This month...a free short piece, a final update before recording a new album, new and old friends, and a couple of recommendations.

This Month's Free Piece

This month's free piece was inspired by my first in person meeting with the über talented Joe Newberry, and is dedicated to him. More on that later...

"The Gentleman Blues" is a short, fun little country blues/rag in the key of C. This uses a Piedmont style of alternating thumb...which is the bedrock of most country blues and ragtime. If you are a fingerstyle guitarist, Piedmond style and Travis picking are essential techniques to have under your fingers.

(*Correction - The B in measure 33 should be fretted on the 3rd string/4th fret...not open)

The Gentleman Blues - Standard Notation

The Gentleman Blues - Standard & TABs

The Gentleman Blues - Video

I hope you enjoy playing this one!

Final Update on New Recording

I will be heading to New Hampshire at the end of June to record a new album. I have ten new pieces ready to go. At least eight should make the record, if not all ten. 

As I wrote last month, the plan is to release the new pieces as a digital album, then take those new pieces, plus my last two digital releases, and put all of it on one CD. I hope to get all of this out by August.

After the recording is done, I will run a CD pre-sale on my website. The pre-sale will include CDs, notation/TABs, and other goodies.

I cannot wait to get into the studio with Tom!

Hanging with Joe Newberry

I first "met" Joe Newberry on Twitter, where I have been lucky to connect with artists I love, as well as loads of kind hearted people. Joe fits both categories. 

Joe is a renowned claw hammer banjo player, guitarist, and singer/songwriter who has traveled the world playing music. He was a longtime guest on A Prairie Home Companion and was featured in the 2016 Trans-Atlantic Sessions. He has performed with Jerry Douglas, James Taylor, and Sarah Jarosz...just to name a few. Joe also performs duos with mandolinist Mike Compton and with fiddler/step- dancer April Verch. 

The best part though, is that Joe is one of the kindest human beings you'll ever meet. He is warm, full of southern charm, extremely wise, and absolutely hilarious. 

We had discussed on Twitter that if he were ever passing through NJ on tour, that he would try to swing by good ol' Bayonne for a visit (insert Bayonne joke here). So, on May 10th, he did just that.

Marie and I spent a few hours with Joe in the backyard on a beautiful day (despite being in Bayonne). We talked and played music for and with each other...original songs, a little Mississippi John Hurt (where he taught me this great turn-around I had never heard before), and he even tried to teach me some claw hammer banjo...which he is a master at...whoa! We capped the day of with some wonderful Mexican food accompanied by an unexpected live...and very loud...Mariachi band.

I hope that this was the first of many musical visits with Joe. I wrote this month's free piece The Gentleman Blues the next day because I was still smiling and inspired by Joe's visit. Marie and I are happy to have made a new lifetime friend.

(Peep Will Ackerman's tuning list on the table in this pic. I love the look on people's faces when I show them how crazy Will's tunings are. Lol)

If you are not familiar with Joe Newberry's music, please check out his website, listen to his music, and visit his Youtube channel. If you like Americana music, mountain music, and bluegrass, you will not be disappointed. Joe is a master.

Joe Newberry - Website

Joe Newberry - Apple Music

Joe Newberry - Spotify

Joe Newberry - Youtube

The Continued Influence of John Sheehan

After I graduated from college with a degree in classical guitar and music education, I had a part time job at Bach to Rock Music in Riverdale, NJ teaching music lessons. Ironically, I was teaching flute, violin, and voice...not guitar. While there, I constantly heard about this guitarist, John Sheehan, who was also teaching lessons there. We didn't work on the same days, so I never had the chance to meet him.

One day, after finishing a lesson, I walked out to the showroom and there was this guy absolutely tearing it up on a Martin D18. He was playing fingerstyle music that was a combination of blues, ragtime, bluegrass, and even classical. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. It was John Sheehan. That moment is seared into my brain forever.

Shortly after this, I began to take private lessons with John. I had already been heavily into the guitarists on Windham Hill Records (Ackerman, Hedges, de Grassi, Cullen), and I had just spent four years studying classical guitar. But what John was writing and playing was completely new to me. He immediately taught me the Piedmont style of playing. (This is where the thumb plays an alternating bass line beneath a syncopated melody.) This would expand my playing immensely.

(On a side note...he also taught me a lot about bass fishing, because lessons would often include a run down to the reservoir to fish for a bit.) 

He turned me on to Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Blake, Reverand Gary Davis, Stefan Grossman, John Fahey, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, and John Renbourn. I became obsessed with this music.

At the same time, he also shared his love of lute music and taught me how to read and play French and German lute tabs. When Marie and I were married, John even played lute at our wedding ceremony.

On top of his guitar and lute playing, John is a phenomenal claw hammer banjo player. I could listen to him play all day.

Shortly after I began studying with John, he released his first album of guitar compositions. John's 1995 album Instrumental Solo Guitar is one of my favorite guitar albums of all time. John is able to take all of his different influences; blues, folk, bluegrass, Celtic, rock, and classical, and meld them into something that is distinctively his own. I only need to hear a few notes to recognize John's music. I still listen to this record regularly and I am always learning from it. I often think that I everything I write has been "stolen" from the opening track Beauty Road.

When I listen to my own music, I can always hear John's influence in there. The lessons I learned from John helped me to build a strong foundation for my own playing and writing. I use the techniques and ideas I learned from him every day. I cannot imagine what I would be doing musically if I had not had studied with John. When I think of the handful of teachers I have had in my life that helped point me in the direction that I eventually followed as a musician and educator, John Sheehan is at the top of that list for sure. Although we rarely get the opportunity to see each other nowadays, I will always consider John a dear friend.

John Sheehan has shared the stage with, guitar greats Tal Farlow, John Hammond, Peter Kaukonen, Jorma, ,John Renbourn, Adrian Legg and Tom Doyle, as well as, singer/songwriters Steve Forbert, Chris Smithers, Jonathan Edwards, Greg Brown and Slaid Cleaves.

John performs regularly in northern NJ and teaches private lessons. Do yourself a favor and check out John's music. If you live in northern NJ, go hear John live. Better yet...take a lesson with him!

John Sheehan - Website

John Sheehan - Facebook

John Sheehan - Apple Music

John Sheehan - Spotify

John Sheehan - Cliffs of Moher - Live

John Sheehan - Insomnia - Live

A Couple Recommendations

I am currently reading Temperament: How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization by Stuart Issacoff. It is a fascinating look into how philosophy, religion, politics, and science helped shape the development and acceptance of equal temperament tuning in music. Highly recommended!

Temperament: How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization

Trevor Gordon Hall is a truly special human being and one of my dearest friends. I have had the great pleasure of recording, touring, and performing with Trevor with Four Guitars. His ability as a composer and player never ceases to amaze me. His music is emotional, melodic, and it always takes you somewhere. He is a constant source of inspiration for me. If you haven't heard Trevor's latest release This Beautiful Chaos, please go listen to it. It is brilliant!

Trevor Gordon Hall - Website

This Beautiful Chaos - Apple Music

This Beautiful Chaos - Spotify

That's all for this month. 15 school days remaining until summer break. Woo-Hoo!

I have even watched a few Pirate games this season. What a mistake. I should know better.

Thanks for reading these newsletters. I appreciate your time and support. I am extremely grateful.

I hope June is full of warm sunny days wherever you are. 

Cheers...

Vin