September 13, 2005
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
Maybe not too many of you have heard of Gatemouth, but he was an amazing musician that just passed away on September 10. His home in Slidell, LA was destroyed by Katrina, and after battling terminal lung cancer for the last year, I guess it was just too much for him. I didn’t know who he was till I saw him play with JJ Cale in New Orleans last year, and became interested in his story. He is amazing to me because he could play so many instruments – fiddle and guitar mainly – and was accomplished in so many styles of music. He hated being referred to as a bluesman because he did so much more. Blues actually bored him! He could play cajun, country, bluegrass, jazz, polka, calypso… the list goes on. That’s a man that loves music.
I have an article that I had tore out of a magazine a few months ago with some quotes from him I loved. “What young musicians need to learn is that if you’re going to play music, do it right. Keep it simple. Use dynamics. Don’t everybody be out there trying to be the frontman. Don’t rush, don’t drag, don’t run over yourself. Leave some open space.” Sounds simple doesn’t it?
Anyway, music lost a great role model and teacher. Check out some of his stuff.
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That’s a crazy coincidence, isn’t it? I was stunned when I heard.That’s a great quote, Jean!
timsamoff () (URL) - September 14, 2005 at 12:11 pm
