Biz Prof

Like Buttah

She will rightfully be remembered for a lot of good things and deeds. Perhaps her most significant contribution in my eyes was the creation of her Imagination Library. I grew up in a household full of books, and I learned to read at a very young age. My mother grew up incredibly poor and was instrumental in steering my sister and me toward formal education. IIRC, Dolly's father was illiterate, and that wasn't necessarily unique in early twentieth century Appalachia. She realized the opportunities that would be available to anyone who could effectively read and write. Truly a game changer for the poor and forgotten ones in society. When my first child was born, I had already purchased several books to read to her while my wife was pregnant. And while I didn't need the charity of a free book, a local literacy advocacy group provided us (and all new parents at local hospitals) with a free copy of Goodnight Moon. I later discovered it was Dolly's Imagination Library that helps subsidize and facilitate this benevolent service. Now that's a legacy worth celebrating.

Many of us across the South thought those bent ears were factory features. Lol

This is probably a good time to divulge that I am actually an exiled Nigerian prince. Great political unrest put my family in danger and forced me to leave my homeland. If you would be so kind as to assist me, I would like to transfer $1.5 million U.S. to your account so that I might bring my family safely to... ....aw, Hell. Just kidding. I hate grifters.

RIP. Well, this should be the retirement signal for Billy Gibbons. End of an era.

Being rural NC born and raised, I always found the "Southern Rock" label to be a bit misappropriated. Skynyrd (and its spin-offs), the Outlaws, Black Oak Arkansas, and to some degree, MTB all had some fundamental similarities. Others labeled as "Southern Rock" sound to me like other genres. ABB was more blues rock and jazz/jam band rock. .38 Special was a straight rock band. Molly and Blackfoot were redneck hard rock. ARS was bluesy jazz rock. As for the Mace sound, I think it fit Skynyrd's later sound quite well. Lots of power tube overtones.

Fuck....

In November of last year, I started playing with an established local cover band in which the drummer is a longtime friend of mine. One of their more popular covers is "New York State of Mind", which isn't much of a guitar tune, but was fun to learn in terms of backing chord progressions. Their previous lead guitarist had noodled his way through the sax solo (no horns in this band). Sounded fine, but I decided to learn the sax fills and solo at least 90% note-for-note. It's a blast to play and members of the audience love the tune played faithful to the original. More recently, we added Anthony's Song/Movin' Out. Another fun cover and a challenge to nail down all the details. The experience has given me a new and robust appreciation of Mr. Joel, his musicianship, and his writing prowess. Looking forward to watching his Beato interview, as Rick is a stellar interviewer.

If any human ever actually needed diarrhea, he apparently need only take any prescription marketed over the last 30 years. Problem solved.

I tried .010 sets back in mid '90s when .009-.042 was the de facto standard and the SRV legacy was simultaneously influencing a new fad (my perspective on it) of ratcheting up gauges to .010, .011, and .012 in the quest for tone. I simply found .010 sets to be too stiff for bending, even on 25.75" scale guitars. It was painful. Over the last 25 years, I found I was focusing less on blistering leads on more on rhythm playing and textural nuances under moderately overdriven amp settings. A heavier gauge sounded and felt better for this requirement, but I still needed the ability to play leads with large bends. Tried .0095 sets a few years ago and found it to be a good compromise. My finger dexterity ain't what it once was, so the gear needs to work for me rather than the other way around. YMMV.

"You can see the girl's whatnots through her blouse..." https://tenor.com/bQwQH.gif

I equate such festivals with extremely low yield musical performance quality and high incidences of low hygiene. Caveat emptor.

Reverb before Etsy...pretty damn good Reverb after Etsy...pretty damn bad. Mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions are never ventured with benefits to the end user in mind.

Forward to.1:00. https://youtu.be/P3CnvphQs04?si=t7m2PCo0scsSLFYp

My band--Mother Nature--played there quarterly from '93-'95. Great venue. Yoooge house PA.

The hometown boy from Fayette-nam, NC. He plays pretty well, you know. Might actually make a career out of it. First time I ever saw him play was with Col. Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit at The Attic in Greenville, which was my band's home base. Jimmy on the right, playing a Strat. Oteil Burbridge on the left, playing lines that would have made Jaco smile. Bruce in the middle, playing the "meh-DOO-lah OB-lon-GAH-tah". IYKYK.

True, but Aces High and 2 Minutes to Midnight are bangers.

I've posted it here many times: I still love Iron Maiden's first seven albums. They started losing me with Fear of the Dark, and at some point over the last twenty years, it seems that most of their songs have morphed into dirges with long, slow intros and outros that sound like soccer stadium chants. When Martin Birch retired, i feel like the band lost its edge. IMHO, Kevin Shirley has done virtually nothing to restore that edge. Of course they're selling out stadiums on tour, so they must be doing something right.

Maxon built nearly all of the Ibby pedals from that era, including the TK.

Charvel still hanging around. Jackson sold right after I refinished it.

How much for just one?

Didn't something similar happen to Don Felder's custom Erlewine doubleneck? I recall him saying in an interview that the Eagles broke up around the time he received it, and when he opened it up 14 years later to get gear ready for Hell Freezes Over, the flight case foam had melted into the clearcoat.

Breaking this one out for the first time in years.

I had this issue with wound D strings from multiple XL sets on over a dozen different guitars. Different packs purchased over a period of time, as well. It cost D'Addario my business after 30+ years as a loyal customer. Wire matters. I use EB Primo Slinky sets now. No issues...yet.

K-Mawt and Seeyahz have refused to carry the album. Just because of the cah-vuh."