Dan Wilde
Dan would have been a local lad to me if I had stayed on the Fylde coast. He was originally based in Blackpool, so it's a little mystery why it took so long to make contact with him, but I did, and here is the result, with Dan Rogers on Bass. Link to video
Dan has one album to his credit and is about to start recording another, for which he needs a second Fylde guitar. That’s what we like to hear! To find out more go to Dans website.
A collector of co-incidence
I'm a collector of co-incidence. I know that mathematically, there are any number of "chance" happenings going on all the time, and we only get to notice the ones that are relevant to us, but it is still fun.
Within a few days last year, I was contacted by Chris Gerolmo and by Jason Howe, both of whom own " Sir Toby" acoustic bass guitars from the 1970's, and both of which had sustained "damage".
Here is Jason's guitar. It is the very first acoustic bass I made, ordered for Jason by his father, James Howe of Rotosound strings around 1975. It was in Jason's studio recently, when a shelf collapsed on it. It does look a bit sad, but there is hope, just give me time.
I met James Howe when we were discussing a "Rotosound" model acoustic guitar in about 1975. It is the only time I have ever ridden in a Rolls Royce! The story of Rotosound started when James was asked to make a set of Zither strings for Anton Karas, who played the theme music for "The Third Man" film, reaching the top of the charts in 1950 (so I’m told), and the string business took off from there. More about that a little later.
Rotosound website
Chris Gerolmo is best known for writing the screenplay for "Mississippi Burning" and for the TV series "Over There" about US forces in Iraq. He is also an author, guitarist and bass player. Have you ever heard a song accompanied by only acoustic bass guitar? - here is your chance. "Its everywhere" from his album "I’m your Daddy". Video link.
I'm sure there can't be many tracks like this one, its clear right from the start that no other instrument is going to join in. Chris had told me about it, so I was pre warned, but I still found the effect quite dramatic, the words themselves become "underlined" rather than "enclosed" if that makes any sense.
The damage to Chris's Bass wasn't so bad, and rather than ship it across the Atlantic twice he's managed to get it fixed locally. Customs officers and insurance companies have not yet managed to understand the term "returned for repair, zero commercial value", so that was just as well.
And here is Chris’s take on Psalm 33. Make a new sound upon the earth. Play skillfully.
And really loud!
Back to the co-incidence.
The best part of this story occurred on the way back from that meeting with Rotosound. Dave Walters was driving, we were on the London North Circular, listening to Barry Dransfield on the car tape player (remember how you could sometimes get a tune to play backwards?), and talking about Barry's playing style. Looking out of the car window, there was Barry Dransfield, standing on the pavement. Screech of brakes, afternoon spent in Barry's flat (drinking tea). Beat that if you can.
Here is a clip of Barry in film star role.
Barry's brother Robin still tells a very funny tale about when he, Bill Astley and myself had a few too many pints of Timothy Taylor's Landlord Bitter on the way home from Bill Leaders studio.
In the same week that I heard about the two bass guitars, I had a long overdue meet up with Martin Carthy. One of Martins "best" instrumentals is his arrangement of that same tune "The Third Man". It's even more of a stretch to play on his Falstaff, but I have seen him do it. Link to video.
A black bouzouki?
Last year I supplied a bouzouki to a Canadian military band, playing Irish music on a Greek Instrument in Iraq, via Nashville. I couldn’t say no to that could I? Well, I also took an order for another bouzouki, to be played in an American show with "Antonio Banderas/Clint Eastwood characterization", so of course, they wanted the bouzouki to be Black. Here it is! It goes without saying that when I have more info about the show, I'll let you know. I can’t wait.
Eric Bibb Video
I wish I had Eric's energy. He records two or three times a year, and is continually travelling the world with his "cedar top" and "pinky". I set him a challenge recently, to work out how many miles "Cedar Top" has travelled. It’s taking him a while.
Here is his latest video, the promo for his album "Deeper in the Well", filmed in Louisiana. Link to video.
Eric and Sari met a girl called Jessica with her boyfriend in a local restaurant, and that meeting led to her dancing in the film. I’ve been trying to imagine the conversation that took place between those events. I got stuck at "Hello".....
Looks like everybody enjoyed themselves, great film. Life on the road obviously has its good side. Eric's Site
A lovely gesture.
With all the DVDs and YouTube clips that I have now, it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to take a screen and DVD player to guitar shows. I mention most of my ideas to Gordon Giltrap, and he very quickly offered to record a whole session just for that purpose. The result is 12 pieces played on his various Fylde Guitars, specially filmed and recorded by Harold Haldershaw at Highlights Video. The recording is basically "flat", trying to get the natural sound of each guitar. It’s a gift from GG to me, free to do with whatever I wish. Look up "friendship" in the dictionary. Some of the tunes are on YouTube, here is one of them.
To put it very simply, thank you Gordon.
Frank Christian at Rockwood Music Hall, New York
Smashing song with Frank's ancient Ariel. His other Fylde is a Goodfellow, which he uses with Nanci Griffith. Obviously he likes small guitars.
Specially recorded with a moody microphone, wobbly camera and grainy filter, in a cold dark noisy club. Quality always shines through. Link to video