It's a wrap party and you're all invited!
In synopsis, it was really truly great. Mike Kemp summed it up best to his wife Karin "it was like Christmas and Disneyworld rolled into one".
We had 6 great students spanning several states from IL, OH, PA & WVa. which included, Mike Kemp, Randy Brown( Carving Code) , Jeff Filapase ( gbguitarplayer), Tim Longfellow, Jeff Tarber, & Mike Yocum -an NS player!. (Dave Tipton from CO, and Greg from VA). Tim Longfellow was a wonderful last minute entry from OH and added some nice color and advice since he started out as a drummer. Samson was going to join us also which would have been nice to see him.
Seminar started prompty at 1 at the wonderful venue Cefalos. Greg led off the session.
Greg taught a new concept and with a focus on pentatonic scales, minor and major, as a jumping off basis for all pop music and for helping to find notes on the touch board. Emphasis was placed on inter and interdependence of both hands with practical tap twisters (™) to make you think in a very creative way and to get the hands moving.
Greg then took the time to address truss rod adjustments, critical to keeping your Stick and your playing in great shape. Greg very astutely demonstrated how to do a proper truss rod adjustment and in layman's terms explained what symptoms are associated with which adjustments to correct them. He then patiently adjusted everyone's Sticks.Then he gave private lessons for the remainder of the afternoon while Dave Tipton and I taught.
Dave Tipton is just a pure joy. Dave gave some real nice sage advice on arranging, innovative use of 6 and 9 chords, and some inside glimpses into his signature sound which in part utilize some stretch octave third octave chords. Dave also cautioned, which just as important about over arranging on the Stick, "just because you have all these strings and all these notes, doesn't mean you have to play them all!" He then taught from song examples from a very practical application that keeps Dave in paying gigs four times a week!
My section of the seminar focused on taking the drudge and fear out of changing strings. I had a post back a couple of months ago on what IMHO are the optimal string lengths for both the 10 and 12 string and a gadget I made which Emmett requested one for the shop. I now have two pdfs which you can attach to a yardstick and get the same quick results everytime and cut down on changing time with no fear of "short cutting" a string. We did some creative exercises to get you out of mental blocks and develop new rhythms for playing that are already in your head. I then covered how easy it is to do chord voicings especially for blues and how cool the Stick is when setting those up. Everyone got the seminar/SKYPE only book of "Dave's Big Book of Magic Tricks" chock full of 22 fun recognizable songs with CD examples of each one, and a large appendix of practical useful music information.
The concert was outright off the hook. We drew a very large and attentive crowd- you need both!
Greg and I always let the students perform if they want. and that's how I got started, plus and the boost to your ego is immense. Tim Longfellow did a wonderful set which included "Last Train" by Pat Metheny. Mike Kemp sang and played two original songs which was the only performer to sing and play and which showcased his professional arrangements and crafting of solid songwriting.
Next, Stick 2 It!, my duet with multi instrumentalist Mike Clancy, played. We did a New Celtic number called "Watermans", an original tune I wrote called "the Confusion Samba" because it moves up and down by 1/2 steps, Ain't No Sunshine when she's gone, and a Ronny Laws number "Friends and Strangers".
Dave Tipton put in a heartwarming set which included a wide range of songs from "Let it Be", a classic from the Great American Songbook "My Romance" ( made the crowd swoon- no kidding), to "Smells Like Teen Spirit"! A spellbinding song from his incredible album "Residue", which is a must own, rounded out the set and showcased Dave's arranging and songwriting ability.
Oh, did I mention we had a special guest just appear…. ONLY TOM GRIESGRABER!
Tom called me and was going to be in Washington D.C. on official business for NARAS and
the Grammies, and said he might be able to stop. AND HE DID ( scream top of the lungs!)
Tom went next and did songs from Unnamed Lands, another must own, playing both his and Bert's Parts- wow. He played "Rebecca", a lilting celtic like number, which held the crowd in his hand. The crowd response showed many of them knew him from his previous performances at Cefalos Solo and with Bert Lams of the California Guitar Trio.
Headliner Greg hit the stage and performed a very versatile set ranging from hip pop reggae, to cool mysterious jazz to outright over the top monster motors and outright shredding delight blowing through rapid time changes, rubato, key shifts and a firework display of technique all seasoned with total good taste!
Greg opened the set with a killer version of "Walking on the Moon" by the Police, extemporizing and taking it to even new heights than previous versions. Very great jazz got represented next with his rendition of "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat' by the great Charles Mingus (a personal request from me). A beautiful version of clean understated playing did justice to Dave Matthew's "One Sweet World".
Greg closed the set and the concert with a big excursion on "Tomorrow Never Knows" . The audience was in awe at various points, especially the ones in the crowd knowing Greg doesn't use MIDI. There was one section it must have been a slow gear coupled with some of the more elaborate reverb and space algorhytims of the TC Electornics Fireworks, that created an outwardly landscape you could get lost int. At one point I believe he kicked in all 20 stompboxes on stage including one we called "the Decimation of Smaug"
A rousing thunderous applause for Greg and the seminar and concert were over.
We took a group pic, did a little Meet and Greet, and bid goodbye.
Jeff F has some pics on Facebook and took some video. Please see the original announcement for wonderful and kind comments by Randy and Jeff F.
Again my personal thanks to Greg and Dave Tipton for teaching and performing. Big thanks to Tom G for the surprise and performance, and a big thanks to all the students and Lenny Cefalo for making it all happen. A great time was had by all !
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Dave B
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