Jake Stogdill – “My Worktape” Solo Guitar Instrumental CD

A collection of original solo acoustic guitar instrumentals, written and performed by Jake Stogdill.  

First, to address the elephant in the room…this is a CD that you will be able to play in any CD player.  Yes, I realize there is a picture of a cassette tape on the cover, but that’s partly why it’s clever and at the same time confusing.  But hey, that’s art I guess, haha.  

”Worktape” – A slang term for a recording of original material as performed by the author, usually done in one take using a hand held recording device (or phone) with the intent of capturing/documenting the song/melody.

This project started as a way for me to simply preserve some of the tunes I had written over the years.  So I went into our very small walk in closet, propped my phone up about guitar level on the gun safe, slid the clothes on the hangers out of the way to make enough room for my guitar neck, and over the course of a handful of hours I recorded most of the tunes I had written over the years.  These were each done in one take, played start to finish, and if I wasn’t happy with a particular take I had to do it all over again.  

I found this process of putting these kinds of limitations around the recording of this project to be unexpectedly fun.  It required me approach the tunes in a different way, and simplify some areas where if I were able to overdub I might try something more ambitious.  The end result turned out to be unexpectedly satisfying, with the tunes almost taking on a more honest, musical, and emotional weight.  You can hear every pick chirp, string squeak, and any other subtle artifact present due to the intimate nature of the recording.

So anyway, after I got the tunes recorded I started sharing it with some very musical friends of mine whom I greatly admire and respect, and they all said the nicest things and encouraged me to release it publicly.  So I guess that brings us to here, and my excitement and nervousness to share this collection of tunes with you.  -Jake

All tracks written, performed, and recorded by Jake Stogdill, with Noah Stogdill on track 12.

01 – Leaving Banefork

02 – A Walk With Michelle

03 – Yeller Jacket Swarm

04 – Whistle Pig In A Tin Whistle 

05 – Bought With A Price

06 – Sockeye On The Kenai

07 – Pleasant Hill

08 – The Great Morel Mushroom Harvest

09 – Woodard Creek

10 – Cherryvale Kansas 1872

11 – Big Sugar 

12 – Graveyard Waltze