Have you ever noticed how the arts seems to be a magnet for the eccentric and odd?

Perhaps no other field, except the applied sciences, has such a disproportionate representation of people who walk to the beat of a drummer that other people just don't hear. Of course it's debatable as to which caused which; do you have to be a bit odd in the first place to be an artist or a scientist, or is it something about them that turns people a little strange?

Whatever the reason there can be no denying that the arts have had their share of unique individuals. Usually the more flamboyant have been among those who are the performers, although that's not a hard and fast rule as there have been any number of outrageous poets and painters. A lot has been said about insecurity causing people to create a "mask" in order to hide their true selves from the audience when they go on stage.

Actors do that as a matter of course every time they go on stage as that is their job, but musicians aren't under the same the obligation to provide their audiences with that kind of performance. While some musical performers will create personas that give them the strength to stand in front of audiences and bare their souls, the majority of them won't go the full distance and create completely different characters. Most people who go see bands play don't expect the band to do anything other than play music.

So when the lead guitar player comes onto stage wearing a mask and a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head he tends to stand out from the rest of the band, and other guitar players in general. Buckethead is easily one of the most instantly recognizable guitar players out there right now because that's exactly how he appears on stage. But the bucket and the mask are far more than just a means of disguise; they are the physical trappings of a person with a history and a life beyond the stage.

Now I've begun to hear rumours that some guy named Brian Carol - or something like that - has begun claiming that he is actually Buckethead, but one needs only go to Bucketheadland to find the true history of the guitar hero. There you can read the heartrending tale of his orphanage and upbringing by friendly chickens and the coop that he called home.

You can also read about his quest to find musical fulfillment by playing with bands like Guns & Roses, Primus, and his projects with Viggo Mortensen. But it was only recently, with the release of Enter The Chicken that he released a recording made up entirely of his own compositions.