To me, this picture says it all about the value of integrity, hard-work and passion for music, self-confidence (that comes from staying true to yourself and your talent) and style…and answers the question why so many people LOVE the Vaughan Brothers – Jimmie and Stevie Ray…

Between them, I’ve seen Jimmie and Stevie Ray more than a dozen times – I’ll always remember the first time I saw each of them.

Sure, part of that is the incredible talent and tone, part of it is the fact that I was SO into the blues at that time it was like my neurons were going to shoot right through my frontal cortex hearing the first note as the crunching of the Texas Shuffle or Chicago Blues tune chugged along.

But there was something else…

It was the deadly combination of self-assurance and talent from decades of playing and competing in music-rich Dallas and Austin Texas, the integrity and honesty of having stuck to their guns even though the music industry tried multiple times to throw them off course and that style…

Tell me if you don’t see all of that wrapped up in these pictures.

Now, close your eyes and imagine what a dramatic entrance with 100 Watts or more of power surging out of perfectly setup Fender amps fed by the raw power and smooth tone of the single coils fueling the Fender Stratocasters piloted by the Vaughan Brothers…you are (or would be if you have never caught either of them in concert…sadly it is too late for Stevie Ray though you can still get a sense through the multitude of videos available online…but luckily you can see the very busy and relevant Jimmie who is hotter than Texas Ashphalt in July these days)

I can still see the day nearly 35-years ago when Stevie Ray brought his Double Trouble Couldn’t Stand the Weather Tour to Ottawa’s National Arts Center to lay a beating on it like it had never seen before…Aug 16th, 1984 – what a night…my sense of life and music were changed forever moments after he entered a black stage playing the first few bars of “Scuttle Buttin…” and THEN…

The house lights came up and from the 3rd row this giant of a figure wearing a poncho with his trademark black zorro hat with Texas emblem loud and proud – my mind was blown. The rest of the evening was an orgy of power, finesse, tone, honesty and GREAT music from the entire band.

Never again would I be THAT blown away and still search out that perfect combination of talent, confidence, integrity/honesty and style – it comes along once in a lifetime (something like the impact of seeing Hendrix live I would imagine…a chance I never had unfortunately) – and now Jimmie carries the torch in his own HONEST and integral way…I still get the feeling when I see him as I did in San Francisco last year.

It’s a rare thing…if you can remember a similar experience when you saw your favorite artist live, share it here and maybe we can all catch the wave one more time.