I was recently talking to a friend about guitar playing and motivation to practice (it seemed like he had a hard time staying motivated).  I’ve always liked to practice, and have been easily motivated to play my guitar for hours. I told him that when I heard a solo  that really moved me, I had a hard time not picking up my guitar. He asked which solos ‘’moved me’’?  Then I started thinking about all the solos that I’ve found over the years that I have been really influenced by, that really got into my head and then can’t stop thinking about for days.

So once a month I’m going to post a song with a solo that makes me want to run for my guitar and practice for hours. Hopefully they’ll have the same effect on you.

The first one that comes to mind for me is Chester B. Atkins 1953 solo on Sweet Georgia Brown. I usually prefer solos that sound ‘’spur of the moment’’, as if they could possibly fall apart at any time, but don’t. Chet’s solo on this song sounds composed, but it’s composed perfectly from beginning to end. I can’t remember who turned me on to the ‘’Jazz from the Hills’’ by the Country All Stars, but even after years of listening to this, I still have to fight the urge to run for my guitar.

Sweet Georgia Brown

It’s always a surprise to me when I mention guitarist/arranger George Barnes and people don’t know who he is, especially if it’s a guitar player! Mr. Barnes was playing an electric guitar even before the great Charlie Christian. He is by far my favorite player of all time.

I remember the first time I heard the George Barnes Octet recordings. It made me feel like I needed to spend allot more time practicing. Twenty years later, I still feel the same.

I can’t imagine any well-known-so-called-guitar-hero today trying to follow George Barnes on stage or in a recording studio. It would be a joke! If you’re serious about becoming a better guitarist, do yourself a favor and get the full Octet recordings here.

Last weekend we headed down to Anaheim, CA to attend Deke Dickerson’s 9th annual Guitar Geek Festival. As usual, he did not disappoint. Besides a top notch group of pickers over two evenings, Deke’s insane collection of rare, valuable and wacky guitars grows more interesting every year. My favorite this year was definitely his Bigsby from 1956 pictured below.

Deke also showed a beautiful collection of relatively unknown “Harvey” guitars made by an incredible craftsman, Jim Harvey.  The Harvey  mandolin pictured below, made in 1952 for Scotty Broyles, features a five pole piece Bigsby pickup. Scotty himself, along with Jim Harvey’s son Howard, were there to play in the “All Harvey Band” where seven guys each played a Harvey made instrument.

Having just made a pick guard for Deke’s tele, we set up a small display to show the guitar geeks in attendance a sampling of what we can do for them as well.

Below are a few various shots of the event and the guitar museum, including an amazing steel guitar collection.

I came across this article in the L.A. Times a few weeks ago.  This scene was taking place in the area of Southern, CA where I grew up. Unfortunately I was born just as all of this musical greatness had come to a screeching halt. The musicians and guitar pickers that were playing at this time are still influencing  my playing today. I also like Rose Lee Maphis’s quote ”I’m glad we were part of the business at that time, because back then, the business belonged to the entertainers” Enjoy…

This band is heading to England to play the 15th annual Rockabilly Rave. I was fortunate enough to play guitar with Big Sandy and The Fly Rite Trio for five years from the late 80′s to early 90′s. The band consisted of Robert Williams, aka “Big Sandy”, Wally Hersom on bass, Bobby Trimble on drums and myself. In a short period, we played full time in clubs up and down the West Coast and throughout Europe. We recorded two albums, “Fly Rite with …Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Trio” which includes this song, and a second album, “on the GO“.  In looking for photos of the band for the current Rave promotional Flyer, I came across these pictures taken over twenty years ago.

Since I rarely play live anymore, I have to ease up with the work in my shop to give my hands a rest in order to get in shape for the Rave. I have always played on a daily basis, still love to record and teach whenever I can.

Robert successfully carried on after this band with Big Sandy and his fly-rite boys, Wally has an amazing recording studio in Pasadena and plays in various bands around L.A., and Bobby, one of my favorite drummers, lives in Austin. Seems like every time I hear a recording come out of Austin that I like, Bobby’s usually playing drums on it.