by Billy Morrison.

Here we are again. Another “Random Note” from the dusty, cobwebbed inner workings of my mind!! Except right now, I have had a huge spring clean in there and all the dust and dirt have been swept out by the crazy series of shows that Camp Freddy just performed here in Los Angeles. Some bright spark (er…..that would be me!) decided that we should do five shows at The Roxy – one a week for the month of May. No big deal, one might cry (don’t cry….you’ll smudge yer eyeliner)…..except that we decided to have a different set list and different guests each week! By the end of the month we had played over 40 songs and had welcomed 45 guests to the stage! For a complete round up of it all, you can CLICK HERE FOR BILLYMORRISON.NET, or you can CLICK HERE FOR CAMPFREDDY.NET. Suffice to say that those shows, along with another show in New York for Tommy Hilfiger, the MAP Awards (with Chester Bennington, Steven Tyler, Robin Zander, Jerry Cantrell, Duff McKagan, Slash, Billy Duffy and Wayne Kramer) and a photoshoot for Italien Vogue Magazine (yep…..L’uomo Vogue….black and white….fashionista….written in Italian…..) left me wiped out on my couch playing video games!!

But there’s no rest for the wicked (as the saying goes – not sure about that, but that’s a whole other journal entry!) and I find myself looking at a June that consists of a trip to Vegas to watch the Sex Pistols play, two trips to New Jersey to be in the Spike Lee produced movie, “The Perfect Age” ….(another stretch for me as an actor – I play a …..DRUG DEALER!!), a trip to Nashville to perform for the Gibson Custom Shop at the NAMM Show at an all-star Jam (oh yes – my peeps at Gibson – total and utter RESPEC’!!), a video shoot back in Los Angeles for my forthcoming single, Evergreen, and a day on the Sunset Strip with Camp Freddy for the Sunset Strip Music Festival – we will be doing an acoustic performance, a live broadcast of Camp Freddy Radio from the old Tower Records lot, and rumor has it that some of us will be jumping up onstage with our new favorite rockers from the UK, McQUEEN at The Whiskey later that night. All in all, another busy month!

I just want to close with some thoughts about guitars and tone (seeing as it IS Modern Guitars!). My wife commented to me (after watching five nights of Camp Freddy at The Roxy, and seeing first hand a whole bunch of different guitar players do their thing) that she feels she finally understands what I mean when I talk about “Tone”. In her own words …..”some people get up and it just sounds buzzy, like an insect. And others get up and no matter what guitar they have on, it sounds like an earthquake!!” – And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love my wife!! HAHA!! She’s right – the great players have the ability to make ANY guitar and amp sound pretty much just like their own sound. Now for the new players out there, the lesson is this – do NOT get caught up in thinking that you HAVE to own a certain make and model of guitar, pedal or amp in order to have “Tone”. True, good equipment makes a difference. But try and understand that MUCH of what you recognize as character and tone comes from the hands, how hard you dig into the guitar, what gauge strings you use, what picks you choose, how you actually PLAY. I just witnessed Steve Jones/Billy Duffy/Jerry Cantrell all do the same thing. Pick up any old Les Paul from the rack, plug it in to the rental Marshall…..and sound EXACTLY like they always do – thick, fat and rockin’ – and if my Wife can hear the difference, then you KNOW what I’m saying is true!! With that, I am gonna say…adios amigos – till next time.

Peace

Billy