The Eric Krasno Edition
The newsletter for guitar players.
Today's issue has a bit of a different format, as we're going to largely focus on one artist, and do a deeper-dive into their background and playing.
Guitarist Spotlight
Eric Krasno
Eric Krasno is a three-time Grammy award winner, guitarist, songwriter, and producer, with a captivating style that bridges the gap between various genres.
As the founder of funk/jazz bands Soulive and Lettuce, a solo artist, and as a collaborator with many of this generation’s most notable musicians, Kraz’s style is drenched in funk, r&b, blues, soul, and rock.
With influences ranging from the funk sounds of James Brown, Herbie Hancock, & Tower of Power, to the catchy rock riffs of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and the Grateful Dead, Eric Krasno has become a super versatile guitarist, letting him jump into a variety of music styles and projects.
A few of his many accomplishments include:
- Production and songwriting collaborations with Norah Jones, Tedescki Trucks Band, Robert Randolph, the Marcus King Band, Pretty Lights, Talib Kweli, 50 Cent, Aaron Neville, Vieux Farka Toure, Allen Stone, Nigel Hall, Melvin Sparks, and others.
- Shared the stage with the Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, John Scofield, Phil Lesh & Friends, the Tedescki Trucks Band, Gov’t Mule, The Roots, Vulfpeck, the Marcus King Band, and countless others.
- Has released numerous albums, including 12 with Soulive, a collaboration with Stanton Moore, several solo albums, King Canyon, E3 Trio, as well as appearing on albums from artists including the Tedeschi Trucks band and Nigel Hall.
- Collaborated with D’Angelico and Ibanez for his own signature guitar models
Kraz continues to evolve as a guitar player, producer, songwriter, and recently, as an educator - and he shows no signs of letting up. He recently partnered with Marty Schwartz for a great Guitar Masterclass, as well as Rhythm & Lead courses through Truefire.
Key Gear:
- D’Angelico Deluxe Brighton (which has Seymour Duncan single coil pickups in humbucker casing).
- PRS silver sky
- Ibanez AS200
- D’Angelico Excel DC
- Supro Jupiter Amp
- Fender Princeton Reverb (used on the Krasno Moore Trio album)
- MXR Super Badass Variac Fuzz
- Analog Man King of Tone overdrive
- Dunlop Crybaby wah pedal
Recommended albums to check out:
- Soulive: Turn It Out & Soulive (live)
- Krasno/Moore Project: Book of Queens
- King Canyon: Self Titled
- Eric Krasno: Always
Check out Eric Krasno: Website | Instagram | Facebook
Guitar Practice
While Eric Krasno is an outstanding lead guitar player, his creative, funky rhythm playing shines in various bands & projects - from Soulive, to his solo albums.
Let's dig into some examples of how Kraz approaches rhythm playing.
Eric often combines chunks of chords with single notes (reminiscent of funk masters such as Leo Nocentelli of The Meters), as well as muting with both his fretting and picking hand.
The first example shows how Krasno might approach a vamp over a dominant seventh chord.
This rhythm outlines a D7 chord, but uses your pinky to work in 7#9 and Dominant 9 chord shapes.
Anchor your middle finger on the 5th fret of the A string, and use it to mute the D string. In the end of the first line, we use a quick slide move that outlines the top 3 notes of D9 > E9 > D9 chords.
Listen to the examples, and then play around with the rhythm. The idea isn't necessarily to play these exactly as they are here, but to work this type of technique into your playing.
Next, let's take a look at the chord progression for the jam section of the great Soulive tune, Steppin'. Krasno uses somewhat of a staccato, syncopated rhythm - that grooves hard:
In the into to the great Soulive song Turn it Out, Krasno turns to some chord voicings that are staples of funk guitar:
Lastly, let's take a look at the into to the Soulive song Azucar. Rather than playing straight chords (as in the previous 2 examples), Eric arpeggiates the notes, bringing in an element of neo-soul:
Gear Showcase
D'Angelico Deluxe Eric Krasno Brighton
Designed in collaboration with Eric Krasno, the Deluxe Eric Krasno Brighton took Eric's favorite aspects of vintage guitars, and combined them with modern features D'Angelico is known for.
The Brighton has been one of D'Angelico's most popular guitar models in recent years. Eric was drawn to it, in search of a guitar that could be part of his identity, and different from the common guitars you see in the hands of countless other guitar players. While he liked the design and body shape of the original Deluxe Brighton, he started modding it to best suit his style, including swapping out the pickups.
While this model has the same body style and neck profile as the other production-line Deluxe Brighton models, the standout feature with the Krasno version is that it features Strat-style single coil pickups from the Seymour Duncan USA Custom Shop. They retained the humbucker casing for visual appeal.
The Krasno model also has simplified 50's style wiring, with single volume and tone controls. It also retains the top-end as the volume knob is rolled down, giving some extra flexibility.
The Deluxe Eric Krasno Brighton features a solid swamp ash body that gives a clear tone, with plenty of sustain. The deep double-cutaway body shape allows for better access to upper frets than you'll find on nearly any other electric guitar.
The model is limited to only 50 pieces worldwide and available exclusively at Sweetwater in the USA and Anderton's Music in the U.K..
Key Features:
- Grover 509 Super Rotomatic locking tuners
- 22 Jescar 47/104 Nickel Silver frets
- 24.85" fretboard radius
- 3-piece set-thru neck with a satin finish
- Gloss finish on the body
- 2 Custom Seymour Duncan "Strat in Humbucker" Alnico V pickups
- 3-way Toggle Switch
Check is out on D'Angelico's website, or view the YouTube Demo.
🎸 Trending
- Gibson released exclusive Les Paul Junior Double Cut guitars. Offered in Vintage Cherry and TV Yellow, they have a double-cutaway mahogany body, mahogany neck with a SlimTaper profile, rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets, a single Dogear P-90 pickup, & comes with a hardshell case. Retails for $1,699 USD.
- Dunlop released a limited edition Eric Clapton Signature CryBaby Wah pedal. The pedal pays tribute to Clapton's 60-year career, and features the classic sound of the GCB95 Cry Baby Standard Wah, encased in a gold-plated housing. It's currently available through Peach Guitars, and will be offered through other retailers shortly.
- Fender announced a Chris Shiflett Signature Telecaster. Designed in collaboration with the Foo Fighter's guitarist, it is offered in both a Fender Custom Shop version that features 2 P90 pickups in a nice Cardinal Red color, and a Made-in-Mexico version that has 2 humbuckers, offered in Shoreline Gold.
- Fender also released a Jack White Pano Verb signature amp. inspired by three of Jack White’s vintage amps – a 1964 Vibroverb™, a 1960 Vibrasonic™ and a 1993 Vibro-King®, it pumps a loud 70 watts through both 15" & 10" speakers.
Currently spinning in the office
Krasno/Moore Project: Book of Queens
