''GUITAR GODS: Justin King''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Saturday, January 10 2004 @ 17:02:43 GMT

Justin's official bio starts off, "Justin King has dramatically reshaped and extended the language of the acoustic guitar, introducing his own unique and outstanding techniques. With the intensity and passion with which he plays, Justin brings a quality to the music that is far beyond just his mastery of a dizzying variety of forms...". Most days, I ignore such hype, as it's easier to write a dazzling bio than to develop a dazzling guitar style, but in Justin King's case, this isn't saying nearly enough.

 I first heard a gorgeous and haunting piece ("Something About Angels") from this extraordinary guitarist and mentally bookmarked his name. Then a friend sent a link to Black Albino Films, which featured a film clip of Justin playing 2 minutes of absolute acoustic frenzy combining folk, fingerstyle, flamenco, and rock techniques with utter abandon. I knew right then that if this guy isn't famous yet, he surely will be soon.

"Insanity 101: Exotic Scales pt.1"

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Insane Guitar, 2003 

The term “exotic scale” generally refers to scales outside of the standard Major Scale (& it’s modes), the Harmonic Minor, and the Melodic Minor…plus a few others (depending on which text you’re reading). Essentially, exoticism is the use of musical devices (melodies, harmonies, rhythms, instrumentation, etc.) to evoke the atmosphere of ancient or distant places, so the easiest way to gather such scales are to take them from non-western cultures.

Like the last installment of “Insanity 101″, this article will assume a knowledge of modes. Rather than breaking each scale down myself as I have in the past, I urge you to pull each one apart yourself and experiment with them. Note that all scales herein are in the key of “A”.

Billy Sheehan: ''Cosmic Troubadour''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
Originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Tuesday, March 01 2005 @ 13:10:52 GMT


               If you don't know who Billy Sheehan is, then allow me to introduce him: He is the MAN. Stints with Mr. Big, Talas, David Lee Roth, and others have made him a legend in the world of music, and he is widely thought of as the greatest rock bassist in history. He is currently in Steve Vai's touring band and also played bass on Vai's latest CD (see review here at Tinfoil). In addition he has just released his latest solo effort, called "Cosmic Troubadour".

Ben Lacy's ''One Track Mind''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
Originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Monday, April 19 2004 @ 14:35:56 BST


               Listening to Ben Lacy's "One Track Mind" is a fantastic experience, but when you realize all that sound came from one guy in one pass (no overdubs), it will blow your mind. Combining complex lines and techniques (funk slaps, hammered chords, blazing lines), Ben mimics bass & drum accompaniment to his guitar melodies and chordal stabs to brilliant effect!

''GUITAR GODS: Ben Lacy''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
Originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Monday, July 28 2003 @ 01:08:04 BST


               I first heard Ben Lacy when he was playing for a heavy-metal band back in the '89 or '90. I remember they were Pantera-like - very heavy grooves and wicked guitars - but the guitar player struck me as well above par. He was extremely clean and articulate...and fast. He also seemed to blaze through the barrage of notes in an effortless fashion and had a command of all the most difficult contemporary technique.

Several weeks later, I wandered into a jazz club and heard an awesome three-piece smoking through some classics, breathing new life into old standards. I made my way to the stage and saw a guy who looked exactly like the heavy metal player, but was sure they weren't the same guy. Couldn't be - this guy was playing in an entirely different style with completely different techniques and was obviously in possession of immense musical knowledge.

As I walked into work a few days later (composing & engineering at a local recording studio), one of the other engineers, Les Campbell, said, "You gotta hear this project I'm working on!". He slotted the DAT and out came some incredible solo guitar music. "He does some jazz things around town and also has a heavy-metal band, but these are some ideas he's got for a solo project. What do you think?" I think this guy can walk on water - who is it?!?

"Insanity 101: The Modes of Harmonic Minor"

-- David "Skinny Devil" McLean

Originally published at Insane Guitar, 2003

This column will assume the reader already has a grasp on modes. If not, a modal primer will be available via my site very soon.

The Harmonic Minor is a fairly common scale, familiar to most intermediate musicians. However, one seldom sees a complete modal breakdown of this scale, though the 5th mode (sometimes called the Harmonic Phrygian) is used often in Flamenco and Metal musics. The other modes of this scale offer just as rich a potential as the two common modes; while not technically “exotic scales” (exoticism in music is essentially a western term meaning music – or scales – designed to "evoke the sounds & images of far-away lands"), many of these modes blur the lines between exoticism and standard scales. Immerse yourself in these for a while – one at a time – and see what you come up with.

"Jeremy Greene"

"Jeremy Greene" by Caitlyn Waltermire

Jeremy Greene looked much like the insects he studied. His eyes, with their wet black irises, protruded from his face enough to be unfortunate. He had a small head that twitched at the slightest disturbance and his legs were stilts. Even his sadly outdated blazer had tails that flapped like long-backed wings. (In his favor, his hands were not mantis-like at all. They were delicately white with tapered fingernails, steady enough to pick the wings from a Musca domestica without damaging them). His mind was never bored and his eyes tended to fixate without wavering, beneficial when Morpho butterfly catching but not when he saw an attractive woman in a blue dress.

He sang a popular song in a pleasing tenor voice. The morning was chilly, typical to Maidstone. Filtered sunlight gauzed him in mist as he walked through the trees.

''GUITAR GODS: Rusty Cooley''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
Originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Thursday, May 01 2003 @ 12:43:43 BST

Rusty Cooley is the reigning king of progressive rock guitar music.

The 7-string guitar virtuoso has been turning heads since the mid-90s when he won Houston's "Guitar Masters Series". Since then Rusty has played in several bands (Revolution & Outworld) where he wrote, recorded, and performed original music; written lessons for his site and Chop-From-Hell (one of the most respected guitar instructional sites on the web); recorded for several compilation discs ("Generation Ibanez", "Guitar 2001", "Guitarapalooza", "Ballbuster", & "Warmth in the Wilderness: A Tribute to Jason Becker"); appeared on TV & radio; taught privately; and received accolades from some of rock's top magazines (he was just named by GuitarOne Magazine as one of the "Top 10 Fastest Shredders of All Time") and players (including Jeff Beck's guitar wizard Jennifer Batten).
   

'GUITAR GODS: Muriel Anderson''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
Originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Sunday, April 27 2003 @ 18:42:30 BST

 Muriel Anderson is one of the most amazing players I've ever seen. Her outstanding technique, exquisite sense of time, and perfect grasp of a variety of musical styles has earned her awards & accolades bestowed on only the highest caliber players. If you have never heard Muriel, just a quick listen to her will drop your jaw. From the carnival atmosphere of "Nola" to the sounds of feudal Japan captured in her piece "Sakura" to the restrained beauty of "Arioso" to the classic sounds of "Parisian Waltz" to the teary "Irish Medley", Muriel demonstrates a scope of musical understanding and expression seldom heard from a single composer/performer.

Winner of the 1989 National Fingerpicking Guitar Champion, guitar instructor at the famed Belmont College, and originator of "Muriel Anderson's All-Star Guitar Night" (which has featured such incredible talent as Lawrence Juber, Preston Reed, Peppino D'Agostino, Alex de Grassi, Stanley Jordan, and Tommy Emmanuel), and founder & director of the Music for Life Alliance (an organization that helps non-for-profit agencies dedicated to putting musical instruments in the hands of underprivileged children), Muriel has penned numerous instructional books & articles, produced several instructional videos and two performance tapes, and released six CDs - one of which ("Heartstrings") traveled to space on board the Space Shuttle in 1993!

"Insanity 101: Percussion Concepts for Acoustic Guitar"

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Insane Guitar, 2003

To my knowledge, it started way back in the 1920s & 1930s with acoustic blues players – players who not only sang and strummed, but also smacked the strings and the guitar body to get percussive effects. Unfortunately, the recordings of those days are of poor quality, so hearing more than the vocal and the basic guitar line is difficult.

Flamenco players also occasionally add “guitar body drum” to their playing, though mostly as sparse effects for a bit of spice. In the 1980s, Michael Hedges began popularizing the use of percussive effects along with extensive use of hammered ostinato, slides, and super-articulate finger-picking. Today, great acoustic players like Peppino D’Agostino and Laurence Juber have taken things to a whole new height, with Preston Reed being (in my opinion) the undisputed king of tap-n-slap.