OK, change has come. We have evolved. This is a good thing overall, for the most part. Some things though, never change. As far back as you care to go, as far forward as you think we will last, some things never change. For as long as Dads have kids, there will be one sure thing that will last the Test of Time.

It is, I’m sure, the longest lasting family tradition since “The Talk.” Your Dad did it, his Dad did it, I bet God, if you believe in that sort of thing, did it.

God: Knock, knock
Worshiper: Who’s there?
God: Ach
Worshiper: Ach who?
God: Bless you.

Ok, maybe not, but what I’m trying to say is that I, Dan Grigor, have embraced a new method of torturing my children with bad jokes. Today, for the first time ever, I texted an inappropriate knock-knock joke to my grown-ass youngest son. From 1200 miles away, I got out my phone with its little tiny screen, turned it sideways for the qwerty keys and texted k n o c k k n o c k and he answered and back and forth til it was done including one last BWAAHHAHAHHH!

Sigh, that’s it for me. I will be one of those people with calluses on my thumbs, a phone constantly vibrating in my pocket, always excusing myself for a moment in the middle of a meeting to type “who’s there?” at a moment’s notice should the need arise.

Dads, don’t fight it. It is your destiny. Embrace the text. Claim a smartphone as your own. Keep your glasses handy and learn to type with your monstrous hammer-hardened thumbs. Now, more than ever, as people take a new look at what they put on Facebook, texting may be the only way to hear about what’s going on with your kids.

A long, long time ago, in a land that seems so far away, I played music with an amazingly talented woman. Laura Williams had the voice of an angel, wrote great songs and played the 12-string guitar. It was a musical match, her 3-octave range and my D-below-middle-C bottom 2 octaves gave us great freedom to explore “wide” harmonies and our 12-strings made a big background sound.

We played a lot in San Diego back then, little places, big places, including, of course, the Del Mar Fair and other local events. We put on our own show at the amphitheater stage in Brengle Terrace Park in Vista, CA that featured a few of my guitar students and it remains a cherished memory for me. I was so proud of them; they did so well.

I found an old rehearsal tape from my garage in Fallbrook. The sound quality was pretty bad. A small cassette recorder with one good mic and one bad mic for two 12-strings and 2 strong voices was all we had to work with in those days. It made a lopsided-balance working copy that I could use to practice to if nothing else.

I didn’t mix the buzz out, nor could I fix the balance. This sound is a memory for me that I’ll share with you because it was an amazing time in my life.

Ever since then, when I hear a female voice in my head singing the “girl part” of a song I’m writing, or a harmony to something I’m singing, this is the voice I hear.

I wish I had better recordings of us, but I don’t. I have a few and I’ll post more songs as I get them done.

She recently found me on Facebook. We haven’t talked in 30 years or so. We discussed and are planning on collaborating on a new project that I will announce soon. I’m so glad she found me. This is going to be fun. We have a great idea and launching it will be a little like old times, a little like the new.

Join us in this part of our story. Subscribe and StayTuned! There’s more…

Enjoy!

DanG

Link: http://sharemyguitar.com/blog/namm-2010-day-four/

Some tasty riffs in this one. My new blog post at sharemyguitar.com

Check out the whole story right here

My youngest son's Facebook status changed to "in a relationship." It made me smile. Later I get a friend invite from the girl. Her status pic is the two of them and they both look really happy. So I friend her and post on her wall "it seems you make my boy smile. I like that."

next is the exchange that followed

how freaking cute is this?

Read more »

Today I got to talk face to face with one of my real-life guitar heroes, Jorma Kaukonen, founding member of two legendary bands, The Jefferson Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna.

Not only did I get to meet him, I got to hand him one of my CDs and say "thank you, without you I wouldn't have one of these." He also kindly agreed to sit down with me and talk for a few minutes. A great interview from the Martin Guitars booth on the floor at NAMM. It that needs a little editing and we will post it to BareFootMusicNews.com as soon as it is ready to go.

Jorma has been teaching me guitar since 1965. He helped me find my passion for the acoustic guitar that, thanks to him and countless other players like him, I now play so well. Few have that passion for music, the dedication to and almost childlike love of playing guitar. You can see it on his face, when he plays and when he talks about it. I asked him to tell us about his guitar hero and what advice he would give to an up-and-coming guitar player. His answers will be good for you. Promise.

He stretched my world and, until today, he didn't even know it..

Thank you.