The Nightwires had a stonking practise this week. I’m so priviledged to be able to play with such great musicians as Russell, Rob and Dave. I think we get better and better and that makes it more enjoyable. I think we’ve pretty much accepted that after playing for 10 plus years without getting where we want to be, we are playing still because we love playing and because we are great friends. I still personally get quite annoyed when I see other acts getting great support slots etc, but we get over looked, but I’m sure lots of artists feel like that. I’m trying to not sound bitter, but the shit you go through as an “unsigned” musician, gets worse over time, as the struggle becomes more and more futile.

But, and its a big but, when you can write songs that make you smile when you play them and when listen back to them, you have to keep playing. I’d provided Russell with 5 new songs and he’s worked his magic on 4 of them. When we played them with the band this week, after a couple of runs through of each one, they are already sounding incredible. Definitely a bit of a Tom Petty vibe going on with a couple of them and the fact that we enjoyed playing them so much, bodes well for them getting into the set.

This was also the first opportunity I’ve had to really fire up the Morgan Amplification AC 20 Deluxe. My god, its incredible! I set it for a clean but dirty sound, so play softly and its clean but dig in and attack the guitar and it hits you with a beautiful blues rock sound. Its perfect for the rootsy sound of the Nightwires songs. I bloody love it!

So, these 4 songs we have are about ready to gig. And I’m hopeful that we could produce a new EP soon, as I feel the need to rock again 😉

I’ve done a little update of my pedalboard. The Wampler Euphoria has finally been added and I’ve taken the Phase 90 off. Its the first time in years I’ve not had the Phase 90 on my board, its really because the TC Electronic Shaker sounds so lush and lovely and I only want one modulation pedal on there.

The footswitch is for my Victory head and it needs a block of wood under it, to raise it up and make it easier to reach. It also looks like there will be space on the board for my Ditto looper, which is nice!

Well it was my birthday…

This thing is incredible. Very touch sensitive, very responsive to pick attack and can achive that beautiful “clean but dirty” tone.

At 20 watts, its loud and will be able to gig no problem. For home use, it has a power scaling feature, which means you can get a lovely overdriven sound, at low volumes.

Many thanks to John at Peach Guitars for looking after me.

There will be a full review when I get around to it, and videos will be done!!

I used to be in a band called 3 Ring Circus. We started out as a great band no body had heard of, and ended as a band of nobodies. Hey ho, we’ve still got our health.

Anyway, in the spirit of getting the music “out there” if you email me your name and address, I’ll send you a set of our 3 albums FOR FREE! That’s gratis, buy 0 get 3 free. This has nothing to do with me wanting the storage space back, under my stairs. Honestly…

A quick blast of the Euphoria, boosting a drive sound on my amp

Just got this in the post from Andertons. After a brief play, I’d say it is a keeper. Full video to follow shortly.

A week or so ago, I was lucky enough to have tickets for the Guthrie Govan/Victory Amps showcase, hosted by Andertons.

Guthrie demoed each Victory Amp and chatted about his playing career and answered some technique questions.

It was an amazing night, with Guthrie again proving he is the most complete guitarist in the world. He can play anything! Plus, he comes accross as a thoroughly nice bloke. Here are a few pictures I took.

I have a pretty sweet set-up at the moment. Great PRS guitars, a great strat and a lovely sounding Jazzmaster. I’ve also found the amp of my dreams, in the form of the Victory Amps V50 head.

But GAS (gear/guitar acqusition syndrome) is never far away.

1. Guitars. I love the Fender Custom Shop Michael Landau Stratocaster. I got to play one recently (briefly) during a visit to Andertons. I’m not mad about the whole relicing thing, but the neck: wow!! My favourite guitar shop Guitars4you have one in stock MUST RESIST!!

2. Pedals. A never ending thing for me. I just love looking at them and buying a new one can provide alot of inspiration for new songs. However, its an expensive lust as I always want the boutique option. Currently, I’m after a Robert Keeley Seafoam Chorus which sounds immense. I’m actually not a massive fan of straight chorus pedals, hence why I currently use a TC Electronic Shaker vibrato pedal. That sounds great but the gear snob in me, somehow thinks the Keeley pedal will be better! The good thing about it is the blend knob which all the way to the left, is pure vibrato. You then turn it clockwise, to “blend” in a chorus sound. The best of both worlds.

3. Amplifiers. Yes, I have already said the Victory V50 is the amp of my dreams. It is, but I still would like a single channel head. I have a Cornford Carrera combo which still sounds great and I also have a Roadhouse Combo. The Roadhouse is rearely used now, so I could move it on and put the cash towards another head to use with my Zilla cab. I really like the look/sound of the DR Z Carmen Ghia and also the 65 Amps heads. The other option, is to put the Roadhouse internals into a new head case, something I could get done for £250. Mmm…..

So, as you can see, its a constant battle between head, heart and wallet. Yes, its hardly a major problem is it, I wont starve. But guitarists with tastes like mine, will sympathise I’m sure 😉

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be asked by a good friend of mine Bob Lane (@laney74 on twitter) to record some guitars for the new release by his “Movie Theme Tune” project.

Straight to Video is Bob’s vehicle for his love of songs from the soundtracks of his favourite movies. We gathered at Sound Hub Studios in Belper along with producer Joe Brown, to create some magic! I can’t divulge which two songs I played on, but needless to say that with the local talent he has playing on this album, they sound mega!!

This new release will be a full blown album, but I was lucky enough to play on the first STV EP Bob released a year or so ago. I played guitars on the Soul Asylum song “Misery” and the song features Bowling for Soup’s Jaret Reddick on vocals. Here it is in all its glory

Head over to the Straight to Video pledge page for more information

Here are a few pictures of my setup in the studio

Hello!

Here are a few pictures of my setup, from The Nightwires recent derby gig