Grits, Guitars, and God's Gig.

I made my first of grits yesterday. They were a dismal failure. Hard,dry and tasteless. Still as with many things I cook there is always a lesson to learn. My problem was having no way to measure(many of our kitchen gadgets are still in transit from AK) But I can see a lot of potential in grits. They can be a blank canvas to many flavor combinations and one of the few food items that can go either sweet or savory. I'm anticipating interesting adventures in grits!

It has been unseasonably cold here. The news put out a "Protect your People,Plants and Pipes" I watched the news as they showed people buying insulation for pipes. I've seen something I never thought I'd see here,people wearing "Parkas"winter coats with hood and fur ruffs. Something you only see in northern climes. Allison and I went out and purchased not one but 2 space heaters. I had a nice one that I left in AK thinking I wouldn't need it here(wrong).

Guitars..In 1983 I was moving to southern California to attend music school. One of my life long best friends is a guy named Gary. "Big G"...he's Big G..I'm Little O"..G prayed with me on that day so many years ago and I still remember his sage advice"Steve there is a lot of money to made in country music". Truer words never spoken, wish I'd taken his advice! As fate would have it the last few years in AK my dear friend lived across the street. So on the day Allison and were leaving for yet another chapter of my life I decided to have my good friend pray for me once again. On this day G had company a friend from church. As they prayed this friend of his had a spiritual impression he passed on to me. He said "Steve I don't really know you except by reputation. You play the guitar and in the same way that you play your instrument God desires for you to be his instrument"I had that "knowing"in my spirit that this was a word from God. What this brother probably couldn't have understood is saying that to someone like me has a depth of meaning few would appreciate. From God's fingers to my strings!...let me elaborate on the world of guitars and amplifiers

The modern world of guitars and amps are divided into two worlds by different men both who made the world as we know it today back in the 50's at the birth of rock and roll. Lets start with guitars. I am talking exclusively here about electric guitars. There are two camps. Fender and Gibson. I'll explain the difference.

Gibson had electric guitars dating back to the late 30's early 40's pick ups attached to acoustic f hole guitars,OK till you turned up and had to fight feed back. It took a inventive genius named Les Paul to basically take the design of a jazz guitar(single cut away made from tone woods of mahogany and maple with a set neck) and make it out of solid wood. Plug into what current amp they had turn it up and because it's solid...no feed back.

Meantime out in Fullerton California there was this guy named Leo Fender. Leo unlike Les was not a guitar player. He just listened to many of the working musicians who came to his shop and offered practical advise to their daily needs. Dick Dale( a soon to be ground breaking surf guitarist) was instrumental in helping Leo develop both his tube reverb and refine the Stratocastor. Two different guitars,two different sound and two very different feels. Let me elaborate the difference. Gibson. To me Gibsons are a much more sophisticated and fancy guitar. set neck(glued to the body as opposed to being screwed to the body ala Fender) twin humbuckers with a 3 way toggle switch. neck and body made from mahogany with a maple cap. The sound? Let me quote Eric Clapton.".The front pick-up is what I call the Woman Tone...warm and inviting. The back pick-up is the "Man Tone" a bit harsh and biting."

Fender on the other hand was completely different. With bolt on necks and single coil pick-ups these guitars were made for country,surf and rockabilly. Leo invented the twang sound. Country guitar would not have existed without the Tele. Utterly unique in both it's look,sound and feel....Feel, let me explain. String length. Gibsons have a 24 and 3/4 string length. the amount of inches the string stretches across Gibsons 24 3/4. Fender 25 1/2. The difference is Fenders are harder to play. We are talking about roots here. The Gibson guitars and all the followed had their roots in this. Jazz. Flat fret boards make ease in lush chord voicing and single note solos. Death metal heads those explorers have their roots in elevator music! Fender, regardless of if you are Stevie Ray or Eddy V...there is a cowboy in your family tree!

Which leads me to this. After my prayer with G and hid friend I had a lot of time to think on these things. Us guitar players are a picky bunch. Like the 3 bears we need our rock and roll pottage "just right".The Perfect combination of tone,action and feel. I have had many guitars in my life. Some have never been a problem to play. Every time I strap them on they sing. Others are in constant need of adjustment. I have to send them regularly to my tech for a tweak. As I traveled south I decided it was best to be the easy guitar in God's hands and let him find the Gig!