Its May 5, 2023 at 11:50am, I am pulling into the Dallas Market Hall parking lot with great happiness and stringed glory on the brain. Ah yes, the Dallas International Guitar Festival is on. I am here at noon for two reasons, a). I’m tired of waiting and b). Matthew Scott is one of the first acts to play, since I follow him on YouTube, I was looking forward to seeing him play. After what seemed like an eternity finding a place to park I am beginning to think, “great! I’m going to miss him”, that thought faded when I passed Mr Scott in the parking lot unloading his gear. Good, now I get to see him, happy thoughts continue, that is until I get inside and I’m unable to find the flippin stage he is supposed to be on. I make a quick couple of laps around the Hall and I can only find one stage, there’s supposed to be three, wait no, there’s the second stage, it’s rather small, one for interviews,seminars and such. Around I go again, third times a charm, success, I find the third stage hidden down a hallway in the back of the auditorium. Just in time for Matthew Scott’s second song. Now this “area” is not designed for a musical presentation, lots of reverb/echo, therefore the obvious solution is to get close up front. Now I have been to way too many concerts, played in bands, am a firearm afficionado, so I know the definition of “loud”. It’s loud in here. So, ever prepared, I grab my secret weapon from my pack, yep I have noise reducing ear plugs, call me old I don’t care because I will be able to hear you.
Now Matthew Scott, if you follow him on youtube, you know he is a vintage savant, guitars, amps probably pedals as well. That Strat he is playing I is believe late 50’s early 60’s, that’s an early 60’s Super Reverb cab he is running thru. I was going to ask him, but I didn’t get the chance. Matthew was one that I specifically wanted to see and he did not disappoint. I was only able to get the titles of three of his songs; “We are the Same”, “Way of the World”, and “Mirrors”. Very talented, great tone, tasty lines and great control. I ran into him a couple of times during the weekend, but he was always engaged in conversation with another person and I didn’t want to interrupt.
Time to make a quick vendor run thru, some new faces along with familiar vendors, I was able to add many new additions to the pick/sticker collections. Snapped a few pics, now I am an admitted “Goldtop” and “335” addict, (Hi Dave), so don’t be too surprised if there are more than a few pics of those particular beauties. A bit later in this conversation I will present some of the most expensive guitars at the show.
Denny Jiosa was next on the listening schedule, I admit I don’t know boo about Mr Jiosa, but what a pleasant surprise he was. A quick Google search reveals he is a jazz guitarist out of Nashville , yes that bastion of jazz. Denny opened with an excellent version of “Freeway Jam” with a smooth transition into a cool Wes Montgomery tune, I should have written it down but oh well. Denny played for the most part a lovely tobacco burst 335, he used a Les Paul as well. Denny shut it down with a John Schofield tune. I am going to do more research on Mr Jiosa as his set was most enjoyable.
Nathaniel Murphy, an Irish gent, was most impressive. I am fascinated with players who can make so many different sounds from one acoustic guitar. While performing Nathaniel held a bit of a masterclass on arranging. Take some time with his videos, the ease at which he plays is amazing.
Alan Haynes was next on the list, and what a blistering set he played. Blues on a Strat, what could be better? How bout the addition of Jim Suhler in the band. It was indeed a great set, I ran into Jim a bit later, was able to shake his hand and convey how much I enjoyed it. Go check out Mr. Haynes if you get a chance. Great tone!
These two videos are a tour of Jimmy Wallace’s booth. Jimmy is the genius behind the DIGF. Some of these are “shorts”, I don’t know why it created them as shorts, but here you are.
Ariel Posen , I know from TrueFire, he was another artist I specifically wanted to see. He ran a Strat style guitar thru a duel set of Deluxe Reverbs, great tone. I would call him, “roots rock / folkish, bluesy, good stuff
How bout Monte Montgomery? A man who does more on an acoustic guitar than some electric players do in a lifetime. His energy is infectious and impressive. I had not see Monte before, he was most enjoyable. He had a lively home crowd that reacted to him with zeal and appreciation.
Saturday May 6, 2023
We are there when the doors open at 10am. A quick run thru the Hall to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. Cop for a new “Baby Blues Amps” t-shirt and it’s off to another performance.
Caught the last couple of songs from “The Boogie Men”, if you have never seen them before go check them out the next time they are in your neck of the woods. Quite fun. I didn’t get a video this year, there is one on my YouTube channel if you wish to check them out.
Van Wilks held forth for an excellent set, a lovely PRS and a couple of LPs. Blues-rock stylings. Great tone and chops. Van has been around quite a while, I first heard of him back in the late 70’s early 80’s, if I remember correctly. (which lately has become more of an issue, but I digress). Van had a hit, I believe, back then at least here locally. This was my first time to see him live and it was great.
Now comes the “All Star Jam” consisting of Jackie Don Loe, Andrew Supulski, Tone Summers, Don Ross, Mike Gage. They had a great set of tunes including “Tore Down”, “Killing Floor”, “Standing on Shakey Ground”, “Roadhouse Blues”. They brought out a female singer, Rachel, I didn’t catch her last name, wish I would have as she was that good. Jackie Don Loe played a tobacco-burst ES-339, that I was lusting after the whole time.
Let’s take a quick breather and duck back into Jimmy Wallace’s booth.
Next in line is Artur Meneze, I learned of him via TrueFire as well, another artist that I definitely wanted to catch, found more of his music thru Amazon Music, very enjoyable, great tone, lovely versatile chops. His song “Any Day, Any Time” was an absolute burner. Artur played a nice lemon-burst LP. I was a bit surprised by his guitar of choice, as I have always seen him with an ES-335.
Now I mentioned the most expensivest in my opening greeting. At this time, let us indulge in a bit of fantasy, (not that kind). These are some of the most expensive guitars I could find.
I was only able to catch the last couple of songs from Nicole Cerminara’s set. She ended with a hot sultry version of “Red House”. Would have like to have seen more of her.
I saw a short bit of Sadie Johnson and Kara Grainger, but didn’t get any video.
I went back inside to check over the vendors again, in going by the seminar stage I the sign for “Josh Scott / Andy Timmons The Technology of Jimi Hendrix”, well don’t mind if I do, found one of the last open seats reasonably close and set up camp. What a great presentation! They spent about 45 mins to an hour talking Jimi’s pedals, Marshalls, strings et al. Josh’s easy going style and sense of humor coupled with Andy playing examples of Jimi’s tech was just marvelous, and they gave away 4 of Andy’s Halo pedals, I guess they didn’t see me waving, oh well. I found the presentation on YouTube, this link is to the Guitar Radio Show’s channel, hopefully they will be ok with me linking them. Guys , I will remove it if you need me to. Until then, everyone please enjoy.
Ok, now we are onto one of the headliners, one Oriathi, yes, let’s get past the obvious, she is an extraordinarily attractive female who dresses to impress. Ok I said it, we are done with that part. She gets incredible tone from her Orange 4×12 amp and purple PRS, I couldn’t see the pedalboard so I am not sure what she had going on there. Her playing was top notch and her vocals with sound, but. Yes, I know there’s always a “but”, but to this reporter she came across as bored, tired, hungover or a mixture of all the above. Oriathi’s second guitarist, her bass player and drummer all looked like they were having a great time. She livened up a little when she brought out Eric Johnson to jam with. As I said, or maybe I haven’t yet said, I will cut her some slack as there were sound issues on stage, out in front it sounded great, but it was obvious, that there were issues with equipment. Also I don’t think the promoters anticipated the day running long, the cloud cover or how fast it started to get dark. Lights for the stage had not been setup, which I am sure added to the anxiety of the moment. Towards the end of her set she brought forth the Tasmanian devil of the guitar, one Greg Koch. Yes, of course it was great, would you expect any less?
Well alright we end day two at DIGF, as I walk to my car to begin the long drive home, I will leave you with some random guitar footage.
Sunday ! Sunday ! Sunday ! Be There! (remember that old commercial?) We (me) walked in when the doors opened and I had about an hour to kill before the first concert. So its off on a guitar safari for me, once again in search of Goldtops, 335s, Super Reverbs and other interesting items.
he Buddy Whittington Band is on stage, these guys are always fun. They bopped thru some original tunes along with a couple of PointBlank songs (now there’s a blast from the past). This kinda sums up the Buddy Whittington Band’s good ole Texas attitude, they were told they had to 2 minutes to go, so, of course, they bust into “Whipping Post”, good on ya boys!
I shot this video on a whim, I was looking around and it dawned on me, hey I’m not the only person here that looks like me, old with wild hair. So here’s “My People”!
Chris Durate, wow!, let me say that again, Wow! While I am familiar with his music I have never seen him live before, let me tell you that I’m still exhausted from his set. When he started his set, he stated, “We’re going to play our asses off for you guys!”. That my friends was an understatement of the highest order. His is a maniacal, full bore linear panic playing style that just takes hold of you and shakes you HARD, before throwing you to the ground. Chris played a couple of “strat” style guitars custom made for him. His opening tune was a smoldering blues, he brought the house down with his tune “Big Leg Woman”. If you think of yourself as energetic, go see Chris Duarte and see what energy is all about.
Philip Sayce is another one of those that takes hold of you and doesn’t let go till he is completely finished. A good description of Mr Sayce is, “He makes you tired as he is melting your face off”. I was able to catch Philip for the first time at last years festival. Wasn’t about to miss him this year. Philip always plays a Strat , but this time he started out with a strat style PRS. I believe he was running thru Wes Jeans’ Fender Bassman amp, this is the same one he use last year. Philip has tone for days, his bite is clean and smooth, speed is dispensed with complete control. Philip’s chops are articulate and clear.
Alright the time has come to close the festival out, another year in the books, already looking forward to next year. There is but one more performance I cannot miss, yes Eric Johnson is on stage.
What can one say about Mr Johnson that hasn’t already been said. Yes, he’s that good, yes his lead playing sounds more like a violin than a stratocaster. Yes, we’re all impressed down here I can tell you.(extra points if you recognize that quote). Some minor stage sound issues to start off but it all worked out in the end. I will say no more, enjoy the videos. I give you Mr Eric Johnson!