I've been a fan of the guitar since a childhood so long passed I can scarcely remember it. The…read morefirst Guitar Player magazine I ever purchased read "Who is Eric Johnson and why is he on our cover?" because Ah Via Musicom had not even come out yet. Thousands of players and trillions of notes later I thought I had seen just about everything that there in this wide-necked world but I've never seen anything like Nate Lopez. We're going to have to break him down into pieces to even make sense of what's going on here:
MUSICIAN
You can tell that his roots are diverse and deep. The smell of smokey blues wafts from a towering house of jazz, and the backbeat of the funk can damage weak spines, but the ingredient that you can't quite identify is the time he spent studying at the Ali Akbar College of Music. Respect, dedication, knowledge, discipline. A musician's musician. I have seen him play with well-rehearsed ensembles and spur of the moment assemblages of one to eight other musicians with little more than a four count to get ready for an impromptu performance. He breathes through the instrument the way most people speak their native language.
I've seen him do originals, pop tunes, classics, and covers that he has remade into something new altogether. (See "8 String Wizard" below). I've watched him get a room dancing and I've seen him melt into the background of a small event, completely out of consciousness. He has a gift for understanding the space, the role of the music, and reading the reaction of the audience. That's a special talent.
8 STRING WIZARD
He has reportedly courted the drums, horns, and piano, but the stringed instruments own his heart. He loaned his upright bass to his mom, who gigs out with it often, but still plays the carbon fiber steel string he inherited from a beloved mentor with verve when he needs an instrument capable of standing up to inclement weather when he's playing an outdoor gig. He plays banjo, ukulele, banjolele, bass, guitar, an Indian slide guitar with sympathetic strings that I've never seen, and all varieties of bass and guitar, fretted and fretless. All this would be enough to merit applause but it is the 8 string guitar that sets him apart from anyone else I have ever witnessed.
His earliest professional work reportedly was as a bassist. That role in the music suited him, but he found the range of the instrument limiting. His explorations on the six string opened up new vistas, but the loss of the bass clef was an acute injury. Like Jaco, Les, Eddie, and other innovators before him, he experimented with instruments that he modified himself, always tinkering, always trying, always searching. Then the hybrid guitar landed on him and everything changed.
EAD bass strings over ADGBE guitar strings on the same neck give him sonic opportunities completely beyond possibility before. He virtually never plays with a pick, always finger style, so the hybrid guitar allows him to play both bass and guitar on one neck. The casual observer may or may not notice that there's just more music coming from the guitar player and drummer than can be explaned, but the musicians stop everything to stare in disbelief.
TEACHER
It can be very intimidating to approach someone so advanced. No one is born expert. Some are more talented than others, but everyone that's any good has years of dedicated study and practice behind them. I have seen, and have been, one of many who have come to Nate for guidance or lessons, in addition to all the pros who come to play with him as a peer, and I have never caught a whisper of the attitude that typically comes with this level of expertise. He delights in the achievement of everyone he plays with, on guitar, on other instruments, the most serious professional, and the kid who doesn't even know which way the neck goes yet. He just gets a quick read on where you are and what you want to achieve and he illuminates the path. That's something I've never heard of in any of the other greats before.
Who am I? His most jealous fan. Thanks for the music and the lessons and the kindness, Nate. You make us all better players.
