Hello Troubadourians! How many of you have ever recorded yourself playing or singing (or both)? If you haven’t, you should. It is an eye-opening experience. The first time you hear your voice on a recording, it sounds like a completely different person. Who is that? That can’t be me…can it? Likewise, when you hear a […]
Hello Troubadourians! Years ago when I began writing this column I had planned it to be a source of information for performing musicians as well as a forum where musicians could ask questions about their gear and get advice on anything from how to select an instrument to how to make a PA system work. […]
I get asked a lot of questions. Sometimes I’m asked about this guitar or that guitar, this piece of gear or that piece of gear. Other times they begin, “How do I…” and always refer to being better in some way—sound better, play better, sing better… You’d think that the obvious answer would be practice. […]
Hello Troubadourians! Last month we explored the idea of a new guitar. Need vs. want and how to know the difference. I’d like to go a little deeper into that but from a different direction. Let’s say you’ve decided that a new guitar is the answer for you. Let’s narrow that down a little more. […]
Hello Troubadourians! The other day, someone asked me if I thought they needed a better guitar. I answered by asking two questions of my own: “Why do you think you need a better guitar?” and “Would you know that a guitar was ‘better’ than the one you have if you couldn’t see it first?” Obviously, […]
Hello Troubadourians! Sometimes it’s the simplest things that can change a pile of parts into a fine instrument… and vice versa. Several times over the years, I’ve written in these pages about custom this and special that. I’ve geeked out over such things as specialized string gauges that are selected so that every string in […]
Hello Troubadourians! At some point, every musician gets bored with their playing and/or their instrument. Learning new songs or learning a new technique can do the trick. When that works, you feel accomplished and you have new things to work into you playing. But, sometimes the only way to break through the boredom is to […]
Hello Troubadourians! Well, NAMM 2019 has come and gone. I was able to spend three days at the show this time, which was good. This year’s show was a mixed bag of things for me; a lot of the same-old, same-old but a lot of new things as well. Much of this had to do […]
Hello Troubadourians! Journalism is a funny business. When you read this column sometime in February, remember that I wrote it in mid-January. I forgot that time discrepancy when I wrote last month’s column. I was thinking that since my next column would be February, I would have already attended the 2019 NAMM Show and would […]
