Great Music While High: Buckethead

“He was born in a coop, raised in a cage. Children fear him, critics rage. He’s half alive, he’s half dead, folks just call him buckethead.”

I have been listening to Buckethead since early high school, before I had ever partaken of the Ganj, and it was only recently, while baked and perusing through my iTunes, that I decided to enjoy the two together, and let me tell you nothing makes more sense. If you are familiar with this artist, you know that his music is already a mind f**k by itself, so adding weed to the mix just amps up the ride.

Buckethead is a mysterious and iconic figure, donning a plain white mask and KFC bucket on his head as his stage attire. His origins are said to be unknown, with stories circulating around claiming he was raised in a chicken coop by chickens. Some even believe that behind the mask is not a man shredding with perfection, but God himself.

Not to pull sources from anecdotal stories, but in high school I had a math teacher, Mr. C., who claimed to have been friends with Buckethead years before he became widely known. Mr. C told me that he started to ‘get weird’ and became way too involved with his stage persona, refusing to acknowledge a friendly hello, but instead just staring back through those void eyes behind the mask. But whether Buckethead is just putting on a show, or is truly this mysterious and elusive character, remains up to speculation.

Buckethead is an artist who specializes in, well, being Buckethead! Some unfamiliar readers may recognize Buckethead’s guitar work in the original Power Rangers Theme song. He has also been popularized in recent years, as his song “Jordan” was featured as one of the most difficult songs to play on Guitar Hero.

Buckethead is a guitarist like no other. He is, in my modest opinion, the most innovative guitarists of our time. Buckethead can create sounds with a guitar that I didn’t even know were possible. A multi-genre master, Buckethead is an expert in such genres as progressive metal, funk, blues, jazz, bluegrass, ambient and avant-garde music. He has released a whopping total of 121 studio length albums with various record companies, making the collection of his music an entire world to get lost in. He also frequently adds bizarre sounds and nonsensical audio tracks to many of his songs, leaving the avid fan thrilled and wondering what the hell they’re listening to anyway.

Now I’ll admit, with as many tracks as Buckethead has created, not all of them will be winners for weedists, and indeed, there are some horror-themed songs from Buckethead you should absolutely STAY AWAY from while high, such as “Buckethead’s Chamber of Horrors” or “Onions Unleashed” (WARNING: Do not click on these links if you easily become paranoid while high).

But his other more approachable songs, such as “Binge and Grab” or “Nottingham Lace,” are sure to appeal to the music hungry weedist. With such a wide variety of songs and genres to choose from, Buckethead is sure to have something for every toker to enjoy. Oh, and just in case the insane guitar skills and strange mythos weren’t enough to catch your attention, maybe his sweet ass nunchaku skills and dance moves might interest you.