RMMGA Guitar Weekend, Derbyshire, March 2015
Mar 27, 2015 9:52:47 GMT
Martin, ocarolan, and 4 more like this
Post by andyhowell on Mar 27, 2015 9:52:47 GMT
A few people have asked me to write a review of the recent RMMGA weekend. I had started to write this when news of John Renbourn’s death came through; John was one of our guests for the weekend. Anyhow, I thought I should finish it.
What on earth is RMMGA? rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic was a Usenet group, an open computer conference that was popular on the internet in the days before the www protocols were launched. RMMGA became something of a global guitar community. Just under twenty years ago — on both sides of the Atlantic — members of the forum began to meet regularly. The UK events are still going on and the weekend event I went to, I believe, was the eighteenth. I had wanted to go to the first couple but things got in the way and somehow I didn’t make one until this weekend.
The RMMGA events have some similarities to our own events. About 30 to 40people turn up for a weekend, a mixture of guitarists from novices to professionals and contemporary fingerstyle players, blues player to those who prefer classical guitar. However, these events differ in that they may slightly more intimidating for novices. RMMGA uses a PA system (which not everyone is used to). Accommodation is not up to our standard. I spent a weekend sharing a room with two others and sleeping on camp bed. However, the cut price approach to accommodation allows the organisers to book a series of guests; what we end up with is a kind of mix of a guitar weekend and a folk club.
After a communal meal we kicked off on Friday evening with a set from Steve Tilston. If you’ve not seen Steve try and make a point to do so. He is one of our top singer songwriters and a great guitarist. Perhaps, he is a bit more understated and a little less strident as some and, maybe as a result, a little unknown but he is top, top class. Most of his set came from his recent two or three albums. A great way to get us going.
Seeing a group of greats at the same time allows you to understand more about their own sense of community. Steve told me that it was Wizz who set him on his way to a professional career. Wiz saw Steve playing Liverpool and recommended he came to London. He gave him his address and told him to look himself up. The next weekend Steve was in London and knocking on Wizz’s door. Wiz gave him somewhere to live for his first few weeks.
Wiz and John were, I think, booked to play on Saturday evening. They had arrived on Friday, mid-tour, from Kendall in the Lakes. After Steve finished they we up ad on the stage; there was no way they were going to mis a chance to entertain and they delivered a great set of mainly requests from the floor. There was communal singing and playing late into the night.
I was up early on Saturday morning and so was John Renbourn. we had quite a chat and I’m so pleased that I was able to do so given the subsequent events. He was a warm man who loved his playing. I ventured that his tour schedule was a bit bonkers for a duo of their age — he grinned. I just love playing music was the reply. He had entered our main room/come kitchen as I was playing one of my own instrumentals. I confessed it didn’t have a name as yet. He gave me a wink and a smile. That’s lovely he said. It was a lovely and understated but very effective way of encouraging someone. Of breakfast we talked of touring and especially of camper vans. John’s camper van had changed his life he told me! No more tents or lack of festival privacy. He’d taken the van all over Europe.
The rest of the morning and early afternoon were taken up with the usual guitar playing, talking about instruments, swapping instruments around and so on.
John then decided to get going again and he launched into an impromptu workshop. He was asked about a version of the Thelonius Monk tune Round Midnight which someone had heard him play twenty years or so before. John chatted not only about his arrangement but shared stories about the original Monk recording sessions. Then he set about re-creating the arrangement and played us a lovely version coupled with Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. Wizz then dragged away from his bag to join in. The two of them talked about their youth, discovering the country blues and so on. With both of them into their 70’s you kind of thought this was a special kind of session and, sadly, so it proved.
Later in the evening the two of them delivered a new set. John was playing sideman to Wizz contributing great accompaniment guitar and finger style solos. Wizz delivered some great songs, some blues classics and some wonderfully chosen contemporary classics. There were memories of Bert Jansch and Jackson C Frank. It was nice to see that Wizz has adapted the words of Blues Run the Game to acknowledge Frank.
On Sunday we were left to our own devices. When we’d arrived all the names had been put into a hat and we were then paired up together and rehearse something, similar to the way in which AS events work. There some great musicians there. The sun shone in the afternoon and we had a great country and blues session out on the porch. In the evening we finished off the ‘picky dip’ performances which were enhanced by a number of short sets from some great performers. We had original songs, country standards and some stunning contemporary finger style guitar.
So, all in all great weekend. While being similar to the AS events it was different and probably aimed more at those of regularly play in clubs or in other public settings. It felt half way between the AS events and Paul Brett’s Welsh weekends.
The one advantage of using a PA (and there are many disadvantages) was that everything was taped. I was backing up the sessions on my Zoom recorder. I have a recording of the Friday evening set and there will be one of Saturday as well. I shall try and see if we can get permission to publish these on the web.
What on earth is RMMGA? rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic was a Usenet group, an open computer conference that was popular on the internet in the days before the www protocols were launched. RMMGA became something of a global guitar community. Just under twenty years ago — on both sides of the Atlantic — members of the forum began to meet regularly. The UK events are still going on and the weekend event I went to, I believe, was the eighteenth. I had wanted to go to the first couple but things got in the way and somehow I didn’t make one until this weekend.
The RMMGA events have some similarities to our own events. About 30 to 40people turn up for a weekend, a mixture of guitarists from novices to professionals and contemporary fingerstyle players, blues player to those who prefer classical guitar. However, these events differ in that they may slightly more intimidating for novices. RMMGA uses a PA system (which not everyone is used to). Accommodation is not up to our standard. I spent a weekend sharing a room with two others and sleeping on camp bed. However, the cut price approach to accommodation allows the organisers to book a series of guests; what we end up with is a kind of mix of a guitar weekend and a folk club.
After a communal meal we kicked off on Friday evening with a set from Steve Tilston. If you’ve not seen Steve try and make a point to do so. He is one of our top singer songwriters and a great guitarist. Perhaps, he is a bit more understated and a little less strident as some and, maybe as a result, a little unknown but he is top, top class. Most of his set came from his recent two or three albums. A great way to get us going.
Seeing a group of greats at the same time allows you to understand more about their own sense of community. Steve told me that it was Wizz who set him on his way to a professional career. Wiz saw Steve playing Liverpool and recommended he came to London. He gave him his address and told him to look himself up. The next weekend Steve was in London and knocking on Wizz’s door. Wiz gave him somewhere to live for his first few weeks.
Wiz and John were, I think, booked to play on Saturday evening. They had arrived on Friday, mid-tour, from Kendall in the Lakes. After Steve finished they we up ad on the stage; there was no way they were going to mis a chance to entertain and they delivered a great set of mainly requests from the floor. There was communal singing and playing late into the night.
I was up early on Saturday morning and so was John Renbourn. we had quite a chat and I’m so pleased that I was able to do so given the subsequent events. He was a warm man who loved his playing. I ventured that his tour schedule was a bit bonkers for a duo of their age — he grinned. I just love playing music was the reply. He had entered our main room/come kitchen as I was playing one of my own instrumentals. I confessed it didn’t have a name as yet. He gave me a wink and a smile. That’s lovely he said. It was a lovely and understated but very effective way of encouraging someone. Of breakfast we talked of touring and especially of camper vans. John’s camper van had changed his life he told me! No more tents or lack of festival privacy. He’d taken the van all over Europe.
The rest of the morning and early afternoon were taken up with the usual guitar playing, talking about instruments, swapping instruments around and so on.
John then decided to get going again and he launched into an impromptu workshop. He was asked about a version of the Thelonius Monk tune Round Midnight which someone had heard him play twenty years or so before. John chatted not only about his arrangement but shared stories about the original Monk recording sessions. Then he set about re-creating the arrangement and played us a lovely version coupled with Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. Wizz then dragged away from his bag to join in. The two of them talked about their youth, discovering the country blues and so on. With both of them into their 70’s you kind of thought this was a special kind of session and, sadly, so it proved.
Later in the evening the two of them delivered a new set. John was playing sideman to Wizz contributing great accompaniment guitar and finger style solos. Wizz delivered some great songs, some blues classics and some wonderfully chosen contemporary classics. There were memories of Bert Jansch and Jackson C Frank. It was nice to see that Wizz has adapted the words of Blues Run the Game to acknowledge Frank.
On Sunday we were left to our own devices. When we’d arrived all the names had been put into a hat and we were then paired up together and rehearse something, similar to the way in which AS events work. There some great musicians there. The sun shone in the afternoon and we had a great country and blues session out on the porch. In the evening we finished off the ‘picky dip’ performances which were enhanced by a number of short sets from some great performers. We had original songs, country standards and some stunning contemporary finger style guitar.
So, all in all great weekend. While being similar to the AS events it was different and probably aimed more at those of regularly play in clubs or in other public settings. It felt half way between the AS events and Paul Brett’s Welsh weekends.
The one advantage of using a PA (and there are many disadvantages) was that everything was taped. I was backing up the sessions on my Zoom recorder. I have a recording of the Friday evening set and there will be one of Saturday as well. I shall try and see if we can get permission to publish these on the web.
Jo whoever he is.
