WOODEN HORSES

The title has a double meaning. The tune itself is a ragtime bit that took on the character of carousel music and developed into a fun, fingerstyle romp. The other perspective is that of my guitars as workhorses. Having the luxury of an extended recording process allowed me to choose the most appropriate 'conveyance' for my musical journey.

In the evolution of my solo career, I have attempted to keep a balance between arranging familiar tunes and composing original material. "Wooden Horses" is trend to the latter and emerged from a period of quite intense creative activity. A stage musical and a video game score took me away from the guitar and allowed me to work with the orchestral and vocal resources that periodically are at my compositional disposal. 

In regard to my previous two releases: The original compositions on "PCH" were a mixture of 'hot from the fretboard' tunes and a few that that been without a home for a few years. Arranging the songs for the "Pop Goes Guitar" collection was, for the most part, an attempt to translate some iconic pop records to the guitar without much 'interpretation'. 

By comparison, working on "Wooden Horses" allowed me a solid period of focus to craft a collection of guitar tunes that could reflect not only my desire to wrap my hands around some new repertoire, but also an opportunity to apply some of the musical experiences I've had since my last collection of original solos "Guitarist" in 2003. 

The exceptions to this process were: 

'Guitar Noir' which was originally conceived as a trio piece for the DVD of the same name but deserved a solo outing; 'Double Agent' which started life as 'Private Dick' on the Groovemasters duo album with Preston Reed. Here it perhaps gets closer to the cold war-era spy caper that was my original inspiration; the iconic Celtic chestnut 'Shebeg and Shemore', which has a poignant melody that I couldn't resist arranging, and 'Green Room Blues' a bonus live improv that closes the disc.

I appreciate the way that Hope pushed me to draw out the material and focus the grooves. Thanks to James Jensen at Solid Air Records for keeping the fingerstyle faith and to Dick Boak and the team at Martin Guitars for being so responsive in aiding my quest for the perfect guitar.

LJ