Because I'm All About the Guitar V. 2 #3: The Reverend Horton Heat, "Big Dwarf Rodeo"

I have written about the Reverend Horton Heat before in my earliest entries of BIAAtG. They're a great band who put out consistently great music. Jim "Reverend Horton" Heath is one of today's best guitarists. It's not what he plays -- most of that is pretty standard rock, blues and country -- it's how he plays it. There are few guitarists out there that can have as many things going on the fretboard without having to get a second guitarist.

Take a listen to this track off their first album.



The song opens busy with a flurry of guitar work.

Between seconds 14 and 20, notice how many ways he attacks the notes. Six seconds worth of playing and a world of ability.

The Reverend does a lot of instrumentals, but I purposefully didn't chose any of them because I think their strength is in their full-bore songs. Jim's voice is as important to the overall sound as his guitar playing.

He rockets off with a solo at 1:25 and lets you know why he's a well-respected guitarist. Again, it's all within the framework of sounds we're familiar with from years work of rock-and-roll standards, but his subtle spins on where he nitpicks, where he chords and where he jams makes it unique to him.

If you like this song, search for the Rev on You Tube -- it's ripe with Reverend stuff.