Brief on me: Been retired from a training/consulting career that spanned about 45 years, & picked up 2 kids & a college degree along the way during those first 10 years. The kids are doing fine on their own & have blessed me with 2 grandchildren. The only person on the planet enjoying retirement more than I am is Annie B. After 30 years of teaching second graders, dealing with parents, grading papers while trying to watch tv, & having to be at work by 7 am, she's quit cooking & gets up whatever time of day she wakes up. I'm still up about 6am. The days aren't not long enough for me. We left Atlanta in 2002 & are hiding in the woods on a lake with 1,000 miles of shoreline in South Carolina. SC has gotta be the lowest cost of living in the USA. Gas prices are $3.11 for regular today. Property taxes, sales tax, insurance among lowest in the nation. Wonderful golf courses - or so I hear.
Lunch: We're trying to make healthier choices at our house, so I'm betting on a salad with chicken or fish strips, balsamic or lo-cal dressing, & green tea. We're kinda good about watching it when we're home, but if we were on the road I'd have to go for an Arby's or Hardees sandwich. Man, I like beef any way you wanna cook it or slice it - but not today.
I am likely the senior enthusiast here, so gimme my senior LR discount! LOL! Man, I was in grammar school when Leo went from repairing those radios to developing that first Tele. All I'd seen growing up were acoustics, and no one I personally knew owned one. Certainly not me. The first electric guitar I ever saw was maybe the one in Rick Nelson's band on "Ozzie & Harriet" on my grandmother's black & white tv. We didn't own a tv...... or a phone. I got my first electric guitar fondle & GAS attack as a college freshman at Georgia Tech. It was a used Silvertone solidbody in a pawn shop near the campus. I saved lunch money until I got enough to buy it: $35. No amp. That would come a year leter.
Q-1: When/where was your first GAS attack?
Songwriting: I've participated highly & I've lurked, but I can't remember anyone having a discussion about songwriting on here. If so, I missed it. One thing that takes some of my retirement time is songwriting., I always had the interest but never the time when I was working. Now, a handful of us get together on the first Tuesday of every month & "collaborate". One is a doghouse bass player in a bluegrass band, one is a professional [full time] solo Indie singer/songwriter, one is a transplanted Brit employee of Home Depot by day & darn good pickup bassist for local bands, & the other is his wife who plays keyboards & sings wonderfully. Occasionally, we are joined by a non-musician singer who directs a gospel choir. Sometimes we're joined by a radio talk show host who plays an acoustic in a rock band on weekends. I tend to write mostly blues & pop ballads & occasionally Christian ballads for church. I keep a notebook with titles on each page & associated words or phrases that I continually update. From those, song concepts & songs will eventually emerge.
I tend to write in spurts & find that working on a song early early in the morning over coffee works best. Usually I start with lyrics - something rolling around in my head or from my notes. The hardest part for me is to come up with a melody & tempo that fits well with my lyrics. Here's where the collaboration is essential for me. I've found that noodling around on an acoustic tuned in D-A-D-G-A-D gets me started with a melody FIRST & lyrics can flow from that with far less collaboration or polishing needed. One thing our group does to increase productivity is to toss a title or phrase from our notebooks into a hat at the end of a meeting, draw one, & bring a song with that title or phrase in it to the next meeting, That has worked wonders. The Indie guy just completed his 4th cd & over half his songs on it were created this way & polished by our group.
Q-2: Do you write songs? What kind? What works or doesn't work for you?
G&L: I hated that I gave up an old roadworn SC-3 a few years ago. Hardly any paint left on it, worn but playable frets, & the previous owner had sanded the neck bare. Time, sweat, & beer had mojo'd the body wood in several places & the neck almost completely. But one of the best tones ever. Loved noodling with that guitar..... loved it. Great inspiration for songwriting. I wanted an amp so badly that the seller wouldn't let it go unless I made the SC-3 part of the deal. It's still his fave gigging axe every weekend. I've begged for it back, but he sez "NEVER".
Q-3: Favorite noodling G&L ever?
Humor: Over the years, there have been some darn funny pics show up on this website. Each day I'm gonna post one that I kept & hope you will add one of yours from any source.
See ya tomorrow!!
Jaystrings
my old Yamaha SG200 wouldn't stay in une and after i'd joined that band I wanted a proper guitar.... A STRATOCASTER.......... my wife bought me one that Christmas 
that darn lanuage barrier!!!!!!!! 
