On Thursday I got to talk face to face with one of my real-life guitar heroes, Jorma Kaukonen, founding member of two legendary bands, The Jefferson Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna. One of my real-life guitar heros, Jorma and I sat down to talk in the Martin booth at NAMM 2010.
Not only did I get to meet him, I got to hand him one of my CDs and say "thank you, without you I wouldn't have one of these." He also kindly agreed to sit down with me and talk for a few minutes. A great interview from the Martin Guitars booth on the floor at NAMM. It needs a little editing and we will post it to barefootmusicnews as soon as it is ready to go.
Jorma has been teaching me guitar since 1965. He helped me find my passion for the acoustic guitar that, thanks to him and countless other players like him, I now play so well. Few have that passion for music, the dedication to and almost childlike love of playing guitar. You can see it on his face, when he plays and when he talks about it. I asked him to tell us about his guitar hero and what advice he would give to an up-and-coming guitar player. His answers will be good for you. Promise.
He stretched my world and, until today, he didn't even know it.