The plan here is to present some ideas that will, hopefully, provoke some kind of thought and responce. Although I take full responsibility for everything on this page, I don't mean any harm, I just don't know any better! I plan to try to post a new "Rant" about every month. Please respond by going back to the Guest Book and let me (and every one else) know what you think.

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This Month's Topic - You Call That Blues?

I don't know about you, but I've noticed an unsettling trend lately in the live music arena. I know that it has been occuring here in the Central PA area, and I'm sure it's going on in a lot more places. It seems that any clown with a Strat, a tube amp, and a distortion box that knows how to put a I - IV - V progression into a 12 bar format thinks he knows how to "Play the Blues". There seems to be such a proliferation of lousy "Blues Bands" around, and unfortunately, acceptance of the same, that the music has lost a lot of its integrity. Yes, Blues is considered to be a "primitive" music by many, I believe this refers more to it being a primary or original form than having lack of subtlety and refinement. In fact, it is this history, growth, and refinement that make the music so exciting and vibrant.

I have played with people in jam situations that have touted themselves as "Blues Musicians" that were completely lost with a 16 bar blues. I've met guitarists that call themselves "Blues Men" that wouldn't know the difference between Buddy Guy and Otis Rush. Come On! Learn the tradition! Stevie Ray Vaughn did not invent this stuff, nor was he the culmination. Check out Lightnin' Hopkins, Robert Nighthawk, Earl Hooker. Learn where it came from and who got it going. I'm not saying that nothing of value has happened in the past twenty years, but you can be sure that Johnny Lange, Dave Hole, Ronnie Earl and any other "modern master" has spent time reviewing the tradition. I once heard a band play "The Thrill Is Gone" the entire way through with the guitarist playing in A Major while the bass player was in A Minor. Fools like that have no business playing ANYTHING in front of people, let alone calling themselves a "Blues and Jazz Band".

On the other side of the coin, I have also run into more and more technically brilliant musicians who have "Come Back Home" to the beauty and profound emotional power of The Blues. These guys are able to respect the tradition and still bring new ideas and direction into the music. I suppose that listeners will always get what they deserve: drunken fools in meat market bars; and club owners and managers who will book the lowest bidder will get, and unfortunately accept, mediocre (at best) musicians and music with no regard for the music and for that matter the audience. Let's just hope and pray that Sam Cooke was right when he sang...

"It's Been A Long Time Comin', But I Believe A Change Is Gonna Come"!

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