Jimmy Brown is Like a Musical Superhero...and Guinness is the Juice that Fuels Him

Photograph Used With Permission

Out of all the many musicians that I’ve seen play in this area, I have to say that Jimmy Brown, local talent from Snydersville, is by far one of my favorites. It’s not because of his seemingly three inch thick song book, which holds more tunes than I could ever think to request. It’s not because of his incredible day job as senior editor for Guitar World Magazine in New York City. No…I like Jimmy Brown because of his totally badass guitar solos.

Few times have I seen Jimmy Brown play and not noticed everyone at the gig staring at him, mouths agape, with looks of absolute awe on their faces at least once in the night. It usually happens around the time he plays Led Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker” and gets to the solo. His face twists and contorts around the licks as his fingers run frantically up and down the neck of his guitar, piercing each note with crispness and clarity. (The same can be said when he performs Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird,” which is amazing for one man to do by himself. But it only happens every once in a great while, so consider yourself lucky if you see it).

It’s amazing --- this guy lives and breathes music. You could ask him almost any song and he’d be able to play it right there on the spot (or at least with a little help from that songbook). His repertoire is interesting because he dabbles in so many different genres of music. You might hear John Mayer, Led Zeppelin, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, and an Irish jig all in one set. The possibilities seem almost endless when you've got such a talented musician on your hands.

He also offers online guitar lessons through Guitar World Magazine. To see his Guitar 101 lesson on string whacking, click here. (From there, you can access different videos on various aspects of basic guitar playing).

To read my full review on Jimmy Brown, visit Helium.com.

Rock on!