duluthdan Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Sometimes I think about the fact that in my younger days I did not care for John Denver music all that much - his voice was piercing and out of my range. But, now that I am older, and live in the Rocky Mountains near where JD had his home, I appreciate much of his work a bit better. Last Saturday I lugged my J-200 to one of the Tenth Mountain Division huts nearby, and played a handful of songs - Rocky Mountain High, Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado, Sunshine On My Shoulders, Back Home Again - there were a bunch of senior citizens there on a jeep tour, and though my playing and singing is truly nothing remakable, it was a perfect setting, the right songs, and, judging from the smiles and comments, created a bit of a memorable moment. 'Twas fun, and inspiring. That J-200 is the perfect JD song machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_s Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 When I used to live by the coast, I'd drag my Taylor to the cliff tops and take in the crashing of the waves and the wind in my hair and just go. Occasionally I'd wander further up the coast a smidge and sit near the dunes and do much the same. Nature is very inspirational :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 You dared to take it out the house? You were possessed enough to wander the hills with a guitar in cold weather? Somewhere there's a bunch of OCD merchants aghast. Don't you know you're just supposed to polish them, chat about them etc.... actually playing them could be dubious but this shenaniganery won't do. As a penance you should do 5 hail mary's, 10 virtuoso polishes and a string thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 The Dentist! Last time I went to the dentist a month ago, I bought my latest Gibson from Ebay when I got home. Do you want to hear the story? I was strapped down in "THE CHAIR" with his wonderful gloved hands in my mouth and his nurse's gloved hands as well from what I recall and he mumbled something about how he could give me 3 shots which are awkward to do for the particular tooth, OR I could just "Grin and Bear It" for a minute and it would all be over...... As all this was going on and my life was flashing between my eyes and i had the serious shakes and I didn't know how much it was going to cost if I lived......................Phew! I am going to buy that 1937 Gibson L-0 that is for sale on Ebay! BluesKing777. EDIT: Great photo, Dan! And I live near the coast, but when I have taken a beater guitar down there for a strum, the waves were SO LOUD I couldn't hear a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorrisrownSal Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 We are in a rebuilding process now, as the home was plunked by Hurricane Sandy, but our Beach getaway on the NJ Shore was my zen. My shoulders relaxed as soon as I drove on the barrier island and smelled the salt air. And my family was always smiling and happy to see me when I got there. I used to play on the back deck all the time, overlooking out little lagoon. I would spend may hours this way, until the kids all ran away and the neighbors started throwing things... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 As usual I get blown away by these mountain-pics – not least because they are so far from my own city-maze. Still they kinda symbolize they way I search my inner nature and mind-scapes for inspiration - high and low. Don't get lost Duluth, don't fall in a hidden crack or meet a bear. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 We are in a rebuilding process now, as the home was plunked by Hurricane Sandy, but our Beach getaway on the NJ Shore was my zen. My shoulders relaxed as soon as I drove on the barrier island and smelled the salt air. And my family was always smiling and happy to see me when I got there. I used to play on the back deck all the time, overlooking out little lagoon. I would spend may hours this way, until the kids all ran away and the neighbors started throwing things... Now there's a place I could see myself . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phelonious Ponk Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Band practice. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisA83 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 When I used to live by the coast, I'd drag my Taylor to the cliff tops and take in the crashing of the waves and the wind in my hair and just go. Occasionally I'd wander further up the coast a smidge and sit near the dunes and do much the same. Nature is very inspirational :) I thought you were going to say you chucked the Taylor over the edge!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Where's Dawson & little Joey Potter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_s Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I thought you were going to say you chucked the Taylor over the edge!! Har :D No, she was a great guitar, but sold her as I needed some cash :( Plus side, I sold her for more than I paid :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Love those pics. Wish we were by the mountains or the sea, but they're hundreds of miles away. For inspiration I often go to a large lake, about 5 miles from here. I've always found water to be relaxing. I also find solitude and the dark to be inspiring for me. Often I'll go on our back porch at 2-3am. It's very quiet and dark. Just me and my ghosts and the dog. Good time for reflecting, introspection, playing the guitar and/or some songwriting. Going to a cemetery can also be a great place for inspiration. Tombstones can draw some great images. The dash between the dates is someone's real life story. 1903-1996. Lots of living took place between those dates. Other times, sitting on a bench at a shopping mall works....You do what works for you. I could live way out in the country with no neighbors within miles, but I don't, so I find the inspiration elsewhere. I think your location is a big part in shaping how you write. Look at John Denver's writing and also Jimmy Buffett's, or Cash's, and Lightfoot or Ian Tyson in Canada. You got to write what you know. You might not always write about the same thing, but how you see it runs in a similar vein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Love those pics. Wish we were by the mountains or the sea, but they're hundreds of miles away. For inspiration I often go to a large lake, about 5 miles from here. I've always found water to be relaxing. I also find solitude and the dark to be inspiring for me. Often I'll go on our back porch at 2-3am. It's very quiet and dark. Just me and my ghosts and the dog. Good time for reflecting, introspection, playing the guitar and/or some songwriting. Going to a cemetery can also be a great place for inspiration. Tombstones can draw some great images. The dash between the dates is someone's real life story. 1903-1996. Lots of living took place between those dates. Other times, sitting on a bench at a shopping mall works....You do what works for you. I could live way out in the country with no neighbors within miles, but I don't, so I find the inspiration elsewhere. I think your location is a big part in shaping how you write. Look at John Denver's writing and also Jimmy Buffett's, or Cash's, and Lightfoot or Ian Tyson in Canada. You got to write what you know. You might not always write about the same thing, but how you see it runs in a similar vein. Dude you need to cheer up. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanCarlosVejar Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Sometimes I think about the fact that in my younger days I did not care for John Denver music all that much - his voice was piercing and out of my range. But, now that I am older, and live in the Rocky Mountains near where JD had his home, I appreciate much of his work a bit better. Last Saturday I lugged my J-200 to one of the Tenth Mountain Division huts nearby, and played a handful of songs - Rocky Mountain High, Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado, Sunshine On My Shoulders, Back Home Again - there were a bunch of senior citizens there on a jeep tour, and though my playing and singing is truly nothing remakable, it was a perfect setting, the right songs, and, judging from the smiles and comments, created a bit of a memorable moment. 'Twas fun, and inspiring. That J-200 is the perfect JD song machine. Stunning photo Dan ! JC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Went through a 'cemetery phase' once living in Connecticut. Sort of helpful in that it gives you perspective. But looking at the old tombstones, the reality of death becomes a pall. Seeing how the average longevity 300 years ago was around 30 and half the infants didn't reach age two, was depressing. I will never forget one of the most frequent epitaphs. "Stranger come and cast an eye. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now you soon will be. So follow Death and come with me." Missouri - I agree with PM. You need to find a better source of inspiration! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Dave Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Dan and Sal both of those pics are fantastic :) Sal, I've friends in Somerville. They took me to the Jersey shore a few times when I was younger - great memories there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 fortyears, it depends on how you view life. I tend to see the glass as half full in almost every situation. Some undoubtedly see it as half empty. I have no idea how you see it and that is your business. I wouldn't in anyway try to tell you what to do differently. I wish you only the very best in life. .... For myself, I have no issues with visiting the graves of loved ones at the cemetery and exploring the history that surrounds the place. Every Memorial Day, my wife and I take flowers to graves at three different cemeteries. I've got thousands of good and often precious memories of the people we bring flowers and prayers to. I walk around for a while and read the inscriptions on tombstones. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, soldiers. Pretty humbling to me and makes me want to be as good a father, grandfather as I can be. Makes me want to write about life, and that's what I usually do. I don't see the macabre in the line you quote off of a tombstone. What it reveals is the attitude that some people have regarding life, not my attitude. No doubt, cemeteries get some folks down-in-the-dumps, but I don't look at life as part of an Edgar Allen Poe story. Don't believe I ever have. I think all of this is pretty cool and amazing. Even two years in Vietnam was pretty cool. At the time it scared the crap out of me, but looking-back it was an amazing time in my life. I'd love to have a mountain or the ocean right outside my back door, but I don't. Meanwhile, I don't have any trouble finding things to inspire me. I usually think that life is pretty inspiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 About the only things that I am inspired to do when a John Denver song comes on the radio is to turn the dial to something else as quick as possible. Sorry, I wish I could say I have found inspiration somewhere or in something but alas - nope. I have seen what music can be though. It came out of the windows of the century old South Baptist Church behind my house in Mississippi every Wednesday night when the ladies would have choir practice. If I could capture just a tiny bit of what I heard in those voices on guitar I knew I would have truly accomplished something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 fortyears, it depends on how you view life. I tend to see the glass as half full in almost every situation. Some undoubtedly see it as half empty. I have no idea how you see it and that is your business. I wouldn't in anyway try to tell you what to do differently. I wish you only the very best in life. .... For myself, I have no issues with visiting the graves of loved ones at the cemetery and exploring the history that surrounds the place. Every Memorial Day, my wife and I take flowers to graves at three different cemeteries. I've got thousands of good and often precious memories of the people we bring flowers and prayers to. I walk around for a while and read the inscriptions on tombstones. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, soldiers. Pretty humbling to me and makes me want to be as good a father, grandfather as I can be. Makes me want to write about life, and that's what I usually do. I don't see the macabre in the line you quote off of a tombstone. What it reveals is the attitude that some people have regarding life, not my attitude. No doubt, cemeteries get some folks down-in-the-dumps, but I don't look at life as part of an Edgar Allen Poe story. Don't believe I ever have. I think all of this is pretty cool and amazing. Even two years in Vietnam was pretty cool. At the time it scared the crap out of me, but looking-back it was an amazing time in my life. I'd love to have a mountain or the ocean right outside my back door, but I don't. Meanwhile, I don't have any trouble finding things to inspire me. I usually think that life is pretty inspiring. MP - just wanted to take a minute and say the family tradition at the cemetery is intact here in N. Ky. also. Though my extended family has grown thin as I get older, Memorial Day at the cemetary is a lifelong memory I hold dear and continue to maintain. On my mother's side, I trace my family roots back to the early 19th century in a little spot called Zion Pleasant View Church and Cemetery. My father's people go back as far at Linden Grove in Covington. Flowers on everyone's grave and a day long recall of all is both an enriching and positive experience long observed within my family. They were all farmers first, then Navy and Army with WWII and finally Airborne and Vietnam with myself. The land is gone now and I went with education and then career, but I will maintain the family tradition long as I remain able. I always leave the cemeteries smiling and with pleasant memories each Memorial Day . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jannusguy2 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I head out to the dock in my back yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Thanks for the photos and stories, folks. Thanks, too, Dan, for initiating the topic. Last weekend I steeped into the ultimate of inspirational scenes. I took my 1943 went-to-the-war guitar back to Kalamazoo and played it in one of the homes of the now three surviving Gals: I also wandered the old Parsons Street building with the guitar in hand and BBC radio in tow and found the precise spot where one of the Gals worked and recorded Lisa Moaiery's great song "Kalamazoo Gals," accompanied by Mamie Minch, who as a monster player, great singer, and my luthier of choice to work on my vintage guitars, is a true, modern-day Kalamazoo Gal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatbaroque Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Wonderful photos all.And Dan you need a J-200 in that landscape..a uke would be out of scale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Glad I got to see some of the places And hear the thoughts. PM the temps were cold, but the sun was hot, and my whole life is a Hail Mary. JT, such a powerful story you stumbled into, and head the tenacity to follow through. jG that is a helluva cool place. Sal, that has Buffet written all over it. MP, I get it. Thanks gentle people, now, play em if ya got em. Nearly time for the annual humidity dance here. If I can figure out how to record with this IPad2, expect an original soon. Smile Fierce !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 I am an hour away from the Rockies here in Alberta. I've ventured into the mountains with my guitar a few times. This image is from "Forgetmenot Pond" in Kananaskis Country just east of Canmore Alberta. I'm thinking of taking the J200 up into the Rockies near Banff and taking a photo with my new Nikon DSLR. I took this photo of Mt. Rundle just a couple weeks ago. It makes a nice backdrop for the J200! I know I will want to play Rocky Mountain High! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR GIBS Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 The best inspiration I find in my kitchen. Best songs I do cooking in the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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