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DIY Hard Rock: My Journey Recording Carolina Girl

/ Peter Berris / Leave a comment

Get your hairspray, tight pants, and T-Top Camaro ready, because DIYRockAndRoll.com is setting the proverbial volume to eleven. That's right, for this DIY Rock Experiment, the fifth so far, I decided to create my own hard rock recording. When I dreamt up the idea for this quirky do-it-yourself rock music blog, one of the first projects I thought of doing was hard rock. But as someone with background in acoustic music and Americana, I assumed that creating a piece of hard rock would stretch my skills to the absolute limit. It's one thing to pivot from acoustic blues to blues rock or from country to rockabilly, but it's another to pivot to hard rock. Or is it? Let's find out!

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Review: Fender American Ultra Luxe Telecaster

/ Peter Berris / Leave a comment

There are probably tons of reviews of the Fender American Ultra Luxe Telecaster, but you may not find too many written by someone who has owned and played one for two years. II have used it with at least five different amps and a bunch of different pedals. I've fiddled with the settings. I've changed the strings. I've posed with it and probably looked very silly. So what do I think of the American Ultra Luxe Telecaster after two years? Short answer: don't be put off by the "American Ultra Luxe" branding, which is wordy and sounds like an old timey soap. I think this is an excellent telecaster with relatively few drawbacks. And to the extent there are drawbacks, they likely are more a matter of subjective taste than objective quality. For the longer answer: read on!

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I Hit the Brakes (She Hit the Beer)

/ Peter Berris / 1 Comment

Every songwriter should be entitled to at least one tell-off song. "I Hit the Brakes (She Hit the Beer)" is mine--a fanciful piece of comeuppance set to a rowdy, roadhouse shuffle. Stylistically, it's a blend of Texas blues and honky-tonk country that resides somewhere on the metaphorical, musical highway between Lightnin' Hopkins and Lefty Frizzell. (With apologies to both, of course!). Listen to the song here, and read about the equipment used in creating it!