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Originally posted by Fluffy

Yep, Kevin, from Marcus' camp and John Semon II have all the audio and video.

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Fluffy said:
On a similar note, surfers and skateboarders who stand on their boards with their right foot in front are called goofy-footers, of which I am one. I think this is more common now, but I don't know for sure.

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That's true in snowboarding too. After this last Winter Olympics, even Katy Couric and Matt Lauer knew what goofy foot was. But everyone remember, you heard it here first!!

teri

Did I mention that I finished a marathon?

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burning...

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Chicken McNuggets(Silky) are nothing without the Hot Mustard Sauce(me).

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*tear* That was beautiful man...

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Still one of my proudest posts. I thought the new folk might want to give it a read. Thanx for the great questions Silky, I couldn't have done it without you.

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Hehe I guess there must still be some kind of nugget of good sense somewhere in my head.

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I can stop whenever I want to....hehe

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How long did it take Tim to progress to the point where he is now? Was he able to play these kinds of things after 5 years, 10 years, 20 years etc.?

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30 years. I would say even TR would tell you he is always learning something new. Thats what keeps it interesting for him. I don't think you can actually pin down a turning point for him. It has always been a constant progression forward. I don't think he could have played what he played now 10 years ago. And what he played 10 years ago I don't think he could have played 20 years ago. His craft, for him, is a constantly evolutionary process. With new influences everyday, He is constantly changing his approach to the guitar. He is "where" he is "at" on that day. I think that is why he recommends practice and experimentation so much. And also diversity in musical influences. These are the things that have influenced him most. He takes sounds totally unrelated to the guitar and trys to translate them into sounds on the guitar. A very UNIQUE approach, I think.

Silky Asked:

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Did he ever have any times where he fealt he had plateaud in his playing, only to progress farther?

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I think most artists feel this way to some degree, not necessarily in a negative way, like writers block, but in a way that they feel a need to challenge themselves to progress further. I don't think he ever stopped and said "I am as good as I am going to get." I don't think he looks at it like that. He just plays guitar. The influences of life on a daily basis help him to challenge himself(probably unconsciously) to try different things which leads to improvement. I don't think he is sitting around trying to "become a better guitar player". I think for him it is more a matter of finding new ways to express himself as an artist. Those things just lead to him getting better and better and more experimental. Stretching out and testing the bounds of the instrument, to which I believe TR feels there are really no limits but the ones you put on it. That is why he is so willing to take chances. He knows these things help him grow as an artist. For example, During the whole T+D time he pretty much only played acoustic guitar. That gave him the impetus to want to delve head first into the electric. Not out of boredom, but maybe a feeling of he had taken it as far as he could to that point. Enter ELECTRIC guitar. He starts messing around with that and discovers a whole new world of opportunity as the approach is so much different from acoustic to electric. Then when he comes back to acoustic he brings all the things he discovered in the electric phase to the acoustic and his acoustic ability increases. Because now his approach to it is totally different or at least has different influences than his acoustic playing had before. It is this constant growth that I think keeps TR so fresh and exciting. He takes all these influences and incorporates them. He doesn't leave his electric mindset behind when he picks up the acoustic, instead he translates some of those things into the acoustic instrument. Approaches he may not have thought of unless he had done the electric stuff. Another example, his fondness now for the drum machine. On this last tour on numerous occasions he said, "Drums are where its at!" He was having a great time experimenting with the drum machine. He has even talked about buying a real drum set. I wouldn't be surprise if we see his guitar playing in the future reflect this with a MORE percussive style of playing. Incorporating what he has discovered thru the use of the drum machine and possibly drums into his guitar playing. I can easily see him want to translate his love of the drums into his guitar playing. Thereby, again, stretching the boundries of guitar playing. Not limiting the guitar to a "guitar" approach.

Silky Asked:

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Were there any kind of "breakthroughs" in his playing or was it all a very gradual improvement all the way up until the point of mastery?

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I don't think there were any breakthroughs in the traditional sense of the word. Having said that, there are certainly influences that have changed his playing. One example, as stated above, the acoustic period with Dave to the electric. Another example, when he was in his jazz period, he says he pretty much only listened to jazz. Then he discovered metal, and that influence changed his approach. So I don't know if you could call it a breakthru, but again it is probably more of a evolutionary growth based on his approach of letting everything he likes influence him. Its kind of like getting fat, You look at yourself in the mirror every day, but you don't notice yourself getting fatter. Then someone sees you who hasn't in a year and they say "GEEZ, you are fat!" Except in TRs case, its, GEEZ, you are PHAT!" You don't notice the change on a daily basis, it is a gradual thing that happens over time. Rarely do you say, I am a better guitar player today than I was yesterday, but it is much easier to look at yourself a year ago and say I am much better now than I was then. As TR has stated on many occasions, his INDIAN period has affected his playing greatly and still does. You would not know it necessarily to listen to his playing now, but the affect that it had on him cannot be discounted. It is like he played guitar, then he discovered the sitar and the eastern approach to playing that and incorporated it into his guitar playing. Then he moved to jazz and brought his sitar playing experience to his jazz playing, and from jazz discovered metal and brought it all forward into this strange, beautiful amalgamation of sounds to create a sound that is totally UNIQUE to TR. His approach to the guitar is not that of your standard guitar player. He likes to take sounds from all areas of life and try to translate them into his guitar playing. I don't think he really thinks of himself as a "guitar player", I think he thinks of himself as an artist trying to create art with this instrument he has chosen. He does not limit himself on his approach to the guitar. He choosed to stretch out the boundaries of the instrument he has chosed. Kinda like saying, "Lets see what I can make this thing do." "Let me try to express myself thru this instrument." Again I think the advice he offers so freely about experimentation and practice speak volumes about his approach. He knows he would not be where he is stylistically without all the influences that came before. The wider your influences, the broader your approach can be. His love of rhythm obviously influenced his percussive style, his slapping approach was probably introduced to the acoustic guitar thru his years as a bass player, etc etc etc. Everything he has done in the past influences his approach today. When he put down the bass he did not forget the approach, instead he translated it to the guitar. Same with sitar, jazz, metal and all the other influences he has had. Incorporation of many ideas for the betterment of self-expression, not to become a better guitar player. That is just a byproduct of experience and influences. Am I making any sense. It is really hard to talk about someone elses philosophies and influences. My comments are based on my impression of TR from conversations I have had with him on these subjects. Just my interpretation of his words and feelings that he has conveyed to me over the years. He is a truly deep man when it comes to his thoughts. Trying to type them out like this makes it seem almost shallow. There is definitely a spiritual side to his playing. I don't mean in a religious or "god" type way, but in his philosophy. It is a form of communication and a way of expressing himself. He is constantly striving to express himself better and in different ways. A telltale quote from TR to me is "Once I learn to play something the mystery is gone!" We were talking about cover tunes once and in his experience, he might love a song, then he covers it and the mystery is gone for him and he says the song loses something. That is TIM. Once he has conquered something it is time to move forward. You can interpret this as I have, don't just learn to play a TR song, take it to the next level, add your own personal flair and influence to it. Thats how you get to be a "better guitar player". Otherwise you are just learning someone elses form of expression. Create your own. It's one of the reasons he thinks it is funny that people want tabs of him to get to be better guitar players. In his approach it is not about learning what someone else played but creating the music out of you. What is inside you. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that learning TR songs won't make you a better guitar player, of course it will, just don't be content with learning a TR song. Let it be and influence, a stepping stone if you will to your own style and approach to self expression. I think TR would say something like, If you want to play guitar like me, you have to not learn to play guitar like me. Does that make any sense? I hope it does!!

Silky Asked:

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Also, just how long HAS he been playing?

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31 years, and NO he was not as good when he started as he is now. I think I covered that. GROWTH

As far as the blues questions goes, TR listens to some blues, not alot. He loves blues, especially the older more traditional blues. Less of the SRV type stuff, although he really admires SRV and his ability. He thinks people like Jony Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepphard, etc etc are great guitar players but they really aren't taking it to new levels. Tim really prefers people he feels are taking chances, in all the styles of music he listens to. He likes alot of different things for alot of different reasons. He did not ever go thru a BLUES phase as he has with other styles of music though. I think his uncle who was he first one to put a guitar in his hand and teach him anything was into the blues, so I am sure to some degree it has had its influence on him as well.

Hope all this helps and that it is clear. If you want me to clarify something I will be happy to. Just LMK

Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy

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For me, I think it would be an auditory orgasm to hear him tear into something like Texas Flood or The Sky Is Crying.

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