HOMESPUNArrangements in Contemporary Blues Style
Taught By Chris Smither.
Level 3
85-minute DVD or VHS, Includes music and tab book
Chris Smither has made a terrific lesson for everyone interested in taking traditional blues guitar style and incorporating it into a contemporary setting. He has perfected the art of combining the fingerpicking he first learned from the music of Lightnin' Hopkins, Skip James, Brownie McGhee and other country blues masters with groove-driven original songs that are as current as today's news.
Chris takes apart some of his most requested songs, slowing them down and analysing his arrangements for the learning guitarist. Chock full of musical advice, clarity and good humor, this lesson will add powerful licks and interesting ideas to your song accompaniments and blues technique.
You1ll learn the bass-line shuffle groove of "Link of Chain," the sliding harmony figures of "Happier Blue" and a load of great riffs to pull them together (including Chris's trademark use of his feet for rhythm accompanyment). Moving into open D tuning, he gets deeply into "Hold On," with its bluesy vibrato, bends and hammer-ons, while Roly Salley's heart-wrenching "Killin' the Blues" (one of Chris's most requested covers) highlights his ballad accompaniment. Back to standard tuning, Chris takes apart the Skip James-type lick that's at the heart of "Can't Shake These Blues," and then closes with a Delta-style "The Devil's Real."
Playing a blue Alvarez-Yairi guitar, miking his foot for percussion, and singing
way down in his chest like a man who has lived too long under a dark bridge,
Chris Smither is, quite simply, a wonder. -- Stereo Review
Steady touring and consistently brilliant albums have cemented
Chris Smither's reputation as one of the finest acoustic musicians in the country.
For the past three decades,he has been communicating his special combination
of soulful singing, original songs, and a powerful, blues-oriented guitar style
to enthusiastic audiences worldwide. Chris' use of traditional fingerpicking
techniques, along with compelling vocals, give him a sound unlike any other contemporary
stylist. He first started playing music in his home city of New Orleans, but
came of age musically in Boston at the height of the folk movement in the mid-sixties.
It was there that he forged friendships with artists like Bonnie Raitt, Eric
Von Schmidt, Jim Rooney and a host of other folk and blues guitarists, singers
and songwriters. He has made several highly-acclaimed albums, including 3Happier
Blue,2 which received the NAIRD award as Best Folk Recording of 1993. Since then
he has released other ground-breaking albums, such as "Up On The Lowdown" and "Small
Revelations." His most recent CD is "Drive You Home."