Cody Kilby: Illusion of Speed
It’s difficult to put into words just how I feel when I listen to great Bluegrass music.
Everyone’s got their favorite and here’s mine..
This particular video was filmed at the Ryman in Nashville featuring Ricky Scaggs and Kentucky Thunder.
I want you to pay attention to guitarist Cody Kilby- he is just lights out on this video in fact… so is Ricky’s entire band..
Cody I believe is the best guitarist that Ricky has ever had in his band. Now that’s saying a lot since he’s had so many greats including Bryan Sutton…
And let’s not forget all the years he has played with Tony Rice.
But Cody in my opinion takes the entire flaitpicking “conservation of energy” to another level- just look at his hardly moving right hand. He’s not picking every note you know, and that’s the secret to super fast flatpicking.
Now while the tempo of this song Shady Grove seems fairly brisk, it’s really cranking a lot more clicks on the metronome than you might think… This is due to the fact that the playing and timing is so accurate… this causes the illusion that it is slower than it seems. I know I know, some of you are going to say this IS FAST but to judge the real speed, pick up a guitar and try playing along- even just rhythm. Even faster huh… !
if you want me to post more Bluegrass flatpicking vids, please let me know. I should probably thrown up a Larry Sparks video?
Author: Robert Harris
They are getting paid by the note. Big money…
Hang on! The train has definitely left the station! Great stuff Bob.
I’ll take that as a yes Jay! Good to hear from you. Hope all’s well.
Stunning. Such a shame the audio/video are really out of sync. I see the show was produced by Terry Lickona, native of here in Poughkeepsie, NY, now Exec. Producer of Austin City Limits, and formerly a DJ on a Poughkeepsie FM ststion that was country n the 70s and now rock. I’m pretty sure Terry’s also a former chairman emeritus of the Board of Trustees for the Grammys. I met him when he was pals with the local Arm Bros. band http://frobbi.org/armbros
Yea, Fred, I would think that “Picky Ricky” would have flagged the out of sync (or maybe he’s mellowing out with stuff like that). Certainly still picky however with the music!
Bob, I’ve found that YouTube seems to put my videos about 5 frames OOS (nothing like the extreme case of the Kilby video), so I now compensate before upload.
I performed that night on the show with Ralph Stanley and Patty Loveless. It was a good memory!
~James Price~
Hey James, Great to hear from you! A great memory for sure and the Ryman is such a great place to play.. Hope you are getting to do more stuff like that.
What are you up to these days? I was with Vassar for 15 years and I think we have crossed paths but I can’t remember where? Thanks for writing in! bob harris
Was this the same night? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98jNS8MmEqw
This one just blows me away every time I watch it!
Great! Thanks for posting…It impelled me to dance in this cold snowy morning..