My grandson the (someday) rockstar

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mustang1989
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Re: My grandson the (someday) rockstar

Post by mustang1989 »

Waaaay too cool!! Gotta be neat to watch.
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Dragline
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Re: My grandson the (someday) rockstar

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As a working musician for nearly 25 years I wish i could speak to him and give as much wisdom as i could. The music industry is very different than when I first started gigging in 1985. Mostly it would be about people you meet [especially women] and how to avoid pitfalls. Also about meeting your heroes, and when to speak up at band rehearsal and when to clam up. Then there is being in a band with 3 or 4 other eccentric and creative people. That is a lesson all on its own.

I wish him luck. I got to visit the local School of Rock in the town I worked [Seekonk, Mass]. I knew one of the guitar teachers there. He was a student of mine back in the mid 90's. He asked me to come see a private show there back in 2016. It was great fun and when the students learned I had given lessons to their teacher they wanted to hear me play a bit. So myself and Ritchie got up and had a little guitar battle. I was easy on him but he had gotten quite good in the years since I had given him lessons. I finally pulled out all the stops and went into a frenzy of licks that made even Ritchie stop playing as I went into some off meter cadenzas that even I had never really played before. It was fun and all the students clapped for us after it was done. A few came up to me privately and asked if I still gave lessons.

The industry is indeed different with digital everything and social media being what it is these days. He has a long row to hoe.
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LyleW
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Re: My grandson the (someday) rockstar

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mustang1989 wrote:Waaaay too cool!! Gotta be neat to watch.
It was fun. The boy has great stage presence at this point. As his daddy said, “He is having the time of his life!”
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LyleW
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Re: My grandson the (someday) rockstar

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Bob, perhaps sometime I can put you in touch with him. I’ll let his dad know.
To make each build less crappy than the last one. Or, put another way, "Better than the last one, not as good as the next one!"..
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Medicman71
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Re: My grandson the (someday) rockstar

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tempestjohnny wrote:
Medicman71 wrote:That's awesome! I used to play drums back in high school and even played in a rock band with friends.
I played drums too. But never kept at it. Probably been 30 years since I sat at a kit.

But damn I am an awesome air drummer
Same here!! My wife says I have several "drum sets". One in each vehicle and one at my computer in the model room. :giggles: I like to think I'm Neil Peart.
Mike

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BlackSheep214
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Re: My grandson the (someday) rockstar

Post by BlackSheep214 »

Pfffttt.... I got you all beat. I have air drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, horn section, violin, cello, banjo, etc... :giggles:
Imma man of many "musical" talents. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Gary Brantley
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Re: My grandson the (someday) rockstar

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Dragline wrote: I was easy on him but he had gotten quite good in the years since I had given him lessons. I finally pulled out all the stops and went into a frenzy of licks that made even Ritchie stop playing
Bob, it sounds like Ritchie "got his head cut" in that head cutting duel! Many years ago, I met Mance Lipscomb, the great Texas "songster" from Navasota, Texas, at a private party here in Cameron. I asked if he knew his contemporary, bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins of Houston. He said that yes, he had known him for years. I asked if he had played with him? He said he had but Hopkins would only play piano when they did. When I asked him why that was, he replied, "Why, he didn't want his haid cut, man" :lol:

Here's a pic from that night:

Image

And a story about that meeting:

"My brush with the Texas Songster"

https://1drv.ms/w/s!Ar3l1VHxW5j4l1f38_C ... m?e=X3Awab
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Dragline
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Re: My grandson the (someday) rockstar

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LyleW wrote:Bob, perhaps sometime I can put you in touch with him. I’ll let his dad know.
Even if it's to just pass along encouragement. There are many things I thought about since I wrote my post concerning performance and live setting playing. They cover a lot of that at SOR but many of their teachers may not have real world experience. Then again they may all at the school he is attending.

I don't know much about the day to days at SOR, but they do hire competent teachers, that much I do know. Pass along my well wishes at the very least Lyle.
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Dragline
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Re: My grandson the (someday) rockstar

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Gary Brantley wrote:
Dragline wrote: I was easy on him but he had gotten quite good in the years since I had given him lessons. I finally pulled out all the stops and went into a frenzy of licks that made even Ritchie stop playing
Bob, it sounds like Ritchie "got his head cut" in that head cutting duel! Many years ago, I met Mance Lipscomb, the great Texas "songster" from Navasota, Texas, at a private party here in Cameron. I asked if he knew his contemporary, bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins of Houston. He said that yes, he had known him for years. I asked if he had played with him? He said he had but Hopkins would only play piano when they did. When I asked him why that was, he replied, "Why, he didn't want his haid cut, man" :lol:

Awesome story man! Just awesome. Head cutting was something I was trying to avoid at the time. I didn't want to make Ritchie seem less of a teacher than he is. He is such a good player too and he himself had a touch of success with his band in the late 90's. They cut a CD and opened for some real world acts. Ritchie was rightfully proud of that and dropped off a CD of the band to me. They were a very good Nu-Metal type band that only had to keep at it IMO. I think they broke up a couple of years later and Ritchie went on to play in local bar bands for quite a while. I saw him a few times and that band was also very good. I'm not sure when he got the SOR gig. I know they had a location in Seekonk and then moved to a newly built place in the same town right up the road from where I worked. I passed it twice a day on my way to and from work. That's how I ended up seeing him there one day on my way home.

I ended up apologizing to him about going a little nuts and he was quite OK with it. He said I was an inspiration to him when he came for lessons. I got pretty choked up about that. I had a pretty cool style when I taught that kids dug. I have long hair, cool guitars and all that. I wasn't a stuffy type of teacher and would teach basics and then whatever song the student wanted. I learned a lot of contemporary Nu-metal and Metallica back in that time I can tell you that. I would use Guitar World and Guitar Player as guides for my lessons and it was always fresh and new for the kids. I made it 100% about what the student wanted to accomplish and less about what they needed to learn. Then I'd quietly throw in the stuff they needed to learn in such a way that they would think it came from the songs they would pick. In a lot of ways it usually was, but at times I'd have to get stealth to really make it sink in. It was a lot of fun teaching those kids and I always learned something myself. It kept my chops razor sharp and was a great way to supplement my income to boot. My guitar teacher the great Jimmy Tavares passed away a few years ago far too young. He was a tremendous influence on me as a player besides all the pro's that had inspired me to pick up a fiddle.

He is missed by me and 100's of local players and lives on through us. https://www.currentobituary.com/member/obit/122335
Now that we know that.... What have we learned?...
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Gary Brantley
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Re: My grandson the (someday) rockstar

Post by Gary Brantley »

Thanks Bob! I'd say your students were really lucky to have had you for a teacher. You made it about them, and they felt that too. :shoutout: Throwing in the extras was the great bonus, and the sure sign of a gifted instructor! Good on ya mate! :bow:
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