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Jul 27 2022

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Oh no, Ryanair. But the only way to deal with Ryanair is to be prepared, so this is what you do: Shower, and wash your hair before you go to bed, you’ll be too stressed in the morning, plus sleeping with wet hair gives you a nice bouffant that you wouldn’t normally have. Check in online and prepare all documents, print out your boarding pass, find your passport, vaccination document, and proof of Portuguese residency in a folder. Close your computer and don’t be tempted to look at it in the morning. Charge your phone, iPod and check the headphone battery. Make sure your bag is packed as well as it can be and use the morning to check baggage weight. Make sure you own one of those baggage weight devices, you don’t need any surprises at the airport. Set alarm for earlier than you need. Sleep. Now you have a chance.

So, I did all this and in the morning I weighed my bag at just under 20 kilos, my extra cabin bag at around 10 kilos and had my Amoeba bag with my headphones and some extra records that were making the other bags too heavy that I felt I could get away with on check-in. Muesli, the last portion, cuppa tea, Olivia up and ready for her trip and Olivia’s dad, Gerd, kindly taking me to the airport. From there Olivia will take a train to see friends before she returns to Porto on Saturday. Gerd was coming just in case there were some issues with the flight, Lufthansa were on strike today, all their flights were cancelled and we wondered if Köln/Bonn airport might have some of the chaos passed on. As it happened it was calm and Gerd left. Olivia accompanied me to check in, it was really weird her not travelling, I’ll survive, just. The guy at the check-in was really nice and told me I could check in my extra cabin bag, perfect. This was the point where I was happy about checking all the weights because they were on capacity. Still, I asked him if I could put my Oz winter jacket and hoodie in the bag, increasing the weight, I didn’t need them (it’s summer here), he said yes, double perfect. I said goodbye to Olivia at security, not so perfect.

The flight was fine, I had a window seat, 15F, but I was sitting next to two German students who were tall, fidgety and talkative. I had my iPod so I was trying to listen to something loud – I could hear them even with noise cancellation headphones. I started with a Nazareth anthology, that was loud and scratchy but the mp3s were thin. I moved to Robin Trower’s Twice Removed From Yesterday to remind myself what a guitar sounded like through an amp. It was much better quality and I was almost able to let the music blank out the background noise. The problem was my feet. I had my new Blunnies on to save weight in my baggage, but as your feet swell in the cabin, my left foot especially was beginning to hurt. At some point, the talker in the middle seat got up and I used the room to prise my shoe off…and then the other one.

The flight was two hours and twenty minutes and the flight attendant announced that this was the flight to “beautiful Porto”. At the other end, I waited for everyone to get off so I could get my shoes back on and descended down the stairs on a beautiful day to put my feet on the Portuguese land. No queue for the taxi, I often have to speak Spanish here as my Portuguese isn’t good, but if you ask a Portuguese if it’s ok and don’t just presume that they speak Spanish, they will usually be happy to oblige and are able to understand. I sent a message to Hugo who had my keys and has been watering the plant and picking up the post. We met outside and I was home. Hugo and Mohamad and his family who had stayed here for a week, left the place looking pristine, I was home, just the one missing piece.

I went shopping, filled the fridge and had beans on toast for dinner, thanks to Mohamad who brought us some English classics from London. I watched the women’s Euros semi-final, Germany beat France 2-1 and I look forward to the final against England on Sunday – with Olivia.

Music today was Robin Trower’s debut Twice Removed From Yesterday (1973).

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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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
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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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