8/08

SING OUT! review...summer 2008

San Francisco Bay Area-based musician, writer and teacher Pete Madsen specializes in the early blues and ragtime idioms and slide guitar. In addition to performing at atmospheric local venues like the Freight and Salvage and Pt. Reyes Station House he has also written three instructional books, steadily contributes article on acoustic fingerstyle blues to Acoustic Guitar magazine and teaches the instrument at the 5 th Fret (String) in Berkeley .

Influenced by fretboard geniuses as diverse as John Fahey, Big Bill Broonzy, Arthur “Blind” Blake (an invigorating version of the influential ragtime stylist's celebrated “Police Dog Blues” is a highlight) and Leo Kottke as well as pianist/composer Scott Joplin (likewise a fleet-fingered revival of his early hit “Maple Leaf Rag”) and the often underrated Frank Melrose, who deftly emulated early jazzman Jelly Roll Morton, Madsen offers five of his own compositions, including the kaleidoscopic title track, that finds comfortable musical ground among the twelve salient covers on his third CD project to date.

Ear-catchers among the latter repertoire subsume material from the songbooks of the aforementioned Fahey (folksy charmers like “Last Steam Engine Train” and “Sunflower Blues” back-to-back) and Broonzy his hyper-active, note splashing “Shuffle Rag”) along with a hauntingly questing exploration of seminal gospel-blues bottleneck guitarist Blind Willie Johnson's archetypal “Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground” and country boogie picker Merle Travis' “Blue Smoke.”

Other choices among the Madsen originals are a spontaneously enlivening “Ashby Strut” (referencing a local thoroughfare), an exotic, oddly tuned slice of virtuosity entitled “Le Petit Nicolas” and the Robbie Basho-tinged “Hope Springs Eternal,” that features some riveting slide flourishes and particularly nimble finger-work. Madsen also does a fine job on the vocal for Alton Delmore's signature “Deep River Blues” – he should sing more. All in all, a very rewarding listen. – Gvon T

1/24/08

Pete is finally on YOUTUBE!!! Check out these selections

Blue Smoke

Last Steam Engine Train

Maple Leaf Rag

Goin Down to Richmond

NEW CD "CARNIVAL OF RAGS" available at CDBABY

12/11/07

I have a new CD entitled CARNIVAL OF RAGS! It is similar to my last CD in that it focuses on early blues and ragtime, plus six original tunes. This CD took me almost two years to make, but I humbly think it is my best effort to date...we will wait to see what the critics have to say, however. Right now I am only selling the CD at gigs, but it should be available from CDBABY very soon. The CD is mostly instrumental with two vocal tracks.

To celebrate I had a party on Thursday, December 6. See below.

Here are some photos from last week's CD release party at Anna's Jazz Island. THE MOUNTAIN BOYS opened the evening, followed by my friend TEJA GERKEN, who unfortunately I don't have any photos of because he was taking the pictures! We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed playing at Anna's.

MOUNTAIN BOYS: Jacob, Tim and Andrew in the background.

Hey, that looks like a G chord!

Pete, gettin down!

...and now for the resonator...

Me and Emery playin' some Robert Johnson.

...more RJ

Here's the track list from CARNIVAL OF RAGS:

•  Carnival of Rags (Madsen) 3:37

•  Maple Leaf Rag ( S. Joplin ) 2:52

•  Last Steam Engine Train (Fahey) 2:56

•  Sunflower River Blues (Fahey) 3:29

•  Pass the Jug ( Melrose ) 3:03

•  Hope Springs Eternal (Madsen) 4:14

•  Deep River Blues (Delmore) 2:43

•  An Operatic Rag (Frosini) 3:36

•  Shuffle Rag (Broonzy) 2:16

• In the Night, In the Dark…(Madsen) 2:57

• Whippersnapper (Madsen) 3:20

• Blue Smoke (Travis) 2:08

• Police Dog Blues (Arthur Blake) 3:16

• The Entertainer ( S. Joplin ) 3:27

• Le Petit Nicolas (Madsen) 4:25

• Dark was the Night (Johnson) 2:36

• Ashby Strut (Madsen) 3:20

9/25/07

I have a NEW BOOK! It's called "A Guide to Acoustic Blues Guitar." I have been working on this throughout the summer and it was written with my students directly in mind. The book contains over 35 song transcriptions of early blues, ragtime and orginal compositions. I have also included a CD with audio samples of all the songs and a short section of text that describes some of the history and biographies of several players. Unlike my two previous books, which I wrote for a publisher, this book is being self-published. WHich is good and bad. The bad part is it not as slick as my previous books. The good part is that I wrote it exactly the way I wanted it. For those of you studying acoustic blues with me I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it! The price is $40, which might seem a little steep, but I figure there is over two years of study here for the motivated student. My NEW CD is also almost ready. News about CD release party(s) coming SOON.

7/24/07

Played the Station House in Pt. Reyes two Sundays ago with Craig Ventresco. It was a blast. For those of you who don't know Craig, he is arguably the best ragtime guitarist on the planet. But his musical knowledge stretches the immagination. He can play anything from early jazz to rockabilly and even some classical pieces. Best part is we are going to do it again this Sunday, July 29. Be there or be L7.

I will be playing a concert on August 4 with Michael Gulezian at the Hope Community Church in Gilroy. Michael was a contemporary of Leo Kottke and Michael Hedges. He dropped out of the scene to pursue other interests, but he's back on the map and is sounding better than ever. This should be a special evening.

I'm taking a vote: working on a new book project about acoustic blues. E-mail me buzzyfrets@yahoo.com and weigh in on the topic of which old blues (guitar) song(s) you would like to see represented .

7/12/07

Just played a bunch of shows last week. I did 3 nights in a row with a group of storytellers doing improvised stories. They call themselver StoryTellers unplugged and they are AWESOME. My job was to supply a musical backdrop, a soundtrack if you will, for these very talented folk. I had a blast! The group consisting of Kurt Bodden (Scratch Theatre, BATS Alumni), Tim Ereneta (Storyteller and BATS Alumni), Ruth Halpern (Storyteller), Shaun Landry (Oui Be Negroes), and special guest Christopher Gray (from Tonal Chaos), were in superb form. There was another act called Comedy Jesus who was equally engaging and hilarious. This was all part of the bay area improv festival. Jo Bob says, "check it out ."

I also played at two of my favorite haunts: the Bistro and Jupiter...in addition I am celebrating numerous birthdays: My son, Nicolas just turned 5 and his best friend Sara is also turning 5. My wife, Catherine, is turning...more beautiful very day and we will be celebrating her Bastille-day birth a day early, BECAUSE my firend Tim (see above) is celebrating his 40th on the 14th. I remember 40....

I will be playing a number of really COOL gigs in the near future -- check out the calendar for full details.

2/18/07

Not sure if anybody reads this, but just in case you do... Finally, the new Funk Book is out! This may seem like a bit of a departure for those of you who have only known me for a few years, but in the mid-80's to mid 90's I was enamored of funk music. In fact, in a way, what I play now (mostlty blues and old ragtime music) is a precursor to THE FUNK music of another (later) era. The syncopation of funk owes in no small part to earlier forms of African-American music: blues, ragtime and jazz.

I wrote the Funk Bass and Guitar book between August 2005 and March 2006. It took a long time to get it published, and I have to admit it was a labor of love. With the Slide book everything went fairly smoothly. The Funk book was another matter. The editors and I didn't see eye to eye on a few things -- yet I begrudge them nothing ; they were simply intrested in delivering the best possible product. Anyway, for those of you who have ever enjoyed a James Brown tune, or simply find a guilty pleasure in listening to the Average White Band (they were anything but AVERAGE!) , I suggest that you rush right out and buy a copy of Funk Guitar and Bass.

CD NEWS:

Really, I have recorded a new CD. But, here's the catch: since I am in total control of the situation (I have my own pro tools rig) I keep discovering ways to make the tracks better. And I keep adding tracks... hmmmm, maybe it's a double album!....I can tell you what I have been doing. Many of the compostions are old blues and ragtime tunes from the likes of Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Blake and some obscure ragtime composers. There are a few new "pete" compositions, and a couple of other tunes that I rerecorded simply because they have evolved or I play them better. I owe much of my love of old ragtime not to the names of old but to Craig Ventresco, an incredible modern-day-San Francisco-based guitarist who is as eccentric as he is talented. Many of you might know Craig from his recording for "Crumb" compandium CD, Terry Zwigoff's film about the eccentric cartoonist, and from his playing with Bo Grumpus. I did a short piece on Craig in the October 2006 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine. If you haven't heard him check him out you deserve to, IMMEDIATELY!

9/28/05

Fretmaster Book: Slide Guitar now available!:

If you want to order the book follow this link to AMAZON.COM -- they offer the best price around:

SLIDE GUITAR Book

2/3/05

BOOK NEWS:

Currently working on a book about slide guitar. I am learning a lot. This will be a unique instructional book in that there will be a large part devoted to the "story" of slide guitar. Some background on early slide masters like Sol Hoopii (the Hawaiian King of slide) and a lot of Delta Blues stuff (Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Son House...), including the migration of the Blues from the Mississippi Delta to the the clubs of Chicago and beyond. Hopefully, you will find your favorite slide player represented. The instructional portion will work in various tunings, including: open D, open G, open C, dropped D and standard, and cover techiniques and tunes in the style of RJ, Duane Allman, George Harrison, Son House, Lowell George, Roy Rogers, Elmore James and many more...you might even find some of my original compositions represented!

MONTHLY GUITAR SHOWCASE:

I now have a regular monthly date for my Guitar Showcase at A Cuppa Tea in Berkeley. Every 4th Friday of the month I will be joind by some of the Bay Area's best fingerstyle and acoustic guitar players in a round-robin format. Mark your calendar...

OTHER NON-GUITAR RELATED NEWS:

My house is still a mess...We are having a heat wave in the Bay Area: February 2: 70 degrees -- sorry East Coast. Okay you got better football teams than we do. Am I going to watch the Super Bowl? Not sure. Whose breast will I get to see?

11/17/04

I am working on a new CD. I have decided that I am going to record every couple of months and see what I have at the end of a year...

..."it's far more random than that—it's just lint blowing by. I've learned to depend on it and expect it. It's when I try to do something that I fall flat on my face...." Leo Kottke, from an Acoustic Guitar Magazine article .

9/4/04

Labor Day Weekend. I think this is my first real 3 day weekend in 5 years. Hmmm, what will I do with myself...?

To introduce myself to the Napa community I will be playing at gig at Downtown Joe's in Napa on Sunday October 3. If all turns out well this could be a regular gig.

I will also be presenting a workshop on Slide Guitar at The 5th String on Wednesday, October 6 form 7-8:30pm. The workshop will focus on playing in open D (Sevastopol) and open G (Spanish) tunings. Topics covered: slide techniques...How do I get that killer tone?, scales, rhythm vamps, types of slides (brass, steel, glass...).

6/18/04

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. My spring was as busy as any beaver who ever lived. I did a bunch of shows with my pals, The Bungee Jumpin Cows. We played at Sea World in San Diego...Shamu was most impressed, as were a couple of sea lions. Then it was off to Chico and our yearly trek to Fresno to play the infamous Manchester Gate school. For those of you not in the know The Bungee Jumpin Cows are a bunch of crazed folks who play Rock music with a scientific edge; that is they Rock and educate at the same time. This band is great fun for people of all ages.

I taught two workshops this spring: Fingerpicking the Blues; and just recently a beginners guitar class: Chords and Strumming. Both were big successes! This summer I plan to teach two more workshops: The guitar of Robert Johnson and Slide Guitar Basics.

My new CD, Blues and Rags has been well received, including a rave review in Blues Revue magazine which I will post here soon.

This fall, 2004, I will be publishing two more articles with a subsidairy publication of Acoustic Guitar called "Play Guitar." There is an amplifier review and "Everything You Wanted to Know About Chords but were Afraid to Ask"...a beginning guitar lesson.

Good Time Music: Blues and Rags

Liner Notes

5/2000

The House of Pete
– liner notes back of front cover from "Tales of Buzzy" – Buzzy Frets

"It was on a sojourn through rural Mississippi that I first heard the sound of a guitar player playing finger-style blues. ‘How you doin that, with your thumb playing one thing and your fingers doin’ another?’ I asked. The old black man looked at me and smiled a toothy grin, ‘That’s magic, boy!’ I sat on the road side trying to duplicate the sounds the old man had made. I played for hours and hours. When I looked up the sun had descended making the sky a deep purple. There was nothing around for miles; just brown hills with dingy shacks scattered about: no phones, no television, no internet!
I found one of the shacks to be abandoned, so I crept inside with my guitar and fell asleep. Morning came and I awoke, picking up my guitar to play again. This pattern repeated itself for a long time until, one day, I walked out of the shack to find they had built a new mall. I went inside where they had all sorts of new-fangled gizmos: video games, virtual reality. I tried some of the games, but before I could get good at any of them I ran out of money. I returned to my shack, broker but wiser."
Most of these acoustic guitar instrumental compositions are inspired by music of the early and mid 20th century: Delta-style blues, country blues, Travis-style playing, 12 string guitar. Players such as Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson, Merle Travis, John Fahey and Leo Kottke made these styles famous. I believe in paying homage to the people who inspire me but at the same time using their influences to create my own compositions. As my grandfather used to say, "You gotta make it your own!"
Welcome to the House of Pete, stay awhile and enjoy!

Album Credits
Pete Madsen plays all guitars: 6 and 12 string guitars modified by John Mello.
Recorded and Mastered by Rick Wilson
Photos by Steve Sturges
Thanks: thanks to Rick Wilson, John Mello, Steve Sturges, Maggie; all my friends at Univibe, Johnny, Jeffrey, Fat Rob, Bill, The Java Café, The Circus Pub, Graham, Al Milburn, to Andy for the mic stand, Nelson Santos cause he’s a really cool guy, to all the players and artists who have inspired me, and especially to my wife, Catherine, who inspires me every day.

1) Last Steam Engine Train (Fahey) – The first time I heard this was Leo Kottke’s version – it was incredibly fast. I remember saying to my wife, Catherine, "That’s the stuff! That’s what I want to sound like." Fahey’s version is a little more accessible. I split the difference.
2) Big Chief/Little Warrior – it should be 50/50. If you are a chief, you also need to be a warrior: do not send someone to fight a battle you wouldn’t fight yourself. How’s that for philosophy?
3) Watermelon Seeds - I’m not a big fan of watermelon, but I like to spit the seeds.
4) That Evening Sun go Down – this was inspired by the William Faulkner short story of the same name.
5) Mama, Put on that Party Dress – and shake that thing!
6) Happy Catherine – You should see my wife when she wakes up in the morning and she smiles, dimples and all. On second thought, I think I will save that one for myself.
7) Rabbit Run – run gracefully.
8) Wedding – for everybody who is married…to who or whatever.
9) The Railway Station – my impressions of watching trains in Europe.
10) Day of the Dead – originally tilted "Spooky Night." This one is REALLY SCARY!
11) Poor Boy Long Way from Home (…on a Saturday Night) (Fahey/Madsen) – my take on a Fahey tune.
12) Goin’ Down to Richmond – or wherever you live…sometimes you have to go down to get there.
13) The Red Pony (Fahey) – another John Fahey tune. This is one of my favorites, full of melancholy and longing.
14) Great America/The Demon – One day I took my nephew to an amusement park. We went up, down upside-down, climbed slowly, ate some junk food and generally had a grand time. Afterwards, I thought a trip to the amusement park is much like life in America, full of desires and expectations, met with twists, turns, roundabouts and junk food. My favorite ride was one called the Demon, not because it was the most exciting, but because the line was shortest: you can follow the path of good if you want, but when the path to evil is that short and easy, well…
15) Dream of the Hot Potato – I don’t actually dream of hot potatoes, but if I did it would probably sound something like this.
16) Get Buzzy – I sometimes play with a band called Buzzy Frets and His Surfabilly Orchestra. Here is a 12 string version of a song I play with this band.

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