Heartbreaking

I’ve got a Gibson SG. To be specific, I have a 1974 Gibson SG Standard with a cherry finish, pearl block inlays and a tune-a-matic bridge. The neck is thinner than any other SG I’ve played which is a hazard since it’s snapped at the headstock twice; once when it was stolen before I bought it and once in my care. It’s a beauty.

I got this guitar when I was around 16 or 17 and since then it’s been my main guitar. I’ve abused the shit out of this instrument over the years; switched out pickups, replaced the tuners, sang into it, dropped it, slammed the headstock into the sides of countless amps to make it shriek out feedback against it’s will. It’s my baby. I’ll never find another one like it and though I don’t pick up a guitar much nowadays, I would be heartbroken if anything ever happened to it.

All the guitars I’ve ever owned have a special place in my heart but this one, this bastard SG, shows marks from every show, every tour, every sticker that’s been stuck and then removed when I became an adult. When I read something like this my heart breaks for someone else and I pray it doesn’t happen to me.

Mayyors

Henry Owings says goodbye to Mayyors who’ll be playing their final shows next month. Seriously, in the past couple of years, these guys are the only thing that have blown my mind. Sad that they’ll be packing it in.

Andy Hummel

Andy Hummel, bassist for Big Star has passed away at the age of 59. Shitty year.

Blue Note

Via Coudal: Every Blue Note album cover aka go get a design education from Reid Miles (and then go get a jazz lesson from The Jazz Messengers.)

Son of a Gun

Jesse Matheson’s Son of a Gun. Having seen/known Jesse when he was just beginning, watching this makes me so incredibly happy.

The Tower

Emmet Matheson lists the residents of Leonard Cohen’s Tower Of Song and then follows up. Reading Emmet’s follow up, I’m reminded of all the great things that can happen when you follow a path.

Children By The Millions

If you were to ask my wife what my desert island disk is, she would likely respond with “Keep An Eye On The Sky” and she’d be right. When the time came to pick a song for the first dance at our wedding the discussion was brief. It was Thirteen though you likely could have guessed that. If I’m practicing/pretending to be a drummer, it’s a pretty safe bet that September Gurls or In The Street is blasting through my headphones. I play along with these songs so much that I’m certain I’ve stunted my development. Not that that’s a bad thing. If I’ve gotten drunk and we’ve talked about jamming, I’ve likely told you I want to “blatantly rip-off Big Star” and I’m almost certainly telling the truth.

Big Star was a band with three albums worth of hits that would never be hits. A band so many light years ahead of their peers that even their most beloved member couldn’t see their worth. Compiling the soundtrack to my life, Big Star would feature prominently. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. Alex Chilton has passed away at age 59.

“I can feel it. Now it’s time. Open your eyes. Fears be gone, it won’t be long. There’s a light in the sky.”

The Smiths Project

Janice attempts to sing every Smiths song before the end of 2010.