Tag Archives: fingerstyle guitar

LIVE 157 • Meditation on Which Will (Nick Drake Guitar Part)

Classic Rock, Liveacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, Double Drop D tuning, Elixir HD Light, fingerstyle guitar, Neumann TLM 103, nick borho, Nick Drake, Nick Drake cover, peaceful guitar, Pink Moon, relaxing guitar, Taylor 312ce, taylor grand concert, which will

Nick Drake’s guitar parts (and music in general) seem to live in their own magical realm that we can tap into whenever listening to an album like Pink Moon. I was trying a new recording set up one day and decided to see how it would sound playing my version of the guitar part from “Which Will,” which is not really meant as a note-for-note copy of the original guitar part. Rather, I wanted to do a sort of meditation on the part and just enjoy the mellow vibes that Drake’s music always impart to me. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 312ce (Sapele/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 103 microphone.

LIVE 153 • Crossing the Field (Original Fingerstyle)

Fingerstyle, Liveacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, crossing the field, Elixir Polyweb, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, Holualoa, kona coffee, ksm141, nick borho, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, shure, Shure KSM141, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught

Here’s another take of “Crossing the Field,” a song from my “Awake Again” album. “Crossing the Field” was recorded as part of a pair of songs (along with its companion song, “Moment in the Sun”) to set the stage for the second half of the album. Following the dramatic strumming of “Make” that closed the first half of the album, “Moment” & “Field” framed the mellower vibe of the album’s remaining songs. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i.

LIVE 130 • Slack Key Number 1 (Taylor 412ce)

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Here is an alternate take of Slack Key No. 1, the classic showpiece of slack key master Sonny Chillingworth. I first heard it on the Dancing Cat release “Endlessly,” and it also appears on his 1964 solo release “Waimea Cowboy.” The Waimea Cowboy version sounds like it was recorded on an electric guitar, while the version on Endlessly was recorded on acoustic guitar. Both versions are very similar, though with some slight differences. I have incorporated elements from both versions in the arrangement I play. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

LIVE 154 • Dive In (Original Fingerstyle)

Fingerstyle, Liveacoustic guitar, awesome little song, blue sky guitar, bluegrass guitar, Dive In, fingerstyle guitar, guitar fiddle tunes, nick borho, original fingerstyle guitar, signs music has changed your life

Today’s song from the vaults is Dive In, which I recall as being inspired by Celtic and Bluegrass fiddle tunes, but it also has some distinctly guitar-ish strumming and rhythms. “Dive In” is a track from a project I had called Signs Music Has Changed Your Life. Hope you enjoy.

LIVE 151 • Cat Nap Afternoon (Original Fingerstyle)

Fingerstyle, Liveacoustic guitar, awesome little song, blue sky guitar, cat nap afternoon, fingerstyle guitar, nick borho, open tunings, original fingerstyle guitar, relaxing guitar, signs music has changed your life

Today’s song from the vaults is Cat Nap Afternoon – a mellow, harmonic laden song with a few little strange notes sprinkled here and there to keep it interesting. Hope you enjoy.

LIVE 132 • Fair Wind (912ce)

Acoustic, Fingerstyle, Live, Open Tuningsacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fair wind cruise, fingerstyle guitar, Kealakekua Bay, Keauhou Bay, Line Audio CM4, nick borho, Open D, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert

Here is a more recent version of my song “Fair Wind.” The song is named for a boat of the same name that ran snorkel / dive cruises to Kealakekua Bay out of Keauhou Bay – still does – and my parents took me and my friends for a cruise on it for a number of my birthdays.

Recorded with a 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Line Audio CM4 microphone.

LIVE 149 • Bron~Yr~Aur (K22ce Alt Take)

Classic Rock, Fingerstyle, Liveacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaiian koa, Jimmy Page, koa taylor, Led Zeppelin, nick borho, open C6, open tunings, peaceful guitar, Physical Graffiti, relaxing guitar, taylor grand concert, Taylor k22ce, Telefunken M60, Welsh Countryside

Bron-Yr-Aur is probably my favorite Led Zeppelin acoustic song. Written by Jimmy Page about a tranquil cottage in the Welsh countryside, the song is meditative and bucolic; it always puts me in a different place whenever I hear it or play it. This is an alternate version recorded on my Taylor K22ce.

Recorded with a Taylor K22ce (solid koa grand concert with Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 Bronze HD gauge set) and a Telefunken M60 microphone.

LIVE 147 • Keiki Slack Key (Nylon, Alt Take)

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Here is another version of the Ray Kane classic “Keiki Slack Key” I recorded on my Taylor 414ce-NR nylon string guitar. Keiki Slack Key (not to be confused with the Sonny Chillingworth song of the same name) is one of the first slack key songs I transcribed, and has stayed on my setlists ever since. To me, Ray Kane is probably the best example of an ‘old style’ slack key player, and his tracks are always nahenahe. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 414ce-NR (Rosewood/Spruce grand auditorium nylon string) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

LIVE 137 • I’m on Fire (Alt Take, 412ce)

Classic Rock, Fingerstyle, Liveacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, born in the usa, Bruce Springsteen, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, honolulu, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Taylor 412ce-R

Here’s an alternate take of my arrangement of the Springsteen classic I’m on Fire. This is a really cool little song – almost a sketch at under 3 minutes long, but it really creates a great atmosphere in that short amount of time. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone in Honolulu, Hawai’i 2/26/15.

LIVE 145 • Morning in Paia (Original Fingerstyle)

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Alternately titled “Paia Morning” or “Paia Kakahiaka,” the song “Morning in Paia” began life as the harmonic laden intro/outro figure and grew into the mellow yet energetic song here. Paia Morning captures some of the mellow yet entrancing vibes of a morning in Paia, Maui: you start out strolling the sidewalks – still sparsely populated this time of day – perhaps pick up some fresh fruit from Mana Foods while catching a little bit of local news at the North Shore outpost, or head up the road a short ways to Island Fresh Café for some breakfast nosh. Next, travel back down the road to grab coffee at Paia Bay Coffee or Anthony’s, maybe taking a meditative stroll along the sand at Paia Bay before wrapping up with lunch at Flatbread Company or Café des Amis. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor K22ce (solid koa grand concert with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Telefunken M60 small diaphragm condenser microphone.

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Slack Key and Fingerstyle Guitar