Monday 4 November 2024

Monday Long Song


Lord knows I carry a few regrets around with me as I hurtle towards my dotage and pretty near the top of the list is never having learned to play the guitar. Periodically throughout my adult life, little made-up tunes have spent time rattling around the void between my ears in search of a home, only to disappear forever into the ether when it becomes clear that I have no means with which to transcribe them. In particular, I'm an enthusiast of what is usually tagged as American Primitive Guitar, though it's a descriptor that I'm not altogether keen on. The (mostly) solo acoustic music attached to the aforementioned genre is invariably anything but primitive in either composition or performance. Also, flicking through my collection, both physical and digital, a growing number of my favourite performers in this field aren't even American. 

Take for example Doctor Turtle from Brighton (or Simon Ounsworth to his mates), who has a big ol' pile of tunes to die for over on his Bandcamp page. The Turtle archive is set at a Name Your Own Price level and he's more than happy for us to enjoy the music without digging into our pockets at all, though should you wish to contribute towards Simon's strings and biscuits fund, you can of course drop a few coins into the tin on your way out. 

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