Twanger Tuesday has ARRIVED ! ! !

Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:20 am

Lunch... let’s see....feelin kinda lazy today I think I’ll just
have a can of chilli with cheese on it and some bread and butter like
my grandpa used to make me when I was a kid...


I can remember back in the day, listening to Steve Miller and
then it hit me, there’s banjo in that that and as I learned to play
more and more I realized how much country, rock, and blues
have in common... Well I still didn’t listen to much country back
then other than Hee Haw which my dad put on.. I must say I
did love to watch Roy Clark...

Along came groups like Skynyrd, 38 Special, and Molly Hatchet to
bridge the gap a little then Little Texas, Blackhawk and Clint
Black hit the scene and I actually listened to country without
cringing.... Then Vince Gill and Brent Mason Turned it up.....Sweet..

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Even the most radical metal head I know has heard guitarist
a country lick at some point and said “holy crap, how’d he do that”.


What Country group(s) have influenced you?

G&L makes the WR’s and I got a new one through MF since they
were having a 15 months, same as cash deal... MF shorted me on vids etc but
not a problem because the great folks at G&L made good on it and sent me the
care pack that’s supposed to come with it, all except the LOA but since I’m
never going to sell it I’ll let my kids deal with that. I love it but loaned to a
friend that’s doing an instructional, tone, series of DVD’s so another friend
told me about a great deal on one, on the gear page.. You guessed it.. I’ve
got two...Turquoise and Silver and have gigged with them both.

Who is Your favorite G&L Player (can't choose yourself) ????

Me and Phil and the Yolo County fair playing our G&L's, I got cut off a
bit in most of the vids since they centered the camera when I was at the
back adjusting my amp... what I lost in screen time I made up for in VOLUME...
Here's Phil on the left with his Comanche and me on the right with my WR...

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Re: Twanger Tuesday has ARRIVED ! ! !

Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:01 pm

Love me some country. I am the metal guy the heard guys like Mason, Gatton, and Paisley and pooped myself, then starting learning to hybrid picking. I am still in the baby stage though. My technique is there, and I can get around fine, but I haven't digested it enough to manifest in my playing that style. I need more theory to put it together. I do hybrid pick stuff like ZZtop now though too :P, I like the economy of it.

No clue on a favourite G&L player, I don't pay attention to what people play. I guess I am my favourite G&L player by default!

Re: Twanger Tuesday has ARRIVED ! ! !

Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:27 pm

Not much for country twang or Skynyrd. I do, however, like good songwriters - stuff like Tom Russell's "Blue Wing," Guy Clark's "Desperados Waiting for a Train," Steve Earle's "The Devil's Right Hand" and pretty much everything Townes Van Zandt ever recorded.

Favorite G&L player? Although I ain't a rabid fan, someone I enjoy is Shannon Curfman although these days she seems to favor a PRS.

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Re: Twanger Tuesday has ARRIVED ! ! !

Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:40 pm

I was never much for country either (always loved skynyrd) but also
enjoy a good songwriter.. When the word songwriter is mentioned, I immediately
think of Billy Joel, James Taylor, and Elton John. I do appreciate any good songwriting
and understand that each person has their own Idea of what's good...

Re: Twanger Tuesday has ARRIVED ! ! !

Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:12 pm

It looks like your bass player is using a G&L too. What model is it? It looks to be either a early SB-2, a Lynx or an El Toro.
Nice playing. That looks like it was a fun gig.

I was drawn into country from my kids listening to it an from a recording session that I did the night before 9/11/01, coincidentally.

The engineer on the session is a great country lead player and he could pull off some incredible runs between takes.
He loved the sound of my L-2500.

The music that we were doing was not country but it was still an education to hear such a good player do his thing.

My favorite G&L player is Will Ray because his playing is full of surprises. Good surprises. LOL

Actually I was surprised to see that on a one hit wonders site the bass that was used in the video for " I'm too Sexy (for my Shirt...)" was a G&L L-1000! The name of the band is "Right Said Fred"

Re: Twanger Tuesday has ARRIVED ! ! !

Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:54 pm

I thnk the bass player said he was using an L 2000 but he said the logo was different than normal as it's pretty old.. Thinks it gives it collectors value..

Will Ray is also one of my favorite G&L twangers along with the boy from Sawyer Brown and Ray Benson from Asleep at the Wheel....

Thanks for the kind words on the gig, it was fun but frstrating band drama crept in.
Time to get an orange sparkle WR and go my own way.. The silver is getting my new
bender G,B and drop D.....Schwing....

Re: Twanger Tuesday has ARRIVED ! ! !

Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:57 pm

That Ricky Skaggs clip is great - thanks for posting that Tim.

I'm also a country music player and appreciator. In my home town there is a pub called 'Clancy's' and every Sunday a band called the Zydecats play there. Their residency must be about ready for a Guinness Book attempt, its been at least 10 years since I've been watching them, seen them play at least 50 times! They're a bunch of local guys who play a mix of Zydeco (obviously), jump blues and country exceptionally well. Lucky Oceans, ex-Asleep At The Wheel, plays pedal steel, dobro and accordion with them. They are responsible for getting me interested in country music. From there it just took off. Dwight is also a fave of mine even if he is a frightening thing to behold without his hat on. He busts some great moves on stage.

Will Ray is my favourite G&L player, but to be honest I don't know of many others! WR is responsible for making me aware of the brand.


sirmyghin wrote:My technique is there, and I can get around fine, but I haven't digested it enough to manifest in my playing that style. I need more theory to put it together.


There's not all that much theory specifically behind country licks. It's great to know all of the chords in all of the shapes up the neck. Throw an extra note (flat 3) or two (flat 7) into the major pentatonic. Go into a chord by bending the 2 to the M3. Voila! Country!

Re: Twanger Tuesday has ARRIVED ! ! !

Tue Nov 02, 2010 7:29 pm

It is the whole major pentatonic that is taking a long time to set in. The minor pentatonic, although I never practiced it explicitely, is ingrained through rock and metal.

Re: Twanger Tuesday has ARRIVED ! ! !

Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:24 am

well as for country music, we don't listen so much of it down there in France, but.... The first record I remember listening to was "just one night" live from Clapton (I know it's not country :D ) I must have been 8 years old at the time I think, and there are some lead parts on that record that blow me away. I realised at the age of maybe 25 :o that it was Albert Lee's chorus and rythmic parts, and I must say it had a huge influence on me... still has today actually !

my fav G&L player, I don't know many of them but I'd say Jake Cinninger and Will Ray

Re: Twanger Tuesday has ARRIVED ! ! !

Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:46 am

I wasn't much on country until I heard James Burton and Clarence White play together on an Arlo Guthrie album. For some reason, I thought James Burton was doing all these cool bending licks and started buying everything I could find that he played on. It wasn't until much later that I was informed that it was in fact Clarence White playing all those cool licks.

And then it wasn't until much later than that, that I realized that Clarence was using a B-Bender built into his guitar, after I had painstakingly learned his licks manually with my fingers. By that time I had already experimented with creating a mini slide ring to help me achieve playing his tougher licks. So it was a long but rewarding journey for me, all started by a country Arlo Guthrie album.

My favorite G&L player? Hmmm. Probably my 2 Hellecaster cohorts John Jorgenson and Jerry Donahue, who still own and have been known to whip out their G&L's from time to time.