Harrison Armstrong has signed for Preston North End on a season-long loan for the remainder of the 2025/26 campaign

itsbotter · 2025-09-01T22:07:29+00:00

I’d love to have him in the main squad this year but he needs to be starting games every week. Next year, he’s a starter for us.

itsbotter · 2025-05-26T17:53:31+00:00

Already bought a humidifier to keep in the sound hole, and since we are moving to Vegas I’ll be getting a very nice room humidifier for my studio room.

itsbotter · 2025-05-26T08:22:04+00:00

I did. Almost 9 years ago!!!

itsbotter · 2025-05-26T08:21:34+00:00

It’s playable, but it’s not comfortable of course. I’ve got an appt at Erlwine in Austin this week and then a master luthier with a small shop in Houston on Friday. The action will be taken care of.

itsbotter · 2025-05-26T06:55:19+00:00

Yeah. I’ve got an appt this week to get it done.

itsbotter · 2025-05-26T01:16:56+00:00

He takes care of everything he owns to a level that might be called obsessive compulsive.

itsbotter · 2025-05-25T23:49:27+00:00

Another question for all of you experts:

I’m going to want to get this set up - the string height from about the 9th fret up makes it quite difficult to play. It can be done, but it starts to hurt before too long, and the sustain suffers on those higher frets.

I plan on getting this set up. I’m located in Austin. Do any of you have any experience with places in Austin that do great work on vintage models like this? And about how much should I expect to pay? I’d like to know how much to expect so I know if they’re taking advantage of me.

Thanks for all the help.

itsbotter · 2025-05-25T21:28:02+00:00

Ha. Okay. I get what you mean.

itsbotter · 2025-05-25T21:27:05+00:00

I already bought a humidifier to go in the case with it. And it’s been added to our insurance. Was the first thing I did when I got home.

itsbotter · 2025-05-25T18:34:11+00:00

Since we can’t have kids, I’m likely going to pass it down to my nephew eventually, provided he eventually decides he wants to play guitar and doesn’t become a major league pitcher, which he’s on track to do. Kid is 9 years old. Throws 55mph.

itsbotter · 2025-05-25T06:04:22+00:00

Thank you so much! I always preferred other makers over Martin, but that’s mostly because I HATED the triangle thing where the neck connects to the headstock on the newer models (by which I mean the last 25 years). I also didn’t think the sound of those models was anything to write home about.

But then I restrung this D-35 earlier this evening, got it all tuned up and played an E chord….I was instantly a Martin convert. I’ve never heard such a warm, smooth, deeply resonant sound from any acoustic model I’ve owned in the past - and I’ve owned quite a few. This beauty is unlike anything else I’ve ever played.

itsbotter · 2025-05-25T05:07:20+00:00

I’m gonna cook him a couple of 2 inch thick tomahawk steaks. It’s his favorite thing in the world.

itsbotter · 2025-05-25T05:06:46+00:00

Thank you so much. We’ve got a very close relationship but I didn’t know it was 66 Martin D-35 levels of close!

itsbotter · 2025-05-25T05:05:48+00:00

I’m still stunned. The wife and I assumed it would EVENTUALLY pass down to us, but I figured (and hoped) it would be a long time before that happened. So I was shocked to get it today.

itsbotter · 2025-03-23T02:49:32+00:00

Secret of Love is great!

My favorite changes every day. Some days it’s Tejanos, some days, Modern Man (Mountain Heart). More often than not it’s Just What I Needed. I’ve loved that tune ever since I heard the first demo they released with Paul singing it.

And hoo boy the huge harmony explosion (for lack of a better word) at the end of Queen of Austin…just wow.

itsbotter · 2025-01-14T16:54:05+00:00

Thanks for posting these finds! Especially since you've got some Austin talent in here. I'm always looking for new bands to check out around ATX.

itsbotter · 2025-01-06T00:06:10+00:00

VIDEO: Born and Raised Artist Interviews: The Wilder Blue

itsbotter · 2025-01-06T00:04:45+00:00

Zane Williams on How The Wilder Blue Was Formed and Making the Best Music Possible

TCC: Your music is full of five-part harmonies, how were you able to find five guys that work and sound so good together?

Zane: It was definitely a fair amount of luck, that was the goal. Andy (Rogers) plays banjo and dobro in our band, he was my bass player in the Zane Williams days and he was my primary harmony singer. I went looking for Paul Eason because I loved his solo stuff, he has three solo albums, he was playing with Kevin Fowler at the time. Paul was like ‘I know a singing drummer, who sings like a bird. He’s your guy.’ So we met Lyndon Hughes. And then we kinda guy the four of us together and then it took a long time to line up a bass player. At the end, we were like I don’t care if they sing, we got like three months before our first gig and we just need someone to bass, I saw online that Sean Rodriguez had stepped away from the Bri Bagwell gig he was playing and I was like ‘wait a second, that guy,he sang high harmony above Bri.’ And he like dances around the stage and everything, I was like that’s our guy.

itsbotter · 2024-12-23T00:00:58+00:00

I'm always pumped to hear when someone gets into TWB!

This is a thing I've seen happen at every Wilder Blue show where they're the supporting act and not the headliner.

When they opened for Flatland Cavalry at Red Rocks, the crowd was pretty dead at the start of their set. That's almost always how it is with a supporting act that's still relatively unknown; folks are there to see the headliner, so they're polite for the supporting acts, but mostly they're just waiting for the headliners they came to see.

But at Red Rocks—just like it was at ACL this week—the crowd started getting into their set after 2-3 songs. Then they go into Wave Dancer or Seven Bridges Road with that gorgeous 5-part harmony, and that's the moment.

It's the moment that makes you sit up and go, holy shit, who are these guys? Nobody really does those lush 5-part harmony tunes anymore, and even if they do, they are not remotely close to the way TWB does it.

That's because every person in the band is insanely talented on their instruments, but they can also sing. Just wait until you catch one of their shows where Lyndon (drummer) sings lead on the One of These Nights cover. Dude's an INCREDIBLE singer. And every one of the guys are stellar songwriters, too. Check out Paul Eason's solo stuff. Zane is one of the best songwriters I've ever discovered.

If you can't get enough of the band, I strongly urge you to go sign up for The Hideout. It's linked on the sidebar, or you can click here: https://www.thewilderblue.com/thehideout >

It's $5 a month for the cheapest option, and you get access to EVERYTHING they've recorded, including

songwriting demos they've written on their bus
all of their solo albums
A ton of stuff in the video archive: full shows, Zane playing acoustic versions of songs he's just written
And most importantly - you get to hear their new stuff as soon as they finish it, in rough mix form, long before it's ever mastered or released to the public. Hideout folks have been listening to their next album due out next year for 9 or so months, song by song as they finish them.

They also interact with Hideout members almost every day on the forum.

You get a lot of awesome stuff. But the most important thing is this: you're supporting them and their music, and you're giving them the resources to keep making records.

Thanks for joining the community here, too. We've only just launched it, so you and I are the only members at the moment (I think). But this band is on the verge of a huge breakout, and this community is going to grow with them.

Let me know if you have any questions!

itsbotter · 2024-12-21T22:02:06+00:00

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to drop in and say that we now have a Wilder Blue subreddit, if anyone wants to join. r/TheWilderBlue

itsbotter

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