I like to say I can play guitar. I got my first electric guitar when I was 12 or 13, a Peavey Predator. I still have it. When I was about 16 I started taking lessons from John Ellis. John was really into Classic Rock, and thus, by extension, so was I. I learned a lot of the staples, such as Stairway to Heaven, Back In Black, and Thunderstruck, but I also liked to focus on music that took it the “extra mile”, so to speak: More Than A Feeling, Crazy Train, Comfortably Numb.

After going away to University, I found it hard to keep up with my guitar playing. The biggest factor on this is simply the lack of room. At home, my guitar sits on a stand in the living room. I can pick it up whenever I want and play. At school, it sits in its case, which is probably under the bed to conserve space. This makes it an effort to bring it out to play.

When my sister got married, she asked me to play the Wedding Song, by Noel Paul Stookey, during the ceremony. I was honoured, but I didn’t have an acoustic guitar! So, I borrowed hers. I borrowed it for two months and practiced at least once a day. Occasionally I got together with Nick, who would be singing, to make sure we were on the same track. All in all, it went well; I messed up the chorus once, and I forgot to turn the microphone on, but people insisted they could hear it just fine anyway.

Flash forward two years. My brother’s wedding; he and his fiancée asked me if I would play the same song for their wedding. Her sister would be singing. Of course, again, I was honoured and agreed to play, but now all I had in the way of acoustic guitars was a 12-string Yamaha (a huge brute), so once again I borrowed my sisters guitar for the months leading up to the wedding.

This time around it didn’t go so well. I messed up so completely that I had to stop in mid-song; Kate looked at me worryingly but I nudged her and told her to keep singing. A bar later I managed to jump back in and all was well, but I felt pretty ridiculous doing it. These have been my only two live performances.

I came across this video today of a gentleman by the name of Andy McKee performing an acoustic cover of Toto’s Africa and I was completely blown away. He manages to convey such a profound amount of emotion with the use of a single guitar, playing rhythm, melody, and voice alike. That’s right, he plays the voice!

Enjoy.