… letting time slip by between postings. But it has been pretty busy in general: I’m wrapping up another homeschool year with my son and preparing to move and performing with student concerts and practicing with the classical guitar — in fact, I actually played it on my gig at Avril this past Saturday. Amazingly, I received more compliments and more resounding applause than ever before (FYI, this is while people are eating their dinner) and I can honestly say that both the guitar and my playing chops came together Saturday evening.

I’ve been a bit hesitant to approach this instrument with confidence, especially since I’m so acclimated to the Lowden steel-string. The LaPatrie guitars are a bit stiff-feeling acoustically, but that seems to work out once they’re plugged in. Most classical instruments that I’ve played change in dynamics when you use their piezo pickups. In fact, when I first used this LaPatrie live I used a mic and a tube preamp and got a fantastic live sound. However, using a mic in a small setting carries its own list of problems…. sometimes a compromise must be reached.

While I used high tension Savarez Corum/Cristal strings for Saturday I just restrung with a set of LaBella high tension 2001s and the guitar really seems to be waking up. Then again, this is probably all just a phase I’m going through — mid-life guitar crisis(?) I do appreciate the assistance I received from Godin in getting this guitar for what was a one-time performance. I admit I was tempted to go with a Godin ACS or Duet, but I figured I needed a full acoustic to play Recuerdos de la Alhambra and some of the pieces I contracted to do for that performance. I can’t handle the very strict classical material with a steel string so….. perhaps I just had to have a new guitar to make myself feel better (?) Whatever the reason I am enjoying the detour for the time-being but I do miss the steel string dynamics…..

With the preparations to move foremost in my consideration I need to put the new CD on hold for several weeks. I’m planning on just sinking my teeth into it once we’re settled in and surprising everyone with a speedy release (Famous last words uttered many times before!).

I’ll be continuing with the Avril dates through the summer for as long as they go — visit me on Facebook at the Matt Richards fan page (http://facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Matt-Richards-guitarist/31968599234?ref=ts) and the Matt Richards Group fan page (http://facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Matt-Richards-Trio/45588045676?ref=ts) for up-to-the-minute information.

Until next time stay cool (literally and figuratively) and safe and I’ll post again soon.