The first time i heard of Blly Strings, i pulled him up on YTube and he was doing "dont let your deal go down." And i decided after that one tune, he was the best musician of our age.
I was lucky enough to see Billy in Nashville and Bob Weir took the stage for the 2nd half of the concert. Then In Redmond Washington. Believe it or not I got to see Billy with Willie Nelson in Georgia. He has my respect but most of all he has the respect of his guitar elders. Remember Billy doesn't play bluegrass he plays psychedelic grass.
Thank you for featuring me on the Guitarsenal segment! I look forward to TAC everyday and it has helped me immensely. Tony, you are very much appreciated :)
I love your stuff man! Great work! If you are looking for a really unique player to do next, I would LOVE to see a breakdown like this for Shakey Graves. Roll the Bones live is a masterpiece!
What you fail to explain here is that all these musical resources work mainly for the very fast-paced flatpicking of bluegrass music. Actually, when you can play notes this fast, you can do pretty much anything as long as you land on the right note at the right time.
Tony are there any examples of guitars made from "The Tree" that you could do a show on and explain the mistique surrounding it, I think you would do an excellent job, bringing a special ATS. To us.
When did music become all about how fast or how many notes per second you can play? I believe it started in the late 60's early 70's when the song itself became secondary & was only the setup for the long, sometimes drawn out, lead at the end of the song. It would seem like now they have even done away with song & now it's ONLY about the lead. Whatever happened to the beauty of the melody? Whatever happened to "it's not what you play but what you don't play"? Don't get me wrong I'm not against intricate leads but I think something get lost when it becomes ONLY about how many notes you can play & how fast you can play them. Lead guitar should be an embellishment to the song not the song being an embellishment to/for the lead. Listen to people like David Gilmour or Eric Clapton or B.B. King THAT's how lead guitar should be played. They could play fast but they don't because they can make a few notes or a couple of quick turnarounds sound better than a thousand notes played in a millisecond.
Billy is a bluegrass player, not a blues player like Clapton and BB… (and, Gilmour said,”I play slow, because I can’t play fast”)… Bluegrass is fast paced flat picking of dreadnoughts, banjos, upright basses, and mandolins. Billy is playing fast, because the genre of bluegrass is played fast…. So, to answer your question, players have played fast since bluegrass developed into a musical genre back in the 1940. BB and Clapton played true to their genre, and Billy plays true to his… BTW, Jerry Garcia formed a bluegrass band before he founded the Grateful Dead.
@@jed1166 I get that & yes I know he's Bluegrass but I think you missed my point. My point being that the metal music of the late 80's early 90's, especially speed metal, has seemed to have infiltrated EVERY style of music to their detriment. But then again to each his own & maybe I'm just getting older. :) ;)
Hi John! I am now 66, so I am old as well! BB, Gilmour and Clapton are three of my favorite players, and I have seen all of them live! And, I get your point, but my first memory of someone play fast, just for the sake of playing fast, was John Mc Laughlin. Didn’t like his playing 50 years ago, and I still don’t… I heard / hear no musicality in his playing, and am bored within 30 seconds. Conversely, I find Billy’s playing extremely musical and entertaining, and can listen for hours,(his vocals are excellent as well). I agree with you that speed for speeds sake is usually a mess, but for me, Billy really brings the music to the speed… they fit well together. Keep strumming! 🎸🎸🎸
@@jed1166 I guess I really need to give him another listen. Funny thing, I'll be 66 this month on the26th. I have changed quite a bit as I have gotten older & the "heavy metal" music I used to love I have now come to despise. It goes much deeper than just the repetitiveness of it rather it also has to do with everything that music stood for. I used to think the guitar part at the end of "Freebird" was the greatest thing ever but now it's like fingernails on a chalkboard. My definition of having to listen to Freebird for eternity would be my definition of hell. :) ;)
Hey John! Funny, I was a metal head too… In the 90’s and early 2000’s, I attended mainly metal shows, (with some grunge mixed in), with Slayer being the ultimate. Went to OzzFest every year! I still appreciate the musicianship, but the music doesn’t speak to me anymore. And, I find myself full circle, again listening to Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, Jim Croce, CSNY, etc., the blues, and for the first time, bluegrass. Listening to Simon, Stevens and Croce, I realize that they are why I picked up a guitar in the first place! Their acoustic licks are superb!
