sideman survival

Chet Ties It All Together

Those seemingly useless riffs might just come back to you when you need them the most.

Years ago when I was younger and more impressionable, I read an interview where Chet Atkins was asked if he had any valuable advice for young guitarists. Chet replied, "Hold onto all of your neckties, they come back in style quicker than you''d think." At the time, hungry to glean anything that might help my career, Chet''s musings on antiquated fashion left me disappointed. It seemed like Chet was either well on his way to dementia or selfishly withholding the keys to the kingdom like a miser who insists on being buried with his Picasso, Rolex, and â€˜59 Les Paul. Today, however, I recognize the validity in the maestro''s advise. I might sound like a bad college Lit professor who reads way too much into everything, but Chet''s glib response does imply that aesthetic trends are circular, whether it''s what you wear or what you play. Hence, the aspiring guitarist should acquire everything that''s fashionable at the time and hold onto it.

JB (right) playing a post-show party with a very drunk Bret Michaels (left) and Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry

Here are examples of the circular nature of trends straight from the normal life of a Nashville sideman. I wasted hours of my youth in my parents'' basement with my regrettably long-gone, ''75 Les Paul Custom trying to learn eighties rock guitar. I sacrificed a good deal of my hearing by playing the dweedala dweedala dweedala solos night after beer-fueled night in sticky floored clubs. Then I tried my best to quit using all these licks in my playing when eighties cock-rock became uncool. I''ve been groan-fully changing the station on supa sounds of the eighties for over a decade.

Then two years ago, I unexpectedly did a few television spots with Bret Michaels of Poison. When I was relearning the solos to Poison''s hits, my prodigal youth paid off. When I really had to re-study the songs, I began to appreciate DeVille''s playing. Eighties rock and metal kind of dares you to make fun of it, but once you get past some aesthetic differences of someone groomed and coiffed in metal''s fashion you can appreciate the inventiveness and precision of it. Besides, it is so much fun to put down the Tele and Bludgeon an Explorer with your foot on the monitor. It truly is "nothing but a good time."

The Poison stuff opened my mind and ears. I also began noticing how often current Nashville recordings allude to big hair guitar. One of our top producers, Dan Huff was literally a giant of eighties guitar and his current work melds that style perfectly with that classic fast double stop Tele stuff. Turn on country radio any day and you will hear guitar work that steals from Jerry Reed, Lynrd Skynrd, Allman Brothers, Albert Lee, Alvin Lee, Mark Knopfler, Segovia. As backward and southern as we may seem, Nashville is actually amazingly open minded about melding guitar genres. Half the time I get a Nashville chart I find copious notes in their margins with allusions such as: "Back in Black vibe," "Credence Lick," or "Think Doobie Brothers." Current Nashville guitar is an amalgam of just about everything.

My brain is cursed with a very limited storage capacity, and although I regret that I can''t remember birthdays or where I parked my car, I am grateful for all the sonic garbage cluttering my memory banks and stealing away valuable gray space. Every once in awhile someone will say, "kind of a Dixie Chicken thaaaaang" and I''ll know what they mean. Perhaps Chet was referring solely to clothing, (you have to admit, the Strokes look good in those skinny ties), but my guess is, if Premier Guitar could arrange an interview from beyond the grave, Chet would encourage all of us to hang on to our hopelessly outdated licks as well as skinny and/or fat ties.

Romanticizing the Drug Musician Mythos

Drugs and rock n''roll don''t have to go hand-in-hand

I spent the summer after I graduated high school gigging five nights a week with a cover band in my home town of Billings, Montana. It was an informative three months; I learned about tone, pocket and vice. On one of my rare nights off I stumbled (literally) into a tiny bar where Chuck Pyle was absolutely tearing up his battered Martin for an audience of one bored waitress and one surly bartender. The performer was as talented as the room was dead...completely. Chuck was not only a brilliant guitar player but had mastered the art of between song banter. His spoken prologues were written better than most songs one hears at a writer''s night in Nashville. This was one hazy night nearly twenty years ago so I can''t remember the song title but I do remember his introduction; though not verbatim, it went something like this:

"Sometimes it seems to me like one of the jobs of being a musician is to take drugs and tell the rest of the world about it."

He then proceeded to paint a sonic picture of an acid fueled adventure in which he and some fellow musicians morphed into cats, (think T.S. Elliot meets Fritz). I doubt Chuck did this song most nights; he probably read his audience, me, the party of one, and thought, "I have the perfect material for this degenerate." It was so clever and visual that my one listening remained with me all this time. The new posthumous release of Kurt Cobain''s spoken word CD reminded me of Chuck Pyle''s hypothesis.

Many musicians clearly romanticize drug use, even addiction and, unbelievably, drug related fatalities. Some report that drugs open doors in their playing. Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, sober for some time now, said somewhat sheepishly in an interview that he probably wouldn''t have come up with that great bass line from "Sweet Emotion" had he not been high, (not exactly a ringing endorsement for clean living). The majority of stoner musicians are plain old, garden variety dimwits, (as seen on MTV throughout the eighties), with red-eyed smiles that say, "I wanna rock and roll all night and PARTY EVERY DAY," (ironically, a song written by the chemical-free Paul and Gene of KISS).

The worse are those annoying musicians who play the tortured genius card, arguing the overwhelming burden of lugging around brilliance and enormous talent necessitates a means of escape from feeling too deeply, (e.g. Pete Doherty, the wanker). Regrettably, the musician mythos has taken a sharp turn into some creepy, dark waters. There have always been drugs in music, but now they seem so openly evil. Go to YouTube and check out Cab Calloway''s brilliant performance of "Reefer Man"; the band, along with the audience are all in on a little joke about a bass player harmlessly and hilariously dabbling in weed. Now compare that with any random photo of Amy Winehouse. We''ve come a long way, baby.

Admittedly, I''ve not been an ideal role model. I''ve played many, many gigs with a not-so-healthy buzz (I ain’t talking about a 60 cycle hum from single coil pickups). I''m sure there are videos or audio recordings of some of my less-than-stellar, beer-driven performances out there on some website, which don’t set a great example for kids. Other mistakes include incriminating things I''ve said in interviews and colorful songs I''ve written. On the fifth year of Bushdom, (Bush dumb) I wrote and recorded a song called "Weed in the Whitehouse," which I intended to be more of a funny political jab than a NORML add:

"We need some weed in the Whitehouse,
give us all something to smile about.
Throw a kilo and the furnace
and pump the smoke into the oval office
we''ll finally have some world peace
when we all inhale with the chief.
Oh say can you see,
our country needs some weed."

No matter my intent, you''d be hard pressed to use my work as a battle cry for sobriety.

I regret my formerly cavalier attitude about the whole mess. I hope and pray that I never lead any young, aspiring musician astray. The music world of my youth, though replete with bloated rockers d.o.a. from their assorted overdoses, seems vaguely quaint when compared to what the modern paparazzi serves us each week. Yes, this sounds hypocritical and short sighted, but I maintain that there''s a gigantic difference between the drug use of musicians in the past and modern druggy musicians. In the past it seemed about love, fun and breaking convention, in hopes of establishing a new beautiful world. Today the druggers seem hopelessly set on destruction…no beauty, no future, just get numb and watch the cesspool burn.

The romanticized nihilist rocker image holds a seductive power. Regrettably, just as aspiring musicians study and ape what their heroes play, they also emulate their actions. I wish more musicians would attempt to tear down this false appraisal of the cool, drugged-out musician and give people a more accurate depiction of the true torture these people put themselves and others through.

Singer Layne Staley of Alice in Chains bravely did just that in his final interview three months before he died from an overdose of heroin and cocaine, revealing a broken 34-year-old, incontinent, addled minded, and incapable of leaving his apartment:

"I know I''m dying," he rasped through missing teeth. "This f---ing drug use is like the insulin a diabetic needs to survive...I''m not using drugs to get high like many people think. I know I made a big mistake when I started using this sh--. It''s a very difficult thing to explain. My liver is not functioning and I''m throwing up all the time and sh---ing my pants. The pain is more than you can handle. It''s the worst pain in the world. Dope sick hurts the entire body... I did crack and heroin for years. I never wanted to end my life this way. I know I have no chance. It''s too late. I never wanted [the public''s] thumbs'' up about this f---ing drug use."*

Here''s a short list of a few other potential spokespeople who would have been more than qualified to expand on the pros and cons of mixing one''s music career with chemicals.

GG Allin (36) - punk musician, heroin overdose.
West Arkeen (37) - musician (Guns and Roses), drug overdose.
Chet Baker (58) - jazz trumpeter and singer.
John Balance (42) - musician (Coil), fell over a banister while drunk.
Florence Ballard (32) - musician (The Supremes), cardiac arrest strongly exacerbated by long-term drug abuse.
Lester Bangs (33) - musician, writer, overdose of painkillers, possibly accidental.
Bix Beiderbecke (28) - jazz musician, alcoholism.
Bunny Berigan (33) - musician, trumpet, liver cirrhosis from alcoholism.
Wes Berggren (28) - musician (Tripping Daisy), suspected drug overdose
Dave Bidwell - musician, the Pink Fairies, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown, Mungo Jerry.
Matty Blagg (real name Matthew Roberts) - musician (Blaggers I.T.A.), heart attack due to ketamine / ecstacy OD.
Mike Bloomfield (36) - blues guitarist, heroin overdose.
Tommy Bolin (25) - musician (Deep Purple), drugs overdose and/or alcohol poisoning.
John Bonham (32) - musician (Led Zeppelin), alcohol-related asphyxiation caused by choking on his own vomit.
James Booker (44) - musician, liver failure..
Rob Buck (42) - musician (10,000 Maniacs), liver disease.
Tim Buckley (28) - rock and roll musician, heroin overdose.
Chad Butler (aka "Pimp C" - 33) - rap musician, accidental overdose of Promethazine/Codeine.
Paul Butterfield (44) - musician, drug and alcohol overdose.
Toy Caldwell (45) - musician, Marshall Tucker Band.
Gene Clark (46) - musician (the Byrds), bleeding ulcer due to long term alcohol abuse.
Sonny Clark - musician, hard bop pianist, heroin overdose.
Steve Clark (30) - musician (Def Leppard), accidental death (anti-depressants, painkillers and alcohol).
Michael Clarke (47) - musician (the Byrds), liver failure due to long term alcoholism.
Kurt Cobain (27) - musician (Nirvana), heroin overdose and a shotgun wound in head. Also theories for murder.
Brian Cole (30) - musician, the Association, heroin overdose.
Brian Connolly (51) - musician (Sweet), liver damage caused by long-term substance abuse and chronic alcoholism.
Cowboy (real name Keith Wiggins - 29) - musician (Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five), drug overdose.
Carl Crack (30) - musician (Atari Teenage Riot), drug overdose.
Darby Crash (22) - punk musician (The Germs), suicide by heroin overdose.
Robbin Crosby (42) - musician (ex-Ratt), contracted HIV as a result of long-time heroin addiction and died of a heroin overdose.
Jesse Ed Davis (43) - guitarist, session musician, drug overdose.
Rick Dey - musician (the Vejtables, February Sunshine, the Wilde Knights and the Merry-Go-Round).
Dimwit - musician, D.O.A., drug overdose.
Tommy Dorsey (51) - jazz musician and bandleader, choked to death while sleeping with the aid of drugs.
John Dougherty - musician, Flipper, heroin overdose.
Nick Drake (26) - musician, anti-depressant overdose, disputed suicide.
Kevin DuBrow (52) - rock vocalist, cocaine overdose.
Tommy Edwards (47) - musician, liner notes for greatest hits album claim death due to alcoholism
John Entwistle (57) - musician, bassist for the Who, died from heart failure brought upon by cocaine use.
Brian Epstein (32) - Manager of The Beatles, drug overdose.
Howie Epstein (47) - musician, ex-bassist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, heroin overdose
Rick Evers - musician, drummer and songwriter, was married to Carole King, heroin overdose.
Pete Farndon (31) - musician, the Pretenders, drowned/ heroin overdose.
Keith Ferguson - musician, the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Rory Gallagher (47) - musician, Taste, died of pnemonia and a liver failure, caused by side effects of a combination of doctor-prescribed drugs.
Judy Garland (47) - singer and actress, disputed drug overdose as cause of death.
Lowell George (34) - musician, Little Feat, heart attack - habitual drug abuse probable cause.
Andy Gibb (30) - singer, younger brother of the Bee Gees; cardiac damage strongly exacerbated by cocaine and alcohol abuse.
Candy Givens - musician, Zephyr, drowned in jacuzzi after passing out from a mix of alcohol and quaaludes.
Dwayne Goettel (31) - musician, Skinny Puppy, heroin overdose.
Paul Gonsalves (53) - jazz tenor saxophonist, Duke Ellington, narcotics overdose
Stacy Guess - musician, the Squirrel Nut Zippers, heroin overdose.
Bobby Hatfield - musician, The Righteous Brothers, heart attack triggered by cocaine overdose.
Tim Hardin - folk musician, heroin and morphine overdose.
Eddie Hazel - musician, guitarist, of the P-funk collective, liver failure.
Jimi Hendrix (27) - rock and roll musician, respiratory arrest caused by alcohol and barbiturate overdose and vomit inhalation.
Gregory Herbet - musician, Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Bob Hite - musician, Canned Heat, heart attack from drug use.
Randy Jo Hobbs - musician.
Billie Holiday (44) - jazz singer died from cirrhosis of the liver attributed to longtime alcohol and heroin abuse.
James Honeyman-Scott - musician, the Pretenders, cocaine overdose.
Shannon Hoon (28) - musician, singer in Blind Melon, cocaine overdose.
Steven Ronald "Stevo" Jensen - musician, The Vandals, prescription drug overdose.
Brian Jones - musician, the Rolling Stones, drowned, very likely due to alcohol and barbiturate intoxication.
Rob Jones (a.k.a. The Bass Thing) - musician - former bassist of The Wonder Stuff, heroin/cocaine/alcohol overdose.
Russell Jones (a.k.a. Ol'' Dirty Bastard) - hip hop musician, accidential overdose, cocaine and prescription painkiller.
Janis Joplin (27) - rock and roll and blues musician, heroin overdose.
John Kahn - musician, Jerry Garcia Band, complications of heart disease, heroin, cocaine, and antidepressants found in his body.
Wells Kelly - musician, Orleans, heroin overdose.
Rudy Lewis - musician, the Drifters.
Gerald Levert - R&B singer, son of O''Jays singer Eddie Levert - accidental combination of prescription medications.
Frankie Lymon - musician, doo wop singer, heroin overdose.
Phil Lynott (36) - musician, Thin Lizzy, health breakdown caused by a heroin overdose.
Billy Mackenzie - musician, the Associates, overdosed on temazepam, amitriptyline, and paracetamol (suicide).
Steve Marriott - musician, The Small Faces and Humble Pie, drug related fire.
David McComb (36) - musician, The Triffids, heroin overdose.
Jimmy McCulloch - musician with Wings, guitarist, heroin overdose.
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - musician, the Grateful Dead, gastrointestinal hemorrhage linked to alcohol abuse.
Robbie McIntosh - musician, Average White Band, heroin overdose.
Jonathan Melvoin - touring keyboardist for the Smashing Pumpkins, heroin overdose.
Big Maceo Merriweather (47) - blues pianist, chronic alcoholism
Miss Christine - musician, The GTOs, heroin overdose.
Keith Moon - musician, the Who, accidental overdose on anti-seizure medication prescribed for alcoholism.
Jim Morrison (27) - musician, The Doors, heart failure, alcohol abuse (cause and fact of death disputed).
Billy Murcia - musician, the New York Dolls, accidental suffocation after drugs and alcohol.
Brent Mydland - musician, keyboardist, of the Grateful Dead, cocaine/morphine overdose.
Modest Mussorgsky - classical composer, alcohol.
Delphine Neid - musician, The Nuns, drugs overdose.
Joachim Nielsen (36) - rock musician in the band Jokke & Valentinerne, drug overdose
Bradley Nowell (28) - musician, Sublime, heroin overdose.
Charlie Ondras - musician, Unsane.
Bryan Ottoson - musician, American Head Charge, accidental prescription-drug overdose.
Malcolm Owen - singer, lyricist of the Ruts, heroin overdose.
John Panozzo (47) - musician, drummer, Styx, complications of alcohol abuse.
Charlie Parker (34) - jazz musician; the official cause of death was (lobar) pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer, his death was hastened by his drug and alcohol abuse
Gram Parsons (26) - country musician, of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, overdose, purportedly of morphine and tequila.
Jon-Jon Paulos - musician, the Buckinghams.
Art Pepper (56) - jazz musician.
Kristen Pfaff (27) - musician, ex-member of Hole, heroin overdose.
Esther Phillips (48) - musician, singer, liver and kidney failure due to alcohol and heroin dependency.
John Phillips (65) - musician, of the Mamas and the Papas, heart failure due to lifetime of alcohol and narcotics abuse.
Rob Pilatus (32) - musician, Milli Vanilli, drug overdose.
Carl Radle (37) - bass guitarist, Derek and the Dominos, Eric Clapton, kidney disease due to long term narcotics and alcohol abuse
Dee Dee Ramone (50) - musician, the Ramones, heroin overdose.
James Ray - singer, drug overdose.
Johnnie Ray (63) - musician, liver failure caused by alcoholism.
Jimmy Reilly (17) - musician, Watertower West and Tony And The Tigers, heroin and alcohol overdose.
Rob Graves Ritter - musician, Thelonius Monster, Gun Club, the Bags, 45 Grave
Andy Rogers - musician, bassist with Johnny Cash, heroin overdose.
Peter Rosen - musician, War.
Michael Rudetsky - musician, keyboardist, Culture Club, heroin overdose.
David Ruffin (50) - musician, the Temptations, drug overdose.
Joe Schermie - musician, Three Dog Night, heart attack resulting from long-term drug abuse
Bon Scott (33) - musician, AC/DC, aspiration brought on by alcohol intoxication.
Ronnie Scott (69) - jazz tenor saxophonist, died accidentally from a mixture of brandy and temazepam.
Jason Sears - musician, Rich Kids on LSD, treatment with natural drugs.
Will Shatter - musician, Fliper, heroin overdose.
Eddy Shaver (38)- guitarist Billy Joe Shaver, Dwight Yokam. Heroin overdose.
Bobby Sheehan - musician, Blues Traveler, drug overdose.
Judee Sill - folk musician, heroin overdose.
Hillel Slovak (26) - musician, Red Hot Chili Peppers, heroin overdose.
Robert "Snoopy" Smith (46) - Saxophonist , heart attack after a lifetime of alcohol abuse.
Vinnie Taylor - musician, Sha Na Na, heroin overdose.
Gary Thain - musician, Uriah Heep, drug overdose.
Johnny Thunders - musician, the New York Dolls, alcohol and methadone poisoning.
Ike Turner (76) - musician/producer, died from cocaine overdose with high blood pressure and emphysema as contributing factors
Dick Twardzik - bebop jazz pianist, heroin overdose.
Sid Vicious (21) - musician, the Sex Pistols, heroin overdose, disputed suicide
Gene Vincent - rock and roll musician, liver damage caused by alcohol.
Jeremy Michael Ward - musician, The Mars Volta, apparent heroin overdose.
Michael Weber - lead guitarist of The Seminal Rats, heroin overdose.
Kurt Winter - guitarist with The Guess Who, kidney failure after sustained drug abuse
Keith Whitley (33) - country musician, alcohol poisoning.
Danny Whitten - musician, Crazy Horse, drug overdose or drugs with alcohol (disputed).
Alan Wilson - musician, Canned Heat, drug overdose (possible suicide).
Dennis Wilson (39) - musician, The Beach Boys, alcohol-related drowning
Hank Williams (29) - musician, drugs and probably alcohol.
Andrew Wood - musician, lead singer Mother Love Bone, Malfunkshun, heroin overdose.

*"Layne Staley: Angry Chair—A Look Inside the Heart and Soul of an Incredible Musician" by Argentinean writer and music fan Adriana Rubio.

Quit Playing Guitar

Playing the same licks over and over? Read this.

Hello, gentle reader.

Please stand up from your computer monitor, walk over to your nearest guitar, pick it up and play for one minute; I''ll wait...

None of you are moving. I''m serious, this is an experiment, in the interest of guitar science you need to walk over to your nearest guitar and play for one minute. It''s not like you have anything better to do right now... you''re just sitting there web surfing. Take a one-minute guitar break, then come back.

...
...
...

Ok, and we''re back.

When you picked up your guitar, did you immediately play the same fast riff that you''ve been playing for about a decade? After exhausting that same tired, cliche string of notes, did you then move to another riff that you''ve been boring yourself with for years? I did. Every time I pick up a guitar, I mindlessly spew out the same shit I''ve played since I was a teenager. It takes me about four minutes to play everything I have developed over the past twenty five years. It would drive me crazy if it weren''t so mindless, I''m not even aware that I do it. We all do it. There are amazing players that I''ve worked with over the years and every sound check when they play alone to check their gear, they play their own little, annoying string of mindless notes.

This reminds me of a documentary I saw by Jerry Seinfeld where he retired his stand up routine that he''d been developing and perfecting since he was a kid. The doc follows Jerry as he tries to create a new show. It was brutal to watch this once hilarious comic trying to entertain without relying on all of his standard riffs. He worked like mad to invent five solid minutes of good observational humor only to have it fall flat on stage. Like Jerry, at different times in my career when I was feeling particularly uninspired I told myself I would go through an entire gig or session trying to play all new stuff; just listen, and see where my ears may take me as opposed to relying on brainless muscle memory. I''ve never been able to make it through even one song with out reverting to my tired bag of tricks. When I try to break out of my very small box, I go blank.

Jerry Seinfeld''s well-oiled, flawless, old stand up routine was the foundation for his entire comic empire. The thing about it was that his delivery remained perfect. He''d never rush a punch line or skip a long, dramatic pause. When I did my "pick up a guitar and play for a minute" test, and tried to really analyze my stupid go-to riffs, I found that because they were so mindless, soul-less, and dead, they had morphed into a sloppy, pocketless cacophony. I rushed everything. Ironically, the stuff I played the most had become poorly executed.

What to do? Continue playing the same slop or torture myself trying to break into brand new slop? The best thing I ever did for my playing was to quit playing guitar. I bought a mandolin about sixteen years ago, got a chord book and started from scratch. I knew nothing about the mandolin other than I liked the way it sounded. Not only did it really help my guitar playing but it''s gotten me a ton of work over the years. About six years ago I bought a pedal steel and did the same thing. (A word of advice: if you are going to buy a pedal steel, get a good one. You can''t make music on a poorly built steel because it will never play in-tune. I spent some serious bank on a GFI which is way better than I am. I would have never stuck with it if I was learning on something unplayable).

When my guitar playing hits a particularly stagnant spot, I stop playing guitar at home and only play steel. The great thing about an unfamiliar instrument is that it makes you listen. Steel makes you see how all these color tones work. It''s also great for your pitch and will help make your guitar bends more in tune. I wasn''t going to become a better guitar player by playing the same string of notes. Yes... it''s rich irony... I had to quit playing guitar to be better.

One final, funny story. Years ago, Bill Monroe would play every week at a club called The Bell Cove in Nashville. It was a tiny, no cover club where bluegrassers would jam on Bill night. A friend of mine played with him once (I was too chicken). My friend said that after he took his third solo, Bill leaned over and said to him, "play something else, that lick ain''t no skeleton key"

Green Day Rig Rundown [2024]