MUSIC

Once a year, generally in the fall, I set up the recording studio and basically just jam. I cover a few tunes, but mostly it's Thom tunes; a lot just made up on the spot. Click the links below:

As my career in graphics, publishing, and web design was winding down, I told myself I would build something for me - I'd been doing it for other people for so long. Around 2018 I started hauling myself and the "recording studio" out to the shed and recording jams sessions: no agenda, just playing guitar and crooning. The October 2018 was pretty good and each year seemed to get better - it's mostly getting the sound levels and video framing right. The last one - October 2023 - turned out very well, so I decided to stick it on my old WeaselWorks website and invite a few folks if interested. While it certainly did not go viral, there was a satisfying number of views month after month. The idea of "Opus Vida" was born.

I started with the annual shed videos, the "Hey Old Guy" CD, songs I'd written and recorded since then, and some songs from Fourth Corner Community Church, around 30 song total. Seemed like enough to warrant a webpage. Gathering the files was easy enough, though some needed serious audio/video editing. The guitar collection would be included as well. I realized not all the guitars had recordings, and a few instruments I no longer had, most notably the '64 Stratocaster.

Lamenting that I had no recordings prior to 2001, I dug through a box of around 50 reel-to-reel tapes I'd been dragging around since 1974. BONANZA! I found tapes I'd completely forgotten about: Korea, Key West, SoCal, Oroville, and Bellingham. Everything above "Hey Old Guy: 2001"! Well, not quite. A feature of a number of tape boxes was the titles were in red felt-tip pen, as well a some writings I attributed to the same time period/locations. So I dove back into the tape box to see if there was any more red lettering. Basically hidden on a Julian Bream tape, in faded red felt-tip pen, I noticed "July 11, 1977 T. Jams," putting it in SoCal. So, that rounds out the songs from 1975 to 2002+. The guitars and their stories are below: click the pictures.

The Guitars

Dates are when I got them. Choose a song at the right and the song and guitar(s) will be highlighted. Thom tunes are colored. Some instruments in the early recordings I no longer have: the Strat, Giannini, Ventura and Bass.

I've got quite the international assortment of instruments: Epiphone Riviera, USA; Fender Telecaster, Mexico; Ovation Adamas, USA; Fender acoustic flat top, Korea; Conrad 12-string, Japan; Dorado classical, Japan; Epiphone Les Paul, Korea; Fender Telecaster, Indonesia; Fender Stratocaster, Mexico; La Patrie classical, Canada.

Click a photo for the story.

Ventura - 1973

Stratocaster - 1975

Conrad - 1975

Dorado - 1976

Adamas - 1999

Riviera - 2002

La Patrie - 2008

Les Paul - 2008

Fender - 2012

Telecasters - 2018

Missing instruments: