Hey folks! Still on this fingerpicking journey, and my goal this year is to post a cover every month to track my progress, push myself, and (hopefully) improve along the way.
This month, I stumbled across Clay Pigeon through a cover by Jesse Wells (highly recommend checking him out—awesome voice and beautiful fingerpicking) and a version by John Prine. The original, of course, is by the legendary Blaze Foley.
Here’s my take—just me, my guitar, and some (very raw) fingerpicking. Still working on keeping a steady flow (that red button fever is real! ), but I’m having a blast diving into one song each month. It really helps me stay focused and improve bit by bit.
You seem very and sound very comfortable playing fingerstyle Andreas. Nice work. It is a bit odd to hear you sing “I’m going down to Texas” with a mild Germanic accent. I love John Prine and am learning to play his song Illegal Smile.
Haha, I was laughing at your comment about my accent—seems like my German roots can’t be fully denied! No matter how much I try, I don’t think I’ll ever quite pull off a true Southern drawl.
John Prine is amazing; ‘Illegal Smile’ is such a great song. Have fun learning it!
Thanks for taking the time to listen and commenting!
What a great song and very well played and sung Andreas. Your fingerpicking was smooth and flowed nicely. Good vocal too. Well done.
I see you’ve got a clip on sound hole pickup. How do you find it? Were you using it for your recording?
Good version: well picked and well sung. I have the John Prine version on his album ‘Fair & Square’; as soon as you started picking, I was reminded of him. Lovely!
Hi there fellow fingerpicking aficionado You have picked one of my all-time favourite songs! I very much enjoyed your version - smoothly played and pleasantly sung. Learning one fingerpicking song a month is a tough order - so good luck with that! Which songs are next on your list?
@Coda Thanks for listening and leaving a comment! @roger_holland Thanks Roger! @twistor59 Thanks a lot! @sairfingers Hi Gordon, thanks a lot for the encouraging feedback! Indeed i use a Harley Benton Soundhole pickup which has a microphone as well as a Humbucker ( TrueTone SH-30H - a really affordable thing, but i love it). I really like the microphone pickup which works well as i do not have feedback issue at home (with a band it would not work i think as it would pickup too much other stuff). For this recording i used a mix of the soundhole pickup though my Fishman Amp and an addtl microphone (a Lewitt 440 - it is lovely, though not cheap but worthwhile every penny) which really does a great job for picking up the voice and some of the guitar sound as well (both into a FocusRite interface). I also added a subtle Octaver effect (Boss OC-5) to get some support for the lower string sounds.
@beejay56 Hi Brian, indeed the John Prine version was the one i was listening to most to get somehow close (although he does a lot more variations using hammer-ons etc)! I love his version!
@Richtrfc Hi Richard, i fell in love with John Prines music just recently - he has done so much great stuff!
@Eddie_09 Thanks Eddie for taking the time to listen and comment!
@Will_E_Vander Hi Will, looking forward to your version - it is so interesting how the same song can come out totally different!
@SteveL_G99 Hi Steve! Thanks for listening and feedback!
@MollyT Hi Molly! Thanks - with every song it gets a little easier and faster learn. The hardest for me is to keep them memorized - looking forward to @LievenDV session on memorizing songs coming up soon! I have not yet picked any song yet - the trick for me is i really have to love the song otherwise working on it exclusively and for some time does not work! Will keep you posted! It definitly is a challenge!
), but I’m having a blast diving into one song each month. It really helps me stay focused and improve bit by bit.
No matter how much I try, I don’t think I’ll ever quite pull off a true Southern drawl.
You have picked one of my all-time favourite songs! I very much enjoyed your version - smoothly played and pleasantly sung. Learning one fingerpicking song a month is a tough order - so good luck with that! Which songs are next on your list?