Voodoo Shilton spoke tonight of some years when he was playing guitar with accompaniment from a friend playing tabla. For many, world music was listening to Ravi Shankar in the sixties - I did it too - but it didn't go much beyond that. Voodoo started playing it and, yes, he has played a sitar as well. (Voodoo is too young to have been listening in the sixties but he sure picked up a lot of it somewhere.)
Once again there was a great turnout at Cat's Art MusikCenter and it's in large part because Voodoo is so engaging. He's a very soft-spoken man and would be the educator you enjoy hearing speak as he knows precisely when something is too technical, etc. His manner is very gentle and "The Littlest Elephant" shows you the same thing is in his heart. Soft-spoken doesn't mean wimpy as he has a gift for going right to the heart of anything and he does it without ever sounding patronizing.
I know it sounds like I think the cat pees holy water and maybe he does ... but that goes beyond the scope of the article. You see I'm a fan so it's a tough thing to write this so you know what I write is not hype.
In the movie, "Doc Hollywood," Julie Warner tells Michael J. Fox, the hotshot young doctor, about onions and how you can just keep peeling back layers. Yep, that'd be Voodoo. I suspect you would find a whole lot of them too.
So he spoke of his time playing in an Indian style and he got into it deeply enough to know different types of Indian musical charting. This is all part of a mindset of musical experimentation and exploration that's immensely admirable. I've remarked previously about how he introduces new instruments / voices to his music and this is only in the relatively-short time I have been going to his shows. Experimentation isn't something that came recently as it seems he has been doing it his entire life.
As to musicianship, Voodoo broke a string right as he was about to start his set. That seems like the King Jinx is on you when you do an intro run on the guitar to check tuning ... and ... BANG ... a string breaks. That is just wrong.
Breaking a string isn't so hard, going into your first number with a brand-new string definitely is hard. Strings are feisty when you first change one. Strings will stretch and slip a little as you play and that takes them out of tune. The genius in his play was that you could hear the tuning slip away a little but he would finesse around it, get it tuned again, and continue the song, all without missing a thing. Just brilliant.
He's also renamed "Crossroads," a song I have found particularly impressive. The new name is "Spin the Compass" as there is an association at the Crossroads of a deal with the Devil but that is not an association he wants. Spinning the compass goes more to being at Rabbit Ears Pass in Colorado. It's the watershed line for the entire country as any rain falling to the east will stay in the east and the same with rain to the west. So, young traveler, which way will you go to find your water.
Voodoo is one of the few musicians with whom it would be cool to hang out. He's an exceptionally bright guy so it wouldn't do to bore him but he's also one of the few exceptionally bright guys who are good at conversation. I'm sure it would be fascinating and I know some of you are huge fans so you can entertain yourself with that thought.
Regarding Exceptionally Bright Guys: I worked with one who came in through a rainstorm for midnight test work the team was doing at the computer center. He was soaked and spent the duration of his time wearing underpants, a tie, and a hat ... he also knew where every electron was located in the University terminal network and which cable it would use to find its way home.
Talking with Voodoo, probably easy ... talking with my colleague in the tie and the underpants, not quite so much.
There's a great deal performers could learn from Voodoo. The music, of course, is exceptional but the way he engages the crowd makes you feel like he is talking and playing directly to you ... and he is. He knows you are there and he tells you. Many people miss the importance of this and it may be that the juniors have not played on real stages so they don't know how special it is that you can see who is at your show ... more importantly, that you can talk to them.
The looper means Voodoo can keep a fast pace to his show. There is very little lag in-between songs for some sort of technical gimcrackery ... or ... he is so smooth with doing it that he is making changes while he talks. Either way, that pacing is a very good thing to learn. Regardless of whether you use a looper or however you keep it moving, the pace, in many ways, is important as the music.
Most of all, the willingness to experiment sets Voodoo apart. It doesn't matter what kind of experimentation you do, just that you do it. Getting into the idea that the highest musical art always needs risk gets all metaphysical so let's just leave that open.
Once again there was a great turnout at Cat's Art MusikCenter and it's in large part because Voodoo is so engaging. He's a very soft-spoken man and would be the educator you enjoy hearing speak as he knows precisely when something is too technical, etc. His manner is very gentle and "The Littlest Elephant" shows you the same thing is in his heart. Soft-spoken doesn't mean wimpy as he has a gift for going right to the heart of anything and he does it without ever sounding patronizing.
I know it sounds like I think the cat pees holy water and maybe he does ... but that goes beyond the scope of the article. You see I'm a fan so it's a tough thing to write this so you know what I write is not hype.
In the movie, "Doc Hollywood," Julie Warner tells Michael J. Fox, the hotshot young doctor, about onions and how you can just keep peeling back layers. Yep, that'd be Voodoo. I suspect you would find a whole lot of them too.
So he spoke of his time playing in an Indian style and he got into it deeply enough to know different types of Indian musical charting. This is all part of a mindset of musical experimentation and exploration that's immensely admirable. I've remarked previously about how he introduces new instruments / voices to his music and this is only in the relatively-short time I have been going to his shows. Experimentation isn't something that came recently as it seems he has been doing it his entire life.
As to musicianship, Voodoo broke a string right as he was about to start his set. That seems like the King Jinx is on you when you do an intro run on the guitar to check tuning ... and ... BANG ... a string breaks. That is just wrong.
Breaking a string isn't so hard, going into your first number with a brand-new string definitely is hard. Strings are feisty when you first change one. Strings will stretch and slip a little as you play and that takes them out of tune. The genius in his play was that you could hear the tuning slip away a little but he would finesse around it, get it tuned again, and continue the song, all without missing a thing. Just brilliant.
He's also renamed "Crossroads," a song I have found particularly impressive. The new name is "Spin the Compass" as there is an association at the Crossroads of a deal with the Devil but that is not an association he wants. Spinning the compass goes more to being at Rabbit Ears Pass in Colorado. It's the watershed line for the entire country as any rain falling to the east will stay in the east and the same with rain to the west. So, young traveler, which way will you go to find your water.
Voodoo is one of the few musicians with whom it would be cool to hang out. He's an exceptionally bright guy so it wouldn't do to bore him but he's also one of the few exceptionally bright guys who are good at conversation. I'm sure it would be fascinating and I know some of you are huge fans so you can entertain yourself with that thought.
Regarding Exceptionally Bright Guys: I worked with one who came in through a rainstorm for midnight test work the team was doing at the computer center. He was soaked and spent the duration of his time wearing underpants, a tie, and a hat ... he also knew where every electron was located in the University terminal network and which cable it would use to find its way home.
Talking with Voodoo, probably easy ... talking with my colleague in the tie and the underpants, not quite so much.
There's a great deal performers could learn from Voodoo. The music, of course, is exceptional but the way he engages the crowd makes you feel like he is talking and playing directly to you ... and he is. He knows you are there and he tells you. Many people miss the importance of this and it may be that the juniors have not played on real stages so they don't know how special it is that you can see who is at your show ... more importantly, that you can talk to them.
The looper means Voodoo can keep a fast pace to his show. There is very little lag in-between songs for some sort of technical gimcrackery ... or ... he is so smooth with doing it that he is making changes while he talks. Either way, that pacing is a very good thing to learn. Regardless of whether you use a looper or however you keep it moving, the pace, in many ways, is important as the music.
Most of all, the willingness to experiment sets Voodoo apart. It doesn't matter what kind of experimentation you do, just that you do it. Getting into the idea that the highest musical art always needs risk gets all metaphysical so let's just leave that open.
