Topic: Statesboro Blues "with great drive and some original and unexpected moves"

[Carlos Funk]

Thanks to Daddy Stovepipe for that comment quote on youtube!  I played this for years and then watched its bearings grind and its wheels fall off.  It was in the shop, for a long time, waiting for it's drivin' wheel to be replaced, with no parts to be found.  The labor of love, this acoustic blues thing.  But it's back out, on top of my play list.  It's a gas to play.

I would recommend to all Michael Gray's book, Hand Me Down My Travelin? Shoes: In Search of Blind Willie McTell.  That was certainly a labor of love as well.  And Blind Willie, what a man!  Can you imagine steppin' out of your rural Georgia house, and goin' off to New York or Chicago by yourself, without your iphone, your gps, or YOUR EYES?  This guy had something that few of us can even imagine.  I'm going to do a review of it soon on my Atitlan Blue blog.

[Parlor Picker]

Nice one, Carlos. We haven't heard anything from you for a while and it's good to see you're still playing country blues down there in Guatemala.

[Mike Brosnan]

Excellent!  Atitlan is gorgeous.  I spent a few weeks in San Pedro in '03.  Sure wish I'd run into you down there...

[Carlos Funk]

Well thanks, guys.  I did do a video of Little Martha, since I've posted here, but I didn't want to put that one here, since it's blues identity could be called into question.  But I am working on some other stuff, and I did want to get that Rode mic up and running before I posted.

I've got a killer version of "Liberty", which isn't blues either, that I've been working on.  When Steve James was here in March, he listened to my version and told me that I had too many fingers on the guitar.  So, I learned his, but ended up cutting and pasting and adding my own riffs.  But dang, it needs a lot of repetition to get it up to the boiling point.

San Pedro '03 was a touch before my time here.  Well, I may have been here for a couple of weeks that year, but I really started cranking on the blues in '94 at the Swananoa Gathering, and have been more here than there since '95.

[Bald Melon Jefferson]

Firing on all cylinders down a bumpy road.

That thing really moves!
Thanks much. Something for me to aspire to.
  Gary

[Carlos Funk]

Thanks man, you'll get there, just keep at it.  When Mike Dowling was here a couple of years ago, I heard someone ask him how he got so "good".  His answer....."very much repetition".  Ya gotta love it!

[sustaireblues]

I loved it Carlos!
Great to hear some new color added to an old favorite.

And yes, I aspire too!

Joe

[Rivers]

Excellent, enjoyed that a lot. Liked the natural broken rhythm (i.e. not strict 12 bars), it seemed totally, well, natural, that's pretty hard to do.

The touch of reverb I thought was just right. Interested to know about the audio post production on that if you're willing to share, since it sounded just about right to me. I'm not a big fan of really dry recordings, unless you can hear the room's natural reverb, which is pretty rare these days.

I remember Del Rey being asked at a Port Townsend workshop how she got so good, the answer was similar to Dowling's: "Mind-numbing repetition".

[Carlos Funk]

Thanks so much for your comments.  This is a wonderful opportunity to share and inspire.  Doesn't matter where on the planet we are.

OK, I like Del's "mind numbing".  I guess what we're talking about here is muscle and nerve training.  "Mind numbing" just indicates to us the level of dedication and time that this process takes.  I woke up the other morning, went downstairs to a beautiful sunny day, and grabbed the L00 which happened to be in open D, and played "Little Martha".  I just started thinking, what is it worth (I guess I was thinking money, dollars, or whatever?) to me to be able to do that.  It generates such an incredibly wonderful feeling to start the day to bang out a classic like that!  And the answer, invaluable....no value can be assigned to that abilikty that I have developed.  So the last 15 years would have passed this way or that way, but since I dedicated time, love, and money to develop a talent, now I am enjoying something that is "invaluable".  Anyone can do it!  Do it!

On the subject of sound recording,....I would love to talk about that.  (I asked a question on another post about sound recording...months ago now....and the dude still has not responded, which frustrated me a bit)  This recording was produced using the free program, virtualdub, using my Acer laptop's crystal eye camera.  I have virtual dub set to record in mono (because I only have one mic).  I have a Rode NT1-A going through a a PreSonus TubePre (I replaced the standard tube with a Russian Electro-Harmonix 12AX7 EH Vacuum Tube).  Out of the back of the presonus, a mini guitar cord converted to standard plugs into the the mic input on the Acer.  That's it.  Play with mic placement and volume adjustment a bit.  That reverb that you hear is the room!....the main room of Blind Lemon's which you can get a feel for on the website. There's no other effects other than some "drive" on the tubeamp.  I think, after all, we're going for a live feel here.  Well, it is live....so there.  Seems appropriate for this type of music.

[uncle bud]

On the subject of sound recording,....I would love to talk about that.  (I asked a question on another post about sound recording...months ago now....and the dude still has not responded, which frustrated me a bit) 

Hi Carlos - some members don't drop in that often. One thing you could try is sending a PM to the poster in question asking whether would be willing to share setup info in the thread. Always worth a shot. Although some people just disappear into the ether!

[Rivers]

That is a great sounding room you have there. The fidelity of your setup would help with capturing that subtle reverb also. Very nice job.

[Carlos Funk]

Thanks, just so happens that I did design and build the room as well!

[Steve Pajik]

Wow! I really enjoyed that, Carlos. Love that toe-tappin' rhythm!! 

[Carlos Funk]

Thanks....that number is doing really well for me on youtube....I'm having a dang blast.  I've got a killer version of Liberty, the 1700's fiddle tune Benjamin Franklin wanted for our national anthem that I am going to post soon....a little more work on it still.

[LB]

Thanks I loved that rendition. I have to be honest chasing the exact notes is really fun as a starting point but I tend to play this song more like this performance when out and about. It just does not excite me at all playing it like the record, or trying to get close. This bounce is the kind of thing I like to roll into. I also morph this into a whole jam thing in drop D and sometimes the "other" stuff that comes out is actually stronger than Statesboro blues. Which to be honest is a great song but around my home it's also the equivalent almost to Freebird or Mustang Sally. I have to make one comment though. I played statesboro blues very accurately one evening 3-4 years ago and a so-called musically smart musician in the audience joked that he wouldn't tell Greg Allman what I did to his song. I thought he was joking at first but he wasn't. Man my eyes wanted to roll out of the sockets but I was polite...