Posts Tagged ‘eric johnson’
Eric Johnson & Sonny Landreth Concert Review 09/30/2011
I was introduced to Eric Johnson’s music when Ah Via Musicom was released in 1990 by my friend Mike W. Mike enjoyed he “shredders” like I did and dubbed the cassette for me. I liked it a lot and went back and bought Tones as well. We were excited to see him at the Boathouse in Norfolk later that year. It was a great show all around. I didn’t follow Eric’s career, probably because of the time in between the follow-up which was 6 years. Out of sight, out of mind, eh?
I live in Eric’s hometown now and he rarely plays here but it’s not uncommon to see him do a guest spot when other guitarists roll through town. He recent jammed with Dweezil Zappa and I’ve seen hm hit the stage with Oz Noy. I hadn’t see EJ live since that 1990 show and was pretty excited to finally catch him last Friday. I think he may have done 1 or 2 shows in the last 5 years here (I could be wrong) and I missed them all for one reason or another.
We had good seats and day of the show I was pretty excited about it, even after driving home 3 hours from Dallas.
The opener was Sonny Landreth who I had never heard of until this show was announced. I was really impressed with his set. He’s a very unique rock/blues/jazz fusion/country-ish player. He predominantly uses a slide but does a lot of intricate harmonic techniques and chord structures with both hands. It was pretty neat to see. The guy has been around for a long time and had played with John Hiatt and Jimmy Buffett (blech!). It was a good set and his drummer was great. I think the bassist was good too, but I couldn’t hear him due to the mix. The Paramount Theater has strange sound and I think I may try to get seats further back in the venue next time.
There was a short intermission and then EJ and his band took the stage. It started out with him just doing a few acoustic pieces, one of which was a Paul Simon lullabye. The band comes out he’s got the phenomenal Chris Marsh on bass. The drummer was some young guy named Mark something-or-other. Solid player, obviously schooled. Eric’s set consisted of a lot of newer material and some covers, including John Coltrane’s Mr. D, which was awesome. I will be up front and say that I was rather bored with EJ’s set as there wasn’t much of his rock stuff. So bored as a matter of fact that I left about 3/4 through his set. I was sitting there about to fall asleep. As good as EJ is, his stuff does get a bit “samey” sounding and I tend to get bored quickly.
Chris Marsh was certainly the highlight for me. He’s an astonishing bassist, effortless and awesome.
Other than seeing him sit in with other players, I doubt I’ll go see him live again.
Doug Morrison – solo from Primeval – 040910
This is my current main band with Doug Morrison and the solo from our song “Primeval.” Sorry for the poor video quality.
Enjoy.
Back on stage again.
Tonight is the first show I’ve done with Doug Morrison since Summer 2008. It’s been far too long. Doug played with the likes of Neil Turbin, Pete 
Way, Fred Coury and tons of others during his lifetime in the LA music scene. he moved here to Austin, TX right around the same time I did in late 2006.
I fell into a band pretty quickly after moving here and only did one show with them before parting ways. Doug and I were in contact that whole time and started playing together in May 2007. We went through a handful of drummers and found Larry. Larry was great. Hard hitter, good drummer, cool dude and great timing but circumstances dictated him leaving the band in 2008. We auditioned several drummers in 2009 and just couldn’t find the right one. Then comes this new kid in town, Ryan who started playing with us around November 2009. Nice guy, good drummer. He learned the stuff quickly and we’re doing our first show with him tonight.
I’m excited. Doug is easily the best guitarist I have ever played with. After 3 years I’m used to playing in an instrumental band and it’s nice not having to deal with a singer. He’s a GIT grad and former instructor and is really just an incredible player.
I think this is the beginning of a brand new chapter with this band that should be fruitful and successful. Adding lots of new songs all the time. I’m finally excited about music again. You can hear some stuff on the Myspace page, but it’s not a good representation of his/our sound. There’s also some clips on YouTube. We seem so different than when those were made. we have a Facebook fan page as well.
One unique thing about Doug, especially in this town, is that he uses Strats. Everyone here is primarily a Les Paul player. Doug will be using one 
of his Hendrix Anniversary stacks tonight. I’m likely using 2 of my Ashdown 4×10 cabs and my rack (heavy bitch!) and my mid-80s Japanese Fender P-bass.
It’s going to be fun. Wish you could be here!
A little self-indulgence about one of my bands
So my main band is really getting things fired up again and I am pretty excited about it all. I just moved (again) and am now all settled in and can devote more time to playing music again…original music. Sure I love doing my Motorhead tribute band but there’s nothing better for me than to be a part of an original band.
The main project that I have been a part of for almost 3 years now (*gasp* has it really been 3 years?) is with a phenomenal guitarist named Doug Morrison. Doug was one of those LA guys his whole life until moving to Austin, Texas right around the same time I did a little over 3 years ago. I think we both arrived here within a few weeks of each other. Doug’s background includes playing in Neil Turbin’s post-Anthrax band in the mid 80s which also included Dave McClain from SA Slayer and Machinehead. There are a few good big hair shots of him on Neil’s page. Doug was a graduate of GIT in LA and graduated with Paul Gilbert and taught there with him around the same time.
We’re an instrumental 3-piece and I would say the best comparisons to the music are to Eric Johnson, Steve Vai with flashes of Allan Holdsworth and Akira Takasaki (in our heavier moments).
So if you’re into instrumental guitar rock, shred etc, check out the stuff @ our Myspace page.
We finally secured a great drummer and will be playing out again hopefully by the end of this month. Our last gig was over a year ago and it’s about time again. Auditioning drummers was a bitch. What a bunch of monkeys. I was a drummer for most of my musical life and damn if I would have ever shown up to an audition as unprepared (or untalented) as many of these guys did. What was great was the lashbacks we would get when Doug would let them know they wouldn’t get a 2nd audition or accepted into the band. Hilarious stuff.
We’re finally getting the album done as well. Drum tracks have been completed for over a year and Doug is finally laying down guitar tracks. My bass stuff should follow soon for the tracks that I am to appear on.
The Metal Files 
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