Don Felder: Five Things We Learned from His New Ernie Ball 'String Theory' Episode
Don Felder is the subject of Ernie Ball’s latest episode of String Theory, a web series exploring the sonic origins of some of music’s most influential and innovative guitar players.
Here are five surprising facts revealed in the episode:
1. Seeing Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show influenced him to become a musician (0:22): “I saw all these beautiful young girls screaming at him, and I went, ‘I think that’s something I want to do!’”
2. He traded a handful of cherry bombs for his first guitar (1:05): “Guitar playing to me started when I was 10 years old,” Felder says. “I found one across the street in a kid’s attic—it was all busted up and missing strings. I traded a handful of cherry bombs for this beat up acoustic guitar.”
3. Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon of the Eagles turned him onto Ernie Ball strings (1:52): “When I joined the Eagles, Glenn and Bernie had already been using Ernie Ball strings, as they were a sponsor. So naturally, I got a trunk full and fell in love with them.”
4. He loves the songwriting process (3:00): “It’s not the end result as much as it is the exploring and go through the process—trying to find out what comes out of you.”
5. Ultimately, he’s in it for the music (4:44): “I think a lot of the reason that I’m still in the music business [isn’t] about the money, [isn’t] about the fame or adulation, or fans, or the women, or whatever it is. It’s about being obsessed with music.”
Of course, these are just five facts pulled from the clip. Be sure to watch the entire episode below.
For more information, visit ernieball.com.
Source: www.guitarworld.com
