I had a particularly good practice day yesterday where everything felt right. I could play pretty much whatever I wanted and feel the "ease" of it all. I had a sense of “light-fingered-ness”. I was practicing and playing about a half-dozen, new-to-me classical pieces that I’ve learned over the past year or so and have tried to practice with this sense of ease. The pieces I was playing ranged from a couple of lively baroque things — a Bach allemande and a gigue by Robert deVisee — to a romantic era piece by Spaniard, Angel Barrios, to up-tempo jazzy Latin-American classical pieces that I love. I felt hot. I felt like I had them in control and could make them sound like I wanted them to.  

Hello.  My name is Greg (a.k.a. DJ GA), and I'm a funk/soul/jazz record collector located in Madison, WI, USA.  For those not familiar with what I do (aside from the collecting/hording of records previously mentioned), I run the blog Trunk of F.U.N.K.), which is dedicated to uncovering the story behind funk and soul musicians and records that didn't really get their due in their time.  Ava had mentioned to me that, although Jemsite was initially focused on guitars, rock music and the music industry, there's been a pretty significant interest recently in branching out to other styles of music.  Based on this change of pace, she invited me on board with the thought that my insights would make me a particularly good fit to discuss the collaboration of funk and rock. 

While I wouldn't consider myself the foremost expert (or even within the echelon of "most knowledgeable"), I felt I could definitely contribute something interesting, and hopefully, that my input would get a much larger ball of discussion rolling.  So, with the idea of the collaboration between funk and rock fresh in my mind, I started searching through stacks of records looking for around a dozen or so songs that were either influenced by funky sounds (e.g. Train), funky covers of rock and roll tunes (e.g. Black Dog), or rock and roll covers of funk numbers (e.g. Let A Woman Be A Woman).  The results of my search are available below in the 15th podcast*** I've put together for my blog this year… 

It is often said we are living in the golden age of guitar making. During the 70's there were only a handful of individuals who would craft a guitar completely from scratch. Today, a combination of expanded interest, and an increase of accumulated skills and experience has resulted in an explosion of luthiers who offer anything from a fancy pearl trimmed dreadnought to an all koa Weissenborn style instrument. Large factories have also increased quality and production over these few decades, begging the question, "What is the difference between factory and handmade instruments?"

The definition of "handmade" is rather tricky in the context of power tools requiring one to consider the importance of the differences between that high powered band saw and a wood saw? Most luthiers and players take the view that as long as the tools used are dictated by the operator, the instrument can be considered handmade. Thus, a specialized jig which predetermines how a neck is carved cannot be considered part of the handmade process, whereas a band saw used to rough out the neck shape 'freehand' could. Over the past decade, I have been playing, trading, and on occasion making my own acoustic guitars. Here are some of my thoughts on the subject.

I'd like to talk about something that everyone who plays music has to deal with, but rarely gets talked about. How to choose band members. I've been playing a while and from an early age started playing in bands. When I was young it was all about friendship and naturally all the band members were good friends of mine. As I grew older, I realized that my tastes and the tastes of my friends continued to develop and, usually, there were more differences than similarities in what we liked and wanted to play.

From these complications, I quit the most successful band I was ever in and gave up music for a year. Once I finally got the itch to play again I went about it the same way I had always done; I looked for a band. Now like I said, I had given up music for a year and spent another year or two just casually playing on my own, that's what reactivated my playing itch. Now, I didn't care to be a rock star or “get signed,” like I used to. I just wanted to play my own music and have a good time all the while sounding good in the small situations that I was playing in. But as innocent as it sounds, it was terribly difficult to find anyone else on the same page. Whenever I did find someone there was always some huge personality difference between. At the least, it made us feel awkward with each other and at the worst made us dislike each other (I'm an adult, there was no fighting).

The Guitar Hero series on Jemsite features interviews with guitarists and musicians who may not have star status YET (yet being the key word!) but their current situations have shaped them to be who they are--determined, fond of their craft, and heroes in their own right.  Perhaps you'll see in these upcoming entries the next Jimi Hendrix, Melissa Etheridge, or Duane Allman.  Or perhaps they'll become household names by doing what they do best--doing their thing.

For our second interview, we capture the voice of Jack Pribek, a guitarist and songwriter who's recent health problems only made him more determined to succeed.   Read on to find out how this musician used some bad luck with health to better his luck and his career, then log onto his official website to see how it all turned out. 

Ava: Give me some background on yourself and tell me how you got started in music and the guitar?

Jack: Ha! Well, my full name is Raymond John Pribek III. I go by Jack; Jack Pribek. I grew up mostly in a small town on the Missouri River called Hermann, Missouri.

I got interested in the guitar several years before I started playing. I remember seeing B.B. King on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I was maybe 8 or 9 and something about what he did really grabbed me. When I was 14, I saved $50 up from mowing lawns and bought a Supro guitar and Supro amp from a guy who was a couple of years older. I messed around with it on my own and took a few lessons. Eventually, I ran in to Ron Roskowske, who is a great teacher. He was working at a music store in Washington, Missouri. I took lessons from Ron sort of off and on. I would go for a couple months and, see this was a deal, where my Mom had to drive me 30 miles each way so; I’d take a break for a few months and absorb what Ron showed me. It’s a good way to learn really.

The Basics