Marathon practice in the rain and the Gizmo revealed...

I don't know how the weather is where you are but I hear that Ark sales are going through the roof here in the Delaware Valley. What a gloriously soggy day. It was, in fact, a perfect day to be locked in the barn with my favorite guitar player and drummer and work non-stop all afternoon on our latest song Walk Away. We really ironed out the arrangement (now to just commit it all to memory :-) and it has definitely taken strong shape. I think we are moving towards being a Rock Acoustic band instead of an Acoustic Rock band.

ALTERNATE TUNINGS & THE GIZMO
The funniest part of the whole day (much to my great joy) is that in 13 years of knowing Jim Nichols (our amazing guitar player) he has never played an alternate tuning. All good things come to he who waits... Some of you may be aware of my penchant for never keeping a guitar in standard EBGDAE tuning and the level of craziness I have put my band mates through with my constant need to tune, retune, tune again...
Well, that problem was solved when Jim convinced me to hang up my acoustic guitar and move to an electric equipped with a guitar synthesizer (Roland VG99), which I immediately affectionately dubbed as The Gizmo since I had a real mental block remembering the actual name. Anyway, so now I find myself, a die-hard acoustic rock chick slinging around an 8lb electic guitar and switching between crunchy (love the crunchy) guitar sounds and my beloved alternate acoustic tunings on my gizmo.

SO - it was only fitting for me to have a moment of complete and utter joy when my purist guitar player dropped his low E string to D for the new song. I think I had my mouth gaping for a full 5 minutes. By the way - it sounds AWESOME.

I'm OK living in a world where I'm playing an electric guitar if it contains Jim playing an alternate tuning (even if it only is a drop D. Hey - it's a start). At any rate - look for the new song. It will kick your ass to the other side of the country it rocks so good.

That's the good word from Talisman today.

Peace out and stay warm, dry and cozy -
C