One of these days I have to learn them all, hopefully I already do some of them, without knowing their names. Exotic scales are what sets Surfmusic apart from earlier forms of instrumental rock’n’roll, and connects it with jazz (like early George Benson and Gabor Szabo) and Exotica.

Guitar Geek Festival

Deke’s 5th Annual Guitar Geek Festival

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Jolly Roger Hotel Ballroom (amazing 1960s pirate-themed ballroom!)
640 W. Katella (at Harbor), Anaheim, California
Only one block from the NAMM show/Convention Center!
Doors at 3 p.m., show starts at 4 p.m. sharp!
All ages welcome (must be 21 to drink)
$35 advance / $40 at the door / $35 with NAMM pass
Advance Ticket $35

Featuring:

The Collins Kids: Larry and Lorrie!
Straight from the stage of ‘Town Hall Party’ we present Larry and Lorrie Collins in their first Southern California appearance in 15 years, and their first show in Anaheim in decades! Singing their big hits ‘Mercy,’ ‘Rock Boppin’ Baby,’ ‘Let’s Have A Party,’ ‘Whistle Bait,’ and others, the show also includes Larry Collins playing the snot out of his double- neck Mosrite on such tunes as ‘Rockin’ Gypsy’ and ‘Hurricane!’ Larry and Lorrie never fail to put on an amazing show, and this will be the most exciting Guitar Geek Festival headlining act yet!

Teisco Del Rey: King of the Guitorgan
Featuring Paul ‘Mr. Moto’ Johnson! Many remember Teisco Del Rey as the columnist for Guitar Player magazine for many years. Others remember him from his astounding instrumental albums, where he tackled everything from surf to soul, channeling the spirit of Duane Eddy. Yet others will remember him as the only man in the last 3 decades to seriously play the ‘Guitorgan’! All this and more will be revealed in Teisco Del Rey’s first-ever Southern California live appearance, with an all- star band featuring Paul Johnson of the Bel-Airs (who came and rocked his song ‘Mr. Moto’ at last year’s fest!), Steve Soest from The Torquays, and Pete Curry of the Halibuts and Los Straitjackets! A set not to be missed.

Deke Dickerson & Crazy Joe: Twin Guitar Special!
Your host teams up with the king of nerdabilly from Enon, Ohio, in a special set of guitar duets! This will NOT be two guys sitting down with a couple of acoustic guitars. This set promises to be extreme and dangerous!

Brian Lonbeck: the Barn Burner of Bakersfield!
In a dangerous attempt to see how many Mosrite doubleneck players we can fit onto the bill, we bring back perennial favorite Brian Lonbeck of Bakersfield to tear down the house with more Maphis-inspired mayhem!

Maestro Alex Gregory: Maestro of the Heavy Metal Mandolin!
If you haven’t heard of this guy, look up his name on the internet. What you see with your own eyes will still be hard to believe! The English-born Gregory was given the title ‘Maestro’ by Queen Elizabeth’s government in 1983. After years of studying classical music, he entered the field of rock, where he has mastered such inventions as the seven-string guitar (Gregory holds two patents on the seven- string guitar!) and the electric mandolin. His most recent CD shows him holding an electric mandolin while urinating on the graves of Steve Vai and Yngvie Malmsteen! This will without a doubt prove an interesting set!

Junior Watson: Southern California Blues King!
We’re excited to get ‘Junior’ Watson on the Guitar Geek Festival bill. Junior has been playing around Southern California for the last three decades, first as a founding member of the Mighty Flyers with Rod Piazza, then as a ten-year member of Canned Heat. Since then he’s played with just about everybody in the blues world and has amassed a cult following as the blues cat with THE TONE!!!!

The ‘All-Bigsby Band!’: Featuring Jeremy Wakefield & T.K. Smith!
It is rare to see an instrument made by Paul A. Bigsby, inventor of the Bigsby vibrato. Many people know that Bigsby was an important instrument maker who invented the first modern solidbody electric guitar for Merle Travis, but most have never seen one of these instruments in person! For one evening we will have a band on stage playing exclusively instruments made by Bigsby. The band will be led by festival stalwarts Jeremy ‘J.W.’ Wakefield on steel guitar and ‘T.K.’ Smith on electric guitar, along with a slew of other older and younger players–all living Bigsby owners have been invited to participate! This will be a photo opportunity never to be repeated again! Several vintage guitar dealers have already been rushed to the hospital!

Lester Peabody With Special Guest Marti Brom!
Hailing from Finland, Lester Peabody is a double threat to be reckoned with–not only as a great Chet-styled finger picker on the guitar, but also as a great steel guitar player! Bonus for all the lonely guitar fans will be an appearance by sultry-voiced Texas singer Marti Brom, who will sing a number or two with Lester on his great set!

James Calvin Wilsey: The Guitar Behind Chris Isaak!
Jimmy Wilsey has an impressive resume. Not only is he the guitarist who played on Chris Isaak’s breakout hit ‘Wicked Game,’ with its haunting atmospheric guitar parts, but he was also in the seminal punk band the Avengers, who can actually claim to have shared a bill with the Sex Pistols at their very last show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in 1978! Jimmy Wilsey has a brand-new band called Wilsey and a new album out, and they will be showcasing their exciting brand of tunes at the Guitar Geek Festival!

Opening Set: Breakout Talent Showcase!
The most difficult thing about putting together the Guitar Geek Festival each year is that we have so much phenomenal talent and not enough time to get everybody involved. So this year, a bunch of great guitarists will get the evening rolling with one tune each! Guaranteed you’ll want to be there from the opening bell, as these guitarists are every bit as talented as our featured acts!

All ages (must be 21 to drink)!
Full bar available!
Booths from Hallmark, TNM Custom, and more!
Deke’s Amazing Guitar Museum with a special Bigsby exhibit!
DJ Dan Moses!
Guitar Raffle courtesy Fender/Gretsch guitars!
$35 advance / $40 at the door / $35 with NAMM pass
This is an Early Show! Doors open at 3 p.m., show starts at 4 p.m. sharp!

Jolly Roger Hotel Ballroom (amazing 1960s pirate-themed ballroom!)
640 W. Katella (at Harbor), Anaheim, California
Only one block from the NAMM show/Convention Center!

I would go there – if it was anywhere near. He should do a world tour, and fill up the line-up with local acts like Ladi Geisler in Hamburg, and Bert Weedon and Judd Proctor in England.

From the days A&Rs would do the occasional string arrangement. The Billboard Hot 100 sounded different. This particular one from 1963 reminded me of the days I did full song chart themed mix tapes of, say, summer 1964, southern Calfifornia local radio charts music. That way I had a nice helping of surf instros, among their contemporaries. I would pop it in the car-radio-tape player, blasting out of 2 sixties Dual speakers in the back of my beetle on the way to St. Peter with my 9ft board on the roof. You never know what it feels like until you try it.

kfxm/kfmen radio blogspot

Gordon finished his Jaguar project. It’s a very special guitar, based on Fender’s favorite surf guitar – the Jaguar.
Everybody wants to hear it, and I am no exception! He chose Charlie Christian style pick-ups and a reverse headstock, that crazy french-man.

Here’s his blog.

Through Surfmusic101 this article by Drew Kampion came to my attention:

A few days ago, a friend told me she’d got the news that Dick Dale (King of the Surf Guitar) was in a serious fight with colon cancer, which had attacked him back in the 1960s and changed his life (he became a vegetarian, an environmental activist, and a man who lives in the moment). Dick retired from performing for a time, but got back into it during the 1980s. When Quentin Tarantino prominently featured DD’s famous “Misirlou” instrumental in his 1994 film, Pulp Fiction, Dick Dale was once again elevated into public consciousness.
…

article at Surfer’s Path

DickDale.com

The Cowabunga Surf Music Webring (which my Homepage www.kawentzmann.de was a proud member of) is going to be closed down.

I have chosen not to renew web hosting and the domain registration for
Zptduda.Com, which will be effective at the end of January. This will mean that
the Cowabunga links pages will be going away. If you have not already, I highly
recommend that you join SurfGuitar101.com and add your site to their links pages.

I will also be closing down the Cowabunga webring. If your site is currently a
member of the Cowabunga ring, please feel free to remove the banner graphic and
web ring controls from your pages.

Thanks and best regards,

When I first started on the web I only had a tiny space at Luxuriamusic’s community. I attempted to join the Ring with that, but no reaction from Dave – it was around late 2000. The old web was still going strong. I don’t remember exactly when I attempted to join again, maybe it was only 2006. He accepted my new homepage – but checking the membersites was desillusionating, showing every forth band or so had gone/broken-up without even acknowldeging the webring. Clicking through the links you got the impression of strolling through a ghost town at times. While Surfmusic101 is alive and well, it’s a site with a lively forum. And MySpace also get’s a good share of surfmusic action. So the internet habits have changed so much that it doesn’t seem worth the effort on Dave’s part? I don’t know, maybe he just has not enough time to do the maintenance.
I will remove the Cowabunga links now.

A resource about environmentally and socially responsible surf related products and lifestyle choices.
link

Surfguitar 101 made me aware of an article in Vintage Guitar Magazine. I don’t have it but it’s said to be really good, with big full color photos of his gear. Now, you don’t know who Dave Wronski is? He has this band called Slacktone. He’s working for Fender and plays with John Blair in Jon & The Nightriders, who were the most influential second wave surf band in the 80s, from an international view that is all I can say. Slacktone is Dave Wronski’s take on the modern Surf with strong historical references. They are one of the best, possible the best modern Surf band. He has great knowledge to get the tone he wants – and it’s amazing. He’s mainly a Jaguar player, even though he got famous with a Mosrite on the cover of Jon & The Nightriders Live At The Whiskey A Go-Go, a record any live performing surf band is hereby strongly advised to call their own.

from Surfers Villagee (via Surfrider blog)

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 1 December, 2007 : – – As Ireland was battered today by the largest ocean swells ever predicted by the Marine Institute’s weather buoys (14 metres), a group of four surfers braved the stormy conditions to successfully take on the biggest waves ever ridden in the British and Irish Isles, off Mullaghmore Head, south Donegal Bay, Ireland. Duncan Scott (Newquay, Cornwall, UK), Alistair Mennie (Portrush, N.Ireland), Gabe Davies (Newcastle, UK) and Ritchie Fitzgerald (Bundoran, Co. Donegal, Ireland) motored out at first light on two jetskis to await the arrival of the massive, storm-driven swells.

pics at BBC

video link

Thanks to Ivan on Surfguitar 101 here‘s a link to Jet Harris performing one of his big hits in 1962, The Man With The Golden Arm. Fender Bass VI involved. It starts right after Hawaiian War Twist.

YouTube link