The Letterville BullBoard: Mark Fair

This is topic Mark Fair - Taylor Guitars in forum Old Archives at The Letterville BullBoard.

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Posted by Benji Mcentire (Member # 2442) on :

Hey Mark.

I see you play Taylor, or was playing one at Duck Soup great choice of guitar. I've had mine for about a year now and treasure it above My Ovation Ledgend. Much sweeter sound, sure makes for a great time when your work is done.

any other playes out there.....

Benji

Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :

hey benji,
for years i thought the only great acoustic guitar was a martin.

i now play live with a 1985 taylor 810 with a fishman pick-up through a chorus effects box, in the studio i play a 1976 HD-28 martin(herringbone with barcus berry transducer pick-up)

i also have a little travel guitar. a baby taylor.

what model is your taylor?

mark
http://www.markfair.com/fairsign/fairsongs.html

Posted by Lettercraft (Member # 268) on :

My Son, Eric, took up guitar about 2 years ago,
and man is he awesome. He's 15 and loves blues, rock, and jazz, and through him, I discovered Buddy Guy! Makes StevieRay Vaughn sound like a
novice! If that's possible!

Posted by goddinfla (Member # 1502) on :

Mark, in an earlier post you said you had seen Alison Krauss 5 times. I'm trying to catch up with you. Saw her about a month ago in Jacksonville, will see her the 28th in Clearwater and the 30th in Ft. Myers. I'll only be one behind you. Since following her my new favorite instrument is the dobro (played by Jerry Douglas, of course) As an added bonus get to see Dan Tyminski perform "I am a man of constant sorrow"

Posted by Chuck Peterson (Member # 70) on :

I've been trying to play this guitar for years but can't get much sound to come out of it. I don't think I'm blowing hard enough, or maybe it needs a different mouthpiece.

Posted by Rosemary (Member # 1926) on :

My brother's collection in the studio numbers 29 of the finest guitars you'll find anywhere, but his acoustic guitars are a 1972 Gibson Dove, a 1975 Guild 6 string and the same year 12 string. Both of the Guilds are matching Fiddle-Back curly maple. They were my dad's and he gave those to him when he performed on stage the first time when he was 14.
His prize is another one my father gave him. He bought it in 1954 when he was in the service, a Martin D28. I have one acoustic, but it's a bass cuz that's what I play. It's an Adamas 4 string.
Someday I'll get Lat to come on here and tell you about his collection, and I'll tell you about my bass collection.

:^)

Posted by Rosemary (Member # 1926) on :

Mark, Dad says to ask you where your chart-topping CD is. hehe.
He's mean, huh? But he played something you had and he liked it, and THAT'S saying something for him. He hears so much good, bad and indifferent stuff in the studio that he gets kinda jaded, but he liked yours.

:^)

Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :

hey dennis,
alison krauss and union station are one of the best live acoustic acts i have ever heard.

if you haven't been there go to...
http://www.alisonkrauss.com
http://www.jerrydouglas.com

rosemary, tell old pierre i haven't heard any of his stuff on the radio lately either!! LOL

i did have a cut on Kathy Mattea's "Willow in the Wind" back a few years ago though.
i have a gold record in my music room at home to prove it.

where is your gold record pee-air??? hahahahahahaha
(and i am not talking about old Wayne Newton LPs that you have surface guilded )

as well as numerous bluegrass cuts and i still receive royalty checks quarterly.

Ricky Skaggs' guitar player recently recorded one of my earlier tunes on his album, "Lou Reed and Carolina".

sounds like a nice acoustic bass you have rosemary.

our bass player plays an acoustic taylor bass.
i love the sound, between an acoustic and electric.

hey chuck, you maybe blowing on the wrong end of it!!! LOL

mark

[ November 14, 2001: Message edited by: Mark Fair Signs ]

Posted by Rosemary (Member # 1926) on :

No no no! He's serious. He means the ones for the Letterheads CD. He wasn't being fascetious.
:^)

Posted by John Deaton III (Member # 925) on :

IIIIIII am a mananan of constant sorrowww
I've seen trouble all my days
IIIIII bid farewell to ol Kentucky
The place where I was borned and raised
(the place where he was borned and raised}

This message has been brought to you by Tube Rose Flour.
Don't applaud, throw money
IF you have a request, write it down on a 20 dollar bill, and throw it my way.
(too many years playing in bands)

Posted by Benji Mcentire (Member # 2442) on :

Mark I expecialy love your entro at your website, I am very fond of classical, soloing accustical guitar songs, My Taylor is a 410CE, I play it through a chorus and my electric is a Ibanez RG460 I play it through a Transfex Peavy, and a Digitech pedal, although my taste has left the hard rock scene, and now into accustical its nice to play the blues on, our group here is a christian blues. In the group I trade off between bass and accustic to electric.... although I am just still a baby player,,,,

nice choice for a cary along guitar the Baby taylor is a SWEET! little guitar, I thought about that one as well so when I go Hiking.....

Benji

Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :

hey john,
one of my favorite lines when i used to play in bars and a heckler would stand up,
"hey buddy, i can remember when i had my first beer too."

or the drunk that yells his request out, "Play Rocky Top!!!!"

"we don't know Rocky Top, but this next song has the some of the same chords in it!"

would anyone like to see the original rough draft of "Rocky Top"

click below...

http://www.markfair.com/rockytop.html

Posted by John Deaton III (Member # 925) on :

Man Mark, I've played Rocky Top so many times, I can do it in my sleep. We got tired of doing it the original way, so we started jazzing it up a little with keyboard and guitar riffs, and acapella <(probably spelled wrong)verses.
GOt to be one of our favorite songs. Me and the guys had some good harmonies going.
One of my favorite lines for hecklers was:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the reason for birth control."

Posted by Dana Bowers (Member # 780) on :

My first hubby, daughter's dad & good friend is Jon. He is one of the most talented musicians I have ever heard. Great voice, can play anything with strings... can sit in with any band at any time like he was there all along. Used to work at a music store, and when people would call in that a band member was sick, he'd up and sit in with them for a night. Never missed a beat, either. Just about any type of music, too.

Jon is friends with Jim Olson, who started out being a luthier in the basement of a church in St. Paul, MN. Jim even made a guitar especially for Jon. You might have seen James Taylor and Phil Keaggy with Olson guitars.

My daughter is taking after her Dad - very talented musician in her own right. First chair violin at school now, also plays flute and oboe, as well as screwing around on piano, guitar and mandolin. Wants to be a music teacher when she grows up (gonna be 15 next month.) Cool kid.

She has helped teach beginner violin students for the past couple years now. Those of you that were at our wedding got to hear her sing and play. (Shoulda heard her blasting out Orange Blossom Special!)

As for hecklers... my all-time favorite line is... "PLAY SOMETHING YA KNOW!!"

Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :

Hay Dana!

Orange Blossum Special is one of my favs!!!!!!!!!

Used to live across the road from a bluegrass bar...friday night=all ya can eat catfish nite!

Saturday nights folks just got drunk and played pool.

Sundays were gospel day and the old men with the fiddles came out of the wood work! I never had to request Rocky Top! I used to take my bowl o' taters over there to peel and when I sat down, they'd play Rocky Top for me and bust into Orange Blossum Special right behind it. Hard to find a set up like that here close to the city!

I even miss the chili bashes and pig pickins they had for the motorcycle gangs that came through town right regular. I used to do the flyers for these gigs...twuz fun! LIVE BAND - DEAD PIG, Yawl Come! hehehe!

Ever go to the Last Resort in Little Whittle, West Virginia, tell Hootie I sent ya and you'll get the red carpet treatment. (He won't shoot at ya when you get drunk and do stupid things hehehe!)

Thanks for this post! Takes me back...think I'll pull out the bluegrass tonight!

[ November 14, 2001: Message edited by: Linda Silver Eagle ]

Posted by Lettercraft (Member # 268) on :

"SHUCKIE-DERN"!

Posted by LazyEdna (Member # 266) on :

I bought my son a Taylor when he graduated from high school, in '98. It is indeed a sweet guitar.. all I have is a Yamaha, which isn't much but is way better than what I used to use.
LE

Posted by Joe Rees (Member # 211) on :

Sara, don't knock Yamaha. Two of my three acoustic arsenal are Yamahas. They make some crap and some fine guitars. I think playing a bad guitar is a rite of passage. Later you can get something better and just play guitar bad. (at least that's true for me, hehe).

Where were all these guitar players when we need submissions for SongPainter? I know, you were either too shy or couldn't fulfill the 'good recording' requirement. Well, I got good news for either situation...

First, SongPainter WILL be released and you can see what you would have been up against. This will give you a frame of reference for getting ready for SongPainter Two, where I expect to hear from a whole new crop of entries. If you're worried about your ideas, don't. Even if all you have is a concept, I encourage you to consider collaborating with another artist to get it fleshed out, orchestrated or whatever. Don't deprive us of your input! Network!

Which is a good segue into item two, the actual recording... This is a more valid stumbling block because it most likely involves at least a little money. I had never been in a recording studio before and I still havn't. Instead I turned my own PC into a virtual digital audio workstation for the price of a lot of research over the internet and a very small cash investment of a half decent microphone. Once I got into it and found out how easy and fun it was I spent a little more on other mics and a small mixing board (but you wouldn't have to, there are ways to make do). I am more than happy to talk about this to anyone who is serious about finding a way to get their stuff recorded, so use me. And keep an open mind about other sources for networking too, like that recording place in your town that needs a new sign. In the end, home recording was the only choice for me because I'm not nearly polished enough to waste all the time it would have taken to buy recording time in a studio - and I'm waaay to anal about getting it 'just right'. Home recording lets me tweak to my heart's content and get some impressive results.

So I hope everybody likes it, and I hope we'll see more of you on the next project. Keep strummin'!

Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :

Willie Nelson plays good guitar, ever take a good look at his?

Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :

Willie Nelson plays a classical guitar with a hole in the top which is about the size of your fist. An I ain't talking about the sound hole. Love that melow sound of a classical sometimes.

Mine are cheap guitars:

I have a "Cortez"(it looks sorta like a "Baby Gibson") has the pretty inlays, solid spruce top.
Has an excellent sound and holds a tune very well.

My other guitar is a Yamaha 12 string. Sometimes I love the beautiful ring of a 12 string.

I started out with an old "Harmony" from Sears and Roebuck. Man was that a piece of junk. The strings were about half an inch from the neck at the 12th fret. Ouch!

Mark, one of the best performances I ever saw was Ricky Scaggs, Alison Krause, Marty Stewart, Mr. Earl Scruggs, and Vince Gill playing and sangin' bluegrass. Oh yeah!

Posted by Marlin (Member # 1271) on :

Hi!!! What a cool topic!! I guess I didnt know that many letter artists were artists!!?? I've never played a Taylor But would like too.

I'm the one self conscious player that "Can crawl all over a 100 thousand dollar Peterbilt to stripe it, but can not take anyone heckling me with my my guitar!!!

The Orange Blossom Special Was my First to play, at the ripe ol' age of 8 when I started...My Dad played bars back during the honky tonks. He bought a brand new Gibson Les Paul in 56' And Thats my main Axe yet. he has been gone now since 94'.

Thanks fer the time here...Keep on Jammin"!!!!

Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :

as most folks who know me, i am not shy!!! LOL

i submitted a song to the powers that be for the "SongPainter CD"

it was turned down flat.
it had nothing to do with "signs!"

damned if it did'nt!

if you listen to the words closely, you will hear.

i am sorry, but there are so many visuals one can convey about signs only.

the life of a "SongPainter" is more than just signs.

i have been a serious musician as well as a serious sign painter for many moons now.

express yourself people.

maybe next time, "SongPainter 2"

mark

(the title "songpainter" has been a title i have been kicking around for years.)

maybe i have contributed to this CD, if nothing but the title.

the tune below, was recorded with the taylor 810 in a studio.

i play the acoustic guitar and sing lead vocals, my wife susan, sings background vocals and our band, "fish on wheels" plays keyboards and acoustic bass and supporting vocals.

this recording was recorded "live" in the studio.

http://www.markfair.com/music/mbound.html

[ November 16, 2001: Message edited by: Mark Fair Signs ]

Posted by Santo (Member # 411) on :

Never learn how to play, but I spent quite a few years trying!!! My ole Yahama (1980 w/ a Dimarzio pickup) is still in the closet. I take it out to show my younger boy a chord or two every once in a while. That's about all I remember, the major chords. I smashed the tip of left little finger in 94 and it hurt to play for years.

Posted by coop (Member # 504) on :

Well I resisted as long as I could!

The last acoustic bass I played was an upright with the Amarillo Symphony (circa 1982). I'm just now recovering from the blisters on my index finger.

I have owned several guitars through the years, but I'm down to 3 right now. My main squeeze is a model 5 Charvel 4 string bass, that I bought in 1986.

#2 is a Gibson "Flying V2". They only made them 2 years, (I think it was 1980, & 1981)? These were the ones with "V" shaped pickups.

#3 is a Kramer 4 string bass, that really is nothing special. She plays about like some of the Fenders that I have had through the years. But she stays in tune, and the short scale "precision" style maple neck is nice sometimes.

Anyway, since we were talking about hecklers. I thought I might offer up my favorite line.

"If your d*ck was as big as your mouth, you'd probably have a date tonight!"

Posted by Gavin Chachere (Member # 1443) on :

Coop those V2's ran from 79-82 and if you have 79 model with an actual production number (1-157) in somewhat decent condition its worth about $3100 US,other years same condition i've still seen bring in about $2k,things weigh about 147lbs though

Posted by Kathy Joiner (Member # 1814) on :

Mark, I listened to Montgomery Bound and I like it!

Gosh Darn, are there any tone deaf and color blind folks on this board?

Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :

thanks kathy,
this one is for you girl.

you are a kind soul.

bubba

http://www.markfair.com/music/mbound.html

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