Although I always make a point of replying to emails, I have been accused in the past of not being particularly 'lengthy in conversation'. If someone writes to me and has a series of questions, for instance, I might address each question with just maybe one short sentence. Sometimes there just isn't enough time in the day! One such person said to me at a show recently; 'You owe me more paragraphs!' So I signed her CD 'with Love & Paragraphs - Chris' And of course I promised I would be better in future. We'll see.

So I got to thinking that this might be a nice title for the album and a spark of an idea for a musical concept. The idea of perhaps a romantic yet distant communication between two people. And so it came to be.Love & Paragraphs.

From a personal stand point, this was an interesting album to make. For the first time, I recorded 70% of an album in my own studio. This has now become quite a luxury for me where I can receive a spark of inspiration and record almost immediately. It also gave me the opportunity to try out different guitar sounds and ways of recording them. I found out that the best solo guitar sound I could get was with my amp miked in the bathroom! Who knew?

I also wanted to try a slightly different approach to playing on this album. My trusty archtop Benedetto is still featured, but I wanted to dig in a little more and get more bluesy on some tracks, just like the old days. To do this I played two Fender Strats. (not at the same time!) Playing a jazz guitar and then switching to a Strat is a little like playing a Violin and then picking up a Cello so I had to figure out a new approach so there wouldn't be quite so much of a head trip. I strung up the Strats with heavy strings (11-49) and played through a Boss ME-50 distorton box, but with my guitar volume backed off to 4. This enabled me to articulate notes as I would a jazz player, but get a little sustain in there if I wanted to dig in a little. The result was a much more expressive clean sound and feel. I wouldn't be surprised if I play the Strat a little more in the future. It's nice to go back to my Rock 'n Roll roots but still be able to play the bop phrases when I need to.

So thanks so much for picking up the CD. I certainly hope you enjoy it as much as I had fun making it. Do send a note, I will reply, just don't expect a ton of paragraphs!

Much love
Chris Standring