Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Marnie Stern, Unusual Guitar Hero
Marnie Stern is an unusual kind of guitar hero. It’s not just that she’s a woman — that’s not so rare anymore. (As Stern points out in one song title, “Female Guitar Players Are the New Black.”) No, it’s her sound that really sets her apart. She plays incredibly quickly, using the two-handed tapping trick that Eddie Van Halen popularized, but she does it without any of the flashy string-bending or faux-Bach touches you heard in the ’80s, when the technique showed up in every heavy metal solo. (Guitar geeks like me will also note that she often plays it using thin-sounding, indie-rock-approved guitars like Danelectros and Fender Jazzmasters, rather than the tricked-out shredboards that Joe Satriani and Steve Vai play.) What’s more, it’s not clear that Stern ever actually plays a guitar solo. Instead, she plays intricate parts throughout her songs, even when she’s singing.
Stern’s music pits this barrage of notes from her guitar against coos, yelps, shouts, and her relatively conversational voice. It often sounds like you’re listening to two very different songs at once, but then both songs will veer off into unexpected directions. On record, Stern is usually accompanied by Zach Hill, the drummer extraordinaire behind the experimental band Hella. On tour, her two- or three-member backup band is usually made up of members of U.S. Maple or similarly avant-garde bands.
Still, Stern doesn’t quite fit in with any scene. Last year’s album, Marnie Stern, found her moving toward a more-accessible style. The lyrics are more personal, the singing more up front, and the guitar parts a little less overwhelming. Still, Stern sounds like no one but herself.
Tera Melos and Power Axe also perform.
MARNIE STERN: Soda Bar, Saturday, February 19, 9 p.m. 619-255-7224. $10, $12.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Marnie Stern, Unusual Guitar Hero
Marnie Stern, Unusual Guitar Hero
Marnie Stern is an unusual kind of guitar hero. It’s not just that she’s a woman — that’s not so rare anymore. (As Stern points out in one song title, “Female Guitar Players Are the New Black.”) No, it’s her sound that really sets her apart. She plays incredibly quickly, using the two-handed tapping trick that Eddie Van Halen popularized, but she does it without any of the flashy string-bending or faux-Bach touches you heard in the ’80s, when the technique showed up in every heavy metal solo. (Guitar geeks like me will also note that she often plays it using thin-sounding, indie-rock-approved guitars like Danelectros and Fender Jazzmasters, rather than the tricked-out shredboards that Joe Satriani and Steve Vai play.) What’s more, it’s not clear that Stern ever actually plays a guitar solo. Instead, she plays intricate parts throughout her songs, even when she’s singing.
Stern’s music pits this barrage of notes from her guitar against coos, yelps, shouts, and her relatively conversational voice. It often sounds like you’re listening to two very different songs at once, but then both songs will veer off into unexpected directions. On record, Stern is usually accompanied by Zach Hill, the drummer extraordinaire behind the experimental band Hella. On tour, her two- or three-member backup band is usually made up of members of U.S. Maple or similarly avant-garde bands.
Still, Stern doesn’t quite fit in with any scene. Last year’s album, Marnie Stern, found her moving toward a more-accessible style. The lyrics are more personal, the singing more up front, and the guitar parts a little less overwhelming. Still, Stern sounds like no one but herself.
Tera Melos and Power Axe also perform.
MARNIE STERN: Soda Bar, Saturday, February 19, 9 p.m. 619-255-7224. $10, $12.
Comments