HEAVY MEDICINE

On July 23, 2010 the world lost a truly unique and special individual in Daeron Skye, a.k.a Ham Salad, but best known as Skye.  He was undoubtedly my biggest music influence. Ten years ago he helped me transform everything I thought I knew about music into a brand new paradigm. This is the first in a series of posts that I will use to document my relationship with Skye and the music secrets I learned from him.

I first met Skye while working at The Sanctuary Studio, an old church in Vancouver that had been converted into a recording studio by engineer, David Jones. I was asked by David to come in and help get guitar sounds for a project on which he had been working.  When I got there I met this character who was unlike any human I had ever met.  I honestly couldn’t figure him out.  He wore a purple silk disco-shirt and a cheap cowboy hat. He talked Negro and seemed high.

During a break in the session Skye proceeded to tell me how he used to be kind of a jazz snob and then one day after breaking up with his girlfriend he heard the song “Under the Bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers. He said it was then he realized that whether it was Charlie Parker, Miles Davis or Kurt Cobain it all came from the same place.  From then on every time we hung out I listened to Skye lecture me about music.  He enjoyed sharing his insights.

Skye was a master at the theory of music and he loved learning as much as he loved teaching.  He took it very seriously. Skye’s approach to music and theory was completely different from what is taught in music schools and colleges. He discovered hidden music secrets through his own experimentation and desperately wanted to share them with anyone who had the ability to understand. Most musicians try to hide their secrets and pass them off as ”black art”. Skye though felt obligated to share them. “Music is free,” he would say. His was no scarcity mentality.

After learning about this new approach to music my entire method for creating and listening to it changed .  I studied Charlie Parker and realized the secrets.  I studied Nirvana and Black Sabbath and J.S. Bach and realized the secrets.  According to Skye, Igor Stravinsky was the greatest.

It is somewhat tragic that for all his eagerness to learn and his extreme attention to detail Skye never found a way to put it all together for the world to hear. Instead he lived his life constantly experimenting and trying to take his discoveries to the next level.  Occasionally, he talked about “taking over the world” and “becoming famous” but I don’t think he ever really wanted to do that.  I think he just enjoyed making discoveries.

He spoke constantly about music and what he had learned.  There was the time when the band Yes had locked out the studio to write its album. Skye used to spend a lot of time bustling about on the streets downtown.  He had great rapport with the street community and less fortunate folks in general.  One day he came in off the street. He had been gone for 3 days and was dirty and on edge. Steve Howe, the guitarist for Yes and one of the world’s top guitar players gave Skye a condescending and disapproving look.   Oblivious, Skye took a classical guitar and started ripping “Confirmation” by Charlie Parker note for note. Steve Howe and Skye became friends after that.

There was also the time when Allan Holdsworth was in town. Back then a strong argument could be made that Holdsworth was the greatest guitar player in the world.  Skye began pointing out  mistakes that were in Holdworth’s book of transcriptions called “Reaching for the Uncommon Chord” which contained some of the most complex music ever written.  Even Holdsworth acknowledged the errors.

I am thankful that Skye chose me to be one to whom he revealed his music secrets. He left me with charts and recordings for pretty much every note he wrote.  He also left me with sheet music of classical pieces he thought I should learn and study. He especially thought that  “Cordoba” by Albeniz was an important piece. I hope I will prove to be a worthy steward for this material.  Skye went out of his way to compliment me when he thought I had done something well. There was no political agenda behind his appraisal.  If he liked it, he said it.  He was very positive and he inspired me to work harder so that I could come up with something else he might like. His approval was a great reward. In closing I want to thank you Skye for the music, the inspiration, the encouragement, the positive words and the attitude. You were a true original and are a big part of every note I play.