In the middle of January this year, it became apparent that I needed an additional guitarist. Someone who could play the electric guitar and come up with lead lines, and preferably someone who likes the kind of music that I like. So I found a group in London called Laurel Canyon Music, (Laurel Canyon being my thing), I got in touch and I asked them to put out this ad on their Facebook group page for me:
“Desperately Seeking Stephen (Stills) (the Second)”
Hi, my name is George and I am looking for a guitarist who is passionate about CSN, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carole King, The Eagles (as well as Vampire Weekend, Boney M and Bon Jovi); has the flair of Stephen Stills (in both the guitar virtuoso and flowery shirt sense); is happy playing lead on both the acoustic and electric guitar (not simultaneously necessarily); would like to play on my EP at one recording session, as well as at the launch party gig. Both the recording and gig are in London. For a bit about me and what I’m doing, please have a look here:
www.indiegogo.com/projects/meet-george-brown-th…
Nobody came forward and so I turned to Gumtree. Unsure where to place my ad (“Services” or “Community”), I looked to see where guitarists were advertising. “Community”. I was drawn to Jordan Humber. Through an e-mail exchange, I learnt that Jordan is a huge CSN, Eagles and James Taylor fan, and I knew straightaway that he was just the guitarist we needed.
To be efficient and to keep costs down, the process has been:
I send Jordan a track with drums, bass and vocals
He puts on his guitar solo and any other guitar parts which he feels the track needs
He sends his guitar parts back to me
I say “Great”
Felix works her magic
Jordan plays on three of the six tracks. The dang thing is that apart from an initial two-minute Skype chat, I have never met Jordan. Until tomorrow!
Tomorrow is the band’s first rehearsal altogether, in preparation for the launch party gig. It will be the first time that some of us meet the others. And we have our first gig in the evening at Felix’s meetup where we will play three tracks from the EP.
I am very excited! Excited to be playing with the band, as a band, for the first time. And excited to meet Jordan. He never mentioned whether he was a Boney M fan – I shall ask him tomorrow.