WHAT WOULD (INSERT GUITAR GOD) DO?

On June 10, I will be going back to Bandmother Recording for the final session. Will be laying down guitar solos for the ninth album. And with each album, each song I approached with the same question:

“What would (insert guitar god) do?”

Each song is unique unto itself (much like the guy who wrote the songs) so it’s not feasible to play the same type of solo every time. Which poses a challenge, both good and bad. We all envision ourselves playing these mind-bending, jaw-dropping solos like our heroes. And yet we listen back and think “What’s missing here?” When we should be saying “Hey, that’s ME!”

One tune on the new album is a steamroller akin to Judas Priest/Metallica with touches (more like heavy poundings) of Deep Purple. So will I do a solo like Glenn Tipton, Kirk Hammett, or Ritchie Blackmore? The answer is…well, I have to play what feels good, and that Mike and Brian will say “That’s a keeper!”

Another is very funky ala Living Colour meets Led Zeppelin (not bragging because I can back my words up). So what will that solo sound like? I really don’t know. But with all the songs, I have been working on little vignettes here and there, not being particularly stuck on an idea. Things definitely change from my house to the studio (maybe when I drive through Rutherford into Jersey City?) Even if I have concrete soloing ideas, when you’re in a room with other people, someone is bound to say “I don’t know, man.” It can be defeating but I’ve learned to switch on another part of my brain and think “Well, here’s another solo!”

And then there are the moments where I, or someone, will say “Step on that pedal” and the whole thing changes. Even the simplest idea can sound wacky with the right noisemaker.

For me, the best solos are the ones where whomever is engineering the music shakes his head and says “WTF was that?!”

In any event, I will be happy when the last solo is recorded and we can all say “Recordings are done!” Then of course it’s onto mixing, mastering, picking out the first single (so many choices) and hoping people will buy the damn thing. I am realistic in that what I do has a very narrow market. I will never sell a boatload of cds but the ones who buy my music really matter, and truly enjoy it.

Even if it is strange and quirky 🙂