Rock On Rory

I just finished reading a great article in the holiday '09 issue of Guitar World magazine about Rory Gallagher. The article "Against The Grain" by Alan Di Perna examines Rory's "short, sad life" and his posthumous revival.

What a great talent he was that was taken away from us much too soon. Rory died from complications after a liver transplant. Excessive use of alcohol, combined with drugs that had been prescribed to alleviate his anxiety about flying was the cause of his liver failure. He died on June 14, 1995 at the age of 47.

I first became aware of this Irish guitarist way back in 1973 when I bought the Blueprint album just because I liked the cover. I had never heard of Rory Gallagher at the time but it didn't take me long to get hooked. "Walk On Hot Coals" from this album is still one of my all time favorite Gallagher songs. Rory was one of the artists that really fueled my passion for playing the blues. I was never in a band that didn't cover some of his music.

If you're not familiar with Gallagher and his music the 2008 compilation CD The Essential Rory Gallagher would be a good place to start.

Track Listing
CD1
1. Follow Me
2. Moonchild
3. Bought & Sold
4. Laundromat
5. Bad Penny
6. Edged In Blue
7. Brute Force & Ignorance (Live)
8. I Fall Apart
9. Loanshark Blues
10. Who’s That Coming
11. As The Crow Flies (Live)
12. Barley & Grape Rag
13. Lonesome Highway Refraining
14. Out On The Western Plain
CD2
1. In Your Town
2. Philby
3. Slumming Angel
4. Continental Op
5. Cradle Rock
6. A Million Miles Away
7. Wheels Within Wheels
8. Crest Of A Wave
9. They Don’t Make Them Like You Anymore
10. Walk On Hot Coals
11. Shadow Play
12. I Could’ve Had Religion (Live)
13. Tattoo’d Lady (Live)
14. Bullfrog Blues (Live)

To put you in the right frame of mind here's "Walk On Hot Coals". Enjoy.

Gustaf Fjelstrom New Album Metamesmeric

Bassist Gustaf Fjelstrom has released his newest album as a free download. The album titled Metamesmeric. Gustaf's instrument of choice is a Bass Cello. Throw in some effects processors, and a loop station and you end up with an amazing collection of music.

Metamesmeric can be downloaded here. You can find out more about this artist at his website or follow him on Twitter. Enjoy.

The track list for Metamesmeric includes:
1. Cloudlift
2. Breach
3. Scent of Embers
4. Through Faint Reflections Pass
5. Signify
6. Vaporous Restraint
7. As Shards Descend
8. Oathtake
9. Loki
10. With Regret Withdrawn

Quote Of The Day

"We are the music-makers, We are the dreamers of dreams" ~Arthur O'Shaughnessy

Another Wet One

Well the weekend is finally here and the rain is here also. This makes the third weekend in a row with rain. Are we not living right or something? Why is it that the work week weather is almost always great. Last Wednesday the temps topped out near 80 degrees with a beautiful cloudless blue sky. I tell you, that's my kind of bike riding weather. It's a shame it was in the middle of the week. This string of wet weekends can't continue can it?

Quote Of The Day

"...moving gradually forward is so much better than going full-speed in reverse!" ~ Jon Gorrie