Playing The Blues Guitar - Seasick Steve Style





I believe that something like blues guitar music or art or whatever it is, if it's your buddy, it's going to offer you a great deal of enjoyment throughout the years anyhow. Like playing the guitar, to me, was always my buddy so even if I never ever got no place, which I never ever did, I would have never ever have actually altered anything. I constantly had a big desire to play so, 2 things, one is to enjoy exactly what you do and like exactly what you play, or art, or pastime that you like, do not stress about getting effective at it. However if you wish to get effective, it's a smart idea not to give up. It took me an extremely long period of time to get decent results, so I might have given up guitar picking 50 years back, truly more like 30 or 35 years earlier would have been a practical time for me to stop.





I'm a fortunate son of a bitch as far as travel goes. It's remarkable that I get to go round to do this. Perhaps I can see how I might do it in England, however I play all over and wherever I go people want to hear me - it is a bit beyond my understanding. I might most likely philosophize about it, but I'm simply fortunate. It is cool that you can go and play music. I mean, I constantly heard from other musicians that you might go and play blues music for money, and I always did on the the street or something like that. It was a kind of thing you might just do and play for the hell of it. If folk like just what you are doing you do not need to talk, you simply play.





If you're just playing on the street you do not get no loan for gear or guitar amplifiers. It's a respectable thing to do in my eyes. If you take a seat and take a look at your shoes, you ain't going to get no cash, most likely you'll fail unless yu engage your audience in the music. I learnt how to be, whatever performer I am, I discovered that out on the street, which was simply aiming to get attention so they toss money at you.





Individuals do not have to speak the exact same language to like you. We play in Spain or other countries and they do not speak English, however they are all rockin' and whatever. It's fantastic that music moves all kinds of peoples and you do not need to understand absolutely nothing. That's all it's ever been for me too. I sort of like music to fall all over and around you. It's a groove thing, that you move your feet to, some sort of lovely thing that washes over you, you understand.





You constantly hope in the back of your mind however that something might happen. My most significant wish in the last 35 years was that possibly I'd compose a tune that somebody might want to tape, you understand? However, mostly I played stuff because I liked it a lot. I didn't know what else to do. I would just relax and fingerpick my guitar. A great deal of people possibly do DIY something or build something - I like relaxing playing the guitar, so it's like a good ole friend of mine.





You got to be teetotal, which's alright too, many musicians why they end up being like that is they went so overboard that they cannot touch a drink ever again. I don't give a shit if people around me drink, they most likely have to. This binge drinking that individuals do and stuff like that, well if they want to damage themselves, go ahead, either that or they'll soon be be dead. If you damaged your body, you trash it pretty quickly.





The guitar is a buddy that has seen you through a great deal of trials and adversities and offered a lot back, without anybody listening, you understand? Without anybody being around. I listen to a lot of guitar players and blues musicians, and I'm still discussing music all the time since I do not know a lot about anything else. Maybe they'd get a band, something would come unstuck and they'd go, 'Oh, goddamn.' However there wasn't a lot preparation - it was just for fun. The minute you've gotten your guitar you have actually practicing while you're performing! You begin to find out after a while how not to burn your fingers, if you live long enough.





I believe playing on the street is just the strangest thing to do and you'll discover a lot from it. You are simply out there and nobody asked you to be there, so individuals stop and listen. Me and the person who plays drums with me played the streets in San Francisco. That was a really enjoyable since we were simply being there, in the street, playing. Individuals would come over; now and again individuals who knew me would visit and state, 'What are you doing on the street?' Another individual would come over and say, 'Aren't you expected to be playing a big festival this Saturday?' Like I'd truly fallen on tough financial times. You simply do it,just to do it. You just don't want to stop because they all like it, not due to the fact that they pay or 'cos they found out about something, you understand.





Do I have any tips for young guitar players? Among the important things I can consider is that if you wish to do something, particularly like music, or something that you like, simply keep doing it. Something for sure, if you have something you enjoy and you stop, absolutely nothing is ever going to come of it. So like in my case, where I simply kept keeping on and something finally happened. However, the big thing is to do it because you love, whether it's collecting stamps or playing the blues.





Author: Jim Bruce Date: 2014-08-03 Category: Music







