| Many thanks to the Taylor Guitar Company
for sponsoring the Doyle Dykes Workshop here in the Columbus area last
night. He is a brilliant guitarist and a must to see for any
"practicing" guitar player when he comes to your part of the
country. Unfortunately, the hosting guitar store held it at a
neighboring mini-sports bar which was quite noisy and sometimes very
disrespectful of our visiting star.
Not all was lost, however - Mr. Dykes likes to play
LOUD. Too, loud for my tastes, actually - but, that minor
annoyance was soon overridden by his incredible genius in playing his
very custom Taylor. Fast, clean, musical, personable - did I
mention FAST... Even when he got to my Chet pickin' he played
everything 3 times as fast as I can even think - let alone
play.
All his tunes, whether ones he wrote or those he
"borrowed" were filled with complex moving chord and bass line
structures that boggled this novice's mind. (And, I'm sure of the
host of "pros" that had come to witness one of the pinnacles
of their industry .) I especially liked (went nuts,
actually) when he was playing a tune with a (please excuse my spelling)
Rasquado tremolo technique on the high E string (that many expert
players use their 1st through 3rd fingers on) - however, he needed to do
it with his last 3 fingers because he was playing his melody with
harmonics with his first two.... The tremolo is difficult
enough - but, to add harmonic melodies on top of it is over the
top..... The guy is from another planet....
Great mini-concert (well worth the price - FREE),
however, the highlight of the evening for me was when he put down his
custom electrified Taylor and found that one of the other
"store" Taylor's he was going to demonstrate was a dreadnought
and didn't have any electronics.. So, he pulled up to the mic and
played a short list of OLD CHET, soft, and right up close.
And, as well as I ever heard anybody play them... Thanks Doyle
for a very memorable evening.
Palmer Moore |
