Greg Koch Plays 'Cause We Ended As Lovers

Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (behind the Cheddar Curtain as he likes to describe it), Greg Koch's playing is a gristly stew of influences.

Take a dollop of Jimi Hendrix, a spoonful of Eric Clapton, a dash of Chet Atkins, a peppering of BB, Albert and Freddie King, and a heaping helping of Albert Lee, and you have a killer gumbo that doesn't even begin to describe Koch's indescribable style. Or wry sense of humor.

In this in-store guitar clinic vid -- Koch is a clinician for Fender Instruments and Hal Leonard -- he demonstrates his succulent volume swells starting at 2:59 in the style of Duane Allman and Roy Buchanan before launching into a Jeff Beck-style rendition of 'Cause We Ended As Lovers at 3:31.

Koch's sheer control of the instrument is indisputable. Check out his Beck-approved finger-style approach to the main melody at 4:00 before going back to pick-mode briefly at 4:25 to execute some pick pinch-harmonics. I especially dig his quirky flurry of triplets at 5:19.

Koch has several books and DVDs out on Hal Leonard -- guitar instruction at its finest. Check them out here.

Birthday Salute -- Susan Tedeschi

Born 9th November 1970, Susan Tedeschi received her blues calling in her early 20's after listening to T-Bone Walker, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, BB King, Otis Rush and Muddy Waters.

After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 1991 with a degree in music composition and performance, Tedeschi bought a Fender American Standard Telecaster and took a few slide guitar lessons from a local blues guitarist.

Forming the Susan Tedeschi Band, her debut recording Better Days was released in 1995.

Her critically acclaimed 1998 album Just Won't Burn won Tedeschi a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, the first of several nominations that were to follow in the coming years.

In 2001 Tedeschi married slide guitar virtuoso Derek Trucks.

In this Austin City Limits clip from 17th June 2003, Tedeschi is backed by a band that included drummer Jeff Sipe aka Apt.Q258, best known for his recorded work with the late progressive fusion guitarist Shawn Lane.

Birthday Salute and Quintessential Solo #3 -- John Mayer

Born 16th October 1977, John Mayer is one of those guys 'serious' musicians love to hate.

With a writing and singing style resembling an intraveneous feed into the very heart of pop radio, the man is a songwriting machine with a string of hits that don't seem to stop coming.

But dig a little deeper into his music and you'll hear a musician with a deep understanding of the blues guitar tradition. His playing is often compared to his idol, Stevie Ray Vaughan, but listen further and you'll hear shadings of Freddie King, T-Bone Walker and Albert King. With a little BB thrown in for good measure.

And what is really remarkable is how Mayer sneaks his guitar influences into his radio-friendly songs, weaving them around his vocals like a second voice -- in essence, representing his blues roots to his wide audience.

In this vid, Mayer shows us that he is not all just pop and fluff. He shows us what he's really capable of, with just a Stratocaster in hand.

Performing live at the Michael Jackson Memorial on 7th July 2009, Mayer performs a moving unaccompanied version of the Jackson hit, Human Nature.

Addressing the plaintive melody line on the upper strings, Mayer holds down the bassline with a Johnny Smith-approved thumb-over-the-neck technique. Check out the uncanny vocal quality of his guitar tone on the first phrase.

The cry that Carlos Santana often refers to is just dripping off his fingerboard.

(As a side note, check out also Tuck Andress' stunning solo guitar version of Human Nature on YouTube)

Buy John Mayer CDs Here!

On Meeting BB King

I had the pleasure of meeting BB King -- and indeed playing in front of him -- about a decade and a half ago. Tower Records had organized a meet and greet and a jam session, and people showed up in the hundreds to meet the man, get his autograph and pose with him for some pictures.

In the Tower Records offices before the event, BB asked to meet the band. Up close and in person, BB had an incredible aura and generosity of spirit. I felt like I was in the presence of someone, or something, truly great.

He showed us a couple of, what he called, his personal 'survival things'.

Reaching into his pocket for his wallet, he showed us the few dollar bills that were inside. And from a hidden compartment, he retrieved a nicely folded, crisp 100 dollar bill. "You'll never know when you'll need it," he quipped.

He then asked which of us in the group were guitar players. Looking at the two of us who had sheepishly raised our hands, he produced a coin and asked us to pick a side. I won the coin toss and was rewarded with a tortoiseshell BB King guitar pick. He paused for several seconds, looking at the other guitar player's expression of slight disappointment. At exactly the right moment he produced another pick, a black one this time, and put it in the hand of the other guitarist. "Always carry a spare," he smiled broadly.

It was all about timing, and giving at the right moment when one least expects it -- hallmarks of his guitar playing.

He didn't play a lick with us at the jam, choosing instead to be a true statesman of the blues by signing autographs and making pleasant conversation with an endless queue of eager fans that seemed to never stop coming.

After a long session, and clearly exhausted from jet-lag and the rigors of the road, BB took the time to come up to each musician, shake our hands and thank us personally. I felt like it was I who should have been thanking him. His words to me were something along the lines of, "You have a jazz influence in your playing, young man..." and "I know I'll be seeing you again." I was on a high for days.

It's rare that one meets someone who transcends definitions. Meeting him, it didn't seem to matter that I was standing before one of the greatest bluesmen of all time, or that his playing, singing and music are embedded in the DNA of our collective musical consciousness.

Meeting him was like coming face to face with the Truth. And the Truth of Music is difficult to describe or define. The moment one tries to define it, its meaning escapes us.

And BB King is that one ambassador of the Truth.

Five Notes.. And You'll Know Who It Is

This is something you have to be born with, I think.

It is the ability to play three, four or five notes and be instantly recognizable. And it doesn't matter whether the player who posseses this rare gift is historically famous or a complete unknown.

For the rarest of this breed, one can even define eras by their influence on generations of guitarists, for example pre-Van Halen and post-Van Halen, or pre-Charlie Christian and post-Charlie Christian.

For most of us music mortals, a style is created by fusing several influences. And if one has listened widely, those influences can still be clearly picked out.

The unique innovator, on the other hand, has taken the amalgam of his influences and distilled them into a recognizable signature sound and style.


And then there is the true innovator.

The true innovator takes what has come before him, throws most of it out the window and re-invents the instrument. While sometimes influencing generations of players. You'll usually know who they are after just four or five notes.


This is a partial list of who I feel are the true innovators of the guitar world, past and present:

Robert Johnson
Charlie Christian
Freddie Green
Django Reinhardt
BB King
Wes Montgomery
Grant Green
George Van Eps
Joe Pass
George Benson
Jimi Hendrix
Carlos Santana
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Pat Martino
Eddie Van Halen
Yngwie Malmsteen
Jeff Beck
Al DiMeola
John McLaughlin
Pat Metheny
Chet Atkins
Allan Holdsworth