Before college I always respected the blues but never really got into it. Even now, I think my appriciation is bigger than my blues collection. (Although, just turning on the Blues Music Choice channel on cable often fills a need as well.) That being said, thanks to my friend Jon and the old Blind Pig in Urbana, while at college and afterwards my exposure went way up. At various venues I’ve been lucky enough to see live performances by the late Junior Wells, the late John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, BB King, and Eric Clapton among others.
Of course, living around Chicago for most of my life seeing Buddy Guy is almost a requirement. I’ve seem him at his place at least twice, and I keep meaning to make it more. In the Tribune today was Buddy Guy helps Yahoo! music make its mark talking about Guy’s concert as part of a Yahoo! Music series. In the article they talked about what Guy brought to the show such as walking around and interacting with the crowd as he plays. This should be no surpise to anyone who’s seen him perform.
What spured me into writing a blog post was the last paragraph of the article. For me, it really is a perfect example of what I think every passionate musician feels about his craft. Really, I think it can be expanded to fit every person who is passtionate about whatever craft they do.
When Guy was asked to cite the best solo he’d ever played, he turned the question back on the fan: “What’s the best love affair you ever had?”