"I use heavy strings, I tune low, I play hard, and floor it. Floor it. That's technical talk." Stevie Ray Vaughan
for me...the reason why stevie ray vaughan was so important wasnt only because he was such a badass guitar player, but because he gave me a serious education in the blues.....and jimi hendrix. i mean, i was already into "blues based rock and roll" like the stones, led zep, aerosmith and ccr as well as over the top guitar stuff such as what eddie van halen was doing. but it was like stevie put the two together and said here, you can play some really mean guitar and still be a blues cat. he made it cool to be into the blues. he did it with integrity and never strayed from the music that he loved and dedicated his life to, never sold out for the $$$ like so many of his"disciples"do today. the blues scene before srv was mainly underground, small club gigs and occasional festivals throughout the country. he breathed life back into an art form that was all but dead and made it bigger, better and gave it the recognition it deserved.. the thing is that when i first heard srv, i wasnt into it...........i didnt "get it". i just wasnt ready to go stone cold blues yet. i remember sitting in my car with my friend dave and him sayin" you gotta check this guy out" so he puts on mary had a little lamb and i go, "what is this mary had a little lamb stuff". stupid kid ya know.....so next thing i know we have tix to see srv at winter island in salem, ma. THAT did it. not only did he rock the house, but it was just a charisma thing. people were just so into it . i saw him perform live a total of twelve times. every time more exciting and dynamic than the last. i remember seeing him once at the orpheum theatre in boston when he lost his voice half way through the gig and what do you think he did? cancel the rest of the show? nope. he played instrumentals the rest of the night. brilliant. ever since then he was the guitar player. the other thing is that i had had a couple hendrix albums in my collection but i NEVER listened to them. stevie not only sold me the blues but also showed me the importance of jimi hendrix as well. it wasnt until his passing in 1990 that i really even started playing his music and getting into the meat of his playing style ,his tones and techniques. i could go on and on telling you why he was so important to my development as an artist but ill just end by saying what stevie probably would have said which is ...do whatever it is that you wanna do and play the music that makes you happy, but whatever you do, do it 110% or dont do it at all.
