Ever been in the presence of "Real Talent"?

[Steve]

Over the last 30 or so years, I've been fortunate enough to play some some guys that are really, really...REALLY good. People way better than I could ever be. But beyond those guys, there is another class of players that my mind perceives as "Real Talent".

I just encountered the second one of those guys I've ever met last night. The first was a country singer / song writer and the guy last night was an R&B / Soul / Blues kind of guy so, it's not like there is any common thread of "I just like that style of music" that would skew my judgement but both of them had the ability without any help from a band to sit down with an instrument and, I don't know, suck all the air out of a room and replace it with electricity. Like whatever they have going on is coming through them and not from them.

It's....effing spooky.

[not_jason]

I've known a couple of people that have that sort of ability. In my opinion, it isn't connected so much with the technical definition of musical talent, but with some somewhat more abstract qualities. The product is important, but the thing that makes these people special is their ability to sell it. In some cases, it's charisma and being able to connect with the audience, and in other cases, it's a total indifference to what anybody in that room happens to think. Those are the things that I think separate the true performers from the rest.

[kcole4001]

The girl singer in our band is one of those.
Her voice has incredible tone, but this one time it was just beyond anything I'd ever heard in person.
We had done our set at a benefit earlier, and things were winding down.
She was (perpetually) in the middle of a breakup, so had a couple of drinks and decided at the end of the night to do an a capella encore.

I have no idea what the song was, but it was totally spellbinding, soulful, and beautiful.
What a voice!

[paulygonemad]

My brother.
Dude scares me.
you can catch him in the Supersuckers as of late, metalmarty... dude is so good.

[Sbociol]

The singer of one of my former bands.
We've been friends for 19 years now and he's a g*****n genius on drums,rythm guitar and vocals.Unfortunately he moved to USA last year

EDIT: oh and the guitarist from my first "serious" metal band...one of the most talented guitardeds I've ever the honour to play with...unfortunately his skills are matched only by his a**holeness.

[Johnny Crab]

A guy named Phil in the 70's who ran a small hotel in the French Quarter. When he played, folks in the street stopped and listened until he stopped playing.

My current bandmates.
Guitarist, brother, and GIT grad....amazing to the point of having to force myself to concentrate on my basslines instead of just listening to what he's doing.
Our keyboardist/guitar player who spent 10 years touring with a major Nashville star. When we played in Mexico, we found out he plays drums too....

[bound'n'blocked]

Yea, a guy that plays guitar here in my area that is just mind blowing in his talent. I've seen him play at festival type shows with 5 out of the 6 bands on the bill. 5 different types of act and his playing fits each band he plays in. He never overplays, but does just what the particular song needs. A truly gifted player.

The guitar player in my band is really talented too. Probably one of the best I've ever heard.

BnB

[rollcall]

tuck and patti

[6jase5]

Stuart Mathis, we used to play in a band together. He was in Lifehouse before our band, then went on to play with Jewel, Ben Folds, WallFlowers, and god knows who now. His guitar playing is just as soulful as it gets and his tones make your heart drip. VP of Atlantic Records was leaning on one of his old National guitars and we about kicked him out of the showcase. Funny story.

There is also a bass player in a band called Breakestra named Miles. He's amazing on stand up and electric. The guy could make a statue dance with his groove and pocket and is very humble.

Edna Swap was the best live band that never made it big. I played with them a few times. They wrote Torn, the song that Natalie Imbruglio ruined. They should have made it, no sense to it as they were the full package of talent.

[JimB52]

My first girlfriend. She could bring a large rowdy party to silence by singing, with her back to the crowd.
She went off to Berklee College of Music in 1976 and I lost touch with her.

[lowfreq33]

I've opened for Luke Bryan a couple of times, and his bassist, Keith Horne, is one of these people that just makes it look so easy... Incredible technical facility, but locked into the groove so tightly. I think he's the only person I've ever seen get a 5 minute bass solo in the middle of a country set.

[gkbass13]

My brother demands the attention of a room when fronting a band with original material, really talented kid.

[Gard]

My first wife, the woman could play ANY instrument after a couple of days effort, sang like an angel one moment - then could nail a James Hetfield vocal the next moment.

Biggest mistake of my life, letting her get away. For many more reasons that these...

[blueyes]

I grew up in the studios in Muscle Shoals, Al... through out the
70's on... Mr. Allman was one of those... but there were so many..
I would have to make sure Travis Womack was included in this
discussion!!! from the studios in memphis, to muscle shoals, to
a hundred years with little richard, he was named the fastest
southern guitarist of all time by G.P. magazine... a style that is
almost impossible to copy and even at his old arsed age today
can still out do the rest of the pack!!!
I've been blessed and fortunate to say that my life has been
fulfilled that way..

Biggest mistake of my life, letting her get away. For many more reasons that these...

Gard, that last line is very similar to the thought (feeling) from one of my originals I wrote over thirty years ago...



"I loved her so, never should have let her go.. should I try and call her up to
see if she's at home... take out another cigarette and fumble for a light.. I
try to find the words, but they just don't come out right... so I pick up the phone
and I start to dial, when it rings I get a sinking feeling inside... a voice says I'm
not hear right now, but I'll be right back. And if you'll leave your name and number
at the tone, I'll call you back... "

that's the whole first verse... surprised I remembered it that well after all these years..
I know it's been a long long time since I last sang it...

[odin70]

I have a guitar student, elleven years old. Ears like an elephant. Very talented. Last week he showed me how to play the solo from Beat it

[thwump64]

One of the craziest people I ever met was the girl who sat next to me in biology. No one expected her to have any musical talent whatsoever. Can't remember when or where she played but for a good 3 seconds afterwards you could hear a pin drop, and then a huge round of applause.

[bound'n'blocked]

I remember another guy one time...I was hanging out at the local guitar store when this fella I'd never seen and his young son walk in. He was probably in his 40s or so. Said he was just browsing around. We got to talking about guitars and music and such and he allowed how he used to play years and years ago. While I was talking to him I noticed that his hands shook pretty bad, fairly noticably. He started talking about a song he used to play. The store owner said to play it for him. I thought "there's no way this guy is gonna be able to play as bad as his hands are shaking." Boy was I wrong. He picked up a guitar and you would have thought EVH had walked in. He was a phenominal guitar player. I was shocked to say the least. I would have loved to hear this guy back in his prime. I'm sure he was really good. He told us he didnt play at all anymore because of the shaking. But for that 5 minutes or so in the store he was tearing it up.

BnB

[wheelyjoe]

I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks playing and jamming with some SERIOUS pros, Ray Fenwick, Mike Hurst and Clem Cattini. Man those guys were SERIOUS players, Ray was in Gillan, Mike was in the springfields, and as a producer has 25 gold and platinum albums. Clem though... My god. 45 number 1s. Session drummer for the Kinks, he played on Telstar, Shakin' All Over, Get it on... He was amazing. We were jamming Hocus Pocus - Focus, and afterwards Ray and Mike turn to me and say "Ali, that was beautiful" SINGLE happiest moment of my life, geniunely... Closely followed by when I went to see Johnny Mars play, and Ray was the guitarist. He recognised me and we had a chat on stage while he was setting up. In the interval/break he came over and introduced himself to my parents... I don't think dads jaw left the floor for the entire conversation... Good times. Oh, and I was lucky enough to go to one of Stu Hamms workshops in Bristol, got my bass signed by him. And "Duck" Dunn too... He came into a studio my band were recording in... : )

Ali/Wj.

[dan stanton]

Actually, one of the best compliments I ever got was "you know, you're really f****** good!" After 5 hours of backing up Zydeco bands (play My Toot, Toot 5 times in one night), this guy, his Dad is really famous, Cha.. something or other, came up at the end of the night and said that. I'm terrible with names. I didn't know half of the songs.

[MNAirHead]

OUt of the hundreds I've played with.. 2 (brother and sister)

These two could write a diatonic hook.. harmonize it.. chart it and then say it sucks...

I've known them to write an entire album in 3 hours.. lyrics, hooks etc.

Everyone else I know has to work at it.