Sir Richard Bishop

Joe's Pub, NYC - September 30, 2006

Category:

Music

Tags:

• sun
• city
• girls
• richard
• bishop

[lexo30]

@nassreiskulturen Thank you!

[nassreiskulturen]

@lexo30 I wish you success!

[lexo30]

@nassreiskulturen Jeez! Thanks. I seldom get complimented on my playing so I appreciate it very much. I suppose you could say that I had hoped, at one point, it would be more serious but at this stage, I've got to admit that it's pretty much a hobby - but I've been unlucky in that I've spent more than half a lifetime playing guitar and have met almost no musicians during that time. Maybe a dozen in my whole life. But I'm doing a degree in music, so that may change. Thanks though.

[nassreiskulturen]

@lexo30 I already did that. "Stupid Questions" was something I really liked. Great playing man! Is this just a hobby of yours or something more, let`s say, serious?



[lexo30]

@nassreiskulturen I play lots of kinds, although I'm entirely self-taught so I wouldn't claim to play any particular kind with any level of skill: a bit of rock, a bit of jazz, a bit of punk, a bit of bossa nova, a bit of free improv, a bit of traditional music. Which is maybe why I like Mr. Bishop so much, because he plays a similar range of thing but at a vastly higher level. If you check out my videos you can see me attempting to play various things.

[nassreiskulturen]

@lexo30 Thank you. I`ve already read about them. Gonna try to get something. Regarding the picks, I had a very similiar expierience. Trying to get a rather sophisticated sound, in a naive approach I started out using relatively thin picks. Took me some time to understand that with those I had almost no range for dynamics, whom I´m so fond of. When I began using thick ones it was like a revelation. What kind of music do you play?

[lexo30]

@nassreiskulturen Good luck finding the Sun City Girls on CD or download; they were never a big band although they have a devoted following. Some of their stuff can be found on the internet one way or another. One thing I can say about him is that, to get that big sound, he uses very thick (3.5mm!) picks; I got one myself to see what they were like to play with, and I realised that all my entire life as a player I have needed to use an ultra-thick pick but have never had one till now.

[lexo30]

@nassreiskulturen I'm not gonna pretend that I'm some great expert on his work: I was introduced to it by a work colleague who then left, so I can't pick his brain anymore. The only other album by him that I have is Polytheistic Fragments, which I haven't listened to very closely, but it's good. I recommend you look up the work of the band he used to belong to, Sun City Girls: their discography is huge and encompasses hardcore, jazz, world music and all kinds of stuff.

[nassreiskulturen]

@lexo30 Depends just on what your doing with it. Every technique gives you possibilities but brings also limitations with it. Your task as a player now, is to use the possibilities in such a way that the limitations become irrelevant. I think he did that perfectly. Just discovered him yesterday. But I love what I heard so far. Which records would you recommend besides "Fingering the Devil"?

[lexo30]

@TheBrowndawg (Actually, the more I listen to it, I realise that this sort-of-raga he's playing basically is Howrah Station. It has the same really fast strummed phrase in it, two groups of five notes going from the mediant to the subtonic and then from the mediant to the tonic, which he uses to end this - that 'dagga-dagga-dang, dagga-dagga-dang' thing. The studio version is about 15 minutes long and it's just stunning from beginning to end.)