Musings

Today was a fun day, performing at the historic Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles! It was…ummm…how shall I put this? Perhaps THE most bizarre gig I’ve ever played (and I’ve played a LOT of bizarre gigs).

I had a wonderful afternoon in the Western music world. Nashville friends Keenan Wade and Grace Adele, the husband-and-wife duo who perform under the name “The Farmer and Adele,” arrived here in Los Angeles for a meetup at the Gene Autry Museum in Griffith Park.

Calibrating the old Ampex 2-track reel-to-reel tape recorder tonight, in advance of a recording session this weekend with an eight-piece soul band.

I was very lucky back in the day to pick up a lot of stuff cheap, before vintage stuff went through the roof. One thing I failed to buy, however, was a blackface Fender Princeton Reverb.

Had a fun visit today with Nathan Hernandez and Fred Stuart—the same Fred Stuart from the early, legendary Fender Custom Shop.

I scrambled to get this song and this video completed before the alien invasion faded from front-page news. I hereby declare “TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER” the official alien invasion song of 2023!

Another great one gone: Huey “Piano” Smith made some of the greatest New Orleans rock ‘n’ roll records ever: “Don’t You Just Know It,” “Rockin’ Pneumonia,” “High Blood Pressure,” the original version of “Sea Cruise,” and a slew of other great, wild-ass, sloppy but tight party favorites.

RIP to my good friend Peter Huggins, aka “Guitarmaniax.” Peter passed away last night after a battle with cancer.

Guitar mystery of the night: Here’s Johnny Fields, left, early 1950s. His Fender Esquire (Telecaster? No Caster? Broadcaster?) has been customized with what looks to be an extra bridge pickup section from another Fender guitar…

The saga continues on the Fender Woody Pro project. I’ve made no less than THREE sets of these metal strips.