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Nov 17 2020

TO WHERE I AM NOW

In the studio today finishing the last Arctic Lake song and mixing. Sometimes it takes a little time to find the right sound. Today we were looking for two chords, an Em and a D, we needed ‘sprangs’. It seemed like it had to be the Strat and we tried it through the little Fender Champ amp in the control room but it wasn’t long before we were into the Vox AC30. It’s hard to beat an amp from 1962. But although the chemistry of Strat and Vox can be a potent one, it wasn’t to be, time to try the Nash Tele. It’s a brighter sounding guitar and we needed a sparkly couple of chords, but even on treble pick up it still wasn’t right. When in doubt find a Rickenbacker, it’s a guitar with personality, a unique sound, and the ability to sparkle and be forceful at the same time. It was perfect. This is why I have lots of guitars because sometimes it can take three guitars to find the sound for two simple chords in one isolated part of one song. So next time anybody says to you, “Why do you have so many guitars?”, you know the answer: “Why don’t you eat the same dinner every night?”

Here’s a story: Tonight at midnight I was supposed to speak to sessioneer Chris in Victoria (that’s a state in Australia for anyone who is geographically challenged). He had to postpone but wait till you hear the reason. An alien spaceship had landed on his lawn, no sorry that was my excuse for not sitting my exams as a 16-year-old, that and staying in bed and reading Sounds magazine. No, his reason was that a cockroach had burrowed into his ear! Oh my god, can you imagine? In a later message, he informed me that it was still in there but no longer alive. Am I squeamish or is that the most horrible story?

There have been some nice packages in the mail, one from Noelia in Argentina sending me some Argentine music. We recently sent her a Rhyme T-shirt but get this, we had to have our friend Julie in Houston who sends T-shirts and CDs out for us send it to us first. The reason? If you are sending a T-shirt from the USA to Argentina, it’s cheaper to send it to England first and then send it to Argentina, go figure.

We were sending out more Mystery Boxes today and started on the lyrics for the MOAT Poison Stream campaign. If you are wanting one of these boxes or Handwritten & Illustrated Lyrics, now’s the time to order it as Olivia and I hope to be leaving Penzance soon. This also applies to the last few copies of the first MOAT album that we have here. We can certainly be sending postcards from Portugal, pasteis de nata, and pictures of Ronaldo but we won’t have the MOAT debut album in Porto.

Support the MOAT Campaign here

Today would have been Jeff Buckley’s 54th birthday, to think what he might have done if he hadn’t died so young. It’s also Martin Barre’s birthday, the late Gene Clark, and Gordon Lightfoot who is 82 today. I was thinking today about how some countries have Name day (Sweden for example) but I’d never heard of that before I went there. I guess it’s popular in lots of European countries but not here.

We watched Californians In Space today in a rather exciting episode where the crew of the Enterprise were exposed to The Borg. French is hilarious, that is, once you get into the Diamond League you realise the dedication of your fellow thirty people. After one day the person in the top position had twice as many ‘points’ as I did in the week where I came top of the Obsidian League, the league below. And talking about leagues the premiership is back on this weekend with a tricky match for Liverpool against Leicester with lots of injuries to deal with. May the best team win.

Music today came from Erykah Badu, Dallas’ queen of Neo-Soul. I found some of her CDs very cheap on the net and today I listened to her second studio album, Mama’s Gun (2000). (Check out the coincidental beetle vid.) Groovy stuff, influenced by all the legends and keeping one foot in the future. It’s the kind of music my age group isn’t supposed to like but then I hear the influences and the age group, the demographic that does like this music might generally not know the influences. Like younger people might not know The Beatles, younger people also might not know Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Sly Stone, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke on the male side, and Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Martha Reeves, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Nina Simone on the female side. Of course, some do and a lot of younger people have retro tastes but all those girls that I talked to at Graceland who didn’t know who The Beatles were, was an insight. I don’t really think it was the type of music, more that it simply wasn’t the now and there is no exposure to the past unless you actively investigate it yourself.

Song Of The Daze

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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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

KEEP IN TOUCH: https://linktr.ee/mwillsonpiper

📷 @argirgirl 

#paisleypark #prince
Marty & Pablo! 📷 Rod MacQuarrie Marty & Pablo!

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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
Doors & Delays 🎸 @workshop21_guitarclinic #the Doors & Delays 🎸

@workshop21_guitarclinic #thedoors #fenderstratocaster #fenderhotroddeville #nashtelecaster #rickenbacker
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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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