A Musician’s Journey through Songs, Stories & Life
I’m a guitarist, singer-songwriter, and travel writer with over 30 years of experience across performance, production, and storytelling.
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Guitar lessons, gear reviews, songwriting tips, and behind-the-scenes music stories.
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Lessons, tone, gear reviews, playing insight
✍️ Songwriting & Music Production
Creative process, writing, recording
🌍 Music & Life Stories
Travel, reflections, industry experience
Featured Articles
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Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60s Review: Worth it in 2026?
Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60s Review. Is this the best affordable Les Paul you can buy? Before we get into it, let’s look at the Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60s specs. The Les Paul™ Standard 60s models from Epiphone’s new Inspired by Gibson™ Collection recreate the sound of 1960s era Les Pauls. Featuring a classic…
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The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1987
Welcome back to 1987, with this year’s long list of classic arcade games being impossible to detail in a single article. Here are some of my favourites. 1987 was a turning point for me and my fascination with the video game arcade. It had been a place of comfort for a good chunk of my…
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BOSS Katana 50 Guitar Amplifier Review
The BOSS Katana 50 Guitar Amplifier IS the best guitar-related purchase I’ve ever made. Why? Let me explain. Is the BOSS Katana 50 loud enough to gig with? The question that everyone’s asking. Simple answer… ABSOLUTELY!. That’s on the 50W mode, clean channel, gain just less than half, volume the same, and master maxed. In…
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Goa : A Lesson In Life – Second Edition. Out NOW!
A BIG day! Originally realised back in 2017. My debut book, Goa : A Lesson in Life receives a long-overdue edit, professional cover, long-lost images, and an extra chapter, bringing my story to a close and up to date. So, what’s it all about? Back in August 2006, I visited Goa, India. A trip that…
Latest Articles
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Unlocking the guitar fretboard and understanding key signatures
By Gary from Tune in, Tone up! This supports our podcast on SoundCloud on Friday 12th May 2017 (episode 13b is about how to practise without your guitar) https://tunein-toneup.com/2017/05/05/guitar-lesson-13-how-to-practice-without-a-guitar-and-further-rhythm-ideas-and-alternate-tuning/ If I could advise myself when I first started out on guitar, what things would I say? What do I wish I knew then, that I…
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The Portuguese Guitar: A Melodic Journey through Lisbons Fado Culture
Nestled along the sun-kissed shores of the Tagus River, Lisbon beckons travellers with its rich tapestry of history culture and music. At the heart of this vibrant city lies a centuries-old tradition that captivates the soul of Fado music. Central to the haunting melodies of Fado is the enigmatic Portuguese guitar, a revered instrument that…
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In Search of the Perfect Guitar Tone
This is very much a Holy Grail-type quest. By this we mean it will never be fully accomplished but neither would any guitar player want it to be. Part of the joy of learning how to develop your guitar tone is the endless experimentation with your technique and equipment. This is not to say that…
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Speed up your blog with self-hosted Google Analytics
One of the best ways of driving traffic to your blog is to increase its PageSpeed score. Find out how self-hosting your Google Analytics script can help. Why does Google Analytics slow your site down? ANY external call, including the call to https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=GA_MEASUREMENT_ID” will slow your site down, so it pays to minimise these as…
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All About Slash Chords On Guitar
By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer If you do not have a great understanding of music theory then slash chords can seem complicated and strange. In reality though once you have some basic building blocks on scales and chords it is not too hard and a great tool for improvisation and…
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Could this be the end of Blogging?
In recent weeks I’ve seen a significant downturn in traffic. What’s going on? Could this be the end of blogging? My blog is struggling, and a lack of traffic means decreased revenue needed to maintain the site. After my most successful year in 2023, 2024 has so far proved to be disappointing, to say the…
