Quick BlairOutLoud Vid Update!
Just wanted to personally express appreciation again for 2023. I'd like to start posting more video in 2024, so here's me starting this goal.. also a little promo for this weeks DUO gigs starting TONIGHT (2024-01-05)!
What’s up friends and fans!
One of my goals for 2024 is to produce more video: updates, music and gear reviews, show announcements, etc. I started this workflow years ago, but my performance schedule and home life kept me busy. So let me get things started by sharing some quick appreciation and some updates on DUO shows for this week! Thanks all! Say hello in the comments below if you’d like.
2023: Changes, Trials, and Triumph
It’s been a fantastic year.. and we need to acknowledge every one that put their time and effort into supporting us, performing with us, and helping BlairOutLoud succeed in 2023! We couldn’t have done it without you, and we are very excited what 2024 has in store.
Happy Holidays all!
Hope you are having a fantastic holiday season! Thanks for reading and your support.
Quick housekeeping:
I have been working diligently on the BlairOutLoud 2024 calendar and will be posting events very soon! I’ve already scheduled several SOLO and DUO gigs, as well as some TRIO and/or full BAND events. Announcements regarding some of the bigger shows will be posted here on the blog soon, and be sure to check the calendar here or the BOL FB Page for the latest updates!
I’m renewing my efforts to send weekly show notifications (and other news) to my email subscriber list, so if you would like to be a part of that, please SUBSCRIBE HERE! And.. by the way, if your algorithm sends you everything that I post, and you don’t want to also be on my mailing list, I won’t mind if you unsubscribe.. I would rather have a healthy list of folks that enjoy that platform for finding out about new events.. so no worries!
Click and browse photos from great events in 2023!
Reflections:
Well.. here we are .. the last week of 2023. If you own a business, it’s hard not to look back and reflect on the performance of your business, your wins, your losses, and think about what you should have done better, or what changes you should make moving forward. Despite some disappointment that we faced in the beginning of the year with some line-up changes on bass guitar, this interestingly led to opportunities to jam with many musicians that I had wanted to collaborate with for years. The end result is that several new players got to jam with the BlairOutLoud group, offering us some fresh energy, new song choices, and some nice inspiration to sustain us throughout 2023.
And one other unplanned item that happened this year, is that I was asked to join Jeremy Would Let Me Drown, a grunge tribute band performing the music of Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and Soundgarden. This opportunity offered me a chance to work on music in a separate direction from the material of BlairOutLoud, and in the process I have been able to expand my repertoire of covers to unexpected heights.
Let’s get some numbers on the table:
Total number of gigs that I have performed this year, including SOLO, DUO, TRIO, BAND, and JWLMD: 199!
It just couldn’t be 200 could it.. HA. I was actually surprised to get closer to 200 this year.. the elusive gig record for me is 247 from 2019. But I’m okay not to hit that again.. that year was brutal on my schedule.
The SOLO gigs once again outweighed everything else, but that’s a given when I fill up most of my weekdays and some weekends with those events.
Like a repeat of ‘22, we played all over the place this year, had lots of great private events, set up in lots of different spaces, some stages, some floors, some outdoor tents, etc etc. Lots of variation kept it random, but we brought the party every time.
Gig breakdown for each line-up:
SOLO: 146
DUO: 23
TRIO: 8
BAND: 11
JWLMD: 11
New faces on stage with us this year:
Gary Stone, a seasoned approachable pro musician (he’s actually a drummer but also plays guitar and bass in many projects) has filled in on bass more than anyone else for TRIO and BAND gigs this year. We could call him the un-official official 4th member of BlairOutLoud BAND, but he is busy enough with his own projects that he has also had a few people fill-in for him! Gary is also highly experienced in live sound applications, so we benefitted greatly from his ear and expertise with dialing in our live performance.
Gary Stone
Derrick Gaddis, an incredible guitar player and great friend of the BlairOutLoud group, filled in on bass for several TRIO and BAND gigs earlier in 2023. He also participates in many other rock and country tribute projects which kept him busy all year long.
Derrick Gaddis
John Sousa: Once, when Gary Stone wasn’t available for a private event, he graciously lined up a killer bass player, another fine musician very active on the local scene in various projects, Mr. John Sousa. John has bass chops for days, and really brought a lot of bottom-end musicality to our material. So far he’s played a handful of gigs with us and we look forward to more in ‘24.
John Sousa
Chris Butler, someone I had known only from a distance, seeing him active with teaching and performing all around metro Atlanta, filled in on bass with the TRIO recently in December. We had a fantastic evening, and we look forward to another fun event with Chris on bass in January of ‘24!
Chris Butler
Jake Kitchen (bass) and Zach Neal (drums): Finally, there was one TRIO gig this year where I had to replace both the drummer and bass player position, and I was fortunate enough to have these two amazing players on a gig. This was a fun one. I’ve played with both of these guys in the past in other bands, so getting to jam with them as “BlairOutLoud TRIO” was a real treat and we had a blast.
So let’s talk about this other thing:
From left to right: Ben Daniels - guitar, Jeff Wheeler - drums/vocals, Keith Tuggle - bass, Tom Blair - guitar/vocals
This past April, Jeff Wheeler, the drummer/vocalist of Jeremy Would Let Me Drown, called me and asked if I would be interested.. or have the ability.. to sing a lot of Chris Cornell material, including the old school stuff. I responded that was fairly confident that I could handle it, and I mentioned that I’d done it before (at Chris Cornell Tribute shows). However, performing a 2-3 hour set, singing like that, could definitely pose a challenge for me.
So.. with challenge accepted.. I was asked to come rehearse some songs with them. What transpired after this definitely changed the momentum of 2023 for me. In July, we officially announced that I was the new guitarist/co-vocalist, and I played my first show at a brand new venue in Gainesville called Boot Barn Hall. This place is massive, and the stage is one of the biggest stages that I have played on in some time (possibly since my Colossick days even). We rocked it.. and even though you need about 1200 people there to fill the place, our 130 pre-sale tickets felt like a small victory for this brand new effort. New town, new band member (me), new venue.. and we played great and sounded massive.
Jeremy Would Let Me Drown on stage at Boot Barn Hall in Gainesville, GA on July 29th, 2023.
Gratitudes:
So, as we faced some challenges early on, it became apparent that all of the hard work in ‘21 and ‘22 to build momentum with BlairOutLoud is starting to pay off. It was easier than I thought to attract great guest-star talent. We discovered greater opportunities and we were able to fill the books with lots of fun events. The potential is growing, and everything that we’ve accomplished this year, both with BlairOutLoud and with JWLMD, seems to be propelling us into a fantastic new year.
We need to take a second to express DEEP APPRECIATION, and give a whole-hearted THANK YOU to all the players, their contributions, time, energy, and dedication to performing, supporting, and promoting for BlairOutLoud events in 2023. I had them all brushing up on tons of songs, following me on stage for starts and stops, and meeting me for early load-ins, light and sound installations, and late night load-outs. We did it all, and these guys rocked it!
One more time, give it up for:
Gary Stone, Derrick Gaddis, John Sousa, Chris Butler, Jake Kitchen, and Zach Neal! 🤘🙌👏👏👏👏
Bravo gentlemen!
Let’s not forget.. the GOOT.. we call him the Greatest Of Our Time.. Darren Goot: always solid on the drums in any style! It was a pleasure working with him again this year as always. Amanda Blair and I are very fortunate to have access to all of these great players and again we look forward to more collaborative efforts in ‘24.
And now.. THANK YOU.. to each and every one of you (especially if you’ve read this blog post down to this point) for all the support. You make this possible for us!
Closing Thoughts:
BlairOutLoud wasn’t established to be a performing entity exclusively, but I was planning at a very early stage to create video posts for music opinion pieces, product testing, vlogging, and other random musings. I have a renewed interest in making that happen in ‘24. This effort will start with small promo videos.. mostly talking to my subscriber list about things of interest, cool events coming soon, and other ramblings. So once again.. if you’d like to participate..
Here’s where I will also be promoting for shows:
I will continue to post gigs and special events on the Calendar, and Events Page (where BandsInTown is synced). Plus we will continue to post a weekly cluster on the BlairOutLoud FB Page. The facebook page will also list some of my Events: both BlairOutLoud TRIO or BAND plus JWLMD Events. Lastly, I post occasionally to X (formerly Twitter), and we will continue to post Reels promoting events to Instagram, where they are auto-shared back to the BOL FB Page.
Hope all of this helps! Thanks for reading. I will see you all next year! I hope that you have a fantastic and safe NYE, and a glorious and productive fresh and shiny 2024!
-Tom Blair
Shoutout to Center Street Tavern! 📣
Shoutout to Center Street Tavern! The owners have been so supportive of our efforts with BlairOutLoud DUO. We have lots of events lined up from now through the summer and beyond. But.. let’s crank it up a notch.. St Patty’s Day FULL BAND in action at Center Street.. gonna be a fun one!
Another great week of gigs on the books to kick off the month of March for 2023.
I’m sitting here on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Marietta, GA.. it feels fantastic today.. low humidity, clear skies, maybe 70 degrees. I’m finding a moment to reflect on the week.. and everything that has been happening lately. It’s nice to slow the roll.. get some fresh air.. and reflect on where we’ve been, and what might come next.
Amanda and I played Center Street Tavern again last night. Center Street has been a great place for the DUO to play and thrive. I believe the ownership of this establishment kinda “get” what we are going for with the duo. It’s a little louder and more interactive than my solo thing, but it brings a dynamic that is refreshing with Amanda on the keys and flute, my guitar work, and our harmonized vocals and diverse song selection; it doesn’t demand too much attention, and it doesn’t create too much volume like a full band would.
Of course, I would love to put the BAND in this space regularly. But I think I understand the owner’s interest in placing an engaging acoustic duo act into the mix on Friday or Saturday nights to get some entertainment going, but not blow everyone out on volume every weekend.
But this brings me to a very fun announcement:
We WILL be bringing BlairOutLoud BAND to perform at Center Street on St Patty’s Day, Friday March 17th!!
This is crazy exciting, and one of the first places in Acworth, GA to invite the full band to jam. Believe me.. we are bringing our “A” game, so if you’ve been wanting to see the band in action “closer to home” (for my fans that look disappointed when I tell them where all the band plays around metro Atlanta.. HA), this might be your chance to come check it out!
In addition to Amanda and I, the BlairOutLoud BAND adds a drummer and bass player to complete the line-up:
We will have Darren Goot on the skins.. Darren is a great all-around drummer. Any style, any vibe.. he’s got great timing, great awareness of the vibe, and a great smile behind the kit.
On bass, we’ll have a multi-talented long time good friend and mentor of mine, Gary Stone. Pay attention.. Gary can play is ass off.. sing with the best.. and btw.. you might actually see him on drums down the road filling in for Darren here or there.. WHAT? Yes.. Gary is also a drummer… and also tall.. LOL. Two tall dudes rockin’ the stage.. gotta love it.
So, let me take this last few sentences to give a very hearty THANK YOU for all the support for BlairOutLoud coming out of Center Street Tavern. The owners have been extremely supportive, given us lots of great opportunities to come play and entertain their patrons.
We are forever grateful and we can’t wait to rock the house on St Pattys! Have a great week all.. see you soon!
-Tom
Here’s a highlight reel of one of our recent DUO shows at Center Street. Enjoy!
Finishing out a fantastic month!
Happy Halloween! We are finishing out a fantastic month! Here’s a look back at some of the action captured at the various events we got ourselves into this past month. Rock-tober was a fun one! THANKS ALL!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN.. GREETINGS from all of us at BlairOutLoud!!
BlairOutLoud would like to say THANK YOU to all the venues, private parties, fans, and friends that have made October 2022 one of the best months of the year for us!
October feels like the last big push for all the “stuff” that you wanted to accomplish in ‘22… Not that we don’t have some great stuff still to come in November or December! But it feels like you wake up on Nov 1, and the world starts spinning so fast that you really just have to hold on to something, and ride out the storm until January 1. Do you ever feel like that? The holidays are a mess and I just smile and take it..LOL.
However, this is a solid time in the next few weeks to be planning and prepping for ‘23! We are already contracting, and confirming some interesting events for next year, and the BAND has been brainstorming lots of new material to debut next year for the fans. Should be a killer year! More on all of that in future posts!
For now.. here’s a look back at OCT 2022. What a month! Again.. THANKS TO ALL for the support! Here’s to the Holidays and on to a strong and bright 2023!
-Tom Blair
BlairOutLoud BAND rockin’ at Rosati’s Pizza Pub Friday Night October 7th, 2022.
BlairOutLoud BAND at MS Society Event at Wild Leap Brewing Oct 8th, 2022.
Amanda, Tom, and Tom at MS Society Bike Ride Fundraiser at Wild Leap Brew Oct 8th, 2022.
BlairOutLoud TRIO packing the house at MacCrackens late night Oct 8th, 2022.
Packed house at MacCrackens “Crack Outback” with BlairOutLoud TRIO Oct 8th, 2022.
BlairOutLoud DUO, Amanda and Tom Blair jamming at Center Street Tavern Oct 14th, 2022.
Horsemen’s Run Neighborhood “Oktoberfest” Gathering, BOL BAND setting up in a gazebo!
BlairOutLoud BAND performing for the Horsemen’s Run Oktoberfest Event in Fayetteville, GA on Oct 15th, 2022.
Gazebo rockin’ on Oct 15th, 2022.
Amanda and Tom Blair on stage at Grazing Here, Oct 21st, 2022.
BlairOutLoud BAND having a blast entertaining the crowd at Grazing Here Oct 21st, 2022.
BlairOutLoud DUO performing for ‘Que & Brew Festival sponsored by Livesafe Resources on Oct 22nd, 2022.
BlairOutLoud BAND burning up the stage at Good ‘Ol Days in Cumming, GA on the evening of Oct 22nd, 2022.
The group doing our thing at Good ‘Ol Days.
Three guitar attack.. well.. one keytar, one guitar, and one bass guitar slaying on stage at Good ‘Ol Days Oct 22nd, 2022.
Tom from BlairOutLoud was invited to play to raise money for the North Georgia Legends Baseball Team at a Chili-Cookoff Event in Blue Ridge, GA on Sunday Oct 23rd, 2022.
Finally getting back to Marietta Wine Market to play for folks on the Marietta Square on Oct 29th, 2022.
St Patty's WEEK LONG Celebrations!
To have one great St Patty’s gig is a fantastic opportunity for a musician.. This year, the TRIO and I (solo gigs) had several St Patty’s opportunities, and so it was a WEEK LONG celebration in several different venues! Here’s a breakdown of some of those events. Thanks for the support everyone!
HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that came out to all the various St Patty gigs that we performed over the last WEEK!
It’s one thing to have a great St Patty’s gig for a musician to perform.. but this year we were blessed with several different events, some SOLO for me, and then the TRIO got involved in a few and overall, everything went great and the fans were awesome!
I would like to thank all the people that came out to support us at each location, and if you are new to BlairOutLoud, hopefully we won you over and you’ll check out the calendar for upcoming events and come see us again…
So below is a couple of random shots from some of the events of the last week, with some of my own commentary about the gigs, and some gratitude. Enjoy!
MARCH 12: BlairOutLoud TRIO at Rosati’s
We were invited to participate in a St Patty’s Party at a new location (for us) called Rosati’s Pizza Sports Pub. It was a 4 band event, and we had the 8pm slot. I think this was actually the best slot to have based on the crowd and the party being in full swing at that time. We had about 90 mins to give our best, so we whipped together some of our best classic rock, 80s and 90s heavy hitters and let ‘er rip! The crowd was awesome.. got people up to the dance floor to rock out with us, and got great feedback after the show!
Our first show at Rosati’s was a banger! 3-12-22
MARCH 13: BlairOutLoud SOLO at Misty Mountain Hops
I was invited to perform my first time in Blue Ridge at a place called Misty Mountain Hops! The managers there created a special menu for the event with reuben sandwiches, beef stew, and green drink specials, and sold tickets for the event. We had a full house! Everyone was very welcoming for me, and I rocked the house for about 3 hours utilizing my song lists, taking requests, and getting folks to party with me and sing along. It was a fantastic occasion, and the BAND just might make our way back up this summer for another fun event.. More details soon on that!
Party crowd at Misty Mountain Hops 3-13-22
Here I am way in the back posing for the shot 3-13-22
Managers Aaron and Pam having fun at the St Patty’s Party 3-13-22
MARCH 17: Actual St Patty’s! BlairOutLoud SOLO at SoFo Modern Cuisine
I need pics from this event!.. here was the flyer I used to promote.
SoFo is hands down one of my favorite places to play as a solo act. The people are loyal, fun, and know how to party! SoFo was primmed and decorated out for Saint Patricks Day, and the staff was decked out with awesome green sexy outfits ready to serve and kick ass. I performed for about 4 hours with a tiny break in the middle.. it was quite a marathon for me, but I held my own. The place was swinging and singing, cheers for beers and the mood was awesome! Thank you SoFo for an awesome St Patty’s Party and I can’t wait to play there again!
MARCH 18: BlairOutLoud TRIO at MacCrackens
Crammed into the small corner of the front room at MacCrackens 3-18-22
So, where the weather was just incredible on the actual St Patty’s Day.. the rain came in and doused us on Friday the 18th.. so where we would normally perform outside at MacCrackens.. what they call “The Crack Outback”, we had to move our operation back inside. So at first this was a bummer, but very soon after the first couple of songs, our friends and fans joined us, and we all threw down hard! Lots of requests.. great tips.. and overall just a really fun night rocking for the crowd, for a St Patty’s “round 2” if you will.
MARCH 19: BlairOutLoud TRIO at Canton Icehouse
Getting some air at Canton Icehouse 3-19-22
Rocking the party at Canton Icehouse 3-19-22
Basically.. it was “Round 3” of our St Patty’s celebration extending into our Saturday evening. The TRIO made it’s way to Canton to rock the crowds at Canton Icehouse! We could barely get loaded in, when we started hearing pleas from a table of people nearby that they had two girls with birthdays that they were celebrating. This just set the tone for an exciting night right out of the gate. We had the people on their feet dancing and grooving within the first few songs, and maintained that energy for the rest of our show!
Great crowd at Canton Icehouse 3-19-22
I would again like to thank the powers that be for giving us some great St Patty gig opportunities, and I’d like to thank all the friends, fans, and family that came to support us all week long!
-Tom Blair
Happy Fall Ya'll
Happy Fall from BlairOutLoud. Lots of great events recently with BlairOutLoud DUO and TRIO! Wanted to say thanks to all involved and all the fans that supported our efforts. Lots more fun stuff to come, and new ‘22 dates will be added soon! Here are a few galleries from some October Events that I wanted to share! Thanks!
Fall Greetings from BlairOutLoud!
Hope you are yours are having a fantastic season!
Sports fans are ecstatic about the Braves winning the World Series. Vaccines and other measures are fighting back covid exposure. The weather has been rather nice lately around Atlanta… honestly it’s hard to not be happy about the fall and where we are here currently in 2021!
I just wanted to give a little gratitude today for all the great support our friends and fans have given us at all our recent special events! I highlight a few below and have a few pics to share. Enjoy!
Before I sign off.. Check the calendar at the bottom of the Home Page for lots of upcoming events to end out the year! Soon enough, I’ll be adding some 2022 dates.. so stay tuned!
Thanks all
- Tom Blair
Tom and Amanda Blair, the BlairOutLoud DUO performing back on October 23rd at the Que & Brew Event, a fundraiser for LiveSave Resources.
- The weather was great (actually a little hot during the middle of the day). There were breweries and bbq companies there competing and serving up their best. There were 3 musical groups and we took the middle slot to entertain the crowd. I had participated in this event in 2019, and was asked back in 2020. After a postponement to 2021 and a location change, this was an amazing event and we really appreciate our chance to participate!
BlairOutLoud TRIO recently performed a killer Halloween Event in Franklin, GA on October 30th. Our friend Kevin Williams, who has been a seriously awesome supporter of BlairOutLoud all year long, invited the TRIO to jam for his massively huge Halloween Party! Other acts included the band Sunset Strip and a few other acoustic late night performers. It was an amazing event, and we were very happy to be a part of it.
- Tom Carling (bass player) had the idea for us to wear Star Trek shirts.. so here we are wearing the colors doing our thing.
1000 LIKES! THANK YOU Facebook Friends!
With your help and support, the BlairOutLoud Facebook Page has now hit a new milestone of 1000 Likes. Thank you!
Hello Friends and Fans!
With your FB friendship came the support for the BlairOutLoud Page.. and NOW we’ve made it to 1000 LIKES!
THANK YOU !!
So, with all social media, if you look into what actually happens behind the scenes, you would know that just having the Likes is not really that important. The computer algorithm in charge is always looking and seeking interaction between your posts and your fans (or what you share and how your friends react on your personal pages). The FB algorithm specifically measures your fans interactions, how long they watch your videos, how many clicks that you get, and how many times people comment, and THEN it decides how many more people to put that content in front of BASED on that.
Therefore… When you have low interactions, low Likes and Follows, low comment participation, etc, you actually do not benefit from just having more overall Likes of your Page.
Regardless, as everything is working to feed the algorithm together, more Likes of your Page will still combine with other metrics to lead to more visibility with your fans, therefore, I still VERY MUCH appreciate the efforts of you that have supported me this year..
And of course, over the last few days, there are a select few that found out that I was about to hit the 1000 Like Milestone and they kicked in EXTRA Sharing and Promoting efforts that busted me over the top! THAT WAS WAY COOL.. and VERY GENEROUS of them to do that.
Shout out to Tracy Cowie and the amazing efforts of the last few days to send out invitations to his social circle! THANK YOU FRIEND!
QUICK END OF 2020 UPDATE:
While I have you for a sec, I wanted to quickly give you an update on the status of things:
As you know, this has been a strange year on a number of levels. We’ve had some bad events, and actually, also we’ve had some really amazing opportunities. Currently, the schedule is full as we wind down the year with a solid number of acoustic gigs and a handful of full band events that we are looking forward to that will end our year on a strong note. (no pun intended) CHECK THE CALENDAR HERE!
Goals and notes related to ‘21:
BlairOutLoud in ‘21 will continue a commitment to grow all available platforms: Performing, Reviewing Gear, and Teaching. Some have been more successful than others, but I will be continuing to put time and effort into these endeavors, as you would probably expect.
My LK3 connection will continue, however.. in the near future, the recently assembled 4-piece, basically the LK3 guys plus Amanda Blair (we call it LK3+) will be rebranded soon into BlairOutLoud Entertainment, and we are going to put even more effort into scheduling private events, weddings, etc. When my wife Amanda Blair was starting to show interest in playing with LK3 we really didn’t have a solid plan on marketing or social media.. we just shared the LK3+ vids to the LK3 Page or BlairOutLoud Page and kept rolling. The 4-piece band has committed to continuing in the new year with a little refresh on branding, and we are all very excited.
My efforts to resurrect my metal content totally failed in 2020, and this makes me sad.. *sadface… There was studio time scheduled and rehearsals that took place at the beginning of 2020 to facilitate a path to complete a 4 song metal demo that my buddy John Moore and I began production of in 2017. The plan was to resurrect the recording, add lyrics, guitar solos, mix and master, and after a band line-up was complete, we were going to book some events and get it to the stage. Covid stopped all of that in its tracks, and we never got the project back online this year… So.. This is a goal for ‘21.
Thanks again to all the support here on blairoutloud.com and across my social media presence!! I appreciate the Likes on my Facebook Page and I hope it works to get me more visibility with people who would enjoy great musical entertainment, therefore leading to more gigs, and more special events!
See you soon!
- Tom Blair
ROCK-tober check-in, #EVHRIP, and 5150 Tribute!
Hello friends and fans.. Tom Blair checking in.. It’s ROCK-tober.. so many great events are coming (finally got them all posted recently). Also.. I wanted to take a moment to talk about Eddie Van Halen’s influence on me over the years #EVHRIP and show some love for the 5150!
Greetings to all! Tom here.. Checking in with my friends and fans!
LK3 jamming at Canton Icehouse on Oct 3rd, 2020!
Hello Everyone!
So.. ROCK-tober is here.. 2020 flying by (as it should.. HA) and we are well on our way into the final push to finish out this weird year on a high note. I have used the last 48 hours to update all the events confirmed on my calendar.. which btw… Thanks for putting up with the repeated notifications and FB posts.. I do wish there was a way that I could mass produce some of the calendar dates and let them all post at once without bombarding your feeds with every single announcement.
Don’t get me wrong, I want you to see them, but sometimes (and here recently) I’ve gotten way behind on reporting my calendar of events. And in order to fix that I have to create several events in a row, and as far as I know, FB now doesn’t allow a batch upload, it just decides to post EVERY event as I get it posted on my Page’s Feed. Anyways.. Thanks and hopefully you’ll find an event that you’ll want to check out and I’ll see you there!
So go to the HOME page and scroll to the bottom and click through my calendar.. or Click on EVENTS and check out all the great places I’ll be either performing solo, or duo, or with the full band! Thanks!
RIP Eddie Van Halen
- from a Wikipedia entry:
“Edward Lodewijk van Halen (Dutch: [ˈɛdʋart ˈloːdəˌʋɛi̯k fɑn ˈɦaːlə(n)], /væn ˈheɪlɛn/ van HAY-len; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was a Dutch-American musician, songwriter, producer, and inventor. He was the main songwriter and lead guitarist of the American rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded in 1972 with his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, bassist Mark Stone, and singer David Lee Roth. He was well known for popularizing the tapping guitar solo technique, allowing rapid arpeggios to be played with two hands on the fretboard.”
So, this week we lost one of the most influential guitarists of all time, Eddie Van Halen. I found out the news late in the afternoon on Tuesday October 6th (while working on my events). EVH was 65, and died of complications of throat cancer. Damn, what a blow to the music world. He was one of the most amazing guitar players, but his influence on the rock and metal world is MONUMENTAL!
After scrolling through countless FB and Instagram tributes, I started to take stock of how my much my musical journey has been influenced by him. Those of you that know me, know that I’m definitely not a shredder guitar player.. I can get my way around a fret board, but actually, Eddie Van Halen was not a huge influence on my guitar playing as much as he was on my guitar tone!
The Peavey 5150
In 1992, Peavey Electronics, Eddie Van Halen, and Peavey engineers designed a special guitar amplifier called the 5150. This amp was originally created as a signature model for Eddie.
Pic: BlasphemyMadeFlesh (discovered in google image search)
- from another Wiki entry on how 5150 related to Van Halen:
“5150 (pronounced "fifty-one-fifty") is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen. It was released on March 24, 1986 by Warner Bros. Records and was the first of four albums to be recorded with lead singer Sammy Hagar, who replaced David Lee Roth. The album was named after Eddie Van Halen's home studio, 5150, in turn named after a California law enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person (a reference to Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code). The 5150 name has been used several times by Van Halen. The album hit number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, surpassing the band's previous album, 1984, which had peaked at number 2 behind Michael Jackson's Thriller album, on which Eddie Van Halen made a guest appearance.”
This amp and several succeeded versions of it, the 5150 II, the 6505 (name change after the endorsement deal with Peavey ended), and in our current day, the now Fender owned 5150 III version, was and is well known for its high gain overdrive channel.
“Both the 5150 and the 6505 are well known for its high gain overdrive channel, and has seen widespread use by rock, hardcore and metal guitarists. An early breakthrough was its use by Colin Richardson and Andy Sneap, two "seminal" British producers of heavy metal; especially Machine Head's Burn My Eyes (1994) helped the 5150 gain a reputation for its sound, which "defined a generation of guitar tone".[4] Other notable artists and producers to use the 5150/6505 include Jason Suecof, Matt Tuck and Dino Cazares.[4]”
The point I want to emphasize is that the 5150, although designed as Eddie’s signature amp, was versatile enough, yet simple enough, that it was a huge success for Peavey, and after hard rock and metal producers and musicians started to make use of its tone, it became one of the most influential amps on the scene as well!
Countless numbers of hard rock and metal records are recorded either directly using or at least trying to obtain that 5150 tone with other amps… or now in our current day, with the use of sampling software. The frequencies of the 5150 tone, in the most extraordinary way, can live in between other instruments and timbres, standing out where needed, but also fitting nicely into the mix of a song. It’s an amazing thing, and I personally was struck by the tone early on. I have been influenced by it for years and years on end.
I owned the original 5150 “block letter” amp, and I still have it to this day. From 2004-2009, while I performed in Colossick, my original metal project, I primarily performed using the 5150 II, a second edition that expanded the amp’s versatility yet kept that same amazing tone in play.
Look down to the left of where I’m standing.. You’ll see both my 5150 and 5150 II on stage with me in Colossick when we played Atlanta, GA on the Jagermeister MusicTour in 2008. We were the local opening act for Hatebreed and Type ‘O Negative for one date at the State Theatre in St Petersburg, FL and then the next night at Center Stage in Atlanta, GA, May 22-23, 2008.
Currently I own two 5150 III 50W amplifiers, a black model and an all white head and cab combo. The 5150 III (essentially a third edition) was designed and sold by Fender.. although the Fender name is not prominent on the amp.. it uses EVH on the front grill as its own brand. (see this to left of me in the greenish pic below)
One of the things that struck me around 6 years ago when I first played through this newer version of the amp, was the EVEN MORE VERSATILE sound that I could get, especially out of the clean (green) channel. The timing for me was perfect.. 6-7 years ago I started playing primarily in cover acts. I needed a wide spectrum of tones and versatility, and when I trusted my instinct to stay with the 5150 amp for my sound, my loyalty to the brand has benefited me in spades!
LK3+ performance at The Wing & Tap House from September 18, 2020.
Look down to the left of me to see my white 5150 III 50W head and matching 1x12 cab.
I get constant kudos from fans and patrons at all the places that I perform while using the amp. Most proclaim that my tone is top notch, but honestly, this has been a reality for most of my musical career. So I can confidently say.. this amp has helped me to DEFINE my sound, and over the years I’ve grown more and more loyal to it, even as my playing has evolved, and regardless of the twists and turns that my musical career has taken over the years.
Back to Eddie
So Eddie Van Halen, one of the greatest guitar players of all time, gets an opportunity to design a custom amp to his taste and influence.. Peavey releases this award winning product in the early 90’s right as I’m just getting my footing as a guitar player and performer, and I happen upon this jewel in the wild… One of my friend’s dad’s wanted to sell his original 5150 head, and I bought it randomly not really knowing much about it.. or the Van Halen connection.
… And here we are YEARS later.. Me now finally realizing the mammoth influence of Eddie: I’ve used his product to DEFINE my own sound and taste. I’m finally coming to the realization that although his guitar playing was inspiring, jaw-dropping, and there may never be another like him, what he ultimately was responsible for in the rock and metal world, I’ve used my whole life and benefitted from immensely.
Thank you forever, Edward Van Halen. You will be missed. RIP
Pic: google search for Eddie Van Halen and 5150
So Thank You!
Thanks for reading this far! ROCK-tober in full effect! Don’t forget to check out my EVENTS page.. Lots of great events are coming to end out the year on a bang!
The Leonard Koggins Trio band is performing all over town, so be sure to catch us and check out my guitar tone and let me know what you think!
LK3 live at Full Throttle Roadhouse from September 19th, 2020.
We have some private parties in the works and people often ask me about availability for Private Events so DON’T HESITATE: Contact me on the CONTACT page if you want to see up a solo, duo or full band event!
THANKS ALL.
- Tom Blair
JULY UPDATE and Gratitude!
Checking in with you.. ending out July 2020 pretty strong despite the weirdness and struggles of 2020. Gratitude post 🙏
Well.. Here it is.. JULY 2020! What a year huh?..
After losing most of my gigs early March, I made some moves to open up a couple of new income streams that kept me going through the downtime. Those actions opened up new opportunities that I just ran with. I really had no choice but to push forward and build on what I was learning in real time.
So, 1) I put forth a valiant effort towards creating a proper way to stream my music events so that I could still perform and make money through tips online, and 2) I started giving piano and guitar lessons (making use of my studio space locally to make it work).
These two efforts kept me plenty busy right into April, and btw:
For all of you that hopped on my live streams, shared my posts, donated and tipped my FB Live Sessions, I can’t THANK YOU enough. I’m am forever grateful for your love and support.
Although we aren’t out of the woods with the pandemic, there have been enough gigs available for me to jump back into playing live and supporting my family, and the live streaming has tapered off a bit. But I will always remember that when times got really tough and I needed to turn to streaming to stay afloat, you were there for me. I’m so grateful for this.
April 1st was quite a day in history for BlairOutLoud..
On April 1st, I performed for my first time in a neighborhood in Canton, GA, outside in the middle of a cul-de-sac. It was a chilly night, but the neighborhood rallied and all came out on their lawns, brought food and drinks, and let me entertain them. That gig will forever be etched in my mind as one of the most important things I did this year. People there took photos and videos and spread the word that I was performing in that type of capacity.. and let me tell you.. IT TOOK OFF!
I have now performed 8+ Neighborhood style events, and I still have more on the calendar for this year. Neighborhoods in Canton, Acworth, Marietta, Kennesaw, and Douglasville have all hopped on board. That was a game changer for me to be able to perform like that while all the clubs and restaurants were closed!
THANKS to all of you that made those events possible!
There is much more to come so stay tuned! Just wanted to say thank you.
-Tom Blair