Q-1: Does one meal tempt you more than others?
I don't think anyone had read George Fullerton's original book. Watch for it on ebay or amazon - it shows up now & then. Written some time ago but interesting pictures & perspectives from George when he was younger. I used to grab one every time I saw it on ebay then would pass it along to someone with a G&L trade. Throwing one of those $10 books into the deal stopped all the negotiating. Several of them had been signed by George.
As I mentioned, George signed copies of both of my books written by him. That makes both books very special. The only book that is more special to me is one I wrote myself that now contains the autographs of Dale Hyatt, George Fullerton, Les Paul [he signed it for me in his dressing room], Will Ray, Doyle Dykes, Joe Wilson, Darth Invader Dave, all the GbL'ers I've met in person, & the Michigan Jammers. There are 2 more names I hope to have in there one day: Vince Gill & BB King. I'm working on it., This book will be passed on to my son in a will.
Q-2: If you could meet 15 minutes face to face with an artist you admire, who would that be?
LUNCH: Leftovers today - probably made creatively into what will look like a salad. With green tea, fruit, & yogurt. I think fresh fruit & yogurt make wonderful desserts.
SONGWRITING: 2 things I've heard & read over the years about enhancing GUITAR playing was to listen to music in a genre you don't often listen to & practice some in a genre you don't often try to play in. I say that also applies to dealing with songwriting blocks or starting the creativity processes. To those I would add playing in an altered tuning and playing an instrument you know little about. I have a book of altered tunings for guitar; there are many. Many artists like Chet Adkins, Neil Young, etc used them often. I keep my little parlor guitar tuned to D-A-D-G-A-D, an international favorite. I have an old Yamaha acoustic that I keep tuned to a really weird tuning of mostly "C" octaves that was shown to me by an artist in Maine 2 years ago. She has many cd's & uses that tuning in almost half the songs on her cd's & in concerts. There are 2 instruments that I have around that I don't play. I only use them to "noodle around" & experiment for melody ideas. One is a rather inexpensive mandolin & the other is a Yamaha keyboard with lots of bells & whistles that I snagged for $40 on Craigs List.
Q-3: Ever use altered tuning to practice, perform, or create with? Why or why not?
HUMOR: One of THE most colorful characters in GbL history was Cajun Boy. Hard to imagine anyone enjoying life more than him. Great fiserman, too. Hope he's well; would still like to meet him one day. He was probably most noted for his postings of the "peeping Tom" images of the newlyweds next door, pictures of guys peeing in public places, his "Spongebob Squarepants" custom guitar, his down & dirty lyrics to his gig songs, & some indescribable photos. He claimed this was a "live" shot of him in one of his gigs:
Come on, folkz, my hard drive is begging for more images of this type!!!!!!!!!
Ok, who wants the driver's seat next week? This is fun.
Jay
