Yes. It’s Jam weekend coming up. We’ll be back out at Halligan’s Ale House. That’s the place that I keep telling people is in the middle of nowhere. It’s actually in Midland, North Carolina but with just the Fire Station next door and a big field across the street it feels pretty middle of nowhere. Still, the people are pretty cool and they let us come play music. I’m excited for it.
I’ve been pretty busy these past couple of weeks, since the last blues jam. I’ve been getting ready for the next jam. I am always looking for new songs to learn. Particularly ones that I can sing. I generally try to add one for each week in between jams. So for this round, my goal was, or is, three new songs. Initially I had one song in mind and a good handful of suggestions as well as one request. As it happened, I had a conversation a couple of days after that last jam that sent me off on a quest to work on a particular style of blues rhythm. It lead me to a list of people who were, or are, known for that style or sound. On the list I found a guy named Jimmy Reed, a name I’ve heard in a Jimmy Buffett song. So that’s where I decided to start.
Along with learning a new style, and three new songs, I also set about working on my pentatonic scales. These are pretty key to being able to play a lead at a blues jam. And while I have been familiar with one or two of the patterns for years, I haven’t put
much effort into learning them well enough to make use of them. Or for that matter figuring out how they fit with the different keys. I know this probably seems odd to some. 
For as long as I have been playing guitar, I have gaps in my knowledge. In some cases those gaps feel like gaping chasms. Using pentatonic scales has been one of those chasms. Fortunately, there are some really awesome people that run the blues jam, and come to it. And when I can pluck up the courage to ask, they have all been most generous with their knowledge and encouragement. So, along with the song homework, I left the last jam with pentatonic homework. Which, I have been working at quite diligently. Thank you, Kevin.
I want to get better at taking that lead part and not passing because, well, I can’t figure out what to say or where to start. Working on scales, in all different keys and moving up and down the neck is part of the exercises that make that possible so that’s what I’ve been doing. And not just for 10 or 15 minutes. I put some serious time into it. And at home, I can fit in a bit of that lead work and start to go back and forth between lead and rhythm. I even set up my mini looper with a full 12 bars of rhythm for ‘Rock Me Baby’ so I could practice. That took forever, and is a whole different post. It was worth it because it let me practice with a rhythm that is a bit trickier to get into and practice moving from rhythm to lead and back. I even practiced the vocal with it so I could get a feel for the whole experience. It’s been helpful, and, I might be ready to give it a try. I just hope I don’t freeze when it comes my turn.
All this practice got a bit of energizing a couple of weeks ago when I added a new member to my guitar family. I made a trip to the, relatively local, Guitar Center for some supplies and to look into the solid body Ibanez guitars. I was looking for that electric guitar that becomes my ‘go to’ electric guitar. I have that with my classical. It’s a Cordoba. And I love it. When I go into a music store I don’t go looking for another classical guitar. I look at a lot of other things but not that. So an electric that I go to every time is what I want. I want one that I don’t even think about, oh, should I play this one today or that one. So that’s what I was looking for. The Ibanez were a wash. Nothing worked for me. So I started looking at whatever. Even stuff that I had planned on looking into later on down the road. I was trying out a hollow body electric, just because, when Kevin happened to walk in. After he told me to put the guitar back and some back and forth banter, he started suggesting some options. A few guitars later I found my hands around a lovely green Gretsch that felt really good, and sounded pretty sweet too. Tell me, do I look like I found my best friend?
Yes, that beauty came home with me that afternoon and I have loved every minute of playing it. It’s a Gretsch G2622T Streamliner Center Block with Bigsby in Torino Green. It’s a shorter scale neck (24.75″) with a nice ‘Thin “U”‘ shape. And it turns out, those two
things make a huge difference for my hand. It is the most comfortable electric guitar I own. I can play for hours on it and not cramp up. In fact the cramping I had been dealing with has pretty much healed up. I was stunned when I realized the difference. I can’t even describe the difference it makes for me. The best I can do, is to tell you that I don’t even think twice about spending an hour practicing scales, in as many keys as I can, and then spending another hour or two practicing Chicago rhythms and B.B. King style songs and whatever else. And when it’s time to address my grumbling stomach, I hesitate to put it down and go eat.
I did ignite a little jealously in my friend Nick. He’d been looking at the hollow body D’Angelico’s and Gibson as well as the Gretsch. And after a bit of conversation with Bryan and some others at the Blues Jam, he’d pretty much got the idea that he might want to go with a Gretsch. He’d even found one he liked. But, he hadn’t bought it yet. So it was fun to tease him a little with my new Gretsch.
Lot’s of good stuff has happened since the last Blues Jam. And now, a new jam coming up where I get to try it all out. I’m pretty excited about it. And I’m looking forward to all the cool stuff to follow. More songs to learn. New styles and techniques to learn. Hopefully more people to get to play with, and new friends. And yes. More videos. Which is another new thing. I got a new camera for capturing video at the jams. I’ve got a couple of days to figure out how to use it but it will be debuting this Sunday along with the Gretsch.