Devin Townsend is a genius. I just learned that today; I'm behind the times a bit. A lot. Anyway...
I've never spent a ton of time listening to Devin's bands, other than some Strapping Young Lad songs here and there. I've enjoyed everything I've heard from him, but overall it just kind of fell thru the cracks as bands do sometimes for me (too much good music, not enough time).
This morning, on a whim, I started my day by watching this "Devin Townsend Clinic" video on YouTube. Thinking it would be a standard guitar clinic video, I could basically leave it on in the background while working, pick up a few tips on how to play different guitar riffs, and it'd start to wake me up for the day.
The video starts with a few minutes of Devin discussing guitar tunings and a few other expected things. Then he immediately switches in to a 90-minute Q&A session where he covers a huge array of topics: meditation, relgion, being successfully married for many years, raising his 9 year old while also working on profanity filled weird cartoons, music theory, alternate tunings, lyrics, songwriting, creative writing, writers block, engineering your own records, being on tour and on and on (filled in with a few bits of Jack Black/Kevin Smith-esque profanity and images so watch the volume if you're listening at work).
It's the best guitar clinic video I've ever seen, and the most inspiring thing I've watched in ages. To call this a guitar clinic video is not doing it justice. There is something of value for any viewer, not just guitar players, not just musicians. Anybody looking to learn more about life, being creative, being in their 40's, marrige, music, or even playing Dungeons & Dragons would gain knowledge by watching this video. (I don't want to spoile it by recapping all of the details. Trust me, go watch the video.)
Devin mentioned having released around 30 albums worth of material. If you'll excuse me I have some catching up to do...