Smokehouse Guitars

I’ve updated a few portions of the site to make it easier for you to make an informed decision about buying a guitar.  Among these changes:

I’ve added general pricing information.

I’ve updated the FAQ.

I’ve reorganized the guitar posts into Traditional and Deluxe categories.

Did a show last Firday at the Weins Family Cellars in Temecula and had a blast.  This was my first one (many planned for the future) and I have to say that it’s an odd experience having my work set up on a table for everyone to look at as they walk by.  More about that later.  I want to talk about this new band I saw.

The concert we did was billed as a John Waite concert featuring Lukas Nelson and TPOTR.  I guess Waite was okay that evening but I didn’t even really catch his show.  I was just there to see the new guys (and when I say new, I mean they were just recently signed to a label – very early stuff).

For each show that I’ve gone to, I try to do a little research on the performers, especially since I usually end up meeting them these days, I want to make sure that I don’t inadvertently put my foot in my mouth.  There’s not a lot of history on Lukas and his crew floating around out there (which may or may not be a good thing, depending on how jaded you are with all this “Interwebs” stuff).  I did find some clips of Nelson, though, playing guitar and singing on YouTube.  The quality of the video was okay and it seemed as though the guy was at least a competent player.  Still, it was easy to see that there was something there.  The concert was billed as John Waite, featuring Lukas Nelson.  I showed up for the Promise of the Real.

If you don’t know by now, Lukas is Willie Nelson’s kid.  It’s something I don’t like to bring up or refer to when I talk about this for two reasons.  First, what a giant freaking shadow.  Lukas has enough work ahead just trying to crawl out from under it without me adding to the task.  Second, and I say this after having listened to them both live and recorded, I don’t even think it’s necessary to mention who his father is.  The talent in this band is such that there is no need to validate them through the achievements of other people.  These guys got up on stage Friday and proceeded to blow me out of my fucking boots.  Whoever their parents are is purely incidental.

I think the only thing you can really trace back to Nelson senior is the sound of Lukas’ voice.  You can definitely hear a bit of his dad rolling around in there but you have to go in with the intent of hearing that on purpose.  He really has a unique vocal sound that is all his.  Also, you can hear in his guitar playing a strong Hendrix influence.  That’s something that you just can’t argue with.

So I went to the show wondering what kind of music they were going to play as all I’d really checked out on the net were a few covers that they’d done here and there.  I wondered: will it be more rock or country, maybe more pop-ish?  I was afraid to expect any one thing as I wanted to give them the most honest chance possible.

They came out on the stage and opened with the Leadbelly tune “How Long”.  Not that these guys give a damn about what I think, but it was almost as if someone told them right before the show, “Here’s what you need to play if you want to win Josh over instantly”  Leadbelly is one of the regular artists that I play in my shop while I’m building guitars.  And these boys did it up right.

I proceeded to sit through one of the most enjoyable shows I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to see folks such as Chuck Berry and the Foo Fighters among many others, both of which are fantastic performers).  Every member of the band was just dead on and they nailed the whole show.  I don’t remember what song they played in the end but I think it was The Awakening, which is an original if I’m not mistaken.  Well, whether it was the wine or their playing, they had me getting all choked up and emotional at the end of the show, so much so that I gave Lukas my personal guitar (the Cohiba Deluxe).  I had a few people tell me what a smart move that was, exposure-wise, but honestly I gave him the guitar because it made me happy to think of the kind of music it would make in his educated hands, versus the rudimentary sounds that I could torture out of it with my ignorant meat hooks.  My guitars want to be played, damn it, not sit on a freaking stand.  It was the right thing to do.

Anyway, the whole band were extremely gracious (Jen got them all to sign one of my guitars), and they were kind enough to chat with my wife and I for as long as we felt comfortable bothering them.  I prefer in these situations to keep it short and to the point.  Just tell them honestly what I thought of their performance (or tell them nothing if I didn’t like it) and then leave them alone as I’m sure they don’t want to be hassled by some stranger.

Interesting note: when I gave Lukas my guitar, he hugged me.  I was completely taken by surprise at this and touched as well because he was keeping everyone else at a handshake’s distance.  I obviously don’t know him from a hole in the wall but he seems to be a genuinely open and honest person.  There seems to be so few people like that left to be found anymore that I feel I have to mention it when I meet one anymore.

I also want to talk about the drummer, Anthony (don’t remember the dude’s last name but it’s not something I can easily remember).  Again, an extremely personable guy who was able to make everyone who talked with him feel as though he had all the time in the world for them.  As far as his ability to play the drums, he’s so freaking good he doesn’t even need sticks.  He had a drum solo during the performance and he just ditched his sticks and played them with his bare hands.  I’ve never even seen that before.

I hate to gloss over their bass player as he was fantastic as well but I never got the chance to meet him and so can’t report any impression that I took outside of the fact that he had a gorgeous instrument, he played the hell out of it, and looked like he was having a lot of fun on that stage, which always makes the performance better for everyone watching.  The audience goers love to watch their bands have fun on the stage and these guys sure don’t disappoint.

Also met some of their mothers there as well.  First, I’ll say that they were all lovely ladies who I wouldn’t mind doing a few Tequila shots with.  Second, the band had their mothers at the show and hanging out with them (when we were back in the dressing room, Anthony kissed his mother goodnight and told her he loved her when she left).  That says everything that you’d ever need to know about the band right there.

Fantastic performance, incredible band, and I couldn’t be happier that they own one of my guitars (whether Lukas shares it with the rest of the band or hordes it all to himself).

Josh

MySpace?  More like MehSpace.  Oh well.

The sad fact is that a lot of people still feel tied to MySpace and do their networking there.  I guess it’s one of those necessary evils.  Well, I don’t want to cut out any audiences, so I put a token placeholder page up there as well.  Just one more way to broadcast, I guess.

Anyway, you can find the location in my links section at the bottom of this page.  Anything I ever bother to post there will probably just be a forward from this site, but I will respond to messages and friend requests issued under the MySpace service.

Josh

The Custom Montecristo is a guitar made for serious performers.  The guitar shown here uses a limited edition cigar box with commisioned artwork by a French painter.  This is the only box of its kind that I’ve ever seen and it was provided to me by the client.  If you’d like one of these guitars, my chances of finding a box just like this one are unlikely.

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This is a little love note to anyone wasting precious moments of their life by following any of the useless, inane garbage that goes down on shows like American Idol, Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, or anything else that dumps all of it’s energy into turning music into a mass produced market commodity.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2539741

From me to you: you’re missing the point of god damned everything.

Hugs and kisses.