Sunday, July 16, 2006

Minor Surgery

Not to worry, it wasn't me that went under the knife. Rather, it was Joline, my old Folkcraft. The notes were sounding a little sour, especially on the treble drone and I had her refretted earlier this year, which helped quite a bit, but not all the way. It occured to me that Patrick had lowered the action on Angelique some time ago by my request and that it made all the difference in the world. So he did a quick file job on the bridge and nut early today just before I went to see "An Inconvenient Truth" and it's just mind-blowing how a fraction of an inch can turn your sound into gold. My left hand doesn't have to work nearly as hard to sound notes and the tones aren't sharp on the treble drone. Hammer-ons and pull-offs are much easier to manage; sometimes it's the little things that mean so much, right?

This couldn't have happened at a better time. Michelle Bunker from Full Sail dropped me a line a little while back and wanted to know if I'd come in to do their Artist Sessions, where they record singer/songwriters as opposed to full bands. Since I've been ramping up to make a new solo record ("Dulcimerica: Vol. 1"), this comes at a really silly good time. Now, it's just a matter of what I'm going to record. I've talked to Charles Stansell about doing some harmonica and I know a great cello player (Kevin Stever), so it's sort of all about running through material and seeing what speaks up and wants to get tracked. I'm leaning towards "Squire Woods' Lament", "Amazing Grace (Miles To Go)", "The Old Black Cat Couldn't Catch A Rat", and re-tracking some of the solo dulcimer stuff from clear blue trickling without the effects. Suggestions are always welcome!

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