Get posting you twit!

I know, I haven't posted in ages. Still there's been lots happening and you might have noticed a few changes on the web site to reflect that.

Normally, I like to post a proper article and as most of the current work has still to come to fruition, there didn't seem much point in posting about things I haven't done yet.

So by way of a general update:

Caedmon is rehearsing regularly (well every three months or so, which is regular for us older guys) and I've written a couple of songs for the band -

Woah, slow down there a minute! You've done what? It's taken you five years not to get any further than two songs for the 50th Anniversary Edition and you've just 'written a couple of songs'?

Erm... well, yes. If I've got the time [Ha! Ed.] I'd like to record demos of them over here too, so that we can all play compare and contrast when a real band gets hold of them.

Pedal to the erm... folk

Playing with Caedmon has brought a kind of sea change to my guitar sound. For the 50th Anniversary Edition I want nothing better than to play loud guitar through an overloaded valve amp. For Caedmon, I need to produce a much wider variety of textures and sounds. So the trusty home made fuzz box and the wah have been supplemented by a few bits and pieces off Ebay, and the lot velcro'd to a pedal board. In the process, I've had a lot of catching up to do since I bought a digital Zoom 2020 multi-effects board for Reel Funk Inc. more than 15 years ago. Who'd have thought that the Tubescreamer that I turned my nose up at long ago now demands premium price. Behringer anybody?

Guitar pickups

I seem to have accumulated guitar pickups over the years, but times are hard and it makes sense to fund the 50th Anniversary Edition by flogging off the ones I don't use. But first, I'm recording them all with a view to creating the ultimate strat pickup bake-off which I'll publish here. Look out Bare Knuckle, Guitar Fetish and Tone Rider!

Web site

I built this site as a way of keeping focus on the 50th Anniversary Edition. This site is about me and my songs [What songs? Ed.] and my attempts to finally do it right. Meanwhile, the world moves on, people expect to download their music for free and selling albums has become more like a sideline for musicians.

And the most popular pages on this site are the ones where I review equipment, or compare guitar body woods, or test pickups. That's why I've added adverts in the sidebar over there. At the moment, I could probably buy a couple of sets of guitar strings with the proceeds, but then next year I could buy another couple of sets from the same articles without any more effort on my part...

But don't worry, I have no intentions of turning the site into one of those ad laden monstrosities where you struggle to find the information you seek [Jim, can I have a word with you. Ed.].

Tweet!

So, the Twitter line is 'What are you doing right now?' This struck me as the obvious solution to the dilemma of having lots of stuff on the go and nothing to report. So I set up a Twitter account and started tweeting. Now I can feed that into the blog and at least you can see I haven't deserted the project.

Except that as I investigated Twitter replies and hashtags and the like, I discovered that posting 'What are you doing right now' is frowned upon by the Twitter community.

Bugger. As always, too late to the party. Anyway, if you want to, follow me on Twitter.