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jpfeifer
April 6th, 2006, 10:25 AM
Hi Everyone,

Earlier this year I found out about GuitarCenter's annual GuitarMaggedon contest, and that the theme this year was going to be Blues. I decided to enter this contest since I am into the Blues. I made it to the round 2 store competition and finally lost out this week. Although I was very dissapointed, I did learn some valuable lessons in going through this process over the past few months. For those of you who have never heard about this competition, it is kind of like an American Idol style competition for Guitar Players. You perform a solo to a backing track on stage in front of 3 judges who grade you based on technique, style, originality, and stage presence. I wanted to write a post to outline some of the lessons learned in this process, good and bad.

The Good:
Entering a contest like this provides a great way to kick your butt into high gear, stretch youself musically, and force you to focus. Fear is a great motivator. My main goal of the competition was to concentrate on playing a solo that highlighted my own style as much as possible, and inject as much originality as I could muster. There's nothing like the tought of going up on stage alone in front of a room of judges to motivate you to wood shed and get your playing up a notch or two. I also worked heavily on my phrasing with a metronome and found out how useful it is to do that. I also used humor in coming up with some new licks, hoping that this would provide some things that would set me apart. (I made some blues licks using movie themes, etc. Note: the theme for the Simpson's works great over an altered dominant chord :-) This worked great in the first round of competition. I even made one of the judges laugh during my solo.

The Bad:
On the down side I learned that these contests are about more than just the music. The guy that won on the second round of competition beat out everyone else based on his stage antics more than anything else. Technically and musically he wasn't playing as well as some of the other guys in the competition but he was able to work the crowd by making all the right stage moves, guitar faces, etc.

Lessons learned:
My take away from this experience, although a little painful for me to accept, is that when performing live we have to understand that we are entertainers first. Where I had prepared for the contest by working on my chops and musical ideas the mostly, the winner probably focused on how he would connect with the audience in a visual way. Sometimes your audience isn't listening to all of your ideas as much as they are watching how you move and react as you play. (note: one of the judges in the second round was a non-musician, manager of a radio station, hence the emphasis on stage presence) I've always been less comfortable with haming it up onstage , and making guitar faces when I play since I'm concentrating so much on nailing a lick, getting the right tone, etc. I guess it pays to work on your stage presence in the same way that you work on your phrasing with a metronome, a lesson hard learned. One guy that I admire who was good at both aspects was the late great Stevie Ray Vaughn. He could play is butt off and he had some nice stage antics to go with it.

-- Jim

Tone2TheBone
April 6th, 2006, 10:29 AM
Hmmm interesting write up. What are the grand prizes for the winners? What guitar did you use....amp...effects if any? Did you get to use your own equipment or were they "house" amps and guitars? How did you dress? Did you get any pics taken of you?

jpfeifer
April 6th, 2006, 10:40 AM
tone2thebone,

The prizes are very nice for the upper levels (district level, regional level, national level) of the contest. (Les Pauls, 335s, etc) At the store level the prizes are pretty minimal but still pretty nice.

I used my Hamer Newport for my performing guitar. I had a lot of complements on the tone and visual appeal of that guitar. You have to use the amps that Guitar Center provides for the contest. I chose a Line6 Flextone III set to a Lead Plexi 100 setting. (decent amp)

-- Jim

Tone2TheBone
April 6th, 2006, 10:47 AM
Wow the Newport through a "Plexi" thats a unique combination. How many other contestants were there and did you all play in sequence and did you all get to watch each other etc?

I guess people would be judged also on visual performance. I'm sure there are a lot of other guitar slingers dressed up and ready to play at these contests...it would be interesting to see and hear. What about the elimination, did you get to hear any other guitar players that didn't make the cut?

Oh also describe your tone to us. Clean? Semi clean?

jpfeifer
April 6th, 2006, 06:54 PM
Hi tone2thebone,

Yes, the Newport through the Plexi model sounded really nice. I visited the GuitarCenter ahead of time to try out the different amps in the backline to find the one that I thought sounded the best with my guitar. They had a Crate (class A amp), a Marshall half stack, a Fender Deluxe 65 reissue, and the the Line 6. I liked the Line 6 because I could dial in an amp model that I liked and re-call it when I came back for the contest. The Newport sounded kind of 335-like through this amp model using my bridge pickup. The Newport is a great guitar for Blues.

The tone that I was going for was a sustaining lead tone without too much distortion. Kind of a Roben Ford or older Larry Carlton type of tone. The Newport seemed to respond pretty well to this with the Plexi model, although the model didn't sound like a plexi to me since it was playing through a 2x12 cabinet. But it seemed to work well for what I was doing. Some of the contestants brought their own distortion boxes to plug into the Deluxe, and most everyone else used the Marshall.

Yes, all the contestants were able to watch each other through the whole contest. There were 5 of us competing that night. We drew numbers from a hat to determine which order we would go in. I was 2nd in the group. No, I didn't get to hear all of the other guitar players that didn't make the cut other than the players who competed in the 1st round competition with me 2 weeks prior.

-- Jim

Spudman
April 6th, 2006, 07:36 PM
Hi Everyone,

Lessons learned:
My take away from this experience, although a little painful for me to accept, is that when performing live we have to understand that we are entertainers first. -- Jim

Um, I thought we were musicians first. Otherwise why would we even go on stage if we couldn't play? To act? (saying this with a sense of humor and smile) I do know what you are alluding to, but I think we should never forget that we started doing this for the music...and chicks... way before the showmanship thing even came up.
Most of the pros are not just making faces. What you see is a direct result of "just letting go." I've worked with many national artists and the thing that really struck me when they were making strange faces and movements is that they are "gone." By that I mean that the ego has disappeared and what is left is a pure music/musician experience. The results of which are facial grimaces and contortions.
On top of all this Jim I really admire your guts to go do this. I think competitions are one of the hardest things to do. Especially among guitarists.

Many kudos to you bud and congrats on your finish.

Robert
April 6th, 2006, 09:55 PM
Thanks for the report Jim. It was a great read. I know what you mean. I have seen the difference on the rare occasions when I've had a few many drinks - suddenly everyone thinks I'm really going for it... but I rarely go that far. Truth is that the kind of shows I've mostly played, making lots of noise and looking real cool and theatrical always seemed to go over much better than focused, good guitar playing that is less entertaining to watch. People mostly listen with their eyes, unless they are musicians themselves.

It would be fun to be in a contest like that - if there was one around here I'd go for it! Sounds like fun.

jpfeifer
April 7th, 2006, 09:28 AM
Thanks.

Yes, Robert and Spudman, I would encourage you guys to do a contest like this sometime, you all would do very well I would expect. I think that the whole experience was a good one for me, even though I was kind of dissapointed at the last stage. To be put out in front and forced to do your thing is actually good. It really forced me to take a look at what I do and try to find something that I could call my own. I remember reading an article with Steve Vai where someone asked him how to develop a style. Steve Vai had a very good reply to this. He said that you should find out what you do naturally, and exaggerate it. I thought that this was a good piece of advice. He was essentially saying that you should take a look at your own style and find those things that you tend to do from your gut, then try to bring those elements out more. My own way to do this was to get some of my original tunes and find out which ones I had the most comments on from other people on my web site. Then I tried to collect those elements accent them in my solo. This was a good process to go through.

The whole stage presence thing was just part of what the judges were asked to grade you on. So even if you got up and played very well, you would loose points for not having something more visual to your performance. It's not something that I tend to do naturally unless I'm playing with a band. If I'm doing rock tunes then I usually have a lot of fun jumping around, etc, but when I'm trying to do a serious solo then I tend to concentrate on the playing aspect and less so on how I look.

Anyway, ... I thought that other people could learn from my experience if they decide to enter one of these competitions. I might enter again next year, but the theme of it could be different. This year the theme was Blues but next year the contest may have some other theme.

-- Jim

Tone2TheBone
April 7th, 2006, 09:35 AM
Jim,

How about a link to your site?

jpfeifer
April 8th, 2006, 08:25 AM
Hi tone2thebone,

Here is a link to some of the music I have posted. Thanks for asking. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/jim_pfeifer (just click on the music link)

The song "Pfat Cat Shuffle" was the style that I was going for during this Blues contest. I don't have a lot of music posted on my site right now but I'm working on more stuff.

-- Jim

SuperSwede
April 8th, 2006, 01:21 PM
Wow the Newport through a "Plexi" thats a unique combination.

That is the thing I love about amp sims, you can mix and match. I love to play jazz stuff through the 80´s marshall setting! :) It sounds lovely with very low gain/volume through a 1X12 speaker!

Katastrophe
April 8th, 2006, 06:12 PM
Great post... Ya know, I've always been more than a little afraid to enter some of the guitar contests in my area. Austin, it seems, has a gunslinger on every corner (or at least in every club), and some of these folks are so good it's just downright scary... If I find that they have one in the area, I just might enter. It would be cool to get up there and see how "rapidly approaching middle age crazy" does against the young guns...:D

warren0728
April 8th, 2006, 07:15 PM
i don't think i am ready to compete but i have been thinking of checking out some local blues jams to see if i can get up the nerve to sign up!

ww

Nelskie
April 9th, 2006, 07:50 AM
Jim - I have enjoyed your posts regarding your guitar contest experience. Your points about "theatrics" and "stage presence" are well-made. In the 80's, when Hair Metal was king, I saw an awful lot of guitar players integrate various over-the-top antics into their playing routines, with great success. While it was very entertaining at the time, these days it isn't quite as impressive to me as it used to be. Perhaps that's because I am listening and hearing things that I never used to hear in other guitarists' playing, as well as my own.

Another thing I'd found interesting was your choice of guitar to use for the contest - i.e. a Hamer Newport, running through a Marshall Plexi amp model. I bet that sounded nice. I immediately thought of you when I came across pg. 154 of this month's issue of Guitar Player (with Jeff Beck on the cover), which featured none other than a beautiful Hamer Newport, with a triple TV Jones Filter 'Tron pick-up setup. Very cool axe.

tot_Ou_tard
April 9th, 2006, 08:05 AM
Hi tone2thebone,

Here is a link to some of the music I have posted. Thanks for asking. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/jim_pfeifer (just click on the music link)

The song "Pfat Cat Shuffle" was the style that I was going for during this Blues contest. I don't have a lot of music posted on my site right now but I'm working on more stuff.

-- Jim
Hi Jim, I love Jazz, but not so much the smooth style. I like Marc Ribot, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Charles Mingus, Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, Miles Davis, Hank Mobley, Django Reinhardt....For the lyrical stuff I tend to go with Paul Desmond when he was playing with Jim Hall or Chet Baker with Gerry Mulligan. BTW, Jim Hall is playing funky groove stuff these days a la Martin, Mediski, & Wood. Those guyz are killer musicians.

The smooth stuff I leave for certain times in the evening with my wife, nudge, nudge, wink, wink...That said, you play amazingly well. I am trying to learn some jazz as well as blues & rock & fingerstyle & ... In fact, I am thinking about a semihollow or hollowbody with splittable 'buckers in order to
have the jazz tonality available as well.

The trouble is I am too damned eclectic in my tastes.

tot_Ou_tard
April 9th, 2006, 08:06 AM
That is the thing I love about amp sims, you can mix and match. I love to play jazz stuff through the 80´s marshall setting! :) It sounds lovely with very low gain/volume through a 1X12 speaker!
That's a cool idea SS.

jpfeifer
April 9th, 2006, 10:21 AM
Hi Tot_Ou_tard,

I know what you mean. There is a lot of lame Smooth Jazz out there these days. It's getting to the point where I don't like listening to this format anymore because it sounds like the same musicians on nearly every song, and nobody seems to be doing anything exciting or original within this format.

Some of my own tunes turned out this way for better or worse, I admit. I'm not really a Jazz player in the pure sense. I like Blues and I'm a constant student of Jazz playing so I'm always trying to incorporate more of that stuff in my own playing.

I really like some of those artists you mentioned like DJango, Miles Davis, Jim Hall. I also like Wes Montgomery. I've always been a big Pat Metheny fan as well and we was influenced quite a bit by Jim Hall and Wes Montgomery.

Thanks, -- Jim

tot_Ou_tard
April 9th, 2006, 01:17 PM
Hi Tot_Ou_tard,

I really like some of those artists you mentioned like DJango, Miles Davis, Jim Hall. I also like Wes Montgomery. I've always been a big Pat Metheny fan as well and we was influenced quite a bit by Jim Hall and Wes Montgomery.

Thanks, -- Jim

Pat Metheny is great. I really haven't heard Wes Montgomery, but I'll go right out & remedy that.

r_a_smith3530
April 10th, 2006, 03:59 AM
Jpfeifer, I could relate to what you had to say regarding the "performance" aspect of your experience. Some years back, I used to play both on the street ("hustling change with a guitar" I called it), and also doing some coffee house gigs and jam nights at blues clubs.

One thing that I learned from those experiences was that if you were going to captivate your audience, then it was going to take more than just a great song well-played. Live music is both an aural AND visual experience, and you must captivate your audience with BOTH! Remember that they can talk and still hear you as background noise, but if you also catch them with the visual aspect, you have a far better chance of gaining their complete attention.

BTW, from my own experience, I've found that this equates to more funds in the "ducket bucket" at the end of a day/night!

EDIT:

As for Jazz, my preference lies with the fusion stuff that was coming out in the late 60's to later 70's. It was the stuff you heard Yvonne Daniels spinning at WSDM ("Smack Dab in the Middle of your FM Dial!"), stuff like Eddie Harris, Herbie Hancock, Return to Forever, and Weather Report. That stuff was so out there.

Check out "Is It In?" from Eddie Harris' album of the same name, or "Funkaroma," also from that album. Also listen to "Chameleon" or "Sly" from Hancock's "Headhunters" album. To me at least, that, and "Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant" off RtF's "Romantic Warrior" is what I think of when the word "jazz" is mentioned. Of course, being into bass, Mingus' groundbreaking 1959 effort "Mingus Ah Um!" is also out there for me.

r_a_smith3530
April 10th, 2006, 04:30 AM
The trouble is I am too damned eclectic in my tastes.

Ain't that the truth! I can surely relate here. Although blues and blues-based classic rock is my first love, I love many different genres.

tot_Ou_tard
April 10th, 2006, 06:23 AM
J
Check out "Is It In?" from Eddie Harris' album of the same name, or "Funkaroma," also from that album. Also listen to "Chameleon" or "Sly" from Hancock's "Headhunters" album. To me at least, that, and "Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant" off RtF's "Romantic Warrior" is what I think of when the word "jazz" is mentioned. Of course, being into bass, Mingus' groundbreaking 1959 effort "Mingus Ah Um!" is also out there for me.
That Head Hunters album is fantastic! You should check out Donald Byrd's album Black Byrd. Have you ever listened to Martin, Medeski, & Wood? You might like them.

tot_Ou_tard
April 10th, 2006, 06:56 AM
For Jazz guitar both old school & groove school consider Jim Scofield. Marc Ribot is also amazing.

tot_Ou_tard
April 10th, 2006, 07:14 AM
...& for extraterrestrial jazz you can't beat Sun Ra.

Spudman
April 10th, 2006, 07:14 AM
For Jazz guitar both old school & groove school consider Jim Scofield. Marc Ribot is also amazing.

Should that be John Scofield?

SuperSwede
April 10th, 2006, 02:15 PM
Did I hear someone mention Mr Scofield? I cannot recommend his albums enough! Fantastic tone and grooves!

Tim
April 10th, 2006, 05:18 PM
...& for extraterrestrial jazz you can't beat Sun Ra.



Ok Tot - Please explain what "extraterrestrial jazz" is. You guys really know how to bring up the strangest subject matters. I just listened to my first Prog Interent" station the other day, thanks to the post left by an unusal brother fretter whom I will not mention. That was one strange station. Kind of reminds me of what the beat-niks where listening to back in the 50s. Yea I am the old!

tot_Ou_tard
April 10th, 2006, 06:10 PM
Should that be John Scofield?
D'oh! I know it should be John, dunno why I typed Jim.

tot_Ou_tard
April 10th, 2006, 06:12 PM
Did I hear someone mention Mr Scofield? I cannot recommend his albums enough! Fantastic tone and grooves!
I agree, John is fantastic. His evil twin Jim may be a good musician too. I just wouldn't know.

tot_Ou_tard
April 10th, 2006, 06:21 PM
Ok Tot - Please explain what "extraterrestrial jazz" is. You guys really know how to bring up the strangest subject matters. I just listened to my first Prog Interent" station the other day, thanks to the post left by an unusal brother fretter whom I will not mention. That was one strange station. Kind of reminds me of what the beat-niks where listening to back in the 50s. Yea I am the old!
If we are talking prog we should proabably mention Ozric Tentacles...so here goes...

Ozric Tentacles.

Extraterrestial Jazz is Sun Ra & the Arkestra's forte. Have a listen to Space is the Place sometime, then you'll know what it is. He's from Saturn y'know. They play songs from beyond the asteroid belt in a much deeper way than George Clinton & Parliament hail the Mothership Connection.

BTW, a damned good & forgotten album is Phil Alvin (from the Blasters) playing with Sun Ra & the Arkestra & the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The album is called un "sung stories" (yes the quotes are in the right place). The album is full of old jewels like Brother Can You Spare a Dime & Daddy Rollin' Stone. Spectacular! One of my favs.

Spudman
April 10th, 2006, 06:42 PM
[QUOTE=tot_Ou_tard]If we are talking prog we should proabably mention Ozric Tentacles...so here goes...

Now we're talking. I love these guys. I didn't know anyone knew about them. I really like "Spirals In Hyper Space."

tot_Ou_tard
April 10th, 2006, 07:00 PM
[QUOTE=tot_Ou_tard]If we are talking prog we should proabably mention Ozric Tentacles...so here goes...

Now we're talking. I love these guys. I didn't know anyone knew about them. I really like "Spirals In Hyper Space."

The guy at the liquor store tonight was wearing an Ozric t-shirt. That is what reminded me that I hadn't listened to them in a while. I asked him about the Flower Kings and he said that he thinks he heard them once. BTW, for those of you with XM radio you can hear some of this stuff along other more jamband type stuff like Phish & String Cheese Incident on XM Music Lab. Myself, I am usually caught listening to Bluesville, but will wander over the the Lab from time to time.

tot_Ou_tard
April 10th, 2006, 07:08 PM
I
Extraterrestial Jazz is Sun Ra & the Arkestra's forte. Have a listen to Space is the Place sometime, then you'll know what it is. He's from Saturn y'know. They play songs from beyond the asteroid belt in a much deeper way than George Clinton & Parliament hail the Mothership Connection.

Tim,

Extraterrestrial jazz is not a genre per se. I made up that term to describe Sun Ra's stuff. I suppose that it can be considered free jazz, but Sun Ra truly (or so he claims) believes that he is from Saturn so the vibe is imbued with a "come on, hitch a ride off this planet and expand into space type vibe. He made a film called Space is the Place that I've never seen, but the soundtrack has lyrics that match this motif. People either hate it or love it. Me I love it, but I am weird.

That Phil Alvin album that I mentioned isn't spacy at all. It is good depression era acoustic dirt & soul. Phil Alvin sounds like a hobo,s houndog beggin' for a bone. Great stuff!

Tone2TheBone
April 11th, 2006, 08:32 AM
That is the thing I love about amp sims, you can mix and match. I love to play jazz stuff through the 80´s marshall setting! :) It sounds lovely with very low gain/volume through a 1X12 speaker!

I too play some of the gainy models clean to semi-clean. Anymore I just love playing clean. Even on my tube amp I run it in vintage mode. I guess I'm showing my age huh? :R

Btw Jim, nice sounds and good playing. Thanks for the link.

Tim
April 11th, 2006, 09:39 AM
Sun Ra truly (or so he claims) believes that he is from Saturn so the vibe is imbued with a "come on, hitch a ride off this planet and expand into space type vibe.



The guy needs to get a life. What amazes me about these people who come from different planets is that they waist there time with the small penny type labor. Why does Sun Ra (an Egyptian name) spend his time earning money by playing a guitar? He could make millions explaining to NASA how to improve space travel.

r_a_smith3530
April 11th, 2006, 10:11 AM
Why does Sun Ra (an Egyptian name) spend his time earning money by playing a guitar? He could make millions explaining to NASA how to improve space travel.

Tim, it is because Sun Ra belongs to a rare, forgotten fragment of the Trappist Monks, and has taken a vow of poverty. I hear though that they make a kicka** version of Trappist Bourbon Fudge on Saturn that seriously will rock your world!

:R

Actually, I'm just curious as to how Sun Ra breathes our air? Saturn won't support our lifeforms, and I'm surprised that Earth supports theirs!

Yes, there would appear to be serious warpage in the space/time continuum of Sun Ra.

Tim
April 11th, 2006, 10:14 AM
Hmmm! I regress. No further comments needed on my part.

Spudman
April 11th, 2006, 10:57 AM
RA
Other beings are able to exist on other plaents because they are not in human form there. As any life form they exist according to their environment. As Sun Ra has come to earth his (it's) form must therefore change.
This is fact. I know this from talking to others on Earth that used to exist on other spheres.


Live long and prosper. Nanu nanu.

Tone2TheBone
April 11th, 2006, 11:03 AM
Yeah I evolved nicely here I must say....

SuperSwede
April 11th, 2006, 02:42 PM
Tim, it is because Sun Ra belongs to a rare, forgotten fragment of the Trappist Monks, and has taken a vow of poverty.

Yeah? So a very expensive guitar is not included in the vow of poverty? :D

Vinni Smith
April 11th, 2006, 03:07 PM
Jim, I enjoyed reading this post.

I have been a judge for Gutiarmageddon now for the last 3 years in a row. I was also a winner and went into the 2nd level 4 years ago and then got my butt kicked by a jazz dude. All in all, it was a good experience.

I would like to comment on the grading of stage presence. We judges, of course are asked to grade on this topic. Myself, I don't really look for jumping around and silly antics. I do like to see how the person is dressed, whether or not they are "Gone" as someone stated before, and if they react at all to the crowd. If they show up in dirty clothes from their job and play with their backs to us, looking at the amp, they are going to score low. If they simply look like it is fun and cool when they play and even a good smile at the crowd once in a while never hurts. This however is just a % of the total score. If they suck and are good performers, they should not win. Simple. If this happened, then some of those judges need to close their eyes for about 50 seconds next time and listen instead of look. This happend last year at our local contest. A bunch of girls with push-up bras showed up and was screaming at one contestant. A lame judge that was picked at the last minute got caught up in the frenzy and gave it to the contestant that was friends with the girls. LAME! The obvious winner was furious with GC for this. I don't blame him. We two other judges were taken back by it as well and a big stink was brought up about it. We approached the store manager and changes were made this year but it was too late for last years winner. That was a bummer.

I give everyone credit that gets up there and lays it on the line. It takes some real intestinal fortitude to do that. Sometimes nerves get in the way and a normal winner could be a looser because of it. Even though I won back when, I would not do it again. I don't like the competition part. It is just not me. That is why I switched to the judging part.

But let me tell you this. That guy that won becuase he jumped around this year, you can assure yourself, he will die a thousand deaths in the next level. I have been there, I know. There are 14 year old kids that started playing when they were still in the womb and they are playing stuff like you have never seen before. Remember, it is the best of the best in the next level. The Guitar Centers that send on anyone except thier best, are fools! They are wasting their time and money on a looser. It reminds me of that episode of Star Trek-The Next Generation when Picard meets the Borg. Do you remember when Whoopi Goldberg told him "They are out there and they will come after us. You can bet on it". Let me tell you, the Borg is in the next level. They will eat any good player alive. They are good, the best of the best.

My hat is off to you Jim. I hope you had fun and I hope you do it again next year. I wish you much luck with this..........

vinni

Tone2TheBone
April 11th, 2006, 03:15 PM
"Resistance is futile" - the Borg

Cliche' I know, I just wanted to be the first to post it.

Vinni...how did you become a judge?

Vinni Smith
April 11th, 2006, 03:31 PM
Well, probably just because I am so old they THINK I look like I SHOULD know what I'm doing! Heh Heh Heh

I know the guys there pretty well and they know I am a fair guy that just tells it like I see it. I'm pretty black and white, really. Plus they like to choose people with some credentials. Two of us this year are signed to a record label and I guess that means we have some savy. One of the other judges is a Universal artist and I am a US Records artist.

So, they call me every year and I do it. I am starting to get kind of tired doing it though. It's just getting old, I guess.

warren0728
April 11th, 2006, 04:01 PM
man i give anyone credit that has the nerve to even enter one of these contests....i'm still scared to death to sign up for an open jam night!

ww

jpfeifer
April 11th, 2006, 04:09 PM
Hi Vinnie,

Thanks very much for the reply, especially coming from a former judge at this competition.

I have replayed that competition night over and over in my head in the weeks following it, and wondered what I would do differently the next time. My daughter, who was in the audience, gave me a very honest critique of my performance after the contest. She told me "Dad, you played well but I could tell that you weren't as loose as you normally are, ... and that other guy was a lot younger than you." Ouch! I guess that some of my grey hair was showing underneath my blues hat.

Seriously, maybe the other guy just loosened up more and this gave him the edge in his performance with the audience. He wasn't necessarily a bad player (basic rock stuff) but not the kind of player I would have wanted to loose against. My only consolation is that another player in the contest lost to this same guy and he was also playing more adventerous stuff in his solo like I was going for. I told him that I would have felt better had I lost to him.

And ... I have looked at some of the videos from previous competition winners. The guy that won our contest will definitely go on to have his lunch eaten. The guys who make it to the National level are quite amazing.

But all in all the experience was good to go through. It was the kick in the pants (musically speaking) that I was looking for in my playing.

-- Jim

tot_Ou_tard
April 11th, 2006, 05:39 PM
The guy needs to get a life. What amazes me about these people who come from different planets is that they waist there time with the small penny type labor. Why does Sun Ra (an Egyptian name) spend his time earning money by playing a guitar? He could make millions explaining to NASA how to improve space travel.
Aw now, give ol Ra a break. Anybody in his right mind would beat it off Saturn to hang out on earth. I've heard that it's chockful of skinflints & hardas*&s. Jupiter, now that's a different orb entirely. Blowhards & windbags, but they throw amazing parties. ;)

Tim
April 11th, 2006, 06:02 PM
Tot - Get back on track!!! The Ra thing is dead.

Tim
April 11th, 2006, 06:04 PM
And ... I have looked at some of the videos from previous competition winners. The guy that won our contest will definitely go on to have his lunch eaten. The guys who make it to the National level are quite amazing.



JP - Where can one view the videos to which you speak of? Nice Queen's English there, don't cha think?