for those about to rock

sunshine

stepping outside after having spent last night wrapped in blankets of mist watching the red sox let one get away, i felt like i came alive in the sun this morning (i think i probably got 'came alive' from paul westerberg and the song 'hold my life', but it just feels right).

i listened to a good chunk of 'axis: bold as love' on the train and as i walked to work, and maybe it was how the sun had opened the sky today, but man, did hendrix's guitar speak to me in a way that made me feel like i was hearing it for the first time (indeed, maybe even like SIMPLY HEARING for the first time).

beauty and menace. i once wrote a little blurb on the jimi hendrix experience for the advocate in which i likened a guitar in his hands to a divining rod, and i've always been fond of that analogy. hendrix laid bare the panorama of expressive possibilities of the guitar, pulling voodoo from the ether and telegraphing realms of sound that players that followed him would make a living on mining exclusively. this is why he is the greatest guitar player that ever lived. it's really as simple as that.

i would love, love, love to play guitar as though the instrument is a living, breathing thing, to play it in a way that makes listeners feel like they're hearing sound for the first time. it's an impossibly lofty goal, but i can only reap benefits, whether they're big or small, by striving for it.

posted by jomilkman @ 8:23 AM