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Mar 17 2020

TO WHERE I AM NOW

So welcome to the saddest St. Patrick’s day in history. So sad in fact that Irish flags were hard to come by. We could do with St. Patrick at the moment with his knack of banishing snakes. I wonder how he was with the banishing of viruses and controlling wet markets? But then looking at the news it seems like a lot of young people just ignored all the warnings about social distancing and being in crowds. I guess they figure that the young aren’t dying.

I wonder how many realize that St. Patrick was actually born in Roman Britain and was taken to Ireland as a teenager after being captured by Irish pirates. This all happened around the fifth century. But he did allegedly introduce christianity to Ireland after escaping back to Britain and returning to Irish shores. On the snakes thing, there is no evidence that there were ever any snakes in Ireland. The legend was most likely a metaphor for expelling the Druids.

As far as trying to stop people going out tonight of all nights, I guess it didn’t help with Boris Johnson’s dad saying he wasn’t going to stop going to the pub. All eyes are on Italy with so many deaths, hoping for a reduction, a light at the end of the tunnel. Death and financial ruin, it’s all so nasty and not knowing what the outcome is going to be is just so frustrating. I guess we’ve just got to hang in there, stay clean, be kind and hope that it all goes away, but one wonders, is this going to improve us? Are we going to learn anything? Maybe this, quote: “A sudden drop in China’s air pollution may have saved tens of thousands of lives.”

I was up early this morning after a late night. Sesh with Rohan in Sydney was at 9AM and although we finished shortly before Dare arrived for our studio date today, I trundled off back to bed for a couple of hours. It ended up being a fractured studio day as Dare started working on Space Summit’s early instrumental demos, seeing if he could knock them into shape for potential extra tracks for the album we have been working on, but it wasn’t to be. Space Summit is a project with sessioneer Jed. We’ve written ten songs together (he did most of the work) and now Dare and I are getting them into shape for an album (Dare is doing most of the work). I am adding guitars and bass to the tracks as we turn Jed’s (and my) ideas into a real album. BUT first we need to get our trusty drummer Ed on the remaining tracks. At the moment he is only on four tracks, so we need to get him down here, but the way things are who knows when that will be. We hope to release some singles this year, we’ll see. Later in the day Dare started on one of the Noctorum tracks, looking at the guitars we’d recorded and I started on the words, it’s coming together nicely.

Although Atantaeum Flood II has now been postponed till who knows when and the Nightjar vinyl release for Record Store Day postponed till June, we are a little uncertain of the release date for Poison Stream, the new MOAT record. Even if everything has stopped out there we are trying to keep everything moving in here. Staying positive and staying creative. This is an opportunity as well as a tragedy. A terrible inconvenience that gives you more time. No distractions and distractions are the death of creative pursuit. Of course actually dying is a large distraction, too. Let’s try and avoid that.

Although Olivia and Jonas went on a tourist visit to Land’s End today, my outdoor hours were short, seeing Simeon at the Citroen coffee truck and having a chat with local music lovers Gareth and Richard, although somehow we were discussing My Sharona by The Knack (Ha ha). But as I said to them, are you aware of Doug Fieger’s previous band Sky (no, not John William’s Sky), the American Sky? Two albums, a three piece from Detroit. Produced by Jimmy Miller (Stones man), Gary Wright (ex Spooky Tooth), and Andy Johns (everybody). A bit Glam, a bit middle of the road, a bit Rock, some Country Rock (a bit all over the place without the material to justify it). But perhaps the most revealing moment of the day was standing outside Thornes the greengrocers when three girls in their uniforms just out of school were walking past the shop. One of them was reading out loud from her phone to the other two. What was she reading? The symptoms of the corona virus.

Today Jonas had a chance to look a little deeper into the archive, so tonight’s music are all his choices. Some he knew, some are experiments. The first thing he picked was Octopus (1972) by Gentle Giant, the first album I got to know and love by them (their fourth). Then a total random pick, Tear Gas. A Scottish band that was in essence The Sensational Alex Harvey Band except Alex Harvey hadn’t joined yet (Davey Batchelor was the singer). Quite a pricey rarity on the Regal Zonophone label, Hard Rock from 1971. Batchelor ended up coming in as producer from their third album onwards (I presume it’s the same person, now called David). Next came the album with perhaps the greatest Prog cover ever, the sole album (till the nineties) by Quatermass, released in 1971. No guitars, organ heavy Rock from the early seventies. We started talking about rarities. Jonas told me he found a rare German Beatles compilation in an antique shop for fifty cents. Well, the next album I found in a junk shop in Los Angeles for ten cents. It’s on RCA and it’s by Horse (1970), another Hard Rock record, quite rare. Members went on to form Saturnalia, record collectors will know of their album Magical Love (1972), one of the first picture discs.

Jonas, coming from Germany, had to have a look at the German section and found two albums, Hoodoo Man by Birth Control (1972) and This Is Guru Guru (1973), a compilation album of this great mad band. We finished on an unlikely record before Jonas went off to find his mattress, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy Is Spreading, from 1968. A Psychedelic Folk Pop album, a bit like the Mamas And The Papas (with Glen Campbell and James Burton as session guitarists). The singer Barbara Robison died in tragic circumstances of Toxic Shock at the age of 42. Too much death everywhere, let’s stay alive instead.

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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