This post was originally written on February 4th, 2011 The past few weeks have been freezing in the City of Brotherly love! For some reason, when the mercury dips low, I get an overwhelming urge to listen to music fit for a much warmer climate. When the blustery weather grips the city, there is nothing like venturing out to a pub or coffee house, putting on headphones and having Bob Marley warm your thoughts with his dreams of ultimate freedom. There’s just a certain feeling that you get watching people walk by bundled up in coats, scarves and hats while the tropical rhythm of Reggae music hints at what’s in store once the winter is done having it’s way. It’s been cold, but I’ve really been feelin’ it! Besides, nothing makes a better excuse for staying indoors playing guitar than brutal ten degree weather. It’s also very effective at reminding [...]

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Nothing makes a roadtrip more enjoyable than good music. This past weekend I had a three hour car ride out of Philly ahead of me so my girlfriend Brielle and I grabbed our pug Caezar, loaded up the car and put the ipod on shuffle mode. Just outside of New York City on a rolling strip of snow covered mountainside it came on. The jazz classic Moanin by legendary drummer Art Blakey. And when I say classic.. I mean CLASSIC! Moanin’ is a timeless jazz standard that is as fresh today as that fateful fall day in 1958 when Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers braved their way into the recording studio to pour their hearts out through their instruments for the benefit of endless generations of musicians and music fans to come. Featuring one of my all time favorite musicians, trumpet legend extraordinaire.. Lee Morgan, Moanin is a party [...]

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I was watching a documentary style t.v. show about prison a few weeks ago. They were in the prison yard interviewing a well respected inmate who was serving a life sentence. Even though he was well respected, some of the other prisoners were yelling things at him while he was being interviewed. The host of the show asked the inmate if it bothered him that they were being rude and interrupting him. His response.. “No, ’cause I don’t react to dumb sh*t!” What a great outlook! I was stunned at such a simple yet profound response. How much better would my life be if I just stopped reacting to dumb sh*t? Having a reaction to insignificant and negative behavior from other people just validates it and gives it power. Not reacting just shuts it down. If you really think about it, how much of our valuable time and energy is [...]

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The holidays are officially over and I think it’s safe to say that by now most of us are back to our grind. For me that means getting back to teaching guitar both in person and online. About this time last year in January 2010, I launched the ADblog, a new feature on this website. It started out as a sounding board to express my thoughts on music and guitar related topics. It’s also turned into a great way for me to further connect with you guys, let off steam, and write reviews on some excellent products that I’ve come across. So in the order that they were posted.. here is the best of ADblog 2010. 5 Reasons Why Lil Wayne Should Learn To Play Guitar 5 Reasons Why Justin Bieber Ruined My New Year’s Eve 5 Hip-Hop/Rock Collaborations That Changed The Game 7 Guitarists Who Have The Goosebump Factor [...]

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