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Topic: Being Humble |
Dave A. Burley
From:
Franklin, In. USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2005 12:20 pm |
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Can you recall a time in your memories when you thought that you were really on top of your game as a musician when someone came along and flat kicked your butt off of your pedastal?
I can....several times.
After playing many of the clubs in Muskegon, Mich. and other venues elsewhere, I felt that I was ready for Nashville, Tenn.
I packed up and went, in 1963.
Boy...I was sure that I would pick up a gig with one of my heroes, one of the big Grand Ole Opry stars...
WRONGGGGGG.........
First club I went to the guitar player was fantastic.....Man, I thought...I'm glad that I heard the best in Nashville at the first place.
Next place I went to, the guitar picker was better than the last....Dang...The two best in Nashville right in a row. Couldn't believe it.
Well, you probably know the story....Every club that I went to had a guitar player better than the one before and way better than me....
Little did I know, at the time, that I was listening to the likes of a jazzy Billy Byrd, Leon Rhodes and several other pickers that were working some local gigs during their nights off from picking with one of the super stars.
Well, I stuck it out anyway and didn't do too bad in Nashville but not nearly as well as my, by now, deflated ego had me thinking I was going to do.
Nashville has the best pickers in the world.
Lot of pickers, like me, leave home heading for the lights and most of us discover that we should have stayed at home.
The good ones stay in Nashville. That's the ones where the Curly Chalkers, Buddy Emmons, Doug Jernigans and all the other great pickers came from.
I was starting to think I was pretty good again and that's when I conceived the idea of the Cavalcade Of Guitars recording in Dallas.
Emmons, Chalker, Jernigan, Anderson, Howard Roberts, Tal Farlow, Les Paul and all the rest of the great pickers I had on that session.
That was in 76.......Another rude awakening and another big dose of humbleness....After hanging out with those guys for a while, I packed up my guitar and very seldom have I taken it out of the case since.
Oh, I could handle a job alright but those couple instances flat knocked my hat in the creek and deflated an ego, leaving a big enough hole that it will never go up again.
Yes, I did get a couple very big doses of humbleness.
Moral of the story?......When you start thinking that your pretty good, take a trip to Nashville, Tenn. and listen to some of the pickers in the clubs on East Broad St.
Thanks,
Dave A. Burley
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 23 Jul 2005 1:02 pm
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We're all different I guess.
From the time I saw Buddy Charleton, Sid Hudson, Roy Self, and the Justice Brothers as the "String Dusters", and Don West and the "Nashville Sound" in WADC in 77 I've never been the same.
They lit a fire that nobody has successfully been able to extinguish.
Even me.
I got a Sho~Bud and haven't stopped playing yet.
Nashville?
Well, there's a lot of heartbreak there.
More than I want.
EJL |
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Al Carmichael
From:
Sylvan Lake, Michigan, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2005 1:30 pm
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No matter who you are or what instrument you play, unless you are in the top 1/2%, there will always be somebody "better" than you. Thats no reason to quit practicing and playing. Yeah, it does humble you when you first run into a player that can blow your doors off and it can crush your ego. You think it didn't ever happen to the greats? It did--every one. They used it as inspiration to reach and grow.
I just play because I love the music and if I'm playing with someone who's hotter than I am, I just listen and smile at the great stuff I am hearing. I'm good, but I am not on the level of the true masters. So what? I can play gigs and people enjoy what I do. Nothing wrong with that. If you set impossible standards for yourself, you'll always be miserable.
I joke with great players and tell 'em if I could break a few of their fingers I could play as good as them! And they always laugh and take it as its intended--as a supreme compliment. |
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George Redmon
From:
Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.
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Posted 23 Jul 2005 2:04 pm
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Dave...now i have known you for a long time my friend..and to this day, you can hang with the best. Why would someone else's playing make you want to stop picking? if that were the case..i would have given up a long time ago...you are a good...no make that excellent guitar player..i would give anything in the world to work with you...and we will play together sometime i just feel it..at one of my jams or someplace. I wish that i could say i played on a local ABC Television network affiliate, producer of several of the top steel and guitar player session LP's in the world, producer of an hour long radio program, musician 7 nights a week, and a friend to all..i sure hope one day, my resume reads as impressive...i may not be chalker, or les paul...but if you ever feel like jammin' i would consider it a privilege.and yes, when i slave to learn a lick, and some 18 year old rips them off like lightning..i do tend to shake my head..but not at myself...all we can do is the best we can, with what God has given us...i played some dates with Grandpa Jones, Jan Howard, Bobby G. Rice, oh Narvel, and a couple others i can't remember..it was an opportunity, and i'm glad it came along. But i think just as much of the local guys i jam with...my ego, is doing a good job, no matter who i'm with, or where, and the sooner you pick your guitar up again...the better we will both feel..sorry if you think i was rantin' on you Dave...you're my buddy....
Almost forgot, Janie Lambert, Earl Duzan, and Glen, told me to tell you hi, they all miss ya friend......
edited fer spellin' and i still can't spell!
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Whitney Single 12 8FL & 5 KN,keyless, dual changers Extended C6th, Webb Amp, Line6 PodXT, Goodrich Curly Chalker Volume Pedal, Match Bro, BJS Bar..I was keyless....when keyless wasn't cool....
[This message was edited by George Redmon on 23 July 2005 at 03:10 PM.] [This message was edited by George Redmon on 23 July 2005 at 03:35 PM.] |
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Joe Miraglia
From:
Jamestown N.Y.
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Posted 23 Jul 2005 2:47 pm
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| Every time I read one of these post. You have all done more than me, play better and know more, and I have been playing over45 years Joe. |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 23 Jul 2005 11:36 pm
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Dave, are you saying that because you encountered some real legends in the course of your work in the music business, which I will presume that you engaged in in pursuit of a great musical experience, and that this exposure led you to recognize your own limitations on your chosen instrument you now don't even play it at home by yourself when no one else is looking?
Humilty is a very useful ally.
Self-loathing is another matter.
If you have the music in you it deserves to get out to play at least once in a while. The young kids that rip those blazing riffs off like nothing at all still don't have a clue what else to play.
Every musical legend made a mark by playing differently from anyone before them and not all have done it with blazing rides - it's the emotional connection that people respond to.
With a producer's ears I 'm sure you're capable of some powerful music well worth being played, whether or not anyone else ever hears it.
Play on - dg[This message was edited by Dave Grafe on 24 July 2005 at 07:25 PM.] |
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Billy Carr
From:
Seminary, Mississippi, USA (deceased)
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Posted 24 Jul 2005 12:09 am
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| I use the opportunity to play steel shows with players like Mike Johnson, John Hughey,Joe Wright, Bill Stafford,Hal Higgins,Cowboy Eddie Long and others as a chance to learn something on each encounter. Every steel show I've played on, I've picked up something from somebody. Plus if I get the chance I'll pass along what I found with others players. I'll help anybody anyway I can. |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 24 Jul 2005 6:58 am
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| I ate a big piece of humble pie in Nashburgh in the early '60's. There are many pieces of my broken heart scattered there as well ... |
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Dave A. Burley
From:
Franklin, In. USA
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Posted 24 Jul 2005 11:57 am
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Thanks for the kind words, George Redmon.
You know....It's been almost thirty years since I quit playing the electric.
Do I miss it? You dang betcha I do.
If I were still living in Muskegon, Mich., I would probably still be playing the shows and the clubs with Janie Lambert and Ron Lawrence and the others.
Instead of staying in Muskegon, I chose to go on the road promoting steel jamfest's and dozens of Grand Ole Opry shows. That life on the road was very exciting but limited me the opportunities to get together with musicians for jams.
Living in motels is not the ideal situation for practicing or jamming every night of the week.
I did carry my 1966 Fender Jazzmaster and twin-reverb amp up until about seven years ago when I finally sold them.
I guess that Bryant, Tharpe and the others might not have really been the main reason for me losing the desire to play. I guess that the circumstances I lived under were probably the main cause.
I still love the music and listen to steel guitar every day and have music going 24/7.
Thanks again for the kind words.
Dave A. Burley
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Ron Randall
From:
Dallas, Texas, USA
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Posted 24 Jul 2005 9:30 pm
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O Lord, it's hard to humble...
when you're perfect in everyway. |
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