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Is The Electric Guitar Dead?????

I was reading a review of the new Bowie album, and came across this quote:

It’s also probably worth noting that the four-piece rock band itself, and especially the electric guitar — that bastion and symbol of late-sixties rebellion — has grown long in the tooth. It’s been nearly 50 years since Hendrix, and though it’s still a satisfying instrument, I think it’s safe to say that the electric guitar no longer has the power to shock or surprise in the way that Mick Ronson’s performance on “John, I’m Only Dancing” once did — has a rock guitar ever sounded hornier? — or Adrian Belew’s eerie squeals and drones in the “Heroes” era. Earl Slick’s performances are nicely rough-edged, but some of the other guitar sounds on [I]The Next Day[/I] just remind me of a trip to Guitar Center, no matter how adeptly executed they are.

OK, I first have to note that I love the nod to the Guitar Center auditions, which drives me nuts, and is one of the reasons I don’t shop there much. But getting to the main point, the writer of this review does have a point I think. At the moment in the music continuum, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of guitarists who are that “Great Leap Forward”, such as Clapton, Hendrix, Van Halen, Eric Johnson, Satriani, ect. I do admit there might be someone out there that is making the rounds, but I haven’t come across them. Bonamassa maybe?

As I type this, I’m realizing this dovetails with another interesting phenomenon in the music continuum… The re-emergence of Americana and folk, and the renewed interest in the acoustic guitar. All of a sudden, Americana / Folk is everywhere! Which is really cool, as I’ve been heading in that direction for the last seven years with the trio of projects Acoustic Highway, Taylor Martin, and especially the CSN&Y inspired Laurel Canyon. I still can’t believe I’m ahead of the curve of a trend… Any trend! 😎

PS. Here is the review of the new Bowie album. Gail Ann Dorsey plays bass on it, so you know the bass line are going to be quite tasty!