Tuesday Talks: Falling Back In Love With The Guitar

Mary Spender’s latest Tuesday Talk is all about her ups and downs with the guitar over the years.

She also talks about the fast-approaching 100th episode of Tuesday Talks, and the special guest she wants on that landmark episode.

Watch the video to learn who she’d love to interview for the 100th episode, and join the discussion on YouTube to help Mary make it happen.

The Realities of Touring

Mary Spender has recently completed a UK tour, where she was also the tour manager and (at least part-time) promoter … and she’s posted a vlog to show us what it was really like.

The thing I loved about this was how Mary shows us that it is possible to take music on the road and put on your own tour in this day and age. If you can draw a crowd, keep things minimal, and organise things yourself, the dream is in reach.

Watch the video for the whole story, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

Ten Guitar Challenge

Mary Spender has posted a new guitar challenge up on her YouTube channel: record a song using 10 guitars or more.

There’s a long and glorious tradition of YouTube musicians setting musical challenges for each other, most recently the Write and Record a Whole Song In An Hour. Mary’s hoping to start the next challenge with this one! She got the idea from her time at Port City Studios, where she made a video using 10 of the guitars they have up there.

Today’s video isn’t the song itself; it’s a behind-the-scenes look at all the effort that went into putting the song together. A great look into what it takes to be a YouTube music star like Mary is.

Have a watch, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

Era 2 Acoustic Amp Demo

Mary Spender has posted a demo of the Era 2 Acoustic Amp from Hughes & Kettner.

This is a dual-channel amp for anyone who wants to do acoustic gigs and performances. There’s plenty of volume on tap, a line out if you’re playing a venue that has its own PA, and even a kick stand so that you can angle it up to fill the room.

If you’re looking for this kind of amp, this is well worth a look.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Mary’s video.

Road Trip to Ernie Ball Music Man Factory

For this week’s Tuesday Talk, Mary Spender has shared her experience of driving up through California to visit the Ernie Ball Music Man factory.

It’s always cool to see how and where guitars are built. Most of us will never get a tour around a factory, so it’s awesome that Mary shared this with us. And California is just such a beautiful part of the world … 🙂

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Mary’s video.

Fast Car (Mary Spender Cover)

Mary Spender has recently been over in Norway visiting Frog Leap Studios, and while she was there, she recorded a cover of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car.

Love it!

There’s been quite a few videos now where Mary’s singing into the Shure SM7B microphone. Each time, I’m impressed with the end results. If you’re looking for a vocal mic for your home studio, it’s worth adding to your list.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Mary’s cover.

Mary Spender Breaks Down ‘Only One’

For this week’s Tuesday Talk, Mary Spender walks us through the history and recording of her new song ‘Only One’.

This is the first song where Mary has done all the engineering herself. She normally records in a studio, but this time she wanted to have more time to work on the song – and studio time quickly becomes very expensive.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment. It takes a lot of courage to share this kind of information, especially in today’s world of armchair critics and trolls.

NAMM: Fake U2 And Ernie Ball Guitars

Mary Spender has uploaded the first of her on-the-floor vlogs from NAMM 2018:

This is a really good look at the changes to the St Vincent guitar model for 2018. Looks like the solid rosewood necks have been replaced by flame roast maple instead. There’s also a more traditional two-humbucker configuration available, along with some new colours.

And a cool recap of the history of this unique guitar.

Please head on over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Mary’s video.

Angela Petrilli

Mary Spender’s Tuesday Talk this week is an interview with Angela Petrilli of Roses & Cigarettes. They met at Winter NAMM 2018 thanks to John Meyer’s PRS press conference.

Check out the full story in Mary’s video.

Angela talks about her Martin acoustics, and from the look on Mary’s face, they’re clearly a couple of very special guitars. She also mentions the upcoming acoustic EP that she used the guitars on. Mary also teases us about an acoustic jam with Angela … but we’re going to have to wait for her next video to enjoy that.

Please head over to YouTube for all the links in the description, and to leave a like an supportive comment if you enjoyed Mary’s video.