I got my 1956 Martin guitar back from repair yesterday - a couple of cracks had opened up in the back, like bookends - one on either side. Just an excuse for me to visit with repair artist Harry Becker of Northampton, MA. I admit I was not in the best mood when I pulled in, winter doldrums I guess, but when I left I had a lift in my step and in my heart. Harry sent me off with a CD called "Odd Man Out" to listen to by a musician named Elric Walker and that had a profound effect on me. Hope I can catch up with this guy somewhere along the way.
Joining the FolkDJ list serve was a stroke of genius - if only because it gives me so much pleasure to find some new contacts - all over the world - to send music to. I've been doing a big mailing of the two most recent albums to come out of my studio" "Shooting Arrows at the Moon" (Bow Thayer) and "Solo Duo Trio" (Brian Clark). Requests from Australia and Israel and Montreal, as well as many in the glorious continental US.
Finally settled on a date with the Langdon Street Cafe for our CD release party: Sat Feb 6. I do like going in there on a snowy day, to sit by the glow of my lap-top in the partial darkness - but on 2/6 I'll be scuffling around the stage with Bow Thayer and Patrick Ross, switching up guitars and making some big noise.
Spent two wonderful days with singer-songwriter Mary McGinniss in the studio, recording tracks for her next album. Her writing and musicality continue to amaze and it was no wonder this morning I found myself humming her song " I Love B-Town" and indulging my own nostalgia for "South Winooki Avenue" and short years living on Maple Street in Burlington VT. Looking forward to finishing up in February.
Made it to the finish line with percussionist/drummer Scott Davis - as far as recording goes - even though we thought we were only mixing at this point - we were actually still discovering missing parts and throwing up microphones to catch the parts as they flew by! The music, all original compositions and soundscapes created by Scott, has been blowing my mind with it's outside the box thinking and right inside the zone playing - I think it will be just mixing from here on in and finishing up the project so Scott can get it to the mastering lab and then out to his eager fans. I hope he and Mary are celebrating his accomplishment with a nice glass of wine tonight.
The guitar in the beat up brown case that I never paid any mind was brought to my attention by my husband, who heard me muttering to myself that I was hankering to work on some songs on electric instead of my tried and true acoustic(s). This older semi-hollow body Guild cranked up very nicely and I've been living in a springy reverb world, tethered to a wonderful Headway amp on these frozen, winter days. Why not work with a mic on my vocals as well, just to balance it out - well, yesterday that worked great but today a hideous hum had attached itself to my little Toa 4 channel and no alteration of extension cords or plugs or circuits or inverters seemed to send it away. I have no idea how anything could be different between yesterday and today.
The upshot is 3-4 new songs though, and I'm on the prowl for a bass player and drummer. This next phase is going to be noisier and less wordsmith fussy. Just because I can ... and I have a few restless bones to pick with the rarified atmosphere most singer-songwriters are condemned to live in. I would just like to play some bars right now and play loud and have fun. We shall see...
It's been a good week for media exposure with reviews (finally) on Bow Thayer's newest release "Shooting Arrows at the Moon" on my Thunder Ridge Records label:
"Bow Thayer: Central Vermont tunesmith hits his stride" Tom Huntington, the Barre/Montpelier Times Argus, 1/29/10
"Shooting for perfection: Bow Thayer, one of Vermont's best-kept musical secrets" Brent Hallenbeck, the Burlington Free Press, 1/27/10
Bow and the Perfect Trainwreck are playing at the Chandler Music Hall Sat Jan 30 and I'm looking forward to hanging out with the boys and playing a couple acoustic cuts from our project, somewhere in the middle of all that rock and roll.