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1. Still Got It
In September 2024, at the age of 68, I entered and won the International Finger Style Guitar Championship. Though my fingers don’t move quite as freely as they used to, they still work well enough. And, new compositions keep emerging all the time.
I played Big Mama* on this tune. The guitar part of it was tuned in standard. The sub-basses were tuned E A B C# D G (low to high).
2. Goodloe’s Black Corvette (Pretty Fast For A Unitarian)
I composed this tune shortly after learning of the unexpected passing of my friend Goodloe Suttler, from Spontaneous Prion Disease, of all things. As I thought about him, this is the music that emerged. When it was done, it immediately occurred to me that it was not what one might one think of as reflective music. I called his widow, my friend Diane, and told her that I had written this tune that was clearly Goodloe’s, along with my slight concern that it might nonetheless seem inappropriate. Goodloe had many interests and talents and I remembered that one thing he was interested in that I really knew nothing about was racing cars. He even owned one for a while and, I learned, he’d taught racing too. So I asked Diane if maybe he’d given his car a name as I’d done with my first vehicle, a 1966 Chevy van that I called Shadowfax. She replied that, if Goodloe had done so, she didn’t know about it. But she did tell me that when she first met Goodloe he owned a black Corvette that “he drove way too fast”. I realized that the title for my tune had just been handed to me. As my friends had been active Unitarians, the subtitle immediately came to mind. I didn’t learn until his memorial service that back when he was a teenager, Goodloe had borrowed his mother’s car one day and run it into the sign in front of the local Unitarian Church, destroying it. As penance, he had to rebuild it, which I found hilarious.
I used my Circa guitar for this tune, with a capo on the 4th fret, leaving the 1st string open.
3. The Witches Of Bucha
After reading an NBC News story with this title, I was inspired to compose this tune. The story was about a Ukrainian military unit made up mostly of women. They’d lost sons, brothers, fathers, husbands, etc in the fight against the Russian invasion of their country. Calling themselves the Witches of Bucha, they go out at night to hunt Russian drones. May they ultimately prevail…
I used my Circa guitar for this tune, in Drop D tuning.
4. The Great Falls
My wife and I live in the beautiful northwest corner of Connecticut alongside the Housatonic River. Just a few miles upriver from us is the town of Falls Village, where the great falls of the Housatonic are. Although in the 21st century the falls are certainly not as wild and impressive as they would have been to the native inhabitants and early European settlers of this area, they are still quite beautiful. I played Big Mama*with the guitar in standard tuning. The sub-basses were tuned E A B C D G (low to high).
5. Waltz #10 in B Minor – Fredric Chopin
While watching Netflix’s adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years Of Solitude, I was entranced by a piece of lovely piano music. It turned out to be this waltz. I bought the piano music and arranged it for harp guitar.
I played Big Mama* with the guitar in standard tuning. The sub-basses were tuned E A# B C# D (low to high).
6. Greta Fletcher, Is That You
A few years ago, my wife and I adopted a kitten named Greta. One day, for no apparent reason whatsoever, it popped into my head that her name was Greta Fletcher. I’ve never known a Greta Fletcher before, nor anyone whose last name was Fletcher. So this made no sense at all, not that it matters: she has become Greta Fletcher. I routinely say “Greta? Greta Fletcher? Is that you? I haven’t seen you since high school”. She’s a great cat and so I wrote her this tune.
I played my Circa guitar with a capo on the 4th fret, leaving the 1st string open.
7. My Friend Kim
Specifically, my friend Kim Person. We’ve been friends since October 1987 when I began recording my first album with her. She’s a wonderful engineer who has been a part of every one of my albums since. This tune is presented as a small token of thanks for all she’s done for me.
I played my Collings guitar in drop D tuning, with a capo at the 4th fret, leaving the 1st string open.
8. Gentle Giant
In March of 2024, my stepson Andy passed away after a long and arduous struggle with cancer. He was 45 years old. His mother (my wife Nancy) was devastated. I started composing this tune a couple of weeks before he passed. Andy was 6’5” and truly a gentle soul who is greatly missed by his friends and family.
I played Big Mama* with the guitar in standard tuning. The sub-basses were tuned F A B C D G (low to high).
9. Blind Trout Blues
Early in 2023 I played upstairs at a local brewery. They were trying to get a speakeasy kind of thing going. They called it The Blind Trout. As soon as I heard that I knew I would compose this song. It came together quickly.
I played Big Mama* with the guitar in standard tuning. The sub-basses were tuned to E A B C D G (low to high).
10. The Rule Of Law
This tune sprang to life in the opening month of the second Trump administration, a reaction to the casual regard they have for the Constitution.
I played Big Mama* with the guitar in Drop D tuning and the sub-basses were tuned E A B C D G (low to high).
11. 1783
As with the previous track, in reaction to the opening months of the second Trump administration, this song sprang into being, almost writing itself.
I played my Tony Karol baritone guitar (tuned a 4th below a regular guitar, thus B to B). I used a capo at the 2nd fret but left the 6th string open.
12. What You Think It Is
I volunteer at a local open mic/coffeehouse and it was there that I met David Capellaro. Dave’s a contractor by day but likes to write poetry in his spare time. I enjoy hearing him read his poems at the open mic and offered to try putting this one to music.
I played slide on my 1930 National steel resonator guitar tuned C G C G C D. The eerie sound at the end was created by setting that instrument top up in my lap and moving the slide in a circular motion around the 12th fret.
13. Up Where The Crosswinds Blow
As with the song above, Dave Capellaro wrote the poem which became the lyrics for this song.
I played my C. Bruno high-strung guitar, a Maxmonte acoustic with a capo at the 4th fret, my Telecaster with an e-bow, and my Fender fretless Jazz bass.
14. Mr. Zelenskyy (with Alex Lifeson, Ty Dennis and Angelo Barbera)
I started composing this tune a week or two after Russia invaded Ukraine (again), in February 2022. I immediately found Mr. Zelenskyy, widely regarded as the Churchill of our time, to be highly inspirational – and I still do. This began as a solo harp guitar piece but I thought it might be interesting if my friend Alex Lifeson (guitarist from the band Rush) cared to add something to it. He also considers Mr. Z to be very inspiring and added several tracks to what I’d already recorded. Alex suggested I consider adding bass and drums to the mix and recommended Ty and Angelo to me. Although I was previously unfamiliar with them, these guys have done a variety of musical projects together, including playing with Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger of the Doors, touring as the Doors of the 21st Century. I loved the parts they added.
This track was released in 2023 as a single but is included here to hopefully get some more people to listen to it. Regrettably, the war that Mr. Putin started still continues.
I used my Kathy Wingert harp guitar, tuned in standard, the sub-basses at E A B C# D G (low to high).
*Big Mama is my great-grandfather’s 1909 harp guitar.
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All compositions are by Stephen Bennett except track 5 (by Fredric Chopin), and
Tracks 12 & 13 – which feature music by Stephen Bennett with lyrics by David Capellaro.
All compositions by Stephen Bennett are published by Greased Pig Music.
Tracks 12 & 13 are published jointly by Greased Pig Music & Direct Current Publishing
All tracks were recorded by Stephen Bennett in West Cornwall, CT.
Kim Person mixed this project and Gregg Lukens mastered it. They are both engineers extraordinaire!
Illustrations by William Allen. Graphic Design by Sean de Burca.
Released by Cimirron/Rainbird Records in 2025
Thanks to Nancy B, and all of my friends and fans around the world!
Stephen’s website is harpguitar.com
Contact Stephen at sb@harpguitar.com