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Post by PistolPete on Oct 31, 2017 11:40:37 GMT
Brilliant that Pete, I had actually watched this earlier on utube. Look forward to some more. Thanks for checking it out I was interrupted by a small person as the video was uploading so I didn't get the chance to share it straight away
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Post by PistolPete on Oct 30, 2017 19:21:50 GMT
My pal Alex took some footage on the night. More is likely to emerge over the next few days
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Post by PistolPete on Oct 29, 2017 16:01:29 GMT
Cool title Pete, I shall have a listen. The follow up could be called, 'Wattle and Daub' or 'Limewash', if you want to stick with the theme That may very much depend what form the next project takes! That said, 'Suffolk Pink' is a traditional delicate pink colour made by mixing limewash & pig or ox blood. There's definitely some mileage in that metaphor...
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Post by PistolPete on Oct 28, 2017 9:06:12 GMT
Back in July I organised an invite-only gig at The Ancient High House in Stafford - a five storey Jacobean timber framed town house in Stafford now open as a museum. We recorded the gig (which also featured a guest appearance from singer-songwriter, & mate of Amit , Dan Hartland on mandolin) with a view to putting out a live album &, well, it's here! It's all traditional material, with a bit of a gentler note than some of what I've done in the past. You can hear a track on my bandcamp page & place a pre-order should you wish From the press release: AWARD-WINNING BLUESMAN RELEASES “HISTORIC” LPStafford, 18/10/17On 6th November, the award-winning blues musician Pistol Pete Wearn releases a collection of traditional material recorded live in the prestigious location of England’s largest surviving timber-framed townhouse. Timber Framed sees Wearn treat the word “roots” more literally than most, going back to his own in live performance and Mississippi folksong, but also playing that music in downhome, countrified fashion amidst the Jacobean splendour of Stafford’s historic Ancient High House – which was reputedly built, in 1594, entirely from local wood. “Stafford is my hometown,” says the Midlands-based bluesman, who was last year named Moonshine Magazine’s solo blues artist of the year. “So the opportunity to record an album in its most recognisable landmark was too good to miss.” The record sees Wearn interpret songs made famous by everyone from Mississippi John Hurt and Robert Johnson to Hound Dog Taylor – but also softer traditionals which bring out the folkier side of this often wild slide guitarist, such as “Crawdad Hole” and “KC Railroad Blues”. “I’ve loved this music since I was a teenager, and it seemed like the right point in my career to return to it,” Wearn explains. “There’s a lot to play with in these deceptively simple tunes, and the live environment is a great place to explore those possibilities.” Wearn’s last studio album, 2016’s Service Station Coffee, featured a set of largely self-penned numbers, and was described by Maverick magazine as “Suberb British blues”. Timber Framed appears ahead of a second studio album slated for next year, and establishes Wearn as a unique interpreter of blues standards. Recorded before an audience amidst exhibits of Ancient Egyptian artefacts and the museum of the Staffordshire Yeomanry, this storied album also features the mandolin and vocals of singer-songwriter Dan Hartland (“Absolutely gorgeous – what an incredible voice,” BBC Introducing). It will be led by the single, “Gonna Look Just Like A Monkey (When You Get Old)”. “I always enjoy the element of humour in a lot of old blues songs” opines Wearn. “When I first heard this old hokum tune I rather identified with its message of encroaching hair growth and knobbly knees, and when we play it live I always enjoy watching the audience break into a smile as we reach the punchline at the end of each verse”. Something of the atmosphere and warmth of the building in which the album was recorded finds its way into these choice cuts. In its time, Stafford's Ancient High House has played host to luminaries such as King Charles I - and has now seen the ghosts of the Mississippi bluesmen pay a haunting visit.Timber Framed offers a rootsy, even woody, reanimation of some of the best songs in the blues canon.
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Post by PistolPete on Oct 6, 2017 11:13:29 GMT
Since our first family computer introduced me to the opportunity to read so much about instruments and guitars in particular, I came across the often discussed "red label" Yamaha's of the 70's." Got myself a couple, but because of my very limited abilities offer no comments on their sound quality. Leaving that to you guys. Anyone have an opinion or experience with any of these? I have a tan label, 'Made In Japan' FG300, which another forum about acoustic guitars tells me is probably 1972. I love it - genuinely think it's one of the best guitars I've ever played, laminate top & all. Plays like the proverbial butter. Although they were twice the price of the FG180 when they were new, these days you seem to be able to pick them up for slightly less, I imagine because fewer people owned them back in the 70s & therefore feel nostalgic for one, which is daft because, although they're broadly the same construction, the finish on them is to a considerably higher standard. Spurred on by my love of the FG300 I picked up a late 60s Red Label Nippon Gakki FG230 12 string in a junk shop. I didn't get on so well with that one. Whether it was down to the years being less kind on the instrument, or the 12-stringiness, I just didn't find it comfortable to play & I sold it on at a small profit around 6 months later.
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Post by PistolPete on Oct 2, 2017 20:08:47 GMT
Does a vintage guitar actually sound "better" over a period of time or does it just sound "different". Like....different because it may have a different sound compared to the sound of guitars made today. I might sound rather confused and garbled,(my usual state) but what I'm trying to say is that I like differing guitars with different sounds......irrespective of their age. The sound of acoustics definitely changes as they age - the hemicellulose gradually evaporates meaning the top gets lighter & stiffer over time. Many people also believe that the vibrations produced by playing the instrument change its sound over time, but that is much more controversial & there's no scientific evidence for it. Of course whether "different" means "better" is largely a matter of personal taste. That said I do take your point on them being built differently. Certainly the 'vintage' market as we know it was born out of a significant decline in the quality of the instruments from the big names hitting the market in the late 60s and early 70s as they scaled up their manufacturing. I think the rise of computer controlled manufacturing means those issues are much less prevalent in a 2017 Martin than in a 1977 one. The other significant difference is that in the 40s they were passing over tropical tonewoods for minor cosmetic issues that many luthiers would kill to get their hands on now supplies are scarcer. I find it interesting that the discussion here has focused on the high end vintage market (I know I lead it that way a little with my aside about the 1949 J45, but it was pretty...). My two main instruments are a 1940ish Gibson L50 & a 1972 Yamaha FG300 - I genuinely think they're both remarkable instruments for the money I spent on them & they offer much more bang for the buck than a new J45 or D28 would have. The Yamaha in particular kicks the behind of any new acoustic in the £200 range to Timbuktu and back.
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Post by PistolPete on Sept 30, 2017 9:00:08 GMT
A "proper performer" eh, andyhowell? That may go on the next round of press quotes I played Leo's" frisky in the bar" (as I call it ) at one gig they loved it 2 days later played it again, deathly applause and a woman came up to me afterwards and said it made her, as a woman feel uncomfortable. Strange I often find my more humorous songs will play well with one audience & then whizz over the heads of the next one. Just make sure the music is good enough to make it fly even if no one realises there's a joke. I don't ever recall any actual complaints though, unless you count the local radio station that edited out the line 'won't you squeeze my lemon until the juice runs down my leg' from my version of travelling riverside blues, thereby ruining the metre.
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Post by PistolPete on Sept 24, 2017 17:34:30 GMT
I'm just curious really - whilst I appreciate that most players here are likely to own both instruments they got new, as well ones they've bought that already had some pedigree, do you lust after something that's new & out of the box, or something that's seen some miles already?
If money was no object, would you be commissioning a build by a famous luthier or seeking out golden era guitars to try?
A casual stroll down Denmark street earlier in the week left me idly wondering if I could find three and a half times the price of a new J45 to take home one that was 70 years old...
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Post by PistolPete on Sept 24, 2017 15:54:53 GMT
I'm out and about pushing my new live album over the couple of months. If you're near to any of them please come along and say hello - I always enjoy a geeky guitar conversation after a show
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Post by PistolPete on Sept 13, 2017 15:18:04 GMT
I have the Jim Dandy & I'm rather fond of it. I put a Baggs Anthem SL in it & gigged it heavily for a couple of years until I *accidentally* came home with my Gibson last year.
Someone who'd seen me play it previously was asking me why I didn't have it with me & offering me silly money for it over the weekend.
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Post by PistolPete on Aug 24, 2017 18:49:21 GMT
Forgive me if this in in the wrong forum, I wasn't quite sure where it fitted Anyhow this - is a track from Service Station Coffee we always wanted to do a video for but never quite got round to. I was playing around with the timelapse function on my phone & came up with this - me coming back from last night's gig playing for the campers at Silverstone in super quick time. Northamptonshire to Stafford in 3 minutes & 44 seconds....
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Post by PistolPete on Aug 23, 2017 9:28:26 GMT
earwighoney - I'm listening to Charlie Hicks this morning & very much enjoying it - good find
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Post by PistolPete on Aug 22, 2017 12:11:42 GMT
Clive Barnes might interest you. I met Clive, briefly, at a festival we both did in 2015. I'm doing it again in a few weeks & he lives locally, so I imagine I'll have an opportunity to catch him again
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Post by PistolPete on Aug 22, 2017 9:58:14 GMT
Charlie Parr, Reverend Peyton, Jeff Lang and Kelly Joe Phelps are on my playlist. & mine! Although I've been less keen on Rev Peyton's recent work & KJP is taking time off from music. Charlie Parr does have a new album out next month though
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Post by PistolPete on Aug 22, 2017 9:54:08 GMT
Have you come across Ben Smith? Currently performing in a duo with Jimmy Brewer Ben and JimmyI have not - just checking them out via Spotify now & I'm very much enjoying them.
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