Electric Gypsy

Straight facts.

I purchased my first PRS guitar - a Tremonti signature in black slate - back in 2011. I didn't know anything about Mark Tremonti or Alter Bridge before that, and well, I still know very little about them. The draw was a Les Paul-styled guitar with some extra and modern features. It'd been my main guitar for almost a decade until I decided to get a PRS Custom 24 in black gold burst at the end of 2020. If it wasn't obvious by now, I do quite like PRS guitars. So imagine my surprise when I came across a used original PRS Mira this January.

Solid mahogany body and neck, double cutaway, rosewood fingerboard with 24 frets, coil-splitting humbuckers and bird inlays, there just isn't a lot more that I could ask for. I'm still blown away by its playability and sound every time I play it. Joe Knaggs certainly knew what he was doing.

What started as a single unplanned purchase soon morphed into a year-long quest of guitar acquisition. I wasn't exactly fond of Stratocaster-styled guitars when I first started playing, but that has changed over time and I decided it was time for me to add one to the line-up.

This one took some effort since there are so many different types of Stratocasters on the market, but ultimately I settled on a MIJ Hybrid '60s Stratocaster in arctic white as its overall specs - vintage USA pickups in particular - and price point were just about right. I have it tuned in Eb and it's always fun to play. A really nice guitar no doubt, but after a while I began looking for a Stratocaster that matched my personal preferences more closely.

Digital Vibrations

So this is what laziness looks like.

It's true what they say about overdrive pedals

Two excellent albums came out last Friday and I've been having a great time listening to them over the weekend. The first one is The Aristocrats With Primuz Chamber Orchestra, which is essentially the band's original performances mixed with string arrangements. The orchestra adds layers of richness to the pieces and cleverly fills up spaces with intriguing melodies. I was certainly surprised and entertained by some of the orchestral parts. Having recently performed with an orchestra myself, playing music that is most certainly beyond my usual repertoire, I could definitely appreciate how different elements are woven together to elevate the original compositions.

The second album is Bill Laurence & The Untold Orchestra Live at EFG London Jazz Festival 2021, recorded last November. In contrast to the playfulness of the Aristocrats and the Primuz Chamber Orchestra, this concert feels very intimate and, for lack of a better word, pure. It's an uplifting experience every time I listen to it and I would say that I like it more than the Aristocrats' record, despite generally preferring guitar-driven music over everything else. In any case, I highly recommend that anyone interested give the two albums a listen - you won't be disappointed.

Flying in a blue dream.