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Apr 16 2022

TO WHERE I AM NOW

After the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley between Liverpool and Man City, Olivia and I decided to get out of the house and hit the city. A short walk from our place, we were soon mingling with the Easter tourist revellers. The city was busy on a lovely warmish holiday Saturday, although for some reason someone decided that Friday and Sunday and Monday are Easter holiday days, but not Saturday, for example, the pool was open this one day whilst being closed the other three, can’t they just give the staff all four days off instead of making them come back for one day in the middle of it all?

The city was buzzing, different languages, French, German, Spanish, English being spoken by passers-by. We picked up a takeaway coffee and headed towards the river. We dropped in at the music store on the way to say hello, super cool guys in there. We always find something to talk about, bands, guitars, amps and pedals. There was a guy they knew in there from Angola playing a small drum. He was actually a jazz guitar player – musicians chatting. From there we went to Dance Planet down the block and spoke to Miguel, my contact there, trying to find some splitter leads for the pedalboard. Apparently (musicians) you can power two 9V pedals from one 9V source on the power pack. I think it’s something about milliamps, whatever they are. The reason to do it is too many pedals for the power pack outputs (are you still with me?). It’s expensive to have two high-quality power packs and they have to be the right thickness to sit underneath the pedalboard framework. Nerds ‘R’ us.

We made our way through the crowds, down past São Bento station, experiencing Porto as a post-pandemic (I hope) tourist destination. We crossed the road with the masses, heading down the steep inclines until we stopped off at a special place we like that makes all kinds of gourmet empanadas. Further and further down until we came to the waterside, thronged with people. We sat and watched the moon climb up above Ponte Dom Luís I and shine full between the iron girders. I tried to take a photo of it but the moon so bright flared out and lost its perfect circular shape. I’d need some pro photographer training to take this pic.

We sat down there by the river on a bench listening to a Portuguese singer-guitarist play touristy songs in one of the open-air cafes, his guitar too thin and his repertoire hackneyed. At one end of the river restaurants, a circle of people singing along with a busker, a song in Spanish, some dancing and at one point he stopped and they all clapped in time and sang the song without musical accompaniment. It must have been a popular song in these parts unless everyone here were Spanish tourists. Other buskers here and there on the street, one guy in Santa Catarina playing a double-bound Telecaster through an amp that sounded really good, singing a song I didn’t like, really well. Further down a Brazilian singer with a posh little mobile PA that was too bassy singing and playing guitar.

The night chill was coming, so we headed home eggless. The streets were still busy at 10 PM and I wondered about the bars and the nightlife that we don’t frequent. We were asked twice whether we wanted first ‘hashish’ in a very dark and cliched tone by the river and marijuana past São Bento. “Yo vivo aqui,” (I live here) I said, and he gave me a gesture of, ok, you are not my target.

As we walked up the streets towards home, the people thinned out (they were fewer, not thinner). The ice-cream shops in Santa Catarina were still open and Olivia treated herself to coconut and hazelnut scoops in a cone. It got quieter as we got closer to our end of the street, one of the ladies of the night wished us a “Boa Páscoa” as I wished her a Happy Easter. We got in and listened to one of my playlists with Olivia playing along, practising the mandolin to all the songs.

But having said that in keeping with the Easter weekend (despite Saturday apparently having little significance), music today has been Easter Everywhere (1967), the second album by the legendary psychedelic 13th Floor Elevators.

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.

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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 🤘🏰

T-Shirt Design by Reid Wilson
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

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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
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In Deep Music Archive

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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