MY INFLUENCES:
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Travel~Teachers~Community
The '80s & 90's found me resident in many diverse settings: Green Gulch Farm Zen Center & Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in Northern California [both part of San Francisco Zen Center]; The Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Southern California; Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael near Netanya, Israel; as well as communities in `Ahmednagar, India, `Woombye, Australia, `Christchurch, New Zealand, `Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, `Epping, New Hampshire, `Santa Fe, New Mexico,` Big Sur, California, `100 Mile House, British Columbia, `Mill Valley, California, and `Boulder, `Loveland, & `Estes Park, Colorado.
I also lived for a year in London: teaching, recording & performing, as well as studying Indian music, and adapting my studies to slide and fingerstyle guitar. I befriended Martin Simpson and the late Isaac Guillory during this time. Both were excellent teachers as well as superb musicians & performers. Isaac was a mentor in many ways. I also met my second very important teacher of Indian classical music: Ratnakar Vyas, sarod. Hari Har Rao [sitar] in Los Angeles, who was a Fulbright Scholar at UCLA & an early student of Ravi Shankar's, was my first teacher. Hari was also the founder of the Ravi Shankar Music Circle, today known simply as The Music Circle. Upon my return from London, while living in Northern California, I had the great opportunity as well to study with Maestro Ali Akbar Khan at his school in San Rafael. I was one of two guitar players amidst a sea of sitars & sarods!
While in London I practiced and taught six days a week. At first I had two students. By the time I left a year later, to return to the United States, I had twenty four students, coming on a weekly basis. Many of them were hungry teenagers, and as I always had a pot of soup or stew on the stove, I ended up catering quite a few lessons! But that was cool. I loved my students in England. I was saddened to have to say goodbye to them.
I can`t place when & where I heard of Martin Simpson, or if I had even heard his playing prior to our first lesson, which took place in a small guest house behind his modest residence in Richmond, England just outside of London. I always enjoyed the trip out to his place as it was a long train ride and a lot of walking.
After a few lessons my visits became primarily social as well as professional. On an old cassette I made of a rehearsal one evening you can hear the two of us playing Train 45 while we sat around the kitchen table after dinner. His wife and her friend were drying dishes and gossiping at the time. When I listen to the recording today it sounds like our playing was a soundtrack for a live documentary! It brings back good memories of my year in London.
Martin reinforced the concept of tone and articulation for me. Although our styles were quite different there were still many places that we met. I consider him to be one of my main fingerstyle influences. He's a great player and teacher. I consider him a friend as well.
Isaac Guillory was an American ex-patriot living in London. He was a maverick of sorts, a 'renaissance man', and was like a brother. He had been living in England for quite a few years, had performed at acoustic venues and festivals all over the country. He was well known and a very talented guy. I studied with him privately as well as at the University of London. He was kind enough to lend me a Martin D-28S which was a very good guitar for slide: wide neck & twelve frets to the body [almost like playing on a 'steel string classical']. It was very good for low strung guitar tunings and it made my slide work interface more naturally with my studies with sarod.
Isaac was a seasoned solo performer. When he wasn't driving all over the countryside playing he was in London. He was a fine teacher as well. He taught inspirational clinics on UL's central London campus and they were always well attended. The University had some great acoustic stairwells and I used to practice in them before and after classes. I was working in several guitar tunings at the time: Standard, Drop D, Dadgad, EAC#EAE, and CGCGCF which I used when I studied with Indian sarod teacher Ratnakar Vyas. The beautiful echos of the stairwells inspired the development of many compositions.
Ratnakar Vyas, Sarod, was a great teacher for me, a beautiful and humble man and a fine player. I consider him, Hari Har Rao, and Maestro Ali Akbar Khan to be my strongest influences as pertains my slide style; and John Fahey as my original, and most impacting influence, as regards: solo fingerstyle guitar, improvisation, and altered tunings.
I`ve also listened extensively to subarhar [a kind of baritone sitar] and sarangi which is a lap held cello-like instrument fingered using the cuticles of the left hand (ouch!). All these sliding influences were to later show up in my recordings. Although I had been listening to Indian music since I was a teenager, and playing slide since 1971, these years from 1986 to 1996 shaped my sound.
When I first met Ratnakar Vyas it was at a school in central London. I studied with him there for a couple of times and then shifted the lessons to my flat in Finchley. He lived near by. By hosting him at my flat I also could make tea for him as well as making sure that all the tuition would go to him. The London School didn't appear to pay their teachers very well. During the times I did go to the school he would take me down to the faculty lounge in the basement. On one occasion we sat and observed a teacher giving a tabla lesson by singing the rhythm to the tabla student. The basement faculty lounge was stark: naugahyde couch with no legs, tattered carpet, bare light bulb hanging from a long chain. The school spared no expense for its teachers! However, regardless of the setting, the connection between teacher and student was apparent.
I found this to be true with Hari Har Rao and Maestro Ali Akbar Khan as well: a deep level of commitment and care, an inherent responsibility regarding the transmission of knowledge, and a strong sense of community. Though Ratnakar Vyas (at the time that I knew him) was not a rich man materially, he was rich in substance. My lessons with him were a spiritual experience, and I use it as a framework today in my own teaching. I am grateful to have studied with him in London.
For years I had moved back and forth between a very private reclusive life spent in various cooperative spiritual communities, monasteries, seminaries, kibbutz, etc. in the US & abroad; as well as teaching and marketing my music in urban settings in both the US & England. Regardless of my life situation, I have always played and practiced several hours a day, whether I was working as a chef, gardener, beekeeper, elder-caregiver, performer, or teacher. My time spent in India, and with teachers of Indian music had a profound influence on me, and not just musically. They instilled in me a sense of community and the importance of the transmission of values. It has definitely given me a model to push up against. I am grateful for that. I am also grateful for the teachings of Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan. |
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BIO...DEGRADABLE
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My Life in a Nutshell
In my last year in elementary school my father brought home a banjo. He thought that in his spare time when he wasn't driving all over California as a travelling salesman that he would learn to play it. Not! After a few days my elder brother rescued it from the hall closet and began his own musical walkabout. I, not wanting to be left behind, bought a cheap nylon string guitar and slapped some steel strings on it {I don't recommend this}. Thus began my musical journey, which has spanned 46 years at the time of this writing.
My brother and I fell in love with bluegrass music and within 2 years had a quintet called the Smoggy Mountain Boys {being that all of this was taking place in L.A.}. The SMB consisted of banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and bass, and occasionally dobro. The basist was the oldest so he drove, and we all piled into his mother's Ford station wagon {yellow with exterior faux wood panelling} and went out to play hootenanies at the Ash Grove, The Ice House, The Golden Bear, Ledbetters and for several years at the Topanga Canyon Banjo & Fiddle contest when it was still held @ Camp Wildwood in TC.
I remained with the SM Boys until I was 15 1/2, at which time my Martin D-18 was seized and resolutely cast 20 feet in the air across the living room floor before a high heel was placed strategically through the top of the hard shell case as well as the top of my guitar. Thus ended my career with the Smoggy Mountain Boys! However for better or worse it seemed to propel me onto the path of music.
During the Smoggy Mountain years I also worked several part time jobs and was a champion competitor in gymnastics which earned me scholarships to university. My creative process was a wierd mix: requiring a daily vigorous shaking so as to emulsify the oils & vinegars of my immediate world.
I loved music, gymnastics & work. All these paths taught me much about discipline, devotion, comraderie, teamwork. They were vehicles for creative expression, peace, communion, service. At the same time I was front row center for some deep rooted anger in my family, which in later years has served to reinforce my attempts at compassion.
After the Smoggy Mountain Daze! I found myself gravitating to acoustic instrumental improvisation. I was inspired by the noodlings of guitarist John Fahey as well as the ethnic recordings found on such record labels as: Nonesuch, Angel, Global Pacific, Telefunken and Takoma.
I was fascinated at age 17 by Indian music, Japanese koto, field recordings from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. On evenings and weekends I would escape to the back stairwells of the buildings @ UCLA or often to the empty foyer of Royce Hall to enjoy hours of improvisation in these inspiring acoustical chambers.
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I paid close attention to what I was doing and let music teach me how to wake up. It was by sitting and playing for hours on end that I began to truly appreciate process orientation. This land of sound was a haven for me. But I also needed to understand how to come back down to earth. To re-enter a world that was not nearly so subtle, definitely a balancing act that continues to be part of my practice today.
Though my college career at the University of Washington was short lived I did experience a few epiphanies, one being that I met Carlos Castaneda in my Drums of Rhodesia class taught by Professor Garcia {apparently a good friend of Carlos'}. He had just finished publishing his first book: 'The Teachings of Don Juan.'
Another class entitled Philosophy of Religion, taught by the late Professor Adrian Siegler, was actually a musical quartet that met 2-3 times a week, in the 3rd floor faculty lounge of the philosophy building, which overlooked the cherry blossom trees in the quad. We were: guitar, flute, cello & dumbek. A beautiful experience.
Several years later when I was dropping out of UC Berkeley, I read an article that reported, that Adrian, had been discovered frozen to death, in a full lotus posture, in one of his out-buildings on his 40 acre homestead, on the Olympic Peninsula. He was a mentor for me in many ways.
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After 3 years I returned to L.A. and became a bartender at Doug Weston's Troubadour during the final years of it's hey day {1971 to 1974}.
During the Troubadour years I reunited with my brother to form a 5 piece group called The Voonderband! It was a very original fusion band inspired and informed by many of the acts coming through the club at that time: Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Larry Coryell to name a few. I wrote most of the material for the group and played electric slide on my Strat [which had belonged to Paul Barrera of Little Feet]. My brother played lead guitar and sang.
In the late 70's I returned to acoustic guitar and have remained a loyal devotee since.
The '80s found me in many settings: zen monastery, kibbutz, India, Australia, New Zealand, and a year in London: teaching, recording & performing as well as studying Indian music {and adapting my studies to slide and fingerstyle guitar}.
Before leaving London in 1987 I sent a 4-track demo, unsolicited to Dave Stewart {Eurythmics}. I had heard that he was open to that and that he had an appreciation for slide guitar. After I left London I thought nothing of it; but a year later I received a call while then living in Boulder, Colorado from his office in London. I was informed that Dave had been trying to track me down for a year. This led to several meetings with him, Tom Petty, David Rappaport, and Harry Dean Stanton. Dave hooked me up with his production company to work on a project for BBC 4. The show was derailed prematurely because of the suicide of a key team member.
In Colorado I cooked French cuisine for 2 years with Chef John Bizzarro while working about 35 hours/week on my first album Red Horizon. I returned to L.A. and stayed until 1989.
I went back to Colorado in 1989 where I spent the next 2 years living in the Loveland-Fort Collins area as well as Estes Park. I returned to India (1st trip was in 1979) for 3 months in 1993. This 2nd trip to India was one of the most important times of my life. Upon leaving India I came back to Northern California via London, Grenoble, South Carolina and New Hampshire.
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In Mill Valley CA I watched over an elder artist for almost 2 years, named Ann O'Hanlon. I have strong memories of sitting with her in the evening before putting her to bed. I played guitar while we were surrounded by dozens of her masterful paintings. She was a deep listener.
Returning to the scene of the crime {L.A.} in 1996, I then hunkered down and have stayed put since {except for a 5 month return to Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, between the recording of Indian Summer & Horizontal}. I've been here: practicing, composing, teaching, recording, performing, and occasionally writing poetry.
Best
Richard Peikoff
Mukti Music
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..No man's an island.
Sleeping on my waterbed,
Sometimes I wonder.
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ABOUT MY SOUND...
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Gear~Tunings~Recordings
The guitars that can be heard throughout the 45 performances offered for free (see hyperlink below) are primarily 2 instruments. I play a lot out of sus-4 tunings, and their derivatives, primarily Dadgad= 151451. My Dadgad guitar is a 000-28 style custom made in England by luthier Matthew Carter, at a time when he was working with Ian Anderson's luthier Andrew Manson .
I don't know where Carter is today, but fifteen years after purchasing this 000-28 style custom, it remains one of my favorite instruments. The back and sides are Indian rosewood, Sitka spruce top, mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard, bridge, and head stock laminate. It has a simple mother of pearl rosette, tulip wood binding (somewhat reddish brown), bone saddle and graphite nut. The tuners are Gotohs.
I mic this guitar for recording as well as take a direct out. The instrument also has a Fishman Natural One pickup. I use the following custom D'Addarrio strings, 6th to 1st: .053 phosphor bronze, .042 phosphor bronze, .032 phosphor bronze, .024 phosphor bronze, .017 plain steel, and .014 plain steel (for a bit more resistance and surface for slide). This is my main guitar for DADGAD, DADG#AD, DGDGAD, and DAGGAbD.
In 1986, I was studying and teaching privately for a year in North London. Carter, was building privately from his home in Brighton. This is the sole instrument used on Monsoon Season, which was recorded in rural India using 2 Sony mics. The setting was a beautiful acoustic chamber of high plaster walls, archways, terra-cotta tile, & hard woods. There is little to no processing on this recording. The tunes Anthem & Arapaho are from this recording. There are 10 other pieces as well, all using this guitar.
This guitar can also be heard on the following tunes:
Goodbye Magritte, Approach, & Trek are from the album Red Horizon. The studio configuration included a Neumann U-87 & AKG 414 room mics, 2 AKG 452’s @ the 14th fret and bridge, & a Sunrise Magnetic Pickup DI.
Sliding Scale also uses the Carter with a Sunrise played through a Mesa Boogie 60/100 watt amp, using an analogue echo device (circa 1985). I'm partial to tube amps with acoustic-electrics, unless I'm going through the board, or recording in the studio. The amp was a 1 x 15" in a dove-tailed koa cabinet with rattan grill. The amp's sister belonged to Santana. Randall Smith (founder) built 2 identical amps for Carlos. Santana bought one, my brother the other. I inherited that one. I later sold it to Grant Green. On this recording I had both the amp & the guitar mic'd plus one room mic. The piece is wet, with verb & delay.
The above pieces are from the album Red Horizon, which will be re-released and will contain 13 archived instrumentals: 7 solo pieces & 6 pieces with harmonized slide themes and solos. The running time will be around 48 to 55 minutes. The album will draw from 4 studio sessions in 1987 and 1988. Ten of the songs are 1st takes, as are the high string and slide overdubs. Writing and practice was 2 years in the making.
Main St is live with a Fishman Natural One through the house board. Buzz Feiten on synth-guitar & Dave Byars percussion, fill out the trio. It was recorded live at the Temple Bar in Santa Monica, CA, in 2000.
Mukti is a duet with Buzz in the studio around the same time. I'm playing the Carter in a DADG#AD tuning. Again their are two room mics, stereo mic'd guitar, and there's even a mic pointed at the back of my chair recording through my body!
The pieces 3 Flowers & T Street Rag were stereo mic'd. They are part of a project called Wandering Juju produced by Kit Walker (Windham Hill) at his home in Marin County, CA. 3 Flowers was performed on the Carter in a DGDGBbD tuning. I think Kit was using a Rode & an AKG, & a room mic.
T Street Rag was recorded on my Taylor 414kce. See the following AGF thread for more details: [Making My Taylor 414Kce a Low Strung: CGCFGC Tuning.]. The Taylor is also used on the following cuts:
Up Bubble, Patriotic Medley, and Adieu were all produced by CSI: Crime Scene Investigation's composer John M. Keane. He also co-wrote Up Bubble. This piece had 1 mic & a DI. Keane's studio is pretty tricked out. He really enhanced the original signal, making it fat but not too wet. Pro-Tools was the medium. John had 1 computer completely dedicated to reverb!
Patriotic Melody was recorded @ Total Access Studios in Redondo Beach, CA. Wyn Davis is the owner, and he engineered the project. Keane produced. Again the guitar was stereo mic'd plus room. The room was fair sized. Slight verb on the mix.
Mirrors & Epilogue are part of the Horizontal CD which contains an additional 5 tracks. The recording took place in a small room & was recorded stereo to A-dat. All the final processing was done by Cliff Novey in Q-base in his converted garage. We used maybe 3 plug-ins to achieve the guitar sound, mostly EQ & verb. Epilogue has some samples & loops as well, plus reverse slide.
Tapping, Breathe, & Alap were recorded in my kitchen through an older Roland VS-880.The speaker was mic'd (used another vintage tube amp), and a DI & room mic as well.It's where I practice and teach daily.
Gentle Rain was recorded on a Godin through a Roland VG-8 with an interesting setting including verbs, modeling, ping-pong, et al. A fun piece. I recorded it direct to a high-end Tascam field recorder in stereo.
Finally, Bach's Lunch was recorded on 4 track using a DI & Sony condenser mic. The guitar used was my Yamaha FG-150 set up in a hybrid high-string (Nashville) tuning. The Yamaha is a smaller bodied 000-28 style guitar that is about 30 years old and was built in Japan. It has mahogany back, sides, and neck, rosewood fingerboard, bone saddle and nut, and refit with Shaller pegs. It sounds awesome. It was set in a custom high-string tuning for the recording. I usually tuned this guitar to an A or B above standard tuning (instead of the traditional octave higher) and tune to a DADGAD derivative, i.e. AEADEA. I use the following gauges from 6th to 1st: .036, .026, .017, .012, .024, .017. If I can find La Bella wounds, I use them for the .017s.
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