Capo Evolution – Part 2

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We invited guitarists from all over the world to join our online guitar orchestra… this is what happened.

Capo Evolution’ is a piece I composed, commissioned by the G7th, The Capo Company, for an infinite number of guitars. All styles and abilities of guitarist were welcome; players were invited to learn one of four parts, film it on a smartphone and upload the video to be a part of our online guitar orchestra.

It’s been an amazing process, with players joining from across the world. Thank you to everyone who took part, thought about taking part, and supported in a way they could and of course thank you to G7th for their vision and support.

In this blog, I want to talk about WHY. Why I believe getting together to make music, regardless of ability or background is so important, and why the results are often so stunning?

If you’re not familiar with some of my other more community-minded orchestral projects, have a cheeky look here to see.  https://chriswoodsgroove.co.uk/guitarrevolution/

UNIVERSAL SUPERPOWERS and UNICORNS

Music is an exclusive thing. I know it’s not what you expected to read at the start of this blog, but it’s something I have observed. Music in so many parts of the western world exists as something excruciatingly exclusive. And no, I’m not talking about the class system, the one percent or free musical education in schools…

Fame and success is a divisive thing that dominates music, people’s perceptions of something being good or bad, measured by success, usually alongside fame or Ferraris.

This measurement of music continues in the supposedly more ‘serious’ realms too, away from Facebook Likes and fast cars. Schooling, grades, your musical ‘pedigree’, ‘are you classically trained?’, ‘Oh did you go to the royal college?’… etc.

Then we even have the very simple perception of music as an innate thing; perfect pitch, the ability to be a ‘singer’ or ‘not a singer’, the ‘I’m tone-deaf’ crowd.

Of course, it is all utter, tripe, poppycock, hogwash and baloney (hopefully some slang for everyone there).

These divisions, this exclusivity, exists because it makes us musicians feel better about ourselves and makes the non-musicians feel better about not being musicians. It’s a mutually beneficial agreement that helps everyone to make sense of music. Because music is…. magic, and sometimes it’s hard to understand or articulate.

This is where I appreciate I might lose you as a reader. Sorry, but yup I said ‘music is magic’, and I’m very serious. I think music is a thing that connects people on a level that we can NOT explain or in fact measure. I know that will wind up some of the sofa physicists, but hey, its fun to ruffle some feathers…

(I’m not a total nutter, I understand sound is measured in a million different ways, as indeed are brain patterns in reaction to it. But, the process of musical communication (i.e. playing together) or even the way we individuals react to listening is something of a mystery – seriously, it is.)

So., as far as I’m concerned, if it’s a mystery, it is, therefore, magic…. along with Santa Claus, unicorns, Brexit and money trees.

More than just magic, it appears to be a UNIVERSAL SUPERPOWER. Because unlike Santa Claus, unicorns or Brexit, or growing a tree that excretes money, it’s something we can all actually do; a supernatural power and not just an illusion… we can all ‘do a music’, you just might not like it.

Even Katy Price ‘did a music’ once.

So… now we have established that, let’s look at why I like to do these projects involving any old dick and harry joining in…

ROOM TO FOCUS

Hopefully, you took my suggestion that music is a universal superpower fairly seriously. I’m sure there is a way to word it slightly less sensationally, but where’s the fun in that! This ‘fact’ is the sole reason I love to work with music that is accessible to all players.

I totally accept musicians operate on different ability levels of course, particularly in the realm of accuracy. But if for a moment you think about music as a magical, amazing thing, which is about emotion, humanity and not precision…

(which it is, isn’t it?)

… you can then understand that if a piece of music is built with some reasonably simple physical limitations (by which I mean using ‘minimalist ideas’), all musicians are on an even footing. The pros and the erm… not so pros. The music becomes an exercise in the ability to ‘focus’ and to really ‘get into it’… also called ‘flow’ if you fancy some further reading – Instead of an exercise in, well, exercise.

“Capo Evolution” was another project based on this principle. Using relatively simplistic parts, it gave room for players to express themselves without having to sit in a state of panic about what comes next. The result is, I think, something that sounds great musically and offers something extra; the sound of people coming together to play music without ego or exclusivity… and that, ladies and gentlemen, is real magic.

Happy Christmas x

Chris

Capo Evolution – Part 1

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Capo Evolution…

Some background…

I had been toying with the idea of writing a piece of music for a guitar orchestra for ages, but it wasn’t until Steve Harvey (then editor of Acoustic Magazine) called me up that I thought I would ever do it.

Steve got in touch while I was doing a clinic tour in Switzerland for Martin Guitars. The timing was incredible; I’d just had a week of performing concerts almost exclusively for guitarists. Every time I do a clinic concert, (and in Switzerland that’s usually to between 50 and 100 guitarists) I have the distinct feeling that the audience would be far more comfortable with a guitar in their hands. Bloody guitarists. ?

With that in mind, that very week I had started composing a piece of music for many guitarists, I just needed the ideal opportunity to air it and, ermmm, finish it!! It just so happened that Steve also got in touch that very week with an offer for the Groove Orchestra to perform at The Olympia for the London Acoustic Show… the perfect opportunity.

The rest is history… many of you know the story from there. If you don’t click here… I then went on to extend the idea into “Orchestral Evolution” in 2018 – 2019 and then here we are today with ‘Capo Evolution’ working alongside G7th.

So… what do I want to share with you about this project?

Well.. composing a piece of music that is to be recorded through a phone has its challenges. On top of that, composing with the capo in the spotlight is difficult, and the community element of just getting people to do it! Here are some experiences I’ve gained from taking on these challenges that you might be interested in reading. At the point of writing this, you can still join us… click here to do that.

Bringing people together…and that whole apathy thing

If you followed my blogs on Guitar Revolution back in 2017-18, you would know that this kind of community-minded project flits from being inspirationally well-received to, well, being received with utter apathy.

I explained in blogs at the time of getting that project together, I would feel pretty down about the brick walls I would be hitting, the apathy, the ‘nearly take parts’. That in itself was a huge learning curve, which led me to a conclusion. A conclusion that helped immensely this time around and I’d love to pass on…

My conclusion on this stuff, one which I’ve taken my time over, is that people… like me… have lots of sh** going on. It’s obvious, but you’ll find most conversations after gigs with low attendance are not so empathetic, and I’ll be there agreeing too. The reality is that, actually, people are busy, happy, sad, tired, doing exciting things, doing pointless things, amazing things, terrible things, battling things, fighting things, loving things. So, when someone breaks out of that to get involved in something I’ve created, I’ve come to learn to be insanely grateful and hugely understanding when they don’t… although the reality is underneath I’m battling with the ‘oh you’re just staying in to watch Netflix’ kind of vibe, I do believe that even getting 20mins of one persons’ time is a real privilege.

This project has been easier; fewer brick walls and as for apathy, well, I guess by making it online it’s been more accessible. After all… it’s easier on many levels. But, there are still countless people who have ‘nearly’ done it. I can genuinely say this time around, I understand that. If you’ve taken part in any Guitar Revolution projects previous or indeed this one, I am genuinely overwhelmed by gratitude for you taking the time and effort to do this. If you ‘nearly did’ or ’never intended to’ because ‘you didn’t have the time’ or etc. I understand, I really do – thank you for even thinking about it. Thank you!

In a world of Facebook Likes and YouTube views and cats playing the piano, we often tend to place too much value high quantities and miss the detail, the human connection.

This gratitude has led to really being able to see how amazing doing this online has been… it’s a community music composition without boundaries. The below video is a pairing that Simon at G7th did to show hows parts 1 and 2 sound together… it includes Glenn Roth from the US and Tanaus Luis from Spain. That’s just one pairing that shows two players from geographically disparate spaces coming together, there are plenty more which you will see and hear about on release… but you have to admit, the idea of these two guitarists appearing together is really quite beautiful?

Composing for a Mobile Phone…

There’s lots of conversation around mixing for the modern mobile or laptop speakers, but for a good reason, there is very little around composing for a piece of music that is to be recorded through a mobile phone.

For me to make this project viable, it has been a huge driving force…. being able to film your part on a mobile phone is integral to the success of the project. It’s also potentially a weakness since mobile phone mics are, well, not a studio-quality mic… and they also tend to add bucket loads of compression. Hmmm….. tough call!

So, my process of composition was to focus on ‘peaks’ and ‘troughs’. To play to the compression, and account for lack of detail. So, essentially creating something very percussive, but with the scope to be as melodic as I like.

I tested and tested and tested on my own mobile and finally found a riff, (part 1) which really played to the strengths of the humble mobile mic – and I then began building around it with the same principals in place. When the clips started to come in, even the most melodic parts were cutting through nicely!

Composing for Capo…

This has been fantastic. When I compose for more than one guitar a huge focus it to create a part which can be as simple as possible. Because, humans have limits… and if the parts is simpler the player however good has a chance of playing it with more expression, better tonal quality, better, well… better. I’d be excited to hear someone disagree, but its certainly what Ive found. So with the capo in hand I have the opportunity to keep things even simpler. I can have parts that span the guitar neck giving huge tonal variation but keep things simple which in my mind makes things… better!

watch Daniel Burne play all four parts to see what I mean…

give it a go.

hope you enjoyed reading my ramblings… I’m always keen to hear from anyone with all thoughts, feelings or ramblings.

cheers
C

Guitar Revolution: Politics Is Not The Only Way

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Politics is not the only vehicle of change…

Just after the brexit vote announcement I launched Guitar Revolution…a project thats aim was simply to form pop-up guitar orchestras around the country to play one of my compositions.

Now, the timing was coincidental really; I’ve always been fascinated by the role of community in music, those of you who know me personally will know that actually the majority of my adult life has been focused around those two things – I also like donuts, walks in the park and John Grisham novels ;). So Brexit wasn’t the driving force, this project did not have any allegiance to leave or remain (and don’t worry this is not a blog about Brexit). But nevertheless, guitar revolution was riding on a wave of Brexitness. 

Since then, as Guitar Revolution jetted (in a white diesel van) around the country forming pop-up guitar orchestras, all manner of political bizarreness has occurred. Of course most recently we are witnessing a whole new level of political insanity….

Now as I said this blog isn’t about Brexit and nor really is it about my political standing, although you can probably take a guess at what I voted for. This blog is instead about how important it is to remember the ‘real’ stuff. How your role in community is even more important than that one vote you have… Crazy, I know! 

This Guitar Revolution project showed me that your real actions really are so much louder than words or Facebook posts.  We engaged with thousand of people across the country and built a collective orchestra of hundreds. These actions are so much louder than Facebook rants and drunken arguments in the pub that result in a hangover of lost friends and upset egos. Continued below….

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Here are three points from that experience, that I believe are worth a read:

Number one, ‘Actions – this is not going to be easy’…

 Ive got plenty of experience of trying to bring people together in a musical context and it never gets any easier, I’m not sure it gets harder, but definitely not easier. The human race are a funny bunch.The general public are majoritively quite resistant to getting together for anything less  in size than a political rally, football match or an adele concert. Something that is mainstream and massively controlled, the idea of venturing out for a socio-musical experiment to play a minimalist piece of music, organised and composed by a scruffy guitarist from the west country is apparently not on the average brits list of priorities. Its seemingly niche, which is a shame because I was hoping the revolution would be relatively mainstream. Disappointing, I know!?!?!…..but hey, it just meant we had to work harder.

Number two ‘ Louder! – there is a reason we are scared of getting together’…

It takes a lot of energy and ultimately bravery to come and join a group of strangers to play music. It takes a lot of energy and bravery to join a group of strangers to do anything. Aside from the usual ego risks that playing music comes with it, it comes as a disruption to a busy schedule, it comes with all manner of social anxieties or pre-conceptions. Ultimately the idea of getting together with strangers to play music is powerful in a positive way but comes with powerful challenges too. As life increases in complexity and difficulty the idea of breaking out of that gets harder…Just like the idea of breaking from your normal comfort zone and views. I gotta be honest, if I was invited to join a pop-up guitar orchestra, I may well be the first to bottle it.

Number three…. ‘Words – The results of actions like this are far more positive than angry Facebook posts’…

There’s a simplicity to all of this, something I touched upon in my first blog. The simplicity of gathering people together to play. In this case it was gathering people together to do something different. Now in these crazy political times, of constant bombardment of ‘facts’ and strong view points the abstract simplicity of playing guitar together might seem like a token act of togetherness, but Im quite convinced that it is actually far more than that. (I would like to point out, I fully support your Facebook rants too)

Im not claiming that after each performance of guitar revolution, people spent hours discussing with others, rationally debating their political views. Im pretty sure no-one mentioned politics once or, in fact, the future of humanity. But! It did this…. and this is something I think we all need to focus on more than ever. 

….It got people out of their comfort zone, it got people out of Rupert Murdochs comfort zone and made people feel welcome and part of something positive, peaceful and original….something that was about being together not attacking others. Something vibrant and inquisitive…its a foundation of confidence to question the world around you.

For everyone on this messed up little island, being open minded, peaceful, and social is key to helping us progress. Whatever your political views, being social, community minded and open is the key to getting along, moving forward and generally not descending into being a country of absolute morons. Getting behind something musical is massively uniting. There are no ‘facts’ or view points, there is only the music. Because really, everyone wants the same thing. Don’t they?…

So, go and create something…  bring people together. Show the world that together is better. Do something! Organise a gig, get some people together to do something creative and pointless…something that is for nothing more than breaking the monotony of modern life and reminding us that we are human and we are here to laugh, dance, sing and share our smiles. 

Building A Guitar Revolution Part 4: We did it!

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So, The Guitar Revolution tour has come to an end. After an over subsribed launch at the London Olympia in september 2016, we took the concept on the road in early 2017. Visiting 7 Cities across the UK, bringing together hundreds of players to form our epic pop-up guitar Orchestra’s to play the piece Guitar Revolution.

A huge and heartfelt thank you to Martin Guitars for powering us and making it possible. All the amazing and world class guest acts who played such inspirational sets and put so much effort into reaching out into the wider community. The players who joined us and ultimately made the magic happen and of course all the audience memebers who helped create such amazing atmospheres at the shows… there is so many more, you know who you are, thank you. 🙂

Below you can enjoy a few live video’s of our performances and more…

 

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Building a Guitar Revolution Part 3: Rehearsals Begin

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This is the third part of a blog about ‘Guitar Revolution‘ you can read the other parts by clicking here Part I, or Part II…or you can just enjoy this blog post on its own.

In this episode I’ll be looking at our first rehearsal sessions, and explaining a little about the journey to creating The Chris Woods Groove Orchestra .

The Chris Woods Groove Orchestra has been a work in progress since 2015. Don’t take too much from the phrase ‘work-in progress’ though – I see everything I do as a work in progress, I think its a great way to be. It helps me to handle the polarising swings from crippling self doubt to awe inspiring arrogance 😉 we all suffer from that as an artist and if you say you don’t, I imagine you might be pretending…

The word arrogance might be a little strong though, perhaps more feeling ‘proud’, yes proud. There are moments of pride, interspersed with that more familiar self doubt. Constantly evolving and moving, helps you to accept that; being creative is just a process, not a product.

The band itself is an ever evolving group of players.The guitar players for ‘guitar revolution’, who are key members of the CWGO, are very much evolving to an extreme extent…I never know who will turn up. The ‘foundation’ members though, (those who play through the whole set) are a lot more plan-able, although they have also gone through various changes.

We’ve had a mix of line ups for different tunes, including hang drum, tabla ,double bass, and even in amygdala part II with drums, cello and piano. Its been a fascinating journey and my approach has evolved drastically….(And just because you dont see it now, doesnt mean you wont see it again!)

I wanted to get a band together for this Guitar Revolution tour that really was focused on the idea of ‘Guitar revolution’…

Something that would push some boundaries, try some new approaches and inspire the audience, something that would compliment our revolutionary pop-up guitar orchestra.

Increasingly over the past year I have been performing with ‘Arthr’ in the CWGO line up…and the work that we are creating together has evolved into something exciting, something that is perfect for these GR shows. You should at this point check out what ‘Arthr’ creates with his blend of animation and electronics to get an idea of ‘Arthr’s pedigree. Our work together is based on the idea of being ‘orchestral’ or ‘symphonic’ and working together in unison to create an ‘interactive symbiotic cinematic explosion’…(sorry got a little carried away there with the ‘pride’ side if things.Ill balance it out later)…

In other words…

‘Arthr’ takes a feed from my guitar and manipulates the sounds I produce to create immense textures. A lot of sounds are completely unrecognisable from the guitar, but the vast majority started life as a vibration in my Martin 000×1.

We’ve been honing it for months, we’ve performed a few english dates together and headed over to Ireland in May last year for a few shows to really try things out (its often best to try out new things abroad, not sure why)……here’s a very early clip from our first rehearsals…..

It really excites me the sounds we are creating. It feels different and unexpected….exactly what I wanted. Theres an interaction between us that is even deeper than your usual musical exchange. I can only describe it has having a conversation with someone who manipulates your words…no wait, thats pretty negative…erm…I’ll think of another analogy soon.

Of course there are practicalities involved in this stuff too….I would love to have hang, tabla, drums, cello, bass, electronics blah blah but of course there is a financial reality…but also one thing I have learnt during the past year of taking the band out on the road is how differently a band sound is communicated live – Its a practical reality, live sound is louder, bigger and seemingly more overwhelming than listening to recorded sound. My current opinion, and this will of course change, is that recorded sound has far more scope for complexity but live performance demands more simplicity… Im not sure why exactly, but Ive really found a trio is perfect. Crazy as it might sound but I feel we are creating an orchestral sound best, as a trio… I know it seems like a contradiction, but come check out a show to see. So, who’s the third player? Well, aside from electronic manipulation from ‘Arthr’ I have chosen to bring in bring in the big guns…. double bass to be precise.

For this tour Im working with two different double bass players. Joe Limburn and Ben Taylor, both jazz playing pro’s. Its an absolute pleasure to work with both of them….

I love the double bass. I love the depth, the versatility. Its so outrageously orchestral….



Building a Guitar Revolution Part 2: Apathy and Emails

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In these ‘Guitar Revolution’ blogs I promised to give a little insight into the process of setting this up, a kind of journal…an honest reflection. Here is the second instalment:

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been working away, usually in front of a computer, trying to make good stuff happen. Turns out when trying to create a conceptual piece of music that brings together one and all, you will have to email, email and then email some more. Its been hard, but its been good. I only wish I didn’t always have to be on a ruddy computer all the time….I mean, Im meant to be a musician!?!?!

So… whats happened recently? What has the happy blend of hard work from a host of helpful people and my many mildly miserable hours of emailing actually achieved? …well, quite a bit actually. Here’s a list:

1.We have sponsorship from Martin Guitars, which as I briefly mentioned in the last instalment is an insanely cool thing. Aside from their support its great to be associated with a company that has a progressive, green and people focused ideas at the heart of what they do. Thank you Martin Guitars!

2. Sean DeBurca has finished the design, which you can see at the bottom of the page, and Im sure you’ll agree its insanely cool. Physical posters are on their way!!! 🙂 🙂 Thanks for all your input during the design process folks.

3.Dates for leg one of the tour are up and ready! View them here and reserve your tickets now…

3.Several workshops in schools/colleges have been confirmed. Great news for spreading the word. We could do with more to really reach the wider community, can ya help?

4.Various exciting artists confirmed for guest slots. Names to be announced very soon. They’re all world class and are gonna make the shows so very special!!! – they will also be playing a part in helping to get players together for Guitar Revolution. I was overwhelmed by offers after putting a frankly awkward video out of me rambling on and asking for acts. I think the frequency of responses may have been partly due to me mentioning it was paid? – Im not sure. Anyway, its great to have so many people in touch. We do still have a slot or two to fill, so if you’re local to a date get in touch.

5.Guitar tutors are getting on board. This is a crucial one…. its a no brainer really, so if you are a guitar teacher, get involved. Ive only managed to contact a handful out of the thousands of you, so please save me some email time and get in touch. You can teach the parts and get in touch to let us know you’re doing it. It’s cool to hear from so many already to say ‘you’re doing it’ and ‘no thanks’ is fine too… although shocking to have some responses like ‘oh, they don’t practice anyway, so my students wont be interested’…I mean, seriously??? I despair sometimes I really do!

6.The Chris Woods Groove Orchestra line up for these shows is coming together too, we head into the rehearsal studio from the end of this month. Exciting new sounds itching to be heard.

So thats the main developments over the past couple of weeks, which aint too bad when I look back.

The general process has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster though…the responses have been quite extreme in polarity, its usually ‘yes wow! yes yes please!’ or a an extremely apathetic and negative response. Now Im not going to get into the trap of believing anyone who says ‘no’ to getting involved is ‘apathetic’, but in all honesty it seems especially when it came to approaching guitar teachers there really was a shocking amount of apathy amongst those who didn’t want to be involved…an often genuinely ‘discouraging’ response, rather than a simple ‘thanks but no thanks’. Which is a little crazy, but hey! thankfully there is a huge bank of inspirational teachers already involved, and many more to come Im sure. So get in touch guitar teachers! …apart from the apathetic ones….unless this brief blog has inspired some kind of life changing explosion of energy and inspiration, in which case I would love to hear from you too. Actually, thinking about it, you wouldn’t get in touch anyway if you were apathetic would you? 🙂

Aside from the knock backs its still overwhelmingly positive….massive thanks to every single one of you is already involved, and thanks in advance to those who will be.

cheeers
C
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Building a Guitar Revolution Part1: Start at the Beginning

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This is part 1 of a series of blogs, of journals, recording the journey of ‘Guitar Revolution’. If you don’t know what ‘Guitar Revolution’ is; here’s a quick summary….

Guitar Revolution is a piece of music made up of four parts, for an infinite number of guitars. The parts range in difficulty from very simple to complex. Players are invited to learn the piece for free and join a mass guitar orchestra of strangers and perform the piece. The Project was launched at The London Acoustic Show on the 10th of September. You can find out more here.

So, that’s it. That’s the revolution, in a nutshell….

There’s a fair bit to share with you at this point since its come a long way from conception to realisation and as we prepare to take it to communities across the UK; I can’t help but think, ‘blimey so much work has already gone in!’…so here’s the story so far, the conception of the idea, and how we got here.

The conception of the idea:
Strange as it might seem (even stranger as I don’t really like the game); I think Music is a bit like football. It brings people together. When those people get together, especially in their ‘teams’ as spectators or players; they lose themselves in a way that is borderline scary, although actually quite wonderful. In fact, when the ambience is right, people from all different teams can get together and share their love of football, and equally lose themselves in the moment. Of course football also suffers from all kinds of bad stuff…elitism, racism and then there’s those people who somehow know exactly how it should have been played.

Now, call me crazy but the similarities with musical culture and kicking an inflatable ball around a pitch are shockingly close…and before you get all upset by the comparison please remember a very large number of the population see how some play the game as an art, and Im not going to disagree…

Anyway….the point of this analogy? well, I wanted to explain to you why I would spend so much time trying to bring groups of people together to play the guitar. That football feeling of being together as a ‘team’, the players, the supporters, everyone, its amazingly powerful. It’s something I wanted to capture in a piece of music….

Now there is one very distinct difference from Arsenal FC and ‘Guitar Revolution’…and no, its not just the money…its that the players in Guitar Revolution are anyone and everyone who can kick a ball (erm…I mean play a guitar…).

Now for Arsenal inviting anyone who could kick a ball to perform at wembley would be a disaster. But, for music I believe its a bonus. Music works in layers, ranging from simplistic to complex. I believe EVERYONE who has the gift of hearing, also has the gift of being musical. I see no reason why an absolute beginner can’t play an incredibly simplistic line with the same emotional beauty that someone from the royal college can.

Im not delusional, I appreciate a mix of amateur players is likely to sound less polished than a mix of well rehearsed professionals….but music isn’t just about being polished is it? Its about; people, atmosphere, vibe, feeling, passion, magic. A terrifying amount of our musical culture is hideously elitist and exclusive. ’Guitar Revolution’ and yes…’The Chris Woods Groove Orchestra’ itself is very much focused on derailing those ideas.



The Story So far:
The actual piece ‘Guitar Revolution’ took a ruddy long time to compose…It’s gone through many different changes over probably a period of about a year. Why? well, trying to compose something that is simplistic enough for anyone to play, but contain parts that are complex enough to keep virtuoso’s interested…and not loosing sight of composing an emotive piece of music is actually quite a challenge. A challenge greatly helped by the lovely members of ‘the creative guitar orchestra’. These chaps and chapets were my guinea pigs. And boy did they work hard! (thanks folks 🙂 )

So once the piece was completed, I set about doing something with it. I knew from the beginning I wanted to have it played by strangers….(see opening analogy! 😉 ) The option of taking it out on tour seemed slightly ridiculous at this stage since I hadn’t really seen that done previously and I had that distinctly unnerving feeling it may well be career suicide. After bouncing the idea with a few sponsors, promoters etc I got the feeling it was too big to achieve. In all honesty the idea was subconsciously shelved for a good few months, until….. Steve Harvey (former editor of Acoustic Mag) a fine gentleman dropped me a line to offer me a slot at The London Acoustic Show. I mentioned ‘Guitar Revolution’ and being the brilliant fella he is, he said ‘okay…lets do it!’ Which to me was a bit of a shock if Im honest…but ‘hey’ I thought…this is the chance to see if it fly’s or flops, and at this point it was the only chance I’d had.

So…once the idea settled in I set about trying to make it happen. Filming the video with the help of my groove orchestra brother Christian ‘Arthr’ Ballistrari in a way that demonstrated the different parts – which really wasn’t that easy. I then set about desperately trying to spread the word. Asking people to join at any opportunity.

If you’ve ever had a party as an adult, you would have come close to the feeling of insane insecurity that I experienced, except this party was going to be a little more public and be in a magazine and stuff! Will anyone actually come?? When you are an artist especially in the naughties, everything you do is very public even if no one knows your name, and seemingly the only thing you are allowed to express is ‘success’…and the thought of calling a project ‘Guitar Revolution’ that is performed by me and a handful of my mates wasn’t going to look to good.

Anyway…to cut a long story short, a whole host of people turned up, me, my mates, and well…loads of strangers! We couldn’t fit everyone into the rehearsal room…which was inconvenient, but very cool indeed.

We performed it and it was seriously inspiring…. I gotta admit I was so stressed out that I didn’t fully appreciate it until afterwards. The logistics of performing with your band and then bringing nearly seventy guitarists onto a stage for one song is pretty testing, especially if you’ve spent the last few months in near psychological melt down at the thought of no one coming to your party…. But, nether the less…it was very very cool.

Where are we at now:

Well…Its been an exciting few months. After asking people (via social media) if they wanted to get involved and help take it out on the road, its gone from a one off to a tour that will be enriching and exciting for everyone involved.

Sadly, making this stuff happen takes time and money so my second priority after getting the support from the public has been to try and secure some funding. With the help of a wonderful person an arts funding application is in, and Im also pleased to say Martin Guitars will be powering the event, which is insanely good. Not simply because of their support but because this guitar company embody a lot of what this project is about. Although you might associate Martin Guitars as being a ‘big’ company, they are actually a family business in both the literal sense and in the theoretical sense. Trust me I’ve spent time with a lot the guys and girls who work for martin and it really is like a family. They are committed to working sustainably, they have people at the heart. I haven’t announced this yet, but I though you as a reader who has plowed through over a thousand of my words should be rewarded with something of an exclusive!

So there you have it, its happening! – the first leg of the tour is booked and dates will be released along with a very very cool design very soon. And whilst we are on the subject of design, here’s four rough sketches created by designer and guitarist Sean De Burca, let me know which direction you think should be developed?….

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So, in the next blog or journal post I’ll be getting stuck into the mechanics of how this thing is gonna work, just as soon as I know.…

Guitar Revolution

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Guitar Revolution is a piece of music made up of four parts, for an infinite number of guitars. The parts range in difficulty from very simple to complex. You can learn the piece here for free, and then join us on the 10th of September at The London Acoustic Show to rehearse it and perform with The Chris Woods Groove Orchestra – everyone is welcome! click here for Tabs and much more