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@Dooks-Fatberg
Nice. I do like a Dano. Will keep an eye on Gumtree.
Back in acoustic bumpkin-land (that may have to be the new name of my new home studio), I've been teaching myself some new finger-picking patterns after realizing that my handful of go-to things are starting to sound really stale. I dug out an old book of Nick Drake songs I bought years ago and am working on Hazy Jane I which sounds great. Really weird tuning, it's CGCFCE I think. Instant Drakey loveliness.
I've also been on a massive Townes Van Zandt bender recently and have been learning loads of tunes. His finger picking is so simple but so funky. He manages to make simple patterns really drive along. I love the way he moves his shoulders once he settles into a menacing groove in that Heartworn Highway footage.
Most of those songs (the way he plays them on Live at the Old Quarter and Heartworn Highway anyway) are a straight outside/inside pattern with a hammered on third. I've had to work hard to avoid the temptation to add the slightly bouncier Travispicky things my muscle memory wants me to do. It’s really weird the way the vibe changes with the slightest shift in timing or emphasis. He seems to really de-emphasise the 1 and hit the 3 hard. Thinking about it now, that may be a lot to do with what gives it such a back-beat vibe. Hmmm.
The other thing I've noticed he does is tends to stick to just four strings, hardly ever adding the high e string when playing an open c chord shape. And when he goes up to an F shape he only plays the top 4 strings which is really anathema to me as I tend to always tray and make any voicing as thick as possible. It's really weird that the moment you break one of these minimal "rules" it immediately stops sounding like TVZ.
I'm just about getting there but still in the "It all falls apart when I start singing*" stage of getting used to it. As projects go, it’s keeping me out of trouble. Will definitely break out Tecumseh Valley or I’ll Be There in the Morning the next time I play out.
*perhaps this is what my studio really should be called.