Eric Johnson at The Independent: San Francisco

Tonight I was able to see a guitar player that has influenced me since I was a little rug-rat. Eric Johnson played the Independent in San Francisco and brought a flood of memories back, and demonstrated that year later he is still taking the guitar to new levels.

Back when I was in 8th grade, a friend of mine gave me a tape of Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover". Sitting in the back of Spanish class, my jaw, which had still not been touched by a razor, hit it the floor with a thud and drool spilled everywhere. What was coming out of my headphones was not an ordinary catchy tune, or a brief flash of brilliance--it was as if something devine was speaking through a beat-up Fender Stratocaster, shot through a Marshall stack. (Click the link to hear the clip).

A few months later, I found that Eric was playing in Tucson (where I lived at the time), but the show was in South Tucson--not exactly a place for a couple of 8th grade white boys, but my mom and dad drove us there, dropped us off, gave us a gun and told us to hold us to watch out for a guy that calls himself Sanchez.

The night was uneventful, except for Eric sending screaming tones from his Strat. We stood right in front of him, watching in awe, a guitar player that was able to get so much from his guitar. When he played "Cliffs of Dover", I resolved that I would learn that song inside and out even though at the time, I was barely able to play a few chords without some serious sweat.

Eric's output over the subsequent years had been minimal. Eric is a bit obsessive compulsive, and cannot stand something that is not quite perfect (he can tell the difference between different batteries that power his effects pedals). However, that didn't keep my friends and family from having to put up with endless renditions of "Cliffs of Dover" (ask Kyle, "Cliffs of Dover" came out of my guitar so many times in college, we thought of calling Eric up to share with the rent).

Studying Eric taught me the necessity of touch, feel and tone. I realized that you can get so many different tones out of the guitar either by plucking, picking or tapping notes in different positions. This isn't too groundbreaking, but being able to put it into a context that is interesting and heartfelt is. Tone became my obsession, as I would stay up in my room, with the amp turned off, just playing a single note for hours over and over, just to understand how it felt to play it with different vibrato, picking, tapping, feeling and stength.

Anyway, tonight I was able to catch Eric playing in a rather small venue, not too unlike the one that I saw him in 15 years ago, and he delivered another stunning performance. Of course, "Cliffs of Dover" was amazing, but he also played "Desert Rose" with a passion and fury that was nothing short of magical.

Eric is able to make his music float in a way unlike anyone I've ever heard to this day. If the Devil had a guitar tone, it would probably sound like George Lynch, however, if God picked up his axe and started to play, he might sound pretty close to Eric.

UPDATE: I must have been tired last night. Clearly if the Devil had a guitar tone, it would sound like Robert Johnson, NOT George Lynch. Sheesh, its like I am obsessed with 80's metal or something.

I'm off to grow my mullet.