I have avoided learning Nickelback songs my whole life.
That streak died Saturday night in Texas.
I'm visiting my sister and her husband, Chris, for a few days. Yesterday was LSU versus Texas A&M.
If you follow college football, you know this rivalry gets ugly.
By kickoff, eleven people were packed into their living room.
By the third quarter, LSU had the game locked up.
That's when Chris walked in holding the house acoustic like a trophy.
"You and Roosh need to jam out," he said.
Some background on Roosh.
He's a high-end contract attorney. He wears polos that cost more than my first guitar. He also used to rap. He recorded with Bubba Sparxx. You would never guess it by looking at him.
I'm a blues and soul guy.
Roosh is rap and heavy alternative.
On paper, this pairing made zero sense.
Chris had a secret weapon.
"Can you play How You Remind Me by Nickelback?"
I said, "I can figure it out."
Brave words from a guy with zero Nickelback albums on his shelf.
I pulled up the chords. Thirty seconds later, the room erupted. Roosh closed his eyes and belted it like he was headlining a stadium. Nickelback turned into Chili Peppers. Chili Peppers turned into Nelly. Somebody's aunt started dancing next to the queso. Nobody watched the fourth quarter.
Chris will tell that story for years.
The moment showed up out of nowhere, and I was ready for it. That's what stuck with me.
You can't schedule nights like that.
You can be the guy whose hands know the neck when someone hands him a guitar.
Plenty of players freeze when someone says "play something."
They know the stuff. They can't use it with people watching. That's a training problem, and training can be fixed.
So I built The FretGrid Method.
It takes the five-zone map from your Zone Cards and makes it automatic.
Each session takes ten minutes and ends with one rep on the guitar.
Every session adds a little more pressure, so the map holds up in a real room. It's $27, delivered by email.
Grab The FretGrid Method here and start your first session tonight.
Rock on,
Julio "Nickelback By Request" Rivera