Today I had intended on being a whirlwind of productivity.
There was script writing to be done and revision to be started and I had promised myself to keep distraction to a minimum, but what’s a man to do when a new guitar arrives on his doorstep?! I’d been waiting for her (like ships and cars, IT is a SHE) for just about a week now and was starting to think I may have to contact the music shop and inquire as to her whereabouts. Lo and behold, 5 minutes after returning from grocery shopping there was a knock at the door and the latest addition to my transcontinental guitar collection had arrived.
Music has always been an important part of my life and ever since my fingers were long enough to stretch across a fretboard I’ve played guitar (having initially fallen out with my first guitar at the age of 8, I came home from school and was presented with a silver “Maxtone” drum kit by my father – you don’t need big hands to hit things). Some of my earliest memories are of my father playing guitar late at night in our back lounge at home. As a boy it amazed me how his fingers seemed to know instinctively where to move to make the next note; to continue the melody that sang through the darkness.
When I moved to Australia I had initially tried to bring a guitar with me. A cheap no name copy that I had bought for $70 from the owner of the summer camp I’d worked on in the summer of 2010. That guitar I felt especially close to as it had been a constant source of enjoyment when I sometimes felt at my worst. Being far away from friends and family I’d often feel alone and a little helpless, but I knew I could wander off to a secluded part of the camp and play some tunes that meant something only to myself.
My new toy
So its been difficult spending the first couple of years down under with only a Yamaha acoustic to keep me company. There was never anything wrong with this guitar but it had never felt like my own, never felt like an extension of my personality (the Yamaha in fact belongs to my girlfriend’s sister who has since lost any use for it). After what has seemed like an age I’ve finally decided to treat myself and I couldn’t be happier. The Epiphone EL-00 is a copy of a classic Gibson model that was very popular with blues musicians such as Robert Johnson in the 1920s and 30s.
I chose it because it is a very simply instrument and isn’t a chore to play, just the way making music should be.
anhonestoutburst 