Well, here she is. My trusty Mexican Strat that is about to become my “project guitar”. After thinking about this for quite some time, I’ve decided to try my hand at some much-needed modifications.

The first changes will deal with what I hope will be some solid tuning improvements. This includes a set of locking tuners, a graphite nut, and removal of the string tree. At the same time, I will be departing from the stock fender bridge by installing an L. R. Baggs X-Bridge, to add some variation to the tonal palette.

Phase II, Lord willing, will involve replacing the bridge pickup with a dual humbucker. I haven’t decided for sure what it’s going to be, so at this point I’m open to suggestions!

Okay, you may consider this to be a bit of shameless self-promotion. Well…uh…you may be right. But guess what? One of my latest tunes, “God’s Own Heart“, is the featured “song of the month” for June at the Christian Songwriters Network web site.

So, I just want to send a big “thank you” to the folks over there for giving it a listen. And, for those of you who don’t know, CSN is a huge community of Christian songwriters with some great folks who encourage, critique, provide a network of support for those who are into Jesus Christ and, specifically, the Christian songwriting scene…

No, that’s not me in the picture. In fact, it’s my ol’ high school buddy Mark Murtha. You’ve heard me go on about what a great guitarist he is, but that’s only part of the story. He’s also an awesome songwriter and recording musician. Don’t ask me why he’s not sharing his tunes on the web, but he should be. Perhaps we should start a grass-roots campaign to convince him to!

Anyway, last month I blogged about a project we’ve been working on together, Somebody Like You. Well, after a bit of long-distance tracking, I was finally able to get him to replace some of my sloppy guitar work with the REAL DEAL. Man, oh man, what a world of difference it made. Check it out:

At the same time, I did some additional remixing to fix some things that were bothering me and also added a few more sonic “spices”. Not the least of which is MORE COWBELL! Unfortunately, it may not be prominent enough to please Bruce D…

Visit the song page for download options and more info.

Recently, I pulled a song out of the drawer that had been sitting there, unfinished, for quite some time. I’m not sure how to categorize this one - for a songwriter, it can be difficult to label one’s own work. Quite often, people hear things in a tune that I don’t notice.

But anyway, I felt inspired to work on it again, and the result is what you should hear if you hit the play button below. It has sort of a retro kind of sound to it - not the edgy, modern sound that everyone is used to these days. I think I did the guitar track when I was going through a bit of a mellow Larry Carlton phase - not that I’m comparing myself to him by any stretch of the imagination!

This is also one of those songs that seemed to take on a life of its own while I was recording it; it’s as if I had very little choice in arranging it any other way. It’s an example of simply writing a song without the goal of coming up with a “hit” or targeting it to any specific audience.

So, I hope you enjoy! I’d be interested in hearing your impressions…

Visit the song page for download options and more info.

Last month, my wife Carol spent about ten days in Ireland on a ministry trip with Fire Ministries. In the midst of all the busy activities, she managed to find the time to select a very special gift for me: a handcrafted Bodhràn made by Michael Vignoles.

This instrument is no tourist-shop knock-off, either. It’s the real deal, with a tunable goatskin head and a warm, rich tone.

As providence would have it, the gentleman who owns the Forge House bed & breakfast where Carol was staying also runs The Forge, a recording studio right there on the property! Carol got to talking to him about where she could find a Bodhràn and, as it turns out, he knows someone who builds them (professionally). Before long, he had produced a few for Carol to choose from - and let me tell you, she “chose wisely” (please pardon the geeky Indiana Jones reference).

So, I suppose you might be expecting to hear this beast on an upcoming recording - and, Lord willing, you will. But it will likely be awhile before you do, as there is a tiny little hitch: I need to learn how to play it properly, and without the tipper flying out of my hand!

Now, for your viewing pleasure, I’ve uploaded a few more pics of this wonderful instrument. Just click on the thumbnails at left to see the full-size images.
 
In the meantime, I’m off to look for that guy’s email address. Carol gave his card to me and I need to send him a big THANK YOU for helping my wife find the perfect birthday present for me…