Tableau For Galoot And World Events
Mar 19, 2020
I'm writing this from the front porch of the Fretboard residence while our big fluffy galoot of a dog and I dig the early spring weather and keep our social distance from any and all passers-by. (I do the Queen Wave, she barks and runs around a...
Four Ways of Thinking About Fingerstyle Accompaniment
Mar 12, 2020
Last week in The Fingerstyle Five, our monthly live Zoom workshop was about arranging and improvising on the blues and jazz standard "Careless Love." I honestly had no idea this particular song would be such a hit with everyone, but that has been...
What Would Be Cool, And What Would It Take?
Mar 05, 2020
A few years back, I ran a couple surveys, just when I was getting Fretboard Confidential off the ground. In essence, the surveys asked, "What do you really want to know about playing the guitar?" And inevitably, I would get back answers...
Good Time Charlie
Feb 27, 2020
Groove is, of course, one of those slippery things, easy to mention and hard to describe, much less teach. But if you're going to play fingerstyle guitar, groove is one of the essential things to consider, and probably the first one worth paying...
Grooveyard
Feb 20, 2020
It's been raining in Austin for the past couple of days. As a guy who grew up in New England, this is the closest I'm going to get to winter around here, so I'll take it. It reminds me of walking to the bus stop in a slicker and rain boots, of...
The Scratchy Record Hour
Feb 13, 2020
Years ago my friend Matt Weiner played bass in a New York band I'll describe as retro and jazz-oriented, along with our mutual friend and absolutely killer guitar player Matt Munisteri. Both of these Matts were, and are, some of the most musical...
"Boys, Let's Put A Supergroup Together!"
Feb 06, 2020
It's February Album Writing Month again, one of my favorite times of the year. If you're one of those people – Ms. Fretboard comes to mind – who can't wait to be rid of January and all the post-holiday letdown it stands for, let me...
Blind Pig, 0; Acorn, 1
Jan 23, 2020
I've been trying for two days now to write something witty, enlightening and succinct about Bix Beiderbecke, and all I've come up with is a bit of satisfying but slight trivia about the origins of his given name. One of my lesser hobbies consists...
Guitar King
Jan 16, 2020
Maybe the best thing about Guitar King, David Dann's brick-like new biography of Michael Bloomfield, is how it succeeds in putting the guitarist's post-rock-star output into context. I missed the big bang of 1964's The Butterfield Blues...
