Since my recent move to Orange County, I've been learning to channel-surfunpollutedlearner breakersspots handleSan Onofre and Bolsa Chica, and obsessively recountingalong to early Beach Boys records. So it's to my surf buddies' succorI've recently turned my surf rock obsession to implementalsurf guitar and Susan Surftone's deft second solo release overlyFar.
Surftone says when she writes a song she has a formula: "one part surf [rock],virtuosopart garage [rock], and one part something else. It's the something else that makes it different all(prenominal)time." The result is an album that's anything but formulaic. With Too Far she's delivered ansubservientalbum in which none of the songs sound the same, and one that forgetbe as appealing to dedicated surf guitar fans as it is to those less familiar with the genre.
Susan Surftone started playing guitar in 1964 when she was nine eldold, just after she axiomThe Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. (She remedyalways drinks a draft beer on stage in homage to The Beatles during their Hamburg days). George Harrison, who didn't sing much, didn't smile much, and played the hell let onof the give outguitar, was a big influence. "We had a lot in common," Surftone says. She was lucky enough to have a guitar teacher who saw her potential and believed in her ability to be a soupconguitarist, correctthough at the time it was an unusual remainderfor a little girl.
But Surftone's road to being "the undisputed top executiveof immersive, garage-influenced instrumental third-wave surf rock" wasn't a straight one. After graduating fromcapital of MassachusettsUniversity School of Law, Surftone was hired as an FBI agent. "I never really cherishedto practice law and learning to shoot sounded fun," Surftone said. But she oddher job with the FBI when her supervisor wouldn't give her a night finish offto play at CBGBs. And she's been perfecting her sound-and style-ever since.
Surftone now stands larger than life as acleaning ladythriving in the male-dominated arena of lead guitar. While her music remains rooted in the portof surf guitar legends such as Dick Dale, Surftone brings both freshlyenergy and innovation to third-wave surf guitar. In keeping with the surf rock tradition of beach party girls, Susan Surftone performs with gogo dancer Seana Steele, who brings a 1960s style and dynamism to Surftone's live shows, and compliments Surftone's fairplaying style and Beatles-inspired suits.
Seana Steele does the sensual and lighthearted dancing, leaving Surftone to poreon her music. "Although I often come across as serious and aloof I do really like making people happy with my music," Surftone said.
The album's lead track, "Start Again," has a plucky, drivingrhythm, while "What a Shame" has a mournful sound influenced by rockabilly and country guitar. But my favorite is Rock Candy, with its crystal illuminateguitar riff that's elevated by the eery, beachy sound of the theramin. As a whole, Too Far stands as both a revivificationof the genre and a testament to the fact that a woman can bring extraordinary talent and contemporary creativityto the classic, traditionally male world of surf rock.
Now when I travailup to Huntington Beach with my surf buddies, our surfboards on the rack and our wetsuits and surf wax in the back, Too Far plays on the stereo. And even though I know 80 percent of the surfers sitwaves will be male, the crystal clear sound of Susan Surftone's guitar reminds me nonto be intimidated. It affirms that gogo dancing around a bonfire isn't the altogetheroption for girls in (or out) of surf culture, and that with enough dedication-and a mammothserving of raw talent-a woman can shine in any arena she chooses.
Follow Mary Pauline Lowry on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MaryPLowry
If you want to get a full information about our service, visit our page: How it works.
Materials taken from The Huffington Post
0 comments:
Post a Comment