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Feb 25 2020

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Last day in Germany, Shrove Tuesday, Siv made us pancakes for breakfast, English style thin with sugar and lemon. It takes me straight back to childhood, not only because of the taste, but because we only had this treat once a year. I really thought that you were only allowed to eat pancakes on this one day…and then I went to America. In Sweden they eat semlor, a creamy super sweet cake and it seems like this tradition exists in the Christian world to use up what’s left in the cupboard before the fast to Easter. I had no idea, Siv did some research. I didn’t even know that Christians had a fasting tradition. If you are not brought up with religious ritual these things pass you by.

It was get up and pack day today, will the records fit? Do I need my two acoustic 12 strings? Can we carry everything bearing in mind we are on the train and not flying? Is there a baggage limit on the Eurostar? Do I need my big coat? Are we taking sandwiches? Are my iPods charged? Do I have the right adaptor plugs? How long will we be in England? Despite being a veteran traveller it’s not easy to remember absolutely everything. I’ve started to make lists: Gym/pool lists, shopping lists, record lists, Brahms and Liszt.

Despite all these mind-numbing responsibilities we had arranged to go to Bonn today to meet Barbara who supported us at the Düsseldorf gig and livestream. Siv lent us the Fiesta and I broke all cool protocol and listened to Double Vision by Foreigner on the iPod. Olivia had to go and pick up her cellolin today from the luthier in (wait for it) Mozartstrasse (Mozart street), so while she was in there I took the opportunity to listen to the first Foreigner album, too (formed by Mick Jones who was in the latter day Spooky Tooth and Ian McDonald who was in the early days of King Crimson). 80 million records later, yes they sold that many records but despite being much maligned by anybody who might have taste, I think there’s one album that has great songs, Double Vision, that’s the only one. Hot Blooded is of course very silly, but I Iike the other songs. After that it was Fire And Water by Free and Houses Of The Holy by Led Zep so I went a bit seventies Rock mad today. We went to Nobbi’s record store and I bought Sound by The Mighty Lemon Drops (1991) and Permanent Damage, the last Icicle Works album (1990), so big jump from the seventies sound to the nineties sound. A record by Alan Ross (I already have two records by him, but nobody really knows who he is), last but not least I bought a vinyl copy of the brilliantly titled Electric Landlady by Kirsty MacColl. You may know she was tragically killed, run over by a boat whilst on holiday. It’s one of the most terrible stories, I won’t retell it here.

We arrived right on time at A Taste Of India in a part of Bonn I hadn’t been to before. It was a Southern Indian cuisine. It’s funny, I’m not a foodie, but Barbara was telling us tonight how she was a foodie after we discussed our hobbies, (ha ha, mine were…) Olivia and I are so picky with food. Whenever anyone invites us to dinner I always say “Are you sure you want to do that?”. But anyway, nice chat about the universe with Barbara. We ate the typical dish of this cuisine, vege dosas, nice. I never talk about food and that’s twice in one day.

We got back to the house in time to see Chelsea get hammered 0-3 at home in the Champions League against Bayern Munich. Then I listened to a bit of new artist Hazel English, before listening to the new Ozzy album, Ordinary Man, the last two tracks featuring rappers Post Malone and Travis Scott. It’s a long way from seeing Black Sabbath on the Vol. 4 tour at the Stadium in Liverpool in the seventies, or is it? I was talking to sesh man Tony on Sunday about how unheavy Sabbath’s sound actually was, especially Vol. 4 onwards and when you compare it to what happened in Metal music since…Ozzy has a kinda sweet voice actually, is it double-tracked all the time? It’s always so smooth. I went to see them with the Anekdoten lads in Stockholm on their final tour, Ozzy sang Iron Man so flat, all the way through. No one seemed to notice. Flat Iron Man. I’m back on Hazel English now, so keeping it eclectic.

Whenever I’m in a foreign country and heading back to my own country, I always hate to leave. Not because I have a problem with my country, but because I like the strangeness of somewhere I didn’t grow up, especially when it’s a foreign language. I’ll miss the left hand drive cars, the signs that I can’t read and all those odd little differences that make you feel like you’re in a parallel universe. It’s exciting, isn’t it? I don’t identify with home, not a home, that would be nice, but home as in where I’m from (Heimat in German). I’m at home with people from all over the world, like I’m at home with other people’s ways of making music. I don’t have to like it to appreciate it and the image never hides the quality or blurs the intent. Remember when Bowie toured with Peter Frampton as his guitarist? Remember when Aerosmith and Run DMC did Walk This Way?

Did you know that John Mayer plays with the Grateful Dead? What a wonderful world of surprises we live in.

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.

11209512_1669022976719710_7288437867089763325_n

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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 🎵

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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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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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In Deep Music Archive

Songwriting & Guitar Guidance with Marty Willson-Piper
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"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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