dis place men tia: February 2011

HULL BLUES

This might be lost on you if you don't understand or appreciate The Blues.

The Blues is a framework, a foundation. There are specific rules that help define The

Blues; twelve bars, call and response, I IV V chords, flatted thirds, fifths and sevenths,

minor pentatonic scales, etc. But if you know The Blues, you know that there are infinite

variations within these rules. And ultimately, the rules themselves can be bent like a high

E at the 12th fret.

If a wave is sound, then a hull is The Blues. The rules; flat rocker, pinched rails, round

parallel outline, single flex fin. You stand on these Blues and you ride the music. To the

ill-informed, it all sounds/looks the same, boxed, no freedom. To the experienced, the

game is putting your personal stamp on the Blues. You work within the framework until

you can bend those notes.

Just like The Blues, riding a hull is an extremely personal trip. It's not about flashing

rock and roll. It's feedback through your feet right up to your head; draw, acceleration, g-

forces. It's feel. And, it's really fucking hard to do right!

It's not for everybody, and it's not for all the time. Even Robert Johnson played a waltz

every now and then. But, just like The Blues, there are days when nothing else will

satisfy that itch. Shoulder high, glassy and lined up, you just have to roll one up on a rail

and work through the gears.

All the words and pictures don't mean anything. Pick up a good hull and run your hands

down the rails, sight down the bottom, put it under your arm. Just like a National Steel

Resonator or a '57 Strat. You have to put one under your feet and and strum a nice trim

or riff a rail turn. The challenge to play will last a lifetime. But if you never pick up the

instrument, you'll never know.

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