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Mar 16 2020

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Today I swam a mile, 64 lengths, freestyle, non-stop 46 minutes. It’s almost a record for me, although I don’t really compete with myself, I get in, do the best I can and hope I don’t get too much slower than before. I actually swam a little more, 70 lengths, I usually finish off with some backstroke and breaststroke to stretch some different muscles. The pool was pretty empty (unsurprisingly), I said “Hello” to one of the regulars as he was getting in. In the lane next to me was a woman. “Hello” he said to her, “How was the cruise?”. Inside I said WHAT?! Their conversation continued. “We went around New Zealand.” she said. “They almost didn’t let us off the boat. We only just managed to get the flight home…”. “No problems on the boat then?”, I offered tentatively. “No, no.” she said. She didn’t look ill, but she was really made up for the pool. I was hoping that she always did this.

Swimming is great, low impact, cardio, lots of muscles being used, the lungs love it. The chlorine is a bit of a problem though. Mostly when I get out my nose starts to run, then comes the sneezing. I suppose that all the good I’m doing to myself might be being ruined by the chemicals. Talking of chemicals some of the older women that come to swim seem to feel the need to wear perfume between home and the leisure centre. The problem with that is that as soon as they get in the water some kind of chemical reaction happens. You can almost see the fumes. The perfume aroma becomes so exaggerated it’s an instant headache if you breathe it in. Another thing that the older ladies do is keep their heads above water, never getting their hair wet. That would drive me mad, getting in the pool and not getting my head under the water, it’s one of the best things about it. I suppose I don’t have a ‘hairdo’. Not anymore, anyway.

Although the terrible situation in Italy is most serious right now I must share with you a moment when I was trying to find out about swimming in an Italian pool whilst being on tour in Italy. I think it was Milan, the ex band was doing some shows there and swimming on tour was the flavour of the day. Putting the effort in to stay fit whilst travelling (even harder work than trying to stay fit whilst at home). I found a pool, really nice place, one of those 100 year old pools with dark green tiles. There was no time to swim before soundcheck or at anytime on arrival day into the city, so knowing that the bus would be leaving early the next morning I asked the woman what time they opened as I’d like to get there between 8AM and 9AM. She looked at me with a confused look and said “Italians don’t swim in the morning, we open at midday”. Am I imagining this? Did this really happen? It sounds absurd.

Jonas arrived from Trier today. We met him on our German tour. Trier is the birthplace of Karl Marx and is also famous for the Porta Nigra (Latin for black gate). It is a Roman city gate, built sometime after 170AD. Jonas is one of the people that runs the venue that we played at in Trier. Small but lovely gig, we slept upstairs and when we awoke and looked out of the window, the Porta Nigra was right there, massive and dominating in the street. Consequently, this is a big tourist town in the summer, there were even tourists there in January. Anyway Jonas was telling us about his frustrations with the universe and we told him he should come and visit us at the Archive, see the lovely Cornish coast, breathe in some fresh sea air, so he did. AND he brought me an album, Marc Ribot and friends, Songs Of Resistance 1942 – 2018. Very cool.

I ran into Steve, the in-house soundman from local venue The Acorn (twice) today. I played there with All About Eve two or three times. It is actually where we recorded most of Fairy Light Nights, I think? Derek, is this true? So Steve and I were discussing if the booked shows at the venue were going ahead (Dom Joly, Boo Hewerdine). It’s the wrong time to be on tour for ticket sales. Us musician types are going to be finding other incomes if we can’t play live and can no longer sell records. Thank the lord for the sessions and the sessioneers. We put a cheeky donate button up for the blog on the website, no pressure. Although for many musicians and people generally out there, this is a nightmare. I heard today that Canada is closing its borders. Does that mean our May gigs in Quebec City with Anekdoten are off? Which means the Olivia and I gigs will be off. I guess we just have to wait and see.

Dare and I are in the studio tomorrow, Tuesday, for more Noctorum sessions. All this is certainly giving us more time to work on this, our fifth album, but I hope they keep the electricity on. Today we took down some recycling to the beach recycling bins. The supermarket is opposite, we went in and for the first time saw the results of the panic buying. I’ve never seen so many empty shelves. The supermarkets here are rationing toilet paper and pasta. It’s probably worse in the big cities. It’s like being in one of those end of the world movies…as long as we finish the album before it all goes South.

Music today has been an investigation into some records I bought at the behest of Steve Slimm who used to have the archive room before I did. He knew about the collection coming in and asked me if I had records by two bands, Marsupilami and 9.30 Fly. I’d never heard of either of them. They are progressive, folkey, flutey, guitary, too, great. I bought reissues of their records ages ago and I’m listening to them tonight. The Marsupilami album I have is from 1970 and the 9.30 Fly is from 1972. These are the times when it really matters having a good stereo.

Next came Gnidrolog, Lady Lake, odd Progressive band that released two albums in 1972 and broke up due to lack of any commercial success. They were formed by the Goldring brothers who named their band after rearranging the letters of their name and adding an ‘o’. Later in the decade they formed a controversial Punk band called the Pork Dukes that enraged the feminists, it’s all quite unexpected. The band also included Nigel Pegrum who joined Steeleye Span and Peter Cowling who joined Pat Travers. Next was Gryphon, described as Progressive Rock and Medieval Folk. They are allegedly famous for being on Radio 1,2,3 and 4 in the same week. BBC stations that feature different styles, catering for all age groups. Gryphon somehow managed to qualify for all of them. Interestingly, like Gnidrolog, two members of Gryphon, Richard Harvey and Jonathan Davie, formed the Punk band The Banned in 1977.

From Prog to Punk, a leap no-one could predict until perhaps you consider one peculiar connection between Prog and Punk…the Rickenbacker bass.

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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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
Marty & Pablo! 📷 Rod MacQuarrie Marty & Pablo!

📷 Rod MacQuarrie
At last, a proper door stop. 📷 @judgeschamber At last, a proper door stop.

📷 @judgeschamber 

#grammysitting 👵
🌵 Texas Acoustic Dates 🌵 31 December - DALL 🌵 Texas Acoustic Dates 🌵

31 December - DALLAS
7 January - CELINA
12 January - HOUSTON
14 January - AUSTIN
15 January - SAN ANTONIO

With @salimnourallah and @joereyesmusic

More info here: https://mailchi.mp/e47ede06acd6/texas-acoustic-dates
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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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