___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
With my team falling apart faster than the principles of Christianity when confronted with history, common sense, or the scientific method (it's genetically impossible for the human race to have been spawned by only two people), I decided that it's time to shift gears this week.
Since there has been a certain level of disappointment with regard to my lack of doing consistent updates, I decided to do one every day this week. I was inspired by my favorite guitarist; Buckethead, who last month released a new album every day leading up to Halloween. Since he stopped touring in 2012, he's been putting out albums at a frenzied pace. As of November 2, 2015, he has released 106 albums this year alone. That's an average of a new album every 2.89 days. It kind of makes the act of updating the front page once a week seem pretty effortless by comparrison.
Just a heads up though, I'll be discussing things totally unrelated to fantasy football this week. I'm planning on just opening the floodgates of my brain and typing whatever comes out. Truth be told, I really don't even have a list of things I'm going to write about, just whatever pops into my mind that day.
___________________________________________________
The first time I ever saw Buckethead was in 2002 at the VMA's when he was a replacement guitarist for Guns n' Roses.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
My first thought was that the KFC bucket and Halloween mask was a cheap ploy. Kind of like the way KISS attempts to gain attention while disguising their inability to play their instruments or write decent songs by putting on makeup, wearing costumes, and having elaborate stage shows.
So for the next 12 years I dismissed Buckethead as just another gimmicky musician.
Then in January 2014, I was on Youtube when the auto-play feature started a video of Buckethead playing live after my Pantera clip finished. I didn't immediately close the window and as I started watching him play, I realized that he was actually pretty skilled. Before I knew it, I had watched the entire 43:16 performance and was blown away.
I doubt many of you are that interested, but here's the video I'm talking about. He has a short improv session starting at the 14:25 mark that I found to be very impressive.
___________________________________________________
For all the years I've been playing guitar and listening to music, I've got to say that Buckethead is the most talented guitarist I have ever heard. Don't get me wrong, the guy is weird. I'm not going to try and deny that. He never allows himself to be photographed without his mask, he doesn't do interviews (though there is a clip of him talking on MTV using a severed head as a proxy).
For as strange as that is, I actually find it to be almost refreshing given the status of the music industry today. It seems as though for anyone to become a "star" all they need to do is be good looking, dance on stage, and perform songs that someone else has written, all the while "singing" in auto-tune. Then at the other end of the spectrum you have Buckethead; a total virtuoso who can play circles around almost anyone out there, but he's doing everything he can to avoid attention.
I could go on about how much music has moved me over the years. The way listening to a song can weave a tapestry of notes on par with that of a Shakespearean play. How the music an build to a crescendo that emulates the apex of the second act. But these are all things I don't believe I can ever make anyone understand.
And therein lies the beauty, all music a personal experience. A singular journey that taps into emotions that can take us to the heights of joy or the depths of despair. A lot of my friends listen to Buckethead and find him to be irritating, but I hear an artist. An artist who is just as talented as a painter who can take a blank canvas and turn it into a masterpiece.
0 comments:
Post a Comment