http://culturecatch.com/taxonomy/term/357 en http://culturecatch.com/node/3812 <span>Video of the Week: &quot;This Land&quot;</span> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/users/dusty-wright" lang="" about="/users/dusty-wright" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Dusty Wright</a></span> <span>January 10, 2019 - 18:03</span> <div class="field field--name-field-topics field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Topics</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/music" hreflang="en">Music Review</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/357" hreflang="en">guitarist</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/679" hreflang="en">song of the week</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><div class="video-embed-field-provider-youtube video-embed-field-responsive-video form-group"><iframe width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9KgNaRQ_J-c?autoplay=0&amp;start=0&amp;rel=0"></iframe> </div> <p>Blues artist/guitarist Gary Clark Jr. is angry and this tune sets things straight. This is a tweak on an original refrain from a chorus from an original protest singer from a bygone era, rewritten from an African-American's vantage. And wait until the epilogue hits you square in the face. This is an extremely moving song and video about racism in American. Epically executed by Gary and his director Savanah Leaf. </p> </div> <section> <h2>Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=3812&amp;2=comment_node_story&amp;3=comment_node_story" token="iDayz7wPxXedzlLwJGdPdWf9HiHNTR6wZ0EjbG38FOI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Thu, 10 Jan 2019 23:03:58 +0000 Dusty Wright 3812 at http://culturecatch.com http://culturecatch.com/dusty/top-five-guitarists-2015 <span>The Baddest of the Bad, Top 5!</span> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/users/dusty-wright" lang="" about="/users/dusty-wright" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Dusty Wright</a></span> <span>July 27, 2015 - 12:50</span> <div class="field field--name-field-topics field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Topics</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/music" hreflang="en">Music Review</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/357" hreflang="en">guitarist</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p> </p> <p>So, over on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/dustywright/">Facebook Culture Catch page</a>, I asked our fans to list their five favorite living guitarists. For me, they must still be recording, touring, and challenging themselves on the fretboard today, not yesterday. Our managing editor crushed me for not including Jimmy Page, who I hail as an unparalleled innovator once upon a time. Hey, Steve, they must be active and playing out right now. When was the last time Jimmy dropped a cool riff or run of memorable notes in a new song for anyone? He's certainly still capable. Here are my five favorite string benders in no particular ranking:</p> <div class="video-embed-field-provider-youtube video-embed-field-responsive-video form-group"><iframe width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hzy97Bao4NE?autoplay=0&amp;start=0&amp;rel=0"></iframe> </div> <p><!--break--><a href="https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/album/room/id924570652?at=11l4R8&amp;mt=1&amp;app=music" target="_blank">Nels Cline</a></p> <p>NY-based Nels slings some serious git-action with Wilco, having recorded and toured with Tweedy since 2004. He also fronts several jazz duos and trios. I was lucky to see him jam with the Allman Brothers a few years ago at the Beacon Theater. He and Derek Trucks were remarkable together. He's got that angular tone of Tom Verlaine circa Television but the romantic bent of the great jazz guitarists like Jim Hall. His sometimes jazz duo partner, <a href="http://www.julianlage.com" target="_blank">Julian Lage</a>, is undoubtedly a top 10 guitarist in my book, too.</p> <div class="video-embed-field-provider-youtube video-embed-field-responsive-video form-group"><iframe width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7SULZrxYZAg?autoplay=0&amp;start=0&amp;rel=0"></iframe> </div> <p><a href="https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the-derek-trucks-band/id635011?at=11l4R8&amp;mt=1&amp;app=music" target="_blank">Derek Trucks</a></p> <p>If you've been a fan of this website, you'll know my reverential appreciation for Mr. Trucks with his genius slide work with the Allman Brothers Band, his genre-defying solo gigs, and his latest blues-rock juggernaut with his wife Susan, the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Pound for pound, the baddest man roaming the jamband stages of the world!</p> <div class="video-embed-field-provider-youtube video-embed-field-responsive-video form-group"><iframe width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8JNUbrq5WNA?autoplay=0&amp;start=0&amp;rel=0"></iframe> </div> <p><a href="http://ryleywalker.com/" target="_blank">Ryley Walker</a></p> <p>I just heard about him last year, but I became an instant fan. His tone and texture, and his appreciation of John Fahey and Leo Kottke before him, resonate long and clear. With chops like this, this Chicago-based musician will certainly reach a more global audience. Nick Drake meets Richard Thompson? And speaking of...</p> <div class="video-embed-field-provider-youtube video-embed-field-responsive-video form-group"><iframe width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j0kJdrfzjAg?autoplay=0&amp;start=0&amp;rel=0"></iframe> </div> <p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/richard-thompson/264023" target="_blank">Richard Thompson</a></p> <p>An axe wizard on electric and acoustic guitars, this LA-based Brit continues to write dazzling music—albums and albums of new music—so much so that I'm still about five albums behind his latest output. His prowess was born in Fairport Convention back in the '60s, his duo with his then-wife Linda Thompson cemented his legacy, and his solo work continues to impress.</p> <div class="video-embed-field-provider-youtube video-embed-field-responsive-video form-group"><iframe width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UdcsQcdNIvs?autoplay=0&amp;start=0&amp;rel=0"></iframe> </div> <p><a href="https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-edge-of-heaven/id680963528?at=11l4R8&amp;mt=1&amp;app=music" target="_blank">Gary Lucas</a></p> <p>I've never not been in awe when Mr. Lucas picks up an electric or acoustic guitar and shares some of his <em>magic</em>. It was no accident that he got to play and record in Captain Beefheart's Magic Band. And he didn't write and record with Jeff Buckley because he didn't have soul. He might be the best guitarist you need to know a whole lot better—he lives in New York City but gigs all over the world.</p> </div> <section> </section> Mon, 27 Jul 2015 16:50:37 +0000 Dusty Wright 3278 at http://culturecatch.com http://culturecatch.com/dusty/rock-riffs <span>Turn It Up!</span> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/users/dusty-wright" lang="" about="/users/dusty-wright" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Dusty Wright</a></span> <span>April 22, 2011 - 12:36</span> <div class="field field--name-field-topics field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Topics</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/music" hreflang="en">Music Review</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/357" hreflang="en">guitarist</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><div class="video-embed-field-provider-youtube video-embed-field-responsive-video form-group"><iframe width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0W0ywTb9GCU?autoplay=0&amp;start=0&amp;rel=0"></iframe> </div> <p>Writer Ian <span data-scayt_word="Alterman" data-scaytid="1">Alterman</span>, and his brothers Eric and Tony, create email threads that have left me intoxicated, annoyed, and most often in a mental frenzy as they suck me into all sorts of music minutia. But boy can they wax poetic; always an education. Ian's latest thread continues that trend:</p> <blockquote> <p>"The following are arguably the dozen most recognizable opening guitar riffs in rock.  I've arranged them alphabetically by band.  However, I would be interested to see what order each of you puts them.  You can use any criterion: favorite, most influential, most important, chronological, etc."</p> </blockquote> <p>While I appreciated his list -- a very fine list, a list I could find very little fault with, and certainly a worthy email chain (that continues) -- I wanted my own list. That's the problem with lists, they are never definitive and almost never complete. Someone always feels slighted.</p> <p>So I decided I would compile my own rock riff intro list. I did find merit in a few obvious choices from Ian's "Classic Rock" list, but most were a tad too pedestrian for my "garage rock" leanings. And I purposely left off The Beatles because I could have filled all twelve slots with their opening riffs. Ditto for <span data-scayt_word="Zep's" data-scaytid="2">Zep's</span> Jimmy Page, early Kinks, The Who, Clapton (Cream, Derek &amp; The Dominos), Hendrix, and a few other obvious omissions.</p> <ol><li><strong>"The Little Black Egg" </strong>- The Nightcrawlers hailed from Daytona Beach, Florida and probably launched many a garage rock band in the mid-'60s in Akron, Ohio. Some critics maintain that the tune was a overt homage to Afghani black hash. Regardless, it is the first lick I  learned on my Sears acoustic git-tar way back when, and still my favorite riff.</li> <li><strong>"There She Goes"</strong> - The La's succeeded in defining a generation of Brit Guitar rock with one jangly McGuinn-style opener that remains as good as anything I've ever heard. And one of my favorite singles of all time.</li> <li><strong>"Hey, Little Girl"</strong> - Syndicate of Sound wrote this timeless<em> Nuggets</em> (Lenny Kaye's garage rock album compilation) staple and another one of my favorite jingle jangle rock riff git hooks. No doubt it cops a similar lick borrowed off of The Nightcrawlers (see No. 1 above). Punk rockers Dead Boys recorded a way boss cover version, too.</li> <li><strong>"Rock Lobster"</strong> - The B-52's party anthem has a psycho surf riff that is so freakin' infectious that you can't help but move your feet to it. Nearly 7 minutes of new wave wonder.</li> <li><strong>"Satisfaction"</strong> - The Rolling Stones got nasty on this original that boasts one of the meanest and rudest guitar riffs of all times. Borrowing heavily from Link Wray's "Rumble" it still evokes a mandatory volume increase when I hear it on the radio. I know we've heard it a million times, but it's worth repeating a million more.</li> <li><strong>"All The Young Dudes"</strong> - Mott the Hoople's axe man Mick Ralphs may have had larger success with Bad Company, but damn if his stint with Ian Hunter didn't produce some tasty FM licks. This may have been his crowning string-bending moment.</li> <li><strong>"Sweet Home Alabama"</strong> - Lynyrd Skynyrd's southern rock sing-along always gets a whoop in any bar with a jukebox (remember them?). This was the most glaring omission from Sir Ian's "Classic Rock" list.</li> <li><strong>"Secret Agent Man" </strong>- Johnny Rivers' descending/ascending riff is so simple and so sweet that you never want it to end, something he claims he "worked up with P.F. Sloan." Eddie Van Halen says he learned to play guitar to this 1966 tune as well.</li> <li><strong>"Enter Sandman"</strong> - Metallica's crushing hard rock guitar anthem intro has been used to accompany NY Yankee badass closer Mariano Rivera from the bullpen for years. An ominous, timeless riff regardless.</li> <li><strong>"What Difference Does It Make" </strong>- The Smiths' Johnny Marr created this timeless Rickenbacker riff back in the '80s. In fact, he wrote many timeless guitar riff hooks that framed their Manchester sound and vision.</li> <li><strong>"Little Sister"</strong> - Elvis Presley's 1961 recording had the rockabilly snarl thanks to guitarist Hank Gallard's memorable snaky guitar riff. One of the few guitar riffs I've nearly mastered. T.C.B.! Long live the King!</li> <li><strong>"Walk This Way"</strong> - Aerosmith's Joe Perry hit it out the park with his timeless riff. Just ask Run-D.M.C. as they co-opted it into a huge rap crossover hit. And thankfully more rock riffage would filter into rap because of it.</li> </ol><p>Steve, our CC music editor, probably has some interesting choices too. Maybe we try country, R&amp;B/soul, and jazz next?</p> </div> <section> </section> Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:36:12 +0000 Dusty Wright 1909 at http://culturecatch.com