Topic: John Hardy

[Mike Brosnan]

Tryin' to work on more thumb lead styles lately so I decided to work on this ol' standard. Can't quite play it like Leadbelly or Maybelle so I came up with this instead. Still stumbling with the lyrics (and straining my neck to read them off the TV screen behind the camera... poor planning). Then there's that whole speeding up thing... Next time I'll record with less caffeine in my system.

[Johnm]

Nice job, Mike!  Your time has a nice rhythmic snap and your singing sounds good, too.  It seems like to the extent that you speed up, it happens over the held D chord, where the left hand just holds the chord and you don't having anything happening melodically on the guitar to keep you occupied.  Thumb lead sounds great on your guitar.
All best,
Johnm

[Laura]

I'll have some of whatever you're drinking...Cool!

[Mike Brosnan]

Much thanks, John. Yeah, definitely a work in progress here. I'll have to do another take some time and see if I always speed up that badly on the V chord or if I was just exceptionally jacked on coffee this morning.

[Mike Brosnan]

Thanks, Laura. I cut way down on caffeine lately. But sometimes I still like to overindulge on my days off. I don't realize how jacked I am until I record something like this.

[Prof Scratchy]

Wow! Great performance, caffeine and all.

Sent from my HUAWEI MT1-U06 using Tapatalk

[uncle bud]

Sounds great, Mike! I like your arrangement - sounds something like versions we know, and then with your own harmonic and melodic twists that sound just right.

As for speeding up. Lead Belly did that too.  A certain amount of it is important sometimes, IMO.

[Mike Brosnan]

As always, the kind words of a weenie are worth twice as much as those of mere mortals. Thanks, folks.

[jtbrown]

Very nice, Mike, as usual.  I don't think I'd have noticed your speeding up if you hadn't mentioned it, and I don't think it really detracts from the performance.

Todd Brown

[Pan]

Great picking, and a great sounding guitar!

Cheers

pan

[harriet]

what they said

[Parlor Picker]

And it's a thumbs-up from me as well.

[sustaireblues]

Well you know, some people just seem to be wired to a higher vibrational level.
Hat's off Mike, great to see a new vid from you!

[Mike Brosnan]

Thanks again folks! Been wanting to get some feedback on this style for a while, but I was worried that it might be perceived as overly country and not bluesy enough. Shoulda known better with this lot.
Guess maybe I'm overly concerned about the speeding up thing as well. I have no issues with steady tempo progression, but sometimes I speed up on instrumental choruses and then slow down again when I'm singing. Whatever I guess... As long as I'm playing alone or with people that can anticipate my little quirks.

[LucyStag]

That was great! "John Hardy" is one of my favorites, and that was a really good rendition.