This summer I got to attend the National Guitar Workshop in Austin again thanks to a couple of music related scholarships. I still learned a bunch, and I think it sunk in best this year than any other. I met some other people around my age who also loved blues, so we had some great jam sessions too.

This year Elvin Bishop was the guest artist. Not only was his show great but me and a couple of my friends were actually invited by him to get onstage and play his guitar with the band! That was very cool. I also got to jam around Austin during the week, and the night before I had to go home I got to see Jimmie Vaughan at his CD release party at Antone's.

The next week I worked a job at DayJams, which is sort of the kids/early teens version of National Guitar Workshop. I was a lot of fun, I went to DayJams years ago when I had just started playing guitar and it helped me a lot at the time. I got to help a kid who had just started playing guitar that week and get him good enough to play with his band that Friday at the end of the week concert. I also met a 14 year old girl who was as big a Stevie Ray Vaughan nut as I am. Except she was more of a Tommy Shannon nut since she plays bass. We ended up jamming a lot and I taught her all of the blues songs I could think of since she was really interested. I didn't really think I'd be good teaching (or like teaching) but I actually enjoy it almost more than whoever I'm teaching.

I had to wake up at about 5:30 a.m. every morning to make it there in time though, and with me being more of a night person that was rough. Especially on the last day when my band had to pick me up from work and we had to drive directly over to Galveston for a show we had to play on the Strand from 9:30-1:30 (that's 1:30 a.m., but it by the time we packed up and everything it was more like 2:30). I didn't even have time to take a break between working, setting up, and then playing. I made it, but just barely. The singer and I got to crash on some couches at a beach house that I friend of her Mom's owned. It was really cool hearing thunder roll in off the gulf before the sun came up, even if it did interrupt some much needed sleep.

Now here's the part that's going to go down in history as one of my "stupidest things I've ever done while playing in a band as a teenager" stories. The next day the whole band came over to the beach house and we decided to go to the beach. I remembered sunscreen on my arms, but I didn't bother applying it anywhere else because I was mostly staying in the shade, I was wearing capri jeans and I just hate the way sunscreen feels. But after about half an hour in the shade and decided to take my shoes off and kick around in the water a little bit. So I did for about forty five minutes before we all went back inside to pack for the show we were playing on Seawall Boulevard that evening.

Well, the show went great. Probably one of the best, if not the best, we've ever played. But after the first set I started noticing a weird tingling in my legs. When I looked down I noticed they were turning pink and starting to burn. I made it through the last set and the drive back to Houston all right, but the next morning when I woke up I couldn't walk. My legs below the knee and my feet were completely fried. I haven't been sunburned this bad since I was a little kid. My parents were all worried about me going off to Galveston "by myself" (although I wasn't really by myself) and I had just had an argument with them about how I'm old enough to take care of myself and everything, and then the next day I woke up and couldn't move my legs. So it didn't really help my case at all. It's a week later now and I'm only just now able to tolerate sitting at the computer since most of the intense pain has been replaced by intense itching. It was pretty brutal though, I think I'm done with the beach indefinitely.

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Ouch! Like you I am fair skinned, my wife calls it "Celtic Teflon". I can (and have) start pinking up just crossing a supermarket parking lot.
Have you tried any of the "sport" spray on sunblocks? Not as gooey and stay on longer, the only way to go imho.
Otherwise sounds like you are having a decent summer.

Cheers,
John.E

It's great to see that you're having a great time pursuing your dream TGS,it must have been a gas to play Elvin Bishop's guitar.Sorry to hear that you got yourself fried-the spray-on sunscreens are really the way to go for prevention and practicality.Keep on Rockin' and enjoy every bit of it.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Sounds like a great summer trip, I hope someone took some photos for you. I saw Elvin Bishop a couple months ago. I told him he put on a good show. He asked me if I had fun. I said, yeah. He said, then I put on a good show. Cool guy. I liked his one singer, Finis Tasby.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

So good to hear from you again, TGS!

Like you and JohnE., I too am closer in complexion to Johnny Winter than I am to Muddy Waters. For a great after-burn soothe, keep some milk of magnesia (yes, that minty laxative stuff) in the refrigerator and put in on as soon as you know you're burned (or burnt, as you and I say in Tejas ). It looks weird but it's very soothing and slows the peeling down.

...and Mary Kay makes an After-Burn Gel stuff that keeps the itching, peeling, etc. down.

I'm jealous that you got to see Jimmie Vaughan at Antone's AGAIN (one of my fav guitarists at my fav venue, dangit!)...

Keep on bluesin', and stay in touch.

BTW, how is the build going?

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



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