March 7th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Volume 407, Tom Bukovac, “Bad Decision Soup”

Chapters
00:00 - Just playing away
10:56 - Alright, how's it going friends / Vision
12:08 - Gibson ES-335 love
12:32 - Drew and Homeskoolin' merch / New t-shirts in mind / Motortrend Magazine
14:00 - DVD movies that will cure you / Brick, Intacto, Delicatessen, Sunshine
14:46 - Muscle Shoal / Things that were great in the past
16:23 - "The cage you built is all you" / Good decision soup, or bad decision soup
17:19 - Cheesy, weak, awesome rhythm playing
18:15 - Muscle Shoals vibe
19:21 - Ty Myers mom and cut off video / Steven Tyler
21:19 - Brett Papa and video subscription project / "Never going to get this done"
23:23 - John McBride and Gruhn Baritone guitar
25:40 - 'Merican Patriot
26:32 - Lesson: Hard pull off


Notes
Uncle Larry plays some straight sports bar blooze and reflects about the recent experience of recording in one of the most soulful places in ‘Merica….

March 4th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “The Real Inside Shit”

Chapters
00:00 - Pro Tools transfer from mixer


Notes
Don’t feel bad if you don’t understand any of the shit these guys are doing…neither do I.

My genuine love and respect for great recording engineers is well documented…you guys have heard me say many times that the most important guy in the band in the engineer….you have also heard me say that when I walk into a session, the very first question I ask is “who’s engineering?”

you have also heard me say that even if Christ Himself put The Perfecf Band together for The Ultimate Comeback Record…even That Band could not overcome a terrible engineer…..

Simply put, no matter who you are, you GOTTA have a fella around that knows how to “run the PA”

with all that being said, I will admit that I am damned glad that I figured early on what side of the glass I personally belong on

I may not get this stuff…but I’m just glad there are folks that do…

Thanks to dear Seth Morton and dear Lance ….

and thanks to Ty’s mom for the validation at the end ….

March 3rd, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Fame…Is It Any Wonder?”

Chapters
00:00 - Fame Studios / Muscle Shoals tour


Notes
The legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals…can you even imagine how many people have posed for a photo in front of this place??

This particular Homeskoolin progrum stars:
Gordon Mote
Brandon Hood
Mark Hill
Bruce Bouton
Stix Mchugh
Seth Morton
Wes Sheffield
Lance

February 26th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Session Update “Bad Investment”

Chapters
00:00 - Starstruck Studios and "the Pond" tour


Notes
A quick tour of “the Pond” at Starstruck studio in downtown Nashville

It turns out that an SSL console wasn’t a great investment in 1994

Brandon Hood producing a record for Emily Ann Robert’s

Starring my dear old pal Chris Ashburn

January 16th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Volume 390, Tom Bukovac, “Hello...1983 Calling….”

Chapters
00:00 - Hello, friends (creepy version)
00:53 - '83 Gibson Les Paul Studio with D'Addario 43-10
01:35 - Gibson serial number year
02:55 - Top wrap and break angle / Tim Shaw pickups
05:10 - Winder
06:30 - Selling house
25:00 - Playing
28:35 - Gibson SG comparison
31:00 - Gibson LP Studio playing and lowering pickups / Low end shaved off


Notes
Uncle Larry undresses a 1983 Les Paul Studio on national television.

The Guthrie/Jedd/Uncle Larry Guitar Party is coming to Chicago in early February...
Two nights At The Martyr's Club
Feb 7&8, that's a Friday And Saturday friends


If you are enjoying these ramblings, the tip jar is never too far away friends..
PayPal is tombukovac@gmail.com
Venmo is @Tom-Bukovac-1

January 14th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Volume 389, Tom Bukovac, “The 101 Club”

Chapters
00:00 - Looping with brethren instruments
09:31 - Hello, friends! / Blake Shelton
12:26 - Don't feel like talking / Lake Placid Blue Fender Stratocaster & matching Fender Precision Bass
15:19 - 5 way switch, position 2 and 4 are too dark / Forgotten sound


Notes
Uncle Larry REALLY felt like playing some guitar (and bass) tonite after getting home from day two of tracking with dearest Blake Shelton at the legendary Blackbird Studios in downtown Nashville TN.

Blakes new album is finally “in the can” after the last three years of working on it.

Loving these two old instruments that are featured in this little poorly lit video….(replete with the phone falling right off the “camera stand” in the heat of battle) and thought you guys might enjoy seeing them together.

They have known each other in a past life….

These two rosewood board sex kittens were built right on the cusp of when the original Fender factory in Fullerton was taken over by the CBS bean counters…both instruments are very close in serial number…and they both have aged to the EXACT same greenish hue from their original Lake Placid Blue .

If anyone out there has the Telecaster to compete the set I’m all ears

Thanks for watching friends.


oh, and if you guys want to learn about "advanced phrasing techniques" check out this fella....
i've been told it's VERY deep stuff, but i don't quite understand it yet....maybe some of you guys can help me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWdUDiGhSv0

January 9th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “The Blackbird Studio Repair Kiosk”

Chapters
00:00 - Blackbird Studios and gear showcase
01:30 - Begin showing gear


Notes
Hello friends, a special treat today

Nick Wood from Blackbird Studio shows us how to keep a major recording studio running

January 8th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Volume 387, Tom Bukovac, “Martin Gibson"

Chapters
00:00 - Acoustic shootout / Martin
01:28 - Gibson (Electric Light Orchestra / ELO - Telephone Line)
03:40 - Martin vs Gibson
04:06 - Old guitars started with (Crestline SG copy, Aria Tele Custom, 1979 Les Paul Deluxe)
06:54 - Band started out with / Drummer for Barbara Mandrell / Move to Nashville
09:41 - Son seeing the industry from the inside (Blackbird Studio)
10:30 - Thanks for previous video / P90s
11:59 - Bukovac hate week / Lying people on videos / Watching an argument
16:54 - Strong opinions / Thanks for support / Triple in the studio / Blake Shelton
19:10 - Lesson: The claw picking


Notes
Uncle Larry shows ya a quick example of the vast difference between the sound of a Martin acoustic and an old Gibson acoustic …

If you are indeed getting something useful out of this channel and you feel led to throw a little something in the tip jar here ya go

PayPal is tombukovac@gmail.com
Venmo is @Tom-Bukovac-1

September 25th, 2024

Homeskoolin’ Volume 346, Tom Bukovac, “18 Strings And A Dozen Roses”

Chapters
00:00 - Feeding back through the doubleneck
02:45 - What's up
05:23 - Thanks for playing / Greco
05:51 - Greco Doubleneck / Sympathetic ring
06:37 - VCB (Viewer Comment Bin) / New house / WiFi
09:26 - Blackbird Studios and Lauren Watkins
09:53 - New guitars
10:14 - Nice chord progressions
10:48 - Fuckstick, dickweed comment with a throat punch / Confrontation via keyboard warriors / Restraint in playing
14:55 - Finding a good balance and not jacking on guitar all day
17:03 - NGD (New Guitar Day) '54 Les Paul Jr. with Gibson GA5 amp / '53 Fender Blackguard
18:29 - Richard Smith - Fender the Sound Heard Around the World (book)
20:57 - Paul Simon / Writing the book of the shit I could never say


Notes
Unclectric Larryland


I’ve been told that the new Gwen Stefani record is out friends…it’s chock full of Cleveland guitars…let me know if it’s any good

September 24th, 2024

Homeskoolin’ Volume 345, Tom Bukovac, “Hitchhike From Saginaw”

Chapters
00:00 - Plunking, looping, and soloing
06:10 - Hard to stop looper
06:19 - Fucking amazing Reggae
06:55 - "Everything's hard" / Amazing playing cont. / Blackbird Studios / Singing and playing Alex Harvey Band Cheek To Cheek
08:21 - Lesson: Simon and Garfunkel - America / Yes
09:40 - Lights out / Complaining about lighting in free videos
10:30 - Amp guessing game
12:07 - Tweed Deluxe / Thanks for gifts
13:00 - Marshall Plexi / Good people getting ahead
14:06 - Lesson: A little finger work
15:15 - Lesson: Harmonies - Steely Dan - Led Zeppelin
16:05 - Play that sound all night / New room vs kitchen
17:12 - Lesson: That guy got the lick wrong / Fast pull-offs
19:56 - PayPal thanks / Rental house? / Thanks for the help / Dave Grohl scandal mention / Dating apps and advice
24:25 - Listen to America by Simon and Garfunkel / Vocal Harmonies, counter-rhythms
25:45 - Yes - America (version)
25:53 - Lesson: Yes - America part / Creamy center of songs, sweet little moments
27:31 - "Slightly different than the original" / Doing covers
28:28 - Giveaway


Notes
Uncle Larry gets in the weeds after a long day of sessioneering with some stream of consciousness music and speech

June 27th, 2024

Homeskoolin’ Volume 321, Tom Bukovac “The Mud Ogre”

Chapters
00:00 - Ocean Way Studios tour
01:19 - Fernandes Telecaster / Change strings / Great conversation


Notes
An unexpected visit from legendary pedal steel player Danny Dugmore…as well as a quick cameo from Bryan Sutton and Jerry Roe

Danny has been credited on records in the past under the alias “Mud Ogre” which of course is a re-arrangement of the letters in his last name

As you can clearly see, one of the sweetest dudes to ever put in a set of headphones…he is a dear cherished friend.

He is absolutely ordained in this town…EVERYONE loves Danny, and if you ever heard someone talking shit on him, you would immediately know that person is a total asshole.

June 17th, 2024

Homeskoolin’ Volume 317, Tom Bukovac, “English Birds”

Chapters
00:00 - 70's imagery
01:20 - Van Halen tuning / Hi friends!
01:43 - The Butter trick
02:10 - Rock Williams band story
03:07 - Lesson: The Butter trick (get that fu fu) / Knife pick attack with upstroke
05:10 - Early morning chess / Uncle Larry Garage Sale Tele went fast
05:57 - '52 Goldtop
06:25 - 3rd & Lindsley Bukovac & Guthrie special guests gig
07:05 - Wrist pain, arm pain, carpal tunnel / Arthritis / Hand stretches
10:27 - "Got a pool guy yet, Larry?" / Need for a pool guy
11:08 - What does it cost to make a record in Nashville?  / Break down of costs
14:10 - Milwaukee completely furnished studio for cheap
14:56 - Funniest comment? Namath DJ your party
17:20 - Some gal that interviews people
18:00 - Tube amps and Eric "Ebo" Borash


Notes
Uncle Larry dives into some deep VCB waters and serves up the recipe for butter tone, whilst continuing the tour through the various colors of XTS t shirts

August 9th, 2023

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Tape Echo Madness Madness Madness Madness Madness....”

Chapters
00:00 - Free trial for users
01:48 - Preview of Inside Blackbird with Tom on delays / echo devices



Notes
Hello class…check it out...here's a little preview of a really fun video we did a while back for the "Inside Blackbird" series trying out some very cool sounding seriously old school echo devices.

The full video is available at
https://insideblackbird.com


If you use this code in the next 90 days you’ll get a month free:
HSIBB1

Thanks for watching friends

August 3rd, 2023

Homeskoolin' Bonus, "Brand New Marshall"

Chapters
00:00 - Amazing playing intro
04:08 - Hello friends! / Marshall JTM Studio
05:29 - '67 Epiphone Al Caiola
07:37 - Selling some amps and info
08:20 - New JTM Studio
09:15 - New Marshall cab
09:25 - '67 Epiphone Al Caiola
10:27 - '60s Epiphone Zephyr
10:55 - '60s Ampeg ET-2 Super Echo Twin


Notes
Hello Homeskoolers....I want to send out a HUGE thank you to my old pal Hugh Gilmartin for sending out this killer new Marshall JTM Studio amp for me to try....man, what a cool amp.
These are BRAND NEW models that Marshall just released...they are available in head/2x12 cab or 1x12 combos.

Also, as you can see, i have a few items for sale in this video....as always these items are being sold on a "first come first serve" basis, kinda like the tickets were at that Who concert at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati back in December of 1979....

If you want one of these items please email me at tombukovac@gmail.com

1967 Epiphone Al Caiola guitar with case. $5800.00 shipped domestic US

Both of these amps are 1500.00 apiece and will be sold local pickup only...no shipping

1960s Epiphone Zephyr 1x12 combo

1960's Ampeg ET-2 Super Echo Twin 2x12 combo

Compare to prices on Reverb and you will see those are VERY fair prices

Ok, thats it for now kids

June 27th, 2023

Homeskoolin’ Session Update, “Division Street”

Chapters
00:00 - Session and talk with Russ Pahl
02:55 - Tour of Omni
04:30 - Little keyboard playing


Notes
THE BIRTHDAY CONCERT VID IS OFFICIALLY LIVE ....go to thesessionman.com if you wanna check it out!

Uncle Larry was busy as usual today kids….he did two sessions in two different studios that were waaaay across town from each other.

This little clip is from the morning session where I led a demo session (four songs in 3 hours) for my old buddy Dan Friszell at an old studio downtown called Omnisound on Division Street.

The band was
Russ Pahl: pedal steel
Evan Hutchings: drums
Mark Hill: bass
Jenee Fleenor: fiddle
John D Willis: acoustic
David Crutcher: keys
Uncle Larry: electronic guitar

When I say i “led” the session that means I wrote the charts and got twice as much dough as the rest of the guys for doing so. By the long-standing rules of the Nashville Musicians Union AFM branch 257, every session must have an assigned “leader”, who makes twice the dough of the other cats, in return for going through the trouble of making all the charts beforehand. Also, historically, whoever is the leader of the session gets to boss people around a little more than usual on that day, People kind of treat you like it's your birthday when you are the "session leader".

This video stars the legendary Russ Pahl, who has played pedal steel and guitar on A LOT of records…he has played with Vince Gill, Dan Auerbach and Bob Plant to name a few. Russ makes some really nice guitars under the brand name of “RP Guitars” (mostly Fender Tele and Strats with a few twists and turns) and he hand winds his own custom pickups. He is the living definition and pure embodiment of the phrase "tinkerer". Contact me for his email if you would like to investigate his work further.

And…if you can name the tune that i play on the piano at the end of this video, then I KNOW that you are a cool person

May 18th, 2023

Homeskoolin’ Studio B Roll, “Too Country?”

Chapters
00:00 - Recording a rockin' track


Notes
Uncle Larry applies a thick coat of oil based rawk to a session yesterday at Oceanway Studio in Nashville TN

Engineer: Joe “The Goose” Baldridge (he gets a great loud)
Artist: Jewels Gold (actual name i'm told, no kidding)
Drummer: Jordan Perlson
Bass man: Mark Hill
Organ: David Crutcher

May 16th, 2023

Homeskoolin' Volume 217, Tom Bukovac, "Generational Boogie"

Chapters
00:00 - Soft touch playing
04:26 - Hello, friends! / Loop and off the cuff playing
05:15 - VCB (Viewer Comment Bin) / Shit attitude
05:52 - Song stuck in the brain
06:24 - "Audio sounds better"...in free lessons
06:40 - "Murdering a whale" / Bending in tune
08:29 - Boomer bends
09:30 - Copies of a copy is far removed from Boogie origins
12:33 - Gov't Mule praise
12:55 - Blackbird Studio / Ever challenged on gigs?
14:25 - Downbeats and being exposed
19:20 - Lesson: Play along loop (D -> C, D -> C, G, C/Bb) / Fmaj scale to get back


Notes
Uncle Larry plays, talks, etc....
Thanks for getting involved in the contest friends..its fun to watch all the submissions.

April 14th, 2023

Homeskoolin’ Behind The Scenes Bonus “The Latest Breakthrough In Sound Recording Technology”

Chapters
00:00 - Look into professional testing and rare devices


Notes
A quick behind the scenes look at today’s Inside Blackbird video shoot.

This particular video was a deep deep dive on the mad world of ancient echo devices.

So much fun and such a learning experience.

Starring:
Johnny McBride
Eric “Ebo” Borash
David Kalmusky
Matt Bender
Joey Stanca
Sweet Ally
and the rest of the fine video crew at Blackbird Studio in Nashville TN

April 14th, 2023

Homeskoolin' Volume 211, Tom Bukovac, "The Power Of Delegation"

Chapters
00:00 - Annie Lenox - No More I Love You's into a version of Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
02:14 - Hello from Uncle Larry / Johnny McBride shoot
03:48 - Dave Stewart story (Delegation power)
05:28 - Professionals
07:00 - VCB (Viewer Comment Bin) / The Gear Page donation thanks
08:00 - "2 Kinds of people in this world" / Try to thank all patronage
09:45 - "Who's the impossible musician?" (Hint: song 10:17)
10:33 - Church video and Gretsch guitar (Possibly for sale)
11:45 - Song played at your funeral (Peter Gabriel - Indigo)
12:35 - "Bursting into flames going into church" deserves a "fuck-off"
13:33 - Annie Lenox - No More I Love You's
14:10 - Most common comment? (1 guitar & 1 amp) / Twilight Zone / NFL card
16:36 - Cleveland socks
17:15 - Lesson: "No More I Love You's" (Bass notes makes it expensive sounding)


Notes
Uncle Larry tells us about the two kinds of people in this world.

April 7th, 2023

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Inside Blackbird”

Chapters
00:00 - Inside the studio and Blackbird project and words of wisdom from John McBride


Notes

A chat with my dear friend Johnny McBride about the eagerly awaited release of
insideblackbird.com

Trust me on this one Homeskoolers, best 100 bucks you’ll ever spend.