Sunday, May 16, 2010

this afternoon I'm flying to salt lake city...

early tomorrow morning I'm doing a seminar
for the sales people at Musician's Friend,
the largest catalog music company in the U.S.
(owned by Guitar Center) in the hopes
of getting them all fired up about selling
what I consider to be the finest guitar in the world:
the Adrian Belew Signature Model Parker Fly.
on tuesday I'll be doing a similar thing in denver.

on another note:
happy birthday to two of the world's finest musicians,
and two of my favorite people on any planet:
robert fripp (may 16) and bill bruford (my 17).
cheers, boys!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

just to be clear...

my previous post thanking daniel rowland
was not meant as a means for dissing anyone else,
but as a sincere thanks for daniel's help.

I would not want anyone to infer from my comment
about unnecessary drama that the comment reflects on
the man daniel is temporarily replacing my dear friend
and long time supporter andre cholmondeley.
in fact it was andre's sharp idea to do a one-man show
and it was even his title I am using (painting with guitar).
andre knows more about my history and my music than
just about anyone I know and has always been there
for me, but right now he has good work which is more
steady and long-term than I can offer. it's totally honorable
that he should chose that work over what I have to offer
and I believe we'll work together again in the near future.

the term unnecessary drama refers to a lot of things
and a lot of people you encounter in my business.
on a day to day basis you occasionally meet with bad attitudes,
ugly comments, misunderstandings, and even immaturity.
as a professional musician for gulp, dare I say it,
45 years! it does get a little tiring to deal with,
and sometimes it de-rails my creativity for days on end,
but my comment was a general not specific one.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

a star is born!

saving the best for last
I want to send a huge thanks to daniel rowland
who not only assisted me throughout the tour
and made certain all the new hi-tech toys behaved
but was a pleasure to be around, an unflappable character
who never once chose unnecessary drama.
I do not appreciate unnecessary drama.

as mentioned daniel is an audio professor at MTSU
and at the Nashville Art Institute. he also teaches online.
for anyone wanting the kind of expert tutoring about
all things new in the world of audio, computer tech,
guitar, midi, etc. such as I've been receiving I recommend
lessons@theonlineaudioschool.com daniel's online school
where he teaches students from all over the world.

thanks daniel.

thanks!

to all of you who were able to attend the recent
painting with guitar one-man shows.
I had a blast and the response was wonderful.
it's a very personalized type performance
and I'm getting evermore excited about how
to expand the idea into a true multi-media show.
I feel like I've just scratched the surface!

on another front, the power trio dates across europe
for october/november are coming together very well.
more excitement to savor.
I can't wait for the mighty trio to power up.

lastly, the biggest flood in 100 years just tore up
many parts of nashville including some of my favorite haunts.
just so you know, we're fine and nearly back to normal.
a large uprooted tree now sprawls across our garden
but the elevated topography of mount juliet saved us.
our heartfelt sympathies go out to others far less fortunate
who lost everything: homes, cars, businesses and even their lives.
as with any disaster it's hard to comprehend.

Monday, May 3, 2010

it was twenty years ago today...

actually it was 20 years ago the day before yesterday,
on may first nineteen-ninety,
a day that began the best years of my life.
as in the song may 1, 1990 my life was changed forever
by meeting one martha webb at the peabody hotel
in orlando, florida following our david bowie concert.

when I look back at our past 20 years
I"m utterly amazed at the journey we've made.
nearly everything turned out fine.

thanks to all of you who have been along for any part
of the ride and I hope you'll be along for the next 20 as well.
great things are going to happen.