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1 August 2020 By Cams

Mac McAnally Podcast Recommendation

Mac McAnally is a singer songwriter from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He recently spoke to Jason Verlinde of the Fretboard Journal, which is one of my favourite podcasts. I’ve been a subscriber of the magazine for a couple of years now and it’s great. Jason is doing great things with that brand, putting up amazing videos and publishing a regular audio podcast as well as producing the best guitar magazine in the business.

Little Brother’s Jam

Back in the noughties, I travelled to Conyers, Georgia every autumn to attend Little Brother’s Acoustic Jam. In 2005 I met Joe Jordan at the jam.

Little Brother would set up a stage area and run an open mic every night of the jam. When Joe got up to play, he played a song called Barney, written by Mac McAnally. I’d never heard of him before, but that song has stayed in my heart over all these years and it still brings a tear to my eye.

Incidentally, it was also Joe who introduced to me the music of John Prine. AND, rather surprisingly, Dougie Maclean’s Caledonia, which he’d learned from a mutual friend, George Duff. I have very fond memories of Joe’s singing that song to me and making me feel wistful for my homeland.

Mac McAnally wrote Barney when he was in his late teens. It’s on his first album, released in 1977, self titled Mac McAnally. It reminds me a little of Suzanne Vega’s The Queen and the Solider, not in terms of content, but in terms of how a teenager can show such a depth of wisdom and maturity in their songwriting.

Mac McAnally Podcast Link

This week the Jason of the Fretboard Journal put out an interview he recorded with Mac and it was a real treat to listen to . He talks about his songwriting process and his instruments, but the biggest thing I got from it was his gratitude. He had a big heart attack when he was 60 and now every day is a bonus.

I’ve always felt like guitars have songs in ‘em. I pick up a guitar and I hit and chord and I’m like ‘that’s got stories in it’. And that’s the reason that I have ‘em.
Mac McAnally

This link will take you through to the Mac McAnally podcast episode page on the Fretboard Journal.

Podcast 293: Mac McAnally

Joe Jordan plays Barney, by Mac McAnally

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Your Host

Cams Campbell

Cams is a guitar enthusiast living on the Isle of Arran in Scotland with his wife and two teenaged children. He has a fine collection of instruments and enjoys playing live around the island.

29 May 2020 By Cams

Acoustic Soundboard UK Gathering – HBX

The Acoustic Soundboard UK guitar forum hosts an annual gathering of guitar nerds. It started out in Hebden Bridge, hence the HB title. The last few have been at the Imperial Crown Hotel in Halifax.

It starts off on the Friday and runs through to Monday morning, with guitar players, guitar makers and some significant others and offspring coming and going as their lives permit.

The 10th anniversary gathering was in September 2019 and had lots of really magical moments.

Catching documentary film of the event is tricky when you have a guitar in your hands, but I did capture what I could. My goal is to make a proper vlog style documentary of the next gathering, which will most likely be in 2021 because of COVID-19.

Circle of Death Performances

A big part of the Acoustic Soundboard UK gatherings is Saturday night’s song circle, lovingly called the Circle of Death. Everyone that wants to play sits around the function room in a big ‘circle’ and the playing goes around the room, with each person taking their turn. It continues until there’s one person left, so generally daylight!

I recorded a few performances and present them here for your enjoyment and entertainment.

First up is Rosie Heydenrych of Turnstone Guitars, playing her personal Turnstone TS model.

Next up is Doc from Scotland.

Photos of the Acoustic Soundboard UK Gathering

I took some photos of the event in between shooting video and, well, playing guitar! Here are a few of my favourites.

HB10

54 photos

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Interviews

I had a really good time at this gathering and recorded interviews with a quite a few players and luthiers. I’ll present them here as they are published. Apologies for the lack of video on the interview with Rosie – my technical skills let me down, but I’m learning! Next time Rosie and I meet, we’ll do a proper video. Can’t wait!

Rosie Heydenrych of Turnstone Guitars

Cams28 May 20202 min read

Rosie Heydenrych of Turnstone Guitars had been on my radar for a while, so naturally I was jumping for joy when I heard that she was coming to the tenth…

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Interviews

I recorded a few interviews over the weekend with players and makers. I will present them here as they are published.

Rosie Heydenrych

Turnstone Guitar Company

Rosie is a luthier working out of Surrey in England. She uses traditional tonewoods but is also becoming known for her E series, where she builds guitars entirely from woods native to the UK.

5 November 2018 By Cams

Nick Harper House Gig

Just a quick one to check in and show a few pics from last night’s house concert with Nick Harper in Glasgow last night. Utterly astounding. Nick claimed not to have been on good form, but I and the rest of the 20 or so people that were I’m sure would disagree with that. He played well, with real emotion. The connection was real, so very real.

Podcast with Nick Harper

I was very lucky to get the chance to sit down with him before and after the gig and record some conversation for my podcast, which I’m very excited to edit and publish. I’m away to Steemfest3 in Poland tomorrow, so it’ll probably be a couple of weeks before I get to that content.

I also have lots of video to produce and publish from that show. You’re all in for a real treat to hear just how on his game Nick was.

Oh, and I learned that one of my favourites of his, The Verse that Time Forgot was written in Lochranza on the Isle of Arran, just up the road from where I’m writing this!

Two Nick Harper fans wearing Harperspace T-shirts — Great to meet Graham, with a rather less laundered copy of the shirt I was wearing!

House concerts really are the best way to hear a musician, particularly when there’s a real connection between artist and audience. I don’t know of any artist that I connect with on quite the same level.

The version of This is the Beginning was outstanding. Such emotion. I’m tearing up now thinking about the performance, just as Nick was tearing up telling the story of the song’s provenance. A special moment indeed.

No Lowden?

Yes, Nick wasn’t playing his Lowden; he was playing a PRS Angelus A40E. What stood out to me about that was that it sounded just like Nick. That’s all I’m going to say about that for now as we covered a lot of that in the interview.

Can’t wait to see him again! Should be in April when he’s touring with cover songs on a cheap guitar to commemorate the musicians that used to come round Roy’s flat.

Performance Videos of Nick Harper

Thanks to Nick Harper for giving me permission to record some video of his show.

17 October 2018 By Cams

Midnight Run – Goodbye Old Pal

Bluegrass band Midnight Run visited Crofters’ Music Bar on Arran in October 2018 during their UK tour and played a blinding set. The music was tasteful, with great tone and timing, and the vocals and harmonies were a sheer delight to listen to.

Rodney Worley leads the vocals on this old Bill Monroe number.

Check out the band on their website: Midnight Run

16 October 2018 By Cams

Bogey’s Bonny Belle

This is Martin playing a NK Forster guitar at the Acoustic Soundboard UK gathering in Halifax in September 2018 during the Saturday night Circle of Death performance circle.

15 October 2018 By Cams

Gordon Giltrap Workshop

Gordon Giltrap was one of the guest performers at the 21st annual UK gathering of the RMMGA newsgroup, held at Springhill in the Cotswolds. The setting was beautiful – a large country estate in the heart of one of the prettiest parts of England.

Gordon played a fantastic concert on the Saturday night, but before that, we sat in the beautiful parlour and listened to Gordon’s talking about his life and music, including a few musical numbers up close and personal. He discussed his wonderful new signature series Fylde guitar, composition, technique and shared many wonderful anecdotes from his musical career.

I invite you all to put the kettle on, load up the video and enjoy an enchanting hour with Gordon Giltrap.

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Your Host

Cams Campbell

Cams is a guitar enthusiast living on the Isle of Arran in Scotland with his wife and two teenaged children. He has a fine collection of instruments and enjoys playing live around the island.