Uncle Tom

Tonight I joined a new band. While playing my SG I was thinking about all my inspirations, and all the obvious were there: James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Synyster Gates, Tom Delonge and Billie Joe Armstrong. After I was done practicing I gave my guitar it's weekly cleaning and got to thinking to about 2 years ago when my Uncle Tom came from Arizona to visit my family, he was informed that I was learning to play guitar and asked to hear me play. I got out my cheap & crappy gear and played him the 3 chords I knew. I had heard how good he was but never before heard him play so I handed him over the guitar and he made my horrible gear sound like a top notch setup. He played the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and other guitar legends, after he was finished I was astonished. As a beginning guitarist, to see and hear a great performance like that was obviously a humongous inspiration.


A lot of great artists have named there guitars, there is B.B King's Lucille, Frank Iero's Pansy, Billie Joe Armstrong's Floyd and many others. Tonight, December 17th 2007 I have officially named my guitar Tom. As I think about my new band, I realize that without Uncle Tom's visit that night I would probably have given up guitar. After his visit that special night, I promised myself that I would push myself to become the best guitarist that I could be.


Thanks to My Uncle Tom I have found my interest, the one thing that I am truly gifted in. As I reflect on that wondrous night, I have come to realize that without Tom's visit I would not be half the guitarist I am now and I wouldn't have the skill to be in a band. I consider myself to be a pretty good guitarist for my age, but I am always looking to improve and find ways to become a better guitarist. So Tom if you ever get the chance to read this, I would just like to thank you for helping me find my talent, skill and maybe even career choice if I'm lucky enough.

Nothing else matters but the music, does it still matter?

As you know I am a big fan of Metallica, they won me over with their crushing drums, killer guitar riffs and powerful vocals. In my opinion, this band was one of the best rock/metal bands from 1983-2001. From Kill em' all to Re-Load, but in 2003 they made the greatest mistake of their career. They released an album entitled St. Anger, an album that displays over an hour of horrible white noise. I know that they had about all the problems that a band can have during the recording of St. Anger, their long time bassist Jason Newsted quit the band, lead singer James Hetfield went to rehab for help with his drinking problems, drummer Lars Ulrich had his whole Napster incident and the relationship between the three remaining band members was at an all time low.

Despite the problems and drama, you still need to put forward your best effort to release a great album that people will love to listen to 20 years down the road. St. Anger is the exact opposite, there is no way that I would pass this album down to my kids. However, I would have no problem letting my kids listen to albums such as: The Black Album, Master of Puppets, Ride The Lightning, and Re-Load. St. Anger is by far the worst album of their great, successful career.

After the promoting and touring for the 2003 album, Metallica went back in to the studio with a new approach to recording, a new producer, and new material. I would like to believe that the new record is going to be a great and powerful rock release that will be loved by fans for years to come, but after an album like St. Anger is put out, it is hard to believe that to be true.

I will be buying the new album regardless of what it sounds like, and will likely be seeing Metallica in concert this summer. I have my fingers crossed and am praying that the new album will be better than the last one, hopefully my prayers will be answered and God will let Metallica put out a strong, killer, and ruthless album.

My Christmas List

This is my Christmas list for 2007.

1. Ipod Video

2. Metallica - Kill Em All

Nirvana - Nevermind

These are just a select few of the things on my wish list for this Holiday season. I am hoping that I get the Ipod video, because I have maxed out my 2 gigabyte nano.