The guys in my band, The Reverse Engineers, have been fans of The Fixx for a long, long time. In fact, when we're asked about our influences, The Fixx inevitably come up. Which would probably make most musicians scratch their heads. "Aren't they the group with that song "One Thing Leads to Another?" Yup. But they weren't a one-hit wonder. They were one of the few bands to come out of the 80's that not only had tons of style, they had something to say. And they could play their instruments, too! Take a listen to any of Dan K. Brown's basslines and you'll wonder why more bassists don't mention him alongside the other 80's bassists who always get mentioned (Mark King, John Taylor, Mick Karn, etc.) Jamie West-Oram is one of my guitar heros for the way he crafts his inventive parts. And Cy's got one of the best pop/rock voices ever.

Their CDs Reach the Beach, Phantoms, Walkabout and Calm Animals were a staple of my Friday-night-college-dorm-room, dance-like-a-fool sessions. Anyway, we're big fans and it probably shows in our music (our tune, Sunshine with the Shade is definitely a big nod to those guys).

Well the 80's may be long behind us, but the Fixx are still going strong. The crowds have diminished, but the shows are only getting better. Weed out all the lukewarm fans, and you get a smaller, more appreciative audience who get deep into the music. And thankfully, for this tour The Fixx delved deeper (and deeper) into their collection of pop/rock gems to put together their current setlist. After attending a few tours that primarily focused on the hits, this tour had the band dusting off some amazing, little known songs including Camphor, Letter to Both Sides and Yesterday, Tomorrow. 

Anyway, thanks for letting me gush about one of my favorite groups. I always wanted these guys to get more press or get a mention in Guitar Player or Bass Player mag, and now that I'm the writer, I want to tell everyone how cool they are! But I'll stop. So without further ado, here's a few video clips from the awesome show Wednesday night at a tiny place called the Largo Cultural Center where about 250 fans got treated to a very cool collection of music courtesy of Cy Curnin and the gents.

(Thanks to Tricia and her dancing girlfriend (aka, "Woman on a Plane") for inspiring me to get up, get some exercise and relive my dorm-room dancing days.)

-- Bill Cote
p.s. To watch these clips in full-screen mode, click on the button with the four arrows in the lower right of the video player.

Are We Ourselves? from Bill Cote on Vimeo.

Camphor from Bill Cote on Vimeo.

When I headed out to the Strawberry Festival yesterday, I thought I might possibly hear some good music, but I was primarily interested in just getting outside, enjoying some BBQ and getting as far away from stress as humanly possible. Plus, sadly, even though I'm a musician, these days it seems to take a lot to make me stop and listen. “Oh, wow, another band.” (yawn) “So where’s that stand that serves hamburgers on the Krispy Kreme doughnuts?”

But occasionally you happen across a musician who shakes you out of your slumber and makes you sit up and take notice.  That’s what happened yesterday as my friend and I wandered into the Cool Whip Entertainment Tent at this year’s Strawberry Festival to check out the Jason Young band. I had just been treated to an amazing BBQ chicken meal, but I didn’t realize I’d be served a heaping helping of amazing guitar riffs for dessert.

The first thing that caught my ear about the band was actually the drummer. It was immediately evident from his crisp, precise attack, quick kick fills and occasional flourishes on the kit that he wasn’t your average bar band smasher. Plus, I noticed he was wearing socks, no shoes. This guy was obviously very into what he was doing.

So that drew us out front to grab a seat. And I'm sure glad I did, because my attention immediately honed in on the guitar player - this guy was absolutely smoking! He was laying down these fluid, extremely musical fills overtop of these fairly straightforward (but heartfelt) tunes. He had the fluidity of Eric Johnson mixed with the occasional Stevie Ray moment of stinging blues... And he was adeptly adding all this guitar-driven excitement without stepping all over the vocalist. Nice...

He was playing a sunburst strat through a Mesa combo - his tone was beautiful - clean, singing sustain that fit right into the mix. And he was occasionally making it even more subtle by using his right-hand thumb to pluck the strings instead of using his pick. And he was getting a lot of mileage out of the neck pickup to make it even smoother.  

Afterwards I went up and shook his hand and let him know that what he was doing hadn’t been lost on this guitar player. His name was Adam. Adam Klingman. Here's a picture from his MySpace page:

Adam Klingman of the Jason Young band

I just wish that I had brought my trusty Flip video camera with me! I hoped there would be plenty of footage on YouTube to send to a few other guitar player friends. Unfortunately, while there are a few video clips on his band’s MySpace page, and an acoustic number on his own MySpace page, I couldn’t find anything that really showcases this guy’s command of the instrument.

So I guess you’ll just have to check these guys out at one of their many Tampa-area appearances to see for yourself. It’s definitely worth it to track these guys down!

Rock on,
Bill Cote
The Reverse Engineers

Over the years, people have often asked me, "What's your favorite guitar solo?"

For a person who admires a slew of different guitarists, it should be extremely difficult to narrow it down to just one. Being a huge Rush fan, you'd think I'd pick one of Alex Lifeson's brilliant, inventive solos for the top spot. And if I were to name my top 10, he'd probably take up at least four spots. From Alex's progressive rock masterpiece, La Villa Strangiato, with its smoky, volume-swelled bends and stinging fusion runs, to fun quirky pieces like Kid Gloves, Lifeson has created so many moving, memorable solos. Of course, there are several other guitar greats who have flirted with melodic perfection. Take Joe Satriani's Always With Me, Always With You or someone like Mark Knopfler with his subtle, singing fingerpicked riffs and solo on Sultans of Swing. Or even some of Andy Summers' twisted lines from Miss Gredenko - I spent quite a few hours trying to figure that solo out before the days of on-demand Internet tablature. Or what about some of Yngwie Malmsteen's solos on his blazing breakthrough record "Marching Out"? Mindblowing and musical if you ask me. 

As you can see my guitar heros span the rock 'n' roll spectrum. But even though plenty of players have mesmerized me with their soaring, screaming solos, when pressed to pick a favorite, I have to admit that my all-time favorite is the archetype of all rock 'n' roll solos -- the masterful solo to Stairway to Heaven. To this day, that guitar solo just floors me with how perfect it is in every respect.

And recently I had the pleasure of seeing it performed flawlessly with the backing of the Florida Orchestra at a show called the Led Zeppelin Experience. And what an experience it was! I had the good fortune of filling in for someone who had to miss the show at the last minute. I knew she had good seats, but I didn't realize how good - the seat I sat in was literally front and center. I was actually in the front row, and if I stretched out my leg, my foot would touch the center seam of the stage. Any closer and I would've been in the band. The singer, Randy Jackson, of Zebra fame was about six or seven feet from me so I had an amazing view of his 12-string guitar work, which was a real treat.

While there were a bunch of great moments during the evening, from the huge symphonic riffs of Kashmir to the subtle Rain Song, the highlight of the night was definitely the final piece, Stairway to Heaven. And while the solo never remained the same when Page played it live, this player, George Cintron, pulled it off note-for-note with fire, passion and precision.

So without further ado, here's video of my favorite solo ever from my front and center seat at the Led Zeppelin experience. (Please forgive the trippy camera work in the beginning - it settles out once the solo kicks in.)

Rock on!
- Bill Cote

Stairway Solo from Bill Cote on Vimeo.

As a cantor at my church (someone who leads the singing), I occasionally sing a classic hymn that just begs to be performed in a different setting. With the right treatment, it could be transformed into a moody pop masterpiece, a la Sting, or a triumphantly heavy rock tune. (If "Libera Me", from Faure's massive sounding Requiem mass, ever found its way into a Marshall stack it could easily make even the heaviest Iron Maiden run for the hills...)

So when I sang one of my favorite carols this year, "God Rest You, Merry Gentleman", I couldn't help but imagine it in a more moody setting. Not a rock setting, but something with a darker sounding harmonization that brought out the ominous nature of lines such as "to save us all from Satan's power, when we were gone astray".

Afterall, this is serious stuff, folks. Time for joy indeed, but also time to acknowledge the gravity of the situation of being saved from our sins.

So on Christmas Eve, I took my red Worship hymnal off the book shelf, found God Rest You (I always thought it was "Ye"?), Merry Gentleman, got out my trusty classical guitar and went to work. As luck would have it, the piece is in D minor, which Nigel Tufnel once proclaimed is the "saddest of all keys". 

On Christmas morning, I went back to the guitar and finished off my mood-ification. A few days later, I got around to videotaping it to spread the joy. So, here's a video of me in my apartment performing it. Hope it brings you tidings of comfort and joy, and reminds you of the mystery of this amazing scene. For a long time ago, in a land far, far away, a baby was born to a virgin in "tempest, storm and wind" -- and on that night, an Angel came down from Heaven to announce His arrival and from far away kings came to bow before this child who was both a tiny baby, and also completely divine. This child would conquer death itself and open the way for man to be rejoined with his Creator in eternity. Wow! Now that's a Christmas story!

Merry Christmas!
Bill

God Rest You, Moody Gentleman from Bill Cote on Vimeo.

Have you ever seen the show The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel? I saw it for the first time last week and I was immediately hooked. I started watching at around 11pm and didn't stop till about 2:30am or so. When a dog has a serious behavior problem and its owners don't know what else to do to get them to stop running after cars, biting people or emanating ear-splitting howls, they call in The Dog Whisperer.

It was just amazing to see how this "animal psychologist" was quickly able to tame even the most aggressive dogs - turning a vicious pitbull into a sweet, docile animal. His techniques worked amazingly fast. He simply had to show the dog that he was boss, not the dog. Once the dog realized he was no longer the alpha dog, he would mellow out and become a happy, submissive, loveable, peaceful puppy. It was astounding to see the transformation.

So how does The Dog Whisperer become The God Whisperer? Well, I practice a form of meditation called Lectio Divina. In a nutshell, Lectio entails opening the bible to a verse and reading till you find a word or phrase that feels like it's meant for you. Then you follow a four-step process: Read, Reflect, Respond, Rest.

Some people like to start at the beginning of the Bible and work their way forward, but I like to close my eyes and ask the Holy Spirit to lead me to the passage that I need to meditate on. And boy, does He answer that prayer. More times than not it's absolutely uncanny how appropriate the reading is to what I'm going through.

I have had so many jaw-dropping experiences doing this over the past year that it has strengthened my belief immensely. There's no way I could do anything but firmly believe in Jesus, God, the hereafter, Heaven, eternity, and the reality of temptation after what I've experienced through this meditation. (I'll go into more detail in some future post. But back to The Dog Whisperer...)

I don't think I had prayed Lectio since discovering TDW this past weekend. And it wasn't in my mind at all until after I finished the four R's of my meditation. Today's "random" reading was a passage from Isaiah that started "It is long ago now since you broke your yoke, burst your bonds and said, 'I will not serve!'" And later, God, through Jeremiah, starts using the animal metaphor some more, "A frantic she-camel running in all directions bolts for the desert, snuffing the breeze in desire..." In fact, this colorful passage makes all sorts of damning proclamations -- "...I had planted you, a choice vine, a shoot of soundest stock. How is it you have become a degenerate plant, you bastard vine?" Anyway, I was humbled to say the least and reminded of the many ways, especially lately, that I have disappointed my Creator. Perhaps I have refused to serve and am running around like an out-of-control, hormone-influenced wild animal...

That's when the idea of The Dog Whisperer popped into my head. I was immediately reminded of how wild each one of these dogs were before they were shown who was really in control. The Dog Whisperer said that the aggression the dogs were exhibiting was often because they were frightful, fearful and insecure. They felt like they had to be the big, strong leader of the pack. And when The Dog Whisperer came in and calmly took control from them and thus became the pack leader, the dog fell in line and became peaceful and content. It occurred to me that perhaps I have been like a wild dog thrashing around, barking my head off and nipping at those around me. And that I wasn't going to be at peace till I let God become my pack leader. Aha! Then it all made sense to me. This is the way that God has made all creatures. We exhibit the very same behaviors as dogs in a pack.

I was hesitant to call this post The God Whisperer, because I certainly don't want to compare God to a dog. And He's not the one that needs to be shown whose boss... but being an advertising copywriter, I couldn't help but want to have a little wordplay going on, and more importantly, God indeed is whispering to us all, if we take the time to be silent and listen. He is trying to train us to take his lead -- to let Him be our Pack Leader. Only when we do, will we be at peace.

God Bless,
Bill

This is my first-ever blog entry. You'd think as a professional writer I would've started blogging ages ago. But after spending 8-10 hours every day in front of a keyboard and monitor writing, I usually find myself doing anything else but writing once I get home. Who knows, maybe I'll get addicted to it. Now that people can actually find my blog by just browsing Google maps on this cool YourLocalBlog network, I might actually get a few curious passersby.

This network is brilliant because of all the mapping features that are built in, it encourages people to write - and read - about the real-world community around them. For instance, today I went to a car wash down the street (Click on my Stories Map link to see where it's located) and instead of just happily rolling on through, I talked with the attendant, who was an incredibly hard-working fellow who looked to be in his early '60s. I asked him where he was from, and he said "Syria. Do you know where that is?" "The Middle East?", I replied. Considering the current tensions, that's probably not the most comfortable thing to admit, so he quickly added that he was Christian. He proudly proclaimed, "I speak Aramaic -- first language, Jesus!" Wow. What a cool find -- it's not every day you run into someone who speaks Aramaic, especially not at a car wash. The only time I heard Aramaic was in the movie, The Passion of the Christ. He then proceeded to teach me a few words of greeting. I was springing for the deluxe wash this time around, but I didn't know it would come with a free lesson in Aramaic :).

Anyway, this is the kind of chance encounter I'll probably be blogging about on my local blog. Oh, and guitars I guess, since that's what I call my blog. "Guitars and More" -- nice and open-ended. Just how I like it. Well, this blog thing is kind of fun, afterall. And since it's easy to find on YourLocalBlog, it might get some curious blog browsers. "Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, don't be afraid. It's just a Blog. Indigenous to cyberspace, it is completely harmless. Until recently, Blogs had a way of camouflaging themselves and blending right into the 1's and 0's of their environment. But with the incorporation of Google maps into the Blog's natural habitat, blogs will soon blossom into a beautiful, brightly colored, easily navigable main attraction in cyberspace!"

Rock on.