Gorehound’s Roots Guitar Tips

Psychobilly is basically Punk-Rockabilly. It’s just taking Rockabilly and making it more raw and nasty. Current Psychobilly bands seem to be going towards an almost Speed-Metal with an upright Bass sound. I prefer a more primitive approach but that’s the great thing about Psychobilly, theres not really any rules (yet).

For me the specific difference of Psychobilly from Rockabilly Guitar playing, is it’s noisier and nastier. There’s less emphisis on the Jazz chords (9th’s, 7th, 6th’s, Aug, Dim) and Bebop type riffs. It lets me incorporate my Punk, 60’s Garage and Instro-Surf background a bit better. You are more likely to see players using solidbody Guitars and a Marshall stack. There isn’t as much technical snobbery. People seem to veer away from BC Rich’s and PRS’s, but a flyingV, Les Paul or an Explorer isn’t out of place in Psychobilly. There’s more of a Punk Rock, “do it yourself “  ethic.To me playing authentic Rockabilly is sort of like the guys that do the Beatle sound-alike bands. It’s impressive from a technical standpoint, but theres no creative element. They are over-refining things to the point where everything they do, is a tried and true cliche. It’s hard to be a rebel if you’re stuck in a time machine.

I guess Reverend Horton Heat would be the best known Psychobilly artist. I think almost everybody (esp. guitar hero players) has heard “Texas Psychobilly Freakout” at some point but the Meteors and the Cramps are the godfathers of the genre. The term was first coined by Johnny Cash in the song “One Piece at a Time”, where he refers to a” Psychobilly Cadillac”.

Some players to lookout for, Bamboula and Season of Nightmares both have great young guitarists that can really wail. The Raygun Cowboys Guitarist is pretty hot also.

Rockabilly and 50’s Rock n Roll (nobody actually used the term Rockabilly, in the 50’s) has proven to be a Very deep well to draw influences from. Over 50 years later and still going strong. Rockabilly was the Punk-Rock of the 50’s, some of the stuff recorded back then like Link Wray, Hasil Adkins and early Ventures still sounds great. Unfortunately these days Rockabilly is about conforming and following rules instead of breaking them. That’s where Psychobilly comes to the rescue. All the fun and excitement of Rockabilly without all the whiny purist’s.  Rockabilly was perfected in the 50’s why not take it in new direction?

One great thing about Roots/Rockabilly fans in general is that they will take the time to find new Artist’s material. They are more pro-active in their listening. With new bands like Tiger Army, Necromantix, and the Koffin Kats, Psychobilly bands are winning over Hardcore-Punk audiences. There are even bands that border on Power-Pop/Psychobilly like Horrorpops(yeah, I hate em too) but they are making the genre more accessible.

Remember “Jazz isn’t dead, it just smells funny”- F Zappa