I played guitar again this morning! Two days in a row!
I put rhythm guitars on a Quarantine tune, and lead guitar on another song. It was my first recorded lead on the new frets and the first recorded lead in months, meaning I have no calluses, meaning ouch town, population: me.
In other guitar playing news, the new pick journey officially began today as well.
I started with a Dunlop grippy model and amazingly dropped it within seconds of starting to play. WhatWhatWhat??
I recorded some guitar tracks today! WOOHOO!
I put rhythm guitars on one Quarantine Tunes vol. Seven song. Lots of chunky wah-wah groove. Awesome. Here’s hoping I get to make some time to play a lot this weekend. I have a lot of stuff ready for car vocals too.
Get to work, Robert!
A few years ago I went on a journey down the guitar strings rabbit hole, looking for a new brand of strings to play. I eventually settled on one (Stringjoy) and have never looked back.
I think it’s time for a similar voyage, this time searching for new picks. Silly, right? Picks… those little tiny things. How can they make that much of a difference? Well, trust me… they make an epically huge difference.
I put a post on the /guitar subreddit today asking for suggestions. I’ve had over 20 responses in the last hour or so. So many ideas. So many things to try. So epically epic of a journey to undertake.
Bring it on, brothers and sisters!
After a few inches of snow followed by a layer of ice last night, the commute this morning is going to be rough. Hopefully most of Massachusetts will just stay home and I’ll have routes 93 and 128 to myself.
Not likely.
I’m running a bit late this morning but I did manage to sneak in a picture for the photo a day thing. Granted it’s basically the same as the last two days. What’s a red head to do?
Want to take a guess as to what I did not do this morning before work? Also, what I didn’t do at all over the weekend or during last week?
Go on and take a guess. I bet you’ll never get it right. I won’t be able to do anything about it for the next two days either, but I bet you still can’t guess.
It’s a super secret. No one will ever know.
(insert frustrated sigh of failure to play any guitar or work on any music projects or ideas here)
I have barely done anything musical in the past week. I told myself I was going to work on Quarantine Tunes Volume 7 this month, and I have done some work. I just haven’t done enough.
I have one song ready to mix, but it’s been ready to mix for about a year. I have one song ready for lead guitars but, again, it’s been ready for about a year. I have three songs ready for vocals and I have been trying to get myself into a place where I can record them (meaning in the car in an empty parking lot at the crack of dawn) but I’ve failed to get it done all week. Tomorrow, maybe? I also have two songs ready for rhythm guitars but I just haven’t been able to make the time to record the tracks. I will, I just need to get myself motivated.
Motivation! Why do you vex me so? Get your ass in gear, Robert! Do something! Play the effin’ guitar, you bozo! Make some music!
I played guitar today. I worked on two songs. I used the direct out and cabinet sims off of two amps, which broke my amps and speakers rule for the re-recording project, but I didn’t wake Harry so that was worth it.
I played like dog shit, but I played and that’s what matters. I needed it. I have more to do so I might sneak some more playing in later today.
Sigh of relief.
The Smashing Pumpkins put out a call for a new guitar player. They are asking for resumes.
Should I send one?
Right then. It’s 2024. Enough of that crap that was 2023. Let’s get our shit together and make some music. In February I will dive head first back into the RPM Challenge, but until then what am I going to force upon myself to jump start creativity and make me feel like I can be a musician for a few weeks.
In other words, what are my musical goals for January 2024? There are three.
First and foremost, we are hoping to start auditioning singers for the cover band. My playing is utter shite right now so I need to get into shape. I need to find out what songs we are going to use for the audition and practice the holy hell out of them. They all used to be second nature but that was almost four years ago. I have to make them second nature again.
Second and second most, my 1979 Gibson ES-335 Pro needs to go into the shop. The same shop my Les Paul Custom spent time in a few months ago. I think it needs new frets, and I think it might need a new wiring harness as well. I need to get things going this month so that the guitar will be available for me to use on February’s RPM Challenge album.
Third and third most, it is time to get back to The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project, where I take old songs from old writing projects and clean them up, edit them, rewrite where necessary, and then record a slightly higher quality version. This project is also known as Quarantine Tunes. There are six Quarantine Tunes albums on my alonetone page. I told myself that I was stopping at six but then about a year and a half ago I started work on volume seven and also sort of started thinking about volume eight. What can I say, I am a nerd about this stuff. Last night I added two more songs to the volume seven to-do list. I plan to spend January working on volume seven and hopefully finishing it. That should put my brain into a good recording and playing space in time for February.
I am also slightly overwhelmed by a scary compulsion to go out and buy a new guitar. I need to fight that urge. I want a Les Paul Junior or a Firebird, but I don’t need them. Hopefully playing the shit out of the guitars I already own will calm me down on the online shopping front… hopefully… I think.
So there you go. Practice, get the 335 fixed up, and record. My three musical goals for January.
Bring ’em on.
A super rough mix of a terrible performance of a really bad song. My first Record Every Month Challenge song since September. I’m back, babie! My finger tips are killing me after recording the lead guitar parts today. Yikes!
Inside the Red Head's Head 