Meet Nat the Tanglewood, or rather don't. Nat was purchased last year to spearhead my new found love of performing to audiences in as many random formats as I could muster in 2010. I purchased Nat in November 2009 and as you may not be surprised, couldn't wait to get her home for a good seeing to, turn up the Amp to 11 and I'm Johnny Marr, Eric Clapton or Marcus Mumford.Choosing a guitar is a remarkably personal experience. Its not just the looks, the make, the sound that is taken into account, the thing has to call you to buy it. When selecting said item, the guitar has to be more than the sum of its parts, a holistic experience that consumes you with an indescribable sense of joy when you play, whether that be on front of a packed out audience or simply on the loo. As they say in Eastern Parts, the guitar and yourself must become one.
So back to Nat. I had been looking for a guitar like her at a budget price since I started playing in 1991, and I found her after a long search. She played great, she looked great and wasn't too pricey. She was the one.
Prior to purchasing Nat, 2009 had been a year of parties, events and weddings with most weekends being taken up with some sort of hedonistic activity. This included trips round the countryside staying with friends and celebrating many a 40th birthday.
Being a guitarist that doesn't fit into any category (aren't we all?) and detests the whole sitting in studios laying down tracks over and over again, I like to think of myself as a minstrel who goes where the wind takes me with guitar in hand and not a jot of music to read. Summer last year and a slight southerly breeze helped me on my way to Bradford with friends for a curry like no other I have ever had, but that's another story. This saw me meeting Rob who was kind enough to offer a lift to the Yorkshire Dales for the weekend to celebrate 2 mutual friends 40th birthdays. Having never met me, only via email, I thought this to be rather charming and on the condition that I navigate us there in the dark with a modicum of success, he was happy that I shoved my small Spanish acoustic in the back next to Rob's brand new black Takamine acoustic guitar and off we went.
Arriving in the delightfully remote Swarthgill bunkhouse, it soon became apparent that there were others of the same ilk that were happy to arrange a few small Jam's to see how we may be able to all play together, or not. Four strangers consisting of 2 guitarists, a mandolin player and a rather enthusiastic injured singer called Natalie who had a songbook bursting full of a wide range of chunes, were all thrown together for differing personal reasons.
Being a guitarist that doesn't fit into any category (aren't we all?) and detests the whole sitting in studios laying down tracks over and over again, I like to think of myself as a minstrel who goes where the wind takes me with guitar in hand and not a jot of music to read. Summer last year and a slight southerly breeze helped me on my way to Bradford with friends for a curry like no other I have ever had, but that's another story. This saw me meeting Rob who was kind enough to offer a lift to the Yorkshire Dales for the weekend to celebrate 2 mutual friends 40th birthdays. Having never met me, only via email, I thought this to be rather charming and on the condition that I navigate us there in the dark with a modicum of success, he was happy that I shoved my small Spanish acoustic in the back next to Rob's brand new black Takamine acoustic guitar and off we went.
Arriving in the delightfully remote Swarthgill bunkhouse, it soon became apparent that there were others of the same ilk that were happy to arrange a few small Jam's to see how we may be able to all play together, or not. Four strangers consisting of 2 guitarists, a mandolin player and a rather enthusiastic injured singer called Natalie who had a songbook bursting full of a wide range of chunes, were all thrown together for differing personal reasons.
Having being used to a handfull of songs regularly played with friends, with some questionable pitches and tones when so called "singing" I suddenly had the challenge of working with a very talented voice. Natalie did not know what key was best suited to her so we had a lot of work to do if we were going to pull off being the entertainment in the evening. We were glad that the house was heaving in wine, beer and many a spirit to numb the ears of our potential audience who were out doing outdoorsey things the following day, leaving the house empty for our rag tag band to rehearse, eat home made jam & toast and generally worry our little socks off.
Never short of an opinion, I threw a few easy songs into the mix, but was soon given short shrift by my new band mates raving about bunch of songs that I thought would be impossible to learn in an afternoon. Sure enough the first five songs selected were mashed up to a pulp as we struggled with key's, chord changes, tempo and varying abilities. Some didn't even know the songs (not a good idea!)
I suggested a short constitutional up the dale to clear our heads and enjoy our surroundings, my only idea so far that day which was accepted. Trudging at the back of our small group, I had a sense of the uselessness of our situation, it was like being in ALL the bands I had ever been in again, controlling, demanding, repetitive and most of all, not one bit fun. I had stumbled into an arena yet again out of my comfort zone, I lacked confidence all of a sudden and doubted that I actually wanted to do this with these people I had never met before.
I felt I had to do something to inject a bit of said fun into the proceedings, rescue our ragtag outfit from going down like a pair of lead knickers. We all sat on a grassy bank where I asked Natalie if she would like to write a song from scratch, starting now, here, a birthday song done in the format of 12 bar blues. This went down well with our group and sparked a bit of a revival and energy in our rehearsing back at the house, coupled with the sun being far over the yard arm, a few beers and our set list came together in an intense session cumulating in our new song for the birthday boy & girl and a very odd set of songs.
We felt confident but not complacent and as the hoards returned from their days out climbing, running, walking and cycling, we put our instruments down, sore from playing to socialise once again in the knowledge that we had got through one challenge in adversity together, but could we do it all again in front of these good people?...
Coming: Part 2: Nat the Guitar's untimely ending & the starting of many a shonky gig...
Never short of an opinion, I threw a few easy songs into the mix, but was soon given short shrift by my new band mates raving about bunch of songs that I thought would be impossible to learn in an afternoon. Sure enough the first five songs selected were mashed up to a pulp as we struggled with key's, chord changes, tempo and varying abilities. Some didn't even know the songs (not a good idea!)
I suggested a short constitutional up the dale to clear our heads and enjoy our surroundings, my only idea so far that day which was accepted. Trudging at the back of our small group, I had a sense of the uselessness of our situation, it was like being in ALL the bands I had ever been in again, controlling, demanding, repetitive and most of all, not one bit fun. I had stumbled into an arena yet again out of my comfort zone, I lacked confidence all of a sudden and doubted that I actually wanted to do this with these people I had never met before.
I felt I had to do something to inject a bit of said fun into the proceedings, rescue our ragtag outfit from going down like a pair of lead knickers. We all sat on a grassy bank where I asked Natalie if she would like to write a song from scratch, starting now, here, a birthday song done in the format of 12 bar blues. This went down well with our group and sparked a bit of a revival and energy in our rehearsing back at the house, coupled with the sun being far over the yard arm, a few beers and our set list came together in an intense session cumulating in our new song for the birthday boy & girl and a very odd set of songs.
We felt confident but not complacent and as the hoards returned from their days out climbing, running, walking and cycling, we put our instruments down, sore from playing to socialise once again in the knowledge that we had got through one challenge in adversity together, but could we do it all again in front of these good people?...
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