brain-droppings: What the hell is "roots" music anyway?

 

brain-droppings: What the hell is "roots" music anyway?

The term "root" as in roots music is problematic for a description of music/culture. If you keep in mind that root is a metaphor and that metaphors work by resemblance, you'll see that root conjures up a single source, like a tree root, as the source of the entire tree (forget the seed at this point). But if metaphors work to open up new ways of thinking about what was previously unthinkable, they can also obscure: remember we are trying to talk about "roots" music, not trees. Others have suggested  rhizome* as a better metaphor for music/culture because it traces back to multiple sources rather than to a single source, yet retains other organic associations such as growth and development. Perhaps the rhizomic metaphor may illuminate new aspects for us, but what will it obscure? We'll see.

The search for origins in music is complicated, and people who devote their lives to the study of historical and cultural aspects of music know that the specific origin of a particular style or instrument or practice always disappears in a hazy mist of rumor, tradition, politics, and self-interest. Notice that anytime you see someone argue for a specific origin, they have a specific agenda (usually self or group interest) to sell. Of course, generalizations can be made. I mean, who is going to argue about the centrality of African-Americans in the birth and development of most American popular music including jazz and the blues? You have to be a wing nut to believe otherwise. You can also point to movements and specific persons who contributed to, lets say jazz, in distinctive and influential ways. What you cannot locate is the first utterance of "jazz, " the inventor of it. The old work around was the term "folk music" meaning that it came from the folk (group) rather than from an individual. But that is an outdated and ultimately irrational term: let's face it, people (single and multiple) make music, not cultures.

Still, "roots" has current utility as a musical category, even in the much beloved Grammys. We have to deal with it. But lets remember that the original need for a metaphor comes from being unable to express the complexity that the metaphor points toward.

I guess for now, I'll just continue being a avant-blues and roots guitarist, whatever the hell that means or points to. Time to shut up and play my guitar.

* In botany, a rhizome (from Greek: ῥίζωμα, rhizoma, "root-stalk") is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes.

Quote of the day

 

"Just because it's an interesting idea, that doesn't mean it's going to sound good." 

- Leah Pressman 

 

 

The guitarist of the day is Lefty Williams

The guitarist of the day is Lefty Williams

I'm a sucker for that southern rock-blues sound that is Lefty's staple. Smooth tones, soulful playing, a Ronnie Van Zandt trace in the vocals, this up-and-coming Atlanta guitarist is bound to be heard by you and yours. With just a little more development and better production values, I think he could inhabit a popular sweet spot between Nashville, rock, and roots-inspired music. 

The most impressive thing about him is his commitment to, and love of music - and he is just another example of the power of music to hold our imagination and channel our energies.  In the CNN piece, his story is told in the tired American dream/myth style of overcoming all adversity in reaching the promised land, but music can't be overcome; it has to be respected, given in to, and studied - any moment now, music will kick your ass. You don't reach the promised land, but you aim for it. I think Williams knows that. He hasn't overcome - he's just working like a muthaf****.

The fact that he has only one hand is of no musical consequence; it is a biographical detail. CNN idiots - god!

Watch out John Mayer, there's a hellhound on your trail!

Lefty Williams Band homepage

The CNN story:

The guitar site of the day is amptone.com

amptone.com

Amp Tone, Effects Placement, and
Cranked-Amp Tone at Any Volume. (since 1997)

A comprehensive professional site dedicated to most or all the issues associated with getting an optimum tone from your particular set-up. Debunks many myths that the music instrument industrial complex tries to sell you in the way of new gear (you need the new Slash Les Paul so you sound just like him!). Your old gear may be fine. but you may not be maximizing its or your potential. The site is partial to tube amps, but aren't we all? Let's face it, good gear is the frosting on the cake that is you. You are the instrument, or you are the cake....or something like that.

 

The part-time guitarist of the day is John Mayer

Part-time blues guitarist, full-time, self-confessed, wanna-be pornographer John Mayer is at again. In his latest Rolling Stone and  Playboy interviews, multi-million dollar watch collector Mayer, obsessed with his cock, and unable to distinguish between the reality and illusion of his stellar career, shows us the dangerous path that a young person with his degree of talent and dumb luck can take.

I've always thought that if Mayer had more time to pay his dues, then he might also develop a less derivative approach to his playing, and music, and living in general. The tradition of the blues, like jazz, is not just a form or sound or sentiment, it is also a tradition of innovation; of standing on the shoulders of masters, yet finding a personal musical voice with which to express your perspective from the stream.  Mayer kind-of sings like Stevie Ray Vaughn, and sort-of plays as if the blues were invented in 1960s England (see/hear, but don't buy the DVD Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles). He hasn't found his own musical voice yet, but having one or searching for one is a basic requirement of being an artist.  Mayer's talent is formidable, but musical talent and musical accomplishment are not necessarily coextensive, and anyone's artistic growth is endangered when the prerogatives of the market are their sole guiding principle. Any fool with industry backing can win a Grammy - even multiples. It's not necessarily a measure of musical accomplishment as much as a measure of commercial accomplishment.  I imagine lover-of-starlets Mayer confuses his bio with himself- something equally dangerous for those at the top, middle, or bottom.

In guitaring/living, the bar is set high, but John ("blowing me off is the new sucking me off") Mayer is looking down at his Rolex. Mayer is a student lost in tangents, not a master practitioner. The sword (yes, even Mayer's "sword") has to have an ethical imperative if it is to mean something other than senseless ego gratification. He may yet dedicate himself to becoming an artist rather than an two-degrees removed impersonator of dead black guitar players. I think we could all benefit from that. Hopefully, he'll stop being such a jerk.

For all those watches, John doesn't know what time it is. Sell the watches. Give ALL the proceeds to the Haitian relief effort. Champion other artists. Respect women. You can do it John. I have faith in you.  I know you can be fully human.

Sentient beings are numberless. I vow to save them.

C

Your thoughts?

The non-guitarist of the day is Guitar Center girl

So I walk into my local Queens Guitar Center because I'm looking for a new bridge for my telecaster. I ask the Latina (proud of my peeps) guitar girl in the accessories department, and she brings out an aluminum slide. Since I sometimes mumble, I assume my words are unintelligible, and I again ask for a bridge for my telecaster, at which point she brings me a nut for an acoustic steel string guitar. Now I understand, so I take one of those heavy metal death-inspired guitars and show her what part of a guitar is the bridge. I don't see a light turn on, but I'm just looking for my bridge, and figure now I'll find one.  Has anybody seen a bridge? All of a sudden she is not talking to me and walking around behind the counter aimlessly, and I wonder what is going on. I say, "what about the bridge for my telecaster?." She says "telecaster?", and I say "Fender" telecaster. But this is already too much information and her vacant eyes drift off into the clouds. I imagine that her piercings can actually be melted into a bridge for my "Fender" telecaster. I show her a "Fender telecaster" so she can learn, but she is not in a learning mood. Guitar girl says, "I don't think we have that." Twenty seconds of silence. I say, "sister, I'm trying to buy something from you, throw me a bone here!" She doesn't know how to look it up and finally another "sales representative" is called and she looks it up--wouldn't you know it - no telecaster bridges - guitar girl was right: mea culpa. It serves me right for playing such an esoteric instrument - the longest-running electric guitar model in production, in history.  Oh, well.  I decide to pick up a Tube Screamer I spy behind the counter. Things are going smoothly. Guitar girl rings it up without any problemas. She asks if I want to buy Guitar Center insurance for it. I say no. Guitar girl says stone-faced, "it (the Tube Screamer) sounds better if you buy the insurance." I guess I must look like a total idiot.  I say no, but thank her for looking out for my sonic health. I've been dazed and confused for so long it's true. I wanted a woman--never bargained for you.

Sentient beings are numberless. I vow to save them.

Cristian

The guitarist of the day is Roger Kleier

The guitarist of the day is Roger Kleier. An NYC experimental guitarist with a West Coast sensibility about space, content, and time. Kleir is patient with his tones, and he colors like a sound painter.... He rocks too.  His long standing association with his partner/collaborator Annie Gosfield have yielded innovative and influential recordings on various labels. His latest 2009 solo CD The Night Has Many Hours is on the Innova Recordings Label of the American Composers Forum. Bend an ear, yo.

Track: Hyperplane
more tracks and info: Roger's homepage