Back when that sort of thing was actively encouraged I was invited to Sound Network HQ London to film a comparison video of the DPA microphone range. DPA is a super-high end microphone company that sprung from the ashes…
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Apr 13 2020
Late Night Live Stream - Thursday 16th April 22:00 UK
I know that many of us have been experiencing stress, anxiety and sleep disruption. If that's you then I'd like to play for you.
I have a series of Late Night Live Stream sessions on my YouTube channel, the…
Read moreMar 31 2020
Interview with DA Musical HQ - Berlin
It was a real pleasure to talk with Dominic Adelbert of DA Musical Radio in Berlin today for a live stream interview where we look at all sorts of different things from inspiration from non-guitarists, modern luthiery and sustainability, and…
Read moreMar 19 2020
Backstage with Tommy Emmanuel and Jerry Douglas
It was a joy to catch up with two giants of the acoustic music scene Tommy Emmanuel and Jerry Douglas at Royal Festival Hall in London. The guys were in town for the Transatlantic Sessions concert and I was dispatched…
Read moreFeb 27 2020
Archtops for the Fingerstyle Guitarist - With Sean McGowan
Throughout my life as a player the archtop guitar has held a brooding and slightly intimidating mystique. Now, as I'm learning how to appreciate the subtleties and nuances of these beautiful instruments - built with an intent and technique far…
Read moreFeb 21 2020
Catching Up With Rosie Heydenrych - Turnstone Guitars
One of the joys of a visit to the Turnstone Guitars workshop is a cup of tea and a chat with Rosie Heydenrych, the luthier behind all these beautiful instruments.
This time we filmed it (it's been a while!) as…
Read moreFeb 10 2020
Cypress with Rosie - Some beautiful new Turnstone Guitars!
It's always a pleasure to visit Rosie Heydenrych of Turnstone Guitars - all the more so because I can be pretty sure that due to her constant explorations of English woods she'll have something for me to play that I've…
Read moreJan 20 2020
The 5am Tango on a Gibson L5
I was back at Surrey Studios this week to record The 5am Tango - which will be one of the 9 tracks on my next album HYLAB. I was really looking forward to this session as the good people…
Read moreJan 8 2020
More Vintage Guitars Than is Strictly Fair...
It's been an exciting start to the year for me and I sincerely hope for you too!
Thank you to everyone for your messages over the holiday period. It was wonderful to hear from you all!
I've been busy in…
Read moreDec 19 2019
The Story of Celandine
Nov 6 2019
Album Recording Diary Episode 2 - The first Session
And we're off! It's official, the first recordings have happened and I am very pleased with the results!
I spent a wonderful day back at Surrey Studios last week with the dream rhythm section that is Rex Horan (Double Bass)
…
Read moreOct 28 2019
Hanging out with Willy Porter in Camden!
I was first introduced to the music of Willy Porter by Jason Kostal several years ago and I've been looking forward to meeting the man himself in person ever since. Willy is currently on tour here in the UK and…
Read moreOct 11 2019
Album Recording Diary Episode 1 - The First Pre-Production Meeting
It has been a busy month that has seen me complete the writing process for my next album HYLAB (Have You Left Anything Behind). With all the pieces demo'd to some extent I met up with producer Jack Vasiliou of…
Read moreAug 14 2019
Hanging out with Ben Walker in Brighton
Ben Walker has been one of my favourite players for a while now and it was a pleasure to finally get to meet him at his studio in Brighton this week.
Ben's beautiful new album Echo has just been released…
Read moreAug 5 2019
1957 Gibson ES5 Switchmaster - Triple P-90 Goodness!
It's funny, archtop guitars have been much on my mind of late. Maybe it was performing on Linda Manzer's Iceberg at the closing ceremony of the Group of Seven exhibition in London...
Or discussing the joys of good archtops with…
Read moreJul 29 2019
Jason Kostal - The Importance of String Choice
Luthier Jason Kostal is rightly recognised for his attention to detail at all stages in the guitar making process and during my recent visit to his workshop in Phoenix Arizona we had a chat about the importance of string choice…
Read moreJul 21 2019
Designing a Guitar with Martin Simpson - Rory Dowling (Taran Guitars)
Over the past few years Rory Dowling of Taran Guitars has been working on a very special new design with legendary UK guitarist Martin Simpson! Yes, really!
Taking inspiration from a 1930's Martin and Rory's Tirga Mhor design this…
Read moreJul 16 2019
Chinese Luthiery and the Chinese Guitar Market - With Howard Feng
I recently spent a wonderful morning at the Tate Modern in London catching up with a dear friend of mine, guitar collector and musician turned luthier Howard Feng.
We met at The Tate Modern to get some inspiration, there is…
Read moreJul 12 2019
Checking out Branwell Guitars
Nick Branwell is a London-based luthier who is perhaps best known for his beautiful Torres style classical guitars. Recently Nick has turned his attentions to the steel-string acoustic instrument and he invited me to visit his workshop this week to…
Read moreJul 3 2019
1000 Miles of Texas Desert with Jason Kostal - Luthier Stories
The desert is a weird place. And there's a lot of it. Especially in-between Phoenix and Spring Branch...
It was this desert that Jason Kostal and I would traverse in an epic 1000 mile road trip through Arizona, New Mexico…
Read moreJun 16 2019
5000 Year Old Bog Oak - Is it any Good?
Well, that's a very good question! As the buying public's appetite for exotic woods (especially post-CITES Dalbergia alternatives) has increased, there has been something of a rush to find the next, greatest, coolest, rarest, oldest, etc woods possible. One choice…
Read moreJun 6 2019
The 5am Tango
I'll just leave this here... I hope you enjoy it!
Do please share, comment etc. Your support means a lot to me. If you'd like a closer look at the mic set-up, well it's two pairs of Gefell M300's and…
Read moreJun 6 2019
Writing The 5am Tango
So here's the thing, I know nothing about tangos, literally nada. My only real tango experience was that scene in Scent of a Woman where Al Pacino dances with Gabrielle Anwar. Maybe that hit me at a formative age, who…
Read moreJun 3 2019
Trying a new Turnstone Guitar
As far as I'm concerned there are few things in life as pleasurable as playing a new guitar for the luthier who made it. In this case the instrument in question was a beautiful small body TS model in Bog…
Read moreJun 1 2019
Hanging out with Emma Tricca
If you haven't heard the name Emma Tricca then where have you been? Obviously not at one of Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets European concerts where Emma supported the band in historic venues like London's Roundhouse, Berlin's Tempodrom and the…
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