Chewing the Gristle with Greg Koch Greg Koch

One of the world's best acoustic guitarists (just ask Total Guitar and Music Radar), Mike Dawes has made fans globally with his exciting and inviting brand of fingerstyle, percussive guitar. He first gained prominence on YouTube with millions of views for solo arrangements such as Metallica's "One",  Gotye's "Someone That I Used to Know", Van Halen's "Jump", his own tune "The Impossible" and others.  He has gone on to team up with players like Tommy Emmanuel, Periphery, Nick Johnston, Plini and more for collaborative, worldwide tours and videos.  Greg and Mike took a break from both of their busy touring schedules for this episode of Gristle!

3:49 - Growing up Guildford
8:33 - The exhaustion only kicks in when the touring stops, days off
13:13 - Doing everything yourself vs hiring out control of your career, and the importance of touring / building an audience
23:58 - The Music Industry in a post-COVID world
25:04 - Ben Lacy, creative fingerstyle, and Mike’s own virtuosic chops 
32:18 - How Mike works on timing as a solo player
37:44 - What inspired Mike to originally pick up the guitar
42:39 - The passing of the late, great EVH, and surviving COVID lockdown (mentally and fiscally)
49:50 - The digital age, guitar, AI, and how everything moves forward
64:14 - Being true to oneself as an artist and performer

Total Length: 76:30

Tom Quayle is an extraordinary musician, improviser, composer, cat,instruction-app entrepreneur, and six-string visionary hailing from Leeds in the UK. A master of legato playing, he has played all over the world giving him acclaim that means he can count Dweezil Zappa, John Petrucci, Brett Garsed, Greg Howe, Andy Timmons, and Tim Miller amongst his many fans. Greg and Tom get into the transatlantic gristle!

3:02 - The latest and greatest from Tom, from video courses, new apps, and lots of guitar
9:07 - Tom’s definition of a “legato” style of playing the guitar, and a few greats to help inspire your ear
18:17 - The importance of alternate picking, and honing in your own personal style of picking
30:30 - Tom’s formal guitar education
36:03 - The importance of a good teacher, and the influence of how music in the family shapes us as players
52:46 - Players who creatively combine jazz and other styles of guitar
60:10 - Buc-ee’s and tacos


Total Length: 65:32

The mighty Johnny Hiland astounds with his telecaster manipulations and chicken-pickin'-fricassee par excellence.  Known far and wide for his blazingly fast and tasty playing, Johnny is a guitar veteran of the Don Kelley Band (a Nashville institution where other veterans such as Guthrie Trapp, Brent Mason, JD Simo, and more got their start), and he's also played on records for artists such as Ricky Skaggs, Toby Keith, Hank Williams III, and Randy Travis, just to name a few. He was signed to Steve Vai's Favored Nations label in 2004, and he's been ripping it up ever since.  Johnny tells Greg his story as they get into the gear and the gristle!

2:12 - Thumbpickin’ (and how Johnny’s thumb is acting up)
6:05 - The birth of MTV and being able to SEE how people played guitar, and the importance of the pick, and noiseless pickups
12:40 - Johnny’s first real guitar and rig, and the glory of T and S style guitars
22:27 - The influence of early chicken pickin players, B-Benders, and The Byrds
27:55 - The Rockabilly Revival, Danny Gatton, and Roy Buchanan
37:23 - Johnny’s decision to drop out of school and move to Nashville, and growing up an absolute fiend for the guitar
47:02 - Johnny’s move from Nashville to Virginia, and knowing its never too late to make a good living as a musician

Total Length: 67:21

Duane is an incredible guitarist and songwriter, who has forged an impressive musical career by any standard. The son of The Allman Brothers Band's legendary guitarist Dickey Betts (who named him after Duane Allman), he has readily filled those large shoes with aplomb, appearing for years with his father, and also with bands like Dawes, Jamtown (Donovan Frankenreiter, G. Love, and Cody Dickinson), Whitestarr, The Allman Betts Band, and his own projects, such as Duane Betts & The Pistoleers. Greg and Duane get into the gear and gristle! 

2:16 - Greg playing with Duane and the Allman Family Revival, and digging in to Duane’s playing
7:05 - Growing up a Betts, Duane’s early musical taste, and his pull to the guitar
12:50 - What it was like having vintage Gibsons lying around the house, and Duane’s decision to go into music professionally
18:05 - Splitting time between the Allman Family Revival and Duane’s solo material, and Duane’s upbringing as a young Floridian 
26:42 - Gear, gear, more gear, and TONE!
43:36 - Stage volume - then and now
50:43 - Talking about The Blues and other musicians, father and son, and some tour talk

Total Length: 60:12
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North Mississippi Allstars' frontman Luther Dickinson is a great guitar player, musician, and human being! Greg and Luther talk about their recent appearance together with the Allman Family Revival, his influences, Luther and Cody's famous father, producer Jim Dickinson, 80s rock, slide guitar, and all kinds of other fun gristle. Dig it!

2:25 - Luther’s time touring with the Allman Betts band, how he linked up with The Revival, and growing up an old (music) soul
11:17 - Growing up with a musically iconic father, distinguishing the differences between styles of play over the years, and integrating different influences
21:25 - Luther’s transition from Memphis to Nashville, Luther’s work as a producer, and Luther’s favorite guitars
28:32 - Guitar fever
33:22 - The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, and the legacy of improvisation
44:19 - 1984 - the year of Van Halen, Purple Rain, Greg’s wet toe into Hair Metal, and missing out on quality greatness over the years
54:04 - Derek Trucks, Sonny Landreth, and a thick conversation on slide guitar
70:44 - The inspiration of ‘the random element’ of playing guitar, and grooving on the upbeats
78:27 - The last days of Hendrix, and the favorite songs to play on guitar


Total Length: 96:10
Fishman Dedicated to helping musicians achieve the truest sound possible whenever they plug-in. Wildwood Guitars One of the world’s premier retailers of exceptional electric and acoustic guitars.

Johnny Stachela is the firey slide guitar player from the Duane Betts Band, The Allman Betts Band, The Allman Family Revival, and many other renowned projects, all the while sporting his SG into his Fender Super Reverb and causing mayhem. Today they talk about the Allman Brothers, Dickie Betts, gear, and gristle!

2:17 - Playing with Duane Betts, and how Johnny fell in to playing with the Allman Family Revival, and early influences
8:08 - Growing up a young bluesman in high school
14:07 - When the SG takes hold of Johnny, and how to avoid guitar hoarding
20:50 - The early days of the Fender Super Reverb (the amp world’s best-kept secret), and the pains of inflation
28:41 - Playing in different tunings, hanging with the old guard of the Allman Brothers band, and vintage guitars
36:16 - Dickie’s signature sound, how he achieved it, and the intricacies of different Allman Brothers parts
47:33 - The Allman Family Revival set list, Johnny’s 2023 calendar, and the complexities of record deals
52:12 - Johnny’s thoughts on the “music game” in 2022


Total Length: 57:37
Fishman Dedicated to helping musicians achieve the truest sound possible whenever they plug-in. Wildwood Guitars One of the world’s premier retailers of exceptional electric and acoustic guitars.