Joey Landreth & Derek — Golden Age of Gear
A few thoughts from the cheap seats—or, more accurately, from the bass side of the stage.
First, bass players.
Yes, we probably have less talent. At least I did and do. But I love music, I love participating in music, and a bass can add an enormous amount to a song. Where would “Smoke on the Water” be without that G?
If I’d had the skill to be a real guitar player, I probably would have been one. At 22, I was actually a pretty decent bass player and a distinctly Salieri-level guitar player. Eventually I had to ask myself the question that I think most aspiring musicians ought to ask at some point:
“Do I have enough sizzle to get over the wall?”
In my case: nope.
Then came the second question:
“Does the band have enough sizzle to get over the wall?”
My guitar player was pretty darn good, so maybe. But even if he got over it, I wasn’t entirely convinced I was going with him.
Which brings me to my principal plea:
Please let us play bass in peace.
We enjoy it. It’s fun. In fact, bass is a ton of fun, particularly when you have enough amplification to move furniture from across the room.
Joey Landreth’s brother, David Landreth, is an excellent bass player, and The Bros. Landreth simply wouldn’t be the same without him. I’ve been watching them on YouTube, and the music is remarkably listenable, interesting and sophisticated. So are the bass parts.
There is, of course, an easy economic solution: just pay the bass player less.
That’s probably what we deserve anyway.
Drummers, of course, can be replaced by machines.
I’m kidding.
Mostly.
Actually, drums may be even more fun than bass.
I do occasionally see extremely skilled bass players who seem determined to prove that they can make a bass sound as interesting playing melody etc as a guitar. They twist themselves into knots trying to play guitar-like parts on an instrument that already does something enormously valuable.
I always have the same reaction:
They climbed the wrong hill.
Joey Landreth
As for Joey, I saw Rhett Shull’s piece on him and completely agreed with it. Landreth is extraordinary. I watched him play “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” in a jazzier style while singing, and for me that was a 10.
That is very close to what I enjoy doing now that I’m 70 and retired: playing little songs, arranging them in ways that amuse me, singing along, and generally entertaining myself. I do it nearly every day, and it gives me a surprising amount of pleasure.
I’ve also stepped up my guitar collecting a little over the past year.
Last night I was sitting in my living room with three of the finest acoustic guitars being made today. I spent the evening moving around the circle, playing one and then another.
They were all excellent.
And that led me to an interesting conclusion.
Among truly great acoustic guitars, the differences can be significant, but they are differences among peers. Each instrument may do something particularly well, and you can reasonably prefer one to another, but none of these three made the other two seem ordinary.
James Tyler does.
Of all the guitars I own or have played, James Tyler stands out from the rest of the electric-guitar world more dramatically than any one of those extraordinary acoustics stands out from the others—or, for that matter, from the rest of the high-end acoustic-guitar industry.
There are lots of magnificent guitars being made.
Tyler somehow seems to have created his own category.
And I’m hardly alone in noticing it. There are plenty of YouTube videos making essentially the same point in different words.
Which is one reason your James Tyler episode frustrated me.
Golden Age of Gear
Since you actually asked what people think about the show, I’ll wander onto slightly more dangerous ground.
I think Golden Age of Gear has the ingredients to be considerably better than it currently is.
That is not quite the same thing as saying I don’t like it. I do. You have interesting people, genuine chemistry, terrific subject matter and access to a world that people like me are fascinated by.
But I think the show sometimes leaves a lot of good material unexplored.
I previously said I’m a better bass player than you are a podcaster, despite not having seriously played bass in about 50 years.
I’ll soften that slightly.
Let’s just say neither of us should be waiting by the phone for the Hall of Fame in Podcasting or bass playing, perhaps Landreth for Guitar , in fact I vote YES.
I thought the Lumiere episode was reasonably good. The James Tyler episode frustrated me much more because there was such a fascinating story sitting right in front of you.
I’m fortunate enough to own a James Tyler guitar—not because I’m a particularly gifted musician, but because I apparently turned out to be considerably better at business than I was at guitar.
Tyler guitars are extraordinary instruments. There is a wonderful story there: James Tyler himself, the history of the company, the necks, pickups, construction, finishes, the extraordinary paint work, the players who use them, and why people who own them tend to become rather fanatical about them.
I wanted more of that.
I now understand that Derek is a Revv executive and gear-industry guy first, rather than someone who spent 20 years preparing for a career in broadcasting. Fair enough. In fact, that probably gives him an advantage: he presumably knows far more about this stuff than a conventional interviewer would.
I’d like to hear more of that knowledge.
You don’t need a rigid script. In fact, I probably wouldn’t want one. But a little more preparation and structure could make a large difference.
Take something like Five Watt World. Those programs usually have a subject, a structure and a destination. You don’t need to imitate that format, but the discipline behind it is useful.
Before an episode, use AI. Read the company history. Read the manufacturer material. Find five or ten genuinely interesting facts. Make a one-page outline.
Then throw half
