Pedal City, pt. 1 - Meet "LG"
Lauren Gilbert
I'm a lady, a lady who turns her cheek to any pedal that takes a iota of my classic Peavey, hot rod SG tone. I like pedals that are not designed to change things because change is bad; everyone knows that. Think of the empty parking lot you walked through as a short cut becoming 300 fancy condos, WHY CHANGE? FOR WHO??? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE???
They aren't my people, they aren't classic Peavey people . . . They are, "Look at this $12,000 guitar I play Eagles songs on from the comfort of my recliner," people and that's really fine. Maybe it will make a Trader Joe's open up, then we can all get fat on cookies and instead of being an It city, we can be a Fat city. Either way they won't hear me banging out songs in my practice room at all hours of the day, noodling until something cool happens.. They aren't the noodling kind. Unless it's $15 bowls of Ramnen?? Ramen is best enjoyed sitting on a curb slurped from a gas station Styrofoam cup or crunched in the bag and eaten like granola. 'Cause who can afford granola with all these condos going up?
I like having options. Change? Not so much. But options, yes.
If you think any pedal is gonna give you a signature sound you're sitting in a recliner eating expensive ramen for sure. Given enough options though, things can start to take shape - like rock and roll pentatonic box shape - and now you're cooking with gas Daddy. Don't stop.
If you are full of the good ramen and like taking shortcuts, you are ready to let the guitar play you. You are ready to toss it in the air and see what happens, to slide your hand down the fretboard lawlessly until it sounds like the ground is falling beneath you. That's power, you got a fat wallet and nice car, must be your drug of choice.
Click here to read "Pedal City, pt 2."
Click here to read "Pedal City, pt. 3."
LG is the lead singer and guitar player for the power trio Thelma and The Sleaze. She currently resides in Nashville, drives a 1979 Ford Ranchero and has a brown dog named Waffles
