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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1889
Location: Central Massachusetts | :) :) :) :)
Well, what an interesting day yesterday. Happy/sad...
Last night I went to this show, billed the "Songwriters Tour" featuring Lyle, John, Joe, and Guy. What a great show! Just the 4 of them up on the stage with their acoustic guitars. They traded off playing whatever songs came to mind. Mostly solo, sometimes duo, occasionally more. They did some great songs and all of them are excellent guitar players.
John Hiatt played what looked like a Gibson SJ-200 "super jumbo" with a mustache bridge. Not an attractive guitar in my opinion, but definitely the boomer of the show. Lyle and Joe played Gibson sunburst dreadnoughts, not sure of the models. Guy Clark played a nice small-bodied Martin 12-fret slothead. I loved the sound of it the best. Seemed a little buzzy on the low E, but I kinda think he wanted it that way. Very bluesy guitar.
Overall a fantastic night of singing, playing, and humor. If you have a chance to catch this show, I'd highly recommend it.
:( :( :( :(
Unfortunately when I returned home, I found out that my favorite local blues artist died suddenly yesterday. Paul deLay was arguably the best blues harmonica player out there today and he was a real cornerstone of the Portland blues scene. I've seen him many times. He was very friendly and I chatted with him on a number of occasions. I was planning to catch him next on April 7th.
Paul apparently felt under the weather after his set last Saturday night. He visited his doc on Monday where they determined he had advanced stage leukemia and his organs were failing. He fell into a coma soon thereafter and never recovered. He passed Wednesday morning at the age of 55. His humor, soul, and talent will be missed. If you are into blues harp, give him a listen. "Ocean of Tears" and "Nice and Strong" are his best. He's who I would have recommended in fillhixx's thread if I had realized he was looking for local artists.
Live every moment, gang! |
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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 5576
Location: big island | aloha dvd,
sorry to hear about the passing of your friend, paul. i will have to listen to some of his music as you suggest. i play a bit of blues harp too.
in my opinion, though, blonde j-200's are one of the more handsome instruments available. they are big-bodied and can wreak havoc on the shoulder muscles after a three hour gig, but the sound sure carries all the way down the beach...
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1889
Location: Central Massachusetts | Thanks, Lanaki. You can sample his stuff on amazon.com .
Yup, that's the one, in blonde too. Guess it's an acquired taste.
Another interesting aspect of their show was comparing and contrasting their styles.
Guy had kind of a front-porch bluesy style. Joe liked to play with sustain and vibrato. He also liked to lay down some mean rhythms and then have John Hiatt come in and solo improvise over the top of it. John was definitely more on the rock end of the spectrum. Lyle likes to capo up, sometimes way up, and fingerpicks with steel fingerpicks on all his fingers for a much higher-pitched staccato sound. |
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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 5576
Location: big island | "acquired taste" - yup, i loved it before i acquired it!
just caught some of paul's stuff on youtube. excellent player! thanks. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | I've seen that show last year. It was good but Lyle spent too much time talkng, they all needed to play more.
Too Bad about Paul. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Man, that's a show I'd love to have seen. I've seen Hiatt maybe 30 times with his band and a couple of times when he was with Cooder, but never solo. I have no doubt that he's killer by himself.
Guy Clark Live in Austin Texas just came out on DVD, mine should be here in a few days. According to the current issue of AG he's playing a Martin 12-fret treble-0 Guy Clark signature model. What a freakin' surprise. Strange, every show I ever promoted with Guy was a Martin-free zone.
Joe Ely is doing a solo tour of the UK and due in my neck of the woods in April, I'll be there. |
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OT: Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Joe Ely, & Guy Smith (and Paul deLay)
