Girls & Guitars

For some time now I've had people ask me what my "highest rated" or "most read" blog posts are so I guess the title of this post answers their, and possibly your question. Guitar playing girls seem to have captured the eyes and ears of dreamy eyed young boys, appealed to girls wanting to pick up the instrument, caught the attention of "guitar geeks" (irrelevant of age/sex) and soared to "superstardom" on Youtube. Is it because of the fact that they're female or is it because they're just fantastic guitar players? That's up to you. My opinion is that it's a combination of the two.

Now let me clarify who I'm talking about. I'm not talking about female singer/songwriters or female acoustic guitar players. It's strictly female electric guitar players. I've written about four of these girls in total. The first I wrote about was Kelly Rosenthal, who can play the socks off most guitar players on Youtube. It's not so much how she plays but the tone she gets for each song. She's truly incredible. If you haven't checked her out already, you really should! In any case, in a matter of a couple days she became my most popular post, something that's true to this day, nearly a year after writing about her. At first I thought "Well, I must have written that post better than I wrote the rest." But that egotistical self-pat on the back soon dissolved when I realised that more people tuned in whenever I wrote about a female "guitar hero". For those of you who haven't listened to Kelly Rosenthal, here's her face-melting cover of "Killing In The Name" by Rage Against The Machine.

Killing In The Name - Rage Against The Machine Cover

She's just fantastic, as is the second most read about "guitar goddess" on my blog. Juliette Valduriez crept into my life on April 21st, 2013 with her cover of "Search And Destroy" by the Stooges. Once again, I was blown away by the tone more than the playing itself. The thing I loved about Juliette was the fact that she seemed to become one with the guitar and moved to its intensity. She too, has accumulated an incredible amount of page views on my blog. Here's her cover.

Search And Destroy - The Stooges (cover by Juliette Valduriez)

Raw energy. Gotta love her. Now, following her is the acclaimed "Gimour girl", Sylwia Urban. This guitar is so controlled and so talented, I can't handle it. I remember when I first listened to her cover of David Gilmour's solo in Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", I must have clicked "repeat" about 10 times before I could get enough. I just had to write about her. Have a listen for yourself.

Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb solo cover

Her fingers just melt along the fretboard don't they? Okay, so the fourth most popular post on my blog is about another guitar playing girl called Laura Cox. Now, this is no joke. The top four posts on my blog comprise of the four posts I've written about guitar rocking girls. Laura rocks pretty hard with some beautiful guitars, my favourite of which is her blue SG. A couple weeks of she recorded a great "little" cover of AC/DC's "Back In Black. Check it out.

Laura Cox - Back In Black - AC/DC Cover

Love the sound. She definitely turned me on to thinking about getting an Orange amplifier myself. Not sure how it would sound against my '62 Fender Strat. Reissue though. In any case, those are the top four most popular musicians on my blog. Together, the page views they've accumulated make up a quarter of the views my blog has had in total. Pretty incredible if I may say so myself. So, what is it that makes these girls & guitars more popular than the rest? I welcome your thoughts. Could any girl pick up a guitar and achieve Youtube "superstardom"? I think not, but I dare you to prove me wrong.

I do feel however that after decades of innumerable males holding electric guitars, it's a refreshing change to see females proving that the guitar is not a "phallic symbol". There can be something so raw and sexual about a guitar, but that's up to the player tuning into the likes of the instrument.

I've had several arguments/discussions with fellow musicians about girls playing guitar including one where the fellow musician claimed that females (overall) cannot play guitar as well as males. Even after attempting to blow his mind with the likes of Kelly Rosenthal, Juliette Valduriez, Sylwia Urban, Laura Cox and even Alysha Moore, who can slap the hell out of a bass, he said and I quote "It's like they're too gentle with it." Well, in all due respect, I think any of them could hold up their axe against anyone, male or female. And in any case, if they can't play as well as guys, why have they accumulated millions  upon millions of hits on Youtube? Yes, there are those who say "It's because they're pretty." In response to that cliche statement, if it didn't sound good, you wouldn't be sticking around buddy.

Well, that's what I've got to say for now and feel free to shoot any comments/suggestions/thoughts my way. I'd be glad to hear them. I'm looking forward to writing a little more this month. It's good to be back.

© Alex Hamel

YUMS' One Year Anniversary

One year ago today I set up this blog to share some of my favourite Youtube musicians with anyone who was interested in reading about them, as well as to listen and watch them. Since then, I've moved twice, met some incredible musicians across Europe, travelled to Italy for a while, worked for a villa management company that screwed me over, made a living as a musician, ended up working as a photographer, took part in some short story competitions, busked on the streets of Brighton, recorded my new EP (to be released soon) and so much more. It definitely seems a lot longer than a year, but I must say that creating this blog was both great fun, and an incredible way for me to get to know some fellow musicians.

The very first post I put up on this day in 2013 was about how I felt that the majority of good music nowadays was "underground" and that most of it was on Youtube. Of course this means that the vast majority of what I call "good music" is independently made, without any interest in "business" and "money". Of course, as Dave Grohl says "The deep cuts don't pay the rent." So, it's excusable if one of your favourite artist's make some "lame" tune that gets incredibly popular. Anyways, let me tell you a little bit about the aftermath of this blog.

The first artist I decided to write about was Orla Gartland. And, a year later, I think she's just as incredible, if not more. She's evolved musically and continues to drive her supporters "maaad" with delight. And just as I followed Orla's work more studiously than before, I followed each person I wrote about. Needless to say, I found that some of them disappointed me while others motivated and inspired me. And of course, I came across a whole new collection of artists who I regard as "gems" on Youtube.

And aside from that, I've corresponded with a couple artists. And let me tell you this... Julianna Richer Daily has a heart of gold. She's definitely one of the sweetest, most honest musicians I've encountered online. George Possley has to be one of the "realest" guys on Youtube. He's an absolute delight to talk to and he's pretty funny too. And as you might have guessed, Alysha Moore might be the coolest person alive! And of course there are so many more I've had the chance to chat to more than once. All I can say is...I'm one lucky guy! I urge you to reach out to artists you love to. They really do love it when someone's genuinely supporting their efforts.

And beyond cyberspace...I've met a couple of the people I wrote about. I've had the chance to chat to, play with and hang out with the one and only Danny McEvoy. He's certainly a great guy! I've also come across a couple other people I met on Youtube, which is pretty unreal since you never think you'll actually meet some of these people. I mean...consider this. I subscribed to this guy who was pretty unknown, he had something like 18 subscribers. And I ended up jamming with him over here in Brighton...by accident! I didn't even know it was him until I decided to look up "that guy" again. Funny stuff.

Anyways, I'd love to give all the readers and musicians a massive THANKS! Thank you for reading, for discovering musicians who I love and for supporting Youtube's Underground Music Scene. Obviously, I stopped writing at some point because I got lost in my own music but I thought it was only fair to let you know that "I'm still alive" to quote Eddie Vedder. I'm starting a month of daily Youtube covers this February and will be releasing my new EP in mid-February. For more information on that you can check out my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/alexhamelmusic). Of course...I'll be adding a couple posts to the blog here and there just to give you guys some more musicians to get addicted to. If you've got anyone incredible that you'd like me to write about feel free to shoot me an e-mail at alexhamelservices@hotmail.com.

© Alex Hamel