.

Next...

[Kerouac]

One of my friends who I work with on an industrial band/project is coming out around 5 and we're going to grab dinner and then go get drunk and record for a couple of hours.

[meandi]

Original material?

[ellengtrgrl]

OK, I've gotten much more eclectic over the years, but I still luvs muh metal, and other heavy music forms. I also occcasionally dabble in jazz, and more infrequently so, in rockabilly. I have no fear of using hollow and semi-hollow guitars at high gain (for a long time, my main gigging guitar, was a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion). They have a wonderful throatiness to their sound a high gain, plus with the added advantge of sound nice and smokey/smooth in a jazz manner soundwise (which I prefer for clean stuff, over twang), when you turn down. I'm bandless at the present time, and it's a bummer!! But I, hardly know anybody here, so networking for gigs is a pain. When I do play out, I do lead, and rhythmn guitar (with a bias towards doing most of the lead playing), and vocals (both lead and backing - singing is FUN!!).

[jelloman]

I'm trying to get the balls to turn on the recorder and try something for the next recordingfest...

...JEEZUS...I'm such a spineless fuck...

[Elias Graves]

I'm actively rehearsing my first complete original song.

EG

[meandi]

OK, I've gotten much more eclectic over the years, but I still luvs muh metal, and other heavy music forms. I also occcasionally dabble in jazz, and more infrequently so, in rockabilly. I have no fear of using hollwo and semi-holow guitars at high gain (for a long time, my main gigging guitar, was a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion). They have a wonderful throatiness to thier sound a high gain, plus with the added advantge of sound nice and smokey/smooth in a jazz manner sound (which I prefer for clean stuff, over twang), when you turn down. I'm bandless at the present time, and it's a bummer!! But I, hardly know anybody here, so networking for gigs is a pain. When I do play out, I do lead, and rythmn guitar (with a bias towards doing most of the lead playing), and vocals (both lead and backing - singing is FUN!!).

Sounds like you're quite a versatile player.
I was hanging out in my fav mom & pop music store a couple of days ago, where I work part time & their was a couple of guys in there doing some fierce acoustic Zep & such...I admitted to them that I didn't start playing till I was in my 50's & how much I wish I'd discovered the guitar when I was a kid, so I could tear it up the way they were doing it.
I've got a great teacher though, so I'm coming along a little bit at a time.

[paulskirocks]

I am a hack guitarist, playing for 30 years.. I write and record original tunes to amuse myself and to be able to leave something behind when I die, other than debt... I miss playing in bands... I don't miss the headache of dealing with flaky musicians, though... I really like playing parties... At 45, I still like hard rock and metal, am obnoxious, and haven't grown up (except that I never flake on rehearsal and leave my personal problems at the door), so I have a difficult time finding guys my age that want to do something other than 12 bar or classic rock covers...

[Mark Wein]

I'm actually writing music not for one but hopefully two albums this year...one with my band Felt but the first one is going to be my first "solo" outing..the music is coming together pretty nicely but I'm stuck on lyrics right now.

I have a window of mid-May to the end of July to get the solo album recorded before my buddy who is engineering it (El Borrachito here on the forum) has his second kid and time becomes scarce.

The new music is going to be a little more "groove oriented" than the last album we did but here are a few song from Felt:

These two will probably be on the next album





These are from "Desert Center"

A few songs from our album "Desert Center"

Over Pennsylvania - http://www.markwein.com/soundfiles/F...nnsylvania.mp3

Indio - http://www.markwein.com/soundfiles/Indio.MP3

Here is our album on iTunes:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...istId=39360564



Here we are on Myspace: http://profile.myspace.com/feltmusic

[paulskirocks]

I'm actively rehearsing my first complete original song.

EG

LOL!!!!! You continually crack me up...

[meandi]

I'm trying to get the balls to turn on the recorder and try something for the next recordingfest...

...JEEZUS...I'm such a spineless fuck...

Nothing ventured nothing gained....

I'm actively rehearsing my first complete original song.

EG

Ya, I write as well.
Actually original material is probably my strongest area of interest musically.
I'm looking for a collaboration partner...so far, no one has the patience to invest in developing arrangements etc.

[Mark Wein]

btw: El Borrachito is playing the other guitar in the videos and tylerwalton (from the forum) is playing drums in the videos above.

[ellengtrgrl]

Sounds like you're quite a versatile player.
I was hanging out in my fav mom & pop music store a couple of days ago, where I work part time & their was a couple of guys in there doing some fierce acoustic Zep & such...I admitted to them that I didn't start playing till I was in my 50's & how much I wish I'd discovered the guitar when I was a kid, so I could tear it up the way they were doing it.
I've got a great teacher though, so I'm coming along a little bit at a time.

Thanks! Play because you love to - irregardless of how well you play. I've been playing for 31 years. I've played with guys at jam sessions, who've destroyed me playingwise. It's a humbling experience. But you know something?, it helps to keep me real. Besides, just because you have chops galore, doesn't mean your playing (or songs for that matter), are fun and/or interesting to listen to. A good song is a good song - irregardless of how complex it is. For example, I was just listening to The Stooges, "I Wanna Be Your Dog." It's a very basic song. But it's cool, and definitely far better IMO, than for instance most of shredder Malmsteen's stuff!

The bandless situation is in part due to the fact, that having moved here 6 years ago for my job, I'm finding it difficult to network with other musicians, since I hardly know any of them (which wasn't the case in my hometown).

[Elias Graves]

LOL!!!!! You continually crack me up...

Thanks, but I don't get it.

Nothing ventured nothing gained....



Ya, I write as well.
Actually original material is probably my strongest area of interest musically.
I'm looking for a collaboration partner...so far, no one has the patience to invest in developing arrangements etc.

This is why I even learned to play this damned instrument. Nobody was interested in my songs so I figured I'll have to just do it myself.

EG

[paulskirocks]

OK, I'm waiting for the word police to show up...

[paulskirocks]

In my garage, where I belong..
No one hears me sing this song..
In the garage...

[ellengtrgrl]

I am a hack guitarist, playing for 30 years.. I write and record original tunes to amuse myself and to be able to leave something behind when I die, other than debt... I miss playing in bands... I don't miss the headache of dealing with flaky musicians, though... I really like playing parties... At 45, I still like hard rock and metal, am obnoxious, and haven't grown up (except that I never flake on rehearsal and leave my personal problems at the door), so I have a difficult time finding guys my age that want to do something other than 12 bar or classic rock covers...

Paul, I'm 46, and I have the EXACT same problem. It seems that when we hit our 40s, we're expected to blues, and classic rock out. I don't want to do that. I play in bands for the fun of it, and I like the tunes we're doing, not just for the "thrill" of playing onstage (been playing in front of people, since I was in 6th grade back in 1975/76). I certainly never got rich doing it, but there's something about playing with other people, that makes it so much more fun for me, than playing by myself. Musically, the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. I don't know why I feel this way (maybe it's because most of my musical background comes from playing in an ensemble context [symphonic and jazz bands] from grade school through my 2nd year of college), but I do. I still find it fun to play by myself, but I find it more fun to play with other people.

[meandi]

btw: El Borrachito is playing the other guitar in the videos and tylerwalton (from the forum) is playing drums in the videos above.

I'''ve heard several of your vids & really enjoy your work.
You remind me a lot of my teacher, stylistically.

Thanks! Play because you love to - irregardless of how well you play. I've been playing for 31 years. I've played with guys at jam sessions, who've destroyed me playingwise. It's a humbling experience. But you know something?, it helps to keep me real. Besides, just because you have chops galore, doesn't mean your playing (or songs for that matter), are fun and/or interesting to listen to. A good song is a good song - irregardless of how complex it is. For example, I was just listening to The Stooges, "I Wanna Be Your Dog." It's a very basic song. But it's cool, and definitely far better IMO, than for instance most of shredder Malmsteen's stuff!

The bandless situation is in part due to the fact, that having moved here 6 years ago for my job, I'm finding it difficult to network with other musicians, since I hardly know any of them (which wasn't the case in my hometown).

Lovin it's the only reason I play...I'm way too old (63) to be doing it to shag chicks or anything silly like that. LOL

This is why I even learned to play this damned instrument. Nobody was interested in my songs so I figured I'll have to just do it myself.

EG

Only valid reason, there''s 10,000,000 song writers out there...

OK, I'm waiting for the word police to show up...

Don't taze me mr. occifer.

[Elias Graves]

10,000,001.

EG

[ellengtrgrl]

I'm actually writing music not for one but hopefully two albums this year...one with my band Felt but the first one is going to be my first "solo" outing..the music is coming together pretty nicely but I'm stuck on lyrics right now.

I have a window of mid-May to the end of July to get the solo album recorded before my buddy who is engineering it (El Borrachito here on the forum) has his second kid and time becomes scarce.

The new music is going to be a little more "groove oriented" than the last album we did but here are a few song from Felt:

These two will probably be on the next album





These are from "Desert Center"

A few songs from our album "Desert Center"

Over Pennsylvania - http://www.markwein.com/soundfiles/F...nnsylvania.mp3

Indio - http://www.markwein.com/soundfiles/Indio.MP3

Here is our album on iTunes:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...istId=39360564



Here we are on Myspace: http://profile.myspace.com/feltmusic

Good stuff Mark!! It has kind of a hard driving jam band oriented vibe to it, without being too laid back!! I can understand the lyrics dilemma. That's my problem with writing originals. I have tons of music ideas, riffs, and even embryonic songs, but the lyrics. Two words that readily come to mind, when I think of my lyrics, are cliched, and/or whiney.

[Mark Wein]

I'''ve heard several of your vids & really enjoy your work.
You remind me a lot of my teacher, stylistically.

Thanks!

Good stuff Mark!! It has kind of a hard driving jam band oriented vibe to it, without being too laid back!! I can understand the lyrics dilemma. That's my problem with writing originals. I have tons of music ideas, riffs, and even embryonic songs, but the lyrics. Two words that readily come to mind, when I think of my lyrics, are cliched, and/or whiney.

In my late 20's/early 30's I wrote constantly...thats where the "Desert Center" album comes from. In recent years I just haven't put the time into it and barely play original music anymore so I'm trying to get back to what I love about making music (not that I hate the other cover and blues gigs that I do but this is really where I started) but it's been difficult getting the motor going effectively. Sad Navigator has been writing a cool blog on lyric writing that I've been following and it helps a bit: http://markweinguitarlessons.com/forums/blog.php?224

[tommy harkenrider]

hey guys check this out. I'm way into western swing right now and this is from a gig in solana beach at the belly up. Anyway the tune is a swing standard. let me know what you think.

[paulskirocks]

Fun stuff! ^^^

[meandi]

hey guys check this out. I'm way into western swing right now and this is from a gig in solana beach at the belly up. Anyway the tune is a swing standard. let me know what you think.

Rhythm player's wet dream right there!
You've got a real tight group!
I've been getting into Count Basie & some of the other '40s swing bands recently.

[tommy harkenrider]

since you guys were kind to me check this one out from st. patty's day in san diego.

[Kerouac]

Oh, I read this as what musical things are we doing this weekend.

Well, I teach guitar, bass, and drums, for a living so I'm always playing music, but I haven't been doing much of my own thing. These days I spend more time doing the technical aspects like trying to keep my chops in line or spending time improving my skills as a recording engineer. I have hundreds of songs ready to record and finish but I don't feel like I'm ready to take them on and release them.

[FarToMany]

hey guys check this out. I'm way into western swing right now and this is from a gig in solana beach at the belly up. Anyway the tune is a swing standard. let me know what you think.

OHHH, what i wouldn't give to play stuff like that. With owning a house, tinkering with guitars,, building cars on the side for my play money, my time is limited to play and really sit down and learn new things---you know, can't teach an old dog new tricks, LOL. But i sure love to play just the best i can and if you like it fine,, if not just say so and STFU and let me continue on. I am by far not the best player and i really only play covers for the most part, but i like it and thats all that matters.

Ellen, i hear you on the bandless situation. I am not going to say i haven't tried some either. They just didn't work out and its hard to find people to click with. I have found and tried out for a few off craigslist, as i have no other connections either. I frankly havent played with a band since i was in high school 20 years ago. The best i have now is a former co-worker (drummer) and his friend (guitar/bass) that lives a couple hours away. When he visits, we get together and play for 5-6 hours and it works great. But life is too much for any of us to get into something full time after working hours.

OK, enough yapping, time for me to turn away from the computer and go play!!!

[speakerjones]

I've been playing in original bands since I was 15 (18 years now ). I've never gotten really good at the instrument, but I can write a decent song and I'm fairly creative with my parts. I'm a much stronger rhythm player than lead. I also play the drums, hand percussion, harmonica, and a little mandolin. My next undertaking is lap steel.

I've played in a bunch of different genres, all original with just a few covers here and there. Never tried jazz or classical though.

My last band could best be described as indie rock. We broke up a little over a year ago now. My wife and I just had our first baby last year, so I haven't been in a big hurry to get into another band that will take a lot of my time. I've been working on learning some Irish folk songs to possibly do a duo thing with a buddy of mine, and also just started working on some covers to jam on with my old rhythm section and this singer/songwriter guy. So that might turn into something, we'll see.

Here's my old band's myspace: The Analog Reception

[jaxn slim]

I play guitar with a Johnny Cash tribute band that plays in the Nashville and Knoxville areas. We've been gigging for about 3 years. I enjoy playing country, but I strongly prefer rock.

I also play guitar for a 90's cover band that is still in the jam room. We have about 30 tunes down and hope to start gigging this summer.

[ellengtrgrl]

hey guys check this out. I'm way into western swing right now and this is from a gig in solana beach at the belly up. Anyway the tune is a swing standard. let me know what you think.

VERY cool!! Your playing has sort of a Junior Barnard vibe to it! BTW, it looks like you're playing the single pickup version of an ES-175, but I can't tell if it has the stock humbucker, a P90, or a Charlie Christian pickup in it.

[Sad Navigator]

I make bedroom indie songs and occasionally play out. I'm in school and I work, so time is scarce. I've got a couple ideas burbling and will probably get after them once the semester is over.