-[WHY I BUILT THIS SITE]-

    I grew up in the 80s, when guitar heroes ruled the world, or at least we thought we did.  I was completely enamored with players like Vai, Satch, Malmsteen, etc.  I started playing guitar in 1987 and it was not long before I was trying to play like these cats.  Being a huge Paul Gilbert fan I did the only logical thing that any up and coming shredmeister could after graduating high school -- I went to GIT in Hollywood CA.  I attended GIT in September '92 to '93 and it was a totally rocking experience.  Something happened that year that I had not anticipated though.  In big bold print on the cover of one of my favorite guitar magazines was a headline that read "Shred is Dead".

 What?!?!?!?  Hold the phone!!!  Shred can't be dead because I'm still alive!

    I spent several years in denial, several more in depression, and even more pondering the fate of an entire genre of music.  I had two great revelations out the years that I spent pondering my dilemma:  The first was that shred guitar became closely associated with hair bands and when one went down it brought the other one down with it.  The second revelation is far deeper.  There is a big difference between a fad and a trend.  The hair band scene was a fad, but what we consider "shredding" is a continuation of a trend that has existed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.  Shredding is playing the guitar to the maximum of one's ability specifically personified by speed.  Almost every style of music has "shredders" but it was heavy metal that actually gave it a name.  In classical music you have songs such as "Flight of the Bumblebee" or the 24 Caprices by Paganini.  Bluegrass is known for "flatpicking".  Shredding is commonplace in jazz.  Bill Haley and the Comets was arguably the first rock band.  If you listen to what he was doing you realize that fast guitar playing has been a staple of rock music ever since the first rock band!  My point is that people will always try to play fast, whether it's the "in" thing or not.  It is a trend and it will never go away.

    I saw this with my own two eyes on my last trip to New York.  I moved out to Syracuse area in hopes of furthering my music career, but the "starving" part of the starving artist forced me to move back to Maine, but that's another story entirely.  While out in New York I played briefly in a band called "Faded Trust".  We played a show called "Harbor Fest" and at this show there were some high school kids watching.  I'm guessing they could not of been any older then 17.  I was talking with them and they had actually heard of Racer X.  I was floored.  These kids were totally into the "shred thing".  Later on in the same band we were auditioning for a second guitarist and a 19 year old kid shows up to audition for the part.  He was proud of the fact that he could play the "Crazy Train" solo behind his head.

    Shredding may not be in the mainstream right now, but I assure you that it is alive and well.  I believe that with the proper vision it can return to the forefront.  I have built this site to do just that. Music has evolved, so the shredder must evolve with it.  With enough support, first from the artists, and then from the fans, I believe we can send a shockwave through the industry that will be impossible to ignore.

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