Gary Owen's Blog

I haven't posted here for nearly 4 years. Today, I thought I'd showcase one of my favorite videos of us Blue Meanies performing at the St. George Theater, Staten Island, NY. It was filmed in 2019 at our annual Beatles Blast as we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the "Abbey Road" album. A lot has happened since my last post. On May 11, 2019, we lost our drummer, JT, at the age of 69. Hence the reason this video features our original, and now permanent, drummer Drew Paradine. This was one month after JT had passed and- as a tribute- Drew played JT's Gretsch drum set.  Anyway, pump it up and sing along to our rendition of "Here Comes The Sun" ......which I dedicated to my Norwegian wife, Mette!

Well, well, well! It's been so long!  Hoping this message finds you all feeling groovy. With that in mind, take a meander at my new website. Yes, please do. :) Gary Owen - Musician

Thanks to everyone at CTV for helping me with this. :)

Recently, I have been getting back into the wonders of Rickenbacker guitars. 12-string, of course. Great stuff! What a sound- and thanks to one George Harrison (OHNOTHIMAGEN)- the world is a better place for his endorsement of said instruments. In 1964, Hari Jorgeson introduced the second 12-string Rickenbacker to the world via the Beatles recordings "Can't Buy Me Love" and "You Can't Do That" . After seeing this guitar in the film "A Hard Day's Night" , Roger McGuinn of The Byrds went out and bought himself one- and so was born- the jingle jangle sound of Folk-Rock. I love it. In my day, I have owned two Ricks. First was a 370-12 in black which I sold to a friend while working on Wall Street. I used the cash as a down payment on the instrument I have owned since: a 1988 fireglo Roger McGuinn Limited Edition 12-string (#374 of 1,000). This rare guitar features a fast action neck and active compressor (which reminds me, I must change the...

We learn something new every day, don't we? For many years, I never took the matter seriously but humidifying a guitar is an extremely crucial part of it's care. This especially applies to acoustic instruments during Winter months. I have always tried to do it as often as I could remember but had no clue I was only doing half of what was required. The long, skinny rubbery humidifiers named "Dampit" come with a shaped plastic piece which is supposed to cover the sound hole on an acoustic. It features a gauge which measures the amount of humidity the guitar has- and as it decreases-  the gauge indicates it's time for a refill. I never bothered to use them- and a result- some of my guitars now have checks in the finish or need neck resets. Ugh. What irritates me is that for years I have been getting 50,117 different suggestions on when and how I should be humidifying my instruments. Well, visiting my favorite guitar shop, Mandolin Brothers, the repairman sat me d...

People ask me which guitar is my favorite. It's hard to narrow it all down to one but I can give a quick overview of what I prefer. I have always been a fan of what I like to refer to as "The Three G's". These are Gretsch , Guild and Gibson . I used to own a 1969 Gibson SG but have since sold it. Not a big fan of solid body electrics much but that was a great instrument. Learned many-a-riff on it. I am also big fan of Rickenbacker 12-string electrics but their infamous "R" tailpieces are a nightmare. Some great and influential sounds have come from that fleet. My favorite electric guitar is the Gretsch Viking . I own one built at the old Gretsch Factory in Brooklyn, NY in August, 1967. This semi-hollow body is actually based on the Gibson ES 335 but with more gadgetry. As a rhythm guitarist, the low end open chords fill the room and help chug the performances along (I only use it with band gigs and recordings). In 2009, I bought a double-cutaway 2008...