Welcome to the Rattlesnake Road House
Devoted to guitars and music related stuff. 





Sidewinder Slim's Rattlesnake Road House - Brews, Blues and Booze.....

So, what's in a name?
For me it sort of embodies all there is in playing or listening to the blues in some hot, smokey bar.
It's not a real place, at least not that I've ever seen, but I enjoy the concept.
I've seen alot of live music over the years in all sorts of bars, club, arenas and stadiums.
If I ever decided to create a venue for live music, this is where it would start......

Just off the highway in the Arizona desert, so the only neighbors to complain are the coyotes.
Dirt parking lot with lotsa room.
Not a big building, maybe 50 x 100 feet, all concrete.
Big roll-up doors to let the breeze in when the weather is nice.
Live Blues, 3 nights a week.
Probably have to put chicken wire up to protect the stage and all the gear.
The coldest, cheapest beer, the hottest rock and blues, and the ugliest male wait staff.
Bring yer OWN woman....

Well ventilated to get all the smoke out. Yes, you can smoke there - as bad as I hate tobacco!
Concrete construction with a good slick floor.
Why? Well, there's a couple of reasons.
Dancing for instance. Anybody with the urge to scoot some boots wants a nice floor.
Plus, it won't burn down and after a rowdy night I can hose the whole place out.
Also, when a fight breaks out, drinks always wind up on the floor and make a mess.
Slick concrete gets REALLY slick, and the fight slows down.
People fall over a couple times looking stupid, they don't seem near as mean.
I won't need a bunch of burly bouncers, just a couple guys to man a 2-inch fire hose.
Trust me, a fire hose will cool off ANYBODY, and nobody gets hurt.
Pretty soon, everybody involved is soaking wet and cold - and ready to go home.


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There's an intersection of different musical styles that have always intrigued me.
That singular point would have to be blues on electric guitar.
Stevie Ray Vaughn is probably the best known of the genre, but there are so many layers to the
music and talented (or tortured) guitarists out there who made it their own.

Country music came from the South with the influence of European instruments thrown in.
Blues came from the same South, primarily the black work songs.
Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, all the roots of fifties Rock and Roll came from the Blues.
The British invasion that started modern Rock and Roll? 
The Yardbirds, Rolling Stones, Who, Led Zeppelin, Cream, even our own Jimi Hendrix?
They found records of old American blues nobody knew of, learned the licks on electric guitar, and changed history.
Those songs were cut up, merged, rearranged and then played really loud thru big amplifiers from Marshall and HiWatt.
Rock music was on a roll.

A few black men in the rural South had picked up a guitar and gave a new twist to all their old gospel and work songs.
They managed to make a dollar or two traveling around the South and sharing their unique sounds.
A few managed to get recorded, like Robert Johnson. Remember the Ralph Macchio movie "Crossroads?"
That's his story loosely weaved into the plot. Sold his soul to the Devil down at the crossroads to play guitar so well.
Died young from poisoned whiskey - thanks to the husband of a love interest. 
These old black men labored in obscurity for years, few ever made any recordings, none made any money from them.
The British were enamored with movies and culture from the US, and readily consumed anything they could get.
Somebody had the bright idea to send a bunch of "negro records" over there because nobody in the US wanted them.
Meanwhile, a bunch of skinny, awkward teenage British boys who were too shy for girls had started playing guitar....

Rock and Roll became a huge force of its own by the seventies, spawning another generation of new musical types.
This new music was really nothing new, but the influences are so obscured today it has become a non-issue for most.
A real aficianado or connoisseur of the Blues needs the skill of an archeologist to gain a working understanding of it all.
Aside from the Beatles (another story of their own) this is where it all comes from.
If you like music, especially any I've mentioned, you owe a debt to the Blues.


I'll be posting cool stuff as time allows, check in from time to time to see what's new.
Here's some pics of guitars, if you're into that sort of thing. Most of my collection is there.

http://flickr.com/photos/11455727@N08/sets/72157602102764955/