The Band Elwood, The Band

The Ryman,
June 2014

This Friday photo brought to you by:

• a 10 person band
• hearing your name shouted across a parking lot five minutes after arriving to the city
• free parking as a result of the above
• one desperation hot dog, three reading waters, a soda, and caramel corn (though maybe not in that order)
• an opening act which reminded you of Hardly Strictly (without the Solvang Strand)
• feet with dancing blisters
• four hours in the car for four hours not in the car
• a 2:00 a.m. Hey Jude singalong and a 7:30 a.m. conference call
• choosing memories over spreadsheets

Have a great weekend!  Happy reading! 

Don't Fret About It

I once dated a musician who wouldn't let me touch his guitar.*  He had a Gibson Hummingbird of a vintage year and was quite sentimental about it.  [It was the same guitar that Emmylou plays.]  Since I am a pianist, my genteel fingertips and resulting strums did not have the magic to land me in No Depression but I was allowed a few supervised forays into the world of Girls with Guitars.**

With music on the brain fresh from last night's live performance, this NYT article by Larry Richter grabbed my attention like a capo: Roll Over, Stradivarius: ‘Inventing the American Guitar’ Explores 1840s Innovations.  Martin's been making guitars since 1833.

   * Not a euphemism.
** Playing a guitar and the harmonica in a holder is way harder than it looks, particularly if you are trying to look cool.  [ See also: Flashbacks if you ever wore headgear for braces.]

PS  J, when it was clear that things weren't going to work out, I jammed on your guitar while you were out...a lot.

A Man and his Guitar

Today, I would like to give a nod to Les Paul. If you have never held and strummed a guitar, I think you should. The guitar is really a lot of fun to play, even if you don’t get the notes quite right, and you will learn very quickly that it is more difficult to master than you may have first gauged. Perhaps I hold this opinion because I love music, or maybe it is just because (like most of the people here) I once dated a musician who taught (or tried to teach) me a thing or two about guitars. Regardless, we have more than a bit of Les Paul history in our town and our music has been the richer for it. The NY Times has the Last Word.