Live Performances

Every Tuesday in December (12/2, 9, 16, 23, 30) 6-9 PM solo at The Taos Inn, Taos NM

Sunday December 21 6-9 PM The Serpent Herders at The Taos Inn, Taos NM

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Musings – My Guitars

Nobody would ever accuse me of being a gearhead. I’m a mostly self-taught guitar player. I can change strings, tune, and put on a capo but that’s about it. I don’t know much about different kinds of guitars or what makes one better than another.

In spite of all that, I am aware that I have a couple of really nice guitars. They were both given to me, and I love them both…they are on the short list of things I’d save in a fire.

This is my Gibson, given to me by my mom. It’s a B-25 (for all you gearheads who are reading this) from 1963. My mom bought it new for $100 when she was in college. Her father forbid her to buy it and she did anyway in what I gather was an extremely rare act of defiance. I don’t remember ever seeing her play it – it sat in its case in the back room of the house I grew up in, only seeing the light of day on a couple of occasions when my brother attempted to plunk out Metallica riffs.

When I was recording my first real studio album, Devil’s Rope, I told the studio owner about the guitar and he shook his head and said, “an instrument like that deserves to be played!” I told my mom what he said and asked her if she’d consider giving me the guitar, sure she’d say no. To my surprise she went out and bought a hard case and had it shipped from Albuquerque to Portland that same week! I took it to a guitar shop to have a pickup installed in it and watched the guitar tech’s face light up when he took it out of the case. It was in pristine condition for its age.

Not any more. That Gibson has been my main gigging guitar ever since. It has plenty of scratches and dings and has had to go into the shop for repairs a couple of times. It has a lot of character, and is certainly being played…thanks Mom!

This beauty is my Larrivee. It’s the guitar I usually use when I practice, and I also use it for bigger gigs when I’m not running my own sound because it has an active pickup that sounds amazing and doesn’t require me to haul around a D.I. (that, for all you other non-gearheads out there, stands for direct input and is a little electronic box. Not totally sure what it does, but the Gibson needs one).

It is no exaggeration to say this probably the most surprising and generous gift I’ve ever received. A songwriter named Mary Duwe, who I admire but didn’t know well, sent me a Facebook message a few years ago saying she was getting rid of instruments because she couldn’t play anymore due to hand difficulties. She said she had a guitar she’d like to give me. I went to her house on the south side of Taos one afternoon not knowing what to expect, and when she opened up the guitar case I was speechless. Even though I don’t know much about guitars, I could see the beauty and quality in this one. It has a big rich sound and detailed craftsmanship and I love it. She could have sold the instrument for a decent amount of money, but instead she chose to gift it to me and I was, and still am, extremely touched by the gesture.

Furthermore, when I get to the point where I can’t play guitar any more, I’m inspired to find musicians who will put these gems to good use and give them away. Because, after all, they deserve to be played.

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miscellaney

~ this pie is amazing, and you can satisfy the pumpkin pie lovers and pecan pie lovers at the same time!

~ recent reads (and listens) – Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks, Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel, The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The Hummingbird’s Gift by Sy Montgomery, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

~ I’m working on knitting a couple of sweaters but no finished objects this month…fingers crossed next month will be a double!

Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a cozy month and Happy Solstice!