iN The cLUB

Hi Guitarist, I’m writing in response to Matthew last issue [Feedback issue 417], who was in a rut with his playing. I felt the same way and after a few years of picking up the guitar, putting it down, buying new gear and still feeling the same I eventually approached my local pub and asked about the possibility of holding a guitar club in their upstairs room. They agreed to a Tuesday night, and now, every week, I have a chance to play guitar with like-minded friends. It has started small but we’ve hosted four open-mic nights, attracting local talent and managing to hold onto our audience all night! It has reinvigorated my playing, and I have been learning new songs (to me) and, between us, making new arrangements of older songs to entertain the audience. My advice is don’t wait. I wish I’d done this years ago and my playing is really improving. I’m listening to more music than ever, and writing ideas for arrangements whenever I hear songs on the radio. For the record, I’m 49 and have played since I was 13. Go for it, you’ll never look back! David Leask, via email Thanks for sharing your experiences, Dave, and congratulations on getting your guitar club up and running. As well as being fun for you guys it sounds like it’s brought a little more live music into your local pub, which can only be a good thing. While we would never think less of anyone who simply enjoys strumming at home or collecting guitars, there’s absolutely nothing like wailing on the guitars you love, at volume, with a few mates. We’d love to hear readers’ best (read: funniest, most inspiring, life-changing, weirdest, you name it...) stories of getting active again jamming with friends or gigging – either for the first time or maybe returning to the saddle after a break. If we get a decent response in the postbag we may even launch a bit of a getout-and-gig campaign with prizes for your best stories of good times had with guitar on the UK pub-and-club scene. What d’ya think? Take it away...