Thank you or your interest in the new CD Hard Times, blues guitar . Here are a few details about the music.

i recorded it on a Martin D17 after my niece recently changed the strings. Also i used a flat pick instead of finger nails. i generally prefer not to use a pick but my nails have to be in good shape in order to tackle metal strings.

It’s been a few years since i’ve recorded any solo music on the acoustic guitar...it feels good getting back to that instrument and back to the traditional music i’ve played all my life. “Roots” , traditional, the local folk and Appalachian music; whatever YOU call it I’ve been playin’ it since my Daddy first taught me to play guitar. Some of my earliest influences were Howlin Wolf, BB King, Lightnin Hopkins, Sun House, Johnny Winter, and Roy Buchanan. Roy Buchanan in particular made a big impression on me one night when i heard him in the seventies at Exit In in Nashville, Tn.

About the tunes...the first one, Blues Guitar is a fairly straight forward blues tune. ...it clocks at about 65bpm through out...There is a tempo modulation during one of the reiterations of the melody and shortly after the beginning there is a brief section where it appears to be a-rhythmic. This is also where thematic materials are introduced and developed somewhat. As rhythmic elements become more pronounced there is a shift to harmonic development. Chords become more frequent and complex. This builds to a descending chromatic line in the base and settles into a more tonally centered statement of the tune and a brief choral lead out.

The second piece “Ecliptic Blues” in part belongs to a series of acoustic guitar compositions i recoreded in the 80’s and 90’s (the lunar and solar eclipse music for acoustic guitar) . In this case the eclipse is a blues one and derives it’s name from the way it eclipses the next piece “Hard Times”. “Eclptic Blues” is a study in relaxation and tension with lots of harmonics and slow lush chording. These motifs reappear (or eclipse if you will) in the next piece “Hard Times” at the beginning....

“Hard Times”, the last tune on the CD, is for me the most personal and most fun to play. The version here is the basic stripped down no thrills version...i tried not to let it go on too long for this “studio” version but generally when played live it last for 3 or 4 times the length. Tempo is rock steady through out (quarter = 60 i think) lots of multiple lines, complicated vertical arrays, and poly-rhythms abound.....as well as a full selection of blues riffs and licks....lots of fun all the way around.

Well i hope this gives you a few clues as to what to look for. ..i’d just as soon people listened to it with out worrying too much as to what’s going on. Personally i like to hear it....it passes the multiple listening test....i hope that the more people listen to it the more they will understand it and come to like these tunes. So far i’ve had nothing but good response. For those adventuresome guitarist who would like the sheet music....they haven’t been transcribed yet.....let me know if you’d like to play them and i’ll see about rounding up some parts.

Sincerely,

BBeavers