Rts Rick Brooks is one of Alasaka's finest fingerstyle guitarists. He is currently an instructor at Accoustic Alaska Guitar Camp. Rick says ... I took my first guitar lessons at eight years old in Oxford, Mississippi. My father wanted me to be Johnny Cash and my teacher wanted me to be Chet Atkins. I would have preferred to be one of the Beatles. At ten, when the family was stationed at Ft. Bragg, I took lessons with Dave Brumble, himself a student of the great Andre Segovia. Dave had me learning everything from surf tunes to easy jazz standards. I lost interest in playing during my adolescence ... distracted by sports, as well as by a move to Alaska. Music was still a passion during this time, listening voraciously and building a large collection of LPs in rock, blues, jazz, classical and world musics. Soon after high school, I played my first electric guitar and bought it on the spot. Soon after that, I bought a used Martin copy and have been playing ever since. My freshman year of college in Mississippi, I took a music appreciation course as a part of a general curriculum . . . it looked like an easy A. I moved back to Alaska and spent the next few years taking odd jobs to afford whatever music courses caught my attention: theory, jazz theory, arranging, 20th century composition classes and private study . . . all the while woodshedding fingerstyle blues and folk, and making the first attempts at playing in bands. In the summer of 1983, went back to Mississippi with the intention of getting a degree and going to Musicians Institute the next fall. When it became apparent that a degree would take longer, I dumped the extraneous courses and took a full load of music, studying music history, counterpoint, arranging and advanced harmonic technique ... anything, as long as it was music. During this time, there were a couple short-lived RnB-rock bands and the first few public performances. Musicians Institute 1984-85: one year of comprehensive guitar study with some of the world’s best players: studied rock and jazz fusion. 1986-92: Played in a series of rock, RnB and Top 40 bands, traveling the state of Alaska from Homer to Nome. 1991-95: taught guitar privately. 1995-98: Began playing solo acoustic at local watering holes, mostly popular rock tunes . . . strummin’, ’n’ hummin’. At this time, I started adding old blues and British folk tunes, especially the music of John Renbourn, to the sets. Living at the Java Joint at this time, I did the bookings, began playing festivals, and by 1997 was opening shows for bluesman John Hammond and comic Howie Mandel among many others. Also at this time, I collected a wide variety of fingerstyle instrumentals, classical, jazz, Celtic and others to play at private dinners and other social functions. Adding Christmas tunes made this a popular seasonal set. The last few years have been spent expanding and refining my fingerstyle abilities, including studies with Renbourn and Duck Baker. I began touring the west coast, with performances in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah and Nevada, and had the great pleasure of playing for my first national radio audience on West Coast – Live. More recently, I’ve been writing and arranging tunes for a CD, putting together the Alaska Guitar Concert Series and teaching workshops. Howdy.
| T.J. CASEY, COWBOY FROM THE SOUL Coming September 19 at 7:30 Webster defines “soul” as “. . . credited with the functions of thinking and willing, and hence determining all behavior”. He also calls the soul “the moral or emotional nature of man.” That deep part of T. J. Casey is pure cowboy – and it clearly determines his behavior. The soul of T. J. Casey was shaped in him by the precepts of his mama and daddy, by his childhood in Montana’s beautiful but harsh and remote Pryor Mountains, and by close association with horses and cattle before he can even remember. Living primitively (by today’s standards), with no electricity, telephone or indoor plumbing taught him just how unimportant money and possessions really are in life. Mentored by old cowboys and old horses, T.J. learned honesty, humor, respect, trustworthiness, and strength of character. Wild cattle and younger horses taught him mental and physical brawn and agility, and developed in him a good measure of toughness and tenacity. Interwoven with these forces was the powerful oral history of the cowboy, which T. J. was steeped in through poems, stories and songs, passed down from those who’d gone before. That culture became woof and warp of his soul, so that the songs and poems spawned there today bear witness of and are true to his cowboy heritage. Spending two thirds of his life so far in a saddle, working with cattle and horses on ranches across the West, gives T. J. Casey and his words and music an authenticity impossible to manufacture . . . they are truly “of the land. “ Being onstage as an entertainer nationwide across the last three decades gives T. J. Casey and his words, music, and presentation a polish and presence impossible to manufacture . . . they are truly “for the audience.” When this larger-than-life artist steps under the spotlight, looks you in the eye, strums the strings on his guitar and opens his mouth to sing, the cowboy from his soul communicates with you . . . you live the song, the poem, the story. You smell trail dust and campfire smoke, feel sweat and grit on your brow, taste the blessed refreshment of clear spring water after a long, hot day of work…. WATCH T.J. on U-Tube Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lITlXTw_AwY What a great concert!!! Songs of the real west.. old songs from a great tradition. We really enjoyed it so much..just ask Archie!! |
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Brooks Williams played two wonderful sets of music for us on August 19. Brooks who was on his way to instruct at the Acoustic Alaska Guitar Camp, promised to come to Seldovia and Crazy Crow earlier in the year. He is known for his great heart, wonderful musicianship, and spirited playing of the old style blues, but he also showed the sincerity needed to help us here in Seldovia and especially, me mourn the death of my wonderful father Herman. Herman made it to the previous concert, flying from California, to be with us. Terry and Jerry Holder, long time friends played at that concert. Brooks unveiled a new song, thrilled the good-sized crowd to over three hours of great tunes and generally gave us one of the best concerts we have had at Crazy Crow so far... Hear Brook's new song here: |
