John Hendow

On Friday 12/16 the 1 Uppers performed at Darrell’s Tavern in Shoreline. We’ve played there before and it’s always a great time. The crowd there is very supportive of live music, and they seem to appreciate just about every possible style. We often are part of a country-themed night there, and it seems to bring out the true believers in this style of music. The stage occupies about 25% of the floor space in the bar and we’re very close to the audience, which makes for an especially interactive and fun show. This weekend I performed both gigs as the only electric guitarist in the band; 1 Upper Kris Geren was out of the country so it meant I had more territory to cover in our songs.

I’ve been playing more baritone guitar in this band lately, which I’m really enjoying. For these shows where we are playing as a five-piece band, it’s been interesting to hear the texture of the mix with acoustic guitar being the sole instrument in the “regular” guitar range. I switch back to the strat for a number of songs where those parts are more crucial to the mix.

One of the interesting interactions I had in Friday was chatting with someone in the bar who is a guitarist and is interested in understanding country guitar playing styles such as Travis Picking and “chicken pickin’ “. I always feel a little sheepish discussing the technical details of country guitar playing since I’m sort of figuring it out as I go! So in this case I was able to make a semi-intelligent observation about those styles despite offering a disclaimer up front.

A great night of music with great friends!