[st stephen]

Well it was back in 1995 (i think) and i was just starting to get really serious about the guitar. I was 14 or 15 years old and i want into this hippie shop on long island new york. I was a young little kid no facial hair, probably had cackys and a polo shirt on and i said to the hippie behind the counter yo man "you have like that blue book with all the dead songs in it". He was like what r u talkin about. I was like there is a white with all jerry band stuff in it. He was like oh yeah we dont have it but go to and he whispered RUKIND.com. It changed my life forever. Man i love playing music. OHHH not sure why i am saying this but did anyone else use to get up on there bed and jam and pretend they were putting on a show. It was always my dream and to me its so cool that i can jam now. It has always been my dream and my passion to play music....just wish i could do it for a living.

[strumminsix]

I love that Blue Book! I've still got mine, in fact I have 2! Absolutely the best $15 bucks I've spent in the lot!

It's about 90% accurate for campfire acoustic but after a few years of playing these pages have my scribbles all over it!

Years back I found that book on line from a link on old hippies pages but never found it again. Bugs the heck out of me.

If anyone has that link, let me know!

[jck_strw]

Wow. The site was talked about in hushed whispers in the back rooms of head shops? Totally cool. How deliciously illicit it all sounds.

[ebick]

Like Donald Sutherland in Animal House.....pulling down all the shades!

[hesgone95]

It's funny this has come up as a topic because I was thinking about this the other day. I didn't have the blue book, but I had the black one, I think it was called Anthology. I got it within the first few months of picking up the guitar, and I pretty much learned to play from that book, as I've never really had a teacher. That and the Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer.

Anyway I was having trouble with some lick or something and a friend of mine had told me to check out the site. I had just started using the internet and the discovery of Rukind was like when Bart and Milhouse got locked in the candy store. I spent huge amounts of time checking it out. That would've been early '98 sometime.

So I was thinking the other day about how long I have been using the site, and how much cooler it is to have the chat forums to trade ideas and discussions or just read what like minded musicians have to say. I think that was the point to that long-winded speech...how cool this site is and how long I've been into it, and how much I enjoy the contact with other head musicians. Not any of those here in Mexico City.

I guess it's another opportunity to thank ed and greg and all the folks who make up the community.