Kevin Stefanye Journal #10

           The use of the guitar in the Avett Brothers’ “The Carpenter” is very important in their distinct “sound”. They use it mostly as a background instrument to supplement the lyrics. This is definitely different from Jimi Hendrix, who uses his guitar to tell a story. He relies much less on lyrics than The Avett Brothers do, and he can really get his message across without even singing, which takes a lot of talent to do. Jimi also uses a much more harsh sound than the Avett Brothers do. Jimi puts out a very “Rock N’ Roll” vibe with his guitar playing, while the Avett Brothers give a much more calm and peaceful vibe, with a bit of sadness and blues thrown in there as well.

            The biggest example of this “Rock N’ Roll” vibe I see from Jimi Hendrix that I don’t see in the Avett Brothers is in his first song “Purple Haze.” In this song, he plays the guitar in a very grungy way, which differs greatly from the soft and melancholy (although sometimes soft and happy) guitar strumming’s and banjo plucking’s of the Avett Brothers, especially in I Never Knew You.

            I can also see some influence from the blues in both albums. There are some songs, such as Down With the Shine on The Carpenter that could pretty much be classified as blues songs themselves. This song uses banjo and guitar as background music with focus on the sad lyrics. Jimi Hendrix also does this in his song The Wind Cries Mary. In this song, Hendrix uses soft guitar solos and blues-style singing to get his message across.

            Another thing that both artists have in their music that is related to blues music is the themes in their albums. They both have sad blues type themes in their songs that talk about hardships, difficulty, and life experiences that would’ve been sung about in regular blues music.