• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Bands & Projects
    • Marty Willson-Piper
    • Marty & Olivia
    • Noctorum
    • MOAT
    • Atlantæum Flood
    • Anekdoten
      • How I Joined Anekdoten
    • The Church
      • Sleeve Notes
    • All About Eve
  • Discography
  • Gear
  • Talking
  • Lyrics
    • SOLO ALBUMS
      • In Reflection
      • Art Attack
      • Rhyme
      • Spirit Level
      • Hanging Out In Heaven
      • Nightjar
    • NOCTORUM
      • Sparks Lane
      • Offer The Light
      • Honey Mink Forever
      • The Afterlife
    • MOAT
      • Moat
      • Poison Stream
    • Seeing Stars
  • Sleeve Notes
    • Of Skins And Heart
    • The Blurred Crusade
    • Seance
    • Heyday
    • Starfish
    • Gold Afternoon Fix
    • Priest = Aura
  • Bandcamp

Marty Willson-Piper

The official home of Marty Willson-Piper

  • News
  • Blog
  • Shows
  • Songwriting & Guitar Guidance
  • In Deep Music Archive
  • Contact

Dec 31 2021

TO WHERE I AM NOW

New Year’s Eve arrived with a sneezing fit that drove me out of bed, blocked, exploding, noisy and not quite ready to face the day. So, it seems that the next stage of Omicron is congestion, a runny nose, sneezing, slightly sore throat and a cough but ‘they’ say no lung attacks – it’s more infectious but less dangerous. I went into the front room, drew the curtains, opened the shutters, opened the window and was greeted with a lovely warm breeze, a blue sky and only small white clouds dotted above as if it were May. I hear it’s been mild in England too but this new climate takes some getting used to, Southern Europe, you can see why people retire to Spain and Portugal and we’re not even in the south. The closer you get to the equator the warmer it gets and if you are wondering where the equator crosses the planet, it’s still a hike from Porto – 2,843.19 mi (4,575.67 km). “The Equator passes through 13 countries: Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, São Tomé & Príncipe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Maldives, Indonesia and Kiribati.” I hope this information will be useful to you in 2022.

I had a sesh with Fred today in Minneapolis (where it’s snowing) and afterwards decided to make some more advances on my home studio and got my keyboard plugged in, and set up my old effects rack, opened my pedalboard and spread some extra pedals around, not exactly Bob Clearmountain but for me that’s progress. I’m trying to make 2022 more personally productive – meaning, generally engaging more with songwriting. This will mean I can build up my own body of work in order to make another solo record at some point in the future as well as being able to engage more easily with writing partners, exchanging ideas. If a sessioneer sends me a track, I can sing or play guitar on it. Or, I can start something here and send it to a sessioneer to work on. I can send a chord sequence, a riff, a feel with a bass line. How exciting, creating something out of nothing and sending it to somebody else for their input.

I got my Ibanez UE405 effects rack set up. That’s what I used on a lot of the earlyish ex-band records but not the first. (It’s the device I used for the delay effect on Reptile.) I’m not sure exactly when I first got it but it must have been sometime in the early eighties. Before that, I had a Boss stereo chorus and tremolo pedal, that I loved (it went walkies years ago and I wish I still had it). I can’t actually remember what I was doing for delay on the first album and I only recall the delay on this unit so I must have had it quite early on perhaps from The Blurred Crusade onwards. There would have been other pedals pre this unit, some Boss distortions no doubt, the OD1. But when I think about guitar sounds on the first album, a track like Memories In Future Tense, it’s delay-free and I’m wondering if I just used chorus before I bought the Ibanez unit.

On nerdy guitar information. I was reading today that the solo on Steely Dan’s Reelin’ In The Years from Can’t Buy A Thrill (1972) is Jimmy Page’s fave guitar solo! It was played by session man Elliott Randall on a 1963 Strat fitted with a PAF (patent applied for) Humbucker, neck pick up and into an Ampeg SVT bass amp. This is the kind of information that is gold to some of us and means nothing to others, possibly the same as knowing how Nadal strings his racket…although.

We hung out of the window at midnight and there were lots of fireworks going off around the town and we lit sparklers that didn’t last very long. We pondered hope like we all are at the moment. We followed lanterns that floated into the sky, stood there until the fireworks stopped and we moved back inside where it was now 2022. It sounds so sci-fi. Happy New Year.

Music today was Steely Dan’s Can’t Buy A Thrill (1972). This was their first album and Donald Fagen wasn’t convinced that he should be the only singer so David Palmer shares lead vocals and sang one of their most famous songs, Dirty Work. Do It Again, the first single from the album, reached No. 6 in the US, Reelin’ In The Years reached No. 11 but surprisingly Dirty Work doesn’t seem to have been released as a single? Steely Dan are loved or ignored – like The Stooges. That’s what makes the world go ‘round.

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

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

  • spotify
  • facebook
  • instagram
  • youtube

Liking the blog?

Tour Dates

Instagram

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

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

📷 @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
Load More… Follow on Instagram

Mailing List

In Deep Music Archive

Songwriting & Guitar Guidance with Marty Willson-Piper
ORDER HERE

"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

MARTY WILLSON-PIPER © 2023 - Front Page Images by Hajo Müller