Alex is a really amazing guitarist! He really know how to take music and make the way he wants it to be. He definitely deserved to be in the finals. 5 stars!!
Alex playing 'My Generation' by the flagpole at our elementary school (about a million years ago) was my first rock concert. Blew my mind.....still does. Great job Alex!
@EmptyChannelIsEmpty That's a Gibson Les Paul Standard. I won it while doing the KoTB competition. I love Agile Guitars and own a few but that's not one of them. I usually play a Fender or Fender-Style homemade guitar but Gibson offered me a bonus if I won the competition while playing one of their guitars.
Hey man, GREAT playing! My name is Stëv Skye and I made the first round preliminaries at the Phoenix, AZ store :) I actually posted the performance (my first youtube post)... Im really excited about this competition! Peace!
Who is this tool anewdayproductions? I started with the blues and like you said branched out from there. You know though blues is one of the hardest styles to feel. When you can make me cry from a one or two note solo then you know what's going on.
@Fetcha200 but if I had to choose between one or the other, I personally would go with "with feeling" because that's what I go for. There are some people who know how to give their guitar (or whatever instrument of choice) an actual voice. And it's those people that really make an impression on me personally.
fist of all, thats not what they were getting at, they're talking deeper. Secondly, its not just the blues scale. You can play a solo in a major key too. Not all blues songs are 1,4,5 chord progression either.
spinalt4pp: i'll agree, by technical terms, he is not playing the blues. but spiritually, any good piece of music is the blues. Hell, radiohead is the blues! The blues can't be defined by a set of chord changes or a rhythm or a set of scales. The blues are just...the blues. Anything with passion and soul in it, as far as I'm concerned is the blues. As far as Alex Johnson goes, I think he did a damn fine job in this competition and probly should have won.
@Fetcha200 it's simple really. "modern" players can dish out blistering scales and sweeps and whatnot...but when they slow it down to discernable speeds, can they still make it sound awesome? With feeling means that music is more than a mathematical mechanic of scales- you know how to make your instrument have a voice instead of just merely playing notes. Now admittedly, some people do hide behind the whole "with feeling" thing, but the best is when someone can have both feeling and technicals.
@slashdelbarrio thats interesting, since guys like Robert Johnson, BB King, Muddy Waters, t bone walker, and Albert King werent ever noted to use fender guitars. blues isnt made by the brand of guitar. its the way the player manifests despair through it that makes the music "blues". You can learn blues, but in my opinion, you cant call yourself a real blues guitarist until you feel it.
a little struggle here with the rhythm..but les paul style short necks are never as tight in that dept as strats..bit more blurred due to the lower string tension
in the past few comments I have read alex has soul unlike the winner and, the winner has soul unlike alex. confused. I liked the end acoustic slapping stuff.
it DOES sound like he's playing a strat! but that's because he is playing that lp like one. and you know, this is really nice but if they give you the chords from the backing band, something along these lines should be something that comes from any respecting blues player. good acoustic set too though, he's got my respect
THIS IS THE TONE I AM LOOKING FOR SOUND LIKE A FENDER WITH A LITTLE TUBE SCREAMER PUSH YOU ONLY GET 5 MINUTES WITH AN AMP YOU NEED TO BE A rocket scientist to set up will be ready for next round
All of you are right in one respect - A.J. is good, but he is lacking in stage presence, and this tune is more "funk" than the blues. Checkout Aaron Loesch's presence with that pawnshop guitar - he really can play, give him a Les Paul and watch the sparks fly. Winning this competion on a pawnshop guitar is amazing in itself - give the guy some ciddos for having the balls to do that!
Also! This guy anewdayproductions still has a mind of a kid. His hostile personality on here means he's just not a mature musician. 25 years is nice. I have 33 years of Guitar, Drums, Bass, Piano, flute and Recording and I don't have to use foul language just because I disagree with you or you name dropping a couple of classical artists to make us believe you're something special. Lol
He is very technically proficient but he deviated pretty far from the blues for most of it, which is why I think he didn't win. His electric was mostly funk and the acoustic was very tapping-heavy, which is enjoyable to listen to but not the best for a blues contest.
at the slightest bit of speed this guy got real choppy and real sloppy....I'm not all about speed though...and I believe less is more....listen...it's the blues...we all know what your gonna play....we just we hear how you play it.....it's all phrasing...good call and response work going...some interesting things happening... good player....
wow, if you want tone you play lesters. if you want speed and no tone, you play ibanez's jacksons esp's and so on. i'll take tone over speed anyday, but there are plenty of shreders that play lesters though. so then you get tone and speed, why even say something as ignorant as you did
This guy is clearly good but I don't hear "his" sound or style in here. I hear some other people's good stuff. He has a little Eddie in him with the hammer-ons and pull off triplet thing mid-neck. He lacks that true bluesman feel that Johnny Winter, Muddy Waters, etc have. Rhythm section is lame. No feeling at all. The drummer needs to listen to how Johnny Winter's drummers go for it on the blues! I'm not sure how this guy won with the likes of people like Johnny Rushmore looming out there.
the only problem with this, especially with his acoustic performance, is that none of it has any soul. it all sounds too rehearsed. blues is from the soul, and when you play like that, it's not real blues. it's rehearsed blues. too fake. don't get me wrong, he's amazing but the winner deserved it, he's incredibly original and that is a huge criteria for winning
i took guitar lessons from this guy for a year hes the real deal go alex your the man
Joe J
Alex is a really amazing guitarist! He really know how to take music and make the way he wants it to be. He definitely deserved to be in the finals. 5 stars!!
Alex playing 'My Generation' by the flagpole at our elementary school (about a million years ago) was my first rock concert. Blew my mind.....still does. Great job Alex!
I also took lessons from him for 6 years, highly recommended great teacher!!!!!!!!
- Ryan V.M
Thank you, Joe!
wow you sure know guitar players. I agree man.
He was really REALLY feeling it here.
i've seen alot of the KOB contestants and this man is in my personal top 3
Can you blame us for loving this guy??? So cool!
Thanks, Mr. Ryan!
Awesome playing man. Very funky and rythmic.
keep Rocking.
Awesome vibe! That guy must be HUGE- he makes his Les Paul look like a ukulele :D
Doug Zbikowski he's freakishly large.
very good Player Great Sound !
This guys throws down some really neat funk riffs.
He's my lesson teacher! Amazing!
This guys acoustic set was amazing .
I like his style! He play's it like a bass sometimes, and does lot's of sweep stuff with his fingertips. Awesome!
this guy came to my guitar class and taught us some cool shit. hes such a funny dude!. and hes amazing at guitar
@TFGfilms That was Cheech. He's a very cool dude. I really liked hanging out with him.
Ditto for me! I really dig this guy's style! Just Great!
and he is my band teacher
funky! sounds great!
He should have won. This is the style I aspire to play.
wow groove is amazing very good guitarist
Me oh my, a les Paul in a battle of the strats, Nice job
@Hoopaugh087 Those are Elixir Nanoweb, Light (12-53) 80/20 Bronze
@EmptyChannelIsEmpty That's a Gibson Les Paul Standard. I won it while doing the KoTB competition. I love Agile Guitars and own a few but that's not one of them. I usually play a Fender or Fender-Style homemade guitar but Gibson offered me a bonus if I won the competition while playing one of their guitars.
@juddy99 Nope. Just the LA bit. The copyright restrictions were pretty tight. Thanks for the props, I'm glad you like it.
Love this guy! His playing reminds me of Jimmy Page.
Hey man, GREAT playing! My name is Stëv Skye and I made the first round preliminaries at the Phoenix, AZ store :) I actually posted the performance (my first youtube post)... Im really excited about this competition! Peace!
Who is this tool anewdayproductions? I started with the blues and like you said branched out from there. You know though blues is one of the hardest styles to feel. When you can make me cry from a one or two note solo then you know what's going on.
this guy is good.
Moves around and everything kinda like Frampton. dudes good
I loved 0:16-0:18.
Hahaha.
That's feelin your blues, there.
this guy should have won period.
👌 groovy blues 👏
That is awesome! Alex, is the Memphis Smoke performance on RUclips too? jud
he has a guitar like Marty Shwartz!
this is my guitar teacher
@Fetcha200 but if I had to choose between one or the other, I personally would go with "with feeling" because that's what I go for. There are some people who know how to give their guitar (or whatever instrument of choice) an actual voice. And it's those people that really make an impression on me personally.
lol man that was sick..niceeee! why didnt you win again???
this is the only king of the blues winner I like.
chocolatedonut31 me too!
this guy is so much better than the winner
wht amp does this guy play
Oh, also is there anyway i can get this as an mp3? i really dig the grooves.
thanks in advance.
more than i can explain......
funky
fist of all, thats not what they were getting at, they're talking deeper. Secondly, its not just the blues scale. You can play a solo in a major key too. Not all blues songs are 1,4,5 chord progression either.
he kicks ass
my bad, it was actually 'Pinball Wizard' now that I'm reading back my comment......I guess it was a million years ago!
By far the best one, he should've won.
spinalt4pp: i'll agree, by technical terms, he is not playing the blues. but spiritually, any good piece of music is the blues. Hell, radiohead is the blues! The blues can't be defined by a set of chord changes or a rhythm or a set of scales. The blues are just...the blues. Anything with passion and soul in it, as far as I'm concerned is the blues.
As far as Alex Johnson goes, I think he did a damn fine job in this competition and probly should have won.
This guy was way better than the winner. This cat sounds like a pro, great rhythm
Logic wins out again! Thank you demravager. Way to tell it like it is.
@CoandCaSSTB uhh muddy waters pretty much only used a telecaster
wow - that's g8!!!
I'd really like to know what king of strings he's using on his acoustic.
@Fetcha200 it's simple really. "modern" players can dish out blistering scales and sweeps and whatnot...but when they slow it down to discernable speeds, can they still make it sound awesome? With feeling means that music is more than a mathematical mechanic of scales- you know how to make your instrument have a voice instead of just merely playing notes. Now admittedly, some people do hide behind the whole "with feeling" thing, but the best is when someone can have both feeling and technicals.
@slashdelbarrio
thats interesting, since guys like Robert Johnson, BB King, Muddy Waters, t bone walker, and Albert King werent ever noted to use fender guitars.
blues isnt made by the brand of guitar. its the way the player manifests despair through it that makes the music "blues". You can learn blues, but in my opinion, you cant call yourself a real blues guitarist until you feel it.
@Darin72000
finally
someone who understands me
hehe
@ddrumsrock: agreed
no thats funky, and the weird thing is, is that my name is alex johnson aswell!
dam that les paul sounds good
i like funky blues
Anyone know the name of the acoustic tune? Or is it his? my kind of rythym
@Darin72000 dude your so right!
I like his style way better.
a little struggle here with the rhythm..but les paul style short necks are never as tight in that dept as strats..bit more blurred due to the lower string tension
Is it jsut me or did the 07 competition have way better players than the 06 one? just a thought
how do you do that slide on :40 ?
@strwy2hvn94 good call, my mistake.
in the past few comments I have read alex has soul unlike the winner and, the winner has soul unlike alex. confused. I liked the end acoustic slapping stuff.
it DOES sound like he's playing a strat! but that's because he is playing that lp like one. and you know, this is really nice but if they give you the chords from the backing band, something along these lines should be something that comes from any respecting blues player. good acoustic set too though, he's got my respect
how the f did he not win?
THIS IS THE TONE I AM LOOKING FOR SOUND LIKE A FENDER WITH A LITTLE TUBE SCREAMER PUSH YOU ONLY GET 5 MINUTES WITH AN AMP YOU NEED TO BE A rocket scientist to set up will be ready for next round
THAT'S MY COWORKERS DAD
He should have taken first.
If he would have been a little more "bluesy" he might have won. What he did was totally cool though.
this guy rocks! the winner was really boring.
All of you are right in one respect - A.J. is good, but he is lacking in stage presence, and this tune is more "funk" than the blues. Checkout Aaron Loesch's presence with that pawnshop guitar - he really can play, give him a Les Paul and watch the sparks fly. Winning this competion on a pawnshop guitar is amazing in itself - give the guy some ciddos for having the balls to do that!
how the fuck do you bend strings when you oil them?
Also! This guy anewdayproductions still has a mind of a kid. His hostile personality on here means he's just not a mature musician. 25 years is nice. I have 33 years of Guitar, Drums, Bass, Piano, flute and Recording and I don't have to use foul language just because I disagree with you or you name dropping a couple of classical artists to make us believe you're something special. Lol
Not bad at all...
this guy has so much more talent the aaron loesch he should have won
your playing is affected by your guitar though. it actually has a lot to do with it. thats why your not supposed to use someone elses guitar.
He is very technically proficient but he deviated pretty far from the blues for most of it, which is why I think he didn't win. His electric was mostly funk and the acoustic was very tapping-heavy, which is enjoyable to listen to but not the best for a blues contest.
at the slightest bit of speed this guy got real choppy and real sloppy....I'm not all about speed though...and I believe less is more....listen...it's the blues...we all know what your gonna play....we just we hear how you play it.....it's all phrasing...good call and response work going...some interesting things happening... good player....
this guy deserved to win... So I guess he didn't LOL
This guy is insanely good.
But he just isn't bluesy enough for this kind of competition.
I'm white
Wait? Is that a joke? There's clearly a solo, and it's almost entirely pentatonic.....just with occasional passing tones...
as if his electric performance wasnt good enough! out comes the acoustic
wow, if you want tone you play lesters. if you want speed and no tone, you play ibanez's jacksons esp's and so on. i'll take tone over speed anyday, but there are plenty of shreders that play lesters though. so then you get tone and speed, why even say something as ignorant as you did
lol, it's just a blues progression dude
This guy is clearly good but I don't hear "his" sound or style in here. I hear some other people's good stuff. He has a little Eddie in him with the hammer-ons and pull off triplet thing mid-neck. He lacks that true bluesman feel that Johnny Winter, Muddy Waters, etc have. Rhythm section is lame. No feeling at all. The drummer needs to listen to how Johnny Winter's drummers go for it on the blues! I'm not sure how this guy won with the likes of people like Johnny Rushmore looming out there.
mm fucked up system ain't it?
the only problem with this, especially with his acoustic performance, is that none of it has any soul. it all sounds too rehearsed. blues is from the soul, and when you play like that, it's not real blues. it's rehearsed blues. too fake. don't get me wrong, he's amazing but the winner deserved it, he's incredibly original and that is a huge criteria for winning
Teles are better than pauls and strats
this is a jazz player not a blues player.........what a shame.....0 stars.
I don't like this guy, he lacks something..and blues is meant to be played on Fender imo