PRESENCE - Volume 61
Inspiration For Guitarists
I had an unusual week last week.
In the span of seven days I saw John Scofield, Pat Metheny, and Bill Frisell perform live — three of my all-time favorite guitarists, all in one week. If those names don't mean anything to you, don't worry. These guys grew up on rock and blues just like a lot of us did, but they went deep into jazz and modern composition and became three of the most influential guitarists of the last 50 years. I've been following their careers for most of my adult life.
Most of that happened at the Big Ears Music Festival in Knoxville — a four-day event built around jazz, classical, folk, and experimental music. Not everyone's thing, but an incredible week for a guitar nerd like me.
Here's the thing that got me: Scofield is 74. Metheny is 72. Frisell is 75.
And every single one of them was at the absolute top of their game.
I've seen Scofield and Metheny each probably half a dozen times over the years. Frisell is my favorite guitarist alive — I've probably seen him ten times by now. What struck me this week wasn't just how good they were. It was how they were good. These aren't guys coasting on their “greatest hits”. They're still pushing. Still adding new things to their playing. Still clearly wrestling with the instrument and finding new things to say on it. Metheny premiered new compositions. Frisell looked like a kid who just discovered the guitar. Scofield played things I hadn't heard him play before.
Sixty-plus years in, and they're still at it.
There were younger players on the bill too — Julian Lage, Madison Cunningham, Blake Mills — all doing extraordinary things and carrying the music forward. But honestly, it was the older guys who left me sitting in my seat thinking.
I've been playing for over 40 years now. I still work on things. I still have a list of stuff I want to get better at, sounds I'm chasing, ideas I haven't quite figured out how to execute yet. Some days that feels a little embarrassing — shouldn't I have this all figured out by now? But watching those three men play this week, I didn't feel embarrassed about any of it. I felt grateful. I wasn't thinking about limitations. I was thinking about how much road is still out there. Sixty-plus years in and they're still finding new things. That's not a cautionary tale — that's an invitation.
The guitar is a long game. Now get back to work.
— Dustin
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