“Here’s a great new Facebook blues vids page,” says guitarist Wayne Riker, “documenting much of San Diego's blues history, with lessons, performances, and promos from myself, Nathan James, and many others on the local scene.”
"Mike Sosebee, a former student of mine, put it up. He's putting together a very hip documentary on the blues scene history in San Diego. Lots of great interviews and clips from the early '80s days at The Mandolin Wind, and the cast of characters. He's also doing promo clips for my workshops, and will be doing a vid promo when my next chord book comes out."
San Diego Gives Me the Blues can be found at http://www.facebook.com/#!/SDGMB
“Back in the heyday of the Belly Up, the Sunday blues jams were of legend, with Hollywood Fats, James Harman, and numerous others who would drop in each week. Here's a calendar from nearly 30 years ago, from my scrapbook. My group, Stone's Throw, is pictured along with the Chicago Six, who are still going, with the infamous David Bradley and Jeff Lee's Oh Ridge in the mix.”
Video interviews with local blues players are also posted, including one with Tom Yearsley, the co-founder of the Paladins, talking about the origins of the group, who are seen performing “Powershake” at the 2011 Ink & Iron Festival in Long Beach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRu9PE_wjZM&feature=share
Another clip shows Scotty Blinn of the Mississippi Mudsharks introducing country blues and how to play in the style of Lightnin' Hopkins, the seminal bluesman from East Texas, who defined the genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69sIMDTlkhY
Since 1967, guitarist Wayne Riker has played just about every musical style, and in an array of musical settings: house parties, coffeehouses, nightclubs, musical theater, cruise ships, arena rock concerts, and stadium festivals.
As a member of the Guitar Institute of Technology, Riker cohosted workshops around the world with A-list jazz and blues cats such as Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Marty Friedman, Dave Grissom, and Duke Robillard.
“Nowadays, I’m reinventing myself in the solo acoustic world,” says Riker, “after many decades of primarily electric-guitar gigs and projects. It gets me out of the house more often.” He’s also taken to telling stories between and during his instrumental performances, such as the time he met Jimi Hendrix cohort Randy California of Spirit or how he almost went to Woodstock in 1969 but instead ended up at a jazz fest featuring a brand-new group calling themselves Led Zeppelin.
“You rack up a lot of living when you play music for this long,” says Riker. “Though I may not be as famous as guys like Jimi and Randy, sometimes the best success is just surviving.”
Riker’s 2010 album Penumbral Sky was released as the Wayne Riker Quintet, a group that also includes Chris Klich (horns), Fred Lanuza (keys), Steve Araujo (bass), and Tyler Buckley (drums). Also released in 2010 was his instructional book Putting Chords In Their Place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIVoewgt7o
“Here’s a great new Facebook blues vids page,” says guitarist Wayne Riker, “documenting much of San Diego's blues history, with lessons, performances, and promos from myself, Nathan James, and many others on the local scene.”
"Mike Sosebee, a former student of mine, put it up. He's putting together a very hip documentary on the blues scene history in San Diego. Lots of great interviews and clips from the early '80s days at The Mandolin Wind, and the cast of characters. He's also doing promo clips for my workshops, and will be doing a vid promo when my next chord book comes out."
San Diego Gives Me the Blues can be found at http://www.facebook.com/#!/SDGMB
“Back in the heyday of the Belly Up, the Sunday blues jams were of legend, with Hollywood Fats, James Harman, and numerous others who would drop in each week. Here's a calendar from nearly 30 years ago, from my scrapbook. My group, Stone's Throw, is pictured along with the Chicago Six, who are still going, with the infamous David Bradley and Jeff Lee's Oh Ridge in the mix.”
Video interviews with local blues players are also posted, including one with Tom Yearsley, the co-founder of the Paladins, talking about the origins of the group, who are seen performing “Powershake” at the 2011 Ink & Iron Festival in Long Beach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRu9PE_wjZM&feature=share
Another clip shows Scotty Blinn of the Mississippi Mudsharks introducing country blues and how to play in the style of Lightnin' Hopkins, the seminal bluesman from East Texas, who defined the genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69sIMDTlkhY
Since 1967, guitarist Wayne Riker has played just about every musical style, and in an array of musical settings: house parties, coffeehouses, nightclubs, musical theater, cruise ships, arena rock concerts, and stadium festivals.
As a member of the Guitar Institute of Technology, Riker cohosted workshops around the world with A-list jazz and blues cats such as Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Marty Friedman, Dave Grissom, and Duke Robillard.
“Nowadays, I’m reinventing myself in the solo acoustic world,” says Riker, “after many decades of primarily electric-guitar gigs and projects. It gets me out of the house more often.” He’s also taken to telling stories between and during his instrumental performances, such as the time he met Jimi Hendrix cohort Randy California of Spirit or how he almost went to Woodstock in 1969 but instead ended up at a jazz fest featuring a brand-new group calling themselves Led Zeppelin.
“You rack up a lot of living when you play music for this long,” says Riker. “Though I may not be as famous as guys like Jimi and Randy, sometimes the best success is just surviving.”
Riker’s 2010 album Penumbral Sky was released as the Wayne Riker Quintet, a group that also includes Chris Klich (horns), Fred Lanuza (keys), Steve Araujo (bass), and Tyler Buckley (drums). Also released in 2010 was his instructional book Putting Chords In Their Place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIVoewgt7o