”The music that comes out of Kentucky is a bit of a “Sonic Burgoo” — a musical stew of stylistic elements from country, blues, rock and funk that I affectionately refer to as Kentucky Backcountry Blues.”
In Greg Martin’s Kentucky Backcountry Blues course, you’ll explore some of Greg’s go-to approaches for building solos and rhythm parts, his influences, and a few of his slide tricks for playing in Open A, Open D, and standard tuning. You’ll apply it all by playing your way through 15 Backcountry Blues performance studies, over 10 live band tracks in a variety of keys.
”I’ve played with the Kentucky Headhunters now for over 30 years. Playing in a brotherhood like this for as long as I have, allowed me to develop my own voice on the guitar. Growing up in Kentucky, we were exposed to Rock, Country, Bluegrass, Blues, Gospel, R&B and the cross-pollination of many musical styles. As we bring these musical elements altogether, we'll delve into different aspects of rhythm, lead and slide playing. I’m excited to share many of my creative approaches and techniques with you here in this course.”
You’ll play over a Bo Diddley style jam in E, a Jimmy Reed style groove, and a funky jam in C sharp. Greg will guide you through a funk blues with a little early Jeff Beck influence, a Muddy Waters style blues jam in A, and an Elmore James style shuffle in open D. Next, you’ll explore a John Lee Hooker type boogie with a little ZZ top thrown in, a good old slow blues in C that you can stretch out on. You’ll wrap by digging into a funky Memphis soul groove, and a rolling and tumbling inspired jam.
Greg will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson. You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.
Grab your guitar and lets head top the backcountry with Greg Martin!
What you'll learn
Navigate chord changes with position-appropriate licks
Welcome to Kentucky Backcountry Blues. Over the past 34 years I've been very fortunate to play in a band that mixes Country, Blues and Rock into our very own musical stew. Growing up in Kentucky, we were exposed to Rock, Country, Bluegrass, Blues, Gospel, R&B and the cross pollination of many musical styles. It wasn't unusual to listen to the Grand Ole Opry on WSM on a Saturday night, Big John R spinning Blues & R&B on WLAC out of Nashville during the week, and Rock-N-Roll on WLS out of Chicago. We also had small local AM stations who mixed all genres of music (along with the farm report!).
Growing up in this environment shaped things to come as a young musician in the 60's and 70's. My guitar style is heavily steeped in Blues & Rock, but there's a undeniable country element intertwined throughout. A lot of folks call it Southern-Rock, for a lack of a better term. I feel that Kentucky Backcountry Blues best describes what I do. It's a marriage of Blues & Country with a Rock attitude. Growing up, some of my influences were B.B. King, Merle Travis, Eric Clapton, Chet Atkins, and Mike Bloomfield. They shared one thing in common, their playing was a very Soulful and spiritually transcended musical boundaries and racial barriers. Music is a gift. It is embedded deep in our spirits. It moves people and brings them together.
As we jump into my Truefire course, there's one requirement: Have fun. As we bring these musical elements all together, we'll delve into different aspects of rhythm, lead and slide playing. Again, the main thing, have fun, and in the process, may you find your own unique God-given voice on Guitar. Let's tune up and crank it up!!!
2What Makes a Solo Great?
When soloing, I'm just as interested in the space I leave between my phrases than the actual notes I play. A great solo should be like a letter to a close friend: you wouldn't want to use all caps, and you'd certainly want to use proper punctuation and form to convey your thoughts. A great solo is a integral part of the song. It takes the song to another plane, and it tells a story without interrupting the song's main message. To this day, I'm still amazed each time I hear Henry McCullough's beautiful solo on Paul McCartney's "My Love," Jimi Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower," Larry Carlton on Steeley Dan's "Kid Charlemagne," and Eric Clapton on Cream's "White Room." These solos are a important part of the song, not to mention a big part of our DNA.
3Bo Zeppelin
"Bo Zeppelin" is in the key of E, inspired by the late great Bo Diddley and Jimmy Page's rhythm work with early Led Zeppelin and Screaming Lord Sutch's "Flashing Lights." I'll be playing some fun Blues riffs over a Bo Diddley style groove.
Recommended listening
Led Zeppelin 'Led Zeppelin' (1969)
Screaming Lord Sutch 'Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends' (1970)
Bo Diddley 'Bo Diddley' (1958)
4Bo Zeppelin
"Bo Zeppelin" is in the key of E, inspired by the late great Bo Diddley and Jimmy Page's rhythm work with early Led Zeppelin and Screaming Lord Sutch's "Flashing Lights." I'll be playing some fun Blues riffs over a Bo Diddley style groove.
Recommended listening
Led Zeppelin 'Led Zeppelin' (1969)
Screaming Lord Sutch 'Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends' (1970)
Bo Diddley 'Bo Diddley' (1958)
5Bo Zeppelin
"Bo Zeppelin" is in the key of E, inspired by the late great Bo Diddley and Jimmy Page's rhythm work with early Led Zeppelin and Screaming Lord Sutch's "Flashing Lights." I'll be playing some fun Blues riffs over a Bo Diddley style groove.
Recommended listening
Led Zeppelin 'Led Zeppelin' (1969)
Screaming Lord Sutch 'Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends' (1970)
Bo Diddley 'Bo Diddley' (1958)
6Market Street Groove
"Market Street Groove" is a Jimmy Reed inspired shuffle, played in the key of E. We'll be tuned standard for both takes, utilizing 'Hybrid Picking' on take # 1, and 'standard key slide' on take #2. Playing slide in standard key is one of my favorite styles. Since you're familiar with the notes on the fretboard, it's easy to adapt slide accordingly. Also, notice the Jimmy Reed five chord demonstrated in the video. As with most great Blues songs, it's based on three chords and the truth.
Recommended listening
Jimmy Reed, Eddie Taylor, Earl Hooker
7Market Street Groove: Lead
"Market Street Groove" is a Jimmy Reed inspired shuffle, played in the key of E. We'll be tuned standard for both takes, utilizing 'Hybrid Picking' on take # 1, and 'standard key slide' on take #2. Playing slide in standard key is one of my favorite styles. Since you're familiar with the notes on the fretboard, it's easy to adapt slide accordingly. Also, notice the Jimmy Reed five chord demonstrated in the video. As with most great Blues songs, it's based on three chords and the truth.
I have been following Greg for 15 years now. From his work with the Kentucky Head Hunters, to the Mighty Jeremiahs to Rufus Huff. All very good with plenty of charisma and authenticity but also with an underlying optimism and lack of ego that is so refreshing. I have all his teaching material and this series is his best. Greg is relaxed and inspired and he plays beautifully in a style that is his own but certainly, transferable to others. You can copy ideas, chordal work and riffs that will work in other contexts for sure but it inspires you to find your own voice which is invaluable. With Greg, what you see is what you get and that means a lot. There is enough material to keep players of all abilities busy for weeks, if not months. Highly recommended for anyone interested in playing authentic blues-rock. Ah, his tone is superlative too. What's not to like?
D
dwa79
Verified buyer
09/26/23
Nice Variety
Mixture of approaches that all comes together with great advice in between.
I
IamBenjamin
Verified buyer
05/15/23
Great stuff!
Cool and inspiring course!
B
Ben
01/31/23
Greg Martin's Kentucky Backcountry Blues
Really enjoyed this: great stuff from a seasoned pro!
O
Ohio5665
Verified buyer
12/30/22
Kentucky Backcountry Blues
Great teacher and player! Greg Martins got some blues going on here. The Market Street groove lesson is awesome! Thank you Greg & Truefire!
