Month: January 2008

You know that satisfying click as two pieces of a puzzle form together? That’s how I felt when I really listened to the Blues a few months ago. It was like my ears had been formed just so in order to wring the most from every vibration of blues music. I just loved it instantly.

I found my way to the blues through my guitar. I’ve been playing a lot the past year and a bit, and have naturally tended towards playing blues tunes. Everyone who learns to play guitar learns to play the blues. It’s one of the simplest forms of music to become proficient at.

At the same time, it can take a lifetime to master. A friend asked me why I was so attracted to the blues, and I described it like this:

You know that feeling, when you’re totally in the zone, where you almost disappear? I think you can get into that zone more quickly playing blues than you can with other forms.

This means that the really great blues players and singers get to focus more on feeling, tone, and phrasing and less on complex fingerings and theory. You don’t spend a lot of time talking about the blues – you just play.

I started by formal introduction to the blues on wikipedia. That article led me to Buddy Guy, and I haven’t really recovered.

That’s more than enough writing about the blues for one day. Time to play.

I love me some Black Mountain. Their debut album rocks hard. The latest In the Future, which I’m currently giving my inaugural listen to, builds on the wicked psych-rock-metal-stoner-funk of Black Mountain. These are people not afraid of the distortion knob on their guitar rigs.

This is a very guitar forward album. The vocals are mixed well behind the lead, and seem to serve as much as fill as anything else. There’s lots of big soundscapes here. Lots of space to rock out.