Brian Crittenden - Journal 10 (Rhetorical Analysis of Avett Brothers and Jimi Hendrix)

After listening to Jimi Hendrix's album Are You Experienced?, I noticed that the main focus of the music is on the electric guitar. The electric guitar is symbolic of the type of genre this album would fit into: rock and roll. The genre of rock and roll puts more emphasis on the instruments, especially the guitar, rather than the lyrics. Hendrix's album embodies such characteristics. Jimi Hendrix is renown for his skillful guitar playing and this album definitely displays his unique gift.  The raw sound and emotion coming from his guitar is truly an amazing experience for the listener.

Similar to Jimi Hendrix, the Avett Brothers incorporate the guitar into their music, but more importantly they utilize the banjo in their music. The Avett Brothers' music has more of an acoustic feel to it. The mellow sound and mood it gives off can be felt by the listener. The album would fit into the genre of folk, bluegrass type of music. The focus of their music is more on the vocals and banjo with some other instruments to accompany them. The banjo is the main instrument in their music, giving them an Appalachian sound.    

Both of these artists are influenced by the genre of blues to one degree or another. Both of the genres in which the two artists can be categorized had their origin from the raw, soulful sound of the blues. For Jimi Hendrix, the storytelling he incorporates into his lyrics is similar to the storytelling common in blues music. In addition, Hendrix incorporates the use of repetition in his lyrics and his guitar chords, which is symbolic to the blues genre. Whereas in blues the focus is put on the raw vocals, Hendrix puts his focus on the raw sound of the guitar. This aspect of the album shows how blues has evolved into another form of music: rock and roll. For the Avett Brothers, the use of the banjo in their music directly correlates to blues music because the banjo is the main instrument of this genre, aside from the vocals. The Avett Brothers put emphasis on the vocals as well, which is common in blues music. The Avett Brothers also tell a narrative through their lyrics which corresponds to the genre of blues. The album fits into a folk, bluegrass type genre of music which has its origins from blues music. Therefore, both artists are influenced by the blues in some way or another.