December 16, 2011

This week we had to bring out a few new Christmas tunes- a couple of
instrumentals and a bluesy sing along. We started the week with a
ragtime arrangement of Gene Autry’s Here Comes Santa Claus, followed
that with a reverent take on The Little Drummer Boy (done in Dropped D
tuning), and ended the week with the contemporary classic Please Be
Home for Christmas, mostly along the lines of the Eagles version.

We tried to balance the heavy holiday leanings with a look at I Need
You by America and a couple of Fly On The Wall videos visiting Don
McLean’s Castles In The Air and singing tips with respect to Bob
Dylan’s Dream and The Boxer.

I also had a little time to sit down with the guitar and explore some
melodic and harmonic ideas. We put out a couple of these as Acoustic
Guitar Abstracts (#4 and #5). Looking back, it was about this time
last year that I started this soon-to-be tradition. Maybe the holiday
season gives me a chance to play the guitar more.

We also had another trip into the past with Jack van Breen showing us
a 1930s Gibson lap steel guitar- definitely a blast from the past for
the vintage collectors.

Next week we have a very cool announcement coming so check in early in
the week.

Stay Tuned & In Touch,

Neil