A Delayed Start, And An Early Ending

While it's been quite a while since GP's introductory, and possibly overzealous first entry, I've returned to the URL-realm in the hope that I may entertain and enlighten with the unbridled guitar nerdom I find myself "punishing" friends and family with far too often in the IRL-realm. I apologize for the wait, however, I promise I will keep up you stocked with guitar relative content from here on out. I will underline what I intend to maintain as a post schedule in the next day or two, however, there are more pressing matters at hand: last night, we lost another hero from the ranks.

Irish guitarist Gary Moore passed away in his sleep last night. An IMMENSELY talented individual, Moore was an on again off again member of Thin Lizzy, an apprentice to the criminally under-appreciated Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, and had a major impact upon the guitar lexicon via both his own playing and his blues preservation efforts.

While his playing has proven to be massively influential for Europeans, he is oft overlooked in the United States, though Reaganomics may have something to say about the trickle-down effect of the black rose tattoo on Axl Rose' arm. Rather than waste my time with an entire biography, as there are plenty of those available, I'll simply recommend you pick up copies of the Thin Lizzy album Black Rose: A Rock Legend and his solo album, Still Got The Blues. For my 8 year old self, my Dad's copy of Still Got The Blues was a very digestible introduction to blues music, thanks to Moore's pension at the time for the slutty saturation of Michael Soldano's SLO amps and the exciting clustered salvos of pentatonic dominance he was so great at. It was certainly a wonderful gateway drug to the world of blues music. As such, it was also my introduction the playing of two very important Alberts, just like hiding your dog's  pill in a piece of cheese, their cameos were placed in a context that less mature ears could appreciate, while still shining a light toward the roots of what I was enjoying.

Rest In Peace Gary, and thanks for the riffs.

-DVB