Hello from central Wisconsin, USA.
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 9:50 pm
I live about two hours north of Madison, our state capitol, in Wisconsin, USA with my crazy dog, who likes to roll in whatever toxic waste he can find. He’s also my avatar for this site.
The first time I played a guitar was when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I found an old guitar in a closet, grabbed my dad’s ancient wire recorder, and wrote and recorded a song. Nothing too complicated . . . . . . . it was about hotdogs and hamburgers and went something like this . . . .
Hotdogs are good.
Hamburgers too.
If you like 'em both,
I'll save one for you.
CHORUS
And they're so cold (background vocals here "So cold, so cold")
'til you put them on the grill.
You just flip 'em and move 'em around
'til you had your fill.
It was all a bit scary, because I didn’t have permission to use the gear, although, when I finally told my dad, he said it was okay, and I could use his stuff any time. So that was cool. I got more serious about playing in high school, joined some neighborhood garage bands, and sat in on open jam sessions. From then on, I always had a guitar around and never turned down an opportunity to play. Then I went into one of those same-old-story things. After getting married, the opportunities got fewer, friends got busy with other things, blah blah blah, and the guitar sat in its case more and more . . . . . . until . . . . . I was sitting around a campfire in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and someone shoved a guitar into my hands and asked if I knew how to play. Oh, boy! Need I say more? Now my interest is rekindled and here I am with you. Not a bad place to be, wouldn’t you say?
I just realized that I’m 52 years old. Doing the math puts my most impressionistic high school years in the early 70s. So, naturally, I like Steely Dan, Neil Young, The Band, Jimmy Buffet, Eagles (Desperado - best), Credence Clearwater Revival, etc. but I’m also up for learning newer artists like Corrine Bailey Rae, Maroon 5 (acoustic versions), etc. Up until this new fangled Internet thing came along, I learned most of my songs from books, records, and others who had learned songs from books and records. So, I have a lot of bad habits that will probably follow me to the grave.
It would be good to learn some theory and, maybe, write another song. Perhaps one about ketchup and mustard.
The first time I played a guitar was when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I found an old guitar in a closet, grabbed my dad’s ancient wire recorder, and wrote and recorded a song. Nothing too complicated . . . . . . . it was about hotdogs and hamburgers and went something like this . . . .
Hotdogs are good.
Hamburgers too.
If you like 'em both,
I'll save one for you.
CHORUS
And they're so cold (background vocals here "So cold, so cold")
'til you put them on the grill.
You just flip 'em and move 'em around
'til you had your fill.
It was all a bit scary, because I didn’t have permission to use the gear, although, when I finally told my dad, he said it was okay, and I could use his stuff any time. So that was cool. I got more serious about playing in high school, joined some neighborhood garage bands, and sat in on open jam sessions. From then on, I always had a guitar around and never turned down an opportunity to play. Then I went into one of those same-old-story things. After getting married, the opportunities got fewer, friends got busy with other things, blah blah blah, and the guitar sat in its case more and more . . . . . . until . . . . . I was sitting around a campfire in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and someone shoved a guitar into my hands and asked if I knew how to play. Oh, boy! Need I say more? Now my interest is rekindled and here I am with you. Not a bad place to be, wouldn’t you say?
I just realized that I’m 52 years old. Doing the math puts my most impressionistic high school years in the early 70s. So, naturally, I like Steely Dan, Neil Young, The Band, Jimmy Buffet, Eagles (Desperado - best), Credence Clearwater Revival, etc. but I’m also up for learning newer artists like Corrine Bailey Rae, Maroon 5 (acoustic versions), etc. Up until this new fangled Internet thing came along, I learned most of my songs from books, records, and others who had learned songs from books and records. So, I have a lot of bad habits that will probably follow me to the grave.
It would be good to learn some theory and, maybe, write another song. Perhaps one about ketchup and mustard.
If you have any questions, please ask. When you have a chance, check out some of the Community Groups too. 