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I've been influenced by many other guitarists and musicians like Leo Kottke, Alex de Grassi, Micheal Hedges, Pino Forastiere, Kaki King, Will Ackerman, Craig Chaqico, Russ Freeman, Doyle Dykes, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Led Zeppellin, John Mayer, Santana, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Sam Bush, Laurence Juber, Mark Hanson, John Fruisciante, Glen Campbell, The New Lost City Ramblers, Nickel Creek, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica (in between the hard stuff), George Benson, Cachaito Lopez, Luiz Bonfa, America and many others.
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This video was filmed live at Kulak's Woodshed in North Hollywood on Christmas Day, 2006. I'm improvising lead for Peter Kosenko with one of his tunes.
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This video was filmed live at Kulak's Woodshed in North Hollywood on 03/27/2006. It's a rendition of my piece called "Downhill Racer". I was accompanied by a very talented, natural born musician on electric violin by the name of Trevor Lloyd. He just jumped right into the song for the first time that night -- he only rehearsed it with me for 3 minutes before we went onstage. Thanks very much to you, Trevor, for this very nice performance! (:?)-->---<
AUTO-BIOGRAPHY
I play and compose fingerstyle acoustic guitar folk music. I've been playing guitar since I was fifteen or so, and I first started messing around with one when I was five years old. I started out playing the electric guitar and bass in a couple of garage rock bands when I was in high school.
Ever since my Dad gave me Leo Kottke's Armadillo Album CD for X-mas a few years ago, I've changed my style mostly from rock ..... to folk instrumental acoustic guitar music. I love to play this music now, and I'm a big fan of many guitarists in this genre. Some of my compositions are solo fingerstyle guitar, and some are accompanied by guitar leads and mandolin. I play all the instruments in my recordings, many of which are improvisational performances.
One thing that I have figured out over the years about music, is that it doesn't neccessarily always have to be written ahead of time. Why? Because actually, the music is Already There. It's an open language that you can speak freely with your voice or any instrument that you spend enough time learning to master. If you spend time practicing prewritten music, you will learn a lot from it, and be inspired and trained by it. But it's also important to practice speaking the language of music freely, because when you do, you will master it. You should practice Both, and Both mixed together.
Music is indeed Already There. It's like a beautiful set of Wind Chimes. In this world, the Wind Chimes are everywhere. Being a musician is like being The Wind.
A NOTE ABOUT MY GUITARS
I have a very small but effective collection of guitars. They're NOT really expensive, but rather mid-priced instruments that have been set-up very well for fingerstyle playing. The Six-String guitar I use is a real gem. It was around 1000 bucks, and it's a Martin Sustainable Wood Series. The reason why I say it's a gem, is because all of the wood used in it's manufacturing was aquired from rescued trees and forests that have been maintained in an ecolocigally responsible way. In other words, the guitar was made in an environmentally responsible way. I really don't want to sound overly "politically correct", but let's face it, these are exponential times we're living in! But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should throw your Brazillian Rosewood guitar in the dumpster!
The 12-string guitar I use is a great mid-priced Taylor 455CE that also goes for around 1000 bucks. One of the reasons why it sounds so good is because of the fact that I use 11 Guage Thomastik Infeld strings on it, which have a superbly wonderful tone, and also because of the fact that they're heavier than standard 12-string sets, and the guitar has been set up for it. And also, I use Laurence Juber True Medium GHS strings on my six-string. The string guages on the Juber strings have been cleverly modified so that they still retain the excellent tone of a medium guage set, while lightening the three problem strings for fingerstyle agility. I highly recommend these strings to everybody! (Dr. J, you're a GENUIS!)
I also use a mid-priced Japanese George Benson Signature Series Ibanez Jazz Guitar for lead playing.
Some people say that my guitars sound very, very expensive, but that's not true. The reason why they sound so good is because I use heavier strings which have a better tone -- the guitars are set up very well -- I'm a very good guitar player -- and a lot of care and expertise have gone into recording them.
So the moral is, you don't always have to have a really expensive guitar to sound great. A good guitar tech, good guitar player, and good sound engineer, can make a $99 Axe play and sound surprisingly wonderful!
My Dear Alex, Thank you for touching and changing my life for the best with your Love and God's Grace! I love the music that we make together. Thank you, very much for hearing the music of my soul and bringing it to life in a way that is so beautiful... I couldn't do it without you! May God continue to bless our journey together. I Love You!!! :) Love, Jennifer
I haven't stopped by in awhile so I thought I'd come by and hear your soothing ways. Your music always feels soooo good! Hope you are fine and everything is going well!!
We've got an incredible show coming up! It's at the luxurious, first-rate theater, dining, and lounge venue, The OC Pavilion, on Saturday, October 18, at 8:00 p.m. We're part of a 3 act show with two other great folk, pop/rock artists.
For details, to reserve tickets online, and for info on how to reserve by phone, go to www.MAKENAmusic.com.
The night will feed your spirit.
Again, for details, to reserve tickets online, and for info on how to reserve by phone, please go to www.MAKENAmusic.com.
Peace! Toast and Siena MAKENAmusic.com GirlMeetsGirlPodcast.com P.S. And hey -- pause for a "stress check" -- a deep breath, back stretch, or 30 seconds with your eyes closed. Or flip out, go crazy and do all three! It would take less than 60 seconds, and feels great.
Thanks for being our new friend! Visit us at www.fireballmailonline.com to see what the Killer's up to. He's touring, cut a new record, played Farm Aid, and having a birthday..Keep Rockin' and In Touch...Hugs, Marla
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