The dobro is a strange and (IMO) really cool instrument. “Dobro” itself was originally a brand name of resonator guitar. A resonator is the hubcap looking apparatus that sits in the middle of the instrument and gives it its unique…
Blog Archives
“That High Lonesome Sound” . . : A Very Quick Intro To The Dobro
Tagged with: bluegrass, Country, Dobro, Earl Scruggs, Jerry Douglas, Josh Graves, Mike Auldridge, Rob Ickes
Posted in Country/Bluegrass, Music Appreciation and Analysis
Posted in Country/Bluegrass, Music Appreciation and Analysis
“Sing Me Back Home” . . . : Guitar Great Clarence White
In my previous post, I was talking about the Ken Burns documentary “Country Music” on PBS (see https://roymusicusa.com/2019/09/28/will-the-circle-be-unbroken-banjo-steel-guitar-and-a-word-about-robert-hunter/). While I generally thought it to be excellent there were a few minor quibbles, namely the omission of two great guitarists, Doc…
Tagged with: B-Bender, bluegrass, Clarance White, Flatpicking guitar, Telecaster, The Byrds
Posted in Classic Rock, Music Appreciation and Analysis
Posted in Classic Rock, Music Appreciation and Analysis
“Will The Circle Be Unbroken” : Banjo, Steel Guitar And A Word About Robert Hunter
The last couple of weeks I have been watching the Ken Burns documentary “Country Music” on PBS (go here to stream all eight episodes – https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/country-music/). Tracing it’s beginnings from the 1920’s through to 1996, it’s an excellent introduction to…
Tagged with: Banjo, Country Music, Grateful Dead, PBS, Pedal Steel Guitar, Robert Hunter
Posted in Classic Rock, Grateful Dead, Jam Band, Music Appreciation and Analysis
Posted in Classic Rock, Grateful Dead, Jam Band, Music Appreciation and Analysis
“The Bus Came By And I Got On” . . . : The Rhythm Guitar Of Bob Weir
When I was in college, I roomed for a year with the rhythm guitarist in the Grateful Dead clone band that I was in. It was during many hours of jamming together (yeah, not my best scholastic performance that year)…
Tagged with: Bob Weir, Grateful Dead, Rhythm Guitar
Posted in Classic Rock, Grateful Dead, Improvisation, Jam Band, Music Appreciation and Analysis
Posted in Classic Rock, Grateful Dead, Improvisation, Jam Band, Music Appreciation and Analysis
Midnight Blues . . . : Support Kenny Burrell
During the fifties and sixties, there were a trio of jazz guitarists who (to me at least) epitomized that zone between bebop and blues, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell. Kenny Burrell came from Detroit, a scene in the…
Tagged with: Blue Note Records, Jazz, jazz guitar, Kenny Burrell, Midnight Blue
Posted in Blues, Improvisation, Jazz, Music Appreciation and Analysis
Posted in Blues, Improvisation, Jazz, Music Appreciation and Analysis
“One Pill Makes You Smaller” . . : Jefferson Airplane At Woodstock
There’s been a lot of hubbub about the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. I’m not going to be one of those people who claimed to have been there but I was about 20 miles (and a world) away. I was eleven…
Tagged with: Jefferson Airplane, Woodstock
Posted in Classic Rock, Jam Band, Music Appreciation and Analysis
Posted in Classic Rock, Jam Band, Music Appreciation and Analysis
“Moonhead” . . . : Pink Floyd Jams To The Moon Landing
Fifty years ago today, on July 20th, 1969, Mankind did the coolest thing in it’s existence and walked on the Moon (unless you’re one of those pinheads who think it was all a hoax. In that case, just go away…
Tagged with: BBC, Moon Landing, Moonhead, Pink Floyd
Posted in Classic Rock, Improvisation, Jam Band, Music Appreciation and Analysis
Posted in Classic Rock, Improvisation, Jam Band, Music Appreciation and Analysis
Reflections On The Fourth Of July: Two Songs by Paul Simon about America
Today here in America we are celebrating our Independence Day. As I was looking at my news feed I was noticing several music lists of Fourth of July appropriate music. A lot of chest thumping, “party in the USA” songs.…
“How Will The Wolf Survive” . . : Jerry Garcia’s Wolf Guitar Comes Out To Play
This is a call back to a previous post (https://roymusicusa.com/2019/05/25/pictures-from-an-exhibition-the-instruments-of-rock-roll-at-the-met-part-iii/) where I talked about the custom made guitars of Jerry Garcia. Just recently while Dead & Company were playing here in NYC at Citi Field, John Mayer played Jerry Garcia’s…
Tagged with: "Play It Loud", Dead & Company, Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, John Mayer, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wolf Guitar
Posted in Equipment, Grateful Dead, Jam Band
Posted in Equipment, Grateful Dead, Jam Band
“Bouncing Round The Room” . . : Videos that put Phish Jams under the microscope
Let’s take a break from visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll”, which has been the subject of a series of posts. Instead I want to talk about Phish. I have discussed…
Tagged with: Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead, Improvisation, Jamband, Mountain Jam, Phish, Thematic Jams
Posted in Classic Rock, Improvisation, Music Appreciation and Analysis
Posted in Classic Rock, Improvisation, Music Appreciation and Analysis
ManRoy Music 