would make sense as a whole and would
also make sense if you listen separately to
the;songs;and;the;instrumentals.;For;each;of;
the songs—some of which I was happy to
collaborate;on;with;my;wife,;Doatea,;and;a;
singer-songwriter;friend;from;Los;Angeles;
named;Nina;Swan—I;was;careful;to;record;
parts;that;didn’t;conflict;with;the;lyrics.;I;
wanted a listener to be able to pay attention to one element at a time without any
confusion. In other words, I treated the voice
and;guitar;like;equal;instruments.;I’m;very;
happy with Vividly, which some people have
told;me;is;my;best;record;to;date.;My;guitar;
tone has improved. I sing better than I did
in;the;past.;Most;importantly,;it’s;a;record;
that shows where I am as a musician and as
a person.
giving myself a bit of a vocabulary around
the;places;that;my;fingers;know.;I’ll;follow;
a;piece;to;where;it;leads;me.;Here’s;another;
way I look at improvisation: At the end of
the day, everything we learn on our instrument has to be forgotten, because as much
as you work hard to overcome the technical
challenges that surface when you approach
music, ultimately you need to ignore all that
information in order to be fully attentive and
reactive to what you are instantly composing.
Guitars
1978 Lowden S- 22 (dubbed
“Old Lady”), Lowden Pierre Bensusan
signature model (dubbed “New Lady”),
signature Altiplanos archtop made by
Michael Greenfield, Juan Miguel Carmona
nylon-string, Kevin Ryan steel-string
Improvisation seems to play a real promi-
nent role in your music.
I try to be as spontaneous as possible by
approaching a new composition with the
notion;that;it’ll;never;really;be;completed.;
I’ll;of;course;try;to;learn;what;I’ve;written;
note-for-note, but very soon after that I will
deviate from the piece and play it more freely,
What makes for a strong improviser?
It helps to have a thorough knowledge of the
fretboard, to know the different locations of
any given chord and its inversions, to have
multiple positions for scales and modes under
your fingers. At a certain point, though, you
have to stop thinking about scales and actually
play;music.;Music;is;much;more;than;just;a;
logical;and;harmonious;juxtaposition;of;melo-dies. Inside all this, there is an intact abstraction—a;brutal;and;vibrant;jewel—calling;for;
your senses, emotions, and all our human
feelings. No words can describe that sensation.
If there were, then there would be no need to
play or listen to music anymore.
Effects
Ernie Ball Volume Pedal,
Zoom H4 handheld digital
recorder (for reverb)
Amplification
Headway Pickups piezo pickup routed
through Fishman internal preamp
( 60 percent of the signal), custom mic
handmade in Michigan ( 40 percent
of the signal), RØDE vocal mic
Strings and Picks
Wyres .013–.056 signature set,
clear Dobro thumbpick
