Sick Riffs #137: The COVID-19 pandemic has done little to quell Sadler Vaden's creative zeal. 2020 – a year defined by Netflix marathons, stay-at-home orders and an overall decline in humanity's productivity – saw the South Carolina-born singer-songwriter conjure up his sophomore full-length, Anybody Out There?, as well as standalone single, Best Days.
But his pile of accolades from the past year doesn't stop there – he also offered up his six-string talents to Nashville's Great Peacock, contributing his characteristic leads to their new record, Forever Worse Better, namely on Heavy Load and Rock of Ages.
The latter plays host to some gloriously whimsical bend-driven lines, as well as a gorgeous Joe Walsh-inspired solo, and Vaden joins us in today's episode of Sick Riffs to teach you its chorus lick.
This one, while simple in fingering, contains many nuances to its bends, and so provides an excellent opportunity to work on the feel-based side of guitar playing.
He plays a Fender '51 Custom Shop Nocaster electric guitar through a Fender Princeton amp, Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box and a Universal Audio Apollo twin audio interface.
“The coronavirus has affected me in many ways but the biggest is the lack of income from touring,” Vaden says. “That's how a lot of us make a living these days. It has led me to do more producing and guitar session work, which has been a blessing.”
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Sick Riffs is a Guitar World video series designed to help guitarists affected by the coronavirus. Self-isolating players around the world have each filmed a lesson where they teach you one of their own guitar riffs, up close and personal. If you dig the lesson, we encourage you to buy music and merch from the artist or stream their music.