Trapped at home, playing the guitar again has helped me escape

Around Christmas time Last year I started working on a guide to things you need for the perfect trip. It had to be a mix of cool tools and useful applications. I tried Wi-Fi hotspots, stargazing and navigation apps, camp stoves, camp chairs, and on a whim asked Orangewood to lend me a guitar. What kind of road trip is complete without singing some horrible cover songs around the campfire?

Orangewood is one of those rare companies that manages to make a high quality guitar without the high price, a market that until now the best known brands like Martin and Taylor have not pursued. Orangewood accepted my request, sending me the Oliver Jr, a beautiful mahogany guitar that is three-quarters the size of a normal instrument, perfect for playing in the back seat. And for just $ 195, it’s not that expensive that you’re afraid to throw it in the car when you hit the road.

It would have been perfect for playing in the woods, around the campfire. It will still be a day, but in the meantime, 2020 had different plans. Road trips were postponed. The world became small, for many of us, not much larger than our living rooms. The Oliver Jr suddenly felt out of place, a reminder of a kind of normality that threatens never to return.

The little guitar made fun of me sometimes. Remember when we could hit the road without further thought? Remember when the crowds could gather? When do we not wear masks everywhere?

I grew up just south of Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s. Much of the punk rock movement happened within a few miles of my home. Punk rock had a great influence on my life. Those sweaty and tight bars and clubs were where I grew up. Former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins, a member of the Los Angeles punk scene, once commented that the music is made by those he saves. Maybe a dramatic touch, but it’s not an exaggeration to say that the music saved me once or twice, and in turn I felt compelled to do a little of that. I played in punk bands in the Los Angeles area for years before heading back east.

That was a long time ago in any measure, but as Covid-19 extended into 2020, that wonderful punk world of the ’80s and’ 90s never felt further.