April 12th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Volume 137, Tom Bukovac, “Fever Dreams”

Chapters
00:00 - Beautiful blend of Classical, Rock, Blues playing
03:09 - Burt Bacharach - That's What Friends Are For
05:02 - Hello, fellow Homeskoolers! / Illness
06:37 - Going to the ER
07:13 - Twight Zone
07:49 - Chord lesson (Eb, Gm7, Cm7, Fm7, Dm7b5, G7sus) / That's What Friends Are For
09:24 - Biggest part (Bb/Eb, Ab/C, Abm7)
10:00 - Money shot (Bbm/C#, Csus, Abm6/B)


Notes
Larry returns after a trip to the dark side…10 pounds lighter.

March 13th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus Jam…ZZ Tom

Chapters
00:00 - Rehearsing with the man himself, Billy Gibbons


Notes
A super rough rehearsal sketch from the moment when our little band was joined by the coolest guy that ever walked on this earth….as you all know Uncle Larry is a huge fan of the Reverend Billy G….I have been lucky enough to work with him a couple times in my humble career.

He is the NICEST guy you will ever meet.

Ol’ Larry rarely gets starstruck by anybody but i gotta admit it’s a very cool feeling being anywhere near Billy Gibbons.

I didn’t think he would remember me from the last time we jammed together, but when he walked up on stage at this rehearsal and looked right at me and yelled out “Mr. T” i gotta admit i was instantly 13 years old again sitting in my room listening to “It’s Only Love” off the Tejas album and staring at that amazing album sleeve. Such a genius, such a sweetheart and such a class act…and soooo cool and easy to work with.

If i could ever achieve just one percent of the coolness this man exudes in my own life i would be absolutely thrilled.

Credit to my dear 9 year old son Marshall for coming up with the title for this video….he’s great at coming up with cool names for stuff quickly haha.

March 12th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus Pack, “Larry’s Blues”

Chapters
00:00 - Rehearsal footage


Notes
In LA rehearsing with a great group of freakishly talented people you may recognize for a private gig…great fun

February 16th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Volume 128, Tom Bukovac, “Get Your Wings Son”

Chapters
00:00 - Slow, beautiful playing
02:26 - Thumb recovery
02:50 - Ann Wilson rehearsal
03:32 - "Dream On" discussion / Chord progression lesson
07:00 - Steven Tyler story


Notes
Two real truths of life:

1) The human body desperately WANTS to go back to the way it was before we mangled it.
2) No matter how skinny we ever get, the human body ALWAYS remembers how fat we once were

disclaimer: gross misinformation at 06:50....i meant #4 major, not #5 major

February 4th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Volume 124, Tom Bukovac, “If I Leave Here Tomorrow….”

Chapters
00:00 - Beautiful playing
01:51 - Covid positive
03:17 - NFL reruns
04:34 - Tele Custom / "I thought you didn't like Teles"
05:41 - Skynyrd - Freebird / Allen Collins (Isolated track)
06:51 - "Rave up" ending lesson
07:47 - Secret of inverting chords / Pull-offs and chords (Need to know)


Notes
Well, if you’re wondering what a man with Covid plays and looks like here ya go fellas.

and here's some poetry for ya'

"IF",
BY RUDYARD KIPLING

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

January 28th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Super Bonus “Passion”

Chapters
00:00 - Guitar setup expertise
00:38 - "3/64ths"
01:01 - "Raised the action"
02:05 - Step 1...
02:49 - Mathematics of frets
03:32 - Playing the Tele
03:58 - Nut slots and action
04:43 - "Choke"
05:25 - Nut and bridge height mathematics
06:18 - Choking, relief, radius
08:11 - Width / Height of frets
09:26 - Steps from here
11:03 - Fender go to steel? '54 / Trivia
14:34 - "Bend the piss out of the high E"
15:18 - Playing it again / Explanation
16:15 - Continue setup
17:25 - Creasing and stretching the strings
19:34 - '60 Tele Custom
20:45 - Tuning with fingers and playing position
23:00 - Playing it fully set up, acoustically / Tuning with chords
25:17 - Fret end dressing
29:45 - "Worst Nightmare?"
32:50 - Back to fret softening / Fret end jewelry
38:10 - Make your own glue
39:00 - Leather stropping block and chrome polish
42:50 - File and gouging the wood
44:09 - Playing it fully polished


Notes
This one is pretty inside friends….
it could be considered long and boring for some, i totally get that.

This one is actually aimed at those of you out there who REALLY wanna know the inside shit on how that last little one percentile of top tier professional guitar set up and guitar physics REALLY works.

Did you ever notice that any time you see a person doing anything at the highest level it could ever possibly be done at, there is one common denominator you will find every time…..PASSION…..

I mean TRUE passion and a deep love of the craft. There is also deep respect for doing things the RIGHT way.

Greg Voros, head of the repair department at Gruhn Guitars in Nashville…the boy is a true artist, and a dear dear friend of your drunk old uncle….i cannot tell you how much i respect this dude…this video should give you a real good idea why.

Greg is joined about halfway through this video by Lin Crowson….another Gruhns employee who has freakish expert level knowledge of authenticating and repairing old guitars.

Hope you enjoy folks.

January 23rd, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus….”Resto Mod Sunday”

Chapters
00:00 - Kick ass 2-tone Telecaster


Notes
Uncle Larry sharing some deep feelings about old guitars.

Some may argue with Larry’s reasoning here, but file it under the age old debate between “players” and “collectors”.

One of my favorite sayings regarding vintage instruments…”just cuz its old don’t mean it’s cool”

Happy sunday y’all!

December 14th, 2021

Homeskoolin' Bonus Jam, "Uncle Larry Went Down To Texas"

Chapters
00:00 - Great Blues jam


Notes
One thing Mama always told me, "Be careful who you cut heads with son"......your poor Uncle in a bloody back alley knife fight with Grissom and KWS in Austin....fuckin' great players and great dudes.

Thanks to brother Bill Burcham for the videography....God damn it was loud as hell on that stage wasn't it?

"Plexi Soul" record available for download at www.bandcamp.com
Homeskoolin' merch available at www.guitarhouse.net
Homeskoolin' PayPal tip jar tombukovac@gmail.com

August 31st, 2021

Homeskoolin’ Bonus Jam “The Roadrunner”

Chapters
00:00 - Picking blues mix jam
06:56 - '53 Fender Telecaster


Notes
Hey Homeskoolers, hope all is well….just stuck in the house on a rainy day with a funky old blackguard Tele and my dear son Leo who came in to show me his crumpled up treasure map.

Rest in peace my dear old friend Tim Akers.

For those concerned, the Trip The Witch single will be featured on an exclusive with Guitar World tomorrow (Wednesday) and released in CD Baby (basically all digital platforms) Friday!

June 12th, 2021

Homeskoolin’ Song Learning Update

Chapters
00:00 - Ending part of Crazy On You playthrough


Notes
When i am figuring out tunes i like to know ALL the parts, not just the guitar parts….when i was learning “Crazy On You” for this Ann Wilson gig i just HAD to figure out the fairly complex vocal arrangement that happens over the E chord….

Homeskoolin merch available at www.guitarhouse.net
Paypal tip jar is tombukovac@gmail.com
Venmo tip jar is @Tom-Bukovac-1

June 10th, 2021

Homeskoolin’ Bonus Track, “High & Lonesome”

Chapters
00:00 - Beautiful pedal steel-esque playing


Notes
Here’s one for the night owls….cheers to all you sweethearts

Love

Uncle Larry

May 30th, 2021

Homeskoolin’ Sunday Night Bonus “The Green Green Glass Of Home”

Chapters
00:00 - Hillbilly rocking jam


Notes
Just goofin’ about on my old 55 Tele...through a little plastic practice amp...it may be a “little bright” sounding as they sometimes say in the studio...but lest we not forget, treble is indeed a stimulant my friends.

This is a slight adaptation of the little riff i played on a Morgan Wallen track called “Need A Boat” where Bryan Sutton and i are battling each other in a full on hillbilly pickin’ bloodbath.

Totally unrelated, if you’re bored check out the new Yola single which just came out recently called “Stand For Myself”....this record was recorded at Easy Eye studio a good while back and my fucking thumb STILL hurts from slappin’ the acoustic on that intro...ouch.

Homeskoolin merch available at www.guitarhouse.net
Paypal tip jar is tombukovac@gmail.com
Venmo tip jar is @Tom-Bukovac-1

May 26th, 2021

Homeskoolin’ Late Night Random Montage, "A Tribute To Your Good Taste"

Chapters
00:00 - String bending intro jam
01:00 - Hello, everyone! / Video setup
01:12 - Heart songs
01:55 - Magic Man tuning
02:27 - Session with Charles Kelly
03:05 - Ben Rector with Tom on guitar
03:43 - '55 Tele & Blackstar amp
04:05 - Magic Man playing & lesson
05:37 - Sessions video


Notes
A little mish mash montage of recent Uncle Larry related items....including a little late night Tele abuse and an ice cold Rolling Rock premium lager (which, as the box says, is a " tribute to your good taste")

Here's the Ben Rector tune....https://youtu.be/b0WqYVLBzwo

Part three of this montage features two of my dear friends....Troy Lancaster (guitarist) and Drew Bollman (engineer)....cinematography by Tony Lucido.

Homeskoolin merch available at www.guitarhouse.net
Paypal tip jar is tombukovac@gmail.com
Venmo tip jar is @Tom-Bukovac-1

May 11th, 2020

Homeskoolin’ Volume 26, Tom Bukovac, “Regatta De Summer Breeze”

Chapters
00:00 - Police bass loop jam
04:19 - Greatest concert
05:33 - Walking on the Moon lesson
06:50 - Common traits of the Greats
10:36 - Muting / Bouncing trick lesson


Notes
A brief explanation of string muting and a declaration of my lifelong obsession with The Police. Homeskoolin' T shirts available at guitarhouse.net if you like the show, PayPal tip jar: tombukovac@gmail.com

April 14th, 2020

Homeskoolin’ Volume 6, Tom Bukovac, Hillbilly Pickin & Contest Results!

Chapters
00:00 - Hellbilly Intro
01:51 - Welcome
02:30 - Contest winners
03:54 - Reader Comments / Trigger Hippy
06:09 - No back problems / hearing loss (tinnitis)
07:32 - Country guitar players
08:41 - Phil Baugh
09:11 - "Douchey and Uninspiring" / "Fuck-off"
09:37 - No Corporate Sponsorship / Pitiful Little Show
09:55 - Old Blues turnaround lick


Notes
Congrats to Luke Cyrus Goetze...thank you to all participants!!! Trigger Hippy has a new album called "Full Circle and Then Some" available now...check it out!