Solo Guitar by George Burt

George Burt electric and acoustic guitars

"Dear friend, here's the long-awaited (by some people) George Burt Solo Guitar release.
There are a mixture of things here because of my chronically short attention-span.
The acoustic guitar is a Yamaha I bought with the money I made in 1982 playing the double bass in the pit band of Falkirk Amateur Operatic Society's production of Carousel.
The other guitar is a semi-acoustic Epiphone.
The live tracks (played on an old Gibson The Paul) are from a gig I did as a support act to the wonderful Susan Alcorn in 2001.
The Paul doesn't sound like this any more because it has recently been done up with new chrome covered pickups. It looks as if it's had its teeth capped.
I wanted to preserve this gig because I'm convinced my playing is getting less flamboyant and hairy. I was musing on this when the reviewer in the Glasgow Herald said a GIO gig I was in would be much improved if I could have been removed form the stage by means of the music hall hook, so it's plain to some people that I haven't a clue what's going on with my own playing.
If you want a self-aware guitar player, listen to a Keith Rowe CD.
In fact, buy a Keith Rowe CD as well.
The studio tracks were recorded just as they are in Maryhill. It was the second quickest record they've ever done, narrowly beaten by a songwriter who came in, sang twelve songs one after the other and was home in time for tea.
This is dedicated to my two favourite guitarists Bill Wells and Susan Alcorn - with thanks to Neil Davidson and Dep (D P) Johnson"

2022 update:
"I find it very difficult to believe that it’s been 18 years since we released this recording of my solo guitar playing.
A few years before making this record, after a decade of playing in folk and jazz groups, I had committed to making free playing and my own compositions my principal ways of music-making.
Inexplicably, some of my closest musical colleagues (Bill Wells and Lindsay L Cooper) started asking me when I was planning to make a solo record. Up until then, the idea had never crossed my mind.
The gig supporting the fabulous Susan Alcorn, was one of my first outings as a solo artist. I learned a great deal from watching and listening to Susan’s wonderful playing that night, particularly her use of space.
A few years later, I got a very strongly-expressed and informative pep-talk from the great Keith Rowe about letting sounds “be themselves”. Together with Maggie Nicols, those are the artists that have had most influence on my playing, I think. My favourite guitar-players are still Susan Alcorn and Bill Wells.
The cover picture is from a rock on a Scottish hillside. I think the marks are caused by glaciation. The photograph is by my niece. She was two at the time, and had just snatched up my camera and started snapping away...
Thanks to Liam Stefani for promoting the Susan Alcorn gig, and very kindly including this record in the scatterArchive series".
[George Burt]

since 1994

pay what you can afford

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