Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn /məˈɡwɪn/ known professionally as Roger McGuinn and previously as Jim McGuinn, is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of the Byrds' records, and is a very influential pioneer guitarist. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGuitarist
Date of Birth13 July 1942
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
The wonderful thing about having your songs on the radio is that people are going to go out to your concerts and buy your merchandise and that sort of thing, and it feels good to get that level of name recognition.
I think the Internet is an awful lot like FM radio was when it broke out in the late '60s. It's kind of a wild and wily kind of format. They could play 20 songs in a row that had the word 'blue' in them, or whatever they wanted to do.
I've always loved the songs of the sea. I was first introduced to them back in 1957, at the Old Town School of Folk Music. I used to go to Pete Seeger concerts, and he would do songs like 'Ruben Ranzo' and talk about how the sailors sang songs to do their work - to raise the anchors, pull up the sails and that sort of thing.
I play a couple basic folks songs and break them down. I did that on a six string. I can't recall all the songs on it. There's some finger picking on it.
But in my imagination this whole thing developed and I started mixing up old folk songs with the Beatles beat and taking them down to Greenwich Village and playing them for the people there.
Once I've written a song, I sometimes refine them.
Once in a while and really the exception, will be when I have an idea, then I'll write a poem first and then write a tune to the poem.
To me, being in the big time is not that big of a deal. I've been there; I know what it is. It's exciting, but it's also a lot of work and pressure. I love sort of flying under the radar where we can play theaters and sell CD's on the Internet, and it's really kind of a cool time.
The original Byrds were very much Beatles-influenced, and then we gradually got our own sound. We started mixing things together more.
I started playing guitar back in '56. I was a teenager, and guitars had just come in, and I had a thing for it and got one. Started learning lead breaks from songs, because that was the easiest thing to do at the time. I had the guitar for two years before I learned any chords. Really.
I got into computers back in the early '80s, so it was a natural progression of learning about e-mail in the mid-'80s and getting into the Internet when it opened up in the early '90s.
I'd like to be remembered as a keeper of the flame who kept traditional music alive, because I've been doing that twice as long as I was in the Byrds.
One of my favorite albums is Bob Gibson and Bob Camp, 'At the Gate of Horn.' It was a really dynamic album, almost like The Beatles, and way before its time... around 1960 or so.
I love being on the sea and the rolling of the ship, and for me, it's not really happening until we get a little wave action going, I love that feeling.