great people I’ve never met and a few that I have

While in a conversation with a very dear friend this evening, we struck a lot of common ground. It’s kind of weird… I think I’ve lived a very charmed life, musically. I’m just an old retired dude, who hacks at playing blues guitar. I’ve been very lucky to have touched bases with a lot of famous names and a lot of names that should be famous, but for some reason or other, are not.

This isn’t name dropping. I abhor that. Well, actually I don’t abhor it, but I’ve learned that there is nothing to be gained by tying yourself to people who have exhibited a more aggressive zest towards bettering life than you. At the same time, sharing the lessons learned from people like this is something I take great delight in sharing.

One of the things that having an ‘Internet Famous’ offspring has taught me is that no matter how well known someone becomes, it’s still all people and the good points they present to you. Call me an eternal optimist, but artistic people are always a joy for me to meet. Musically artistic people tend to top that list.

Case in point: A young man who could be the next John Petrucci… or he could be the first Diego Vargas. I first met Diego when he was about 14 years old. He came to a blues guitar get together, primarily because his guitar instructor was putting it on. Diego might have a passing interest in blues, but it clearly isn’t his focus. He’s a a rare case of someone who understands where a lot of us are at, even though it is clearly outside his sphere of interest.

He shreds, the likes of which I’ve never seen or heard. When I started this post, I was trying to put him into a box, saying he was liked Yngwie Malmsteen or John Petrucci. But that simply doesn’t fit this young man. He’s just freakin’ good!

While he’s more into shred and some jazz, while he was visiting us in February, I managed to capture some tasty licks while placating us “old guys.”