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Feb 28 2020

TO WHERE I AM NOW

By the way, did I tell you that Jon Bon Jovi was at the Abbey Road zebra crossing yesterday, having his picture taken along with all the nerds? I heard him say to the photographer “Did you get it?”. Rainy old day today, started by sitting in the kitchen with Colleen, all cosy with a cup of tea, watching a pair of goldfinches on the bird feeder. Today was Hampton Court day, we were off to see Henry VIII and the remains of his wives. It’s so close to Biggles and Colleen’s house. We took the train from New Malden, 4 stops and we were there. We walked over the bridge and there it was, the Hampton Court Palace. We went through the gates into the ticket office, I went to pay and as I pulled my card out the woman behind the counter said, we close at 4.30pm today. I looked at her, sighed, weighed up £55 for just over an hour and decided on the spot not to stay. We’ll come back another day, maybe take the boat up the river instead of the train, find a nicer day and spend an hour at least just getting lost in the maze.

So unplanned we went into Central London again. We got off the train at Oxford Circus, Olivia looked at some clothes shops and I went to Sister Ray records on Berwick Street in Soho. Opposite the store is a Swedish cafe (Hi Adam) that Olivia likes, so she went and camped in there whilst I did my best not to buy any records. The problem is that it’s Sister Ray and finding that last Agitation Free record I don’t have, a reissue of the Forest album (the original goes for £600), two early Audience albums and that David Axelrod album, Seriously Deep, that I’ve been dying to buy. What are you going to do? I also bought the new Grimes, Miss Anthropocene, £16 – very affordable. Not sure I’m going to like it, but I wanted to sit down with a latest release, a contemporary album by an artist that isn’t my usual choice. I did it with Solange.

Although it wasn’t planned, it was nice to have another walk around Central London. Oxford Street, Soho, Shaftesbury Avenue, Charing Cross Road, Leicester Square, Waterloo Station. Record shops, clothes shops, cafes. Walking through Chinatown, being on the underground, hearing all the different languages.

Just being in London and taking it all in. I love the city. But I love the countryside, too, different flavours, watching the birds through the window is as stimulating as watching the humans in the street. We walked past the Palladium (where we saw Roy Harper last year) towards Carnaby Street. Outside the Palladium was a long queue of boys and girls in their late twenties and early thirties, all the men had beards. Who was playing? City and Colour, except Color must be spelt without the ‘u’ because Dallas Green (get it) is American. I suppose fans look like the bands they are queuing to see and the picture outside the venue proved that. The length of the queue and the size of the venue proved how big he is.

This trip to London has been so quick, just passing through. We were hoping to spend more time with Biggles and Colleen, see my luthier buddy Scrim and hang with Boydy and Trish and visit Henry and Abbey Road together, but the problem with life is that it gets in the way with the things you want to do…in your life. Well at least we got to see Bear the fluffy keeshond after his grooming, all fresh and ready for tomorrow morning’s muddy walk. I’ll finish up by saying that the last two days we have been with zillions of people in London, on the tube, in the street, in the shops, we’ve walked through Chinatown twice, hung out in Bar Italia and are staying in the area with the highest concentration of people from Korea in Britain. All alleged Coronavirus hotspots. Masks are a rare sight, there is no feeling of worldwide pandemic panic over here. I just thought you should know that. Although Boots in Oxford Street has run out of hand sanitizer. The best advice I’ve heard is wash your hands regularly, in fact Lush (soap shop) had a sign outside “come in and wash your hands for free”, seemed like a bargain, so we did.

Tomorrow we get the best of both worlds, travelling 6 hours to the Cornish coast. A small seaside town, all kinds of wildlife on the land and in the water, in the streets, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Lots of familiar faces and the In Deep Music Archive where I can deposit and alphabetize all this tour’s record purchases and continue working on the Noctorum, Atlantaeum Flood, Space Summit, Anekdoten, Olivia and I and sessioneers’ projects. So much music, so little time.

Written by Marty Willson-Piper · Categorized: Blog

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there's any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

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Rockin' the MOAT t-shirt next to the real deal! #m Rockin' the MOAT t-shirt next to the real deal! #moatband #poisonstream 🤘🏰

T-Shirt Design by Reid Wilson
Photo by @oliviaelektra 

#schoolkidsrecords #nikoröhlcke #wellscathedral
Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower disco 🕺🏻 #heyday
Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th Fe Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th February, 2001. All About Eve supporting Fairport Convention.

📷 by @derektimbrell
Thanks to The Wernickis for a little glimpse into Thanks to The Wernickis for a little glimpse into their new New Mexico listening space 🌵 #nightjar #schoolkidsrecords
Redeyed lad of the lowlands 🎵 📷 @oliviaelek Redeyed lad of the lowlands 🎵

📷 @oliviaelektra 

#danelectro #danelectrobass #redeyerecords #pleasantrylane #pleasantrylanestudio
You usually don’t spend the day in the studio an You usually don’t spend the day in the studio and the night at a gig but if you put the studio next to the gig then there’s a greater chance. So @salimnourallah did just that, he put the gig and the studio next to each other and made it possible for me to spend the day recording and the evening playing live 🎵

📷 @drewliophoto 

#galacticheadquarters #happinessarecordlabel #pleasantrylanestudio #salimnourallah #oliviawillsonpiper
TO WHERE I AM NOW A visit in the studio today fro TO WHERE I AM NOW

A visit in the studio today from old mate Mark Burgess from The Chameleons who has been hanging in Texas recently. I was thinking about the two of us growing up in the northwest of England and all these years later finding ourselves in such an unlikely spot together. We fixed a few issues in the universe and I carried on recording some guitars until Mark had to leave. Mark had played at the Galactic Headquarters next to the studio this year as Olivia and I had four years ago and this reminded me to remind myself to remind everyone to remind their friends that we will be playing there with Salim on Saturday, New Year’s Eve, for the ultimate in intimate performance. You can get tickets here (follow link below).

CONTINUE READING: https://martywillson-piper.com/2022/12/to-where-i-am-now-1045

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📷 @salimnourallah 

#markburgess #thechameleons #chameleonsvox #pleasantrylanestudio #happinessarecordlabel #martywillsonpiper #oliviawillsonpiper #moatband
📷 @argirgirl 📷 @argirgirl
TO WHERE I AM NOW Sadness manifested in a buildin TO WHERE I AM NOW

Sadness manifested in a building, today we went to visit Paisley Park. Prince built Paisley Park in Chanhassen, about twenty minutes southwest of Minneapolis. It opened in 1987 and he recorded his later albums there. Apart from Prince, REM also recorded and mixed Out Of Time there, recording Kate Pearson’s vocal on Shiny Happy People vocal. Madonna had Prince play guitar on three songs from Like A Prayer and the two co-wrote Love Song, finishing it remotely due to Madonna not being able to stand the cold weather and the rather desolate location of the studio. Of course, there are things around but it’s not in the city and it’s not in the countryside, it’s in a suburb, no distractions, just what Prince wanted.

CONTINUE READING: https://martywillson-piper.com/2022/12/to-where-i-am-now-1032

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📷 @argirgirl 

#paisleypark #prince
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In Deep Music Archive

Songwriting & Guitar Guidance with Marty Willson-Piper
ORDER HERE

"These are awesome sessions that I highly recommend for guitar players of all levels. Very informative, frank discussions on everything related to guitar and music in general. Definitely a must for anyone pursuing songwriting."
(Stephen G., VA, USA)

"Marty knows how to bypass scales and get to the heart of feel and timing. His musical knowledge spans multiple cultures and genres. Perhaps most importantly, Marty is a cool dude. I highly recommend his guitar guidance." (Jed B., MN, USA)

"Ok, so you’re sitting in your home and Marty is across the world but is actually right here teaching you how to play guitar and write songs. He is a delight to talk to and he is your teacher, meaning he wants to see you get something out of his lessons. You know he’s paying attention and wants to steer you in the right direction. I am so grateful and humbled that he offers his time in this manner. This is an amazing opportunity for anyone who admires anything from his enormous body of work. How often do you get to learn from somebody that inspired you in the first place? Amazing." (Ann S., CA, USA)

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there’s any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

11209512_1669022976719710_7288437867089763325_n

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