Shawn, It's funny you mentioned how you tanked your solo on Letterman because it's become one of my very favorite solos of all time. But I think I loved hearing the story behind it the most. It's inspiring to see how humble you are, and the struggle of someone of your expertise trying to pull all this together on a huge gig. When I saw the Letterman performance you did a few years ago, I was hoping I would someday hear the story about this insanely cool solo you did with the Carrie Underwood tour. Thanks so much for making such great content!
Just listened to that Letterman clip and honestly wouldn’t have noticed without seeing this video and looking at your face. It’s pretty interesting how we hear ourselves and how strong our perspective can taint our experience.
Thank you for this... it's refreshing to hear a guitarist of your caliber be so honest about a less than flattering incident. You are a real inspiration 🙂
I stopped and went and found it right after the intro. It is so cool that tanking it and professionals improvising is really synonymous. Because I knew it was fun to see you musicians smirking at each other. It sounded great. I love Brent's work . It is encouraging and reassuring that you felt so challenged by his work, being so amazingly talented and accomplished yourself. And I did come back and finish the video😁
Shawn, it is refreshing and encouraging to hear that a player of your caliber still may get nervous about performing a solo and even tanking them every once in a while. Thank you for such an honest and humble account, and great lesson!
This bought back cold sweats. If it helps, what Brad did to you, you did to me ;-) I was asked to play this song for a 1-off gig in 2013, listened to the original, and was suitably terrified. Then they said they wanted your live Letterman version....to my ears it was even harder to comprehend! Been a fan of yours ever since, keep up the great work. ps. could really have done with this video in 2013 ;-)
If I could play on my best day like you do on your worst day I’d be happy :) It really is refreshing to see a great player talk humbley and openly about the challenges instead of just pretending it’s all just a walk in the park. Great stuff.
What you call tanking is what I love about seeing a great player live. Pushing the limits just enough to pull unexpected stuff out of the bag. Killer video man thank you!
Just when I was starting to think Shawn Tubbs is just a super human guitarist. He shares this with all of us, which is inspiring. He's a sincerely humble person that I truly continue to learn from, Btw, I still think he's a super human guitarist plus amazing person, Thank you.
I laughed when you said you tanked the performance! my first reaction was. Dang, straight fire bruh! You are be far one of my top 5 favorite Guitarist.
Your an inspiration! I'd take your tanked versions any day. Another one of my favorite tele guys is Vince Gill. Thanks for being so down to earth for playing like a God!
Hello Shawn. After your description of the Letterman crash, i had to go watch to see. Being the expert i am at screwing up solo's, I figured it would be good for a laugh. Brother you knocked outa the park... what you talking about! I really enjoy your humble attitude and great playing. Keep up the good work.
Took 4 days, got it 75% speed, then thought "heck, why not try 100%"... never have I failed so hard lol. Shawn you're amazing. Going to be working on this for the next two weeks solid.
Sick as always! That’s some fancy chicken 🐔 Pickery going down there.! Thanks for the break down. Great idea. Now I’m gonna search for the letterman video! Cheers!
I love this stuff even though I'm a solid rocker at heart. Anyway, I looked up the live video too and one of my favorite bits was the little run with the fiddle. That was bad ass.
I just watched the Letterman performance today and thought I'd ask about this. I was gonna post on Facebook and ask you to talk about this, then I thought, maybe I should check... Great to hear that you tanked it all over the place. Gives me hope ;) Ha! Even the killer players make mistakes. Great performance none the less. What I lifted off of this was "John Jorgenson" Now he's in rotation! Excellent Shawn, just excellent!
👍👍Shawn thats just really excellent,,,,,I found the Letterman episode,,, you're too tough on yourself,,, hell I thought it was damn good back then🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Ok, so after going through this awesome video Shawn, then going BACK to the Letterman performance, sure, some very very VERY difficult to spot clams, the performance was absolutely killer! The next day, there's so much stuff to lift from this video!
Ok Shawn... after watching this video I went and watched the performance on Letterman. If that's what you call "tanking" I'll take that any day! You were awesome! And you played on LETTERMAN! That's history, Man! Good on ya!
“Tanking it?” Ya right! More like nailing it Shawn. You sound absolutely killer. Thank you for the posts. You have to come to Toronto, Canada perhaps at Cosmo music to do a guitar clinic. Cheers Sawn.
I just watched that performance, and had I not watched this I would have never even noticed anything being off. Even now that I do know, it just feels like you were doing some inspired riffing off of the exact notation. In other words, that solo was great. I would need to grow more fingers to play that!
Love the story. Have played quite a few country gigs (bar gigs) myself over the years, from a blues/rock players perspective and I always felt that I was really just faking it. I have great respect for guys like Brad, Brent and may other country players. You're a great player Shawn...always enjoy your videos.
“solo I completely tanked” Looked it up. Sounded great! Yeah there were a couple missed notes/sloppy runs and what not but it was still a great live take. Always awesome to see how a pro learns from his missteps!
I've watched the Letterman Live video a few times, and I could tell you didn't nail the solo perfectly (mostly from your facial expressions!), but it's a far cry from a full-on "tank"! Nice though to have a chance for a do-over! I'm someone who gets "stage fright" just from turning on a home recording device! Great video, great solo.
Wow, your honesty is both refreshing and hilarious. Really difficult to believe you've ever struggled with anything string related. Thank You for sharing Shawn. BTW, I didn't get my first Telecaster until after I'd been playing 42 years (it happens)!
Shawn Tubbs I’m doing great, thanks! Hope your doing well too! Just wanted to add that your videos have started to kick all kinds of butt lately and it’s super inspiring. Makes me want to up my game as well, so thank you! :)
I love hearing players talk about blowing it on stage. In some scenarios I find my self in a "fight or flight response" on stage. Sometimes choosing the right note feels as stressful as choosing the right wire to cut on a timed bomb! I will be booking a Skype lesson with you for sure. You've got way too much to offer, dude. I hope you don't mind chatting a little bit about that aspect of playing!!
Shawn!!! The church i work at knew i played country and decided to do Brad’s ‘nervous breakdown’ as an intro song for some reason and it’s not a terribly difficult song to make your own but that stupid fast acoustic intro!! I tried to do it at four services and TANKED it all four times. Every time i think about that i want to throw up. Ha! Thanks for letting us know that you tank stuff too 🤓
When I watch one country guitar player I feel small, when I see two of them playing together I feel like why do I even try and play? You and a few others on TH-cam are like Sebastian’s song Nashville Cats. They play clean as country water.......they been playing since they’s babies.........everyone of ‘em play better than I will. Nashville cats. still true today. Your an amazing player and musician. Thanks for this video.
We as musicians are always over critical of ourselves...and that’s ok because that is how we grow. I thought it was a killer solo and executed well in the situation. Thanks for the breakdown of it too! You really did an awesome job of writing it!
Doesn't play country....yea ok. This solo is sick! I could never think of something like this myself. I don't know how the original solo goes, but how could it possibly be better??? You continue to amaze me. Now I have to make a half assed attempt to learn this, or at least some of it, and copy and share the link with all my guitarist friends. Perhaps another Facebook share, and a threat to burn my own guitars. Thanks Shawn!!!
awesome stuff! I grew up in the 80s rock and metal so I wasn't really a fan of telecasters. A few years ago I got a itch to get one and I bought a fender tele and I would never think of getting rid of it.
I have no clue about playing country style guitar, but I do have a Tele. I think I will try to pick up a few of these riffs and when we are playing some blues tinged gospel in church I can sneak in some of the riffs and see what kind of looks people shoot at me. :)
I had a similar thing happen with a band I was in. They decided to have Andy Wood do some solos on the album which I later had to play live. I thought I was going to have to quit the band when I first heard them. After talking to Andy he told me to basically do the same thing, try and play it but adapt it to my own playing level. My performances didn't come close to what he was playing but it sounded good enough and it stretched me as a player.
Great tone (I need to get me that Pettyjohn pedal) and I love the solo. When I had a band, I flubbed a number of parts playing live that I could play in my sleep. I was always nervous playing in front of people and I was never nearly as good as I wanted to be or as any of my heroes. Thanks for being brave and admitting your flaws so that people like me don't feel quite so bad about themselves. :)
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I haven't seen the performance, but I'm betting your version of tanking it is the equivalent of my version of nailing it.
Ha ha. Exactly my thoughts!!!
I dream of tanking it that badly lol!
Exactly right
😂
Great to see the human side of playing at that level Shawn. I’ve noticed it’s a thing you do really well on your channel. Keep it up.
Love yer chn longer history's would be ok by me.
Thanks very much! You do great work!
Shawn Tubbs Thanks Shawn!
I remember seeing you play this on the Blown Away DVD and thinking "Man, what a great country picking guitar player. I wanna be like him!"
You are truely a legend and a humble human being...respect from India.
Thanks so much! My older brother has been to India a few times now. He loves it there!
Great to hear Pete Anderson mentioned. IMO, he's a monster (so are you Shawn!).
Absolutely smokin' solo Shawn. Cool story too, I hadn't heard that Carrie track before.
Thanks so much, Ross! I hope you're doing well. Your channel is fabulous man.
Really appreciate you, Shawn. On every level. Musicality, skill, humility.
What a great video, thanks for letting us in!
You kids and your dang telecasters! Loved it Shawn!! 🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Shawn, It's funny you mentioned how you tanked your solo on Letterman because it's become one of my very favorite solos of all time. But I think I loved hearing the story behind it the most. It's inspiring to see how humble you are, and the struggle of someone of your expertise trying to pull all this together on a huge gig. When I saw the Letterman performance you did a few years ago, I was hoping I would someday hear the story about this insanely cool solo you did with the Carrie Underwood tour. Thanks so much for making such great content!
No clue why I am finally seeing this! LOVE IT!
Just listened to that Letterman clip and honestly wouldn’t have noticed without seeing this video and looking at your face. It’s pretty interesting how we hear ourselves and how strong our perspective can taint our experience.
Great story Shawn and power to you for having the strength to share it. You are an amazing player in your own right!
Thanks very much Tim!!
Thank you for this... it's refreshing to hear a guitarist of your caliber be so honest about a less than flattering incident. You are a real inspiration 🙂
I stopped and went and found it right after the intro. It is so cool that tanking it and professionals improvising is really synonymous. Because I knew it was fun to see you musicians smirking at each other. It sounded great. I love Brent's work . It is encouraging and reassuring that you felt so challenged by his work, being so amazingly talented and accomplished yourself. And I did come back and finish the video😁
Shawn, it is refreshing and encouraging to hear that a player of your caliber still may get nervous about performing a solo and even tanking them every once in a while. Thank you for such an honest and humble account, and great lesson!
This bought back cold sweats. If it helps, what Brad did to you, you did to me ;-)
I was asked to play this song for a 1-off gig in 2013, listened to the original, and was suitably terrified. Then they said they wanted your live Letterman version....to my ears it was even harder to comprehend! Been a fan of yours ever since, keep up the great work.
ps. could really have done with this video in 2013 ;-)
I bet you nailed it!!
Thank u Shawn...you are d best!!!
Thanks for your candid honesty, and your humility! Amazingly refreshing. We appreciate it,
Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses.
If I could play on my best day like you do on your worst day I’d be happy :) It really is refreshing to see a great player talk humbley and openly about the challenges instead of just pretending it’s all just a walk in the park. Great stuff.
Thank you so much for a peek behind the curtain on something like this. Fascinating for sure!
Thank you for breaking it down and slowing it down! You da man!
What you call tanking is what I love about seeing a great player live. Pushing the limits just enough to pull unexpected stuff out of the bag. Killer video man thank you!
Just when I was starting to think Shawn Tubbs is just a super human guitarist.
He shares this with all of us, which is inspiring.
He's a
sincerely humble person that I truly continue to learn from,
Btw, I still think he's a super human guitarist plus amazing person,
Thank you.
Thanks very much!!!
I laughed when you said you tanked the performance!
my first reaction was. Dang, straight fire bruh! You are be far one of my top 5 favorite Guitarist.
Your an inspiration! I'd take your tanked versions any day. Another one of my favorite tele guys is Vince Gill. Thanks for being so down to earth for playing like a God!
I just went to the letterman vid and left a comment about what an awesome guitarist played there 😎😉
Thanks so much! It's very kind of you to take the time to do that.
Thank you for doing such an honest video with so much background information! This solo is one of my favourites.
Hello Shawn. After your description of the Letterman crash, i had to go watch to see. Being the expert i am at screwing up solo's, I figured it would be good for a laugh. Brother you knocked outa the park... what you talking about! I really enjoy your humble attitude and great playing. Keep up the good work.
Thanks very much, Patrick!
Always enjoy your talent, humility and willingness to share... thanks!
You're awesome Shawn. Thanks for sharing
Thanks very much!
Fantastic! Thank you. A real learning experience!
Took 4 days, got it 75% speed, then thought "heck, why not try 100%"... never have I failed so hard lol. Shawn you're amazing. Going to be working on this for the next two weeks solid.
Sick as always! That’s some fancy chicken 🐔 Pickery going down there.!
Thanks for the break down. Great idea. Now I’m gonna search for the letterman video! Cheers!
I love this stuff even though I'm a solid rocker at heart. Anyway, I looked up the live video too and one of my favorite bits was the little run with the fiddle. That was bad ass.
insanely good.....I must keep practising
I can't say enough how PRECIOUS this is. Thank you for sharing your incredible playing and knowledge
I just watched the Letterman performance today and thought I'd ask about this. I was gonna post on Facebook and ask you to talk about this, then I thought, maybe I should check... Great to hear that you tanked it all over the place. Gives me hope ;) Ha! Even the killer players make mistakes. Great performance none the less. What I lifted off of this was "John Jorgenson" Now he's in rotation! Excellent Shawn, just excellent!
very cool insights!!
I love your technical terms like "open note stuffies". I can tech my grand kids with that kind of language......
👍👍Shawn thats just really excellent,,,,,I found the Letterman episode,,, you're too tough on yourself,,, hell I thought it was damn good back then🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Ok, so after going through this awesome video Shawn, then going BACK to the Letterman performance, sure, some very very VERY difficult to spot clams, the performance was absolutely killer! The next day, there's so much stuff to lift from this video!
That solo is f"n outrageous. I've only just started playing country and I'm gonna steal some of these licks :) Love your playing, Shawn.
Thanks very much Patrick!!
great ....thanks for letting me soak this in a bit
Ok Shawn... after watching this video I went and watched the performance on Letterman. If that's what you call "tanking" I'll take that any day! You were awesome! And you played on LETTERMAN! That's history, Man! Good on ya!
Shawn you are an amazing, beautiful person. :-)
Killer Shawn. Lots of good stuff for me in this one. Thanks!
man! please do more of this kind of videos!! love it!!! more more more!!
You rock Shawn. Much respect for this video and the story behind it.
Tankx for the memories...
“Tanking it?” Ya right! More like nailing it Shawn. You sound absolutely killer. Thank you for the posts. You have to come to Toronto, Canada perhaps at Cosmo music to do a guitar clinic. Cheers Sawn.
That would be awesome. Too bar he never played Hugh's room like a friend did many times Albert Lee.
I just watched that performance, and had I not watched this I would have never even noticed anything being off. Even now that I do know, it just feels like you were doing some inspired riffing off of the exact notation. In other words, that solo was great. I would need to grow more fingers to play that!
Man I checked that live version out you call that tanking I call it shit hot , that was an awesome solo!
Just went to the Letterman video...sounded great to me! But I could see your face expression after that one line you talked about LOL
Amazing, great technique, beautiful..
You are so humble Shawn...
i havnt enjoyed a "tutorial" so much. thanks for the share.
Love the story. Have played quite a few country gigs (bar gigs) myself over the years, from a blues/rock players perspective and I always felt that I was really just faking it. I have great respect for guys like Brad, Brent and may other country players. You're a great player Shawn...always enjoy your videos.
“solo I completely tanked” Looked it up. Sounded great! Yeah there were a couple missed notes/sloppy runs and what not but it was still a great live take. Always awesome to see how a pro learns from his missteps!
Shawn's "tanking" is the best solo I could dream of playing!
Brilliant! No tanking!
Sound killer Shawn!! Def gotta cop a few of those licks.......Tasty Stuff!!!
I've watched the clip of this performance and all I have to say is that your solo is the best of the whole song
Great solo with an inspirational backstory. 👍🏼👍🏼
Just went to watch the live song, man.....i didnt know you're this much of a rock star.
Another world class guitarist putting out videos on TH-cam? I don’t know what I did to deserve all this wonderful content... but yes, please!
I've watched the Letterman Live video a few times, and I could tell you didn't nail the solo perfectly (mostly from your facial expressions!), but it's a far cry from a full-on "tank"! Nice though to have a chance for a do-over! I'm someone who gets "stage fright" just from turning on a home recording device! Great video, great solo.
Wow if that was a wrong solo I sure loved it. They both sounds great man!
Thanks very much!!
Wow, your honesty is both refreshing and hilarious.
Really difficult to believe you've ever struggled with anything string related.
Thank You for sharing Shawn.
BTW, I didn't get my first Telecaster until after I'd been playing 42 years (it happens)!
Your playing is like a bolt of lightning!! Energy baby!
I loved this man! Great video
Fantastic video Shawn! Love to hear stories like this.
Thanks so much, Vlad! I hope you're doing well!
Shawn Tubbs I’m doing great, thanks! Hope your doing well too!
Just wanted to add that your videos have started to kick all kinds of butt lately and it’s super inspiring. Makes me want to up my game as well, so thank you! :)
killer solo. thanks for break-in it down
I love hearing players talk about blowing it on stage. In some scenarios I find my self in a "fight or flight response" on stage. Sometimes choosing the right note feels as stressful as choosing the right wire to cut on a timed bomb! I will be booking a Skype lesson with you for sure. You've got way too much to offer, dude. I hope you don't mind chatting a little bit about that aspect of playing!!
Shawn please, make a video about the entire song, i think your rhythmic guitar is great
Shawn!!! The church i work at knew i played country and decided to do Brad’s ‘nervous breakdown’ as an intro song for some reason and it’s not a terribly difficult song to make your own but that stupid fast acoustic intro!! I tried to do it at four services and TANKED it all four times. Every time i think about that i want to throw up. Ha! Thanks for letting us know that you tank stuff too 🤓
Brett LaCasse Yep, I’ve been there too! Ahhh, memories 😳
Yikes!! Yeah, that's another crazy Bart Parsley song!!
Shawn Tubbs Bart Parsley?? All this time i thought it was Burt Parsnips?? Cripes. 😔
When I watch one country guitar player I feel small, when I see two of them playing together I feel like why do I even try and play? You and a few others on TH-cam are like Sebastian’s song Nashville Cats. They play clean as country water.......they been playing since they’s babies.........everyone of ‘em play better than I will. Nashville cats. still true today.
Your an amazing player and musician. Thanks for this video.
That style of guitar is not easy at all for me. The guys and gals that can really do it have been at it for years and it's second nature.
We as musicians are always over critical of ourselves...and that’s ok because that is how we grow. I thought it was a killer solo and executed well in the situation. Thanks for the breakdown of it too! You really did an awesome job of writing it!
Brad Paisley is the king of making "wrong" notes sound like the only possible note to play.
Doesn't play country....yea ok. This solo is sick! I could never think of something like this myself. I don't know how the original solo goes, but how could it possibly be better??? You continue to amaze me. Now I have to make a half assed attempt to learn this, or at least some of it, and copy and share the link with all my guitarist friends. Perhaps another Facebook share, and a threat to burn my own guitars. Thanks Shawn!!!
Great solo and tone brother.
awesome stuff! I grew up in the 80s rock and metal so I wasn't really a fan of telecasters. A few years ago I got a itch to get one and I bought a fender tele and I would never think of getting rid of it.
I just watched the Cupid's Got A Shotgun video on Carrie Underwood's channel. You're being extremely modest. Your solo sounds awesome!!!
Some of the examples slowed down sound better to me than at full velocity . Great lesson !
I have no clue about playing country style guitar, but I do have a Tele. I think I will try to pick up a few of these riffs and when we are playing some blues tinged gospel in church I can sneak in some of the riffs and see what kind of looks people shoot at me. :)
Stellar!
that phantom tremolo dive on 0:11 :)
I shall be studying this for the rest of February, most of March (all of March) and probably well into April, June and July...at least. 😍
I had a similar thing happen with a band I was in. They decided to have Andy Wood do some solos on the album which I later had to play live. I thought I was going to have to quit the band when I first heard them. After talking to Andy he told me to basically do the same thing, try and play it but adapt it to my own playing level. My performances didn't come close to what he was playing but it sounded good enough and it stretched me as a player.
Shawn you're way too humble, as your chicken pickin' is top notch. Enjoyable video, thanks!
That’s an awesome solo....
Killer tone!!
Only that you said you tanked that solo I never would have noticed. Sounds great. And this is not easy stuff!
I really enjoyed this one. Please do more Tele stuff, because Telecasters RULE!!!!!
Thanks, Zac! I'll leave the "tele stuff" to Mr. Zac Childs!
Ok Time to learn guitar
Great tone (I need to get me that Pettyjohn pedal) and I love the solo. When I had a band, I flubbed a number of parts playing live that I could play in my sleep. I was always nervous playing in front of people and I was never nearly as good as I wanted to be or as any of my heroes. Thanks for being brave and admitting your flaws so that people like me don't feel quite so bad about themselves. :)
Loved this one!
Teles are sort of the superstrat of country. Most of the old country guys, like Chet Atkins, used Grestch.
Unbelievable playing by the way!!!🤙
I'm hoping to tank it more regularly if i sound that way lol! Phenomenal honesty but great playing and technique throughout. Real talent 😉
Killer intro!