Homespun Jerry Douglas Dobro Techniques (DVD)

Jerry Douglas is insane

He's in a league by himself. His squareneck dobro skills are insane. His technical prowess is made very clear but what I like most is is phrasing. There are a lot of "standards" in bluegrass so you will hear many different players perform the same song with their own interpretation of course. I wind up favoring Jerry's stuff most because of the way he choses to play the notes, the little inflections, the dynamics he employs and his sense of timing is unreal. That being said-be warned, the cover has a recent (2004?) picture of Jerry but this DVD was made well before that as you can see from the first clip. He's clearly a lot younger (and thinner with a lot more hair!) though already an accomplished player. His dobro skills way outweigh his verbal skills on this DVD though. His explanations of what he is playing is not crystal clear and does not relaly flow all that well. Some people are just better talkers than others. We all want him to play dobro, not talk, anyway. This is not a shot at Jerry, I think the world of him and he does add some recent footage on this DVD which seems much more polished all the way around. Anyway, I love Jerry, his dobro style and this DVD. I just felt a bit taken by the cover as it is kind of misleading. That being said, you do get a wonderful teaching tool that lets you into Jerry's world of dobro and I'll take it anyway I can!

Reviewed by AKBAMG on 4/18/2008 who plays bluegrass, country.