Guitar Tricks Insider February/March Digital Edition | Page 34

LISTEN HEAR

How often does Mr. Time show up in a
concert? It sounds like he’s very important
at every moment.
We used to ignore it. We tried to analyze why
certain nights felt better than others. It all came
back to that simple reality. Tempo is a concept
with reason. There’s a purpose to playing on
beat. It sets up a sense of trust. It sets up a
sense of feeling. You can just count on it. That
was the conclusion, I guess.
Is there any advantage that any band has
over you because they have more people?
Any sort of quartet just because they
have that fourth person. Because Mr. Time
should show up in any band.
Yeah, everybody can know him. Sometimes
we get jealous of the girl groups ‘cause there’s
something prettier to look at. But we have
enough of a job trying to, I mentioned earlier,
trying to outguess who is going to do what next.
That has kept us together. We still are simply
three guys that enjoy playing. ■

ZZ Top at the first ever Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas Texas, 2004.

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