Meet George Washburne

Today we’d like to introduce you to George Washburne.

Hi George, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I think I was 11 when my dad, who’d been in bands in his teens and early twenties, started teaching my older brother to play guitar. I must’ve expressed some amount of jealousy not long after they got to the point where they could play whole songs together, because my dad dusted off an old bass and began to show me some of the rudiments.

I didn’t take to it. I don’t think I saw the potential in it–playing a couple of notes on bass alone wasn’t nearly as satisfying to me as the sound of chords being played on a guitar. At that time, the bass just seemed like an afterthought to me. So, I expressed an interest in learning guitar (putting me in an direct competition with my brother that my parents were probably hoping to avoid) and became enveloped by it.

My dad took me to see The Rolling Stones about a year later, which effectively poured a lot of gas onto the fire in my head. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen, and at such an impressionable age, fueled an absolute obsession. I played in a few bands in high school and college, most of which I fronted, wrote for, and organized in an embarrassingly headstrong way (I had to talk a lot of people into playing with me).

During that time, I was fully into the artist side of things–writing and recording my songs, booking shows with my name on the poster, etc. By the time my senior year of college rolled around, though, I had to start putting ideas to paper, as it were. I needed a place to go where a career in music seemed tenable, so I visited a friend working as a songwriter in Nashville and decided that I didn’t need to do any more looking. This was the move. About a month after graduating from college, I moved to town with a buddy and began pulling on any string that would budge in the music machine.

After trying to ingratiate myself into a few writing circles, playing open mics and open jams, and picking up a few proper gigs here and there, it became increasingly clear that being a hired gun on guitar represented the most actionable and (luckily) most fulfilling pursuit available to me. I worked several part-time jobs during my first three or four years of trying to find steady music work, and since then have been lucky enough to make a living from playing for various people.

My goal now is essentially the same as its been for years–work towards bigger gigs with good people.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, but whose is? I suppose that, when I was doing the artist thing, my biggest obstacle was getting anybody to care about my music (which is probably the most common problem for any up-and-coming artist).

I think I’m a conditionally confident person, so there would be pretty jarring pendulum swings from one end, where I would feel bold enough to book myself into some mediocre spot with a band of understandably reluctant musicians, to the other, where I would almost feel ashamed of the level of investment I’d put into something that ostensibly didn’t make any difference to anyone.

Since moving here, though, the mental challenges have changed to reflect the situation. Trying to be a musician in Music City is simultaneously exciting and daunting. There’s just so much of everything, not the least of which is talent. The compulsion to get “in” appears to be ever-present–into a band, into a circle of industry people, into a room with someone who you think can snap their fingers and make something happen.

It’s such a relationship and happenstance-based town that you feel like the opportunity to catch a jetstream to an extreme level of success is floating just beyond your grasp at all times. The reality for most people, though, is that there is no jetstream–just a road. The distance is unknown, so the only thing you can do is try to be as consistent as the time it’ll take to get where you’re going.

A day is still 24 hours, a mile is still 5,280 feet. That was a bit melodramatic, but metaphors are fun.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m primarily an electric lead guitar player–a professional show-off, basically. In terms of singular career achievements, I’m proud of and grateful for having getting to play at the Opry a few years back. The opportunity was exceedingly fortuitous (which, as I alluded to earlier, really means that it was predictably unpredictable)–I think my mom likened it to being called up at the last minute to throw an inning at Yankee Stadium.

Anyway, apart from that, there are some records that I’ve gotten to play on that I can take pride in, if for no other reason than that they’re lasting representations of good moments. The “what sets you apart” thing is tough–if I make a positive impression on anyone in music, my guess is that you’d hear different things depending on the person. Oddly enough, though, I’m not sure anyone would say what I think is my most valuable trait in this context, and that’s my memory.

I don’t have a ridiculously good memory, but I think it operates at a slightly above-average level (have to thank my parents for that), and that comes in handy when learning material. I like to think that I’m a good guitar player who works hard, but you could say that about lots of people. Being able to memorize parts efficiently means that I’m more likely to play someone’s setlist well, and that goes a long way towards getting hired back.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
The Rolling Stones concert that I alluded to earlier is probably at the top. I hesitate to speak in such grandiose terms, but I think it changed my life. I remember being at a cruising altitude of absolute awe over the scale and spectacle of it. They were larger than life, especially to a kid who’d just started playing guitar.

I’d been relatively prone to obsessing over things up to that point–dinosaurs, tractors, baseball–but this superseded those pursuits and became the only thing I cared about for quite a while. And, in a way, that hasn’t totally faded.

Thanks, Keith.

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