So, I was perusing cafepress.com, like I do sometimes. Imagine my surprize when the search term mandolin returned this.
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with people?
Thankfully, it also turned up this, so all was not lost.
I suppose I should consider myself lucky. When most other men my age feel the need to splurge on a sleek, racy, Italian ride it costs them several orders of magnitude more than my new ride, my Bianchi Pista.
Now I’ve got a new mandolin to lust after. National Reso-Phonic Guitars has just re-introduced a wood bodied resophonic mandolin.
When I first heard Sam Bush play a National Reso on the tune “Swamp Thing” from his collaboration with David Grisman, “Hold on, We’re Strummin’”, I thought “wow, I love that sound… I want one of those!” By the way, I highly recommend this CD. If you like the sound of mandolin-family instruments, or are just a fan of good acoustic music, you can’t go wrong with this one.
Years ago, I read a quote from Steve Earle that stuck with me for some reason. Recently I got to thinking about it and searched it out again. Here it is:
“The first song I ever learned to play on guitar was “Mother’s Little Helper”. That’s one reason I’m so fucked up. Never learn your first song in a minor key.”
–I Feel Alright– a short film, 1996
The first song I learned to play on the mandolin was “Wayfaring Stranger”… in A minor. In my case I’m not sure which is the cause and which is the effect, but it’s definately something to think about.