Dalston Dave
(Dalston)
Saturday 11 Jul 2026, 3:05pm
I've got my mojo back. After decades as a proficient but somewhat average guitarist, my playing has really taken off in recent years, as a payoff for the hard work I've been putting in practicing.
I've expanded beyond well rock and blues into genres including country and funk and I'm now knuckling down to the arpeggio and chord substitution exercises needed to make progress in jazz.
My last band did blues and soul covers until it broke up recently. I do still love that stuff and would do it again if I got an offer.
But my dream project would be an original material rock band, with songs that avoid shouty sloganeering but with lyrics that make obvious points about the world.
So I'd like to hear from other musicians with leftwing leanings. Virtuousity obviously not essential, but reasonable ability level preferred.
Putting down a good groove is the most important thing in rock and roll, so I try to keep my rhythm work punchy and tight, but more interesting than banging out cowboy chords. My key influences here are Keith Richards and Wilko Johnson, although I am working on the kind of fills used by Steve Cropper and Cornell Dupree.
My lead playing is in the Eric Clapton/Freddie King bag, but I'm not envisaging this band as a platform for 20-minute guitar solos.
Obviously you'll have your own influences, which needn't be the same as mine.
I wrote a lot of songs when I was younger and there's no reason I couldn't write them again, although a co-writer I could spark off might provide me with the necessary kick up the arse. I'd like to go beyond the three chord trick and come up with stuff with some harmonic sophistication.
That Springsteen song about Minneapolis was brilliant. Maybe we could come up with something half as good?