Luis Arizpe and The Truth: Blog

I have just now completed uploading my first on-line, and long-promised, guitar lesson.  It's a little ditty designed to move a person from the "oh, I sure would like to play the blues one day" level to the beginner level - it's that basic.
This introductory-level lesson gets the student acquainted with the 12-Bar Blues from, how to think about it, and how to form the basic blues chords.  Next the lesson starts the student off with how to put those chords together in a meaningful way.  That is, the most basic of the various blues forms.
So, I hope you enjoy.  If you know someone who's interested in learning guitar, but not that into learning blues guitar per se, that's fine.  I'll upload some "regular" guitar lessons, too.  But, if you want something specific, please email me at luis@luisarizpe.com.
Just click on the "Press/Free Lessons" link right there on the right.

Sometimes, when I look back at the stuff I write like I did yesterday, I think, "Man, you're a whiner."  Here's a warning, I have mood extremes.  Would you have thunk it?? From a musician??Anyway.  Here's an interesting story.  Today I was driving in the fine Texas town of Fair Oaks Ranch when I was pulled over.  My inspection sticker was expired, apparently - since May.  What?  What's a little two month negligence on my part?  I mean, I'm a busy man!  Anyway, the policeman didn't care and asked for my drivers license, of course.  So, I hand it to him and I start to reach over for my insurance card."Do you know your license is expired, too?"  (Oh, cccrrraaappppp)"Um ... no.  But, how much you wanna bet the insurance card I'm about to hand you is expired, too?"Sheesh.Turns out the insurance card was good to go.  He let me go with a warning on the license and gave me a citation for the inspection sticker.  God is good - [...]

Isn't it the way things go? One day I'm off and running and making huge leaps and bounds in this business thing. The next? Absolutely nothing. It's enough to give a fella a sense that all this up hill battle can only mean one thing ....
But, I refuse to have those thoughts anymore. The truth of the matter is that set backs are a part of life. I've made the decision to be deliberate in learning about failure. Though not getting any work done today is not a "failure", it is a chance to evaluate some things.
I'm still teaching. This summer I'm not teaching nearly as much as I used to, but, it's still taking time away from what I'd rather be doing - working on this here performance aspect of my career.
I mention all this because, well, the life of a musician isn't all it's cracked up to be. I remember a long time ago I (naively) thought it was all about writing songs and performing them and you, the fan, would love me and that's the end of the story. HA HA HA HA!
The truth of the matter is [...]

I've been working on updating Bios and Fact Sheets. Pretty much getting a "real" press kit together. Trying to schedule an appointment with my friend Michelle Travis to shoot some photos means having to reschedule due to rain and such. If you haven't been to her site, you need to. She's an AWESOME photographer. I'm also learning how to post PDF files to this here website so people can download my info.
I talked to Kenny over at The Tin Roof Steakhouse in Boerne about maybe booking some shows there in the fall. Perhaps we'll be seeing all you Fair Oaks/Boerne people out there. Want to help me out? Give Kenny a call at (830) 816-5011 and request me to play there!  I'd really appreciate all the help you can give.
On the band's front, I'm still writing and trying to make plans to make some professional demos of the new material. It might even materialize into an official release because I'm getting some good stuff happening here!
Soon I'll update my myspace page and my new Facebook [...]

Alright. Well, the time has come. We're off and running with setting up some playing dates. It's been such a long while. It feels kinda strange, but, this is good and right and I know it's what I'm supposed to be working for.
I'd like to thank you, the fan, for your support through these past silent days. Your prayer and encouragement will mean more to me than you can ever know. I'm not kidding. It's not like I was going through some tough times. It was more about trying to find my center in a world of chaos. And it became too easy to believe my own spin. So, after some deep meditation and prayer, I'm back and very excited to get the new project off the ground!
As the dates are booked, I'll post them here and anxiously wait for us to be re-united again!