Guitar Gods

Recently, I was challenged to make a list of my top guitar players of all time. I'm not going to engage in a list, as it will look like every other music rags list of guitar gods in the past 20 years, and who wants to rehash that crap? Instead, I'll tell you a smaller story, which is much more important to me.

I’ve been trying to learn how to play guitar. After years of listening to other people make it talk to me, I’ve decided to try and make it speak on my own. If I practiced more (read: AT ALL), I might have a chance.

In the very beginning, as I was first learning basic chords and names of strings, Dale told me to think about a guitar player I admired, and pretend I’m playing for them. My first thought was Bob Mould, and I immediately flubbed a note. Entirely too intimidating to play for Bob, as I will never be as good as that. So much emotion is entangled in his playing, I fear I could not convey to him all the wonderful sounds he has conveyed to me throughout my life. Although, secretly, I aspire to have one song I play sound as good as Vaporub, or The Slim, or Too Far Down.

Bob has been with me the longest, and during some pretty intense periods, but Ani DiFranco has written my life. When I’m practicing something new, or something that’s difficult for me, I think about playing for Ani. This is the girlfriend who would laugh when I hit the wrong string, and play it back for me, and encourage every small step. Her last few albums have seemed to mirror my own recent journeys, and I appreciate the insight and thoughtfulness behind the notes she’s playing.

If Bob’s the strict instructor that I’m always looking up to, Ani’s the one I want to jam with after the recital’s over. In spite of this, they are very similar to me. They both play their instruments harder than any guitarist I’ve ever seen, sometimes ripping the notes out of the strings with the violence of raw emotion that just rips right through you as you listen. They are intensely personal performers, and hard workers at their craft. Both of them have brought me to tears, either spontaneously or in the context of a collection of songs someone has created for me. I can measure the milestones of my life by the notes of their songs. How many of us are lucky enough to recognize this in our own lives?