I don't know Robin, but I suffer from the same thing. Way back when, when I first met Mike at a workshop, he did his Monroe/Van Gogh comparison, which completely floored me. That explained so much about why I like certain artists. I too am only wowed by a small handful of mando players but there are many other musicians--of various instrumentation--that forcibly remove my socks. And I am absolutely thankful for it... I can't go very long before I desperately need to hear someone who can speak on that level of playing. It's an absolute addiction... a drug.
Brian On Oct 19, 3:38 pm, Robin Gravina <robin.grav...@gmail.com> wrote: > Where does it come from? > > When I was a child I was exposed only to classical music: Wagner mainly due > to family connections, but plenty of Mozart and other things, and I listened > and thought I appreciated, until one day under the covers I heard the Sex > Pistols, the Damned and the Ramones on a radio I had built myself (John > Peel of course): 1976 and me with 13 tender years. I just loved the early > Punk groups but then I discovered country blues with John Hurt, Skip James > and early Chicago: Little Walter and so on at 17- all through a guitar > player who worked through the Stephan Grossman books between fixes. I had a > massive hardcore reggae phase - U-Roy and the Dub masters in general - King > Tubby and Scientist. I was an obsessive Velvet Underground fan for a while, > loved Black Flag and Skate Punk, Nick Cave and the Fall, worshipped amateur > ramshackle groups like the Raincoats, the Slits and the Cravats. > > But I just can't stop listening to Monroe at his wildest, Hartford, and old > Fiddle players - I have to admit that I don't really like many mandolin > players, despite my decision to practically abandon the guitar to learn how > to play the thing, but there's something about the real old time music that > just grabs me. I could listen to Monroe exclusively for days and days. If I > learnt the piano, I wouldn't try to play like Art Tatum, Errol Garner, or > Bill Evans, much as I like them, but would go for boogie woogie or > barrelhouse. What is it about few chords, wild energy and free expression of > bad emotions that does it for me? Ali Farka touré does the same thing, but > so do Flipper and Big Daddy Kane. In the end, I wonder if chords and harmony > are just a distraction. Melody, rhythm and texture are what I love. > > Ok, that's off my chest! Needed to say that. I love music. > Best > Robin -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to taterbugma...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to taterbugmando+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en.
