Tom Volhein

Friday Linda and I went to a house concert featuring Chuck Pyle.  Years ago, a close friend of mine in Wichita sent me a cd, True Unity. I liked it, but hadn’t listened to it for a while, so I didn’t know what to expect.

At the house concert, Chuck impressed me with his guitar playing, professionalism and sweet voice. I am not a concert reviewer, and don’t have the words to describe the sound, so I won’t attempt it. However, I do know a really good guitar player when I hear one, and Chuck is excellent.

I love the new tunes as well as the songs that I hadn’t heard in a while.  Chuck’s music is a blend of personal stories, cowboy, and regional tales.  The lyrics, combined with his sweet voice and stylized guitar made for a warm and intimate evening.

Chuck is open and happy to talk guitar, and I took the opportunity to ask a few questions. His finger-picking style is one that I want to attempt, so I signed up for a guitar workshop he was to conduct the following Sunday.

Saturday, at the Glendale Folk and Heritage Festival, Chuck was nice enough to come by the stage on which I performed and listen to a couple of my tunes.

By the way, I had a great time at the Glendale festival. I did the last set of the day, so I was thinking that it would be a loser time with a small audience. Sure enough the audience was small, but there was nothing loser about the experience. I had a wonderful time performing about seven tunes in the close-in and personal venue. My cousin and a friend of hers made a surprise visit, enjoyed the music, and took me to dinner after the festival. Very nice.

The workshop on Sunday was very good. There were only five participants, so we each got plenty of attention. I won’t bore you with details, just to say that Chuck presented many techniques and ideas – more than enough to keep me busy practicing for quite a while. I am hoping that I will stick with the material long enough to at least capture the basic loping rhythm so distinctive in Chucks playing, and add it to my own style.

All in all, a good and musical weekend. I was back in the studio Monday.

Livin the dream.

peace,

t

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