My Companions

These two beauties are my loyal companions and I've even named them! As a musician I definitely have a relationship with my instruments, kind of like having a pet. I need to make sure I spend time with them, take care of them and take them out onto stage as well, and in return I get their unconditional love and support.

The classic acoustic guitar I call Brownie because she is more of an earthy, homey guitar and has a very warm, soothing sound. I got her as a birthday present seven years ago, when I was 18. I've played her at least a couple of times every week since then, sometimes several hours a day. Whenever I travel somewhere for at least a week I bring her with me and she's been with me through Europe, Africa and America. I really feel like she is a troubadour's guitar and perfect for the campfire. Her sound has developed over time and become more full, as the wood gets more in tune and adapt to her musical vibrations.

In the town where I live and study, Fairfield, Iowa, there is a quirky music store scrambled with instruments, called Field of Dreams. I looked at various guitars the man was selling, while wearing my blue suit with belonging vest. As I saw her and tried playing a little bit, I fell in love. She was larger than the other guitars with a color that matched my outfit perfectly. Although she was the most expensive guitar he had, I could not settle for less.

Angel, as I named my electric acoustic guitar due to her celestial color and ethereal sound, had been waiting for me for 16 years when I bought her. I looked up her serial number and found out that she was made in Korea in May of 1996. I was the first owner so the original strings and stickers were still on. She had been played by many people, but no one had been willing to pay the price until I came.

A friend of mine told me that starting with a classic guitar is the best. The reason is that the strings are higher off the fretboard, the neck is thicker and the strings are further apart so your fingers have to learn precision in order to play clean. Brownie doesn't have any dots on the fretboard either to indicate where the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th fret are so I had to learn that intuitively instead. Now that I play both guitars, Brownie is great to practice difficult riffs and licks in order to really get to know them.

The reason I got Angel was because I started to play with a drummer, Nick Tucco, and amplifying Brownie with a microphone just wasn't working. Until then I had mostly played ballads, folk, pop and a little bit of classical rock but with a real good drummer I was inspired to get myself into hard rock, metal and other types of music that require an electric guitar. 

Angel has inspired me to play the guitar like a voice, instead of just a backup instrument for my vocals. I've learned a lot during the almost 6 months I've been playing her and recently got a recording microphone which will allow me to upload music where Nick and I are playing together. The main reason I used to play music was because I wanted to express, but now my consciousness has shifted and instead I mainly play music because I want to explore, although the value of expression still remains.