In this installment, we continue our conversation with Mike Lanteigne, lead guitarist of the country rock band, Johnson’s Creek. We pick up our conversation from Part 1 of the video and delve deeper into Mike’s influences with different styles of music. We talk about how his more recent jazz guitar studies have helped improve and broaden his playing and how his experience playing country music has given his blues and rock playing more “feel, taste, and sound.”
We also get a glimpse into the band’s collaborative songwriting process; how all of the four members of the band contribute when creating their music. He tells us about the “love, kindness, respect, and support” he receives from his bandmates. He relishes the support and love he also receives from friends and family, and how much he looks forward to reconnecting to his extended family in Eastern Canada. We get a real sense of admiration and sense of community he has for his bandmates.
He is honest about their music and gives us a realistic assessment of their sound. They strive for a simpler, more listener friendly approach that is more rock than country. It is good time music that pulls the listener in with catchy rhythms, clever lyrics and familiar themes.
We talk about his impressive guitar collection, which includes a Fender Stratocaster, a couple of PRS (Paul Reed Smith), at least four Fender Telecasters, a Martin acoustic, a resonator National Guitar (a surprisingly difficult guitar to play) and a Taylor acoustic. In all, he says he has fourteen guitars.
He gives a great demonstration on his Taylor acoustic of his excellent finger-style playing. We definitely hear his country, rock, and blues influences, which combine into a unique, ear-pleasing, and easy-going guitar style. He effortlessly blends bass, rhythm, and lead guitar playing into his finger-style playing – a real treat to listen to. We also get to hear him play one of his Telecasters. We definitely hear the influence of Eric Clapton on his playing, which he credits as one of his major early guitar playing influences.
Finally, we get to hear what Mike considers to be a good guitar player. His insightful explanation is:
“Knowing when not to play. It’s better to know four notes and know where to play them, than to know a thousand notes and play them in the wrong places.”
Please enjoy Part 2 of this video series. As always, comments and critiques are welcome. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and click on the bell to get notifications of new video releases.
To read Part 1 of this interview series, please click on the link below:
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