After a long night of great music at the Swallow Hill Folk and Roots Festival in Denver, Bruce Cockburn was the last to play. We had quite a long wait after Nanci Griffith’s set, probably about 45 minutes. Good thing the emcee’s Harry Tuft, Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore had quite a few songs in the repertoire to keep us entertained. But we were ready for Bruce and he was finally on stage, just him 3 guitars and a mic. The show started off a bit tough because the mix was a bit hot and Bruce even mentioned it and asked for the mix to be turned down a bit. A few songs in, the mix was pretty much dialed in and we were on our way. As always Bruce’s playing was spot on and that thumb never quits. Had some great solos on “Stolen Land” and “If a Tree Falls” and surprised me with “Kit Carson” and “Trouble with Normal. Ended the night with “Rouler sa Bosse” and “Tie Me at the Crossroads.” Great show by Bruce, one of the better shows that I have seen him do. The only thing that was different about Bruce, this time was …
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Last night, I attended the Swallow Hill Folk and Roots Music Festival at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver. To be honest, the only reason why I bought tickets was to see Bruce Cockburn but I got so much more. The show started at six and we got almost 6 hours of top quality folk music from southern spirituals to Australian indigenous music. To top it off, it was all staged in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House that, by far, was one of the best venues I have visited. The acoustics and mix of the music was amazing. The show was emcee’ d by Harry Tuft(Swallow Hill Founder), Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore. Between each set they would perform one or two classic fold song to help pass the time. I was really impressed by the guitar playing of Tuft and Moore, they both played together but it seemed as if it was one instrument. The collaboration of their guitars were inspiring. Moore was the nice surprise with his blues fingerstyle licks all over the fingerboard. He more than once got the crowd going with his playing. Other Acts: Souther Journey, featuring Emily Morgan Bates and Marta Burton: Morgan …
Natural, picks, manicures, acrylics, etc…. What do you use? I have tried many things to keep my nails healthy and happy because when I lose a nail, I’m not playing guitar as much because it throws off my timing and more importantly, my fingering becomes less effective. What Hasn’t Worked for Me: I read an interview with Bruce Cockburn where he said that he used to super glue his nails to reinforce them. Even went as far as getting tissue or toilet paper and cutting them into small strips and glue them onto his nails. Kind of a type of wallpaper or fiberglass type feel. I tried this and at first it seems to work but overtime it weekend my nails to the point where they would break and chip more often. Bruce now uses a product called Nail Envy that he’s been using for a long time and swears by it. I haven’t tried it myself. Haven’t tried acrylics but I did try the trick of cutting up a ping pong ball and shaping a fake nail and then gluing it to my finger. It worked fairly well but you still run into the weakening of your organic nail because of …
In my conversations with guitarists over the years I have mentioned a web site that I thought was well known but maybe not as much as I thought. The site that I am talking about his the Eythorsson Guitar School web. Based in Iceland, Eythorsson offers an incredible amount of free classical guitar music for people to download. From studies to sonatas, ensembles to duets, there is something for all to enjoy. The catch is that the music has to be in the public domain for it to be on the web and free. You will find works of Sor, Bach, Carcassi, Scarlatti, Tarrega, etc… I have dabbled with Classical throughout my trials as a guitarist and I have found they studies and methods have helped a great deal, especially with working on the independence of my thumb and learning new voices for my writing. I haven’t worked on too many of the solo pieces but I did download some of the Scarlatti sontas and they were arranged wonderfully. Too bad my playing couldn’t do them justice. I have been using this site as resource for as long as I can remember and am surprised how much it has grown over …
2.6.26: What humidification system I use currently.. Details at the end of the article. Colorado is dry for acoustic guitars I live on the Colorado Front Range and any that either lives, lived or visited here can attest to how dry it gets in this state. Under 10 percent humidity can be common and can be very damaging to your guitar if left unchecked. For example, I have a 97 Martin SWD certified wood guitar and I love it. It’s actually my brothers guitar but it was rescued by me because the guitar was rendered useless because proper humidity wasn’t maintained in the care of the guitar. By rendered useless, I mean the neck contracted in a way to render many of the frets dead. It also developed a crack right below the bridge of the guitar. (see pic) What was the solution to this? Proper humidity applied to the guitar. Optimal conditions for your guitar According to Martin, it is ideal to keep 45-50% humidity and around 72-77 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature. It’s very tough to maintain those constants in Colorado, especially in the winter. Temperature was fairly easy to tackle. I just purchased an oil room heater and that was enough …
