Guitar Talk with Johnny Marr

T in the Park, Scotland - August 2013

One of the best days in my guitar-playing life: talking with Johnny Marr last year in a music festival in Scotland. I had a few questions for him on how to play some songs off of his latest solo album, and instead of giving vague, monosyllabic answers, he spent several minutes explaining the tunings behind them and the factors that influenced his musical decisions. Also, he referenced guitar playing of Paul Simon, another one of my long-time favorite guitarists, without my prompting. (It was the first time any guitar player I’ve talked to has mentioned Simon’s guitar playing as an influence.) Out of the musical heroes I’ve gotten to meet, JM has been one of the most warmest, transparent and present. Unfortunately he had to leave before the Killers played, but I got to see his set and it was awesome hearing him put into play some things we had talked about. As the urban sage Ice Cube once said, it was a good day.