Page 15 - BiTS_06_JUNE_2021
P. 15

have done that, for example, Stevie Ray Vaughan. His style is probably one of the last guitarists that

    changed and developed a complete new style of playing the blues that’s been adopted by so many
    guitarists since. It’s just a case of keeping the blues alive, moving it forward, keeping it fresh and
    relevant and hopefully, people will enjoy that.

    BiTS:  When you go on stage, Ged, do you take a lot of different guitars with you and foot
    pedals and stomp-boxes and that kind of thing?


    GW:  Not so much now. I have tried and experimented. I tend to keep it to one or two guitars now
    and I do sort of try and vary the styles of play, so I might play a little bit of slide guitar, a bit of
    finger picking, a bit of strumming. I have done a little bit of using a loop pedal for accompaniment
    but try and keep that to a minimum and
    obviously throw a harmonica in as well. It’s
    just really to mix the set-up, so just try and
    keep it flowing and keep it interesting and

    keep it lively.

    BiTS:  You write a lot of your own music.
    How do you go about writing a song? Do you
    have to get the idea for the lyrics first or the
    melody first, or what?


    GW:  No set rules. It’s a bit of both, really.
    Obviously, strumming around on your guitar
    day by day, every day, something just pops in
    your head, and you take it from there. But
    sometimes, from lyrics, it’s particularly a line
    or a quote I might see. I like quotes because
    they spark ideas for songs, so it can come

    either way, but there’s no set hard and fast
    rules and no magic formula [chuckles].

    BiTS:  You’ve made a number of records. One quite recently…

    GW: The last album I released was called “Anthology”, which is as the name suggests.

    BiTS: Have you managed to get any studio time since then? Is there anything coming up?


    GW: I haven’t managed to get any studio time, but I have got plans. Obviously during lockdown
    things have all been on hold for the last 12 months or so, but I have enrolled on a course, actually.
    It’s combining song writing and music for the independent artist. It’s with a group for people over
    50, so it just seemed a good thing to do and one of the downsides of being a solo artist is that whilst
    you try and do everything yourself and be a jack of all trades, you miss out on the feedback and it’s
    always good to have some input and that’s what I’ve realised from this. I’ve had a lot of input.
    Anyway, the bottom line, this course I’m on, I shall be releasing a single in August, so through the

    song writing, I’m in the process of writing a new song that I’ve selected that’s going to be released
    as a single in August this year, with a view of that then being a leader for an album next year 2022.

    BiTS:  The isolation bit must be even worse, Ged, because of COVID. Has that been the case?

    GW:  Yeah, it’s been really frustrating. In 2020 I was planning on doing a tour of Belgium and
    Holland. I had actually booked a couple of gigs and then I had to abandon all that, which was really
   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20