IN THE HOME STRETCH

I am typing this a few hours before another Christmas comes to a close. Soon the tree will be put to the curb, the lights and ornaments stored in the attic until next year. And don’t blink, the next Christmas will be here before you know it.

But 2022 ain’t over yet!

This Wednesday night I will be visiting DJ Metal Mistress’ studio for another Q&A session on Metal Meltdown from 6-9pm. I was there back in March and figured she missed me, so why not return again? Plus her dog Bogey will be happy to see me too!

Unlike last year where my family was quarantined the week of Xmas, this year we are fine. Nobody were sick, but my son (who is a teacher) was sent a text that a student in his class was positive, so we stayed home. This year, things are good, so we can move freely. Which means…

I hope this coming Thursday will be another “New Years Eve Eve” party hosted by friend/former bandmate from 100 years ago John Oakes. We were in a band back in high school called Smooth Surface. In 2019, 3/5 of the band ‘reunited’ and it was a lot of fun. But then 2020 (didn’t) happen, and then he cancelled in 2021 because people were getting sick. So let’s hope it’s on! If not, that’s okay. But it would be nice to jam out, make some noise (which I am quite good at!)

And this week I was pleasantly surprised to be exposed to some guitar players that I never heard of! And they aren’t metal players?! Nope, they are jazz/fusion guitarists: Tisziji Munoz, Sonny Greenwich, and Arthur Rhames (RIP). How they escaped my radar is beyond me. They are VERY experimental, beyond anything I could ever comprehend. I dig esoteric guitarists like Shawn Lane and Allan Holdsworth (both RIP) but these guitarists…whew! I gotta put some mustard on these hot dogs!

These types of guitarists fall under the John Coltrane “Sheets Of Sound” mode, much like Vernon Reid of Living Colour, and John McLaughlin (who will be 81 soon!!!) I love metal but honestly, a lot of metal players are redundant with their licks. Getting tired of the tried-and-true, personally. New bands recycling the same lines from days gone by; I get why though. It’s safe, an easy sell, and people like familiarity. You dare not stray from the path because then you will lose your audience.

Mine was never that big to begin with HA!

But hearing these guitarists really blew my mind. Very refreshing to witness such a bizarre array of sounds, almost like they were inventing new colors in the paint trays. I want to do that, but won’t force it. It has to happen gradually. Whatever happens, as I always say, happens. I am looking forward to adding my own swatches of paint too.

Think I should do a fusion album in the future?

Get back to me on that.