Will Hodgkinson I live in London, I have curly hair, and last year I learned to play guitar for the first time. My progress is slow but steady. And I wrote a book about the whole adventure which is out now. Here are the details of it. From the publisher: An amateur guitar fanatic's journey of discovery A brilliantly funny and illuminating story of a grown man coming to grips with the guitar. The guitar, after a dip in popularity during the 80s, is now once again the instrument of choice for modern popular music. It is portable, it has history, it will always be hip… Why has this instrument become such a household classic? Will Hodgkinson, a nascent guitar player, with only an afternoon's experience bashing on a friend's guitar at the age of 16, set out to find out. Along the way he hoped to teach himself a few chords too. At the end of his odyssey he decided that he would test his newfound knowledge by playing before a live audience. On his trip he chats to Bert Jansch, who patiently explains to him how to play the folk classic ‘Anji’, British guitar hero Johnny Marr and reclusive folk guitar legend Davey Graham. He travels to America and with a hurricane brewing he visits Roger McGuinn from the Byrds in his suburban home in Orlando, in the spirit of Robert Johnson he travels to the Deep South and drops in on T Model Ford, an old bluesman living in Mississippi, and meets Les Paul after a deeply disappointing gig in New York. With a dawning realisation that his own talents may be severely limited, his fellow band-members reluctant to practice, and his wife and children increasingly bored by his new obsession, Will wonders whether the gig that he has planned, in front of 200 of his friends and colleagues, not to mention paying members of the public, may all have been a terrible mistake. Gloriously readable, highly amusing, hugely informative and always entertaining, Will Hodgkinson gets to the root of modern music’s and his own obsession with the guitar. Will Hodgkinson was born in Newcastle and now lives in London with his wife and two children. He has written for The Guardian, Mojo, Vogue, The Daily Telegraph, The Idler and Wallpaper and has made a documentary for BBC Radio 3 on Brazil's 60s pop revolution. Guitar Man, his first book, is published by Bloomsbury in March 2006. Check out what James Williamson (The Stooges) has to say about the book: Hey Will, I've now read your book and have to say tht I think you've done a first rate job of research and writing. Despite your irreverent treatment of me personally, I think that it was probably more or less appropriate and accurate. Of course I can't comment on your actual abilities on the guitar, but I'm sure you have the right idea and spirit. Keep on writing as you are very talented. James This is the man that wrote Gimme Danger and Search And Destroy! I can die happy now. http://www.bloomsbury.com/BookCatalog/ProductItem.asp?S=&sku=22043444&EmailMe=&mscssid=9JATDKSUFDJE8JE938WM4NBA3KB3B8A6