[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGu2d0LRJ3A&list=PLB103032FA9FC9400&index=13[/embed] I first met Cathy at the MUNY (Music Under New York) auditions, as she interviewed performers about that inspired them to create. It's always great to meet a fellow artist asking questions and searching for answers. Find out how important her guitars have been in the creation of her art.
- Can you remember the first guitar you owned? What was the make and model and how did you acquire it?
The first guitar I owned was a sears guitar, but it frustrated me and I pinned away for the nylon string classical guitar abandoned in my brother Martin's closet when he got a Les Paul sunburst custom. Martin gave the guitar circa 1967ish Del Vecchio (my cousin Peter brought it home from Brazil when he returned from the Peace Corps). By the time I got the guitar it was seriously scratched up from rock n roll picking and I refinished it myself. I still have it. Sounds warm and lovely. The frets are slanted and the neck is thick, so it was a great way to learn.
- What are the qualities that matter to you when deciding on buying a guitar, and how has this changed over time?
Because I am not a session player looking for one ability from one guitar, I look for a guitar that has multi strengths: great playing ability in many styles, comfortable action not too low and a neck not too thin or thick, and comfortable. As a small woman I have found many guitars don't fit my build.
What has changed over time even though I haven't purchase a guitar in many years, is in the past I might have bought as a collector would, instead now I would buy for my needs. What sound is missing? And then try and find that guitar.
- How did you discover your present guitar, and how did it find its way home to you?
I am fortunate to have many guitars that are equally interesting to write about, but since I currently use a particular guitar for my busking gigs I'll share about that one. It's a Guild Songbird that I bought at Sam Ash on 48th st in 1990 after seeing Julia Fordham play one. It's a lovely thin-bodied acoustic electric and has a great sound. It amazes me because I have worked it so hard. It has never been in a hard case all these years and except for some regular tune-ups it's still in great shape.
- What historical aspects, if any, have you unearthed about your present or past guitars?
I had many guitars in my life that I no longer have the enjoyment of owning. I had a wonderful 1978 Ibanez jazz guitar (it was the first year they made them), which was stolen from my van in 1982 after returning late one night from a long tour. I still miss that guitar. Also stolen was a 1962 Gibson Cherry ES-330 (I never learned who owned it before me). I’m still sad to loose guitars to theft. I replaced the Ibanez loss with an '82 George Benson GB10 Ibenez, but sadly sold it for the more important need for cash when I lived in France in 1995. From the theft and also the subsequent sale of a prized guitar for cash I learned not to get attached to guitars. There are great guitars out in the world. Unfortunately the prices for any of the vintage guitars I now have or had possessed are so out of reach today.
- What was the most recent song you composed on your guitar, and how did your present guitar tool lead you to discover the right music?
I wrote a song for a documentary film about wild horses. My guitar helped me to find a gritty earthy sound that made me feel like I was out in the open plains of America.
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