Hello, and thanks for checking in. Hope you've had a great summer.
I've been busy writing and recording workshop articles for Acoustic Guitar and Fingerstyle Guitar magazines, as well as contributing a new round of fingerstyle lessons to www.zapguitar.com.
On the playing side, the annual CAAS convention was great as usual. Gypsy jazz guitarist Joscho Stefan joined Stephen Bennett and myself for our Beatles set, which was great fun. Later in July I played at the Brasher Springs Camp Meeting, as I have for many years now. (It's a 100 year old camp meeting, with services under a rustic arbor nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians in North Alabama. Folks from around the South and Midwest attend every year.) In mid-September, we were invited to a small private concert featuring guitarist Richard Smith and his wife, cellist Julie Adams. Richard called me up to play a few tunes, and we dueted on some Atkins-Reed classics like Nashtown Ville, Baby's Coming Home, and Jerry's Breakdown. (Actually, I started the tunes off, and then got out of Richard's way.)
I'm pleased to announce that The Paul Yandell Collection is now available with a CD of all 10 tunes in the book! These are great tunes by one of the greatest fingerpickers around.
We'll be mailing AGW Vol 11 No 4 in the next couple of weeks. I'm really excited about this issue, which includes Chet Atkins' arrangement of the Beatles' She's A Woman. (I also included George Harrison's lead break from the Beatles' version.) Favorite Chet Licks features some great licks from the classic album Chet Atkins Picks On The Beatles. My buddy Jim Ohlschmidt contributed a great new tune, Easy Pickin's, and there's also an arrangement of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Clyde Kendrick. As a bonus, I also included some tips on my arrangement of Eight Days A Week, which appeared in the August 2005 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine. (If you're not a subscriber yet, be sure to check the AGW page while you're here.)
Until next time,
P.S. Several of my book/CD sets are now available as digital downloads. Down Home Picking and Fingerpicking Gospel Solos may be downloaded from www.melbay.com. Individual songs from Acoustic Christmas may be downloaded from various music sites, including www.musicnotes.com.