This month marks the 10-year anniversary of my debut album, Geetar, released in July 2008. I still sell copies of this album at shows,
and perform songs live off this album such as harmonica tunes “Jukebox Shuffle”
and “Smokestack Shuffle,” and slide-guitar tunes “The Lonesome Cowboy,” “El
Paso Blues,” and “Swampy.”
I composed the majority of these songs between the ages of
18 and 22, from 2001 to 2005, while attending college at The University of
Texas at Austin. I picked up guitar when
I was 15, so by the time I was in college, I was still learning and honing the
craft of composition and performance. Up
through college, I was a bedroom player since I didn’t have a car to drive
anywhere around town. I was lucky that
The Cactus Café, a legendary folk venue where musicians such as Townes Van
Zandt, Janis Joplin, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Shawn Colvin, Abra Moore,
and Ani DiFranco launched their careers, was located right on campus.
On Mondays, I would walk from my dorm, guitar in hand, to
The Cactus Café to play their open mic.
Prior to hanging out at the Cactus Café, I played mainly electric
guitar, and was into classic rock, alternative/grunge music of my generation,
heavy metal shredding, and electric blues guitar. Attending the Cactus Café open mic and free
concerts they had (I got to see Tucker Livingston, Abra Moore, Monte
Montgomery, Rhett Butler, and David Garza for free 😀) exposed me to a whole
new world of singer/songwriter, folk, and Americana music. The first time I heard intricate fingerpicking
on an acoustic guitar was at the Cactus Café.
The first time I heard wailing blues harmonica was at The Cactus
Café. The first time I heard a
screeching slide guitar was a Bonnie Rait style player who signed up at the
open mic.
With the exception of J-Blues, all the songs on Geetar I wrote in college. J-Blues is a jazz song I wrote in high
school, intended for a 3 piece band (electric guitar, bass, and drums). However, after discovering fingerstyle playing
in college, I came up with a fingerstyle arrangement of J-Blues, which is what
appears on Geetar.
After hearing blues harmonica playing for the first time, I returned
to my dorm and researched anything I could find on blues harmonica
playing. I went to the university
library, and checked out the 2 albums available with blues harmonica frontmen,
“King Biscuit Time” by Sonny Boy Williamson, and “Live at Antones” by James
Cotton. After absorbing those albums, I attempted
to teach myself blues harmonica from various online instruction, but couldn’t
figure out note bending, wah effect, shuffle rhythm, and how to make the
harmonica wail. Luckily, the university
offered “Informal Classes” on harmonica instruction taught by J.P. Allen. After taking several lessons, I went on to
write “Jukebox Shuffle” and “Smokestack Shuffle.”
The same thing happened when I heard slide guitar for the
first time. After some research, I went
to the university library and checked out “Robert Johnson The Complete
Recordings” and “Guitar Slinger” by Johnny Winter. I loved both these records, especially
Winter’s fiery electric slide guitarwork.
However, Ry Cooder would eventually become the most influential on my
slide playing. While teaching myself
slide guitar, a friend heard me fumbling.
He leant me a compilation Ry Cooder CD, and I liked how Ry could conjure
visual rural landscapes in your head just from listening to his music. I discovered more of his music in the movie Crossroads with Ralph Macchio and Steve
Vai, which I liked even more than the compilation album. After going through these albums, learning
the open G guitar tuning, and teaching myself slide guitar, I wrote “The
Lonesome Cowboy,” “El Paso Blues,” and “Swampy.”
My arrangement of “Noel / Silent Night” happened late fall Junior
year of college. Christmas has always
been my favorite holiday, and I wanted to arrange my own Christmas song which
evokes the warm fuzzy feeling of spending time with your family and peace on
earth. I ended up merging two Christmas
tunes into one continuous arrangement.
Musically, my guitar-work on this is influenced by two Eric Johnson
songs I was learning at the time, “Manhattan” and “Song for Life.” The way Eric voices chords with wide
intervals to give it an open sound is something I mimicked in my
arrangement. After some practicing, I
debut my arrangement at a November Cactus Café open mic. One audience member who liked my arrangement
so much wrote on loose piece of paper how much she enjoyed listening to my
arrangement, and handed me her note before exiting the Cactus Cafe. This is technically my first fan mail, and
knowing how my playing really helped someone feel better encouraged me to keep
working on music. My love of Christmas
music would eventually lead me to record a Christmas album titled “Fireplace
Christmas Tunes” released in 2012.
The last songs I wrote for Geetar were “Giddy Up” and “The Old Cotton Rag.” I wrote those songs during my senior year of
college after being exposed to the fast fiery guitarwork of Tommy
Emmanuel. How I discovered Tommy
Emmanuel is a story of itself:
Up until this point, I owned an Ibanez RG120 electric
guitar, but not an acoustic guitar. I
borrowed a friend’s or roommate’s acoustic guitar everytime I wanted to play a song
at the Cactus Café open mic. By junior
year of college, I had saved up enough money, and decided I wanted to buy an
acoustic guitar for myself. I wanted a real
nice acoustic guitar, not an entry level model, and all I knew at that time was
that Martin made top quality acoustic guitars.
I was walking past the classified boards in the student union, and saw
an ad posted by another student selling his Martin 000-15 guitar in pristine
condition for $400, and it was autographed by Tommy Emmanuel. After some research, I discovered that the
Martin 000-15 is ideal for fingerstyle guitar playing, which I was already into. The price was also within my budget. At the time, a new Martin 000-15 sold new for
$800, so getting it for $400 was a deal.
One thing that bothered me though, is I had no idea who Tommy Emmanuel
was. I didn’t want to play publically
with Tommy Emmanuel’s autograph on my guitar if I didn’t like his music. The University library didn’t have any of his
albums, so I decided to download some of his music off Napster. I figured, if I didn’t like his music, I’ll think
of a way to remove his autograph from my guitar.
I downloaded some Tommy Emmanuel songs off Napster, such as
“Mombasa,” “Luttrell,” “Train to Dusseldorf,” “Biskie,” and “Tall Fiddler.” I was absolutely floored by his overall
musicianship, the speed and ferocity in his playing, and his ability to shred
melodically while playing the bass and rhythm parts without a backing band, via
his fingerstyle technique. I had never
heard the acoustic guitar played in this fashion before. I was exposed to intricate fingerpicking like
“Dust in the Wind,” and Eric Johnson’s “Song for Life” and “Song for George,”
but Tommy Emmanuel’s fingerpicking was a whole other universe. You could say that if I hadn’t had bought a
guitar autographed by Tommy Emmanuel, my guitar playing might be different
today.
My introduction to Emmanuel’s music inspired me to take my
guitar playing to the next level. I
subsequently wrote rapid-fire fingerpicking tunes “Giddy Up” and “The Old
Cotton Rag.” Being that I was a young
musician trying to gain respect and make my mark on the world, I included
“Giddy Up” and “The Old Cotton Rag” on my debut album to showcase my chops.
In 2005, I graduated from The University of Texas with a
degree in electrical engineering and moved back home to my parents in Houston
TX. In 2006, I landed a job in Washington
DC. By then, I owned a car, so I could
drive to any open mic or gig I desired.
I wanted to start gigging as many places as I could in my new hometown
of Washington DC. I knew I had to record
an album of my original music.
It was not until 2008 that I stepped into the studio to record
Geetar. It took me 2 years to get acclimated to
living in DC, to navigate the DC open mic and music scene, and to save up
enough money to record an album. Mind
you, this was my first job, I had student loans to pay off, and it was my first
time embracing adulthood roles like cooking on my own, paying taxes, etc.
I was lucky to meet producer Jesse Tomaino. At that time, he finished up recording
engineering school, decided to change careers from being a restaurant chef to a
recording engineer, and opened his first recording studio outside of DC. Because his studio was new, he was actively
searching for clients to record, and offering his services for an introductory
rate of only $20 an hour, which was within my budget. In addition, Jesse is also a talented
multi-instrumental musician who played upright bass and drums on Geetar.
This saved me from having to pay for studio musicians. I was blessed to meet the right producer at
the right time catering to my artistic and financial needs, while still
producing a professional quality recording.
Ten years later, Geetar
is still an album I am proud of. It is
my debut album that captures my early influences, which have molded me into the
musician I am today. Geetar is my starting point in my ever
evolving music journey. It is my roots
of where I come from musically.
Buy Geetar here
http://www.stevehungmusic.com/Store.html
