Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I ran into my friend Robert Walker of Heyday Records: http://www.heyday.com/; at Barnes and Noble the other day. He said he had someone he wanted me to meet-Marty Wilson Piper of "The Church"; a noted Ricky enthusiast. He's doing an acoustic tour of the US with "The Church" and was spending a few days with friends locally. Be sure to catch him if he's in your area.

Cool! Some of us So Cal NAMMsters, as well as Graham, were able to meet MWP and Tiare at the `09 NAMM show.

Here are the tour dates:

APRIL
2 – San Juan Capistrano, CA – The Coach House
4 – San Diego, CA – Anthology
5 – Los Angeles, CA – The Roxy Theatre
6 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
8 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
9 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
13 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Cafe
14 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
15 – Chicago, IL – Park West
17 – Cleveland, OH – Winchester Tavern and Music Hall
18 – Ferndale, MI – The Magic Bag
19 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Café
21 – Somerville, MA (Boston) - Arts at the Armory
22 – NYC, NY – City Winery
23 – Bay Shore, NY (Long Island) - Boulton Centre for the Performing Arts
24 – Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theatre 1894
25 – Falls Church, VA (DC) - State Theatre
27 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head On Stage
28 - Norfolk, VA - The NorVa Theatre
29 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre
30 - Charlotte, NC - McGlohon Theater

Church band website: http://www.thechurchband.com/news/index.phtml

Marty played the Great American Music Hall here in SF last night...but I had another commitment.

Would have been good to see him and his Ductape Takamine...

I saw the first two shows of the tour, here in SoCal. Marty and I are pals - and to prove it, I have a bunch of his stuff in my garage!

The Church sound fab this time around, go if you can.

And, in staying on-topic, MWP is playing an '80s 4003 FG with HB-1s on a few songs, along with the Duct Tape Takamine.

He added his venerable 370/12RM JG to the sound mix on the last tour (he usually does!).

One of the best Ric slingers ever...

kennyhowes wrote:Marty and I are pals - and to prove it, I have a bunch of his stuff in my garage!

Is that the stuff you've been selling off, recently?

Oh yeah, Tiare was with him at B & N. I have several of his CD's, so it was nice to meet him.

I was watching the KUSI morning show last Sunday at my friends' house in San Diego, and they went live to an interview with The Church outdoors somewhere .. they started playing Under The Milky Way before a commercial break but the station had to cut to the commercial all too soon.

doctorwho wrote:I was watching the KUSI morning show last Sunday at my friends' house in San Diego, and they went live to an interview with The Church outdoors somewhere .. they started playing Under The Milky Way before a commercial break but the station had to cut to the commercial all too soon.

The uninterrupted video feed might be available online.

I was able to catch the LA show on Monday night. Good concert! MWP only played his Ric bass on one song. As it was an acoustic show there were no Ric 6 or 12-strings to be seen. He mostly played a beat-up Martin 12 that was covered in duct/electrical tape. (Not sure what all that tape is for - I can't imagine that tape can fix any real structural problems on a guitar. Although I have used it for minor car repair. )

They sounded great and seemed like they were having a good time. Good set list. The mix/sound was pretty good, too. Nice, intimate venue.

I briefly met MWP after a show about 15 years ago, just a couple of months after buying my 1st Ric - a 330-6 FG. I told him about it and he said something like, "that's a nice guitar, but remember to play it hard - don't treat it like a museum piece." Fine advice - I have some nice guitars, and while I try to take good care of them, I also try not to be too precious with them. However - after seeing the way MWP attacks his guitars, one has to take his advice with a grain of salt. He Really plays hard.

Last time I saw the Church, he played a Fender Jazzmaster (or Jaguar?) for most of the show. Someone in the crowd actually yelled out to him asking where his Rickenbacker was. Can't remember his response, but he had a sense of humor about it.

e-rick wrote:I was able to catch the LA show on Monday night. Good concert! MWP only played his Ric bass on one song. As it was an acoustic show there were no Ric 6 or 12-strings to be seen. He mostly played a beat-up Martin 12 that was covered in duct/electrical tape. (Not sure what all that tape is for - I can't imagine that tape can fix any real structural problems on a guitar. Although I have used it for minor car repair. )

That's the Takamine Paul and I were referring to earlier.

jps wrote:

kennyhowes wrote:Marty and I are pals - and to prove it, I have a bunch of his stuff in my garage!

Is that the stuff you've been selling off, recently?

Oh, heavens, no.

paologregorio wrote:The uninterrupted video feed might be available online.

http://www.kusi.com/news/goodmorning/89873377.html

The host seems positively TERRIFIED of the band! So funny.

kennyhowes wrote:That's the Takamine Paul and I were referring to earlier.

Oops - I thought it was a Martin. One of them was playing a Martin at some point. Steve Kilby had a really pretty Taylor 12. It was definitely the most 12-string-packed show I've ever seen.

kennyhowes wrote:The Church sound fab this time around, go if you can.

I always like it when a band takes the time to do new arrangements/versions of songs - especially the ones you've heard a bunch of times. They did this with a bunch of the tunes and it really worked. They played the "jazzy-er" version of "Reptile", which was just great. (This version can be heard on "El Momento Siguiente".) The changes in some of the other songs were more subtle - apart from being played acoustically - but were all very well done.