Victor Wooten Bass Clinic

I had the privilege of going to see a free clinic at Sweetwater recently and was very impressed! I saw a few of our fellow bloggers there too and wondered what your impressions were? What were your favorite tips?

For me, Victor Wooten (bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones) was quite impressive as a player and performer but what really surprised me was his humble demeanor and gracious attitude. This is my first time attending a clinic so I'm not sure if this is common, but he seemed very willing to take time and make sure that every question was heard and that every topic was covered.
He had some very interesting ideas on many topics like how to practice by yourself, how to raise kids to love music without making it a chore, how to approach music as a whole to make it more enjoyable to play and create, and much more!
All I can say is that if most clinics are half as good as this one, I'd recommend going to any of them you can!  Below is a little Wooten trivia:
Wooten won two Nashville Music Awards for Bassist Of The Year and is the only three-time winner of Bass Player magazine’s Bass Player Of The Year. With the honors came sideman calls, leading to recordings and performances with artists like Branford Marsalis, Mike Stern, Bruce Hornsby, Chick Corea, Dave Matthews, Prince, Gov’t Mule, Susan Tedeschi, Vital Tech Tones (with Scott Henderson and Steve Smith), the Jaco Pastorius Word Of Mouth Big Band, and the soundtrack of the Disney film Country Bears.

Les Paul (1915-2009)

what kind of music blog is this? not even a mention of the passing of a music legend?!? for shame...

By all accounts he was a really nice guy who loved to play and perform right up until his death at age 94.

Among the numerous videos of him on youtube here are two I found interesting:

Coors beer commercial (I like the thought of him putting a punk in his place)

Showing off his licks (about a minute in he starts really flying!)

Lester William Polsfuss, known as Les Paul (June 9, 1915 — August 13, 2009) was an American innovator, inventor, musician and songwriter. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and roll possible".^[2] He is credited with many recording innovations, including overdubbing (also known as sound on sound),^[3] delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects, and multitrack recording.^[4]

His innovative talents extended into his playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences,fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many of the guitarists of the present day.^[5][6][7][8] He recorded with his wife Mary Ford in the 1950s and they sold millions of records.

Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent, stand-alone exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[9] He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee" along with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed.^[10]

woodstock was 40 years ago

I have recently seen rumors that there might be a 40th anniversary of Woodstock 1969 this year but it looks like it will not happen in any form recognizable to the original event. when I tried to think of who they'd get to play it now-a-days I had a really hard time thinking of appropriate acts that would have the same relevance as it did back then... maybe I give those old classic bands too much credit but they sure seemed more epic than anybody we have around today. (did you know that Sha-Na-Na played Woodstock!?!? click above to read who played and what songs they payed)

so, I thought we should make our own Woodstock 09 dream lineup. who are some bands that would be good to have in a 3 day/night outdoor concert in 2009? no wrong answers are possible, just lots of good suggestions of bands that are active today.

Tom Waits.

Tom Waits should appear an interesting figure to almost anyone. You know who he is, you've seen him in movies, his songs have been (some would say unfortunately) popularized by Spingsteen ("Jersey Girl"), Rod Stewart ("Downtown Train"), and the Eagles ("Ol
55"). You're perfectly aware of him... A perpetually old, perpetually hat-wearing pathological liar, who, after returning to music from a 7-year stretch without an album, told every single interviewer who asked what took him so long: "I was stuck in traffic." But there's STILL a wall around the music itself. It's almost like a big inside joke, because you can't just pick up a record and get into his music.

First of all, there are 20 records between 1973 and today. Ignore the "gravelly voice" thing for now, everyone either gets over it or comes to appreciate it. The first thing to do is provide some chronological context, so you know which end of the spectrum you're in if you decide to listen. Between 1973's Closing Time and 1980's Heartattack And Vine, you have genuine bar sleaze, foraying into the seedy underbellies of jazz and blues. Most recommended from this era is 1976's Small Change, including "The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)" and "Invitation To The Blues."

In 1983, Waits was pushed into experimental territory in a reversal of the usual paradigm: by sobering up and settling down with wife/faceless collaborator, Kathleen Brennan (to whom he's still married today). Swordfishtrombones was the first of a trilogy of albums, followed by Rain Dogs and Franks Wild Years. Check out "Gun Street Girl," the linguistic evolution of traditional few-strings-short-of-a-guitar blues. "Jockey Full Of Bourbon," "Hang On St. Christopher," and the title track to Swordfishtrombones are other easier-access highlights of the era. After this came Bone Machine, which won a grammy for Best "Alternative" Rock performance, to which Waits responded, "Alternative to what?" The song "Goin' Out West" is most memorable for its appearance in Fight Club, definitely the peak of Waits' growly rock songs.

OK, now, a little soundtrack work, stage productions, and 7 years later we arrive at 1999's Mule Variations. Lots of people like it, I'm not sure about it. More folky than Waits' older work. Next we have two albums released at the same time... Alice. From Robert Wilson's experimental twist on Alice In Wonderland, which figured into its stage context the fact that Lewis Carroll wrote his Alice stories for the eponymous 9-year-old girl who had captured his affections. Listen to the title track, and that's about it. Now this is important: if you only listen to one Tom Waits song, listen to "All The World Is Green" from Blood Money. The album has plenty to offer in between its less accessible pieces, but this is, above all, the doorway to Tom Waits. Then from 2004's Real Gone: "Dead And Lovely" and "Green Grass" are most recommended.

So now that you've gotten your bearings, hopefully you can appreciate the rest of the catalog. Admittedly, nothing is truly accessible, but there is a certain difference between Tom Waits and many other performers. With most, even if you can't get into it at first, there may be a moment when it all clicks and you understand it. With Tom Waits, these things click very gradually... Maybe first it's the lyrics, which lead you to appreciate the voice... Maybe then it's the more traditionally-constructed songs from Small Change or Blue Valentines, and by the time the 80's records roll around into your music collection, you see the transition and understand those a little better, and then you come to understand the more folk-oriented records coming from Waits' growing domesticity.

Before you know it, you'll be bothering your coworkers or your wife or whoever comes into the room with music they probably won't like. I dunno, though, I always liked that feeling.

does rock make you ugly?

or is it that rock just allows the ugly to succeed? (see possible evidence in pic below)
although i'm not sure if eddie van halen was even decent-looking in his prime, i can easily say that he is far from it now if this pic from 2006 is allowed into evidence!
fortunately, more recent pics show a bit of improvement from his 'meth-mouth' look of 2006. i especially enjoyed some of the defensive comments from people on the blog.... wow those are some die-hard fans!