I already know what many of you are saying…”Who is Crystal Bowersox?”

Crystal Bowersox is one of American Idol’s Season #9 frontrunner girls. She is certainly my favorite.

One reviewer wrote : The 23-year-old former farmgirl and single mom has a headful of dreads, a chinful of facial piercings, and a mouthful of sandpaper-and-velvet.

She’s been strumming and singing since the age of 10 and cites trailblazing blues women like Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt, and Sista Otis as her own musical influrnces. Her most notable “idol” might be Melissa Etheridge–as evidenced by the “Melissa” autograph on the body of her acoustic guitar.

She looks destined to make the “Top 12″ — especially after her soulful performance last night of “Give Me One Reason”.
(video below)

I noticed that her electric guitar has not been signed. Looks like a great place for a “GuitarDaddy” autograph! Hey Crystal, is that space for sale?

The internet is amazing. Blogs are even more amazing.  The internet and this blog have allowed me to “re-connect and communicate” with many people.

Twelve years ago, I lived in Seattle, WA and worked for a well-known technology company. I was in sales management and had a team of sales professionals who worked for me.

I have always believed that success is directly tied to the quality of the people you associate and work with on a daily basis.  It’s hard to succeed totally on your own. The truth is… any success I realized in the corporate world was more a factor of my ability to identify talented salespeople and encourage them to work for me than any personal achievements of my own.

(By the way, that same axiom holds true today — surround yourself with as many successful people in the music world as you can. You will learn from them and they will inspire you to grow as a guitar player.)

OK… Back to Seattle… No one called me “GuitarDaddy” then. I did not even play the guitar! But the seeds of my six-string love affair were being planted…

One of the talented salespeople who worked for me was a young man by the name of Brian Oaks.

While I will always remember Brian for his drive, determination and professional sales skills, I will NEVER forget how he often spoke of his love for the guitar.  I will admit that at that time, I did not understand how ANYBODY could be passionate about a guitar… but time sure has opened my eyes.

A few years ago, the internet allowed me to re-connect with Brian and over the past month, that re-connection evolved into this blog post as Brian allowed me to interview him about his life and the guitar.

Brian’s passion for the guitar and music drove him to leave corporate sales and the security of a weekly paycheck to pursue his dream of playing guitar professionally.

I believe Brian’s story is one worth sharing with the readers of TheGuitarBUZZ. Enjoy!

GD) How long have you been playing guitar?

BO) About 25 years…I remember getting my first rental guitar in 5th grade (Gibson Sonex 150)…. I started taking lessons and really getting into it pretty fast. My grandparents bought me my first guitar in 6th grade from Kennelly Keys Music in Burien, WA. It was a 1983 Sienna Sunburst Fender Strat. I still have it today and it is 9/10 as far as condition goes and remains safely tucked away. Having a great first guitar really helped me learn.

I will say that there were some years during and after college that I did not play much. I wanted to be a doctor in college and then ended up in sales. During those years, I played but did not practice much. About 10 years ago I met someone that moved up to Seattle from Nashville. We became great friends and that is when I really started back at it.

GD) Who are your major influences?

BO) I always dug the session guys more than anything growing up. Dann Huff, Jerry McPherson, Mike Landau, and Gordon Kennedy were big when I was young. I loved how these guys could come up with the perfect part, solo, and sound for a song. That was inspiring to me. Still is…Today All the above still inspire me but also guys like Gerry Leonard, Michael Lockwood, Tom Bukovac, Kenny Greenberg, Shawn Tubbs, Brad Paisley and many others. Each of these players approaches the instrument in a different way. GREAT learning opportunity to learn from diverse people!

When it comes down to it I love guys with confidence. This is rock and roll to me. Seeing Tom Bukovac, Mike Landau or Kenny Greenberg live is pretty stupid cool. Listening to Jerry McPherson come up with some amazing part is too. Confidence is a major influence to me as I am trying to get better at it.

GD) How would you describe your playing style today?

BO) Well I hope I sound like me! I am definitely a pop/rock guy heavily influenced by country and roots rock. I love the sound a cool vibey & guitar into a great amp with a memory man delay. I love making chunky rhythm and the fun ambient/washy stuff too. I love simple lines that make a part and love a solo you can sing to…. Since being in Nashville I have totally been digging into the great country players and using my fingers a lot along with the pick. I have always used a “hybrid picking” style (Mark Knopfler ) but even more so now. I sound like Brian Oaks with a little of my influences mixed I hope.

GD) Tell me about the move from Seattle to Nashville:

BO) Well I loved working for Dennis Jones but I think I loved guitar more (chuckle). I think there is a time in all our lives where if we are really honest with ourselves we know what God created us to be. I believe for me that this is music. I just had to make the jump. I knew I was good enough (to an extent as the talent here is scary!). I just did not want to come to the end of my life and say I wish I would have… It has been the best thing I have ever done less marry my wife Stephanie and have my 2 kids Tyler and Abigail. Dreams are powerful when you have a talent. If those two things are there, you have to run with reckless abandon in that direction. I moved down here in my mid 30’s. That is late to an extent but it was the best decision for me. I do not regret a second of it. I have the best job in the world.

GD) What are you working on right now?

BO) I play for country artist Mallary Hope. AMAZING artist on MCA Records. I have also been on tour with Point of Grace and Mark Schultz on the Come Alive tour. That has been a ton of fun. Will be continuing that tour this winter on the West Coast. I play for a lot of artists not on “tour” as it is expensive to get a band on a tour bus so we do fly dates or short runs. I played this summer for Warner Bros. artist Whitney Duncan when she was doing band shows. That was a lot of fun.

I am also producing a live record for a church up in Chicago with Brent King in May. He is an old friend and is Ricky Scaggs engineer. Great learning experience there. There is also session work too, but I am enjoying playing live right now so that is what is taking up the most of my time.

GD) Describe your live rig: guitars, amps, effects, …

BO) It depends on the gig, but I have been using my Matchless HC-30 and a matching Matchless 1×12 cab. That amp just seems to get most of what I need with my pedalboard. That amp at 9 is magic. I have to use in-ears, which I am not real fond of. I know the amp sounds good in the house even if it is not great in my ears. I also have a Divided by 13 FTR 27 I love too.

On the winter run for the Come Alive tour I am taking a 1966 Fender Bassman head and a Naylor Superdrive 60 on the road. The Bassman is amazing sounding and has lots of vibe. The Naylor is the best amp I have ever played for solos and big Rhythm.

As far as effects I have a big Trailer Trash board that has basic food group stuff on it that I use for dates when I need a lot of options. I run 2 Line 6 delays, as I need more than 3 presets. I love the Memory Man but the Line 6 works great when I need presets. I have an old Nobles ODR-1 for overdrive and a Xotic Effects RC Booster if I need to add a little dirt to the clean. I also use an Fulltone OCD on the board too for a little extra muscle. I have an Arion Stereo Chorus (old one) for that Leslie thing, a AYA R-Comp compressor when I need it, a Sweet Sound Mojovibe for univibe stuff and a Fulltone Supa-Trem for Tremolo. With this board many are run through a true bypass looper to keep my signal chain clean.

Less is more and I usually keep it pretty simple as the more distortion you use does not translate very well out front sometimes. I run delays a little hotter live too as they can get lost out front. I love the tape delay settings as each repeat gets more nasally and translates well. Also for really vibe stuff the multi-head setting on the Line 6 is stellar to me.

For guitars that depends on the gig again. For instance on the Come Alive tour I took my Duesenberg Outlaw TV. This guitar pretty much goes with me everywhere. I also have my Jeff Senn Tele that is a staple now too. For the vibey stuff I took my Gretsch Tennessean with flat wounds. Jerry McPherson told me to do this 10 years ago and I never went back.

I bought Fender Aerodyne Tele from Mike Britt of Lonestar that is pretty cool too. This next run I will probably bring out my Gibson SG Heritage too. Great guitar and the Humbuckers sound great through the Bassman.

I aIso play Eastman mandolins (Amazing) that I take on tour as well as a Deering 6 String Banjo.

For acoustics it is my McPherson for sure. I have to capo quite a bit and it intonates no matter where I capo. They make amazing instruments. I would not leave the house without it. It is just one of those guitars that is effortless to play.

I also use Tone Freak effects on my smaller board and Elixir strings. They are the only strings I can play because of my sweaty hands. The sound great and last WAY longer than a normal string. I use them on everything. I am also putting Lollar pickups in everything I can. I have them in my Senn Tele, my Les Paul Goldtop and now in my Les Paul Jr. Love em’.

GD) What is your guitar-playing highlight?

BO) I was playing for James Otto last year when his single “Just Got Started Loving You” was at #2 on the country charts. When we did it live I played the opening riff with just me and the high hat to start the song. On the last show I did with him we opened for Lynyrd Sknyrd in front of about 9,000 people. Was a real rush when the crowd went nuts for the song when it was me at the front of the stage.

GD) Any new recordings / CDs in the works?

BO) I have always been more interested in making other people sound good. I love writing so I hope you will hear some of my songs on the radio!

GD) And the Duesenberg???

BO) Where to start… The owner of the US side of the company is my dear friend Nathan Fawley. He supported me when I first moved to town. My first Doozey was the Outlaw TV. He had me do demo clips for them on their website along with Chris Rodriguez (Keith Urban), Rod Janzen (Dierks Bentley) and Mike Campbell (Tom Petty). No pressure there! That was a great help to me early on.

It is the one electric that covers SO much ground to me. It can do the strat thing, the rock thing and the big neck sound jazzy thing. The TV also has an alligator skin covering that just looks sweet too. The craftsmanship is great and it is really easy to play.

I also have a multi-bender that allows me to do pedal steel licks. If you have not played one, you have to. It is a great tool.

[ END ]

I love to hear about people who follow their dreams.  Like Brian said, talent and dreams can be very dangerous! Congratulations Brian, on all of your achievements.

Visit Brian’s MySpace site by CLICKING HERE.

You can also follow Brian on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.

Finally, Brian wanted share a few of his favorite guitar links… Please check out:

www.elixirstrings.com
www.mcphersonguitars.com
www.duesenbergusa.com
www.tonefreak.com (Go Brian!!)
www.eastmanmandolins.com
www.lollarguitars.com

We all have our “favorite axe”.

Now… try to imagine that favorite axe… STOLEN from you.

That’s what happened to B.B. King, and his beloved Gibson ES-345… Lucille.

As the story goes, B.B.’s main gigging guitar was stolen earlier this year.

Miraculously, it was recovered in a pawn shop by an honest man who knew he had found a guitar that was not your every day Gibson… Read the full story by CLICKING HERE.

Click the image to the left to enter for a chance to win an Epiphone Inspired by 1964 Texan, the Complete Tim McGraw CD catalogue including his latest album Southern Voice plus some McGraw Southern Blend Cologne!

Since it’s introduction in 1958, the Epiphone Texan has been the choice of countless musicians including Paul McCartney, Peter Frampton and Noel Gallagher.

In fact, McCartney wrote and performed one of the most recorded and popular songs ever, “Yesterday” on his 1964 Texan.

Now, Epiphone brings back the Texan combining all the great features of the original with modern updates for today’s musician.

One (1) grand prize winner will receive an Epiphone Inspired by 1964 Texan Acoustic/Electric guitar with hard guitar case, Tim McGraw complete CD catalogue, his new CD “Southern Voice” and McGraw Southern Blend Cologne.

Five (5) runners up will receive Tim McGraw’s new CD “Southern Voice” and McGraw Southern Blend Cologne.

Contest ends Dec 20, 2009.  GuitarDaddy is in!

PRESS RELEASE:

The passing of the incomparable Les Paul in August 2009 broke the hearts of guitar enthusiasts around the world.

What can never be broken, though, is the legacy of innovation and creativity that he built during 94 years of constant musicianship.

Though the original guitar he designed in 1952 has informed every Gibson guitar since, our engineers were inspired anew to handcraft a guitar just the way Les demanded it nearly 60 years ago. Never before has a Les Paul guitar been so completely designed to Les’ original specifications.

Until now.

Anchored by a golden mahogany body, maple top and rosewood fingerboard, the Les Paul Tribute 1952 is equipped with an all-new bridge that’s an exact replica of Les’ original 1952 patent. Our luthiers have also added historical interest with details like stamping “prototype” into the back of the peg head and staying true to Les’ preference for P-90 pickups.

The Les Paul Tribute 1952 honors the most important figure in all of guitar history and the guitar he designed and loved.

Click on the guitar photo to link directly to GIBSON USA.

For Funny Music T-Shirts, Mugs and Bumper Stickers, Visit the Buddy and Hopkins Online Store!

I am sure “it” has happened to you.  “It” happened to me last month.

I was in the neighborhood of my local guitar store (which will remain unnamed) and I had some free time .  Whenever I get a chance to stop in and browse, I do.  It was the perfect “kid in a candy store” opportunity, and I wanted to see the newest candy.

For the record, I don’t just write about guitars… I also play the guitar.  For further record, I am still a beginner.  On a good day, I am somewhere between a beginner and an intermediate player.

(My challenge is the same as so many other guitar players I know.  I work full time and have to balance the remaining free time between family, household chores and sleep.  I practice and play guitar in the remaining time — which is not very much)

So… back to the candy store.  I mean… guitar store.  I walk in and do what I do every time I walk in that store.  I stand there and stare, gaze, dream, covet and drool. There is eye-candy everywhere and the first decision to be made is where to start looking.

Since I wanted to check out the new Taylor T3, I strolled over to the “high-end” guitar wall where the Taylor electric’s were hanging.  Sure enough, they had the guitar of my dreams — today’s dream at least — and I asked Ted (not his real name) to pull down the T3 so I could hold it.

It was a simple request, but that’s when “it” happened.

Before Ted could honor my simple request and hand me the guitar, he subjected me to a :30 second “Ted the Shred-Master” concert featuring Ted on lead guitar.  No offense, but I personally am not a shred-fan.  I can tolerate some of it, but not for long.  And :30 seconds was about :25 seconds longer than I cared to listen to Ted shred on a T3.

I just wanted to hold the guitar.  If it felt right, I may have wanted to plug it in to a Fender Twin Reverb and practice my 1-4-5 progressions.  Heck, I may even buy one some day!  But no, Ted had to show me what he can do.  He had to show off his chops.

The problem with that is that while I am not a shred guitar fan, Ted was clearly a better guitar player than me.  And when he did what he did, he intimidated me to the point that I was not going to play one note in front of Ted.

So when I came across this comic of Buddy & Hopkins, it reminded me of that Saturday afternoon in the unnamed guitar store… It also reminded me that I need to go back and play that T3 for myself…

OK… this post is bound to bend the E-Strings of a few guitarists, but for the life of me, I don’t understand the attraction to “relic” guitars.

To me, buying a relic guitar is like buying a beat-up car… or an old house with cracked walls and paint peeling from the ceiling… or a pair of blue jeans with holes in the knees. I know, I know… jeans with holes in the knees have been a hot-selling item for years… but I am talking about a guitar!

I’m a lot like Ed Roman.  I like SHINY GUITARS!  (No flames, please.)

I don’t gig (yet) thus most of my guitars are in the “excellent to mint condition” category.  I can’t imagine taking my Les Paul and etching, staining, dinging, bumping and cracking it – all in the name of creating a “Vintage Guitar” look.

There are dozens of books you can buy and videos you can watch that will give you step-by-step instructions on how to make your brand new Fender look like it has traveled with the Rolling Stones since 1962.  A simple Google search for “Relic Guitars” returned a few hundred web sites — all designed to transform your brand new Gibson into something my parents would toss in the trash if I wasn’t watching.

One of the most popular relic guitar sites starts out with this quote: “In our opinion, nothing is more beautiful than a vintage guitar that has been heavily played and has that “dragged behind a truck and through a fire” appearance.”

HUH?

To each his own. Some like blues; some like jazz. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I actually take pride in wiping down my guitars after I play them.  I rub out the fingerprints.  I polish the finish.  I buff the humbucker covers when I change the strings.  I almost cried when I bumped the headstock of my strat against a music stand (and it didn’t even leave a mark). 

Just call me the “anti-relic” GuitarDaddy!

That’s my opinion, what’s yours??

“Every rock music fan has heard the war, every rock guitarist has fought in the battles.”

Starting with their conception and design in the early 1950s, Solidbodies, The 50 Year Guitar War focuses on the five decade competition of sounds between the two guitars that have been heard on more popular recordings than any other instruments during the rock era. The documentary features players, historians, instrument dealers and collectors expressing their views on the competitive influences of the Stratocaster and the Les Paul. The soundtrack and performance segments feature guitar solos played on those two instruments with styles of music highly representative of the time periods that are discussed in the documentary.

Among those contributing commentary are Joe Bonamassa, named Best Blues Guitarist by Guitar Player Magazine’s readership in their 2008 Reader’s Choice Awards; Derek Trucks, famed slide guitar virtuoso who leads his own group and played with Eric Clapton’s band during his 2006-2007 world tour; Henry Garza, guitarist and singer with the Grammy Award winning Los Lonely Boys; Gary Hoey, internationally acclaimed guitarist who has composed for ESPN’s Summer X Games; George Gruhn, the owner of Gruhn Guitars who is considered to be one of the world’s leading experts on vintage guitars; and Richard R. Smith, the author of “Fender: The Sound Heard ‘Round The World” which is often viewed as the definitive book about Fender guitars and Leo Fender.

It’s been rock ‘n’ roll’s version of Coke vs. Pepsi, the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, almost since the music’s start. And the battle is still being fought every day in garages, studios, and music clubs across America. It’s the guitar wars: Fender vs. Gibson.
-The Boston Globe

You can visit the official site of the DVD release and view a video trailer by CLICKING HERE.

I love to travel… but I hate to be away from my guitar(s).

Three years ago my wife and I were making plans to visit Australia for 2 weeks. While I was excited to see the land down under, I was depressed thinking about spending 2 weeks without a guitar…

I had heard the horror stories of people who trusted their guitars to the airline baggage handlers only to arrive at their destination and recover their beloved axe with a broken neck.

I vowed to myself — that would never happen to me.

As for me, (and most guitar players who are honest with themselves), airline travel presents a dichotomy that must be resolved before the trip can be enjoyed.

Just how do you keep up with your guitar playing when a trip requires airline travel?

Everything changed when I discovered the Traveler Escape EG-1.

The Escape EG-1 is the most sophisticated travel guitar you’ve ever played!  It includes an onboard Pocket RockIt headphone amp with distortion & clean tones so you can plug your headphones directly into the guitar and rock out anytime, anywhere.

The Escape EG-1 has traditional guitar features like an American Hard Maple neck with an ebonized rosewood fretboard. With a full-size humbucker pickup, full 25-1/2 inch scale, and 22 jumbo frets, you almost forget that you are playing a travel guitar.  It’s sounds (and feels) that good.

The guitar comes with a very cool-looking padded gig bag that will fit in any overhead compartment.

Traveler Escape EG-1 Travel Electric Guitar Features:

* Full 25-1/2″ scale
* 5 pounds light and only 29-1/4″ long
* Built-in Pocket RockIt headphone amp with distortion and clean tones
* Fits in airline overhead compartments
* Alder body
* American hard maple neck
* Fretboard: Ebonized rosewood
* 22 jumbo frets

I will be taking another trip this week and my trusty EG-1 will be slung over my shoulder as I board the plane.  My EG-1 has been all over the United States, Mexico, France, Germany, Austria and Australia.  Next to my wife, it is my favorite travel companion.  No worries!

A new version of the Traveler Escape Guitar, the EG-2, will be released soon.  It sports a double-cutaway strat-like design with an input jack for your music file player so you can jam along to your favorite tracks through the guitar’s headphones!

(One last thing… I will be traveling this week and the posting to the blog will be minimal)

We all know that guitars are beautiful to look at. They offer originality, artistic expression and musical excellence, all in one package.

But did you ever think that a guitar could also be a little “strange” to look at? What other instrument offers a player the opportunity to express themselves via concert performance and tone as well as an innovative display of creativity in design?

Here is a fun video that is sure to spark a “what the heck” moment for every guitar player. Which one looks the strangest to you?

By the way… the song is titled “Souvenir” from the Brazilian band “Autoramas“…