Giving music a chance - has it all been written?

Bob-Dubery

Sometimes I feel like everything that can be written has been written. Either that or I can only understand new music by stacking it up against other things I've heard.

EG this morning I am listening to Dawes and all I could think of was "Elvis Costello with prettier vocals." Which seems a bit non-helpful in trying to appreciate the music or testing it to see what there is to appreciate (in defence of myself I did give the guitarist some brownie points for a couple of good, cliché-avoiding solos).

singemonkey

Got to be a song left to sing,
Cos everybody can't have thought of everything,
One little drop of falling rain,
One little rag, that ain't been wrung out completely yet

-Gillian Welsch

DrGonzo

There is a bunch of stuff fI have heard recently where i can not relate it to anything else I have ever heard..

Sure, down the line somebody first came up with the Am to C major chord change, with a certain strum pattern, but often something completely original comes out in the way that band members apply their influences.

Dont fear, their is still hope!

Doomsower

=
I think we may be good for a while...

Bob-Dubery

Can't see the vid right now. Will check it out later.

Influences don't prevent enjoyment. Let's be clear about that. People who have only heard Ry Cooder's most recent albums might think he sounds at lot like Keith Richards at times. The reality is that Keef sounds like Cooder. Cooder was doing sessions for the Stones and showed Keith the open G tuning and how to use it. It's a big part of Keef's sound. I know that, but the intro to "Gimme Shelter" is still one of my favourite guitar moments.