Never Going Back Again Hdnet Fingerstyle

My book, A Guitar and A Pen (Centre Street), arrives in book stores on May 12th. Go a spring beginning on your summer reading and pick up a few dozen copies. To promote the book, we are hosting a contest to give away a must-accept Gibson acoustic valued at $2500. You can be the lucky bounder that walks abroad with this dream axe by visiting our website and/or MySpace. On to this months column...

In February, I played a star-studded PBS/HDNet special entitled "The Outlaw Trail." We filmed at the Paramount in Austin, one of those wonderful one-time theaters built by truthful craftsmen that managed to combine ornate aesthetics with incredible acoustics; the kind of amazing venues that have nigh all been bulldozed and replaced past strip centers and multiplex theaters. (What a fitting legacy for our generation; dazzler and functionality exchanged for shining inexpensive shit – forgive me, I digress.) Serendipity and luck managed to get me this gig. My swell friend and co-writer Dave Goodwin produced audio on the show and suggested me as a featured guest to the executive producer Charles McCutchin. We met, wrote a fantastic vocal, became immediate friends and, within 40 days, we filmed. The only take hold of: Charles had worked closely with Poco when they co-ruled California country cool with the Eagles. He wanted Del Castillo to perform "Rose of Cimarron" with me on electric.

Me: "I''d love to, love the vocal, dearest Poco, dearest Del Castillo."
Charles: "It''s imperative that you play information technology on a Gretsch White Falcon as it was performed on the original."
Me: "Y'all hateful if I take the guitar, I got the gig?"
Charles: "In essence, yes."
Me: "I will see you in Austin, Gretsch White Falcon in hand."

The next day I spent more coin on that White Falcon than I had ever spent on whatsoever guitar. Believe it or not, I found the best deal at a music shop in my home state of Montana. The downside was it took a while to become it to my home in Nashville. Equally I said in my last cavalcade, Fear of Flying, I''ve had some bad luck with airlines lately and a friend was going to mitt-evangelize it to me. I felt a bit nervous about doing 4 songs on a TV gig with a guitar much different than anything I''d e'er played. By the time I got it, I had two days to effigy out what those weird switches do, become utilise to the Bigbsy and the feel of a big, fat archtop and larn how to piece of work a good tone out of those pickups. Actually, it wasn''t that big of an adjustment. Getting away from your normal guitar makes you lot play differently. In my case, that''s a expert thing. I become so tired of my same one-time bag of tricks that I need circumstance to force me to try and build a melody instead of blowing Tele stuff head to outro.

The Show

Charles assembled an amazing cast, including Rodney Crowell, Asleep at the Wheel, Suzy Bogguss, Carlene Carter, Del Castillo, Jessi Colter, Raul Malo, Megan Mullins, Lee Roy Parnell, Ray Scott, Russell Smith, Cowboy Troy, Holly Williams and your humble scribe. The Austin guys in the band were all good players, but it e'er feels a picayune awkward being the stranger sitting in with a band of players who piece of work together all the time. They were welcoming and we all found our parts pretty apace. The hardest office nearly a situation like this is trying to decide who plays when and knowing when to hang out to avoid muddying up the sound. It''south a catchy balance to get it full but non crowded and flammy. Sometimes mud tin can be stock-still in a mix if it''s a taped evidence, simply yous're far better off getting parts and dynamics mapped out before they coil tape.

John on mandolin

First Song

They booked me to play and sing the championship song, "Outlaw Trail" along with Suzy, Lee Roy, Russell, and Del Castillo. The arrangement for "Outlaw Trail" came from an impromptu audio-visual jam the nighttime earlier nosotros taped. Charles and Dave Goodwin assembled the four singers, Megan and myself in a hotel room and nosotros worked it out sometime-school – the "who sings what" of the song. These artists, all wildly talented and far more successful than me, couldn''t have been more kind about including me in the project. The recording of "Outlaw Trail" had a guitar solo, just the mando sounded so skilful in that hotel room that we decided to keep it to give a bit more variety to our guitar heavy dark of music. When we played with the band, the mando worked slap-up in the solo and helped on the rhythm also, about equally a percussion instrument as it backbeated forth with train beat that the drummer stirred out on brushes. Regrettably the cameras were not in the hotel room – that would have made a killer B-roll behind the scenes. And so again, anybody may not have been and then wine-drinkingly giggly and jokey if cameras followed information technology all.

2d Song

Raul Malo of the supergroup The Mavericks sang the Marty Robbins classic outlaw song "El Paso." Megan and I joined him on BGs, fiddle and White Falcon. Raul took "El Paso" to such a cool place, very far away from Marty''southward version. That''s pretty much what yous take to practise with a classic, otherwise what''s the point, just heed to the original. He balanced it perfectly, making it his own, nailing it, telling Marty''s killer story similar the Maverick Raul is.
Third Song

Imagine mixing the Gipsy Kings and the Rolling Stones, with Keith replaced past Django; that''s Del Castillo, a fantastic band that''s unlike anything I''ve ever seen. They are such a tight automobile that information technology could take felt very awkward for Megan and me to join them. As information technology turns out, Del Castillo are some of the virtually fun, good fourth dimension band of gypsies you''d ever want to see. They welcomed us in and made us experience like family unit. They accept two killer gut-string players, which left plenty of sonic space for Megan''s violin and my White Falcon.

John (playing the White Falcon) with Megan and Del Castillo

Fourth Song

Cowboy Troy, the main of hick-hop, joined Del Castillo, Megan and I for a hybrid amalgam of Latin, land, spoken discussion and hip hop with thick background harmonies. Troy and I wrote "The Ballad of Cherokee Bill" the calendar week earlier, and worked up a groovy petty demo on my Digi 002 Pro Tools rig. We sent an mp3 to the producers, who loved it; they forwarded the vocal on to Del Castillo, who improved on information technology. We ran the song one time at soundcheck and nailed it that nighttime.

Finale

They concluded the bear witness with a full bandage reprise of Johnny Cash''southward "Wanted Man." At that place must have been eight guitars on phase, which made me completely superfluous, but it was such a cool moment -- there was no way I was going to sit it out in the wings. Everyone was laughing, singing, playing, high-fiving, back slapping and hugging to go far one big dear fest. Non to sound too corny, but playing music together does build bonds. This sounds platitude, merely call up, most clichés became clichés because they''re based in truth. I volition probably never play with virtually of these people again, merely for that short time on stage, we felt something together that I doubtable civilians never feel. It makes you recall, "I don''t listen the insanity and insecurity of my career as long every bit I''m rewarded with a feeling like this every at present then."

"The Outlaw Trail" volition be aired on HDNet in May. HDNet''s concert schedule will have the appointment when it is announced.

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John Bohlinger is a Montana native and onetime Ivy Leaguer who was shut to earning a Ph.D. in psychology when he dropped out to pursue a life in music. "The psych background comes in handy when dealing with the music business" John quips. Over his fifteen years in Nashville, John has toured the world, holding down the guitar/mandolin/pedal steel end for over 30 major label artists; he currently leads the band for the hit evidence Nashville Star, which has moved to NBC. John''s songs and playing can be heard in several major motion pictures, major characterization releases and literally hundreds of television drops. For more info visit johnbohlinger.com

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Source: https://www.premierguitar.com/big-gigs-with-strangers

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