While on holidays at home this year, I’ve had a fair amount of time on my hands.
I read some fascinating books, did some odd jobs around the house, huge out with my loverly wife and puppy Midnight (she was 1 year old on the 25th) and looked for things to blog about. that is when I came across this guitarist called Dominic Frasca. This man is a monster on guitar!
He is around 41, from Ohio, lives in New York City and there is one more thing that I’m trying to remember about this guy … oh ya he’s a classically-trained guitar virtuoso.
He plays this 10 stringed guitar and has this very unique capo. For the life of me I cannot find out who makes this thing. If you look at this video below or at the 1:21 / 3:17 section of it, you will get a looksie at what I mean. Is it me or this a homemade capo that looks like a carpenter’s “C” clamp that has been modified? Can someone help me out here?
Yours “Sing”cerly, clueless in Canada!
Keep on Jammin’
If you lived in Canada during the mid 70’s - 80’s then this band needs no introduction. For the un-initiated Goddo was a Canadian hard rock band that rocked this country like no other for their on and off stage antics! For just a little taste of these guys, check this anthem called So Walk on, out for size!
This song brings back so many fond memories for me. I played this one for a little bit with my old band called Deuce, but we never played it live … if memory sure me correctly. For all you musicians out there, you will understand the importance of this one.
This song was the very first song that I played on my beloved HiWatt! I was looking for 11 on the volume control but there wasn’t one on it. Boy, My old Hiwatt surely is missed! It’s the one thing I wish I still had in my collection!
These guys were gods back then. I heard their tunes everywhere. They played everywhere and were rock royalty in their day. They were one the great Canadian rock bands that I wish I had the privilege to have seen live. They even had the distinct honour in 1979 to be the first to be stereo TV/radio simulcast of a concert at Maple Leafs Gardens! I was in grade 8 that year and remember that show on TV. It still sends shivers up and down my arms remembering this show. I would have done anything to have been there that historical night in Toronto!
Has anyone out there had a memorable Goddo concert that they’d love to share? I know I’d love to heard it!
Well as I talked about winning tickets to see this guy at the Danforth Music Hall on my other blog, my critique about his show gives it a 1 1/2 thumbs up! Seeing Amos Lee on his latest tour, Last day at the Lodge, is worth it.
I came to the conclusion 1/2 way through Amos’s show that this guy really covers his musical bases quite nicely! Motown, Funk, Blues, Jazz, Folk and Southern rock, to a lesser degree, is all there to let the listener soak it all up.
On a side note, I would find it very interesting if he added a bit of a middle eastern flavor to his style. I think he could pull something like this off in a very unique way. I am just throwing that one out there.
His Motown sound was fabulous when he used it! His keyboardist, which was a major contributer to this sound, knew his place in the band. He was very eloquent in his approach to playing this by sliding in and out of a tune very tastefully and in the back ground.
Amos’s sprinkling of his falsetto voice was not over used at all I found. This just added some musical colour to the songs he plays. His guitar playing was very good but not all that technical. I’m almost 100 % sure that he uses a B-Bender on his Fender telecaster.
The one tune that he did, “Won’t let me down”, had this Flight of the Conchords feel to it, honestly. I closed my eyes for a second and pictured the leader singer of the Flight of the Conchords, singing it and it was very believable. I brought this train of thought up to my wife during the show and she couldn’t see though. Musicians always seem to have this different view of how they intemperate music I think.
My favorite song of the show was “Sweet Pea”! It is a short tune that he through in there for the hell of it. I just love that old school big band/jazz feel that his chord progressions nudged us towards. Leon Redborn must of had some sort of influence on this guy at one time throughout his informative days. I think I’ll figure this one out and try it live just for the fun of it sometime.
So I would not mind seeing this guy live if he comes into town next. If anything, he will broaden your musical appreciation for all the different genres that are out there … but not the more contemporary, in your face ones that don’t quite cut it with me.
The Seattle Pop Festival’s July 1969 dates was a show to rival Woodstock in some peoples minds, just ask the Guess Who, who was there for this monster of a music festival. It was held in in Woodinville, Washington.
Check out the line up for this one!
Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Chuck Berry, Santana, The Byrds, Ike and Tina Turner, The Guess Who, Chicago, and Bo Diddley, just to name a few. They played in front of an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 people. Now that was a show to be at. Imagine the ticket prices on today’s market for an event such as this one.
Led Zeppelin fanatics, refer to the sound board recordings, from this show, as the Holy Grail of Zeppelin recordings. The Doors didn’t get off so lucky. Jim was out of his mind, screaming and insulting the crowd. Even Zeppelin felt embarrassed for the other band members! This was Zeppelin talking here, remember their legendary tour shananogins?
One of my favorite new bands was just on The Hour, and it was fabulous to say the least!
In Canada we love our national TV channel, well most of us do, and they have this guy George Stroumboulopoulos who has a show called on CBC called The Hour.
In this interview, George reveals this guy next door image of the lead singer Chris Martin from Cold Play, that seems really genuine to me. I’ve not seen a lot of interviews of this guy but this one did ring a nice bell. He comes across as a guy who you would love to go camping with. Just imagine the campfire songs here kidz!
In videos of these guys playing huge venues, the band, especially the lead singer, look more then at home then most bands I’ve seen in a long time. They always seem to be in the groove all the time and the dynamics of sound they have are scary!
We only get to see the instrument versatility of Chris on most albums and I wonder what the rest of the band is like this area. Does anyone have a insight into any of these guys instrumentally that they’d like to share? In the interview, George show us that he is not that bad on the keys and it seem that Chris might even agree on this one.
In this 
