Invisible Suns

Fender has a list of Top 10 Unsung Guitarists.  Not everyone can be Eric Clapton and be lionized from (what seems) birth.  Or Steve Cropper and get noticed for being the perfect sideman for like a zillion acts.  So this is a cool list.

Which is:  Doyle Bramhall II, Tyler Bryant, Jim Campilongo, Bill Frisell, Greg Koch, Michael Landau, Buddy Miller, Paul Pigat, Pillip Sayce, Alex Scally.

Can’t say I have heard of all of them, which I guess is the point.  But the write-ups sure prove these are accomplished guys.

Not sure where you would cross the line from “unsung” to “not sung enough” but I might nominate Joe Bonamassa, Buddy Whittington and Coco Montoya.  All masters who coulda/shoulda been bigger.

So what separates these guys from the Claptons, Becks, Pages and SRV’s of the world?  Singing?  Songwriting?  The right band?  Management?  Fashion sense?  Luck?

We’ll never know, of course, or else we’d all go out there and be superstars.

Anyway, play on, dudes.  Your sun may yet shine brighter.

p.s. – I was just kidding about the fashion sense.  I think.

A Hard Road

I saw John Mayall in concert a while back. Always a joy to see a legend perform.

And what a legend. Your textbook itinerant bluesman: working hard, grinding it out, spreading the word. Giving it up, getting very little back.

Always a footnote on someone else's career ... Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Coco Montoya, Walter Trout, Buddy Wittington, and now Rocky Athas. An impressive list of sidemen, but I understate.

Anyway, it was a fun show. Great tunes, tight band, lots of energy. Not bad for a 78 year old man.

Good work, John. You've been down so many roads. Glad to see you've still got room to move.