Wow! I can't believe it sometimes when I think it is 2007 when looking back in my past. Massive changes, some for the better, and then, others not so good to come lately.

I grew up in Revere, Massachusetts (About 20 Mins. North of Boston) and fondly remember the memories of Revere Beach (America's first Public Beach).
 
Seeing pictures of it now and then show a completely different world. Years ago the Beach was really beautiful and filled with all kinds of Roller-Coasters and rides and crew-cut clean streets.
 


Sadly, the beach today is a real dump!

I also remember living minutes from the Beach and in the 80's the babes were drop-dead gorgeous and did not have major attitudes like today, and the bands had a taste all their own but snobby in some ways. Revere Beach had and still has what I believe (and I have been to a lot of places) the best Pizza: Bianchi's.
 


In the 80's I was just missing the age when the Guitar really meant something to me; although I did not play at this time. You know, being 14 years old in 1988 I was still stuck in that rut while most of my friends liked Guitar Oriented Music, not too many people, with a few exceptions actually played.

I remember listening to one of my first All-Instrumental (Cassette -hahaha...) tapes. I remember how I sent away for it and it took forever to get it. I purchased it from Shrapnel Records: Greg Howe. I was completely blown away back in 1989 -- wow this guy plays with speed and feel!

In the early or mid 1990's is when I actually took the Guitar serious and started to really play. The one bad thing, not to me, but to most of my freinds was: "Hey! Billy, your a lefty." So I started to play a Right Handed Guitar upside down (turned lefty -- like Jimi Hendrix). Funny, while Greg Howe's All-Instrumental took me by surprise, it was actually Jimi Hendrix in an HBO Special (1988) that caught my attention -- and I did not even know he was a lefty, but he really touched me with his feeling and emotion. 

Finally, I started to purchase regular left handed Guitars and started to play when Grunge Music was taking off and the Guitar scene went absolutely out the window. 

When I view the past, I think it is so sad that a lot of good Guitarists have either not gotten the attention that they desereved or were over-looked when Grunge and Rap (trash music) were taking off! 

To quote:
 
"The 90's were not a good decade for shredders. In 1990, it seemed as if their place within the rock & roll pantheon was secure, but grunge and alternative quickly banished them to an underground world where most cult artists exist -- a world of independent record labels, word-of-mouth buzz and specialized magazines. Nobody escaped the purge, even though all of the guiatrists were quite talented"

(Taken from the inside insert of Greg Howe's CD: Ascend (1999). The article was written by: Stephen Thomas Erlewine).

While this was going on I was playing but opportunies were very limited to jam with other people. It seemed like anything that had to do with Instrumental Music was dead like Fred!

I have over the years kept certain songs in my memory (I do not read a single note of Music Notation) and have come up with a bunch of other new songs (all Original) and wanted to put out a CD that was very Guitar Driven  -- but also something I have noticed that is very missing today is -- Feel and Groove! While there are small dabs of Instumentalists that are techincally good I really think feeling and groove are missing and most Guitarists today in the vein of Shred and Solo Music want to play as fast as they can (which I love fast) but they drop and lose the feel and emotion.  

My CD: Rippin', while recorded at Home on my Zoom-MRS-802CD



is where all the music happened, sadly, I did not have the money to spend on getting studio time; and All the instruments were played by me; with the exception of the Drum Patterns (Machine) which fit nicely on some songs and others are very basic but it is the actually music that changes those beats into something great, to me at least -- lol.....

The Music is very Different in a lot of my songs and filled with Nasty Solos and catchy Chord changes. I wanted a CD that was kicked-ass - ask questions later, and to me, I feel I have done this. It is a combo of melodic, speed and feel and without a doubt: Groove!

I Recorded and Mastered my CD myself because I did not care for the interference of someone telling me HOW, WHEN or WHERE to play -- you have to be YOU, and be HAPPY with ALL of what YOU play -- and I AM.

Granted, I will admit, being on a tight budget, I wish I had better recording equipment and a professional Drummer (human Being), as opposed to the Drum Machine that is built in the ZOOM. But then again, it did its task -- it kept the beat! LOL...

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this, drop me an Email if you so desire and thanks a lot for reading it!

Yours,

Bill DeTucci

PS

Don't ever give up! It is easy today to go over to the side of @hit music. But hang in there, it is not easy. For I would rather have a very, and I mean, very small amount of like-minded people on my side than resort to stupidity.