Hey Guitar Daddy,
My second semester at Berklee I took 1 ear training class and 7 guitar classes. I studied classical, blues, slide guitar, jazz, a funk ensemble, hard rock and my private lesson. In my opinion guitar is like martial arts. One must go slow in order to go fast. I started playing sax when I was 10 because I loved the sound it made when Lucy (The Simpsons) let fly. All I played was classical, jazz and swing. I played in stage bands and played swing. You know what, swing is still one of my favorite styles of music and is a big part of me. When I was 14 I found my father’s guitar. Some guys were renovating our house and opened this dusty case (My father has 10 thumbs so its all good.) and inside was a custom made, one piece, solid mahogany/ebony inlaid Odyssey guitar. After they were done drooling on it, I picked it up, the first guitar I had ever touched actually and gave it a go. It felt amazing. So you know what happened, oh yeah, my sax immediately took second fiddle to the axe and within 18 months was left to hide under my bed for good.

As you know I can play very fast. But so what, so can a ton of other guys. Its what you do with it that counts. I believe melodies and riffs are what grab people. People like to tap their feet. Not everyone appreciates solos like I do but as you say and I believe “to each their own”. Our teachers are such a big part of us. Recently I’ve been running up and down the board to Gus G. I’ll tell you, I learned a lot by practicing to him. And yet, when I was in high school I was a regular at a blues club. One Sunday afternoon I was playing with a blues band who had a wicked stand in drummer. The band light up Cross Roads (The AXE is the Cross Roads: the mid point of North-South, East-West….up/down, back&forth), a song I’d never heard before and it was amazing. The drummer and I really hit it off and burned the place to the ground. Clapton is a talent all his own. I was listening to Cross Roads/Clapton yesterday as my Dad was dodging semi’s on the 401 in a rented tin can. What that guy did on that live version is unreal. It seems to me that Stevie Ray Vaughn was one of Clapton’s disciples as I am one of Stevie’s. Before I recorded BULLET RIDE I played some Eric Johnson, Vai, Satriani, and Vaughn. I really got hooked on Stevie Ray Vaughn. The A&R guy wanted me to sound like Eric Johnson and play mainly his music before I recorded but I bumped into Stevie Ray Vaughn on the way. I’m sorry, Eric Johnson is great but got replaced when Stevie took control of my ears. I think both Clapton and Stevie Ray are surreal. They are/were not blazing fast, instead they are/were brilliant and amazing artists. And I feel talented doesn’t come close to describing their gift. But that is just me, I also love dance music. So to conclude this epic, everyone has to walk before they can run. But not everyone likes to run. Your Grade 11 teacher must be a good man. I have had a lot of teachers and all have taught me something. Some taught me a lot but all taught me something. And you know, the more I study the guitar and learn, the more I realize how much I have to learn. The way I see the guitar is, its an instrument hell bent on humility.

Brennan Dylan