Far From Perfect.....but getting there!

This is a rough take, done off the cuff - mid washing and tormenting the dogs. It's nowhere near perfect but I'm getting familiar with the piece and feel comfortable enough to add my own particular stamp on it. I'm using a 9 volt battery powered Fender novelty amp, a BSM Rangemaster Treble Booster and a Hagstrom Deuce F guitar.

The pick, as always, is an old English sixpence, in a tip of the hat to Brian May. The booster is the special ingredient, hence it sounds so creamy and big coming from such a tiny sound source. For the actual performance I will be using my Fender Squier strat, the BSM and My Vox Valvetronix ADVT30 amp with, if I'm feeling adventurous, my Vox Wah Pedal. Thank for listening.

Out Of The Comfort Zone.

I'm currently working on a duet with a top secret individual whose identity will be revealed in a month or so. She's a great singer albeit a little publicity shy and this is the song we've agreed upon. There's plenty of tasty guitar chops in it and I'm excited and nervous about this! I haven't really attempted to play a cover with such heavy duty guitar work before, namely because it's a big ask and as I've a head like a sieve, my short term memory is non existent! Also, I don't want to copy the piece note for note but I want them to be recognisable too. Basically I want to add my own signature to it without tarnishing the, admittedly excellent, guitar work in the original. I'm not a technical guitarist, more fluid in the same vein as Rory Gallagher, Brian May etc. Though nowhere near that level of excellence. Will update you with my efforts through the magic of video in due course.

Reinventing The Wheel.

A good friend and myself started a musical duo about 10 years ago and name ourselves "The Frequency Of Ghosts" or The FOG (get it?) for short. We do as much work and touring as Elvis does but for all intensive purposes we are still a band and enjoy the very rare chance to rock out now and again. We evolved over our several independent album releases and though our youthful naivety shows through in large segments, one can also trace very noticeably, though the instruments we played at first were in our finest amateur capacity, our tendency to try and reinvent the wheel. The problem was, we had literally only started teaching ourselves how to play music. He with guitar duties, myself with the bass, interchanging vocals and relying on percussion and bizarre effects from a trusty Yamaha keyboard.

Now when you're 19, 20 odd years old, and you don't have that confidence that comes from playing a musical instrument particularly well, you want to sound lyrically astute, assured even, so your naive, social views come into play when writing lyrics. This gave birth to our song "Americana". It was basically an ill advised attempt to write an "ANGRY" song attacking Bush's America. But in hindsight this was me ignoring what was going on in my own country and the whole "Bankers, Wankers and Thieves" mentality which killed the so called Celtic Tiger. It was a punky, angry song sung by a messed up, angry little man and I cringe when I hear it. So a number of years after it, I've borrowed the guitar work, slowed it to a snails pace, practically rapped my way through the verses, completely changed the chorus and it became "Just A Man".

The theme is inspired by recent events inspired by LGBTQ events, financial struggles, civil rights, racism, religious beliefs.............Aaaaaaaaaghhhh..... my heads exploding!! And there you have it, the last sentence says it all. The musings of a blue collar working man who has too much to think about and can't save the world but wants to protect his family and the small bit he owns. It also boasts my proudest lyric: "We're all too busy telling somebody what's wrong with them, than celebrating they're unique." The closest I'll ever get to a decent epitaph. Thanks again for listening.