Guitar Slinger

It certainly seems that if anyone can say Been There And Done That, it must be Lou Rone.

He's been going there and doing that for a long time. As Lou Harlow in the late 1960s he stared playing with Johnny Thunders in the band that would become the New York Dolls, but split for London to reform the Yardbirds before fame, infamy, and statesmanship found Thunders, et al. The Yardbirds gig didn't work out as planned, so Lou (Rone again) was forced to hang out, playing with Jeff Beck, Keith Moon, Roger Glover, and a bunch of other lightweights before returning to NYC in 1972. Jumping back into the thick of things, he was a prime player (Kongress, Von LMO, Triple Cross, and the inception of No Wave) in the underground scene(s) there for the next quarter century. Oh, and word has it he dated Karen Black for a while along in there somewhere.

Now, of course, you or I could have done all of this stuff, too, if we hadn't been busy doing other stuff instead. I'm almost certain that both Johnny Thunders and Karen Black would have found us all very charming and talented. What we couldn't do, however, is Guitar Slinger.

This is because Lou Rone is a singular artist. He may have lots and lots of influences that may be shared with lots and lots of us, but no one else is or could ever be Lou Rone. In a world overrun with 'guitar heros' (and here I limit that to people actually playing them as opposed to those pretending to play them), any number of recording and YouTube stars can and do fill the air with 'impressive' and mindless technical virtuosity, numbing their fingertips and our minds to no real purpose other than stroking their fret board extensions. Lou stands, well, alone (or Alone--Lou's 2005 solo debut on Gulcher, like Guitar Slinger recorded at his rural Pennsylvania home).

This is because Lou's astonishing talents are in service of the music, not in place of it. Rone writes SONGS, not series of notes and chords. His playing on those songs isn't simply impressive, it is also moving. Compare the wistful, yearning lyricism on his cover of 'Maybe' with the full-out, joyously malevolent glee on 'Mallet Face.' 'Impressive?' You bet. But more important, they say something to our hearts and souls, not just our heads.

This is why Lou Rone matters to me and why he will matter to you, too, if you care more about the music than simply the technique used to perform it. Virtuosity? You bet. But Guitar Slinger Lou has a hell of a lot more than that going for him. Just listen.