Matt, I hate to do this, but ...... Gordon gave you a pointer to Ivor Mairants, in London, earlier, and I have had a look at the website today and notice that they have reduced their prices for the Vintage GG range. The VE2000GG 6 string is reduced to £349 and the mahogany model to £289, and, dare I...

I have an Aria AK-30CE, bought about 12 years or so ago, which seems to meet the specifications you are seeking. I won't pretend it is necessarily up to same standard as the Ray Burley guitar referred to above. However, it is a very reliable and easy playing guitar and is definitely sub £200. It is ...

Had a play-round on the VE2000GG 12 string yesterday evening, for an hour or so, and concluded that Gordon's advice/suggestion that this instrument should be tuned 2 semitones below standard makes sense. It is a 12 string version of the 6 string i.e. designed as a 6 string and thus not wise to overs...

I finally made the leap and ordered a new VE2000GG 12 string guitar, which arrived yesterday afternoon. I have spent the last day acclimatising it to my home and tuning a semitone below standard tuning - that I may adjust in time as the guitar settles. I notice Gordon suggests a full tone below and ...

:D I am sitting here, fingers poised over the keyboard (typing rather than musical keyboard) wondering 'how should I review last night's concert/gig?'. Should I say how superb it was to hear Gordon's latest incarnation of 'The Dodo's Dream'? Of course I should, and add that I always find something n...

Gordon, I had fully intended coming to the show at the Theatre Royal, Margate, and get my copy of 'Ravens & Lullabies. However I managed to get the date confused with another concert I had already committed to way back last year and therefore not only missed out on the concert but getting the al...

You are entirely welcome and all praise thoroughly deserved by you. As a note of contrast, yesterday evening my wife and I went to see Chris Wood at Faversham Folk Club. I have some albums of his , though had never seen him perform live. Rather dissapointing as he seemed to be singing to himself rat...

I have posted under 'More Music' my review of The Great British Folk Festival - entries for each day, but include an extract of the reference to Gordon's set here. Although not strictly a concert, I still think it worthy of mention under this topic: We queued, got our seats, chatted a lot with peopl...

DAY 3 – 2 DECEMBER 2012 After last nights experience we decided that this evening we would choose just one of the theatre venues, get our seats and not move for the evening. So we faced a difficult choice – ‘String Driven Thing’ or ‘Gordon Giltrap’ – decisions, decisions. No problem as we thought we...

DAY 2 – 1 December 2012 Having made the decisions of performances to see for the evening the ‘military operation’ of the previous evening was planned to perfection – read on. The main plan was to see ‘The Billy Mitchell Band’, ‘Fay Hield & The Hurricane Party’, ‘June Taybor & The Oysterband’...

The Great British Folk Festival at Butlins, Skegness -30 November to 2 December 2012 The easiest way to provide a review, of sorts, is to refer to the link showing clips on YouTube of the acts that performed at the Festival – the following URL is the one you can use http://www.youtube.com/user/SIMM...

I was in London last Friday, 16th November, so paid a visit to the HMV, Oxford Street, basement to rummage through the folk and Irish sections. Amongst other CDs I also found 2 by Christie Hennessy: 'The Definitive Christie Hennessy' - Warner label catalogue number 5046662522, and 'Christie Hennessy...

Sometimes it is easy to get wrapped-up in your own little world an not reach out to find music beyond your experience. Recently I have been fortunate enough to enjoy some really excellent concerts, including Gordon and Oliver Wakeman on 18th October 2012, and Steve Tilston on 26 October at Whitstabl...

I have thought long and hard as how best to do a review of last night's concert. I could list the pieces played, give a number by number account of each and how they compare - both to each piece and to the original versions as previously known to me. However that could not possibly do justice to the...

I have attended a number of Gordon Giltrap concerts over the years and on each occasion have introduced at least one new fan to his music each time. This concert was a little different for me for personal reasons, but also the first time I have seen and heard Gordon in a smaller setting. Another dif...