News: 2007
December
ARTIST PAGE UP AT SIMON FAY GUITARS
I'm now listed as an endorsing artist on the
Simon Fay Guitars website. I bought an Adirondack/Malaysian Blackwood OM from Simon earlier this year, and it has become my main guitar.
You can read more about why I love Simon Fay's guitars on the
Guitars page, but I'll sum it up this way: I've played guitars by many of the world's best luthiers, but none of them sound, look, and feel as good to me as Simon's OM.
November
SONGS USED IN DOCUMENTARY
Two of the songs from my
Celtic Guitar CD ("Blind Mary" and "Pretty Girl Milking a Cow") were used in a recent documentary intended to increase awareness of a genetic syndrome known as Velo-Cardio Facial Syndrome, or VCFS. VCFS is the second-most-common syndrome after Down Syndrome, but most people have never heard of it.
The documentary, titled
Life with VCFS, was made by an aspiring young filmmaker named Quinn Bradlee, who also happens to have VCFS. I was flattered to learn that Quinn personally chose to use my music in the documentary.
To read more about Quinn and VCFS, please see:
July
TOZIER TEAMS UP WITH SIMON FAY
I recently had a chance to meet up-and-coming luthier Simon Fay in Florida, and had the pleasure of playing one of his guitars. His adirondack/blackwood OM instantly captured my attention. It was extremely rich and vibrant for such a little guitar. The adirondack top--coupled with Simon's unique bracing pattern--yielded a sweet, complex tone that reminded me of some of my favorite Lowdens. It was also one of the most comfortable guitars I've ever played. Not surprisingly, then, I had to buy it. If you're not yet familiar with Simon's work, you you owe it to yourself to check out the beautiful instruments at
Simon Fay Guitars.
You can see pictures of my Simon Fay OM (and view the specs)
here.
June
DELOVELY GUITAR REVIEWED BY MINOR 7TH
Another review of
Delovely Guitar is in... this one from Patrick Ragains for Minor 7th. This is what he had to say regarding my contribution to the project: "'Begin the Beguine' gets a dark, dirge-like treatment from Jim Tozier,
and may be the most radical reimagining of any of the compositions
included here." That's what I was aiming for, so I guess this is good.
Read the complete review at
Minor 7th
TOZIER VENTURES INTO (MY)SPACE
Well, after answering "No" to countless inquiries about whether I have a MySpace page, it occurred to me that maybe I
should have one. So now I do. And now it looks like I need some friends...
Check me out here:
www.myspace.com/jimtozier
NEW LOOK FOR THE WEBSITE
After having the same design for a few years, I decided to update the look of the website. The color scheme is the same, but the navigation and page layouts are a little different. So it's not like I gutted the house... just moved the furniture around a bit. There's also a new
FAQ section, and I've also added a
Home page that doubles as a site map, and also includes music--the "duet" version of "Owen's March" that was created by San Francisco-based musician David DeMourdaunt. Stop by and have a listen!
May
FIRST REVIEW OF DELOVELY GUITAR
The
Delovely Guitar tribute to Cole Porter garnished an early review recently. Dutch guitarist Hank te Veldhuis of
Bridge Guitar Reviews, posted a review on his site. You can read what he had to say on the
Reviews of Delovely Guitar page.
April
DELOVELY GUITAR IS HERE!
Solid Air Records' tribute to Cole Porter,
Delovely Guitar--which includes my recording of "Begin the Beguine"--is now available. Check the
Solid Air Records website or
Acoustic Music Resource for details and ordering information.
News
