Looper

All sounds heard on this album were created on one instrument, my Breedlove guitar. There are no additional types of guitars, mandolins, banjos or basses. All percussion (not that there's much of that) has been generated on the body and strings. I've developed the arrangements and overall musical landscape over the last few years thanks to having steady gigs playing solo guitar using a looper. To the uninitiated, a looper is an electronic device (in the form of a pedal), that records what I play into it and then, at the stomp of the switch, plays back what was recorded. I can then either play a lead over the newly created loop or record more parts and orchestrate a piece live. Depending on the piece, I'll sometimes have a half dozen or more parts stacked up, as in Game of Thrones Main Title. Now, about those gigs... There's no other way to truly develop the craft than to bare your soul in front of an audience, repetitively. In many ways, when I first started playing solo/looping, I felt like a novice again. It was scary at first with no band mates to share the stage with. Step on the pedal at the wrong moment and things go south real quick! Fortunately, the good parts out-shined the train wrecks and more gigs came my way. Like the best things in life, this journey started serendipitously.... Guitarists are the ultimate consumers. We love our gear! New gear, vintage gear, whatever gear everybody's talking about, we gotta have it. So when loopers first came on the scene, well, you guessed it. Somehow though, after the blush was off the rose, I found a new infatuation and my looper began a long hibernation in a handy cabinet. Flash forward a couple of years when, in need of cabinet space, I tried selling the looper. Having no immediate takers, one day on a whim, I plugged my Breedlove in for a nostalgic fling and suddenly a new universe opened up for me. Several hours disappeared and I came back to the world feeling slightly intoxicated. Coincidentally, that very evening while making a mundane grocery run, I bumped into my old friend John, who happens to be the premier booking agent in Monterey. I related to him the story of my new inspiration and within a few days he gave me a call with a gig offer. Well that's how it all started and thanks to John, I've been busy ever since, constantly learning and creating new material and reworking the old. It's an exciting time!