The Guitar Trends That CHANGED Music (1950s-today) | Episode 5 | The No Cover Charge Podcast
Join Tyler Larson (@MusicisWin) and Jared James Nichols (@JJNicholsMusic) for the No Cover Charge Podcast as they break down the biggest guitar trends from the 1950s to today—and even predict where the guitar world is headed next. From the sharp suits of early jazz kats, to famously named guitar tones, strap height debates, blues lawyers, to the rise of shred, grunge, boutique gear, and social media guitar culture, this episode is a fast-moving journey through the history of the instrument we love. Expect stories, laughs, and deep insights into how guitar trends shaped music history, and which ones are happening today.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-cover-charge-podcast/id1837018751
The No Cover Charge Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1etwgleKExKzncMWSeSqe6?si=3eea317266fc4dc8
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nocoverchargepodcast/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nocoverchargepod
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579811813164
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Breaking a String to Start the Show
0:32 – Kicking Off with 1950s Guitar Trends
1:00 – Dressing Sharp: Suits and Jazz Roots
2:10 – Jazz Cats Gatekeeping Guitar Tone
3:00 – Les Paul’s Quest for the Cleanest Sound
3:42 – The Birth of Amp Overdrive
5:31 – Polite 1950s Guitar vs. Hendrix Chaos
6:00 – The 1960s: British Invasion & High Straps
7:54 – Guitar Destruction Becomes a Trend
10:00 – Clapton, the “Blues Lawyer” Catalyst
12:41 – The 1970s: Enter the Guitar Gods
17:21 – 1980s Explosion of Shred
23:00 – The 1990s Pivot to Grunge
26:20 – The 2000s: Forums, Modeling Amps, and Emo
32:49 – 2010s: Social Media & Bedroom Guitarists
43:02 – The 2030s: AI Bands and the Future of Guitar
The No Cover Charge Podcast with Tyler Larson & Jared James Nichols is your all-access backstage pass to the world of guitar—and there’s never a cover at the proverbial door. Hosted by two of the most passionate guitarists you’ll find, Tyler and Jared deliver a mix of electrifying interviews with legendary guitarists, laugh-out-loud tales from the road, deep dives into guitar culture, and no-holds-barred gear talk.
Whether you’re a lifelong shredder or just love music, you’ll find something unexpected in every episode—a hidden gem, a new perspective, an epic jam, or a story that’ll stick with you. It’s always a good time, and best of all? No cover charge.
Plug in and hang out.
#Guitar #Trends #CHANGED #Music #1950stoday #Episode #Cover #Charge #Podcast
Originally posted by UCByw94IQQkzfiIlRc9PZzgA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zozwwSyKhso
Nowadays if a rock guitarist is wearing a tuxedo you are definitely dying in that pit.
As a guitar player in the mid-70s we tapped an A440 tuning fork and touched it to our tooth. Then tune the A string to that. Then 5-7 fret harmonics from that to the other strings, except the B string. We could only see the major musicians from Circus Magazine and Hit Parader. But on Friday and Saturday nights was the holy grail of Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert and Midnight Special. 90 minutes each of every artist from Peter Frampton, Slade, Freddy Fender, to Helen Reddy ????
17:00 you need to listen to Deep Purple’s Made in Japan in its entirety. No one hold a candle to Blackmore. He’s at least 1a, 1B, 1c. There’s more Blackmore in EVH’s playing than Clapton
Yeah man, Mino is an amazing guy. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him and seeing him play and man he is what Miles said lol
I am a Bedroom Guitar God every day! Bow before your Tomato overlords! ????????????
love this , saying the kickflip logic , I say it's the riff and that is a backflip tail whip also saying grunge kids were lazy lol no it was more like the cool kids not wanting to do homework only the nerds did homework type of mindset , shred became nerd guitar
Oh man, I love this channel!
Agenda 2030 the slogan is you’ll own nothing and be happy. When more know the plan we can stop it. They can take my guitars outta my cold dead hands
Everyone, also Eric Clapton and George Harrison started playing guitar from their bedrooms. The only difference is, there were no cameras and mobile phones ????
Punk and "grunge" was bc fancy Nancy out of touch cocaine heads. It wasn't about gear and cork sniffing. It was about feel and sound.
The trend that I'm listening to these days is "Amreicana". The Bluegrass/Jamgrass thing that is happening is full of the best players around. It also has the healthiest touring/show scene around right now.
I was listening to this on my phone but walked to my computer so I can write out a full response on the Guitar/Skateboarding analogy (which I love).
In my opinion the 80s guitar is like freestyle skateboarding or Rodney Mullen for example. They're literally pushing the limits on what can be done on a skateboard. It's extremely technical and impressive but I can't even name some of the tricks and I'd rather watch street skating. I think a similar case can be made for vert skating.
Hendrix is closer to someone like Tom Penny. Is he the most talented or technically gifted skater ever? No. Do I care? Also, no. Tom Penny has more influence, more style, and I'd much rather re-watch his parts than some vert or freestyle skating. Another example would be someone like Chad Muska during the Shorty's days.
I'm extremely biased as I grew up watching Flip's Sorry and listening to Santana. Flow, vibe, feel > technical prowess. Loved this conversation.
I cant afford to smash guitars ????. Im still paying a lp off.
in the 27 minute range, you guys are talking about misinformation, what did so and so use for this… and i've assked on pages before, but I want to know how you would approach the fuzz tone in Zeppelin's Fool in the Rain. you guys speculated that you might do an episode about fuzz, I think this is probably an all time great example to use. that solo is masterful. if it doesn't make the fuzz episode, maybe you could give me a couple of pointers on how to achieve a similar effects chain for it.
And Cheers!!! you guys are doing great! Keep it comin'.
I’ve already got chat GPT into my normal daily playing and practice routine.
As someone who has parents born in the 50s and didn't start learning guitar until 2017, I've heard nearly every guitar trend. Somehow I settled on "grunge" as my preference despite not diving into it until I was 19 (in 2013). I cut my teeth on Soundgarden and Alice in Chains tunes. You guys are mostly right, it was a sort of counter cultural response to the idea of chasing rock perfection. A lot of those guys in the 80s and 90s had punk DNA and it really comes through (post-punk was a genre before media coined the term grunge). The music returned to a place of artistry and didn't stress guitar technique so maybe that's why I was drawn to it, that and my disability makes the insane virtuoso 80s guitar impossible. Although I don't think "grunge" is what made guitar solos unpopular, plenty of those guys would still play solos. I think the post grunge bands that were inspired by Nirvana and the music industry's push to find that next Nirvana drove it into the ground. The industry didn't want solos anymore so you didn't hear them in popular bands at the time. Just my theory. Anyway, Kim Thayil will always be MY guitar hero. (Sorry, I typed a god damn essay, haha).
I think the big trend now in guitar music is a return to old school vibes and styles (which I absolutely love!) You have bands like Greta Van Fleet or The Struts that have an old rock and roll feel to them. Or Yungblud’s last album that had tons of Bowie and British rock/pop vibes. Harry Styles has dipped his foot into a lot of old school styled music, or even Jared himself playing the bluesy style he does! There’s also a lot of social media personalities whose content is aimed at the late sixties to early seventies vibes and fashions. I love it! There’s so many great modern guitarists around today!
Smashing and destroying guitars is literally just part of the tone for A Place To Bury Strangers.
Everyone starts as a bedroom guitarist. Thing is you eventually have to leave the house. I’m mean that’s the whole point right?
Missed an opportunity to talk offsets and surf guitar. More glaring was omission of Link Ray and his guitar heavy instrumental, “Rumble”, a instrumental guitar track considered so dangerous It was banned for radio play…Been enjoying the interviews, however if you’re going to do mock docs, you’re both going to have to do a lot more research. I think you guys know your personal eras really well. You should’ve just stuck with that.
Fun video. Im surprised you guys literally didn't mention ROCK N ROLL when it came to the 50s. Lol.
Jared's kinda right about 'why grunge': it was 70s punk that restored rebellion to rock and roll and turned its back on proficiency or technical wankery. As a kid coming of age in the 80s, it was all about local shows and local bands, or regional touring bands, not these unobtainable 'big hair' bands or even like U2. It was punk, and metal, and reggae, ska and weirdo stuff. By the time late 80s-early 90s hit, a regime change was inevitable.
Let me explain boys when you've got bands with super high hair like bullet boys or white snake with their wife doing a strip.Tease on a rolls royce, then, you have a kid come along that writes just amazing songs that looks like your next door neighbor you might buy pot from! Why did it blow up?Because the songs were better and the cheese was minimal!
The take on the 90’s was off;
Kenny Wayne Shepherd came from that era, Travis Meeks (no one ripped arpeggios, or played rhythm like him on an acoustic), Cantrell – he could fly when he wanted too, John Butler, Derek Trucks, Mike McCready (played Hendrix better than Hendrix)……there were players in that era with a technicality all their own.
great episode lads!
I see that Skyhawk there at the start! Looks like mine, except I've got a black pickguard and covered pickups. Also, the discussion of AI is interesting but I don't think any of us can comprehend at any level what a world with advanced AI is going to look like. AI is in its absolute infancy. I personally think that it won't be long at all until all commercial music is generated by AI. Human music will revert to the local scene.
Best F**** podcast ever!!!
I can see how in your guitar trends discussion that you might downplay the 90's, but it all comes back when you talk about the future of guitar and the humanity therein. It's the music industry that berthed the so called grunge movement and the humanity is what people were so desperately seeking in a world of over produced theatrics. It seems to be the last time artists had artistic control over their work to create their vision without the typical restraints of the record company's vision of what's gonna sell records (until very recently I suppose, when your reach might go farther than theirs due to the concentrated form of popular social medias). They too were blindsided by the popularity. Through it all the industry took good notes and it didn't last long, they took what they learned and created what some refer to as post grunge, new metal or pop punk(wtf?) and so fourth to further popularize their brands. In a guitar centric conversation not godlike but considering the music industry as a whole it's certainly moving mountains.
There is something so weird about the video footage, it looks unnaturally flat, What lens setting do you have on the camera?
Guys I have been busy being a new dad in my 40s……I love you guys and no had no idea you joined forces!!!!!! This is awesome thanks guys for everything.
11:00 Sound mixing engineer Dave Natale talks about this on Rick Beato channel , he spoke about Jeff Beck and Eddie Van Halen Guitar Tone
1:12 Eric Clapton went through a stage wearing Versace suits during the late 1980s and early 90s , BB King also very smart most of his career, J Bonamassa too .
what a great podcast dudes, thanks for creating such good time!
To me it's losing the forest for the trees when you compare guitarists mostly on the merit of their technical capabilities. I'm in the camp that puts the music first and foremost and Hendrix was out there protesting the war in Vietnam as a former paratrooper while remaining respectful to the service men and women who had no choice but to participate if they existed below a certain economic status. Sure, shredding is amazing, and it takes incredible skill and discipline to cultivate and innovate.. but in the 80s what's it in service of? What's the legacy of songs about cars, and girls, and partys?
If AI replaces humans what will humans do. Do you think they can sit around doing nothing because AI can. How worthless do we have to be, before humans realize that work is an OK four letter word.