You can subscribe to this podcast for free in iTunes (here’s a direct iTunes podcast link).

I just finished publishing a "how-to" video for the checkout page of the download store, and I wanted to post a few notes for people who are buying, or considering buying lessons:

1. The download store sells Quicktime Videos that you can download, not DVD’s or something else that will come in the mail.  DVDs are available in the DVD store.
2. Don’t worry if your downloads expire before you have them all.  Just send me an email at support@steviesnacks.com and I’ll add a few days to your order.
3. If by some strange rift in the universe you don’t get your receipt with download password, please, send me an email and let me know, and I will correct it ASAP.
4. If you are not absolutely sure that these lessons will help your playing, please feel free to watch the free previews forever.  I have had so many people send me such kind words about these lessons, please don’t feel obligated to buy until you are ready.
5. Finally and most importantly, if you buy from me, you can trust in my customer service.  You will get what you paid or you will get your money back. Period.  I cannot promise a perfect downloading experience.  Your computer might play the videos wrong at first.  Your might have to wait for a few hours for me to generate your download receipt.  But believe me when I say that I make it my top priority to assist you in getting every video you paid for successfully downloaded and playing correctly on your computer.

The bottom line is that I don’t play around when it comes to customer service.  I don’t like dealing with bad customer service when I buy stuff, so I don’t make my customers deal with it either.

For some reason the PDF of the 5 boxes I had made vanished from the download store several months ago.  It wasn’t until two customers notified me last week that I realized this.  I have located the rogue document, and posted it for free on the series page for these lessons here.

I will do my best to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.

Just a quick note to say that I’m back at home, the store is back open, and I’ll be answering some of the emails and comments that have piled up over the past week, but I probably won’t get to answer all of them, so just in case I don’t, just know that do read every one.

Vintage Icon Guitars

While in Sweden, I stopped by 4Sound in Umeå, where I ran across a brand of guitar I had never seen before.  The tag said "Vintage Icon", and the company was John Hornby Skews, out of the UK.  I noticed them immediately because they had that beat up, vintage guitar look.

While I’ll save my praises until after I get another chance to play one, let me just say that the guitars looked and seemed to play great.  I didn’t have time to plug into an amp, but just playing it acoustically was very nice.

Has anyone ever played one of these, or heard of them before?  I don’t think they’re too common in the US, so I’m hoping I can find one on ebay somewhere.

Anthony

*Update - The download store is back online*

As I write this, I’m preparing to leave for Sweden with my wife for a week of vacation.  I’ll be visiting family close to Umeå, and I plan on doing just about nothing for an entire week.  During this time, I will still be keeping an eye on the download store orders, and handling customer support issues.

However, I may or may not be responding to personal emails or comments during this time.  I am going to do my best to relax and recharge.  So if you send me an email during the next week, I will read it, but will most likely not respond.  It’s not personal, I just don’t feel like doing anything this week

Store Downtime

I will be shutting down the download store from about 4:30 Eastern Time until the time when I arrive safely in Sweden.  This will most likely be about 8 - 10 hours.  If you place an order between now and then, be advised that your downloads will be inaccessible until I re-open the store. 

Threre are more good lessons to come when I return.
Anthony

Just a quick video from my show last night.  We had just finished "Gimme three steps" by Lynyrd Skynyrd when a guy right in the front said "How about some Stevie Ray Vaughan"?  Wouldn’t you know that Pride and Joy was up next on our setlist.  It’s nice when things work out that way.  Nothing like playing a song by one of your favorite influences in front of a crowd that appreciates it.  I’m much more of a stay-at-home kind of guy, but gigs like this are a lot of fun.  Good weather, good crowd, and mostly good music

Lesson 44 has been very popular, but I’ve gotten a few questions that made me realize that I need to explain the differences between Lesson 44 and the 5 Essential Blues Boxes Series.

Bottom Line: Lesson 44 is the debut lesson in a new series of lessons that will build upon what was taught in the 5 boxes series.

So what are the differences you ask?

• The initial series introduces the 5 boxes in great detail, the new series assumes you already know them inside and out.
• The initial series focuses on “where you play”, the new series focuses on “what you play”.
• The initial series has lots of diagrams to assist you in learning the boxes, the new series does not.
• The old series addresses differences between my 5 Boxes method, and other blues theory, the new series does not

.

So the bottom line is that the first series will be very helpful in understanding the series I’m doing now. That’s not to say that it’s absolutely necessary, because some people already know what I taught in the first series. But I’ve found that there’s an awful lot of people who have been very frustrated looking at the fretboard and just not seeing a any rhyme or reason, and the 5 boxes series clicks with them in a very logical way.

So at the risk of sounding like a salesman, I highly recommend at least watching the free previews for the 5 boxes series before starting on the new series of lessons. The full lessons really cover a lot more valuable ground, but the free previews will give you a good starting point.

This is the debut lesson in a new series focusing on the licks that can be played in each of the 5 blues boxes I taught in the series “The 5 Essential Blues Boxes For Guitar”. In my opinion, this is one of the most important lessons I’ve ever taught.

Buy the full lesson | Download this preview in high-definition

I stumbled my way back to a website I fell out of touch with a while back. The Roadhouse Podcast is a weekly blues music podcast that’s been going strong for several years now. My podcast listening habits have changed from time to time, I’m on more of a tech/geek podcast binge right now, but I’ve got an itch to get back into some music podcasts.

The Roadhouse is one of the finest blues podcasts you’ll hear, partly because of the host, and partly because of the music. The show started by using blues songs from independent artists, but as time went on it became popular enough that certain record labels began to allow the show to play their artist’s music. As for the host, Tony handles the show with just the right amount of professional and personal touch.

You can listen to each episode right on the website, or download the mp3 file, or subscribe in iTunes for free. Check it out at RoadhousePodcast.com.

I don’t talk much about my band here because that’s not what this site is about, but I thought you might be interested to see another example of how I’ve used Stevie’s style of playing in my own music. This is a video of my last gig at a Jazz festival, the song is called “Covenant” and I explain the purpose of the song in the video. While I’ve written many songs that borrow much less from his style, this song is blatantly derived from the minor blues sound you’ll hear in Tin Pan Alley.

It’s also a demonstration of how a blues junior keeps up with a full 5 piece band in an outdoor, town-square environment, for those who aren’t sure if it’s loud enough. Keep in mind that the PA system is doing most of the heavy lifting. I’ll be posting the other videos here.

Adding to yesterday’s updates to the lesson categorization, I’m introducing a new slogan for StevieSnacks today.

“Express Yourself”

The reason for this is simple. I believe that’s what Stevie Ray Vaughan’s style of playing is all about. Expressing yourself. Some may say that there are too many people copying his style, but I ask the question “why is that?”. Why do so many guitar players work so hard to emulate this one guitar player?

Is it for the money? Hardly. Is it for the fame? Good luck, you’re one among thousands. Is it because it’s easy? Forget it.

I think the more likely reason lies in the things that most people feel but don’t say. The hurt that everyone experiences at some point in their life. And the happiness that most people seek. Stevie’s playing embodied all those things, and it inspires people to try and do the same. Sure they start by copying his style, some even copy his look. But whether it’s the teenager on YouTube, who thinks he’ll be the next Stevie Ray someday, or the SRV Impersonator wearing the hat and all the getup, I think it all comes from a desire to be able to express oneself the way that Stevie did.

This site is not about me, it’s about helping people find that place.

As my brother-in-law sat down to view StevieSnacks for the first time, he made an interesting comment.  "My first thought is that I want to figure out what this site is about.  Are there free lessons?  Do I have to pay for something?".  That confirmed what I had suspected for some time.  StevieSnacks was a little random.  People who had been here for a while knew how things worked, but it was hard for someone new to figure out exactly how things are divided up here.

In an attempt to make StevieSnacks easier to navigate, I’ve made the following changes.

Old lessons now free

As I promised several weeks ago, I have released all of my first 24 lessons for free into the video podcast.  Part of this is due to the fact that I was basically doing lessons off-the-cuff, with no real sense of order.  While that’s fun for a podcast, it’s not so fun when they get mixed in with much higher quality lessons that actually have pretty strict grouping.  So they’re now free.  When you subscribe to the podcast for free in iTunes, you can download the original source quicktime files for these lessons as you wish.  You’ll soon see this set of instructions at the top of every podcast episode page which should make it easier to subscribe:

You can subscribe to this podcast for free in iTunes (here’s a direct iTunes podcast link).

Premium Lessons Listed by Series

I’ve taken all my lessons since I started the 5 Blues Boxes Series, and I’ve categorized them by series.  This should help newcomers to figure out how the lessons are related, and which one’s they are interested in.  I’ve given these lessons the name "Premium" for two reasons:

1. They can be purchased
2. The quality of the instruction and video far surpasses that of the videos in the podcast.

This will be the form of all premium lessons that I put out from now on.  If for any reason I do a lesson that doesn’t fall into a series, it will be listed in the "Miscellaneous Lessons" page.

I know I’ve said it a couple times before, but I’m working on the most comprehensive set of lessons I’ve done yet.  This is taking me some time to plan out, but when it’s done, it will be like nothing that’s available anywhere.  Your support has made it possible for me to do this, and I can’t thank you enough for all your watching, commenting, emailing.  Very few people get a chance to share what they know with so many people.  Sometimes I have to pinch myself to remind myself that this is real

Let me know what you think of the new categorization scheme…

Anthony

Hey everybody,
Soon after I started StevieSnacks, I began to get questions about tone. And more questions, and then lots of questions. I thought to myself….”hmmm, I wonder if people are interested in tone….?”

Without any further ado, I’m pleased to announce the mini-launch of OldToneZone.com, complete with a single 1 minute video comparing the tolex Blues Junior amp to the Tweed version you see in all my videos here.

I made the decision to split off the gear stuff because not everyone who’s interested in gear is interested in Stevie Ray Vaughan, and it is my intent to keep a razor sharp focus on Stevie’s style on this site, simply because I think his style warrants such focus.

I will still do Stevie related gear demos and will post such things on both sites, but any more generic demos will go over to OldToneZone in the future. Can’t promise how often I’ll add videos there, but I’m trying to start simple the way I did here, until I find my groove.

Let me know any ideas you have for gear related videos….

In songs like Ain’t Gone’ Give Up On Love and The Sky Is Cryin, Stevie used a sliding technique that is kind like double stops, but played one at a time. In this free lesson I show you where in Box #1 this slide occurs and where in the blues progression it happens.

You can subscribe to this podcast for free in iTunes (here’s a direct iTunes podcast link).

Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

If you watch Stevie play in any of his DVDs you’ll see him flicking his pickup selector around a lot. You have to pay very close attention to see this, but this little switch has a huge amount of effect on his tone. Stevie Ray Vaughan was a master of using the right pickup for the right effect at the right time. It’s an often overlooked part of his style and one that I think bears a little examination.

In this episode, I do a brief explanation of what I perceive the tonal qualities of the 5 stratocaster pickup positions to be. I then play 10 licks, each played on a single pickup. Listen to each lick and try to identify which pickup is used for each one. The answers to the quiz can be downloaded here: Strat Pickup Quiz

This episode teaches a technique that you’ll hear used in songs like Cold Shot, Lenny, and plenty of other SRV tunes. Not very complicated, but a bit tricky considering you have to stop using your pick, but still hold onto it in your hand.

Lesson Bundles

I’ve put together 3 lesson bundles in the HD download store for your convenience, and to save you a few dollars. These bundles include all the videos and any related tablature files for the lessons included in the bundle.

• The 5 Essential Blues Boxes Bundle
• Slow Blues Solo 1 Bundle
• Shuffle Blues Solo 1 Bundle

Old lessons moving to podcast

For those of you that have been here from the beginning, you know that up until lesson 25, my lessons were more or less a jumbled mess of licks, techniques, etc… with no order or real categorization. Then with lesson 25, I began teaching the 5 Blues Boxes that I learned from watching Stevie. (Lesson 26 also marked the move to HD and much better video quality). This series has been wildly popular on this site, and the following lessons also fell into series, the slow blues solo and the shuffle blues solo.

The popularity of these lessons, and the subsequent requests for DVDs have made me re-think my approach to organizing lessons on this site. Going forward, I will be releasing lessons in series form. Even if I do a lesson on a particular topic, I will attempt to make it fit into a larger series. This will make releasing lessons on DVD a little easier because the grouping will be more natural than just cramming a bunch of unrelated lessons on a DVD. This might not be as important for the really dedicated viewers here, but for people coming in from the outside, this kind of tight grouping really helps them to know what’s going on when browsing DVDs, and lesson series.

Soooo…..I’ve made the decision to release all of my lessons previous to lesson 25 as free lesson downloads in the StevieSnacks Video Podcast. I’ll be doing this fairly soon, so those of you that subscribe to the podcast will see a bunch of available episodes soon. This is largely because those lessons offered no additional content to people who bought them, and the video quality of the download was no where near that of the HD videos. So for the sake of consistency, the lower quality, shorter lessons, 1-24 (not including the mysterious lesson 20 which I somehow missed), will join the podcast and disappear out of the lesson list forever. Enjoy the free videos

Site Updates

The lesson index page now has a difficulty column to assist you in finding lessons to fit your skill level. This is a very subjective topic, so if you see a rating that you happen to disagree with, please send me a note explaining why you think the rating should be different.

You can subscribe to this podcast for free in iTunes (here’s a direct iTunes podcast link).

A fantastically difficult lick to play from the El Mocambo DVD. I finally learned this after 13 years of avoiding it because someone asked for it and I decided it was finally time to learn it. I still can’t play it reliably but I managed to keep it together pretty well for this video. Subscribe in iTunes for free for all the free lessons in this podcast.

For the past 8 months I have often fielded questions about having my lessons sold on DVD.  Today, I am proud to announce that the first 4 DVDs of my lessons are now available for purchase. 

While I am very much a fan of the lesson download system (and so are many of you), there is something very reassuring about a DVD in your hand, as well as the ability to watch these lessons on the TV. 

I will make an effort to keep the lesson DVDs coming out faster now that I’ve worked out the process.  The artwork is something I enjoyed doing myself, as well as the DVD authoring.  I think you’ll be pleased with the result.

Visit the StevieSnacks DVD Lesson Store

Read the StevieSnacks DVD Lesson FAQ

A viewer in France has notified me that he’s come into a somewhat limited supply of Nobels ODR-S pedals, the one I use as my main distortion / overdrive. He’s also got a pair of the coveted Boss PQ-4 / PQ-3B pedals that I’m so fond of. I have nothing to do with the sale of these pedals, but I know that a lot of people have scoured ebay and craigslist for them to no avail, so I thought I’d post a message here about it. Please contact him directly if you are interested in buying, and please understand that I hold no responsibility for your buying experience, I am simply passing along a message. Please use your best judgment whenever buy things online.

Also please note that I have no intention of making this kind of thing a regular feature, but due to the number of requests I get about these pedals, I am making an exception in hopes that someone will find what they’ve been looking for.
http://chrissyboyrarepedals.skynetblogs.be/

Just got back from playing an exhausting show at a biker rally in Johnstown, PA with my band. Had a show last weekend as well, so that’s why there haven’t been any new lessons for a little while. I’m completely worn out and am reminded of the words of John Mayer that went something like this

“There are a lot of people, myself included, who can play with the same intensity as Stevie Ray Vaughan for about 20 seconds, but then your arm cramps up……”

I think what Mr. Mayer was trying to say is that it’s nice to emulate the legend, but it’s also nice to realize that playing the way he did, for as long as he did, as cleanly as he did is an impossible venture. Better enjoy trying and doing the best you can, because if you don’t you’ll be miserable

I’m dead tired, and tomorrow I’m going on vacation for the rest of the weekend. When I come back, I’ve got a great lesson that I think you’ll really enjoy.

So I try not to obsess over my YouTube statistics because I realize that I’m catering to a pretty narrow audience. Narrow, but very dedicated. So even though I’ve checked from time to time, I was still kind of amazed when I logged in today and saw that my video viewcount rolled over 500,000 some time in the past 24 hours. Now the guys at nextlevelguitar probably get that every week, but for this small time guitar teacher, that’s pretty shocking considering that I didn’t even know if anyone would pay any attention when I put up my first lesson on Oct. 21st, 2007, almost exactly 8 months ago.

Another barometer that I watch occasionally is my YouTube subscriber count. When I put up my first lesson, I had approximately 17 subscribers. Sometime in the past week, I passed 1300.

What makes those stats mean even more is the amount of heartfelt emails I’ve gotten from people since I started, and it makes it easy to see numbers like that and think of people, not simply statistics. I’ve heard from people who are just starting, people who haven’t picked up the guitar in 20 years, and people that don’t even play guitar. 99.9% of the messages I get are positive, supportive, and full of great stories, and comments.

I guess you could say that based on what I’d seen around other guitar sites and other guitar related videos, my expectations of people was pretty low. It seemed like all people wanted to do was argue, complain, criticize, and generally act like jerks. So when I started, I was prepared for the worst. I can honestly say that you all have completely changed my perceptions. With the exception of 4 or 5 generally unhappy people, the rest of you have been the most grateful, supportive, and enthusiastic people a guitar teacher could ever ask for.

I’m working on some things for StevieSnacks right now that have never been done before, it’s a little too early to talk about it much, but, it’s because of your involvement that this thing works. Thanks a million.

This video shows you how to do that looping picking and bending lick that Stevie would use in songs like Tightrope, Tell Me and occasionally in slow blues songs like Texas Flood.

Just got the proofs today. Got a few artwork issues to resolve and then they’ll be ready.

Despite what the picture may imply, these will be separate DVDs not a 4 DVD pack.

DVD Titles

1. Slow Blues Solo 1 - Lessons 32, 33 and 34
2. Shuffle Blues Solo 1 - Lessons 36, 37, and 38
3. 5 Blues Boxes Disc 1 - Lessons 25, 26, 27 and 28
4. 5 Blues Boxes Disc 2 - Lessons 29, 30, 31, and 35

Lesson 42 has been renamed from the boring “Box 1 - Lick 1″ to the more appropriate “Fast Lick From Box 1 With Advanced Techniques”. The reason? Even I didn’t feel like watching “Box 1, Lick 1″, and besides the boring name it wasn’t really reflective of what the point of the lesson was.

The actual notes of the lick are fairly easy to learn. But the topics discussed in the full version take quite a bit longer to master. Things like on-the-fly tempo adjustment, accenting certain notes for contrast, and lazy bends are the real value of that lesson. I used to wonder how I could play something at the same tempo, and same notes as Stevie, but have it sound so different, and those are a couple things that I’ve learned can really make the difference. So the lesson has been renamed to reflect the real purpose of that lesson.

Lastly, DVDs are on the way. 4 DVDs total, 2 for the Blues Boxes series, and 2 DVDs covering the slow blues and shuffle blues solos I taught last month. They won’t be ready for 3 weeks yet, but as soon as they are, I’ll post more info here.

Hey there everybody,

As you head into your weekend, I’ve upgraded the download store to have faster download links for all the video files. How much faster? Well depending on your location, the speedup is twice if not 3 or 4 times faster. In extreme cases, the speeds can be up to 10 times faster. What’s this you say? You’re not familiar with the lesson download store? Just head over to visit the download store right now. Lessons are priced for the working man, between $2 for shorter lessons, and $5 for longer, HD lessons.

What does this mean to you? Quite simply it means that no matter how many people are currently downloading lessons, you should be able to download them at blazing speeds. To access the faster download links, just make sure that you look for the files labeled “Faster Download”. You can ignore the video download links without this label. They are only there as a backup in case something is interrupting the faster downloads for you.

Also, I’ve made an attempt to make the downloads page much more readable and user-friendly. The files have consistent naming conventions now, as well as consistent descriptions. This weekend, I’ll be testing the ability to pay securely by credit card directly in the store without having to go over to Paypal. This will also give you the ability to have your own account in the store, and thereby making it easier for me to hand out coupons to loyal customers etc…

Have a great weekend, and you’ll soon see a video describing some ideas I’m working up for future lessons, and a chance to give your feedback.

Anthony

A YouTube Viewer had asked me a while back to demonstrate that crazy lick from Voodoo Chile’ that Stevie played near the beginning of the solo.  So here it is

As always, you can watch it here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes for free and have the Quicktime Videos delivered right to your computer.

A brief update to let you know what I’m working on for the site….

1. I purchased a brand new, plain black tolex Blues Junior.  I’ll be doing a comparison video of it with my Tweed NOS version.  I’ll then be sending it to Bill M. to mod, and doing another comparison.  I will leave my Tweed NOS edition untouched, to serve as a reference point.
2. I am finally ready to record a lesson teaching the chord sequence to the ballad song I used in the Blues Junior Demo.  I underestimated how much people would want to learn something like this, but learning to play that style of lead/rhythm chord mix is a valuable thing, and I think this lesson will be popular.
3. I’m in the search for pedals that I can recommend, rather than my ODR-S, seeing that it’s out of production.  If you know of a pedal that you think I should consider, please send me a note.
4. DVDs, DVDs DVDs - this time for real.  Keep watching the homepage.

Writing this from a hotel room in NY, wanted to give an update on the amp show.  First off, I didn’t shoot any video or take any pictures because it was very crowded.

The highlight of the day for me was sitting down to chat with Bill Machrone ( Bill M. ) who’s mod kits for the Blues Junior are well known.  Bill is a very down-to-earth guy and it was easy for me to see why he’s gained such a positive reputation in the amp community.  Bill M. for President!

After talking with Bill, I toured the first two floors of the hotel, peeking in the crowded rooms full of amps by companies I’ve never heard of, and lots of guitar players waiting for their turn.  Eventually I got a chance to play a couple amps.  There were a lot of big powerful amp head/cabinet combos which aren’t really my bag, so I was keeping a lookout for smaller combo amps.

The first amp that really jumped out at me was made by VVT Amps in Maryland.  They had one combo amp that had your normal clean and overdrive channels, but they had a special feature that would combine the channels.  When both channels were engaged, you had a nice mix of the solid clean tones of the guitar, and the overdriven sound at a slightly higher volume.  Overall it had more definition and punch than a purely overdriven tone.

But the amp that I was most excited to try was a little 1×12 combo amp made by DST Engineering.  The amp was called the U84 TNT.  The thing I liked about it was that it was switchable between 8w and 2w.  The only thing missing was a midrange tone control which I’m pretty particular about.  But even at the 2w setting, the amp sounded great.  If StevieSnacks keeps growing the way it has, I think I’ll eventually do a more in-depth review of this amp.

Another highlight was running into a StevieSnacks viewer named Gary from NJ who spotted me trying out the U84.  We had an opportunity to talk about amps, pedals, and StevieSnacks in general.

Now about the amp show as an event.  I give it a rating of 6 of 10.  The good things about it are kind of self-evident.  Lots of great amps in the same place, very inexpensive to participate, and a chance to win stuff.  But there’s a few things I didn’t get too excited about.  First, way too many people to be able to do any serious reviewing / evaluation.  On top of that, the venue was an open courtyard hotel.  So you had rooms around a courtyard with open doors, and amps blasting out of each room making it hard to focus on the room you were in.  I tried to keep my turns short when I actually managed to get in there to play something.  One bummer for me was waiting all day to get to play a Fuchs amp, to no avail. The Fuchs room was always pretty full, and between Andy Fuchs, and the other guitar players, those amps were in almost constant use.  Besides that, the amp I really wanted to try, the ODR-30, was not on display as far as I could tell.

Oh well, I got to chat with Bill and Gary, and that made the trip worth it.  And I left with the same opinion I went in with:  The Blues Junior is a fine amp, and is in no danger of being replaced in my rig just yet.

I’m off to the amp show.  I’m taking my camcorder, so I’ll put together a highlight reel when I get back.  Who knows, maybe I’ll even get to play a couple amps :)  When I get back, I’ll be working quickly on putting together a lesson on the chord sequence from the ballad video I put up last week.

Lastly, as you enter your weekend, I leave you with this video that illulstrates why Sean Costello left such an impact on me after only one show.  This cover of Dylan’s “Simple Twist Of Fate” illustrates what a beautiful, soulful style he had both as a guitarist and singer.  I can only hope that the time he had here was enough to inspire someone to put as much feeling into their music as he did into his own.

Simple Twist Of Fate - Sean Costello Cover

I feel like the last one to find out, but Sean Costello, a young and very talented blues/soul guitarist and singer, passed away in April. I was really bummed to find this out because Sean was one of those guys that you just knew was going to make a ton of great music in his lifetime.

The day I saw Sean play was one of the best shows I’ve ever been at. I was visiting Austin in 2005 during the SXSW music festival, and was headed to Antone’s on 6th with my wife to catch the great Hubert Sumlin, a true legend. There was this kid opening the show named Sean Costello. I mistakenly thought that this would be another young guy trying to sound like Stevie ( much like myself ), but I knew the minute I saw him that something was different. For one, he played a Les Paul. I haven’t seen a blues guy play one of those for a long time.

When Sean started playing, I knew he was good. The kind of good that makes you wish you were that comfortable on stage. But when he started singing, I knew he was the real deal. What a voice. And a great, great performer as well. His whole set was just beautiful.

Pretty soon it’s Hubert’s turn, the main event. he takes the stage, and Sean’s band stayed right there, and backed him up for the whole set. Didn’t even miss a beat. Halfway through the set, there was some commotion, and here comes this old piano player out of the crowd and takes his place at the keyboard. Antone himself introduced him as the one and only Pinetop Perkins, who I knew by sound (from Muddy Waters’ records ), but not by sight. So there are two of the biggest living blues legends on stage playing, and Sean is just holdin it down with the rest of the band.

Suddenly, there’s another commotion in the crowd and out of nowhere a familiar face jumps on stage. Elvis was back in the building. Costello, that is. There in front of me was Elvis Costello, Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sumlin. And none of this, none of it phased Sean at all. He did what he was supposed to do and did it well.

I bought his CD that night and told him I was sure that he was headed for the top. I never thought it would be the last time I saw him play.

One viewer wanted to know if someone with small hands can play some of the stuff that I teach in these lessons. It’s something that a lot of people deal with and I attempt to address this is a helpful way in this episode. You can watch it here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes for free and have the Quicktime Videos delivered right to your computer.

Just a note to let you all know that I’ve completed the first in a series of lessons deconstructing the solo I played for the Blues Junior Demonstration last week. The first lesson is kind of a meta-level, play-by-play commentary of the theories, boxes, and purpose behind what I’m playing at each point in the solo. Almost hate to make music so mathematical, but this is how I think

Also, I’m going to start selling backing tracks, as well as demonstration tracks in my store. Just look for the MP3s category. The songs are sold in mp3 format in 256 kb/s quality. The backing tracks will be great to practice to, and the demonstration tracks should be good reference material. The tracks will be sold for $1 each, as you would pay on something like iTunes. (The idea of selling audio tracks was suggested by Will from NY, who also suggested the name “aTunes”, which is hilarious, but would probably get me sued.)

Lastly, if anyone wants it, I’ve also put the actual ballad demonstration video for sale in the store. No different than the version on the web, except it’s yours to keep, and the quality is slightly better as well. The video is under the “Demonstration Videos” section.

On Saturday, May 10th, the good people at www.ampshow.com will be holding the New York Amp Show, featuring a ton of boutique amp manufacturers.  I believe you pay $20, at the door, and just walk around and gawk at all the amps, and try them out.

For anyone that cares, I’m planning on getting there right around 11:00 when it opens, and I’ll be wandering gawking for a while.  If you’re going to be there and you want to chat, just shoot me an email with your picture so I can put a face with the name.

Here are the details:

Loni Specter Productions Presents the 2nd Annual New York Amp Show

Saturday, May 10, 2008
10a.m.-6p.m.
Embassy Suites Hotel
121 Centennial Ave.
Piscataway, N.J. - $20 admission
For a special room rate, call 732-980-0050 and mention The Amp Show.

Additionally you can download the PDF flyer with all the info at www.ampshow.com.

Here’s another video showing off the capabilities of the Fender Blues Junior. This time I attempt to replicate the thick, overdriven tone that Stevie used when playing songs like Life Without You. Make sure to check out the details below the video…

*NOTE* - I’ve added a pictures tab at the bottom where you can see pictures of all my gear settings, including the amp.