MATTHEW SWEGSDA - GUIDELINES

GUIDELINES by Matthew Swegsda <<< song link

Most things in life come in all shapes and sizes. People, places, houses and lets not forget GUITARS! Different colors, body shapes, dimensions, properties and the most important attribute of a guitar and any other thing in my book is... The story.

Guitar on the left: Jumbo Acoustic by Suzuki & Co was given to my father as a present from my mother. It has endured almost 40 years of sing-a-long, and still rings like a bell. Massive sound and great for recording but the story of this guitar is not for me to tell and when the day of guitar passing comes, I hope I can honor this blessed guitar half as well as 'Big Matt' Swegsda (dad) has done and continues to do.

Guitar on the right, an Eko, is a war horse. It's a survivor. An untold story and found in very bad shape. Once the guitar had been resurrected it seemed to be more than just a guitar and the mystery of it's origin adds distinct character. It now helps me stagger from door to door on the occasional weekend and I know it's going to pull through whatever crazy busking session I need it for. I reckon that after all it has been through, it is no wonder that it is durable and dependable.

Guitar in the middle is my "Efharisto", meaning thank you in Greek, or wee Effy as I call her. The 1st guitar I ever bought for myself and it was her who chose me. I bought her when I lived in Cyprus (hence the greek name) around 2 years ago. I went into the shop to buy a guitar I had put a deposit down for and she was staring at me. I tried, I loved and I was 100 euro short with no money left in the bank and this was the only one in stock. It was a Dean and there logo was of wings and the 1st song I ever wrote was "Fly Forever More" and I had to have this guitar. I ran across the road to ask the Head Chef of the establishment I worked for for a quick loan as he was a fellow strummer and I was that excited on the way back over with the money (thanks Shaun) I must have been a fraction of a second away from being knocked down with a car. I composed myself and I picked up my new guitar. I recorded my 1st ever song "writing's on the wall" with Effy that went to number 1 from 150,000 on the soundclick.com charts and safely travelled all the way back to not so sunny Scotland with her by my side as we continue to make music and embark on a complicated but worthwhile journey.

At the start of every journey we have a preferred destination in mind but the person we are at that moment may not be capable of reaching it. This is not always a bad thing as almost always we will be capable of taking the next and necessary step that will lead us closer to that place and as we continue to grow, so does our destination so keep taking that step and always enjoy the journey. The song I have posted to accompany this Blip is called "Guidelines" and it is inspired by the 'little guy'. The weirdo in the middle who is not scared to go against the grain and is proud of their uniqueness. A different story does not always mean that it is any less interesting.

"The best Stories never end" - Matthew Swegsda