17 - Day
Day’s parent was a hippie, so that’s why he got a weird name. He started playing the guitar in his freshman year of high school. In his history class there was a very pretty girl, and he thought she liked another guy because he played the guitar. Day figured he better learn so maybe she’d like him instead. Story as old as time, driven to play the guitar because of a woman. Day bumped into her decades later, and told her that he started playing the guitar because of her and she said she didn't remember the other guy and that she 'liked' him then and he never asked her out - she couldn't care less about the guitar. Day plays all original tunes, he couldn’t play a single song from any other artist, just because he doesn’t know anyone else’s songs all the way though.
The music Day writes is “American” in nature, a blend of Country, Rock, Jazz, Funk, Rap and Soul. I’m very very bad at Blues music.
Day’s guitars:
1964 Fender Stratocaster – Olympic White
1963 Fender Telecaster – Black and White
1993 Les Paul Standard – Wine Red
1964 Stratocaster – Olympic White
1964 Gretsch 6118 – vomit green
1964 Fender Stratocaster Surf Green
The Wine Red Les Paul was a gift to me from my girlfriend at the time, she gave it to me for Valentine’s day in 1994. I was completely surprised. I had been going around with her to try out back-up Les Pauls for a road tour… I try to have doubles of each guitar for road tours. She was with me when I tried out that guitar, I loved it, but it was over $2k USD, and I didn’t have that much money. She went back to the music store and paid on it monthly until she could get it for me. I owe her forever for that!
I got the Gretsch because a friend of mine who worked in a music store called me and said “hey, there’s an old man here with 2 sweet Gretsch guitars, a Country Gentlemen and some vomit green looking thing. He bought them both new in the 1960s because he wanted to learn how to play. He gave up and they’ve been sitting in his closet for decades. Here’s here today saying that he’ll sell them for the same price he bought them for in the early 1960s. I’m going to take the Country Gentlemen, do you want the vomit green one? He wants $225 for it.” I of course said “yes” and immediately went down and got it. It even has the original paper work and hang tags and case.
The 1964 Stratocasters I bought in New Jersey from my good friends dad. My good friend is / was a drummer, and we started a band in Sophomore year high school. His dad used to play the guitar back in the 1950s and 60s. He had 2 Stratocasters, a white one and a blue one. He had stopped playing but saw my passion for playing and let me use his guitars all the time.
When Christmas was coming around, I guess he was short on money, so he sold me both Stratocasters for $750, which was an enormous amount of money for me. I begged and borrowed and called in favors and got that cash and bought those 2 guitars.
I never cared too much for the blue one because I didn’t like the color. It’s lived in its case in my closet for decades, I would take it out now and then to care for it, but I never took it outta the house. I had to do a photo shoot for an upcoming roadshow and I used that guitar in the shoot, because it kinda pops with the color and the people there really kinda flipped over it. Maybe now it’s time for it to come out? Times change, right? Playing crazy rock with a blue guitar back in the day just didn’t feel right to me, but now maybe it’s ok?
What is my first guitar and do I still have it?
My first guitar was a generic acoustic guitar, I do not still have it. I don’t remember what happened to it.
My mom gave me a 5 record set teaching guitar, and I was told that if I learned how to play “Shenandoah” from that record set on that guitar, my mom would get me any guitar I wanted.
I learned it perfectly, and she didn’t get me a guitar.
I dug holes in the hot summer sun during 9th grade summer break to save up to buy my first ‘real’ guitar, a Les Paul Artist Active with Moog, that I still have today. That guitar has been all over North America and Europe for decades, and it was so beaten that it became difficult to play. I had it re-made as a gold top. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have done that, but I probably have the only Gibson Les Paul Artist Active in the world, lol.
You can read about Les Paul Moog / Active whatever guitars here:
https://lespaulforum.com/homesite/slubarticle/artist/artist12.02.html
That’ll tell you all about this weird guitar.
What’s your favorite guitar right now and why?
I never thought I’d say this, but by far my favorite guitar is my 1963 Telecaster.
That guitar just cuts though even the most dense mix. It’s just so nice to play, and is so beautiful sounding – I take it to gigs and other guitar players kinda snicker, but after one chord strum they change their minds quick. That guitar is just magic.
What’s your newest purchase?
I bought a 1966 Vox Organ guitar. It’s very weird/rare, and I use it to make some of that music no one likes.
You can see more about the Vox Organ Guitar here:
How often do you play?
I play music every single day and night.
What music are you creating, what’s the mission behind it?
For the first time in my life I am focusing on releasing music. I’ve never set out to really do the whole “put out an album” thing, so I thought it’s time I try.
I’ve played some of the music for a few people, it gets a tepid response at best, but at least I’ll know that I finally did something after all these decades.
The mission I guess is to finally have done something tangible after so long.
