O Solo Mio

When I arrived back home on 22 December after an absence of three months and opened the door to my flat, it felt the best moment in the world. Adventures are great but, for me, it's the very, very beginning of the adventure that is the most fun: expectation mixed with the unknown and the unintended.

But this little adventure I had planned for days and it would only take an instant. So, as soon as I took off my coat, I went into the spare room and, one by one, brought my guitars upstairs and perched them in the corner of the living room. Bringing up the guitar amp was a challenge and, if I'm honest, my mouth was a bit of a sewer trying to get the monster upstairs.

And why did I do this? Well, I realised that, compared to my nine months in Stamford, I really hadn't written in Edinburgh as much as I was capable of. The spare room was dark, had tall ceilings. And was cold. In Stamford, I see the city's horizon and the most wonderful sunsets.

It wasn't hard to figure out that, although only home for a month, having my guitars in the same room in which I hang out, would make me pick them up.

It's been great having them out of their 'boxes' and giving them a chance to breathe and to say hi to each other. They are still to meet their two siblings back in the U.S.

The classical guitar (Yamaha) has been played more in the last week than since I bought it. The white guitar (also a Yamaha) has a special story to it, which I'll save for another time. I have missed her though, because she's my oldest and most loved guitar, having been with me since 1996. The wee guitar on the right is called a Travel Martin. It's body has a matt feel to it and it makes you play the guitar quite differently because you tend to use the palm of your strumming hand to create some percussive sound that I call a 'sandy' sound, because I hear the sound of sand :).

Anyways, I played all three today. The classical one suits a song called 'The Clown' I'm working on; the Yamaha is a great all-rounder. And the Martin? well, the Martin is just sweet to play absolutely everything, but at a lower volume because it's small.

I was meant to be doing an open-mic night tonight and had been practising 3/4 songs. 'Out Of The Bedroom' 'aims to provide a platform for singer-songwriters to get their songs heard and happens every week on Saturdays in the Kilderkin bar on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh'. OOTB has been around for 10 years running these open-mic nights. I have never done it. Until tonight.

Alas, I arrived at the bar only to find they don't reconvene until next Saturday when Christmas festivities are truly over.

So, tonight, I'm happy to go back to playing with my guitars and do some more writing. And next Saturday...who can say?