Hungarian Fingers

...and we're back!

Vacation over, back to reality. Musical moments from the trip were few and far between... fake indians doing a rain-dance in Budapest's Heroes Square, a girl selling ceramic pipes on Charles Bridge in Prague... oh and that creepy looking guy bashing out peasant standards on a beaten old accordian.

Early on in the trip, Tim and I stumbled across The Captain Cook pub around the corner from the Opera in Budapest. We stopped in and had a pint (actually, 0.5l) of the local beer. One pint led to another, which led to a discussion about music and The Project.

The subject matter was varied, including what made me want to play guitar in the first place, who I was listening to at the time, which songs and styles were pivotal and so on. The main conclusion was that I'm not really drawn to the typical pop format. I prefer 15 minute epic songs to 3 minute radio-friendly offerings. I like to be challenged by what I'm listening to.

Tim voiced the opinion that if The Project is going to be a success I need to kick things into high gear. How? Get up and perform at an open mic before the 6 month mark. Focusing on open mics would mean I would have to stick to strumming rather than trying to advance my electric lead playing. After two beers I was unconvinced, but halfway through the third I started to see his point. Getting onstage would give me a major tick in a box.

But I can't sing!

Tim's suggestion was that he take over the task of singing, and with that in mind we made lists of:

1) Songs I'd like to record with him singing and me playing

2) Songs he'd like to record with him singing and me playing

3) Songs I'd like to try to learn for the two of us to perform at an open mic

For number 1, I selected "Wicked Little Town" by Stephen Trask, "Give Me Something Real" as performed by Queen Latifah in the movie "Living Out Loud" and finally "Melissa" by the Allman Brothers Band. We tried recording "Melissa" once before and it didn't go so well. I wanted him to mimic Gregg Allman's approach but he wanted to put his own stamp on it. Let's just say that there was some free-stying involved that I wasn't happy about and that was the end of that.

Tim pulled out a few surprises with his choices for number 2. He kicked off with "A Little Respect" by Erasure and "Please Please Tell Me Now" by Duran Duran. Toni Braxton's "Breathe Again" came in third place.

I'll admit that by the time we got to making the list of songs to perform at an open mic the beer had kicked in, so things were getting a little woolly. The selection I came up with was "Hungry Like The Wolf" by Duran Duran, "House Of The Rising Sun" (Traditional) and Cream's version of "Outside Woman Blues".

Looking at my notes from that evening I can see that we also started a 4th list, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was meant to be. I think they might be songs that I'd like to try to sing myself. It starts off with "Willin" by Little Feat and Cowboy's "Please Be With Me"... after that it's unclear what the hell I wrote!

I do remember making up the phrase "Hungarian Fingers". It sounds derogatory, but it wasn't meant to be at the time. Whilst fumbling for change I noticed that Forint coins are huge, which made me surmise that Hungarians must have super-sized digits and hence when failing to fret something properly it must be because of my Hungarian Fingers.

Postcard From Prague

Prague... last stop on our Eastern European tour. Back to real life tomorrow. Time to kick the project into high gear!

Postcard From Vienna

Vienna, city of culture, music... and a VERY large ferris wheel!

Postcard From Budapest...

Say what you like about the Communists, but they sure knew a thing or two about sculpture...

Easy As 1-2-3...

Only one more day to go before our VACATION!!!!!



We're headed from Budapest to Vienna then on to Prague, shown as A-B-C on the map. Can't wait. Probably won't be making any advances musically, but I DON'T CARE!

If I get the urge (probably after a few cheap beers) I'll send a couple of photos from along the way, but otherwise I'm outta here until April!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Interesting Site

I'm a big fan of the Live Music Archive...

"Welcome to the Live Music Archive. etree.com is a community committed to providing the highest quality live concerts in a lossless, downloadable format. The Internet Archive has teamed up with etree.org to preserve and archive as many live concerts as possible for current and future generations to enjoy. All music in this Collection is from trade-friendly artists and is strictly noncommercial, both for access here and for any further distribution. Artists' commercial releases are off-limits. This collection is maintained by the etree.org community."

The LMA has a shedload of great free stuff on it, particularly if (like me) you're a fan of the jam band movement.

Today I discovered another website, Wolfgang's Vault. It's similar to the LMA in that it hosts a live concert archive. Unlike the LMA it's not 100% free, but most of the shows appear to be free to listen to in streaming format. What's interesting to me about this page is not only the classic concerts it hosts, but there are also quite a few fascinating artist interviews from way back when.

Check it out...

Software Recommendations, Anyone?

Hey, savvy music folk out in the ether...

Does anyone have any suggestions for decent Windows applications for composing? Since I spend about 3 hours a day on a train doing nothing productive, I could actually use that time to work my demos which would then make time spent at home with guitar in hand more productive.

Doing Google searches the thing that comes up most often is "Band In A Box". Any opinions as to whether it's a decent tool or whether there's something better on the market (preferably for not much money!). In this case 'better' doesn't necessarily mean having more features, but something user-friendly for quickly trying out sonic ideas.

Action Plan Update... 289 Days To Go!

First off, I've decided to start using people's full first names instead of commuting them to initials. If anyone doesn't like being referenced, let me know! It's simply getting too confusing as I sometimes forget to do it!

1) Get Good
Check! Or at least I reckon I'm on track. I'm much more confident playing (the inevitable stage fright notwithstanding). Getting good is a continuous process, but even if it's just strumming up a storm on rhythm, I'm there. I learnt a lot of useful stuff on the WAES course that I'm putting into practice.

There's been lots of good advice flying around about how to keep improving, including stuff on IG Blog about learning one new thing a day. With that in mind I've dug out all my back issues of "Guitar Techniques" magazine so that I can reference new licks if I get stuck for something fresh to learn.

Now that Red (my electric) is back on the team I can start playing loud and proud again.

2) Record Demos
Still haven't really started on this one. I have a few ideas for new songs and a couple of covers I'd like to do. Time to focus on this one, maybe with some outside help!

3) Look The Part
Actually, not doing badly. The gym's been paying off. The Fillmore Five Project's officially endorsed No. 1 Groupie (Hey Diana!) noticed over the weekend that I'd bulked up. Just need to stay away from beer and pizza (like that's going to happen!)

4) Get Out There
Over the past weeks I've been trying to put out feelers using 'find a band' type web pages. Not much luck on that front, mostly because of ageism. It's okay to be 18 and useless, but if you're over 21 you're OUT! In fairness, it may just be a generational thing, in that older people don't use those sites much? Dunno. I'll keep on with the websites, but I need to explore other avenues, too, possibly local newspapers, putting cards in shop windows etc.

It's looking a lot more possible for collaboration with Gayan from the WAES course, which would be cool. He's really enthusiastic about making music. What I can't tell right now is whether he's only really interested in a solo gig. I need to email him to make sure I maintain contact over the next few weeks. Collaboration's also possible with an old friend, Nigel, who's getting back into playing again after taking a sabbatical.

At some point I have to grow some cahones and front up to the open mic thing. I'm going to fall flat on my face but that's part of the process, isn't it?

So where to go from here?

I feel like I have clear blue skies and right now I can see for miles. The 'Get Good' action is now on autopilot so I can shift focus away from that. Same thing goes for the 'Look The Part' one. Any look I go for is going to evolve from where I'm 'at' musically and who I'm playing with... just no flares, okay? And no spandex!

Which pretty much means that recording demos is the next big thing. 289 days to go and my new, improved action plan now goes something like this:

1) Record Demos

2) Find Other Musicians To Play With

3) Get Out There

Big Day... Yesterday!

Well, I did it. I did my recital of "Taylor". Nobody died. No tears were shed. I made it through alive!

Frank of understandingguitar.org supplied some top tips (see comments from previous posts)... I really wish I'd seen them before performing. In hindsight, they were good ones.

My preview performance for Tim on Friday night didn't even get through the intro. I couldn't hit a note! Incredibly frustrating considering how much practice time I put in this week.

On Saturday morning there were three of us in class: me, G and E. Names commuted to protect the innocent! G jumped in first (smart guy) and did a version of "Before You Accuse Me", taken from Clapton's "Unplugged" DVD. He made it count. Sounded good.

E stepped up to the plate second and put in a rendition of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. After a couple of false starts she picked out the intro then strummed whilst singing. Again, surprisingly good! The girl can sing!

By this time, my hands were shaking and my palm sweaty. My fingers didn't feel like they would do as instructed. Brief pause. 3 -2 - 1... GO!

Once the ball was rolling I gained some confidence... and speed! Too much speed! Slow down! The performance wasn't stellar, but there were no major screw ups. I fluffed one of the chord changes, going to a G instead of a C, but managed to front my way through it. Like I said, my timing was all over the place, but hey, gimme a break.

Afterwards, Teach said I did okay. He felt the groove in the intro, which was good, as I don't think he actually knew the song. Deconstructed my technique a bit, focussing on how I was strumming whilst anchoring my index finger through the changes. With the pressure off I played parts from the song again, getting it out much better than before. Typical, eh?

So that was that, the recital and the end of the WAES course. Teach suggested that the best way for me to continue improving (other than just putting a band together) would be to take private lessons... an hour once or twice a month. He said he'd be willing to take me on as a pupil. I'm actually going to consider it as a) it'll keep me close to 'the music industry', b) He may have other pupils who want to jam and c) it'll keep me focussed and moving forwards. Oh, and d) he's actually a good teacher who can 'do' as well as 'teach'. Finding a good teacher is not easy!

Apart from that, what next? I guess I'll check my action plan and update it this week. One thing I know is that Red can come out of his case. Neighbours, expect some noise!

I also spoke briefly with G after class, who said he might be interested in collaboration, jamming etc. I said I'd email him about it. We'll see how that goes, I guess. He's on another WAES course right now: songwriting. Maybe I'll be able to pump him for top tips.

Anyway, I'm done for now. I never have to play "Taylor" again if I don't want to... though something tells me I will.

Finally, on the what-seems-to-be-weekly celeb-spotting front, we nearly bumped into London mayoral candidate Boris Johnson outside Waterloo station on Saturday! Not exactly rock 'n' roll, but hey... Much shorter than I expected him to be...

Big Day Tomorrow

So, as everyone keeps reminding me, it's the big day tomorrow. In just a few hours I get to perform "Taylor" in front of class. Seeing as how I have no singing voice, whatsoever, I've arranged it to be more of an instrumental piece. We'll see how it goes. Tim wants me to do a preview performance tonight, which strangely I'm more nervous about as I'm geared up for getting it right tomorrow morning, not tonight!

I changed the way I play the song in a couple of ways over the past week. Probably not a good idea, but I think it sounds better when strumming if I a) selectively only play partial chords and b) strum more with my wrist so that I emphasise the first downstroke after each change. That way you get the impression of a descending bassline. I'm also using the same strum on three of the chords but changing it on the last one to build tension leading into the change. Mixing things up in the eleventh hour is never a good idea, though... could be a disaster! What am I thinking?!?!

I decided to add a widget to this page, over on the right, which gives a countdown to midnight on New Year's Eve 2008. That's my deadline for transforming myself into a Rock God. Right now it says I have 292 days, 7 hours etc. Gee, that sounds like a long time, doesn't it? Something tells me it's going to fly by. Pretty soon it'll be Spring, then Summer, and after that I'll be on the home stretch.

After tomorrow I'm on my own again. On the plus side, I'm not going to be restricted to playing acoustic, so Red can come out of his kennel. On the downside, it means that I have to actively do something to get ahead, interact with other musicians and so on. Back into unknown territory.

How To Make Your Own Slash

From time to time I check out the Gibson website. At the moment they're featuring an extract from Slash's recently released autobiography, entitled "SLASH". I read it with interest.

Sometimes I ask myself whether Rock Gods are born or whether they're created. In Slash's case, I think he straddles both camps, one booted foot in each.

In case you wanted to make a 'Slash' from scratch, here's the recipe:

Take one set of multiracial parents and place in Paris in the '60s. The mother should be a costume designer working in the music industry. Dad should be a painter.

Transfer the mix to Portobello Road in London, not forgetting to put the mother to one side, in LA. Submerge in the Beat movement and allow to infuse.

Recombine all ingredients in LA, add classic record collections, animals and alcohol. Fold in Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison and a fresh clump of Glen Frey.

Once the father has absorbed all the alcohol, remove from the mix and briefly replace with David Bowie.

Stir well with a Gibson Les Paul and turn the heat to max!

Upcoming Gig: The Oli Brown Band

I didn't start this blog as a way to plug other bands, but hey, why not..?

I've mentioned these guys before as they were supposed to be supporting Jeff Healey in London. Since Jeff passed away recently, that gig obviously fell through.

Pete Feenstra, a local champion of real live music, has booked the Oli Brown Band to play at the Half Moon pub in Herne Hill on Saturday the 12th April 2008. They'll be previewing their debut album on Ruf Records. The Oli Brown band are a young power trio (guitar, bass and drums), hailing from Norfolk, UK. Not really the home of the blues but don't let that put you off. These guys WAIL!

Hopefully the band won't mind me quoting from their website:

"Oli has played guitar since the age of 12. His first main influence in guitar work was Jimi Hendrix. Blues initially was a genre of music for him to solo over and he didn’t take the time to understand its meaning. In 2005, when invited to the States to guest with American Blues band Blinddog Smokin’, he learned about stage performance [...] From the America tours every summer with Blinddog Smokin' he managed to open for artists such as Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Delbert McClinton, Koko Taylor, Eric Sardinas and many others. Back in England. Oli has had the pleasure of playing alongside John Mayall, Walter Trout, Aynsley Lister, Ian Parker and others."

I saw the boys open for Devon Allman's Honeytribe at the same 'intimate' venue and they tore the house down. Anyone in the London area who's into the blues? I strongly suggest you check them out.

Tickets are available here, and cost £8 in advance or £10 on the door.

Bio

I figure a bio is long overdue, especially as I'm starting to 'put myself out there' using this page as a reference... so here goes...

To quote myself (with some minor grammatical adjustments) from a previous blog entry:

"I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into this world a few short days after the fires of Woodstock died down in August 1969. It was the same year that the Allman Brothers Band recorded their first studio album. Music and life have changed so much since those days, morphing from something real, grounded in the now, into a disposable commercial product, bought and paid for on credit."

I've always been out of step with the musical zeitgeist. As a teenager during the '80s I should have been a New Romantic, but instead I was listening to early Genesis. One day at school I mentioned to a teacher that I was into jazz... I was bullsh*tting at the time... and he put me onto 'Trane and Miles Davis. I checked every jazz album out of the local library and got into it for real.

One summer's afternoon I was sat in my mother's car, waiting for her to finish a tennis match. I fiddled with the radio until I hit upon a station which was broadcasting an early Allman Brothers Band concert. I found myself transfixed by their incredible other-worldly guitar driven blues rock. Since then I've been hooked on the blues and all things Southern.

After leaving school I got my first guitar, a Squier Strat. I had a couple of friends who had started to play and I thought it'd be cool to ride the wave. I never took any lessons and I never practiced. The guitar spent most of its life gathering dust under my bed.

University was where my interest in music and my record collection really started to grow. I would spend my afternoons scouring local second-hand stores for any records on labels I recognised, such as Capricorn. I'd keep an eye open for bands I'd not heard of but who seemed to be in the 'Southern' style. One mention of slide guitar and I was ready to put my money down. This was long before the internet was even thought of and tracing the history of long-gone bands was no easy task. Liner notes were the trail of breadcrumbs I had to follow.

At the end of my degree course I still hadn't learned to play more than a few open chords. I still fantasised about 'being a guitarist' but in truth I was too lazy to put in the hours.

The time had come to look for my first real job. I filled my spare time between interviews by building a guitar myself, from scratch. I'd always wanted a Gibson Les Paul but owning one was price-prohibitive. I set about making a hybrid. The guitar silhouette was that of a Les Paul but the contouring was 100% Stratocaster. Years later it would be christened 'the Fibson Gendercaster'. It featured a solid mahogany body, glued mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard, a brass nut and Seymour Duncan "Screamin' Demon" pickups. She weighed a ton. When you struck a chord it sounded like the world was coming to an end. In one of my 'giving up' moods, many years later, I threw her into the trash. My housemate at the time rescued the guitar and gave her to a friend of his. Allegedly she's still out there, being gigged on a regular basis.

As my career took off, my guitar playing stalled. My love of music and my desire to play an instrument did not, but my time was taken up by work and a succession of relationships.

Throughout the years I've owned a number of guitars, trading one for another down the line. I guess I used to think that somehow getting a 'new' guitar would jump start my playing. I was wrong. For a long time I held onto a lovely 40th Anniversary '54 Reissue Strat Plus which I eventually traded for an unfeasably shiny dobro. I had lost patience with 'amplification' and wanted to cut the cord. At the time I was dating an American, with whom I now share my life. Due to visa restrictions we were forced to temporarily relocate to the US, during which time I got to see the Allmans play live and developed a love of all things "New Orleans". In preparation for our return to London, 18 months later, the dobro was sold and I was left without a guitar. Frankly, I didn't care as I was ready to give up guitar for good. I'd owned axes for around 15 years yet I'd never improved further than being able to strum an open G chord.

For my 35th birthday in August 2004 I was surprised to receive a tastefully wrapped, guitar-shaped gift. My partner had recognised that while I totally sucked at playing, just having a guitar around the house somehow completed me. The axe he gave me was nothing special, just a cheap Les Paul knock-off made by Stellar. It didn't play well and stubbornly refused to stay in tune. Nevertheless, that was the day that I decided to play for real.

I immediately enrolled in an evening course at Morley College, a local adult education centre. After two terms I was making decent progress. I had a working knowledge of music theory and could play a number of scales and modes without thinking about what my fingers were doing. Most importantly, I was practicing in a structured manner for the first time in my life.

After 2 terms of the evening class the teacher was replaced by a guy I just didn't get on with. Not his fault, but the way he presented the material simply didn't make sense to me. My practice routine fell apart, my playing started to regress and I dropped out. The following year I enrolled in the course again, but I failed to gel with the teacher. It's possible, knowing what I know now, that I'd be better equipped next time round.

Whilst on a trip to the US to visit my in-laws I acquired my first acoustic, a black Ovation 1861 Balladeer, now christened "Blackie". Blackie is a beautiful guitar: fun to play, sounds great. Since she was actually playable, I abandoned playing electric for a while to concentrate on improving my skills on the acoustic.

Christmas came early last year and Blackie was joined by a younger, significantly louder brother, "Red Dog". Red is a genuine Gibson Les Paul Standard, the guitar I always wanted, and boy can you tell the difference between the real thing and a cheap imitation. Red is fabulous in every single way.

That brings us about up to date. I guess if I reset the clock back to my 35th birthday then at the inauguration of The Project I'd have been playing for 3 years 4 months. I'm coming to the end of an acoustic course run by WAES (Westminster Adult Education Service) after which I'm on my own again and it'll be time to 'sh*t or get off the pot'.

Watch this space...

Everyone's A Player

I just looked at the calendar. We're up to "Day 70", almost a fifth of the way through the year. Am I 20% of the way to being a Rock God?

I don't feel ready to perform solo, but that's more to do with not having a singing voice at all. When the weather settles down, though, I plan on taking Blackie out into public places to strum and maybe pick out a tune or two.

I'm pretty confident that if I can get together with people who are already 'making music' then my playing is strong enough not to let me down. So, I figure I'm ready to get into the whole band type situation, I just have to make it happen. Surely I can do that with four fifths of the year remaining?

I've been keeping an eye on various 'join a band' websites and one of the issues I keep running into is my age. In a year and a half I'll be forty (wow!) and the mere fact of me having been on the planet soooo long seems to count against me. Most ads require applicants to be under 25, with many looking for players who are no older than 18! I figure I could pass for 30 in flattering light and youf-ful clothing, but 18? Not a chance!

I'll just have to figure out how to get round that issue... It's not going to stop me.

On Sunday night we were out at a bar in the Old Truman Brewery area of Shoreditch when we spotted our next door neighbours at one of the tables. They moved into our building a few months back and we don't really know them. I'd had a couple of glasses of wine and I figured I'd go over, say hi and apologise for the noise. With Tim away I hadn't really been showing much restraint in the volume department. They said that they didn't mind at all (they kind of look like they're rockers, anyway) and that they were really impressed as I have 'great tone'!

!!!!!

Turns out that the guy (as opposed to the gal) plays a little guitar, but doesn't have an amp at the moment. I let him know that he's welcome to borrow my Marshall any time he wants. Hopefully I won't live to regret that offer... his eyes lit up when I told him it dishes out 100W...

One More Week To Go

Well, I had my last but one session at WAES (Westminster Adult Education Services) on Saturday. Pretty neat. Went through more chord inversion stuff. I can see them being useful when composing. Had a "D'Oh" moment in class where I suddenly realised that if you have 2 bars of 4 beats then if you're picking out 3 triad notes then 3 into 8 (2 times 4 beats) does not go! Solution: cycle twice through the triad then only play 2 notes (making 8 beats) and start again.

That makes no sense, so here's an example:



While I've got the ol' microphone hooked up, here's the main riff from Cream's "Outside Woman Blues" that I was talking about in previous posts:



It was the last class for one of the guys, J, as he can't make it next week. He got to perform his song a week early! J chose to do a version of Neil Young's "The Needle & The Damage Done". I'm not a huge Neil fan, though I probably should be as I love his stuff with Crazy Horse, so I didn't know the song well.

I was actually surprised by J's performance... in a good way! It wasn't a perfect rendition by any means and J's not the most confident of players, but at times when he lost his place he managed to pick up the beat and keep going. Moreover, he sang whilst playing which always impresses me. That skill is beyond me at this time.

At the end of class we did the email exchange thing... which probably means that the more computer savvy of my classmates will find this blog if they do a search! If you do then hey! Say hi! Hopefully I've not said anything too controvertial about you guys in that past. I'm not going to go back and check as whatever I've said is what I felt at the time. If there's something you can say about me is that I tell it how I see it.

Now, this weekend I was going to do the 'hey, look at my stuff' thing and photograph my equipment (be nice) so that people know what my setup is. However, Tim took the camera with him to his residential weekend, so that ain't happening.

I did, however, run across two photos I snapped a while back... one a loooong while back. I used to want to be a photographer and even had my own darkroom. I could never find anyone to sit for me, though, so I'd do the occasional self-portrait. Judging by the guitar I'm holding, a 40th Anniversary '54 Strat reissue, I'm guessing that I took the photo below somewhere between 1994 and 1996. Do the maths. The Strat was actually a really nice guitar. I sold it. Moron.

Here's the photo, reproduced using my cameraphone...



For comparison I snapped another photo just before Christmas this year of me with my new pride and joy. May I introduce my beeaauutiful Les Paul Standard, 'Red Dog'.



I swear I will NEVER sell this guitar! Only one more week to go and I can play it again! Can't wait!

Friday So Soon?

Okay, wow. It's Friday already. My last blog entry was on Monday and that was a hurried one due to lack of time. Guess what... it's been a busy week. All work and no play.

I think I've only managed to rack up about half an hour's practice over the past few days. It's been that crazy! The weekend's here, Tim's away on his residential course until Sunday night and I'm supposed to be writing, and possibly recording, some demo stuff.

First of all, though I have to wade through the piles of laundry, dishes and assorted detritus that has scattered itself around our loft. The place looks like it's been hit by a hurricane... twice.

So, what do I have to say that's even vaguely guitar related? Well, I've not managed to find the time to work on the chord inversion exercise Teach gave us in class last week. I have printed out a load of fretboard diagrams in preparation for having a stab at it this evening, if I get time. I doubt I'll get home much before 8pm, then there's all the housework to be done. And sleep. Must sleep!

About the only tangible thing I've achieved is to put a list of blogs I've been reading on this page. It's up there on the right under the "About" section. If anyone wants their blog removed from the list, or indeed added (music related, preferably!) then just let me know.

Boring as it is, I think that's it for now!

eBlurp

No time for a real post, so here's a two minute summary of the weekend:

Saturday:
WAES Guitar Improvers course. Didn't have to perform song! Yay! Two more weeks to go until end-of-term. Hopefully I'll be able to convince the other guys to stay in touch and maybe get together for jam sessions after that. Right now it doesn't seem very likely, though. Did some blues stuff, highlighting variation in major and minor soloing. Plan on practicing that! Need to do backing tracks.

Sunday:
Woke up with the hook for a tune running round my head. Figured out tune, backing chords and drum beat. Tim's going to be away on his residential course from Friday, so I should have time to work on it.

Started learning "Outside Woman Blues" as performed by Eric Clapton on the Classic Albums "Disraeli Gears" DVD (special features). Deceptively simple.

Watched "A Film About Jimi Hendrix" documentary. Not a great show but hey, I've never really got into Jimi, but if I'm gonna be a Rock God I need to study the opposition, right?!

Heard this morning that blues/rock/jazz guitarist Jeff Healey died over the weekend. I had planned on seeing his upcoming show in London. He was due to be supported by rising blues act The Oli Brown Band. Wikipedia already shows Jeff as being dead! Wow. Really... eVersion of chasing ambulances.