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Aug 03 2021

TO WHERE I AM NOW

In the early hours of this morning, I looked across at my beautiful Seagull 12 string acoustic guitar and imagined that it had asked me, pleaded with me, to change the goddamn strings. So I did. They were so dull and sad, it was causing issues with the tuning, it wasn’t ringing out and despite the late hour I decided to clean it and re-string it. It was so happy. One of the inspirations for doing this was getting the home studio set up off the ground and I didn’t want to start experimenting with recording the guitar whilst it sounded so drab. There is sometimes something to be said for a guitar with dead dull strings, especially if it’s a 6 string acoustic and you want that dull percussive thud. But with a 12 string that’s not how you use it, you want it to ring out. Since I restrung it I haven’t played it although I’m excited to do so. The new strings will be inspiring for writing some new songs, I hope.

The other exciting news is that I went back to the beginning of Ian McEwan’s novella The Cockroach and am on a mission to finish it this week instead of getting halfway through and then putting it down and not finding an hour or so to finish it. How crazy is that? It’s not even long and as it’s McEwan, it’s great, as all his books are (I’ve read eleven), On Chesil Beach (2007) was the first, then The Cement Garden (1978), The Comfort Of Strangers (1981), Enduring Love (1997), Amsterdam (1998), Atonement (2001), Saturday (2005), Solar (2010), Sweet Tooth (2012), The Children Act (2014), and Nutshell (2016). I think he is third on the list of most-read (by me) novelists. First would be Michael Moorcock when I was a teenager, then Graham Greene but they both wrote lots of novels. I’ve pretty much read everything by Camus and Sartre but they didn’t write so many actual novels, there’s also plays and essays. I’ve read a few books by Isabel Allende and August Strindberg, the list is endless but the problem is it’s all in the past instead of the present and the future. I’ll finish The Cockroach tomorrow.

By the time I’d hit the bakery today they’d sold out of everything so I hit the psychedelic psupermarket and bought something different, a different colour, a different shape, a different taste. It’s probably a good thing to break the bakery habit as it will be closed for three weeks from next week. In the line at the supermarket, the lady in front of me picked up my jar of honey, looked at it and said something in Portuguese. I told her I didn’t speak Portuguese and tried English, Spanish and French. French worked the best although her French was worse than rusty. I did manage to get that she was 77 and loved Portugal. I told her I was 63 and loved Portugal, too.

The tourists haven’t hit yet but a muggy day and the holiday season is upon us and they will be here as the UK relaxes rules and UK vaccinated people can travel backwards and forwards to most European countries. But at this point, we can’t go to England without quarantining for 10 days where we are staying. We are hoping for a change this week so we can go to England next month to sort out the archive. I sent a mail to the box company today and I’m waiting for a response, will they give me a deal on 700 boxes?

Music today has been three Todd Rundgren albums, Runt (1970), The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren (1971), and A Wizard, A True Star (1972), plus Déjà Vu (1970) by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Rundgren’s first two soulful albums and his fourth experimental one with CSNY doing their harmony thing. Great albums, all of them, for a whole lot of different reasons for you to discover rather than for me to explain.

Music 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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Rockin' the MOAT t-shirt next to the real deal! #m Rockin' the MOAT t-shirt next to the real deal! #moatband #poisonstream 🤘🏰

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Photo by @oliviaelektra 

#schoolkidsrecords #nikoröhlcke #wellscathedral
Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower disco 🕺🏻 #heyday
Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th Fe Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th February, 2001. All About Eve supporting Fairport Convention.

📷 by @derektimbrell
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

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

📷 @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
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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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