We asked PG readers to share the strangest places you’ve played guitar, and the responses were hilarious, endearing, and disturbing (yes, apparently “on the can” is normal). Here are our two favorite reader responses, and Squirrel Nut Zipper Jimbo Mathus’ tale of concerts for cows.
Tim Jones -- Reader of the Month
What are you listening to?
Blues Advocate on Facebook puts up good stuff, Muddy Waters’ King Bee, and the flamenco of José Mercé and Carmen Linares.
Where is the strangest place you’ve played your guitar?
In a prison on the outskirts of Copenhagen. The men filed in silently but were allowed to get up for coffee. They went wild at the end but as soon as the guards moved, there was total silence again and they exited past the stage. Bizarrely, one inmate said to me in a Scottish accent, “Do I know you from somewhere?”
Grant Oliver -- Reader of the Month
What are you listening
to?
Ihsahn’s Eremita and Bill Evans’ and Jim Hall’s Undercurrent.
Where is the strangest place you’ve played
your guitar?
I played lap steel while sitting on a bondage table next to an actor playing Brad Majors who was clad in a gauzy little robe during an unusual production of The Rocky Horror Show.
Jimbo Mathus -- Guitarist, Tri-State Coalition, Squirrel Nut Zippers
What are you listening to?
Famous L. Renfroe’s Flying Sweet Angel of Joy on Fat Possum Records.
Where is the strangest place you’ve played your guitar?
I lived on a dairy farm in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. I would sit out in the fields around my cabin, where I could work on songs in private. Slowly, the cows began to congregate around me. I would look up and be surrounded by hundreds of dirty cows chewing their cud and staring at me. One of the first songs I ever wrote was called “Looking at Cows.”
Andy Ellis -- Senior Editor
What are you listening to?
Eric Skye, A Different Kind of Blue. Stirring solo acoustic 6-string arrangements of Miles Davis classics.
Where is the strangest place you’ve played your guitar?
An Aries birthday party for two biker clubs, circa 1971. Inside a grange hall near Eugene, Oregon, the Free Souls (our roadie was their VP) and a Boise club and their gals got loaded, danced, copulated, fired pistols, and drove their Harleys around in circles while we played.
Chris Kies -- Associate Editor
What are you listening to?
Two of my newest pieces of wax—Black Flag’s Damaged and William Elliott Whitmore’s Song of the Blackbird—are completely different beasts, but both pack a crude punch of stinging emotion and harsh reality that calls for many spins.
Where is the strangest place you’ve played your guitar?
I wish I was more Andy than Rich, but I too would have to say I’m a porcelain-planted guitarist with no have-guitar-will-travel tales other than backseats, campfires, and poolside. Lame!
Charles Saufley -- Gear Editor
What are you listening to?
Ensemble Pearl s/t. Michio Kurihara of Ghost and Boris is one of the most unsung 6-string masters in the universe. His highly textural approach on this dark and sometimes menacing collaboration with Stephen O’Malley of Sunn O))) reveals less of his nimble, melodic, and impeccably tasteful lead approach, but speaks volumes about his formidable talent as a colorist.
Where is the strangest place you’ve played your guitar?
Do dreams count? Because I've played some very weird gigs in my dreams.
Shawn Hammond -- Editor in Chief
What are you listening to?
The Big Bang! Best of the MC5, the Weeks’ Dear Bo Jackson, Heidi Happy’s On the Hills, the Black Angels’ Indigo Meadow, Lyle Brewer’s Wicked Live!, and the Raveonettes’ Observator.
Where is the strangest place you’ve played your guitar?
Under a playground slide, in the pouring rain, while serenading my (then-future) wife with an acoustic tune I wrote for her birthday.
Rich Osweiler -- Associate Editor
What are you listening to?
The Little Ones, The Dawn Sang Along. The second full-length effort from these L.A. power-poppers has me ready for summer with its bouncy batch of über-happy, Shins-esque tunage.
Where is the strangest place you’ve played your guitar?
First thing that comes to mind is the bathroom (on many occasions), but with good sound, privacy, and countless other amenities, is the bathroom really that strange a place to woodshed (aka "outhouse")?
Jason Shadrick -- Associate Editor
What are you listening to?
Keaton Simons, Nowhere to Hide: Live at the Jungle Room. Don’t let the smooth love songs like “Beautiful Pain” fool you. Simons can play. Imagine John Mayer without all the pretentiousness.
Where is the strangest place you’ve played your guitar?
I can’t say it was as dangerous as Andy’s adventure, but I played a gig at a “Center for the Performing Arts” where women were in various states of undress.
