Tag Archives: taylor grand concert

I’m on Fire (Alt Take, 412ce)

Songsacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, born in the usa, Bruce Springsteen, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, honolulu, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Taylor 412ce-R, taylor grand concert

Here’s an alternate take of my arrangement of the Springsteen classic I’m on Fire. This is a really cool little song – almost a sketch at under 3 minutes long, but it really creates a great atmosphere in that short amount of time. Hope you enjoy.

Morning in Paia (Original Fingerstyle)

Songsacoustic guitar, Anthony’s Coffee, Baldwin Avenue, blue sky guitar, Café des Amis, fingerstyle guitar, Flatbread Company, Hana Highway, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, Hawaiian koa, Island Fresh Café, koa taylor, Mana Foods, Maui Yoga Shale, nick borho, North Shore Maui, open tunings, original fingerstyle, paia, Paia Bay, Paia Bay Coffee, Paia Maui, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, taylor grand concert, Taylor K22ce, Telefunken M60

Alternately titled “Paia Morning” or “Paia Kakahiaka,” the song “Morning in Paia” began life as the harmonic laden intro/outro figure and grew into the mellow yet energetic song here. Paia Morning captures some of the mellow yet entrancing vibes of a morning in Paia, Maui: you start out strolling the sidewalks – still sparsely populated this time of day – perhaps pick up some fresh fruit from Mana Foods while catching a little bit of local news at the North Shore outpost, or head up the road a short ways to Island Fresh Café for some breakfast nosh. Next, travel back down the road to grab coffee at Paia Bay Coffee or Anthony’s, maybe taking a meditative stroll along the sand at Paia Bay before wrapping up with lunch at Flatbread Company or Café des Amis. Hope you enjoy.

Sound and Solace (Original Fingerstyle)

Songsacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, fingerstyle improv, Neumann TLM 103, nick borho, Open D, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert

This song was born of my desire to improvise around some familiar ideas and possibly discover some new ones. Using familiar shapes and runs, perhaps I would come to appreciate them from a new angle, or juxtapose them in a way that I hadn’t before. I wanted to explore textures, try to accent some of the notes in a different way, give the strings a staccato strum or two, play some lush harmonics. Sometimes rather than trying to come up with something totally new, you want to explore the familiar ground of existing templates, maybe change them just a little – not to the point they’re unrecognizable, but to explore how they can be tweaked and see if it suits.

In addition to trying out some musical ideas, I wanted to see how they would sound with a microphone I hadn’t used lately, recording with a different sound. The mic I chose sounds crisp, picking up all the harmonic details and giving clear note separation. It’s quiet, and also good at gathering room ambiance. The bass is not as bold and the mid-scooped rosewood sound isn’t as prominent as another mic I had been using lately, but this mic would provide a nice, hi-fi, detailed sound – one I might now want to explore even more. Anyway, sometimes it’s important to try something a little different with your sound, to record an improvisation and see what happens. Hope you enjoy.

Wayvvs Crashin

Songsacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, Hawaiian koa, ki ho’alu, koa taylor, Line Audio CM4, nick borho, Open D, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, slack key, taylor grand concert, Taylor K22ce

Here’s an isolated track that I recorded for a collaboration a few years ago. That particular collaboration didn’t end up coming together, so I thought I would release this track as a stand alone piece. Hope you enjoy.

Bron Yr Aur (K22ce)

Songsacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaiian koa, Jimmy Page, koa taylor, Led Zeppelin, nick borho, open C6, open tunings, peaceful guitar, physical graffiti, relaxing guitar, taylor grand concert, Taylor K22ce, Telefunken M60, Welsh Countryside

Bron-Yr-Aur is probably my favorite Led Zeppelin acoustic song. Written by Jimmy Page about a tranquil cottage in the Welsh countryside, the song is meditative and bucolic; it always puts me in a different place whenever I hear it or play it. This version was recorded on my Taylor K22ce.

Bantry Girl’s Lament (912ce)

Songsacoustic guitar, bantry girls lament, blue sky guitar, celtic guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert

The Bantry Girl’s Lament is a traditional Celtic song which dates back to the early 1800’s. The ‘lament’ is for the soldiers who were called off to fight in the Napoleonic wars, but I find the melody is more wistful than maudlin. My fingerstyle version is based on Martin Simpson’s version from his fine album “Leaves of Life.” While Martin used a Drop D tuning for the song (or rather its equivalent on Baritone guitar), I play it here in open G6: (D-G-D-G-B-E). To me, this is a peaceful, meditative song that gives pause. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

Meadows Slack Key (912ce)

Songsacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, Elixir Polyweb, fingerstyle guitar, geckos, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, Holualoa, kailua kona, ki ho’alu, Mamalahoa Highway, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open G, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, slack key, taro patch, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert

“Meadows” is a slack key song I wrote during a full moon in Kailua-Kona. I think the song was influenced by the night air and night sounds – the occasional chirp of geckos, the distant sounds of traffic on Mamalahoa Highway and the waves in the ocean. Hope you enjoy.

Opihi Moemoe (improv on K22ce)

Songsacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, ear trumpet edwina, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, Hawaiian koa, koa taylor, nick borho, open G, open tunings, opihi moemoe, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, slack key, taro patch, taylor grand concert, Taylor K22ce

Here’s a recently found recording where I’m improvising some ideas around Leonard Kwan’s classic slack key song Opihi Moemoe. One of the most popular songs in the slack key repertoire, this song has been covered by everyone from Ledward Kaapana to Chet Atkins. Opihi MoeMoe is a fun piece that lends itself well to improvised variations, and everyone seems to bring something a little different to this deceptively simple song. Hope you enjoy.

Bach Cello Suite #1 Prelude (Alt Take)

SongsBach Cello, baroque guitar, blue sky guitar, BWV 1007, classical guitar, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, peaceful guitar, prelude, relaxing guitar, steel string, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert

Here is an alternate take of the Bach Cello Prelude (BWV 1007) on guitar. I fell in love with the Pablo Casals recordings of the Bach cello suites a few years back. The prelude to the first suite is oft adapted for guitar, but it’s still a great piece to play. Hope you enjoy.

Every Breath You Take by The Police

Songsacoustic guitar, Beyerdynamic MC 930, blue sky guitar, every breath you take, Hawaii, honolulu, I’ll be watching you, nick borho, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, st louis heights, sting, Sting fingerstyle guitar, Taylor 412ce, Taylor 412ce-R, taylor grand concert, The Police (band)

Here is a fingerstyle cover of “Every Breath You Take,” the hypnotic signature tune from The Police. Many stories surround the writing, recording, and subsequent success of the song – for example one interesting tidbit is that Sting apparently wrote the song while sitting at Ian Fleming’s writing desk on his famous Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. With its classic guitar part, “Every Breath” has a mellow / dreamy feel seemingly at odds with its borderline creepy lyrics – though some may find the song is a tad less sinister as an instrumental 🙂 Hope you enjoy.

Recorded in Honolulu, Hawai’i 8/25/14.

Nick Borho

Slack Key & Fingerstyle Guitar