Manafonistas

Some years ago a Golden Retriever crashed into my bike. Unfortunately we both were on a high level fitness mode which means: wild things run fast. Luckily the dog was undamaged, did a quick shake to heal his trauma and then went on. Meanwhile the cyclist – which unfortunately was me – jumped over the handlebars like a dolphin but instead of warm water harsh gravel gave a not so warm welcome. Days later the surgeon said: „Instead of an irreparable discus lesion now on your left hand a clean fracture would have been less complicated!“. The following course of rehab exercises to heal that hand, doing a self-invented physiotherapeutic training on the fingerboard of my guitar, had an inpact on the generally way of playing it, led to more melodic playing and trying to imitate and enscrypt the songs I love. In the earlier days I thought that many songs were impossible to play: like bitches brew, obscure magic, intransparent structures. Well, the good news is: nearly everything that someone plays (exept the songs of Pat Metheny, haha) or sings or whatelse, can be copied and anticipated. This process can be very thrilling, like acoustic crossword puzzles, means: analysis by ear and then transcription to guitar. How exactly works that bassline? Can it be transformed into fingerpicking style? And so on. I hope to find the time (and discipline) to offer some of my crossword solutions more detailed in the next future. For now I may present a list of artists that performed or created the songs I am hunting for like a hot dog, jumping frog in Albuquerque: Prefab Sprout, Bon Iver, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Peter Gabriel, John Martyn, Tori Amos, Alanis Morisette, Aldous Harding, Greg Allman, Joanna Newsom, Paul Brady, Kurt Vile, Tracy Chapman, Genesis, Sting, Eric Clapton, Djavan, Natalie Merchant, Walter Becker, Prince, David Sylvian and Yelawolf. Just to name some very few.