Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre on why he ’s not a “guitar hero”: “It’s a concept I don’t understand”
Martin Barre, longtime guitarist of British prog rock band Jethro Tull, insists he’s not a “guitar hero” and that he will never be one.
In a new interview with Guitarist, Barre explains that much as he loves the six-string and its tunes, the very idea of being a “guitar hero” has never resonated with him.
“I am not and never will be a guitar hero. Not in this house, not in my world,” says the guitarist. “It’s a concept I don’t understand. I love playing guitar. I love guitars. I love amps. I love sounds. I love music. But that concept doesn’t touch me.”
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According to Barre, his love for guitar has always been rooted in exploration rather than idolisation.
“I like to find my own feel in music and discover ideas and techniques,” he says. “Discovering all there is about music is part of the piece. I want to figure it out myself because that’s half the fun. Ian and I had our favorite artists, like Roy Harper, Cat Stevens and [Captain] Beefheart, but it never soaked into what we were doing.”
Despite a career that’s spanned countless prog rock epics, an infamous Grammy win over Metallica, and navigating the ever-shifting tides of music trends, Barre sees it all as just part of the process of “playing music”.
“It was a broad scope of playing music. It wasn’t a monophonic experience,” he says. “There’s so much in the music that you have, so you have to take a lot in. You have to be prepared to go to extremes and to encompass what’s going on. We never stood still musically. We were always learning and treading new ground.”
Martin Barre is currently on tour across the US. Check out the full list of dates at his website.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
