writing and post production

Still testing the pickups in the Martin (K & K  mini) and the Gibson (Fishman Infinity). I shall be considering a preamp if the signal strength is too weak. I am wondering if there is one that will work on both systems. All the other guitars have built in preamps.

Working on the words for the reviews. Almost finished post production of the first day of Music on the Mountaintop. Took 365, choose 100 to work on and maybe 60 will make the final cut for my site. Then 20-25 for Honest Tune. I'll start the second day after I get some of the writing done.

I love doing what I love doing.

Great essay I found this morning on exactly that:

http://www.sandiegotroubadour.com/content/monthlycolumns/stages.aspx?issue=dec_2008

busy weekend with the camera

Off to Boone to cover the Music on the Mountaintop festival tomorrow and Saturday. I covered it for Honest Tune in 2008, as well. It should be a low key most acoustic bluegrass and folk. Keller Williams and Your Mama's Big Fat Booty Band tomorrow night. Sam Bush and Railroad Earth Saturday night. On the way I'm picking up my newly electrofied Martin D-15 and the Gibson J-200. Rather than leave them in the car, I'll have to stash them backstage. Wonder if I can use the musician's entrance?

Sunday, the Carolina Guitar show and then the Neighborhood Theater for Tea Leaf Green in the evening. Monday and into the week, I'll be writing and editing photos. Fun, fun.

Maybe it'll be cooler up there.

PGroove and Charleston

Busy weekend. Submitted my album review to Honest Tune for The Mantras latest CD, Dharland:

http://www.honesttune.com/content/view/2546/26/

Drove to Charleston on Thursday to see my friend Marsha, sun on the beach, and to shoot the PGroove show at the Music Farm. I left later than I'd hoped due to torrential rains in the morning. Unfortunately my doctor diagnosed a kidney stone on Wednesday but I decided to go anyway. It was worth the discomfort. We took a very long walk on the beach Thursday evening.


On Friday morning, a couple of hours at the beach where right after I got out of the ocean, I spotted a small shark feeding in the shallow water. Then came a storm that dropped a ton of water on everything. We headed to the show around 8:30. Happily we were on the guest list and were able to get chairs and a table on the balcony overlooking the stage. I found the dressing room and hung out with the band for a while. Brock and I discussed Gibson acoutic guitars (he is playing a J-45 these days) and pick up options. He is in favor of adding an L. Baggs. I need to call him to find out exacly which model. I'll need to electrify the J-200 so I can play a song for Adam and Conley at their wedding. I'm thinking Bob Dylan's, "Forever Young." So I need to get practicing that as well.

The show was excellent and I had even dreamed the night before that they would play Peter Gabriel's and they did! Made all the more amazing by the fact they hadn't played it in nearly 5 years. Adam even asked if there was something I wanted them to play, but they were already going to do so. We also caught on of my favorites, "53 More Things to do in Zero Gravity."

I spent Sunday and this morning finishing the post production on the PG photos and wrote up my review. Submitted both, uploaded the photos to my Smugmug site and to the PG website.

On the way home I stopped at "Ye Olde Music Shop" and met the owner, Mike. He let me play a new Gibson J-200 and a J-45. I was thrilled see my J-200 was as good as his. We discussed the Gibson Songwriter and Hummingbird and prices. He offers the best deals I have encountered, hundreds of dollars less than the lowest Internet prices. He did not have any in stock but said he gets them all the time and his conact in Bozeman picks them out special for him. I know from where my next guitar is coming!


I am covering the music festival in Boone, Music in the Mountaintop this Friday and Saturday.

http://www.musiconthemountaintop.com/index.php

On Sunday I'll be covering Tea Leaf Green at the Neighborhood Theater. So happy to be shooting regularly again.

Playing the Blues

I'll have a new post ready tomorrow but to hold you over here is a little item I stole off the Acoustic Guitar Forum.

The Blues. Here are a few observations and some very fundamental rules regarding this music genre if you are new to the Blues, or if you like it but never really understood the whys and wherefores:



l. Most Blues begin with, "Woke up this morning..."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes--sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues is not about choice. "You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch...ain't no way out."

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or sport utility vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the Blues lifestyle. So does fixin' ta die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues; they ain't fixin' ta die yet.

7. Blues can take place in New York City but not Hawaii or anywhere in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Clarksdale, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis or N'awlins are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the Blues in any place that don't get rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness is not the Blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cause you were skiing is not the Blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chompin' on it is.

9. You can't have no Blues in an office or shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

10. Good places for the Blues:
a. Highway
b. Jailhouse
c. Empty bed
d. Bottom of a whiskey glass

11. Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. Gallery openings
c. Ivy League Institutions
d. Golf courses

12. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, unless you happen to be an old person, and you slept in it.

13. Do you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if:
a. You're older than dirt
b. You're blind
c. You shot a man in Memphis
d. You can't be satisfied

No, if:
a. You have all your teeth
b. You were once blind, but now can see
c. The man in Memphis lived
d. You have a 401K or trust fund

14. Blues is not a matter of color, it's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the Blues. Sonny Liston could have. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the Blues.

15. If you ask for water and your darlin' gives you gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. cheap wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. black coffee
d. muddy water

The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast

16. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So are the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broken-down cot. You can't have a blues death if you die during a tennis match or during liposuction.

17. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Hot Dumpling

18. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie

19. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Jennifer, Buffy and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

20. Blues Name Starter Kit
a. Name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc)
b. First name plus name of fruit (Lemon Lime, Peach, etc)
c. Last name of a president, for example: Blind Lemon Jefferson, Pegleg Lime Johnson or Cripple Peach Filmore, etc.

21. I don't care how tragic your life is: if you own a computer, you cannot sing the Blues, period. Sorry.

I think this dog has the Blues.

PGroove - Charleston -Yamaha

Starting out 3 hours late for Charleston as the rain is intense this morning. We've had more than three inches since last night. No real reason to fight floods and Charlotte traffic at the same time. Should be ending soon. Off to visit my friend Marsha and shoot the PGroove show on Friday night at the Music Farm. Haven't been there in years. First visit was to see Hottie and the Blowfish (long before they became famous). Ended up seeing them over 20 times. I met them through a girlfriend back in the early nineties.

Sorry for the paucity of posts. I've been sick for a week. Still not sure what but my physician thinks another kidney stone. I think it might be from eggs contaminated by Salmonella. Seems I got sick every day I had eggs, x3, this past week. Weighed 150 pounds when I visited the doctor yesterday.

Haven't seen PGroove in a while and shall be shooting and writing up the show for Honest Tune. Very excited to see my friends. This week I submitted an album review to the site.  The Mantras, Dharmland.

So I had my Yairi DY-67 for 23 years before I bought the Yamaha LLX26C. Then another Dy-67 and a Yairi WK1- 12 String, then a Yairi DYC-40, Martin-15 and finally a Gibson J-200. This morning I played the Martin and then the Yamaha. At that point I discovered that my Yamaha is the best of the lot. Took a circuitous route to come all the way back. I guess we learn the way we learn.














Damn, still raining. Trip report when I get back.

Song List (in progress)

This is a fairly complete list of the songs I on which I am presently working. I'll add to this list as I add new material. If you think of anything I might add, please let me know. My vocal range is two octives, E to E to ah well, E. Mostly a baritone. If you are a lyricist, let's write some songs!

Africa -Toto
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Monty Python
American Pie - Don McLean
Angel from Monetgomery - John Prine
Angie - Rolling Stones
Annabelle - Gillian Welsh
Barely Breathing - Duncan Sheik
Behing Blue Eyes - The Who
Big River - Grateful Dead
Bittersweet Symphony - Verve
Black Peter - Grateful Dead
Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
Can't Let Go - Lucinda Williams
Carolina in My Mind - James Taylor
Champaigne Supernova - Oasis
Cowgirl in the Sand - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Death Don't Have No Mercy - Grateful Dead
Do You Realize - The Flaming Lips
Don't Let It Bring You Down - Neil Young
Echoes - Pink Floyd
Got Me Wrong - Alice in Chains
High and Dry - Radiohead
If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot
If You See Her Say Hello - Bob Dylan
Imagine - John Lennon
It Ain't Easy Being Me - Chris Knight
Jack Straw - Grateful Dead
Jane Says - Janes Addiction
It's Great Day to be Alive - Darrell Scott
Letter to Elise - The Cure
Loser - Grateful Dead
Needle and the Damage Done - Neil Young
North Dakota -Chris Knight
Nutshell - Alice in Chains
Ordinary World - Duran Duran
One More Cup of Coffee - Bob Dylan
Panama Red - Peter Rowan
Reasons Why - Nickel Creek
Sign on the Window - Bob Dylan
Soulshine - Warren Haynes
Tangled Up in Blue - Bob Dylan
Tear My Stillhoue Down - Gillian Welsh
There Ain't No Easy Way - Darrell Scott
Tu Seven - PGroove
Under the Milky Way - The Church
Walls of Time - Pete Rowan
Wayfaring Stranger - traditional
While My Guitar Gently Weeps - the Beatles
Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
Wonderwall - Oasis
Would - Alice in Chains
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips
You are a Big Girl Now - Bob Dylan
You're Going to Make Me Lonesome - Bob Dylan
Your Ghost - Kristen Hersh
You've Got a Friend - James Taylor

just a quick note

Here are some of the artists who have performed and recorded with the Gibson J-200.

Pete Townshend, John Prine, Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jimmy Page, Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Cat Stevens, Sheryl Crow, Townes Van Zandt, Jeff Beck, Carl Perkins, Steven Stills, Noel Gallagher, Chris Isaak, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.


Roy Rogers, so cool.

1993 Gibson J-200

Oh my God!

I drove to meet the seller this morning and impatiently waited at a Starbucks just off the Hwy. Raleigh showed up with all three guitars. First I tried the Hummingbird. Spruce and Rosewood. Lovely balenced sound. Then he brought out the J-45. Spruce and Mahagony. Serious lower tones but at the same time complex. We played both for several minutes switching off. That way I can hear both at a distance. Finally he breaks out the 1993 J-200 Standard. It appears to be a perfect match of the 20th aniversary edition. AAA Spruce and AAA Maple. Longer neck, nice and wide. Hard to judge the tone sitting on the tailgate of a truck but I knew that was the one.  Lowest list price on this guitar new is $3,800. This guitar is in amazing condition. 17 years old and looks like it just left the factory. Built at the Bozeman, Mt. plant. Raleigh told me his house was hit by a tornado in the Spring and he realized that maybe owning 50 guitars was a bit excessive.

So I get the J-200 home and as usual, replace the strings and use guitar polish to shine her up. Decided on Light Medium (EJ-16) strings and tuned it up. I play for a few minutes and then let the strings start to stretch. About an hour later I took her in to the guitar room. I start playing and this guitar is a cannon. Way low bass response, like a freight train. Beautiful tone. With the volume of sound coming through this guitar I can sing as a prefer to, which is loudly. Right from the gut. Unlike most of my guitars, the J-200 is lower than my vocal range and my voice rings out above the guitar. This is the guitar I've been looking for. I want to marry this guitar.

choices

I checked Craigslist today and lo and behold a guy in High Point is selling 3 Gibsons, a J-45, a Hummingbird and a J-200. He's going to meet me Monday morning in Salisbury. Here is an example of each.

(2002) J-45 

                          

























(1992)Hummingbird

J-200

Gibson guitars

Looks like the Songwriter was sold. I'm glad because I wouldn't have been happy with it. So now  I'm considering the various versions of the Songwriter, Dove, L4, 45 and the Jumbo. I guess I'll be heading to the Guitar Center to try out the various models, so that when one becomes available I'll know which ones I like and be ready to move quickly if one comes along at a good price. Used Gibsons don't seem to stay on the market long. I had the opportunity to play a Dove when I was 16 and never forgot the sweet tones of that guitar.

Tuned one of the Yairi DY-67s to Eb to play Alice in Chains. Interesting sound and with the strings so much looser it is easier to bend the notes. Started with "Nutshell". This song has some interesting rhythms and make take me a while to get the chord changes down. I'm using the MTV acoustic version as a basis. Another difficulty is going to be the harmonies which are one of the things that make AIC songs so good. Hope my vocal harmonizer is up to the task. I'm afraid that the VocalLive 4 may be required to manually adjust the harmony to the correct pitch.

Nothing planned for the weekend. Still considering the six hour round trip to Raleigh next week to see Umphrey's McGee on Friday. It is an early show, 6pm, which would mean I could be home just after midnight. Saturday, George Porter, Jr. at the Double Door.

Have I gone insane?

Off this afternoon to look at a Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Studio (2006). Another closet queen popped up on Craigslist last night. Spoke to the owner this morning and perhaps will be the first in line to see it. This one is priced at roughly half the price of a new one. Premium Sitka (red) Spruce and Indian Rosewood b/s, mahogany neck. I thought after the recent Martin D-15 purchase I was through with my Guitar Acquisition Syndrome, at least temporaily. I'm running out of room.

Sadly the guitar did not meet up to my standards, one being not needing repairs and another factory quality control issues. The space between frets as they get closer to the body always get smaller. This one had a first fret smaller than the second or the third. We even measured it. I then grabbed a tuner and tested the sonic space and sure enough it was noticable. On the other hand I really, really like the SWD and shall certainly look for another, especially a Songwriter Deluxe Standard.

Maybe I can blame it on my neurological condition. (Note: this picture was taken before I acquired the Martin D-15.)














Looks like I'm not the only one with this condition.

http://www.guitaracquisitionsyndrome.com/Page_1.php

monday morning

Good morning all,

Thought I'd share a bit from my weekend. Molly was happy with the photos of her band "Amelia's Mechanics." Friday night was WideSpread Panic, a band I first saw in 1987 and have seen most years since then. Almost a ritual with me since that time. I could not count the number of times I've seen them. Back in the day I used to be guest listed and more than once saw them with fewer that a dozen people. Originally they were more a Dead cover band, something they deny, but just check the set lists from 1986-7.  Dave was the first one I met in the Summer of 1987, which was when I moved to Athens. Sonny was the nicest one, he was once the doorman at the long gone, "Uptown Lounge." Sonny used to comp me in to all the shows at the Uptown during that summer. Great guy. John Bell taught me the song "Me and My Uncle," but was a little stand offish. Mikey was always too stoned to talk. He used to play sitting down.

Had my usual Saturday morning breakfast at Toast with brother Eric. Spent the rest of the day playing the guitar, playing with the dogs, and working one of my books. Working on which guitar sounds better with what song. The Martin D-15 certainly has it's place in lineup. I find it is best suited for the Americanna, and Bluegrass strumming. Sounds good fingerpicking but is not loud. I intend to have Fine's to put in a K & K western pickup and then we'll see how it sounds amplified. So I switched between guitars frequently.

Got the house cleaned, even the screened-in porch. I have discovered the TV show, 24. I love catching a series where I can watch (Netflix instantly) ever episode without having to wait a week in between. I think I'd have gone crazy watching 24 and having to wait a week in between shows. So besides the anxiety from watching the show, it was a very restful weekend. Happily, I have health and dental insurance now. It took almost two months to get it. The new national healthcare bill was not helpful to this point, maybe by 2014. Expensive as all hell.




So, I'm writing a non-fiction book on a newcomers guide to accessing the 12 step programs. After 26 years of experience and over 6,000 meetings, I feel somewhat qualified to write this. I've also starting ou a science fiction novel. I've been thinking of the the technical aspects of computer-brain interfacing for years and the idea of turning it into a novel occurred to me a couple of weeks ago. Sort of a dystopia where the individual is lost into the greater whole.