learned from him.
into a category. “Is he acoustic? Is he electric?
well. That’s more of how I think of it.
Is he an instrumentalist? Is he a songwriter?”
[CG] You played piano before moving over to How do you want to be perceived by people [CG] You’ve been a two-amp kind of guy
guitar. Did you start out reading music, and if so who follow you and love what you do? for a long time. These days it looks like it’s a
how is your reading these days?
Shaw and a Vibro King with a cool mix of 12’s
[Joe] I don’t have a certain way in which I and 10’s. A lot of players just use one amp, so
[Joe] I did start reading when I played the want to be perceived. I just do what I love to explain the magic about using two amps.
piano, and that’s maybe the reason that I do, and I love sharing that with people. It’s a hated playing the piano (laughs). I’m not a struggle for me to think in terms of the music [Joe] It’s something I’ve done on and off.
skilled reader today. I can read music, and business and how to frame myself in a way It’s a funny thing. Someone once described
sometimes I’ll use software like Guitar Pro to that’s more focused. That’s honestly something it as, when you have two amps running, the
notate songs and figure things out, and I enjoy I struggle with because I love to play great instrument changes. There’s more overtones,
doing that. I understand rhythms and harmony, music with great musicians, and I love to write or there’s more going on somehow. I spent a
and I did music theory classes in High School. songs and tell stories on stage. I love to create good bit of last year touring with Robben Ford,
I understand all that stuff, but I’ve never been music in the studio that’s different and to create and I took out both my Shaw and my Vibro
called to a gig and asked to read music. music that’s compositionally different. I guess King on the tour that we did with the Guitar
Sometimes I’ll read the head of a jazz tune, and some people would say that I’m trying to find Army, which was Robben, Lee Roy Parnell, and
I can do that. my voice, or find my sound, but I think that I’ve I. The reason I took two amps out was because
always sounded the same. It’s just that I enjoy I wanted to be loud enough! Robben had his
doing so many different things. Dumble, and it was a lot to compete with. It has
For me, playing the piano was like sitting down
in the same place every day and practicing
such a beautiful, clear, amazing tone. Robben
something off of a bit of paper. Playing the Recently, I’ve been touring solo, so I don’t play actually said to me that he thinks one amp
guitar lets me take it to the other side of the with a rhythm section anymore. That’s helped sounds better, so there’s a lot of different views
house and take it outside, and I could play this eliminate some of the other elements in my from different people out there.
cool song that I learned. I could sing along with music that weren’t “me”, for lack of a better it, and it was just a different, more informal way term. When I’m on stage I will play some intense Recently, I’ve just been using the Vibro King
of enjoying music for me. I think that’s one of guitar stuff, and then I’ll sing a song that’s more for solo gigs, and then if I’m with a band I’ll
the reasons that I gravitated towards the guitar. about the song. And then I’ll do a spoken word, plug in to the Shaw – it has a little more power.
poetry piece. There’s a lot of variety, but it’s all But when I’ve recorded I’ve always played
me and it all comes from the same creative two amps and mic’d them and used a blend
[CG] As an artist, it’s interesting to try and fit you
Gibson J1964SG
a gift from Robben Ford
Fender Custom Shop
'63 Relic Stratocaster
Jul Aug 2017
Gretsch
White Falcon Jr
Maton Custom Shop
JR Personal 2011
CollectibleGuitar.com
Maton Custom Shop
JR Personal 2015
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