last gig aftermath

Was that the best solo gig I've ever played? No, probably far from it actually. But it did confirm for me that there's something interesting and fun to changing over to an electric guitar-based set. My guitars sounded great, and I didn't feel like I was fighting them the whole time on stage. I never seem to get that feeling from my acoustics, and as much as I love my old national it was (all whining aside) great to NOT have it there to serve as a crutch.

So, owing a very heavy debt to Little Jimmy Reed for the rack-harp lessons, and some very insightful advice from Ray Bonneville I think this is the direction we're going to go for a while. Friday showed me what songs work and what ones clearly don't, and so we'll be leaving a bunch of material behind. But the good news is that I can get caught up on some of the songs I've written that don't work on a resonator guitar. It's all a balance. But I've always been a firm believer in going where the muse leads, and there's some interesting signs pointing in this direction.

Oh, and yeah, I'm really excited about how well my floor board worked as well. I got lots of help from Mac running the sound board who understood exactly what I wanted. But the electronics worked great and I'll keep it!

All I want for Christmas

All I want for Christmas is a horn section. Baritone Sax, Tenor, Alto and a Trumpet player.

Really, that's it. I don't even need a card.

My friend Anna turned me on to this guy- he's a pre-war blues and gospel guy that plays the zither. A novelty instrument? Historical oddity? No matter, the music is really unusual and great listening.

A new guitar or two...

Well, there are some new additions to the family here. After loosing an old friend to the airline baggage handlers, and realizing it was time to part with a couple of other guitars that hadn't seen a gig in a bit it was time to indulge. Expect to see this at the Lemon Tree in November-

The one in the case is an ES-125T, it's a thin-bodied ES-125 jazz box with a big old P-90 pickup on it. It's a great guitar for the swampy solo stuff I've been playing in standard tunings. All the old Jimmy Reed sounds great on it as well.

So, why the change? Fair question, I suppose. Here's the logic- I'd like to change over to a set of guitars I can use for a solo gig where my electric lap steel seems less radical. It always seems to fit poorly with an acoustic national and a regular acoustic guitar. So, we'll translate the slide material to the my old silvertone and the straight guitar parts to the 125T, amplify everything andthen the lap steel fits better. It's a great change in other ways too- opens up some rhythmic techniques on these guitars that don't come out or simply don't work on an acoustic guitar.

I suppose the national will still get around. I know I don't ever want to risk travelling with it again.

Off to practice and write. Hope y'all have a great weekend!