The View from the Spaghetti Factory (proper redesign coming soon!)

So, last weekend marked the sixth annual uk.music.guitar national get-together. I’ve been to four of the six and find myself developing an almost complacent expectation that the event will be exciting, amusing, interesting and inspiring in equal measure. A number of external glitches conspired to threaten the very existence of this year’s event, but that just made the success of the whole thing seem even more important than normal.

The focus of the weekend, as ever, was the Saturday evening “Guitar Idol” (named with tongue firmly in cheek), our musically diverse marathon gig where anyone can perform a song of their choosing, backed by an ad hoc band. The only obstacle is the lack of formal rehearsal… you practise your own part and trust the rest to nods, hand signals and the adrenalin of the evening. I don’t think I played particularly well on my “spots” (insufficiently focused practice in the preceding weeks) but that’s no problem. We’re all our own worst critics, and the emphasis is on fun.

As I mentioned this time last year, it’s difficult to describe just what the National (notWigan) means to us. Plenty of online communities have their occasional meatspace manifestations, and each event is, I’m sure, similarly cherished by its loyal attendees. And look at ours… it’s a bunch of people from a Usenet newsgroup! Does anyone still use that dusty old text-only relic from the pre-Myspace days of the Internet?

The truth, of course, is that UKMG is so much more than just a newsgroup. There’s a chatroom, regular offline meet-ups, musical collaborations, a whole range of specialist services and abilities and, most importantly, a whole network of “real life” relationships. Quite simply, it’s a community. And that’s why I find the whole Web 2.0 more exciting than anything I’ve seen since I first started using the Internet back in 1997. A lot of the early excitement faded in the flood of corporate involvement and the one-way artist-fanbase (or vendor-customer) relationship, but the democratic community aspect is coming back. I know from experience what can be achieved with the right mix of online and offline, and the various Web 2.0 technologies have enormous potential for making things even more fun.

As you know, I always like to support people who Do Their Stuff independently of the corporate mainstream. And when those people are my friends, hey, they even get free advertising here!

Jon Boyes is a classical and flamenco guitarist based in south-west England, and his debut album “Haçienda” is now available from his website. It’s a great little mix of Spanish-flavoured guitar instrumentals, with some really interesting arrangements and plenty of great playing. The perfect antidote to all those generic easy-listening Spanish guitar albums.

Bill Jehle started off releasing quirky instrumental music. He then did a multimedia CD showing how he built guitars and used them to create more quirky instrumental music. He’s now taken the next step and released a DVD, “How to Build a Guitar: The String, Stick, Box Method”.

Go and support these people by buying their products! They put my own lack of productivity to shame…

I was in Albrighton, Shropshire over the weekend, the occasion being the fifth annual UKMG National. As usual, a lot of people got together to play a lot of guitar, while drinking a lot of beer and generally having a lot of fun. Our traditional venue, the Mabs Cross hotel in Wigan, is no longer available for functions, so we relocated to the Lea Manor in Albrighton.

It’s difficult to describe our UKMG Nationals to “outsiders” without sounding like some kind of freaky evangelist, but they really are special. I said it all last year, but it bears repeating. It’s a fantastic opportunity to catch up with friends and play music in a warm, appreciative and encouraging environment. Now, I certainly don’t need any encouragement to overstretch… er, challenge myself musically, but there are several people who have gained their first experience of playing live at Wigan (or notWigan, as we referred to this year’s event). It’s an interesting paradox… you’re playing in front of 50+ other guitarists, which ought to be terrifying, as they probably know exactly how each song is supposed to sound, but at the same time everyone is willing each other to do well, without a hint of egotism or competitiveness.

This year, I decided to push myself a bit. I wanted to have a blast through something from the first Van Halen album, so why not go for the jugular with “I’m the One”? I can’t remember whether it was Dave Barlow or me who suggested “Big Trouble” from Steve Vai’s stint with David Lee Roth, but that one also took some dedicated practice. Two other songs were complex, but quite comfortable to play in the end… Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne” (of course I just had to duplicate the classic Larry Carlton solo) and Frank Zappa’s “Peaches en Regalia”. Easier (but no less interesting) guitar parts came via Blur’s “Girls and Boys” and XTC’s “Sgt. Rock” and I even managed a bit of blues with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. I then allowed Jim Nugent to talk me into doing a couple of jazz tunes (Miles Davis’s classic “So What” and Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints”) at the last minute… I really regretted my lack of preparation, but it was still bloody good fun.

It’s all over now, though. Looks like I’ll have to find something else to think about until next November. In the meantime, there’s a few pictures on Flickr…

notWigan 2005 set on Flickr