Hi Everyone,
Sorry no blog posts lately. I have been busy running around trying to figure out things for the album, plus just trying to practice more and play more music. I guess i also feel like i have not had much to say in the way of music or celtic guitar lately. If folks out there have questions about guitar, a traditional tune you want to see arranged, or anything else let me know in the comments or via email, and I’ll get to it.
Surfing around youtube lately i came across my good buddy Aaron O’Rourke playing the banjo at a festival this past summer. Aaron is a dulcimer champion, who also plays a variety of other instruments, including fingerstyle guitar and now the banjola. Here he plays a clawhammer tune, and then an arrangement of the Lunasa tune Inion Ni Scannion, which i also play on fingerstyle guitar. In fact, its going to be on the cd.
Continuing with the trend of trying to meet more local professional musicians and get their insight on playing music for a living, i recently spent a few hours with Eric Skye. Eric lives here in Portland and seems to play everything, flatpicked jazz, blues, bluegrass, brazillian music, as well as a variety of fingerstyle music. Plus he makes a killer cup of coffee, which ranks very high on my list. We talked about the business side of music, solo performing, getting your cd out there, and a wide variety of things. I am very grateful for these professionals who have taken a bit of time out of their day to get together and talk with me. Here is Eric playing a solo killer version of Porkpie Hat, and another with a local trio. If you get a chance to catch these guys do it, its music of the highest caliber.
Well back to practicing. A friend and I are working on putting together the art work for my cd, and then once thats done and i approve the mastered cd its off to the manufacturing house. If you want to be notifed when its done you can sign up for my email list on the front page of the site.
thanks
Anton