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Jan 03 2021

TO WHERE I AM NOW

So that’s one month in Portugal. It’s incredible that we managed to find first an Airbnb, then a flat, then a tax ID number, then an immigration appointment, and then got residency in that short period of time. We couldn’t have done it without the help of a small agency that exists to help people in this way. We were put in touch with them by a friend of Deb and Mark whose wedding we played at in early January last year (a surprise for Mark as he waited at the altar). See how one thing leads to another – that’s the thing about human interaction and the network of people who know each other, people that try help each other out for no other reason than because they are friends, and often that doesn’t even need to be the criteria, it can be because we are human. So, thank you to everybody that made this happen but also thank you to everybody that makes anything happen for anybody out of the kindness of their heart.

Sunday is always sessions and football day, starting with a sesh usually with Arctic Lake Tony at 11 AM as he is in Sydney. Then it’s a toss-up between going back to bed or watching the early afternoon game, it depends on who it is. Today it was Leicester vs Newcastle so I thought yeah I’ll watch that – Leicester won 2-1 but towards the end of the game I was urging Olivia to go out for a walk before the next game Man City vs Chelsea. You just gotta get out of the house when you can, especially if you’ll be sitting in front of your computer for hours – it’s allegedly a rather unhealthy thing to do. So the mega-explorers that we are, we decided to go find Lidl!

It was another chilly but fresh and lovely day out there. Glad of your coat but happy to be out. We weren’t just investigating where Lidl was, it’s exploring the neighbourhood and Lidl was in a direction we hadn’t been in before. Out of the house, turn right and immediately right again and past the big school, it wasn’t long before we were experiencing fascinating architecture and beautiful ruins – again. One large house, perhaps a private business or an institute rather than a residence but it had a long walled garden that continued down the street and inside, poking above the walls, orange trees full of oranges – that’s when I really knew that we lived in Southern Europe. Further down a house with a lemon tree and we took some pictures in a small green area with benches where magnolia was blooming as the sun shone down and gave everything the golden glow that these privileged climates have – and remember, it’s January 3rd. It’s 45 degrees here, it’s below freezing in Stockholm.

There were lots of cats out today, one beautiful long-haired Siamese stared out at us through a window another sat on a step, and yet another on a roof. It was nice to discover our neighbourhood like this, camera in hand, a couple of times people waited till I got the shot. We found Lidl about 15 minutes walk away, which means cheaper sparkling water than the normal supermarket if UK prices are anything to go by – 17p for a large bottle, really? It’s troubling how expensive a brand is next to a non-brand, I guess it makes a difference if it’s between a Maserati and a Skoda but between bottles of sparkling water, butter, and cereal I’m not sure it makes much difference at all – we are brand crazy. The legends of Fairy Liquid and Kit Kat have you in their spell and it’s difficult to shake off the indoctrination. Of course, there’s quality to be considered but when a brand is five times the price I’m not sure my taste buds will be so angry.

We got back in time for Olivia’s Portuguese Skype lesson by the Portuguese opera singer that lives in Barcelona and I came in 23 minutes into the Man City vs Chelsea game, it was already 2-0, Man City won 3-1. I was doing French on and off throughout the day, keeping my spot in the Diamond League. After that, it was Space Summit listening and writing session with Jed in Minneapolis (where it’s hovering around freezing). The new songs are sounding great and this is before the old new songs have even been released. Dinner followed by sesh with Doug in Wappingers Falls where we set the world of creativity to rights and a 40-minute break where we watched one episode of Californians In Space and that was today.

Music today was a soundtrack inspired by talking to Tony about Free but I decided one song into Tons Of Sobs (1969) that I wanted to hear Rory Gallagher instead so I listened to the first Taste album from the same year. The band also featured Richard McCracken on bass and John Wilson on drums. Rory left in 1979 for his illustrious solo career, McCracken and Wilson went on to form Stud with Jim Cregan and John Weider. With Rory, it’s always great guitar playing, great tone, great vibe. Love Rory, check this album out – if you like this kind of thing.

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.

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  1. valree says

    January 4, 2021 at 4:00 am

    Marty, congratulations on your new home, or at least residence. You don’t know me but I’ve been researching moving to Europe and was wondering if you could put me in touch with the agency you used to facilitate your residency. Thank you.
    portlandval@gmail.com

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Redeyed lad of the lowlands 🎵 📷 @oliviaelek Redeyed lad of the lowlands 🎵

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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).

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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.

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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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