Tony Haven – Escapism – Grand’Place, France, WEO TV

Who is Tony Haven? Well, check out this video and an article written by Ernesto Schnack from http://nwoag.com/interview-with-tony-haven/:

“Tony Haven is a lap tapping guitarist from the UK who just released his second album Sun Set to Rise, and a B-sides collection entitled B Sides and Sea Sides. I asked Tony about his new releases and his unique playing style.

Could you talk a bit about your influences and how you ended up playing solo acoustic guitar?

I started playing solo acoustic just after my metal band at the time split up. I just went straight from one style to the next because I needed the money. I went to an open mic night back home after writing a couple of rough tunes, and got a support slot…haven’t stopped touring since then.

My influences were still metal early on. I took the rhythms from people likeJoey Jordison (Slipknot) and Joe Nunez (Soulfly) and put it into the lap tapping songs. Since then I have become a big fan of Chemical Brothers and Massive Attack, they probably influence and inspire more than anything when writing.

What led you to play lap-style specifically?

I had a bit of a problem with my left hand; it hurt to play conventionally and the band had to split up soon after. I found I could play beats on the guitar with my right hand while my mates were playing guitars around me, and when I felt confident enough to start playing with my other hand again, it soon all came together as the “lap-style”.

You’ve just released two new albums, Sun Set to Rise and a B-Sides collection. How did that come about?

Sun Set To Rise was written in November in the Southwest of England. It took about a month to get the music together, but the artwork and video editing on the DVD took a lot longer. Once my part of the work was done, I had a lot of free time. So I decided to do some collaboration work for fun with local vocalists.

Eventually Kieta and Lara joined me in the studio and we wrote the 5 vocal songs that are on the CD. The two other tracks are actually B sides from the Sun Set album so that’s where the idea of the title came from.

I also chose to donate 20% of the income of B Sides to the Animal Welfare Institute and will be doing more collaboration albums for this charity in the near future, as it really let me open up to using harmonies and layering up guitars in ways I can’t do on my solo albums.”  read more

Couple of questions I have..
What is that item wedged in the body near the end of his neck?
Judging from this video, just wondering if Tony ever picks a string with his right hand?