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Topic: Freddie Roulette at Guitar Geek Festival, Orange County |
Kay Das
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 21 Jan 2012 10:47 pm |
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Freddie Roullete's infectious energy in evidence on stage yesterday and today at the Guitar Geek Festival. Freddie has an a-typical, a-tonal style, and is quite a character. Freddie Roulette and myself tested out the new Quilter MicroPro 200 watt guitar amplifier on lap steel at the Show yesterday.
http://www.dekedickerson.com/guitargeek/index.htm
Plenty of lap steels and vintage pedal steels on display.
Freddie's unusual a-tonal version of "Sleepwalk" brought the house down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09FdHpqX1iA&feature=related
Still images:
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 22 Jan 2012 11:26 am
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Thanks for sharing that, Kay. He's always been one of the most unique steel guitarists, in my opinion.
_________________
Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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Paul Arntson
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2012 12:04 pm
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Yes, thanks for sharing that, Kay!!
This video has more and better closeups than others I have seen. You can see the dot at the end of the white bar, and get an appreciation for the amazing slants he is doing most of the time.
Awesome! What a great experience to see him in person not to mention talk to him.
A true cultural treasure. |
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John Subik
From:
Sun City, California, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2012 2:57 pm
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| Thanks for sharing that, Kay, I could not make it to Deke's event this year. |
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Jean-Sebastien Gauthier
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 22 Jan 2012 5:39 pm
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Thanks a lot for sharing Kay, its very cool to hear real blues on lap steel.
Have you ever heard about Casey Bill Weldon? Its great because for me its a perfect mix of Hawaiian and blues music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIcJeV7LXt0 |
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Matt Berg
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2012 8:44 am 4Year Old Video!?!?!?
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Weird, this is a 4 year old video that I don't recall seeing before even though I have searched youtube for Freddie's videos more recently than that. And I mean it was posted 4 years ago, some of the comments are that old.
Whatever, thank for bringing it to my attention!
And I think I'd rather see the term extended tonality or advanced harmony applied to Freddie than atonal. I mean he plays some chords that are "out" and uses dissonance as a tool, but there's a chord structure to the tune that he's building off of, there's no atonality in the sense that Arnold Schonberg applied it.... |
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Peter Huggins
From:
Van Nuys, California, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2012 1:50 pm
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Hello Kay, sorry I missed the chance to say hello and talk with you there. I was busy running the camera in the back of the room and coordinating the shoot. I did meet and talk with fellow SGF member Chris Lucker, who brought two Bigsby instruments for the museum display (I also heard Ben Elder was there, but missed my chance to meet him).
I had heard Freddie on records and videos before, and was aware of his playing, therefore I was really looking forward to his set. Upon meeting him and talking I was impressed with his quiet demeanor and unassuming presence. But I was unprepared for how deeply hearing his touch on the strings would affect me in person. Friday night's performance, simply put, was so beautiful it brought me to tears. I am still a little overcome just thinking about it. He played again on Saturday, at Deke's request, replacing Lady Bo, who unfortunately had to cancel. Then while checking out on Sunday, I discovered Freddie was in the hotel room next to mine! We exchanged numbers and I promised to get a video of his set to him as soon as they get processed. Can't wait to see and relive it!
The other mesmerizing set of a totally enchanting weekend was the outrageous King Paris (allegedly the cousin of the stuck-somewhere-on-the-freeway Rick Vito), who played slide guitar like a man posessed during a totally exotic set (enhanced by a bass player complete with eye patch and fez, and two beautiful belly-dancer ladies). But, that's another thread...
Looking forward to any chance I get again to see Freddie play in person, and hoping to maintain my emotional composure upon the experience,
Yours truly, Peter
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A big THANKS to all my friends, here and everywhere ! |
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Kay Das
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 23 Jan 2012 10:22 pm
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Peter,
As you were there, you will relate to this anecdote...
As you will recall, as we approached 9.15pm, the scheduled time for Freddie's set, Deke made an anxious announcement that Freddie was nowhere to be found. As I had been testing out Pat Quilter's new amp with Freddie I know exactly where he was...in the trailer where Pat's amplifier was located. When I opened the door of the trailer there was Freddie. He had completely forgotten what the time was and that he had to be on stage and had been busily playing his steel testing out the amp.
Yes, a quiet and unassuming man. He showed me magazines in which he had been featured on the cover. Quite a unique style. His version on stage of Sleepwalk was a little wilder than the one on Youtube I posted, and also wilder than the version he played in the trailer while testing out the amplifier. Peter, if you have any video that you have rights to publish, please do so!
Kay |
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Kay Das
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 25 Jan 2012 7:35 pm
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Freddie featured on Blues Art Journal magazine cover.
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