Which reminds me ... do you know that Dave Lee Roth released a bluegrass album of classic Van Halen songs? It's really good. Check out the slide player Eric Sardinas too.

Ok, I'll stop now.

I'd draw your attention to the collaboratio​n between Pat Metheny and the Anna Maria Jopek if you haven't already seen it. I agree totally, music is music and I find myself looking to vocal ensembles and percussionis​ts for my inspiration,​ really... we live in magical times that this is all so accessible. Look up "Reggie​ Watts on good news week" on YouTube for a classic performance.​ And Naturally 7 will blow your mind. I also like The Swingle Sisters; they do the acapella incidental music on the new TV show Glee.

Thank you so much for the insight into the Latvian and Croatian musicians, that's fantastic. I'll go looking today.

I figure "put it on my profile"​ because there are a lot of shy people out there and to be honest, my profile is probably a little intimidating​ for some. I feed it raw meat and I still get no respect from it.

Golly, you just have to read The Mind's I, it's stellar. A beautiful music book is Mick Goodrick's "The Advancing Guitarist"​ which really will open your mind and fretboard to wonderful things. He takes a really interesting approach to music and the importance of looking at the guitar in unorthodox ways. Do you know Carl Verheyen at all? A perfect combination of shred and classic blues/rock. His book is also phenomenal - Improvising without Scales. And PLEASE tell me you've heard of Eric Johnson? I met a young girl on this site who loves Stevie Ray Vaughan and it's a constant inspiration when the next generation gets exposed to these giants.

Yes, I'm sure if I wrote any more on my profile, the internet would collapse into a singularity under the extra weight of all those pixels, in fact I've chopped a whole heap of stuff out, so consider yourself lucky young man. I think it's a good idea to list musicians on your profile, because I'll often browse profiles, in a slightly stalker-esqu​e manner, looking for new music or movies, and on profiles where passion is clearly demonstrated​, I'll either stop and say hi or look up those art forms. So go on, get editing!

Nice to meet you too,
Ham.

p.s. Asha asked for my guitar too, she's a legend. :)

Well you've listed four of my favourite books so I have to say hi. What a beautifully written and honest profile, I was delighted by it all.

Illusions is amazing!!! I've never seen it listed on anyone else's profile, asides from mine. HHG2TG is of course a classic, I couldn't believe how funny it was first time I read it, and wow, This is Your Brain is great. If you liked that you will probably love The Third Ear, which is quite astonishing.​

Do you know that Hofstadter has a new book out btw: "I Am a Strange Loop"? Well it came out in 2007, but what are a couple of years between friends hey Douglas? If I may be so bold as to make a recommendati​­on, The Death of Forever is a beautiful treatise on the importance on living a rich meaningful life, it's a tremendously​­ smart and deeply moving work of art.

Reagarding your travel plans, you should visit a little known part of France called Paris, look out for a tall tower, just ask the locals, they may know of it. Also, I think you should update your profile, because I think you'll find I'm the coolest person you now know. ;)

Ah, damn ... just noticed that Asha posted below me. Now she really IS the coolest person in the world.

I liked the Tele, is that your main guitar? I'm fused with my Ibanez Jem 10, it's got the perfect combination of liquidity, smoothness and growl. I can't imagine playing anything else now. And please, please, please list some specific musicians, I'm massively curious. Thank you.

Haha, oh believe me, I'd be first in line. Hmm, in retrospect, that sounds pretty wrong, huh?
Well, I guess I kinda play.. I need to start getting back into the swing of things and practise regularly though.
I love Edinburgh, thank you :) Not so much at the moment as the weather's turned pretty dreary. Nevertheless​, it is very beautiful :)

So, when are you going to send me your guitar? :)
Don't worry, feel free to take your time. (Just not too much time!)

Hey Paul! Sorry about the late reply :) Well, ive tested that line six Kb37 for a while now. Im happy to say its a good bit of kit, authentic- well after a little tweaking amp sounds, dead easy to use as well. Ive worked out that i can use this with my laptop for live sounds as well if i ever need to, just add a footswitch- easy! The only downside is the ableton software- ok basic program but thats about it! So ive just aquired a Peavey wolfgang custom shop! Lovely instrument! So hows things with you? Did you keep yor es335 in the end?

Hope your well
Geraint

Hey Paul!

Oh that's a pity. What job is it?
Wow, that's cool that you plan trips for every year. :P But yes Estonia is worth seeing so the money is worth saving too. :)

Jaanika

Good luck with the trip, i hope everything goes fine! ^.^

Hello, Paul.

That's really sad. I was just going to ask how your trip went and if you made some pictures.

I don't care about age, it's just a number, right?
Well, I hope you can visit Estonia in 2011 :)

Mailiis

Thats great news Paul! Good luck with the new job =) Well i'm picking it up from the studio tonight along with a load of software so fingers crossed it will be good!

Hey Paul- i just picked up one of those line 6 toneport kb37's you were intrested in - will let you know if its any good =) How are you keeping? Hope things are good for you!

what a nice message :-)))

Paul, thats such a shame
Well i'm really sorry to hear your unlucky predicament,​ being unemployed at this time must be difficult and its sod's law that the car goes wrong at the same time. If it helps i had the same thing happen when i came out of uni- i needed to eat and pay bank fees so ended up loosing aWashbun Nuno signature, a Gibbo flying v and an Ibanez prestige. Heartbreakin​g- Im having to sell a few myself if its any concelation!​ So hows life treating you otherwise?

thx paul ! what a nice message

hi paul,
thanks for visiting and your compliments!​

hope you'll have a safe trip when you come to the BENELUX!

cheers,
Levi

By the way, the Netherlands is kind of small, you could visit any place in it without much trouble. From one end to the other takes about 3 hours in a car

Actually I live in WInterswijk which is close to Zutphen, I didnt want to put my whole life on this website, so I choose another town. I haven't been to the park (I do drive through the Veluwe a lot of times), but it seems like  a great place to visit. And if we need to keep it music themed, I can always bring a ghetto blaster to it:)

Haha yea, it's beautiful guitar ! : )

But, I gotta go sleep now.
I'ts almost 1:25 am, and im soooo tired.

Hows ur day?

Cool, will look forward to seeing them! G

Hey Paul, that 335 is worth around £1900.00 over here at the moment, if its in good condition, maybe a bit more if its got dirty fingers pickups- lovely bit of kit, i'm truely envious:) The guild is well worth ressurecting​- great little guitar only produced between 81-84- bit of a rarity and great fun.
  Funny that you mentioned the line 6 toneport, we have exactly the one you mentioned- yep it looks cheesy but it did the job well! Put some pics of you axes up! Im well keen to see them, just posted a pic of my les paul and Ibanez Prestige. Hope Your Well, G

Man, thoes ibanez artcore guitars are great! I had one, ak 85 i think and it was a blast, unfortunatly​­ i had to get rid of it due to a Marshall going wrong on me... Keep hold of that 80's Gibbo. I trade and restore guitars as part of my living and the prices have gone mad on the 80s models recently. I reckon theres always room for one more! Presantly im thinking of an 80s Dean Cadillac.. Will let you know on that one:)
Go for it with the recording! Its great fun eaven just to get ideas down- my band has its own studio set up, its amazing the results you can get at home, something like a line 6/ Behringer interface is a good start- If you need a hand drop me a line!

Yes "Blue On Black" is a cracking tune, showing some great taste here Paul! Just put a pic of a couple of my guitars up- take a look you might like what you see!

Take care
G

Hi Paul,
I apologize for my late reply. Thank you for your message. It seems like you know of so many places in my country Bosnia and Herzegovina and I'm very happy to hear that you're planning to visit this region in 2011.
I can recommend these folk singers from my country: Jadranka Stojaković, Halid Bešlić, Safet Isović, Zaim Imamović, Himzo Polovina.
I will copy and paste a text from Wikipedia to you now which speaks about the traditional music style of Bosnia called Sevdalinka. Here is the text for you:

Probably the most unique and identifiably​ "Bosnian"​ of music, Sevdalinka is a kind of emotional, melancholic folk song that often describes sad subjects such as love and loss, the death of a dear person or heartbreak. Sevdalinkas were traditionall​y performed with a saz, a Turkish string instrument, which was later replaced by the accordion. However the more modern arrangement,​ to the derision of some purists, is typically a vocalist accompanied by the accordion along with snare drums, upright bass, guitars, clarinets and violins. Sevdalinkas are unique to Bosnia and Herzegovina as they are not only a mix of Turkish and Bosnian music, especially Muslim religious melodies called ilahije, but also Sephardic Jewish songs. Example of songs mixing all three influences are "Kad ja pođoh na Benbašu"​, the unofficial anthem of the city of Sarajevo, and "Kraj Tanana Sadrvana"​. Though not as common as it once was, traditional Sevdalinka singers like Kadir Kurtagić, Emina Ahmedhodžić,​ Hasim Muharemović and Muhamed Mesanović-Ha​mić are still popular to the extent that their recordings are available.

More modern performers Safet Isović, Himzo Polovina, Zaim Imamović and Hanka Paldum have used non-native instruments,​ including the accordion, clarinet, violin and guitar.

No worries-i appreciate a pretty guitar when i see one, theres virtualy nothing that cant be done with a good tele! I have the Fender j5 myself and will never part with it! There does seem to be a spait of players using them over here, though ive just discovered Kenny Wayne Shepard (Strat player)- wow where was this guy hiding?