Animal Collective
I came here from the Animals as Leaders Facebook [page], and after reading this [“A Different Breed,” February 2012] in its entirety, I will be a fan of Premier Guitar for life! Great interview.
—Lysle
via premierguitar.com

Great article guys. I appreciate the depth of your questions, and the fact that you got both Tosin [Abasi] and Javier [Reyes] involved. It’s definitely intriguing to hear more about their writing process and how they work together as musicians. Well done!
—Luke
via premierguitar.com

A Delicious Gretsch … 1620?
My son, Alex, and I are avid readers of your magazine. Love it! We celebrated his 16th birthday in style with this custom Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins birthday cake. It tasted as good as it looked! Thought your readers would enjoy. Cheers!
—Brig Serman, via email

Editor in Chief Shawn Hammond replies: “Hey Brig. 1) This rules! It looks just like my Gretsch (though mine doesn’t say Alex Serman on the pickguard)! 2) I think I need to show it to my wife (who’s a professional cake decorator) as a little hint about my birthday. She’s got five months to brush up on her baking luthiery—and she better get the damn trestle bracing right, too. Haha!”

High Notes on the Low End
Thanks so much for adding “real” articles and topics concerning bass guitar … It’s nice to see (and hear) what pro bass players are using. I appreciate the gear reviews—both amps and basses. The Rumble Seat is a good first step into sharing bass technique and lessons, but I’d like to see a little more.
—Stephen Durborow, via email

You’re welcome, Steve! Thanks for the kudos. Stay tuned—we’ve got more great bass coverage of all sorts waiting in the wings.

Kudos and Classical Clarifications
Shawn,
Thanks for turning me onto Michael Dowdle [Tuning Up, “Six Teachers Who Changed My Life,” January 2012]! Good, GOOD stuff!
—Roger Hollard, via email

Dear Shawn,
I’m sorry that the only benefit you received from your first guitar teacher, the “classical dude,” was “not to be dismissive of the musical tastes of others.” It troubles me to infer that you yourself may have little time for the world of classical guitar and the benefits that such training can instill. A number of great jazz guitarists such as Charlie Byrd and Gyan Riley would readily acknowledge the fundamentals of classical technique, which they later applied to their music, even if Segovia, like your first teacher, did not approve. The great Chet Atkins, though largely self-taught, highly respected the classical genre and was a close friend of the classical virtuoso Liona Boyd. And, your own reviewer, Jason Shadrick, describes [“Media Reviews: Seasons, Live at the Metropolitan Museum,” February 2012] Anthony Wilson’s recent collaboration with three other guitarists as played “with the precision and empathy of a classical string quartet.” Among my own music teachers, regardless of their own personal tastes, I never encountered one from whom I did not take away something good and constructive.
—Jim Moscovich, London/Ontario, Canada, via email

Shawn Hammond responds: “The point of that brief, lighthearted account of my first instructor wasn’t that I couldn’t learn anything from ‘[Name Withheld]’ because of his preferred genre. As my music collection proves, I’m a pretty darn open-minded guy who will listen to anything and glean from it (either consciously or subconsciously) what I think meshes with what I do on guitar. My point was that a good instructor cares about their students’ goals and interests, and strives to make guitar a fun, highly personalized endeavor. Otherwise, the student will quit the instrument or move on to another teacher. The other people I lauded in the same piece had completely different musical tastes than I do, but they cared about me, music, and instruction enough to figure out how to teach me important stuff in a way that also fulfilled and validated me. Best of luck to you, Jim!”

Gimme More
There are many good reasons to subscribe, but John Bohlinger’s January 2012 column [“Making $ome Dough Re Me With Your Mu$ic”] drove me to jump to the computer and renew my subscription. Great subject for an accountant (vocation) and hobbyist singer/songwriter/guit picker (avocation) like me. John has piqued my interest and left me with a want for more. Please go on to tell the reader more about self-publishing, demos and clearinghouse organizations like BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. How does one create a copyright?

I have some great songs that I’d give away just to hear them performed. My voice sucks and I don’t have enough time to practice to be a good guitar player, so I’ll never be more than a busker and open-mic guy. But, I’d better meet my passionate mission to share music with others if I could get it out there. I’d also be interested in how one seeks out co-writers for bridges and the like, along with constructive criticism (and I don’t mean [stuff like] “Don’t quit your day job”).
—Robert Stuart, Jacksonville, Florida

Hmmm … interesting ideas, Robert. We’ll definitely mull those over. Thanks for your letter— and don’t shortchange yourself. You never know what those open mics will lead to!