Author Archives: sixstrstories

Unknown's avatar

About sixstrstories

I am the son and only child of a registered nurse & a self-employed collector of wildflowers. I went on to become: a Beatles’ fan; a record collector; a drummer; a music magazine subscriber; a guitar player; a songwriter; a high school graduate; a college student; a music major; a performing singer/guitarist; a photography student; a yearbook photographer; a student teacher; a boyfriend; a letter writer; a college graduate; an elementary school music teacher; an apartment dweller; a husband; a guitar teacher/independent contractor; a homeowner; an independent music producer; the father of a daughter; the father of a son; a bandmate; a teacher of the history of popular music in America; an instructor of music/adjunct faculty member; a grandfather (x3); a condo dweller; and a blogger.

No. 8

Posted on April 18, 2018 by sixstrstories

sixstr stories was born on Sunday, April 18, 2010 in Somerville, Massachusetts. I was visiting my daughter and casually mentioned to her that I was thinking of starting a blog. (At the time, she had a blog.) Before I knew … Continue reading →

Posted in Posts with Video, Random Topics | Tagged , | 2 Comments

A Ballad Of The Blues & The Electric Guitar

Posted on March 31, 2018 by sixstrstories

Verse 1 I recently found a book at my local library: Talking Guitar: Conversations With Musicians Who Shaped Twentieth-Century American Music (2017) by Jas Obrecht. The first chapter in this extraordinary collection of interviews is titled: “Guitarchaeology: Setting The Stage.” In … Continue reading →

Posted in Posts with Video, Random Topics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This Historic Day In Music: “Sweetheart Land” & “It’s A Low Down Dirty Shame”

Posted on March 1, 2018 by sixstrstories

On March 1, 1938, singer/guitarist Big Bill Broonzy entered the NBC studios in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Broonzy was a popular Chicago-based Blues musician who’d cut his first record in 1927. The names of the musicians playing piano, tenor sax and … Continue reading →

Posted in Posts with Video, This Historic Day In Music | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

This Historic Day In Music: Mary Chapin Carpenter

Posted on February 21, 2018 by sixstrstories

Songwriter, singer & guitarist Mary Chapin Carpenter has performed at the Prescott Park Arts Festival in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, three times over the past five summers. She shared the stage with singer/songwriter Marc Cohn on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 and … Continue reading →

Posted in Posts with Video, This Historic Day In Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Two Kings, Two Birthdays, Two Songs

Posted on January 28, 2018 by sixstrstories

Lead Belly and Sam Cooke. The “King of the 12-String Guitar” and the “King of Soul.” Last week, as I read the birthday entries for those two artists on my January list of “Historic Days In Music” – January 20, … Continue reading →

Posted in Posts with Video, Random Topics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This Historic Day In Music: Elizabeth Cotten – Take 3

Posted on January 5, 2018 by sixstrstories

It’s been five years since I last celebrated Elizabeth Cotten’s birthday here on sixstr stories. I think it’s time to do so again. On January 5, 1893, in the town of Carrboro, North Carolina (right next to Chapel Hill), George … Continue reading →

Posted in Posts with Video, This Historic Day In Music | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quotations Marked 6

Posted on January 1, 2018 by sixstrstories

From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: “It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that, while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” British … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations Marked | Tagged , | 1 Comment

A Little Christmas Polka

Posted on December 22, 2017 by sixstrstories

Must Be Santa! The Rounder Christmas Album is one of my all-time favorite Christmas collections. Released in 1995 by Rounder Records – the legendary-and-still-going-strong Cambridge, Massachusetts-based label – this 19-track album contains a recording that is one of my family’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Posts with Video, Random Topics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

This Historic Day In Music: “Two Tone Stomp” & “Have To Change Keys To Play These Blues”

Posted on November 17, 2017 by sixstrstories

In the Fall of 1928, Lonnie Johnson and Eddie Lang were the two best and busiest studio guitarists in New York City. Lonnie Johnson… …was born Alfonzo Johnson in the Storyville section of New Orleans, Louisiana on February 8, 1894. … Continue reading →

Posted in Posts with Video, This Historic Day In Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Ones That Got Away

Posted on October 16, 2017 by sixstrstories

I was looking through an old photo album the other day and came upon some pictures of a few old friends. Here’s one. That is a Fender “Duo-Sonic.” It was my first electric guitar. I purchased that guitar sometime in … Continue reading →

Posted in Posts with Audio, Random Topics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment