Yesterday, I picked up a two gourd sitar. An associate from the university of Kentucky had it shipped from his home in India. Last week I got a double neck mandolin- a 10 and an 8 string neck-piezo. Waiting on my cutaway Godin twin P-90 Kingpin, if George can get one for me.


Man, I LOVE my toys.

Russ (Big Kid) Lay

What fun Russ !!!!! I look forward to hearing about the Godin when you get it. It sounds awesome.

A very close friend of mine ( Ken Stephenson ) has been playing mandolin and lap steel on his daughter's recordings. You can hear her music on http://www.myspace.com/jokellystephenson
She just knocks me out. I guess she catagorizes her music as Alt Country with a healthy dose of blues. Her husband James plays keyboards. They both stayed with us recently while passing through LA which was a real treat. Her Dad has recorded all of her songs in his home studio and has done an awesome job. The playing great and the songwriting is even better. I played with him in a band for years in Australia for years in the 80s opening for bands such as INXS and Divinyls. At the time Jo was only about 5 years old so it blows me away she has become such a talented performer. I guess growing up in a musical family does rub off. She recently came number 2 on Billboard in her category so she is getting noticed. Please give her a listen.

How are you finding the sitar to play? They really have a great sound.

Nigel, there's a good chance that the Sitar will have a place in my music room, but won't get played. I have an electric Dan Electro Sitar from the 60's, but this monster is too much!

The Godin is a pretty, useful little guitar. I bought the non-cutaway single P-90 from George about 4 months ago. I've used it on a dozen or so jobs. Rarely do I use anything but the neck pick-up-thumb, no pick), but I do miss the cutaway. The new one will become one of my primary players. It's inexpensive ($999.00) light and will sound great, I'm sure.

I'm keeping ther single Cognac finished non-cutaway in my office. Neat "old school" axe. They're called Kingpins and are getting lots of good press around the world.


Russ

[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 11-14-2009).]

I have to update my flash player to hear your friend's daughter. I'll do that first thing Monday. It's 6:00 PM here and I have a gig at 8:00 PM in a town about 50 miles from here.


Russ