Category Archives: Random Topics

These posts are on topics that cannot be categorized in any of the other categories.

Rewriting The Record For The Electric Guitar

Posted on August 6, 2018 by sixstrstories

The book was called: Discography Of Western Swing And Hot String Bands, 1928-1942 by Cary Ginell and Kevin Coffey. It had been published in 2001. I found it one afternoon a few months ago in the Performing Arts Reading Room, … Continue reading →

Posted in Posts with Video, Random Topics | Tagged Cary Ginell, Discography of Western Swing and Hot String Bands, Hot Dog Stomp, Jim Boyd, Kevin Coffey, Library of Congress, Performing Arts Reading Room, Rhythm Is Our Business, Roy Newman and His Boys, Slow And Easy, Vocalion Records | 1 Comment

A Photo a Week Challenge: Music

Posted on August 4, 2018 by sixstrstories

This is my first time entering a photo challenge. But when I found the nancy merrill photography blog and the topic of her weekly photo challenge, one image immediately came to mind. I took this photograph on Father’s Day in … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Topics | Tagged Jazz, Photo a Week, Photography, Portsmouth NH, postaday, The Press Room | 4 Comments

A Day In Boston, Highlights & Traditions – a no-str story

Posted on June 25, 2018 by sixstrstories

Boston, Massachusetts. Friday, June 22, 2018. Morning: looking up from the deck of the U.S.S. Constitution. Afternoon: looking down through a window at the top of the Bunker Hill Monument. Snacking under a tree on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Topics | Tagged Boston, Boston Burger Company, Boston Public Garden, Boston Red Sox, Boylston Street, Bunker Hill Monument, Fenway Park, Mac Attack, Mike's Pastry, Rose Kennedy Greenway, U.S.S. Constitution | Leave a comment

“Deep River Blues” – Page 1 & Page 2

Posted on May 19, 2018 by sixstrstories

(To see more Guitar TAB transcriptions, click on Guitar Music in the Categories list!) On April 7, 2013, I wrote a post about the song “Deep River Blues.” In that post, I included a transcription – in standard musical notation … Continue reading →

Posted in Guitar Music, Random Topics | Tagged Deep River Blues, Deep River Blues Guitar TAB | Leave a comment

A Belated Birthday Celebration

Posted on April 25, 2018 by sixstrstories

The Library of Congress was established on April 24, 1800. On that day, “President John Adams signed an act of Congress providing for the transfer of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington. Part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Topics | Tagged The Library of Congress, The Thomas Jefferson Building | Leave a comment

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 Eight Miles High, The Byrds | 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 Big Bill Broonzy, Blue Smoke, Curtis Jones, Dick Spottswood, George Barnes, Good Time Tonight, Hobson Hot Box Johnson, It's A Low Down Dirty Shame, Jas Obrecht, Sweetheart Land, Talking Guitars, Vocalion Records | Leave a 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 Bring It On Home Vol.1, Charles Edward Smith, Folkways Records, Fred Ramsey, Happy & Artie Traum, Having A Party, Lead Belly, Lead Belly's Last Sessions, Relax Your Mind, Rene Hall, Sam Cooke, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes | Leave a 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 Brave Combo, Must Be Santa, Must Be Santa (Polka), Rounder Records | 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 Anytime, Daddy's Junky Music Stores, Duo-Sonic, ES-125T, Exeter Music, Fender Guitars, Gibson Guitars, Guitar Player Magazine, Jim Howe, Joe Pass, Jon Sievert, Merseyside, Polytone 102, Polytone Amplifiers, The Guitar Warehouse | Leave a comment