By: Calvin Travers
Brought up on The Beatles, they’ve always been my ground zero for music, the gold standard in songwriting, innovation and beautifully crafted guitar parts. Still inspired by them, I decided to release an EP of some of their songs called, Calvin Travers Plays The Beatles.
Throughout my study at Leeds College of Music, deep dives into jazz and improvisation and working as a professional musician for the past six years, it always seems to come back to the Fab Four.
The inspiration behind this EP began a few years ago when exploring the idea of arranging songs in DADGAD tuning on acoustic guitar.
The tuning was limiting, as I didn’t know my way around the fretboard or have any muscle memory to fall back on. But, I also found it quite freeing as it pushed me to play in a way I wouldn’t have otherwise done.
I completed a few arrangements and they disappeared into the depths of Soundcloud.
During the midst of COVID-19 lockdown I rediscovered the arrangements and decided to revisit them on a Gibson SG with Flatwound 13 gauge strings (I typically play 9s!). This through my Swart AST (tweed Champ) turned on a lightbulb moment and something I hadn’t heard anybody do in DADGAD tuning before.
The whole EP was recorded during an afternoon at home and has been a fantastic distraction during the third lockdown in the U.K..
Since releasing Plays the Beatles on the 5th of February many listeners from various countries and of all ages, have reached out to say how much they enjoyed it. This, I feel reflects how the timeless and universal appreciation of The Beatles legacy across the world is as strong as ever.
Buy Calvin’s Plays The Beatles EP HERE!
