What about the rest of you? When you play, do those who listen tell you that you sound like... "_______________"

quote:

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Originally posted by Brownie:
Personally for the last few years SRV has been the dominant player in my guitar playing. People did tell me after gigs that that was who they thought I played like (nice compliment how I wish it were true) but recently it seems to have become "fashion" to quote SRV as an influence and though they are great players Kenny Wayne and Chris Duarte have made me feel I have nothing to gain by joining the ranks of the SRV clone, after all there is only one true SRV and he's gone. I reckon we all have far more to gain by finding our own voice, true we all poach our riffs from our fave players but now I cringe every time I see some guy in a sombrero with a strat who's obviously studied not just the licks but the faces and poses.
What do YOU think?

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Hi Brownie...

what caught me in your post was your last sentence about people who not only are influenced by their idol's playing style, but the whole shebang, the pose, the facial expressions, the passion etc.

I have a good friend who is a massive SRV idol, and he emulates SRV. The thing is... I don't think that it's a bad thing. I don't have a problem with people emulating others, as long as they add their personal touch.

My opinion is that we're all influenced by our peers and heroes, and we all act accordingly. That said, I feel that we all add our own personal flavour to our interpretation.

If I emulate SRV both on the instrument, in my physical movements and my face.... that's kinda eerie, but I will subconsciously add my personal feel to it...

What do you think?

Anyhow, when you put it into perspective (about being chided by peers as being a copier, etc.) it makes sense... but even amongst musicians I've noticed a distinct difference in musical appreciation. There are some musicians who are very technical and objective - they don't necessarily focus on the subjective side, they'll just go tech on ya and say "bah, nothing new, Broonzy was doing this years ago, or Stevie did that riff 20 years ago, etc."...

I prefer taking an open approach to art (whether it's music, movies, painting, etc.) ... and let my opinion be formed by my emotional response to the tune.

In particular, I agree with Tom Morello (man, I was floored when Zack left RATM)... Tom has such a totally signature method of playing. Of course the other big names (clapton, bb, page, jimi, etc.) are the sure shots.

You mention jazz... what do you think of players like Steve Vai - not jazz, but sort of out there in his own category don't you think? I've always thought of Vai as being a sort of "fusion" player.

Woodstock - agreed, about RATM,... when you refer to "new album" I presume you're talking about Renegades... it's an interesting album - all covers (or almost) and all very heavily modified cover versions. It's interesting because it touches upon what I was discussing with Brownie... one can be influenced by another artist (or artistic style) but unless one has absolutely zero creative talent (rare!) ... one always adds, IMHO, a personal touch to their rendition.

eBuddha - out

I think there's also quite a difference between "artist influence" and a pure cover band... (like a SRV tribute band that does not actually write any original material) ... unless the tribute band is *really* impressive, it's not as interesting as an artist who interprets another artists work.

Brownie: Yes, I think that snootiness or snobbery might be a slightly harsh generalisation, but one would definitely have to say that European fans (and in particular the UK) have very unique musical tastes. The first example that comes to mind is Robbie Williams (ugh!) who has always been a pretty huge success over in the UK, but quickly fizzled here in North America.

or try explaining why David Hasselhof is a mega star in Germany - as a bloody musician > This is particularly annoying to me since I was born in Germany, and my native country which has produced the best (arguably) automobiles, beer, cutlery, sausage, Claudia Schiffer ... yet a good part of the nation somehow idolizes that moron Hasselhof.

OK, sorry about the interlude, back to the blues. hehehe

eBuddha

I AGREE WITH WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT AMERICAN'S EMBRACING MUSICIANS BETTER THAN US BRITS,WE TEND TO PUT DOWN ANYBODY WHO TRIES TO ACHIEVE
SOMETHING NO MATTER HOW SMALL.

WHAT I MEAN'T ON THE "SNOBBERY" THING,IS THAT I'M A VOCALIST IN WHAT I'D CALL A CONTEMPARY R&B BAND,WHEN WE FIRST STARTED OUT WE'D PLAY A GOOD SHARE OF SRV,ERIC HOWLIN' WOLF ECT. NOW THE BANDHAS EVOLVED INTO COVERING MORE WITH A SOUL SLANT,THIS ONE CLUB WE USED TO PLAY REGULARY, NOW WON'T BOOK US BECAUSE WE ARE NOT "BLUES ENOUGH"

THIS KIND OF THING PISSES OFF ME AND MY FELLOW BAND MEMBERS

AFTER ALL WE NOW PLAY LESS SRV AND MORE CRAY,KEB MO,COCKER AND JAMES BROWN

Peace

Temple of Blues crew

There are numerous musicians out there expanding their blues playing: The North Mississippi Allstars have blended the punk music they were exposed to when Jon Spencer came to their part of the country and worked with Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside. They've mixed that with the elder musicians they knew all their lives like Othar Turner's drum & fife outfits. Chris Thomas King has blended rap into the blues. Many have a hard time accepting Michael Hill's Blues Mob because of their political stance. Hey, I've even heard numerous people say that Hendrix didn't play blues, yet that was the core behind everything he did.

Soul music such as what you're putting into your performances has every bit of a place in with blues as any other tune you may play by Muddy or Wolf. And anybody who doubts that Robert Cray or Keb' Mo' are not blues, just doesn't have a clue to begin with.

Keep up with what you're doing. Expanding your repertoire is the best thing you can do for yourselves.

You couldn't have said it better.. regarding influence.

Your POV regarding "new blues" such as R. Cray or Keb Mo was bang on, IMHO.

Then again, some folks simply may not concur with your open-minded approach to music, consider themselves true purists and by nature refuse to accept, nor adapt to, musical evolution.

It's a shame when one thinks about it... since innovation usually involves both influence and raw creativity.

Cheers!

eBuddha

[This message has been edited by eBuddha (edited January 30, 2001).]

To the rest of you guy's thanks.It warms me that there are some like minded people .

cheers,

eBuddha

I'm a typical 90s bluesman in the sense that SRV and Buddy Guy are probly my biggest influences on my playing style.

But my playing has always been described by others as being very much like Angus Young's. Which makes sense as my previous band loved to cover AC/DC tunes. Oh, and I like Angus as well.. he made me pick up the guitar initially after all.

But in my opinion, and I tell this to a lot of people, you don't need the flash to tell a story with just your guitar. It only takes a few notes and how you handle them. SRV's brother Jimmie is a master at minimalist guitar and so was a lot of the greats like Magic Sam and Albert King. It works for harp players, too. I once sat in a workshop presented by Billy Branch and he made this same statement. You can take a single chord a long ways and it's also the spaces where you don't play that makes a lot of emphasis as well.

Think about it and just look at some of the great recordings. You'll see it too.