MARK KNOPFLER | SUZANNE VEGA | JOHN HAMMOND | 2014 SUMMER EVENTS GUIDE
SONGS TO PLAY SPIRIT
‘NATURE’S WAY’
J.S. BACH
‘BOURRÉE’ IN E MINOR
APRIL 2014
LESSONS TO LEARN BASICS SMART CHORDS THAT CAN EASE YOUR PLAYING
GUITAR GURU 10 WAYS TO FIX BUZZING STRINGS
WEEKLY WORKOUT
HOW TO SOLO OVER MINOR CHORDS
ROADSIDE AMERICANA THE BOB DYLAN WALKING TOUR & 49 OTHER MUST-SEE PLACES
GEAR THAT GROOVES LARRIVÉE OM-40R TRAVELER AG-105 AER COMPACT 60/3 AMP
25
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AN NIV ER SARY
YEAR
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IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NANCY STUTTERED SEVERELY. IT WAS THE KIND OF DISABILITY THAT CAUSED ANXIETY ALMOST EVERY SINGLE TIME SHE OPENED HER MOUTH. BUT WHEN NANCY’S 7TH GRADE TEACHER INTRODUCED HER TO GUITAR, SHE DEVELOPED SOMETHING MUCH MORE THAN MUSICAL TALENT — SHE DEVELOPED CONFIDENCE. SO, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT THE STAGE IS NO PLACE FOR A STUTTERER, SHE MADE THE CHOICE TO STEP ONTO IT ANYWAY. AND WHEN SHE BEGAN TO SING SOMETHING ASTONISHING HAPPENED: HER STUTTER COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED. SINCE THEN NANCY HAS WRITTEN OVER 100 DIFFERENT SONGS, AND PERFORMED IN FRONT OF AUDIENCES OF MORE THAN 500 PEOPLE. IT’S THE KIND OF STORY THAT REMINDS US THAT WHETHER YOU’RE A GUITAR PLAYER, OR A GUITAR BUILDER, THE WORLD NEEDS MORE PEOPLE LIKE NANCY. FOR MORE ABOUT NANCY AND OTHER STORIES THAT INSPIRE US, visit taylorguitars.com
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CONTENTS
FEATURES
36
Back in Black
Suzanne Vega releases first solo album in seven years BY DAVID KNOWLES
38
Live & Kicking
Blues master John Hammond captures a monster live solo performance for posterity BY DAVID KNOWLES
43
At the Water’s Edge
On the new album ‘Privateering,’ guitar slinger Mark Knopfler heeds the pirate’s call BY KENNY BERKOWITZ
36
48
Roadside Americana II: 50 Must-See Places Follow the signposts on the road to the acoustic nation
Suzanne Vega
BY GREG CAHILL, MARK SEGAL KEMP, AND DAVID KNOWLES
63 SPECIAL FOCUS:
2014 SUMMER EVENTS GUIDE
64
Play Well with Others
Headed for a festival or music camp? Jam sessions offer great fun and collective creativity . . . if you know how to approach them BY STEVIE COYLE
66
2014 Summer Events Directory Find the right program for you
43
ON THE COVER: BOB DYLAN PHOTOGRAPHER: MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVE/ GETTY IMAGES
Mark Knopfler ACOUSTIC GUITAR APRIL 2014, ISSUE 256
KNOPFLER— FABIO LOVIN; ILLUSTRATION—WOODY GUTHRIE
VOL. 24, NO. 10 DEPARTMENTS 9
FROM THE HOME OFFICE
11
OPENING ACT
93
EVENTS
94
MARKETPLACE
96
AD INDEX
98
GREAT ACOUSTICS
48
50 Must-See Places
AcousticGuitar.com 5
DEPARTMENTS
82
Traveler AG-105
NEWS
13
The Beat
Remembering American music icon Pete Seeger; Saintseneca merges Appalachia, the Beatles & Sonic Youth on ‘Dark Arc’; and more 17
News Spotlight
76
Dead again: Mountain Girl recounts finding long lost 1970 tapes that lead to the live acoustic ‘Family Dog’ album
Larrivée OM-40R PLAY
21
Here’s How
71
Songcraft
74
Acoustic Classic
76
Play the guitar with your daughter to help her build confidence and skills 22
Arizona-based Jason Kostal traded corporate life for a luthier’s dreams
David Wax marries American roots rock with Mexican folk 26
The Basics
Weekly Workout
82
84
Athens luthier spiffs up vintage Harmony and Kay guitars; Ernie Ball introduces a new alloy acoustic string; and more
6 April 2014
Review: AER Compact 60/3 Acoustic Amp
Popular small, but powerful, AER acoustic amp is better than ever
AG TRADE
Shoptalk
Review: Traveler AG-105
New mini-guitar offers a full-scale neck and bright acoustic sounds
Learn the different minor scales for rock, jazz, ethnic styles, and more
69
Review: Larrivée OM-40R
Don’t let this modestly priced guitar fool you—it’s one well-crafted machine
How to smooth out chord changes by switching up your fingerings 33
Guitar Guru
Dana Bourgeois on how to get rid of that annoying buzz
‘Nature’s Way’ captured the spirit of the nascent ecology movement; tackling J.S. Bach’s Bourrée in E minor (p 29) 31
Makers & Shakers
MIXED MEDIA
88
Playlist
Rosanne Cash reaches back to her Southern roots to create a great American song cycle; and other CDs
ACOUSTIC GUITAR ONLINE
Tommy Emmanuel
WATCH US ONLINE!
View insightful video interviews with some of the guitar world’s leading artists. In the past month, AcousticGuitar.com has posted conversations with (and player tips from) guitarists Tommy Emmanuel, Muriel Anderson, and Badi Assad. New videos are being posted regularly.
YOUR VOTE COUNTS
All year long, the gang at Acoustic Guitar keeps you tuned in to the hottest new guitars and gear. Now it’s time for you to tell us—and the whole world—about the guitars, gear, and gadgets you love to play; the instruments you would recommend to a friend or student, and the ones you dream about playing.
The 2014 Player’s Choice Awards are just around the corner.
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Introducing the new J-29 Rosewood. Play one today at your Gibson dealer and experience the next American Legend.
The J-29 Rosewood
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FROM THE HOME OFFICE AcousticGuitar.com • AcousticGuitarU.com
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT Editorial Director & Interim Editor Greg Cahill Editor at Large Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers Managing Editor Megan Westberg Senior Editor Mark Segal Kemp Senior Editor David Knowles Assistant Editor Amber von Nagel Production Designer Brad Amorosino Production Manager Hugh O’Connor Contributing Editors Kenny Berkowitz, Andrew DuBrock, Teja Gerken, David Hamburger, Steve James, Orville Johnson, Richard Johnston, Sean McGowan, Scott Nygaard, Greg Olwell, Adam Perlmutter, Rick Turner, Doug Young
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onnections. Every culture has sacred—or beloved secular—places that are revered for their innate qualities or filled with objects that possess significance or convey a special message. Case in point: The Smithsonian collection holds the faded stovetop hat that President Abraham Lincoln wore the night of his assassination. That old hat is seldom displayed, due to its fragile nature, but when it is the hat draws throngs of silent onlookers mesmerized by this rare artifact. In the guitar world, iconic instruments hold an equal fascination. For instance, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art this year is exhibiting Early American Guitars: The Instruments of C.F. Martin. Visitors to the show are captivated by the 35 or so rare instruments from the Martin Museum in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s own collection, and several private collections. People. Places. Things. Meaning. People have an abiding need to connect with the past and with those aspects of their lives that are deemed significant. In that spirit, Acoustic Guitar this month offers “Roadside Americana II,” a feature on 50 must-see places. You might not find examples of grand
architecture, unless you consider the humble Broken Spoke honky tonk in Austin, Texas, to be the Americana version of the Taj Mahal. But you will find places that connect to a deep calling within your own soul. That’s as true of the great guitar stores on the list, places that serve as focal points for acoustic-guitar players, as it is for the Ryman Auditorium, the former home of the Grand Ole Opry and a place that resonates with the spirit of the pioneers of bluegrass and country music. It’s also true of the small city of Hibbing, Minnesota, where our cover subject, Bob Dylan, and his girlfriend Echo met after school and on weekends at the L&B Café to share cherry pie a la mode, smoke cigarettes, and listen to the juke box. Now the café is one of several locations, along with the singer-songwriter’s childhood home, on the town’s Bob Dylan Walking Tour. Why are people drawn to it? For one thing, that humble café is where the future folk star dreamed of reinventing himself, never knowing just how deep an impact he’d have on the music world. T h i n k o f “ Ro a d s i d e A m e r i c a n a I I ” a s 50 places suitable for dreaming. —Greg Cahill, editorial director
Corrections & Clarifications The February issue of AG incorrectly published Christian “Chris” Martin IV’s first name as Christopher. The article also misidentified the authors of Inventing the American Guitar: The Pre-Civil War Innovations of C.F. Martin and His Contemporaries. The authors are James Westbrook, Arian Sheets, Richard Johnston, and David Gansz. In addition, in the “50 Must-See Events” feature, the Cuyahoga River was misspelled and the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival incorrectly listed as the Cleveland International Guitar Festival.
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AcousticGuitar.com 9
YOUR VOTE COUNTS! A
ll year long, the gang at Acoustic Guitar keeps you tuned in to the hottest new guitars and gear. Now it’s time for you to tell us—and the whole world—about the guitars, gear, and gadgets you love to play; the instruments you would recommend to a friend or student, and the ones you dream about playing.
VOTING BEGINS FEBRUARY 18 TH ACOUSTICGUITAR.COM/PCA
2014 PLAYER’S CHOICE AWARDS
OPENING ACT
PETE SEEGER JAY BLAKESBERG PHOTO
WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA MARCH 20, 2006 The late folk icon performs at the 25th anniversary Bread and Roses benefit concert. Read a remembrance of Seeger on page 13.
AcousticGuitar.com 11
The Lowden Team congratulate George Lowden on 40 years of guitar making & designing
1974 - 2014 George Lowden celebrates 40 years of guitar building and designing
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Join our celebration
NEWS
Saintseneca’s ‘Dark Arc’ 14
Grammy Winners 14
Grateful Dead 17
THE BEAT
Pete Seeger 1919–2014 Remembering an American music icon BY MARK SEGAL KEMP
Pete Seeger performs on stage during the Bring Leonard Peltier Home 2012 Concert at the Beacon in New York City.
NEILSON BARNARD/GETTY IMAGES
O
ne of the most vocal champions of acoustic folk traditions of myriad cultures, a powerful figure on the American political left, and an icon of American music, Pete Seeger died January 27 after more than seven decades of collecting, teaching, performing, and recording the music of working people from all over the world. Seeger died of natural causes at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He was 94. Andrew Revkin, an environmental reporter for the New York Times, a folksinger, and a friend and Hudson Valley, New York, neighbor of Seeger’s for many years, had visited Seeger at Presbyterian Hospital in the week prior to the folk icon’s death. “When I arrived on Monday afternoon,” Revkin noted, “he was at the center of a healing circle of song once again. My friend Steve Stanne, an environmental educator and masterful musician, led in the singing of Bill Staine’s ‘River’ as the Hudson that Pete for so long worked to restore flowed by, icy and glinting, outside the windows.”
‘We all owe our careers to Pete Seeger.’
—JOAN BAEZ
Seeger’s influence on American music and his impact on social justice and environmental issues was strong and enduring, from his young years performing labor songs alongside such other legendary American folk figures as Woody Guthrie and members of Seeger’s own earliest groups, the Almanac Singers and the Weavers, to his middle and later years singing with subsequent generations of folk artists, including Bob Dylan, Odetta, Bruce Springsteen, and Ani DiFranco. From the 1940s to the present, he strummed an acoustic guitar or plucked a Vega banjo often emblazoned with the slogan “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender,” and he sang against threats to humanity ranging from Hitler’s fascism to the US invasion of Vietnam, from the proliferation of nuclear
arms to the toll human industry has taken on global climate change, from US involvement in Latin American violence to more recent wars in the Middle East. He adapted the gospel song “I’ll Overcome Someday” as “We Shall Overcome,” which became a major anthem of the civil rights movement—in 2009, Seeger performed at an inaugural event for the nation’s first black president, Barack Obama. Seeger was modest about his importance. In a 2002 interview with Acoustic Guitar’s Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, he said, “I’m a teacher trying to teach people to participate, whether it’s banjos or guitars or politics or whatever.” A member of the religiously plural Unitarian Universalist Church, Seeger long maintained that folk music and community were one and the same, and with both, everyday common people could effect progressive social change. “At some point, Pete Seeger decided he’d be a walking, singing reminder of all of America’s history,” said Bruce Springsteen during a 2009 AcousticGuitar.com 13
THE BEAT | NEWS
recently. “Then I got the larger lesson: If you want to be a great activist, you have to do it yourself. He didn’t ask someone else to write me a letter. He wrote it himself. And also, he would send it immediately. When I asked him to play on my last record, he had returned my phone call twice and written me a letter before I was able to get back to him. That’s what I learned from him: As soon as the idea comes to you, that’s w h e n y o u w r i t e t h e l e t t e r, that’s when you act.” Joan Baez stated it more succinctly when she said, “We all owe our careers to Pete Seeger.” Nathan Bell, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter whose latest
Darkness Visible
Saintseneca merges Appalachia, the Beatles, and Sonic Youth on Dark Arc BY DAVID KNOWLES
Z
ac Little, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist for the Ohio-based alternative folk group Saintseneca, is perfectly comfortable with not quite fitting in with the crowd. On Dark Arc (Anti-), Saintseneca’s second fulllength album, the group employs such acoustic instruments as guitar, fiddle, balalaika, baritone ukulele, and banjo on an album that is anything but traditional. “Our sound allows us to step into different worlds and still feel at home, whether we’re playing with pop-punk bands or noisy bands or Americana bands or folk bands,” says Little, who boasts a thick 19thcentury-style red moustache. “In any of those realms, it feels like we don’t quite fit, but because of that we almost fit with all of them.” Growing up on an Appalachian farm in southeastern Ohio,
14 April 2014
Little gravitated to the Internet to find his musical sustenance. “The radio wasn’t a huge source of my music,” Little says. “Fortunately, I grew up in an era that had the Internet, so even though I lived in a very rural area, I found myself getting excited by indie bands.”
“When I bought [the Martin D-28], I was like, What is the loudest acoustic guitar I can get—and the D-28 pretty much fit the bill.” —ZAC LITTLE Saintseneca formed a few years later, after Little and two high-school friends—Steva Jacobs and Luke Smith— attended Ohio State University.
album, Blood Like a River, is well in keeping with Seeger’s tradition of making music for working Americans, had this to say of the singer’s influence on him: “When I was first starting out, Pete Seeger was a huge influence on how I wanted to be a writer. I made a lot of decisions based on that influence and those decisions led me to my interesting life and career as a political/topical writer instead of a co-writing hitmaker. “I made less money, but made a wonderful, working, moral life.”
KODALY CENTER RECEIVES FOLK GRANT The William and Flora Hewitt Foundation has awarded the Kodaly Center for Music Education at Holy Names University in Oakland, California, a $75,000 grant to aid in its transcriptions of rare folk songs. The center’s database currently contains some 700 songs. Kacey Musgraves
Read Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers’ 2002 interview with Pete Seeger at AcousticGuitar.com.
“When we moved to Columbus, I was living in a small apartment and I had already started playing on these acoustic instruments and collecting them—banjo, mandolin, dulcimer—different things than your standard electric guitar,” Little says. “Once we had this constraint of having to practice in my apartment figured out, we thought, ‘Well, let’s use this stuff.’” After the band began playing live, Little found himself needing a guitar with more volume. “I got a 1978 Martin D-28,” he explains. “When I bought it I was like, What is the loudest acoustic guitar I can get—and the D-28 pretty much fit the bill.” While the members of the band routinely switch instruments during performances, Saintseneca will tour as a five-piece to support the new album. Still, whether relying on acoustic instruments or threading in electric guitar and synthesizer, the group’s sound remains every bit as surprising as on their record. For Little, that was the plan from day one. “Being influenced by bands like Sonic Youth, more angular, obscure stuff,” he says, “but then channeling that vibe through the acoustic instruments, felt exciting.”
2014 GRAMMY AWARD HIGHLIGHTS Among the winners at this year’s Grammy Awards were recent AG cover artists Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, who took the trophy for Best American Roots Song; the Del McCoury Band, which took home Best Bluegrass Album; Guy Clark, who gleaned Best Folk Album for My Favorite Picture of You; Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, who snagged the award for Best Americana Album; and Kacey Musgraves, who took the honors for Best Country Album and Best Country Song.
Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell
HARRIS & CROWELL—DAVID MCCLISTER
Madison Square Garden concert celebrating Seeger’s 90th birthday. Folk singer Janis Ian told AG in 2002, “His consummate dedication to bringing all music to all peoples has made our universe a larger one. His refusal to pander to fame, to stardom, to the trappings of ego and narcissism, have set the standard for folk musicians.” Seeger’s standard continued well into the ’90s, when younger political folk singers, including DiFranco, arrived on the scene. She remembers the first time Seeger contacted her—by written letter—to perform at an event. “First, I was like, holy cow, Pete Seeger wrote a letter to me, with pen on paper,” she told AG
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NEWS SPOTLIGHT
The Grateful Dead at Family Dog in 1970
The Gift
Jerry Garcia’s ex-wife, Mountain Girl, recounts finding long lost 1970 tapes that lead to the new live acoustic ‘Family Dog’ album BY DAVID KNOWLES
MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
F
or the late Jerry Garcia’s ex-wife, Carolyn Garcia, it was the find of a lifetime. In May of 2013, Garcia, aka Mountain Girl, was doing some spring cleaning at her home in Eugene, Oregon, when she came across a cardboard box containing a trove of unmarked analog tapes. Included in the 40-year-old archive was a never-before-released acoustic show that the Grateful Dead played in 1970 at the Family Dog restaurant, on the Great Highway just south of San Francisco. The recording captures the Dead just three months after the band recorded the watershed acoustic album Workingman’s Dead (which would be released later that summer) and a few months before the sessions that would become the companion acoustic album American Beauty. “When I found the tapes, I thought, OK, we’ve got to do something with this—this is important,” Garcia says during a phone call from her home. “I sent them to Jeffrey Norman. He’s been the Grateful Dead’s masterer for years and does great work.” Rhino Records recently released the 80-minute set as Family Dog at the Great Highway. Available on CD and limitededition vinyl, it boasts 17 tracks, including covers of the Wanda Jackson hit song
“Silver Threads and Golden Needles” and the Everlys’ hit single “Wake Up Little Susie.” “Jerry had just gotten a different guitar that was quieter and more suited to the onstage thing, because it didn’t drown everything out—this pretty little acoustic Martin,” Garcia says. “You hear it on this recording.” While the recording is on the lo-fi side of the audio spectrum, it serves as a time capsule to an era when the pressures of maintaining a high-profile touring schedule had not yet set in on the band. “The show was lightly attended,” Garcia recalls. “There wasn’t a huge number of people there. The Family Dog was this big old building out on the Great Highway and it was pretty bare bones, just a big room, maybe 75 by 90 or something like that. It was a gathering place for people. You loved going there because the family vibe was so nice, and it was a place you could take your kids—they could run around, nobody was going to get mad at you for being who you were.” Perhaps one reason for the modest turnout was that bills for the show don’t mention either the Grateful Dead or the New Riders of the Purple Sage, who opened the gig. Instead, top billing goes to Mickey Hart and his Heartbeats and Bobby Ace and His Cards from the Bottom of the Deck.
But as was common during that period, Jerry and the Dead provided the lion’s share of the entertainment that evening. “It was what he did in those days,” Garcia says. “The New Riders would open, and Jerry would play with them. Then they’d do an acoustic set, and Jerry would play through the whole thing, and then they’d do two Grateful Dead sets—and he would be tired when we got home!” Above all, what Garcia recalls about the gig was the lighthearted chemistry between the band members. “They’re having a wonderful time,” Garcia says. “There’s just not a lot of pressure going on. It took me back to a time when things were a lot more relaxed and a lot less heavy. I think it’s just a stunning night of music.” No stranger to archival material, Garcia adds that hearing the Family Dog show after so much time was special. “It’s like going back to old family Christmases or something,” Garcia says. “It’s a gift to be able to unwrap something like that and have it be something that was part of your life, and has become something that has become important for so many people. I never could have guessed that would happen. “It was just us in those days.” AG AcousticGuitar.com 17
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ERIK JACOBS
PLAY
‘Nature’s Way’ 26
Bach’s Bourrée 29
Basics 31
David Wax Museum p 22
AcousticGuitar.com 19
HERE’S HOW
It’s a Family Affair Play the guitar with your daughter to help her build confidence and skills BY OCTOBER CRIFASI
A
guitar-playing dad recently asked me what he could do to help his daughter improve her skills on the instrument. My answer was simple: play together! Playing together can be one of the best things you can do to support and help your daughter build her confidence and skills. The key is to keep it simple and take turns when playing. THE STRUM & THE SOLO Start with an easy three-chord progression, like G, C, and D (one-finger versions of G and C are fine, as is D7, because it is easier for younger hands). Strum through the progression several times together, and then have her strum while you play a simple solo using the open E-minor pentatonic scale. Don’t go too crazy with the riffs. The idea is to encourage creative first steps, not to overwhelm with the power of shred (at least not yet). Switch roles and teach her the lower octave of the E-minor pentatonic scale starting with low E (open sixth string) to middle E (second fret on the fourth string).
‘Share the music of the players you love with your daughter, and ask her to do the same with you.’ Her first solo could be to play the scale forward and backward while you play G, C, and D over and over. If fretting single notes is too hard for her, have her use the first three open strings while you strum an Em chord for several measures. Shift into creating phrases using three or four notes once the scale is familiar to her fingers. You can also teach her how to hammer-on and pulloff notes, if her fingers are strong enough.
CHORD
ROOT
THIRD
FIFTH
G (GBD)
6th or 3rd string
5th or 2nd string
4th string
C (CEG)
5th or 2nd string
4th or 1st string
3rd string
D (DF#A)
4th or 2nd string
1st string
3rd string
This provides instant rock ’n’ roll cool to something as easy as a two-note riff on the same string. Remember: simplicity is key. Sometimes one note that works well over a simple three-chord progression can provide instant gratification and open the door for trying more complex combinations. SING THE CHORD This can be fun and is also great ear-training practice. Pick a major chord and play the root a few times while she strums the whole chord, or vice versa (see box above). Sing the pitch and then see if you both can continue to sing that note while strumming the chord. Repeat this idea with the third and the fifth of the chord. Get really adventurous by having one of you sing or play the root while the other sings or plays the fifth at the same time (power or five chords are great for this, with open power chords being beginner-friendly). Remember, though, this isn’t a vocal exercise, so keep the focus on hearing the note in the chord rather than on proper vocal pedagogy. You can move to other chords in a given key and make a game of which notes stay the same and which change among them. These notes then provide anchor notes to create simple melodies that connect them. Sing the melodies first, and then find those notes on the guitar.
that your list consists of only the usual male suspects, with nary a woman on it, you might want to consider enlisting your daughter’s help to discover female guitarists and bands. Trust me, they’re out there, and I bet she knows many of them. YouTube, Bandcamp, and Emusic are filled to the brim with music and videos by female guitarists and bands in all genres. Not quite sure where to start? Check out Danielle Haim of Haim; the Eisley sisters of Eisley; Lily & Madeline; First Aid Kit; Kaki King; Sarah Jarosz; Gaby Moreno; Rachel Brown; Sierra Hull; Allison Robertson of the Donnas; KT Tunstall; Laura-Mary Carter of Blood Red Shoes; Iren Arutyunyan and Sofia Gleeson of LeChic Duo; and Gabriella Quevedo, just to name a few. Why is this important? Because research at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media has shown that if girls see women and other girls doing something they themselves would like to do, they are more likely to believe they can do it, too. Seeing another girl or woman play the guitar (and I mean really playing, not just holding a guitar and looking provocative) goes a long way in building her confidence as a player. I know it did for me. The main thing here is simply to make and talk music together. So, dive in, explore, and get to strumming. AG October Crifasi is a professional
EXPLORE NEW MUSIC TOGETHER Share the music of the players you love with your daughter and ask her to do the same with you. If you discover, however,
guitarist, songwriter, and music educator in Los Angeles, California. She also is founder and director of Girls Guitar School.
AcousticGuitar.com 21
SONGCRAFT
Museum Quality
David Wax marries American roots rock with Mexican folk BY JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS
What was it about Mexican folk music that grabbed you? It was part of a vibrant folk-music culture, and that was something I had never been exposed to. There was a lot of great music where I was growing up in central Missouri, but I had no way of entering that authentic folk tradition, where people who 22 April 2014
IMAGE—ERIK JACOBS; TEXT © JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS
O
nstage at a club in Ithaca, New York, David Wax kicks off his song “Will You Be Sleeping?” with strums on an jarana jarocha—an eight-string folk instrument from Veracruz, Mexico. Fleshed out with keyboard, electric bass, and drums, the music sounds like American pop until his band, David Wax Museum, gets to the song’s syncopated instrumental breaks, which come straight from southern Mexico’s son calentano tradition. As the show continues, the music becomes harder to pigeonhole. There are grooves and repeating vocal patterns derived from Mexican son (which means “sound” in Spanish)—with fiddle, accordion, and quijada (donkey jaw) percussion—but there’s also crunchy electric guitar and elements of indie rock. Wax sometimes refers to his music as MexoAmericana, but no one in the club is worrying about what to call it—they’re too busy dancing to one of the most joyously energetic acts on the scene today. Wax grew up in Missouri and had his first ear-opening encounters with Mexican folk during a summer as a college student. After graduating from Harvard in 2006, he spent a year in Mexico on a fellowship, digging deeper into the music. Eventually, his studies merged with the songwriting he’d done since he was a teenager. When he returned to Boston, he began performing with Suz Slezak as David Wax Museum. The duo expanded to a full band as word spread about their kinetic live shows. Along the way, they’ve released four albums, hitting their creative stride on 2011’s Everything Is Saved and 2012’s Knock Knock Get Up. Backstage, before the Ithaca show, Wax sat down, his jarana close at hand, and talked about how his border-crossing songwriting style came to be.
David Wax and Suz Slezak
have been playing a long time have taught the next generation. To see a folk music that played such an important role in basic community life was inspiring and really got me fired up. The first time I heard this son huasteco or huapango music, which is essentially dance music, I really appreciated the spirit,
but couldn’t fathom that I would ever learn to play it. Had you written songs before then? I had been writing since I was 13. When I first heard “Rocky Raccoon” by the Beatles, I was like, OK—I’m going to write songs. That’s what I want to do. I started playing
with my cousin when we were teenagers, and we had a band throughout junior high and high school and wrote songs by the dozens. In my first year of college I hadn’t been writing that much, but that summer in Mexico I started writing again. I felt inspired just being there. Was there a eureka moment when you realized you could blend elements of Mexican folk into your own songwriting? That happened much later. Five or six years later I went down there on a fellowship to study folk music, and during that year, there was one point where I’d been messing around with a song I’d written that was more of a straight-ahead song on guitar. I was trying to take this Mexican huapango rhythm on the jarana huasteca [a five-stringed instrument similar to the jarana jarocha], and then kind of transpose my song into that rhythm and sing over it. I was taking [jarana] lessons with this woman in Mexico City, and in our lesson I started to play it for her and she got really excited with what I was doing. Then I was like, whoa, there’s something here. Did your background on guitar help you pick up instruments like the jarana? For a long time, I didn’t think of myself as a guitarist. I’d gotten into music as a pianist, and I got a guitar when I wanted to start a rock band and write songs. But I never studied it—I just had a Beatles chord book and taught myself all the songs in that. I had an older brother who was a serious jazz guitarist, so I had always thought, my brother is a guitarist; I’m not a guitarist. When I got down to Mexico and saw people playing these other stringed instruments, I decided to look at three styles of music and try to learn songs in those styles. For son calentano, I was able to play a classical guitar—that’s not traditionally what they do, but that’s what everybody does nowadays with that style of music. And then with the other styles of music [son huasteco and son jarocho], there was no way I would be allowed to play guitar. If you showed up to one of those events and you had a guitar, people would really look down on you. So, I was like, OK, if I’m going to really do this and learn these songs, I have to buy a jarana. So I finally tracked down a bunch of instruments in Xalapa. I got my first jarana jarocha and a jarana huasteca. Your songs use a lot of rhythm and chord patterns from those styles. Are you consciously adopting that vocabulary?
Yeah, but I have to say it’s intuitive. I’m not very adept at music theory, so it would be hard for me to tell you, this is what I’m doing right now. The way people learn it is like, OK, I’m playing it—play it with me. More and more people who play it are younger people who have studied music theory, but the way I learned it was just following someone doing it and getting comfortable playing a lot of songs. The jarana huasteca music, that’s all essentially one rhythm. Once you’ve got that down, you can kind of play every song in that style. In the son calentano stuff that I do on guitar, there are two basic patterns you learn. Son jarocho, though, is a much more diverse rhythmic palate, I think because there’s a much stronger African influence. Southern Veracruz is where the Africans were brought over and enslaved on the sugar plantations, so you have a lot more syncopation, a lot more funky rhythms, and it’s much more complicated to dance to. Another aspect of Mexican folk that you’ve incorporated into your songs is the repetition, in both the lyrics and the melodies. A lot of times what I’ve done is I’ve taken a traditional song and tried to unlock the
WHAT DAVID WAX PLAYS ACOUSTIC GUITARS Onstage, Wax plays a Martin 00-15. On the Knock Knock Get Up album, he uses no acoustic guitar except for a Yamaha classical on “Wondrous Love”; for all the acoustic sounds, he uses various Mexican instruments in the guitar family. JARANAS Wax performs with a jarana jarocha (segunda size) made by Julio Blas Vaquero at the Taller de Laudería Blas—the Blas family instrument workshop—outside of Santiago Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico. It is tuned G C E A G, with single G strings and double courses for the middle strings. Wax plays rhythm on the instrument with his fingers, using flamenco-style
‘To see a folk music that played such an important role in basic community life was inspiring and really got me fired up.’ verses and the way that the lines repeat. You’ll go to a new verse, but then you’ll go back to the verse before, and it takes on a new meaning when you go back to it. I was really drawn to that as a writer—as a singer, too, because when you sing the same line a couple times, it really opens up; you feel inclined to approach the line a different way each time you sing it. Lyrically, it’s great to have this interesting template that you won’t have used previously. Any kind of new structure feels like a great tool. It can inspire the writing in a way that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. What are some examples of songs you’ve written based on traditional forms? The most clearly derivative one is “Harder Before It Gets Easier.” There’s a son calentano rhythm from Michoacán—I’m playing it on a fuzzed-up electric guitar, so it’s hard
MARTIN 00-15
rasgueado technique. On record, he also plays jaranas in other sizes (mosquito, primera, tercera) as well as a jarana huasteca and a huapanguera (both have five strings). ACCESSORIES He strings the 00-15 with Martin SP phosphor-bronze mediums. His go-to source for strings for all the Mexican instruments is Guadalupe Custom Strings in Los Angeles. He uses .73mm Dunlop nylon picks and Kyser capos. AMPLIFICATION For the Martin, he uses a K&K Pure Western pickup and a Radial ProDI. The jarana is equipped with a Fishman SBT-E soundboard transducer that runs into an LR Baggs Venue DI.
AcousticGuitar.com 23
SONGCRAFT | PLAY
‘I can’t play this music as a traditional musician. It’s a limitation that I’ve accepted, and accepting that has opened up a whole other world of relating to the music.’
to hear this specific rhythm. One of the chord patterns I use is taken from a Juan Reynoso version—he’s the most famous fiddler from this style of music. I took a couple of pieces from this traditional song [“La Tortolita”] and blended them up a little bit. I don’t think someone who knew the song would even quite recognize it. “All Sense of Time” is another one. That’s based on this son jarocho song called “El Celoso,” which is real indigenous in spirit. It’s just about the rain and the passing of time. I’m not playing the chords of the song. I saw this guy I studied with, Ramón Gutiérrez, do a beautiful walk-down riff once on his jarana, so I’ve kind of taken the pattern that he played but then changed the rhythm a little bit.
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24 April 2014
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The songs on Knock Knock Get Up find a new sort of blend of the Mexican influences with a more rock sound. Do they feel that way to you? Yeah. I think that I feel a little more free in terms of how I interpret the music. The more I’m doing it, the more I feel like I can’t play this music as a traditional musician—I wasn’t raised with it, I’m not a good enough musician, and I haven’t spent a lifetime studying it. It’s a limitation that I’ve accepted, and I think accepting that has opened up a whole other world of relating to the music. The producer on our last two records [Sam Kassirer] really helped us articulate that sense of the messier it gets—in that you can’t tell if it’s a traditional Mexican folk song or just an Americana straight-ahead song or an indie-rock song—the more interesting it gets, and the more unique it sounds, and the more it helps define us. I think there’s just more free rein as we’ve gotten more confident in what we’re doing. The rhythm’s not authentic, we’ve changed it, and I’ve written my own narrative to the song that’s not a true translation. We can’t feel chained to the original version because that’s not what it is. Even though we all listen to the old stuff and love the old stuff, we want to make music that is now. AG
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ACOUSTIC CLASSIC
Song Captured the Spirit of the Nascent Ecology Movement ‘Nature’s Way’ became a 1970s rock anthem and classic-rock radio staple BY GREG CAHILL
I
n 1969, the Cuyahoga River, polluted with decades of industrial waste from Cleveland, Ohio, factories, burst into flames. Smog seared the eyes of Los Angeles residents. And oil from offshore rigs fouled beaches in Santa Barbara. The following year, “Nature’s Way,” the acoustic-based cautionary tale from Spirit’s 1970 psychedelic album Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, echoed that haunting refrain, “It’s nature’s way of telling you, something’s wrong.” The album, a loose-knit sci-fi concept album, became the best-selling album by one of the best, most eclectic and least appreciated West Coast bands of the 1960s and ’70s rock era. Neil Young cohort David Briggs produced the record. The album spawned the Top 100 hit “Animal Zoo,” a social commentary on civilization’s thin veneer, as well as the classic-rock radio staple “Nature’s Way,” built around a droning Asus2 chord. Spirit guitarist and boy genius Randy California penned “Nature’s Way” in San Francisco one afternoon while the band waited to perform at the Fillmore Auditorium. That stark environmental anthem coincided with the inaugural Earth Day celebration, becoming the first pop song to seriously address concerns about pollution and ecological disaster. The album continues to have an impact: Walter Becker of Steely Dan, who lived in the same apartment building as Randy California, reportedly has credited the Spirit guitarist’s bluesy style as a major influence and has noted that Spirit’s jazz-inflected prog-rock paved the way for Steely Dan’s distinct 1970s pop sound (many have noted the similarity between the piano figure that opens “Space Child” and the intro to Steely Dan’s hit “FM”). More recently, the lo-fi indie-rock icon Sam Beam of Iron & Wine shaped part of his song “Wolves” after “Prelude—Nothing to Hide,” from Twelve Dreams, and both hip-hop star Common and rocker Pink have sampled Spirit recordings.
26 April 2014
Randy California, center
Five years after its release, and with the original lineup split up, the album went gold. That lineup was a musically diverse bunch. Ed Cassidy, who was guitarist Randy Cal i f o r n i a ’ s s te p f a th e r, h a d p l a y e d drums for Thelonious Monk, Roland Kirk,
and other jazz greats. He was a founding member—along with Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder—of the Rising Sons. Keyboardist John Locke also had strong jazz roots. Vocalist and percussionist Jay Ferguson was classically trained and immersed in
bluegrass before turning to rock and then film and TV composing (most recently, he wrote the theme to the hit TV series The Office). At 15, California (né Randy Craig Wolfe) played guitar for Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, the New York band led by Jimi Hendrix—Hendrix dubbed him Randy California to avoid confusing him with another band member. The young guitarist turned down an offer by the future rock superstar
to move to London when Hendrix headed overseas to start the Experience. Instead, California returned to his native LA. At first, his genre-leaping, multigenerational band (ages 16–44) was named Spirits Rebellious, after the mystical writer Kahlil Gibran’s poem. Spirit released its self-titled debut in 1968. On its first tour of the United States, Led Zeppelin opened several shows for Spirit. Jimmy Page later pilfered the
SONG TO PLAY
Nature’s Way
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RANDY CALIFORNIA Arranged by Andrew DuBrock
Strum Pattern at C #m7 Chord
#m7 C x 13400
Intro/Verse Strum Pattern
Ax0sus2 13 xx
A 5 G1#x7sus4 x0 11 xx 24 xx
G #7
#m7 A add9 C x x
Ax0sus2 13 xx
Chords
© 1970 HOLLENBECK MUSIC. COPYRIGHT RENEWED. ALL RIGHTS CONTROLLED AND ADMINISTERED BY IRVING MUSIC, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY PERMISSION. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD CORPORATION.
1 x23 xx
4 fr.
13400
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### 4 4 &
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≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥
* Strum:
x 134 xx
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œœ œœ œœ œœ œœœœ œœœœ # œœœœ (œ ) œœ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œœœ œ œ œœœ œœœ œœ œ œ œ >œ œ >œ œ œ >œ œ œ >œ œ œ œ œ œ > > > >œ œ œ >œ œ >œ >œ œ >
B5
7 fr.
descending chord progression and main guitar riff from the Spirit tune “Taurus” for the signature Zep song “Stairway to Heaven.” Page never admitted the plunder, but California did live to see others embrace his musical vision. In 1997, nature had its way with the rocker—he drowned while saving his 12-year-old surfer son from a riptide near a friend’s home in Molokai, Hawaii. His body was never recovered. AG
4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
* ≥ = down; ≤ = up
( 2)
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥
0 0 6 6 6 4 4 4
0 0 6 6 4 4 4
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Intro Asus2
A5
Asus2
A5
Asus2
G #7sus4
A5
1. It’s nature’s way of telling you something’s wrong Asus2
A5
G #7sus4
G #7
It’s nature’s way of telling you in a song
C #m7
Aadd9
G #7
Aadd9
C #m7
Aadd9
Badd4/A
E5
Badd4/A
B5
A5
It’s nature’s way of telling you something’s wrong
Badd4/A
Asus2
B5
Badd4/A
It’s nature’s way of retrieving you
It’s nature’s way of retrieving you
E5
Aadd9
It’s nature’s way of receiving you
It’s nature’s way of receiving you
C #m7
C #m7
A5
It’s nature’s way, it’s nature’s way
A5
It’s nature’s way of telling you something’s wrong
Asus2
A5
It’s nature’s way, it’s nature’s way Asus2
A5
G #7sus4
2. It’s nature’s way of telling you, summer breeze Asus2
A5
G #7sus4
It’s nature’s way of telling you, dying trees
G #7
G #7
Repeat First Verse B5
A5
B5
A5
Something’s wrong, something’s wrong
B5
C #m7
AcousticGuitar.com 27
ACOUSTIC CLASSIC 25th YEAR : FROM THE VAULT
Bourrée in E Minor
If you’ve never played or studied any of Bach’s music, the Bourrée in E minor makes for an excellent introduction. Even though it isn’t overly complex or difficult to play, it is a beautiful representation of Bach’s sense of harmony and counterpoint, with distinct bass and melody lines moving so perfectly against each other that it may give you the chills as you play the piece. If you’re having difficulty with the independence of the movements, try learning the melody and bass line separately, one at a time, fusing them together after you’re comfortable with each. Pay special attention to the fingering in bars 17 and 22, as it’s easy to get your fingers tied up in knots if you’re not careful. Even if you’re not a classical player, mastering pieces such as this offers a great learning experience for any fingerstyle guitarist, because it not only teaches pickinghand techniques that are independent of set patterns but also demonstrates excellent form and structure. AG
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach BY TEJA GERKEN
F
or many classical-guitar students, tackling the Bourrée in E minor by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) is a rite of passage from playing mere exercises to playing music that many nonmusicians will recognize and appreciate. Bach wrote the Bourrée sometime after 1712 (the exact date is unknown) as part of his Lute Suite No. 1, and it was adapted for guitar in the 20th century, after the instrument earned acceptance in classical circles. Andrés Segovia recorded a version of it in 1947. Since then, the piece has made its way onto countless classical guitar recordings, and it has a firm place in the repertoire. Classical guitarists aren’t the only ones to cut their teeth on the Bourrée. British rockers Jethro Tull included a jazzed-up band version on their 1969 album Stand Up. Their decidedly nonclassical performance provided the blueprint for an arrangement often performed live (but never officially released) by Michael Hedges—playing flute!—and electric bass virtuoso Michael Manring. Thanks to its popularity outside the classical realm, referring to the piece merely as “the Bach Bourrée” will generally allow people to recall the correct tune, but you’ll probably want to be more specific when trying to impress your classically trained friends. This is because “Bourrée” actually refers to a dance popular in France’s Auvergne region during the 17th century, and the name has been used for countless compositions of the Baroque period.
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© 2006 STRINGLETTER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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AcousticGuitar.com 29
SONG BOOK | PLAY 4
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30 April 2014
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THE BASICS
Smart Chords Can Help Ease Your Playing
How to smooth out chord changes by switching up your fingerings BY JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS
I
f you look closely at the fingers of guitarists jamming on, say, Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel,” you’ll see that there is no universal way to do something as simple as holding down an open G chord. One player might fret it with the middle, index, and ring fingers, while the next one will use the ring, middle, and pinky—or maybe the four-finger version, with the ring and pinky on the first and second strings. One of those is probably your go-to fingering, because it feels most comfortable. But which is the right way to play it? The best answer is: it depends. The correct fingering depends on what comes immediately before and after that G chord—you’re looking for the smoothest and easiest way to maneuver through a given progression. The smart approach is to try several fingerings and see which one works best.
Notice how much more efficient the move from G to C is in Ex. 1b.
Ex. 1a
G
3 0 0 0 2 3
B
IMAGE—CRACKERFARM; TEXT & MUSIC © JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS
G
x 32 0 1 0
21 0 0 0 3
3 0 0 0 2 3
0 1 0 2 3
C
G
21 0 0 0 3 x 32 0 1 0 21 0 0 0 3
0 1 0 2 3
3 0 0 0 2 3
0 1 0 2 3
3 0 0 0 2 3
Ex. 1b
G
C
3 0 0 0 2 3
G
x 32 0 1 0
3 2 0004
3 0 0 0 2 3
0 1 0 2 3
C
G
3 2 0 0 0 4 x 32 0 1 0 3 2 0 0 0 4
0 1 0 2 3
3 0 0 0 2 3
0 1 0 2 3
3 0 0 0 2 3
D
G
D
In these examples, a different G fingering is better.
Ex. 2a
Ex. 2b
D
G
x x0 132
TAKE IT EASY Check out Ex. 1a, which makes quick changes between G and C. Use the middle/index/ring fingering for the G as shown, and pay attention to how far your fingers have to move to get to C. Then try Ex. 1b, with the ring/middle/pinky fingering for G. Notice how your ring and middle fingers stay in the same shape and just move over one string to go to the C? That’s a much more efficient move—and a better way to finger this sequence of chords. On the other hand, if you’re going to G from D, as in Ex. 2a, the middle/index/ring fingering for the G is easier—in both chords, the index is at the second fret. An even better choice is the
C
D
G
D
x x0 132 21 0 0 0 3 x x0 132
21 0 0 0 3
D
G
x x0 132
x x0 132 21 0 0 34 x x0 132
21 0 0 34
5
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2 3 2 0
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3 3 0 0 2 3
2 3 2 0
3 3 0 0 2 3
2 3 2 0
LISTEN TO THIS Old Crow Medicine Show ‘Wagon Wheel’
Old Crow Medicine Show
AcousticGuitar.com 31
THE BASICS | PLAY
LISTEN TO THIS
Paul Simon ‘Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard’
four-finger G, as in Ex. 2b, because the ring finger stays planted on the second string for both chords, serving as an anchor and also creating a nice-sounding common tone. (You can get a similar effect in Ex. 1b by leaving your pinky on the first string, third fret, for the C chord.)
Practice the different fingerings for Em in these examples.
Ex. 3a
Ex. 3b
Am
x0 231 0
Em
G
Em
Em
0 12 0 00
21 0 0 0 3
0 12 0 00
0 23 0 00
B7
x 213 0 4
Em
G
0 23 0 00
3 2 0004
9
B
0 1 2 2 0
0 1 2 2 0
0 0 0 2 2 0
0 0 0 2 2 0
3 0 0 0 2 3
3 0 0 0 2 3
3 0 0
0 0 0 2 2 0
0 0 0 2 2 0
0 0 0 2 2 0
0 0 0 2 2 0
2 0 2 1 2
2 0 2 1 2
0 0 0 2 2 0
0 0 0 2 2 0
See which fingering for the A chord is better for this progession.
Ex. 4
play three times
A
D
x0 2 1 3 0
A
x x0 132
E
x0 2 1 3 0
E
0 23 1 00
0 23 1 00
0 0 0 2 2 0
3 0 0 0 2 3
3 0 0 0 2 3
Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers (jeffreypepper13
rodgers.com), Acoustic Guitar’s editor-
B 32
0 2 2 2 0
April 2014
0 2 2 2 0
2 3 2 0
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at-large, is author of the multimedia guide Songwriting Basics for Guitarists and the Homespun video series Learn Seven Grateful Dead Classics for Acoustic Guitar.
PAUL SIMON—MATTEO MENETTI
Paul Simon
ALTERNATE FINGERINGS FOR OTHER CHORDS There are multiple fingering options for other open-position chords, too. You can play Em, for instance, with the index and middle fingers, or with the middle and ring. Which is better? In Ex. 3a, the index/middle Em makes the most sense, because the middle finger remains at the same string and fret for Am and Em (and then the index also stays put when you go from Em to G). But in Ex. 3b, the middle/ring Em works better: the middle finger stays in place for Em, B7, and G. Note that the choice of Em fingering affects the choice of G fingering, too. Of all the open-position chords, A is the one with the most fingering options: you could fret the fourth, third, and second strings, respectively, with fingers 123, 234, 213, 111 (an index barre), or even 112 (two-string index barre plus the middle). Again, different fingerings work better in different contexts. Play Ex. 4, a progression similar to Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” using the standard 1 2 3 fingering for A; then try it as shown, with the 2 1 3 fingering. With this alternate fingering, the index stays on the G string: it’s at the same fret for A and D, then slides down a fret for the E. Having this kind of anchor through the changes is particularly helpful if you play fast. AG
WEEKLY WORKOUT
Minor Works
Learn the different minor scales for rock, jazz, world styles, and more BY SCOTT NYGAARD
T
he easiest way to think of minor scales is in relation to major scales. If you know any major scale, you know its relative minor scale: the same notes, but starting on the sixth of the scale. The relative minor scale, also called the natural minor scale, is what most people think of when they think of a minor scale, and it works well over a vi chord in a major chord progression: for example, the ubiquitous progression used in pop songs from “Stand By Me” to Radiohead’s “No Surprises”: I–vi–IV–V, or C–Am–F–G in the key of C. If you’re going to solo over songs that use minor chords, whether they’re major-key songs that include minor chords or songs in a minor key, it’s a good idea to think of minor scales as entities in themselves. There are a few different minor scales you should know, all of which are slight modifications of the natural-minor scale, including the Dorian and Phrygian modes and the melodic- and harmonic-minor scales. This series of workouts explains the different minor scales and shows you some ways to use them in musical situations including rock, jazz, and various world styles.
WEEK ONE The main reason for using different minor scales is that minor chords have different functions in a chord progression depending on their relation to the overall key. The harmonized major scale includes three minor chords, the ii, iii, and vi. The key of C, for example, includes Dm (ii), Em (iii), and Am (vi). Start playing the C-major scale on the root of any of those chords and you will get a slightly different minor scale. Ex. 1 shows an A natural-minor line that works well over Am in the key of C. Ex. 2 is almost the same line, but in the key of G, where Am is the ii chord. Starting on the A in a G major scale produces the Dorian mode, a scale often used in jazz, where ii–V progressions are common. Notice that the Fn in Ex. 1 has become an F in Ex. 2. Am is the iii chord in the key of F, and Ex. 3 shows the line in Ex. 1 modified to fit the key of F, with a B instead of a Bn.
Week One Ex. 1: A natural minor
Ex. 2: A Dorian
# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœ œ & 44 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w œ œœ w 2
0 1
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Ex. 4: A harmonic minor
Ex. 3: A Phrygian
4 n œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ #œœ & b 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ w w 23
1
2320
B Ex. 5
3 2
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01
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œœœ œœœœœ œ œœœœœ œ œ & 44 œ œ œœ œ œœœ œœ œœœ œœœ w B
Ex. 6
4 & 4 B
Am
0 2 3
Dm
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0
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œœœœ œœœœ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w
Am
0 2 3
Dm
2
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2
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E7
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3
1 0
Starting a major scale on the third produces the Phrygian mode. While this mode is not as popular as some others, it’s helpful to know when playing songs with prominent iii chords. These scales work well when playing in major keys with chords that stick to the base key’s major scale, but some minor progressions use a V7 chord to return to the minor root. For
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example, a song in A minor might stick to most of the chords in the base (C) scale, but then use a dominant V7 chord to return to the tonic. In A minor this would be an E7 chord, which raises the minor third (G) in an Em chord to the major third (G#) in an E7 chord. To play melodic lines that match the V7 chord you use the harmonicminor scale, which raises the flatted seventh in AcousticGuitar.com 33
WEEKLY WORKOUT | PLAY
the minor scale to a major seventh. The A harmonic-minor scale, for example, is A, B, C, D, E, F, G . Ex. 4 shows the line in Ex. 1 using an A harmonic-minor scale. Ex. 5 shows a line over a progression that uses the three minor chords in the key of C and Am. The line over the Am chord is an A natural-minor scale; the line over Dm uses a D Dorian scale, and the line over Em uses the E Phrygian scale. Notice that there are no notes outside the base key. You could just play melodies in the key of C (Am) over this progression, but by targeting the strong notes in the minor chord (the root, third, and fifth), and connecting them with the appropriate scale, you can create melodic lines that really define the underlying chord. Ex. 6 shows a line similar to Ex. 5, but with an E7 instead of Em, so the scale played over the E7 chord is A harmonic minor.
BEGINNERS’ TIP 1
Week Two Ex. 7 E 7
6 7
B Ex. 8
4 5 7
5 6
The harmonic-minor scale may be the most unfamiliar of the scales shown, so this week’s workout consists of a few different melodic lines featuring the harmonic-minor scale played over an E7 chord in the key of Am in three different positions on the neck. This sort of progression is often used in Gypsy jazz. Ex. 7 works out of a position spanning frets four through seven; the line in Ex. 8 stays between frets six through nine; and Ex. 9 is way up the neck at frets eight through 12.
WEEK THREE The Dorian mode is probably the most common minor scale in mainstream jazz, not only because of its usefulness in navigating ii–V progressions but because of standard tunes like Miles Davis’ “So What” that are based entirely on this mode. And in Gypsy jazz, Django Reinhardt’s favorite minor root voicing was a minor sixth, so playing Dorian lines over this chord can sound great.
5 7
E7
4 7 5 7 5
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Ex. 9 E 7
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34 April 2014
10
E7
Am
10 8 912 10 12 9 1012 910 10 9 9 10 9 1012 12 121012 9
12 11
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Week Three Ex. 10 A Dorian
B
7 4 5 7
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Ex. 11
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Ex. 12 D Dorian
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BEGINNERS’ TIP 2 Play these exercises with alternate picking— playing downstrokes on the onbeats of the measure, and upstrokes on the ands of each beat: down-up, down-up, down-up, down-up.
7
Am
6 7 9 6
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E7
It’ll be easier to tackle these minor-scale exercises if you know the corresponding major scales. Learn C, G, and D major scales in open position first.
WEEK TWO
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Ex. 10 and Ex. 11 show A Dorian lines in two different positions. The Dorian mode also can be used over a iv chord in a minor key: Dm in the key of A minor, for instance. This makes sense if you consider that Dm is the ii chord in the underlying major key of C. Ex. 12 shows a D Dorian line in the key of A minor (or C).
BEGINNERS’ TIP 3 To hear how these lines sound with the corresponding chords, record yourself playing the chord progressions indicated above the staff, and then play along with your rhythm guitar track.
Week Four Ex. 13 A melodic minor
2
0 1
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MILES DAVIS—TOM PALUMBO
BEGINNERS’ TIP 4 When practicing any new harmonic or scale ideas, don’t just play the scales and exercises, but try to find melodies that fit the new material. For example, the jazz standard “Summertime” is in a minor key. Try to find the melody on your guitar in the key of A minor.
E7
2 1
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A m6
7 5
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Ex. 15 D 7 11
WEEK FOUR In addition to these common scales, there are a few other minor scales used in jazz and various ethnic styles. The most common of these is the melodic minor, which raises the sixth and seventh steps of the natural minor scale by a half step, creating a scale that can be thought of as a major scale with a minor third. The melodic minor was used in its ascending form in classical music as a way to create a strong melodic line that led into the root of the scale, but it has been used in jazz to play over numerous kinds of “altered” chords. Ex. 13 is the melodic-minor version of Ex. 1, with a G and F instead of Gn and Fn. The inclusion of the G means that it can be used for the V7 (E7) in A minor, especially if you’re playing Dorian (minor sixth) lines over the i chord (it can also be thought of as a Dorian mode with a raised seventh). Ex. 14 shows the A melodic minor played over an E7–Am progression. Modes of the melodic minor can be used in various ways over altered dominant chords, although at this point the melodic minor loses its sound and function as a minor scale. For example, the scale built on the fifth of the melodic minor can be used with dominant chords that feature a sharp 11th (or flatted fifth). This scale is essentially a major scale with a flatted seventh and flatted fifth. Look at the A melodic minor line in Ex. 15—it can be played over a D7 11 (A is the fifth of D).
Ex. 14
B Ex. 16
B
5
A
4 6 7
4 5
4 5
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∫
7467
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∫
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∫ 5
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75 4
76
LISTEN TO THIS
Miles Davis ‘So What’ from Kind of Blue
An easier way to think of this is to remember that D7 is the V7 of G major, and Am is the ii of G. Since the melodic minor is a slightly modified Dorian scale, it makes sense to play it over the ii chord of the key. Notice that the key signature has been changed in this example to G major, even though the scale is the same as in Ex. 13 and Ex. 14. In contemporary jazz, the melodic minor is often played over an altered dominant chord whose root is a half step below the root of the melodic minor scale. For example, you can play the A melodic minor over an Ab7 5 9 or A 7 9, among others. In this case, the A melodic minor
consists of the root, flat nine, sharp nine, third, flat fifth, sharp fifth, and flat seventh of A . Ex. 16 uses the same A melodic-minor scale in Ex. 14 and Ex. 15 over an A altered dominant. Notice that the key signature is changed to D , of which A is the V chord, and the line has numerous accidentals. These are the flat nine, sharp nine, etc. While this may seem absurdly complicated, consider that you’ve just managed to play all those crazy notes in the key of D with one simple A-minor scale. AG Scott Nygaard (scottnygaard.com) is a Grammywinning guitarist who lives in Fairfax, California.
AcousticGuitar.com 35
BACK in BLACK I
t’s been seven years since Suzanne Vega released a collection of new songs, but with Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles the trailblazing New York singer-songwriter shows herself to be anything but rusty. For that reason, Vega, 54, was content to take her time with the new material. “I wasn’t pushing myself to write any new songs,” says Vega, who, after a career spent making albums for major labels, has released her latest on her own Amanuensis Productions. Over the past few years, Vega has not exactly disappeared. She’s been the subject of director Christopher Seufert’s 2006 36 April 2014
Suzanne Vega releases first solo album in seven years BY DAVID KNOWLES
documentary Some Journey, co-wrote and starred in the 2011 stage play Carson McCullers Talks About Love, performed with Bill Frisell at the Century of Song concerts in Germany, hosted the American Public Media series American Mavericks (which won a Peabody Award), played a huge gig in Central Park in 2006, continued to tour the world, and released acoustic versions of some of her old material using a 1940 Martin 0045 and a handmade Furch. Between 2010 and 2012, Vega selfreleased Close Up, a four-volume series of themed acoustic versions of her hits. “I wanted to see how it felt to have my own record label for a while. I wanted to see if I
could support myself with releasing the rerecorded material.” Still, the idea of unveiling new material without the backing of A&M, which released her first six albums, or Blue Note, which put out her seventh, was a bit daunting. “For most of my artistic life, I’ve had major label deals, so I was worried about what this was going to be like,” she says. “It’s a sink-or-swim environment, and I’m swimming, which has been a great feeling.” The decision to start Amanuensis Productions was as much about taking charge of her career again as it was a financial necessity. “Yes, the major-label system has
‘It’s a sink-or-swim environment, and I’m swimming, which has been a great feeling.’
collapsed for some people, but not for others,” Vega says. “For Adele, and some people, it’s still going strong, but for a lot of us, it has fallen apart. I guess I’m sort of an example of how someone can, at the very least, make a living doing it yourself.”
T
he business model is not the only thing that has change d about Ve g a’s approach to music. “I’m less pleased with myself than I used to be,” she says. “When I was in my early 20s, if I had any idea and executed it fairly well, I was pretty happy. If I had a simple melodic idea, I was happy to repeat that three times and make that a song, but these days I feel I have higher standards for myself in terms of melodies and harmonies, in terms of arrangements. Lyrics, metaphors, all of it. I’m looking to people like Paul Simon, or Bob Dylan, or Leonard Cohen, or Lou Reed—those people are the real masters, so that’s who I’m comparing myself against, and one can’t help but feel that you’ve come up a bit short if you want to measure yourself against that group.” While there’s ample acoustic guitar on the new record, one song stands out for its decidedly non-acoustic vibe. Titled “I Never Wear White,” the track is an homage to darkness and mystery, and shows that Vega still has the edge of an outsider. “That one came from my actual wardrobe!” Vega says. “I’ve always loved the color black, especially since the days when I was a dancer. In New York, it’s fine, but in other parts of the world people mention it, they comment on it. You know, even in my own family, I’d get comments from my mother, and from time to time from my daughter. I was thinking about that one day. And I’ve always loved the Stones’ song ‘Paint it Black.’ So I was mentioning this to [producer and David Bowie collaborator] Gerry Leonard, and I said it would be great to have some kind of dirty-sounding riff, and he had just been working on something the day before, and he said, ‘Like this?’” Free of the burdens of major-label expectations, the woman who penned the hits “Luka” and “Tom’s Diner” nearly three decades ago sounds, if anything, like she has never stopped
honing her craft. Longtime Vega fans will appreciate the confident songwriting on the ten tracks on Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles, and the production on the independent release sounds every bit a major label affair. On “Don’t Uncork What You Can’t Contain,” Vega samples 50 Cent’s song “Candy Shop,” before launching into lushly layered guitar strumming that gives way to Middle Eastern strings. Above it all, Vega’s smoky vocals alternate from singing to rap and back again. Somehow it all works, and the song takes its place on the mantle beside Vega’s other ingenious songs. Above all, Vega’s eighth album shows that she’s a songwriter still brimming with ideas, both lyrically and sonically. While it may come as a surprise to some, her new material sounds as fresh as her critically acclaimed second album, Solitude Standing, did when it was released in 1987. For all that has changed since Vega exploded on the music scene, her motivation for writing songs has remained unchanged. “I hope that people come away with the sense that I’m articulating things that they may have felt but not been able to name,” Vega says. AG
SUZANNE VEGA Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles Amanuensis Productions AcousticGuitar.com 37
38 April 2014
SHERVIN LAINEZ
LIVE & KICKING Blues master John Hammond captures a monster live solo performance for posterity
BY DAVID KNOWLES
“W
hen there’s a great audience, it just sort of brings out more in me, and brings up the level in my playing,” says legendary blues guitarist and singer John Hammond.
eggroll, jazz and blues’,” Hammond explains during a phone interview from his home in New York. “It draws folks from all over New England. It’s a really nice place to play.”
The recently released Timeless (Palmetto), Hammond’s 35th album, preserves just such a moment in a career that has had, to say the least, a few of them. Recorded at one of Hammond’s favorite haunts, Chan’s Fine Oriental Dining, Jazz & Blues in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the gig found Hammond stretching out in a comfortable setting, stomping his foot on the hollow stage like a makeshift cajon. “Their thing is ‘the home of
What listeners not lucky enough to have sampled the eggrolls and Hammond’s licks in person are treated to on Timeless is a session bristling with his trademark blend of scorching guitar, harmonica, and plaintive vocals. I caught up with the man who once fronted a band with Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton a few days before the release of the new album.
AcousticGuitar.com 39
‘When you put a guitar through a pickup, I’m sorry, it doesn’t really sound acoustic anymore. It isn’t the same, raw sound.’
This is a great session. I’m wondering if you did any overdubs or post-production on this record? No, no, it’s all live. What you hear is what you get. They did edit out some talking between songs, but that’s about it. It was one of those great nights when you feel, oh yeah, this is what it’s all about. So, it’s very exciting to have a live album like this. It’s acoustic, just me solo, harmonica and guitars. How did you select the songs for that night? I guess I know about 400 songs and I picked stuff that I do currently, and some that I haven’t done in a long time. This one was about making it all right now and alive. How did you first get into the blues? Back when I was 15 or so, I collected 40 April 2014
records, and it was around then that I first heard Jimmy Reed. I was just a fan then, but I thought he was so compelling. Probably when I was 16 in New York, I went to see him play. I had never seen anyone play harmonica and guitar at the same time. I guess a seed was sown at that point. It was inspirational. When I was 18, I got a harmonica and tried to put it together. There were many artists that I was inspired by, from Bo Diddley to Chuck Berry and Robert Johnson to Blind Willie McTell. In my early career, when I began playing gigs, I was put on the show with a lot of the great country-blues players who were being rediscovered. Artists like Skip James, Bukka White, Fred McDowell, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Williams, I could go on and on. I was on gigs with these players who were still really happening. I admired these
guys so much, to be on a show with them was a thrill beyond words. As an art form itself, do you feel that there’s been an evolution to the blues, or does it need to evolve? Blues is hard to articulate exactly. It’s a genre that if you do too much to it, or too little to it, it isn’t blues anymore. You have to capture that essence. There always will be new songs, but in terms of the style, in order for it to remain blues, it has to be within a parameter. But it demands that you give all of yourself to it. Having honed a sound over a career, is there advice that you’d give to young players who want to play the blues? I tell them to listen to a lot of blues, to go back to the early recordings of the artists
HANGIN’ WITH
TOM WAITS
who started the whole thing and see how it has evolved. A lot of the early blues recordings were with little jazz combos. Bessie Smith and other female blues artists, who had piano and trumpet and that kind of thing. The heavier stuff, I think, came from the players who encapsulated the whole thing within a solo format. I would suggest to a young artist to go with what they like and find out where it came from. Is there a specific acoustic guitar that you think represents your sound? In my early days I liked the Gibson guitar— that was the most often heard. Guys had old Gibsons, and my first guitars were all Gibsons. Then, over the years, I played some Martins that were just fantastic, that had a great sound. I’ve had Guild guitars that hit the note. Now, for the past 25 years,
I’ve had a handmade guitar by this guy over in England—Vinnie Smith—that was shown to me between sets at a gig I was playing. It’s fantastic. It was styled after a Martin triple O, but larger—koa wood with a cedar top. I also have a 1935 National steel guitar that my wife, Marla, got for me for my 48th birthday, and it’s my favorite National of the three I own. Do you ever play those guitars through any sort of amplification? No, I just play them acoustic, because they sound so great by themselves. When you put a guitar through a pickup, I’m sorry, it doesn’t really sound acoustic anymore. It isn’t the same, raw sound. The beauty of that is that any street corner or café can then be your stage.
Of the many notable influences and collaborations that have marked his career, Hammond singles out his relationship with Tom Waits as having special significance. Waits penned two of the songs on Timeless, including the record’s opener, “No One Can Forgive Me But My Baby.” He also produced Hammond’s 2001 album Wicked Grin, a collection of Waits covers. The two met in 1974, when they shared the bill for a gig in Tempe, Arizona. “He opened the show for me at this club, and I was just dumbfounded,” Hammond recalls. “It was amazing. Every song was better than the next, and I was completely drawn into his world. I didn’t want to go on. I played my show and he came backstage and introduced himself and said, ‘Man, I’ve been a fan of yours since I was in high school.’ ” Years later, the two men collaborated in the recording studio. “I was doing an album with J.J. Cale, producing for Point Blank Virgin back in 1993 or so, and Tom came to the session. He said, ‘Man, I wrote you this song.’ It was about 20 minutes long—everybody in the Bible coming down to the river and all this stuff, you know? And I said, ‘Wow, it’s a great song, but I don’t think I could do that, man.’ He said, ‘Oh, really?’ And he went into the control room and sat down on the couch and in ten minutes wrote this song and came back out and said, ‘Well, I know you know some badass songs—well check this one out!’ It was ‘No One Can Forgive Me But My Baby.’ By the time I got to recording it, he had left. So I sent him a cassette of it, and I hadn’t heard from him in two or three days, so I called him up. It was on his answering machine, so I guess he liked it.”
AcousticGuitar.com 41
That’s right! I’ve done that so many times. In the beginning of my career, of course, I was playing a lot of parties, street corners, little clubs, the “basket houses” as they called them in the Village. And you just bring your guitar—you’ve got no time to set up, you just get up there and play. When I began my career, I’d play anywhere at any time, no problem. Nowadays, I’m more picky-choosey. I do so many gigs a year that when I have off-time, I like to be off. But when you’re starting out, and you’re all about being seen and heard, you just have to go for it. How many dates are you playing a year? If I play eight or nine gigs a month, I’m happy. In the past, I’ve worked hundreds of gigs per year, sometimes as many as 240, but I don’t do that anymore. I’m older, and hopefully wiser, and I’ve become more choosey. I don’t like to grind it out in the clubs from night to night to night. I like to have the tours be more specific and aimed at a larger audience and nicer venues. You’ve certainly earned that right. Hopefully, after 52 years!
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Are there any tunes on the new album that you’re especially happy how they turned out? A lot of them. I recorded a tune I got from Bobby Blue Bland titled “Further on Up the Road.” He just passed away, and he hadn’t passed when I’d recorded it, so that seems very special to me. I also did two Tom Waits tunes—“Jockey Full of Bourbon” and “No One Can Forgive Me But My Baby.” They came out great. Which guitar players have had the biggest influence on your career? Robert Johnson was my main inspiration to want to play the guitar. When I heard his stuff I said, God, that was just the synthesis of it all. But so many others, too, from Blind Willie McTell and Blind Boy Fuller, Lightning Hopkins, I could name you so many who I was so inspired by, and I wanted to be able to play something like that. Of course, the Chicago electric-blues stuff was also a major inspiration in terms of the songs and that feeling. I never thought of myself as the electric-guitar guy, but I’ve played electric over the years and I’ve worked with some amazing players—Robbie Robertson,
Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Michael Bloomfield. Is there a reason you embraced the acoustic over the electric guitar? I just felt that what I did solo was unique. I’ve always thought that the country-blues format was where it all came from and that was really important to me. That’s where I came from, and that’s where I am. AG
John Hammond Timeless Palmetto johnhammond.com
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AT THE
WATER’S
EDGE On the new album ‘Privateering,’ guitar slinger Mark Knopfler heeds the pirate’s call
BY KENNY BERKOWITZ
FABIO LOVIN
A
t the age of 64, and more than 20 years into his solo career, singer, songwriter, and guitarist extraordinaire Mark Knopfler, Officer of the British Empire (OBE), makes an unlikely pirate. But that’s the way the former Dire Straits front man sees himself, and it’s the metaphor at the center of Privateering (Verve), a double album that crosses and re-crosses the Atlantic, mixing American and Celtic roots. “I live to ride the ocean/the mighty world around,” he sings on the title track, a jaunty number about sailing the Mediterranean in search of plunder, women, and adventure. “Come with me to Barbary/we’ll ply there up and down/not quite exactly/in the service of the crown.” It’s a far cry from Dire Straits, but in many ways, Knopfler’s approach to song-
writing has remained the same, focusing on characters—alienated, difficult, and somehow sympathetic—as they struggle to make their way through the world. Unlike his past work, however, on Privateering, there’s water, water everywhere. On the track “Haul Away,” a seaman enjoys watching his shipmate fall overboard. On “Dream of the Drowned Submariner,” a dying sailor imagines his daughter running into his arms. There’s water in the Celtic songs, too, which echo such folk songs as “Deep Blue Sea” and “Wild Mountain Thyme.” And there’s more water on the album’s blues numbers. The Mississippi River threatens to flood its banks on “Blood and Water,” the Statue of Liberty blows a kiss on “Radio City Serenade,” and a pair of quarreling lovers have nothing left to talk about but the rain on “Seattle.”
Though there’s plenty of electric guitar, the feel of the album is largely acoustic. With help from Richard Bennett (guitars, bouzouki, tiple), Tim O’Brien (mandolin), and Kim Wilson (harmonica), the Scottishborn Knopfler reaches deeper than ever into American blues, bringing back echoes of Chicago, Texas, and the Delta. Backed by Phil Cunningham (accordion), John McCusker (fiddle, cittern), and Mike McGoldrick (whistles, uilleann pipes), Knopfler shifts gears and returns to the Scottish folk influences of his youth. Through it all, his tone, touch, and timing remain unmistakable, vintage Knopfler. And in conversation, talking from British Grove, his studio in West London, he sounds characteristically relaxed, speaking slowly, earnestly, about his love of songwriting, acoustic guitars, and the sea. AcousticGuitar.com 43
MARK KNOPFLER
What makes you want to write a song about 18th-century privateers? Well, there you are. I don’t know. I guess I feel a little bit like one myself. You have to relate in some way, and I think I do. What is it that moves you? You write about things that affect you, and I suppose if my heart were harder, I wouldn’t write so much. What do you think it is? It’s really hard to know. There is something that makes me want to have a go at this stuff, but I’m not altogether sure that I know what it is, which is part of the fun of it. How are you like a privateer? Well, I suppose, I’ve done it all my life. I’ve never had any help from anybody, never had a government grant to do it, but it’s not an orthodox way of going about things. When you’re recording and when you’re touring, you’re in charge of this band of people, and out on the road, it certainly feels a little bit like privateering. Why record a double album? Why write so many songs? I’m probably wasting a little less time than I normally would. I’d be only too happy to do that, but as I get older, I’ve learned to respect my talent a little bit more, what talent I have. Less liable to be sidetracked, I suppose. And I seem to have more time to look at songs, even when I’m touring I can just switch on the laptop, and there they are. So I can take a look at them, and bring them on a little bit, until they start to mount up.
WHAT MARK KNOPFLER PLAYS ACOUSTIC GUITARS & STRINGS 1930 or ’31 Gibson L-4; 1935 Martin D-18; 1936 or ’37 D’Angelico Excel; 1938 Gibson Advanced Jumbo; and 1953 Gibson Southern Jumbo, all with D’Addario phosphor bronze environmental lite strings. 1937 National Style O with D’Addario phosphor bronze environmental medium strings. 2006 Size 5 Mini-Martin with D’Addario phosphor bronze strings: .025, .017, .013, .008, .012, .010. ACCESSORIES Planet Waves NS capo.
44 April 2014
‘YOU WRITE ABOUT THINGS THAT AFFECT YOU, AND I SUPPOSE IF MY HEART WAS HARDER, I WOULDN’T WRITE SO MUCH.’
It’s wonderful—it’s my favorite thing, to try to write a good song. It’s not like being a musician, which is a different thing to me. Songwriting is very difficult to talk about, as I’m sure you know. It’s a private thing, where I’ll write, and when it’s time to record, I’ll play the song for the musicians, and then we’ll try to record it. Sometimes, I’ll lay a song out on my own, with just the sound engineer, so I can have a look at it, and maybe make some structural changes, if it could do with a bit of attention before the band gets to it. It’s all written out by then, but I might think about the way gaps work between verses and choruses, and the overall shape of it. I’ll try different sounds on it, which is the great thing about having British Grove. It’s my big paint box, and it’s getting this reputation for being able to do any kind of record you want, rough or smooth, so it’s got a line or artists waiting to get in. I don’t mean to bore you about the place, but it is pretty fantastic. What was the challenge in writing these particular songs? The challenge, did you say? There’s no challenge—all I’m trying to do is write a good song, make a good record. I suppose the challenge is to try to achieve something, or to get a higher hit rate in terms of making something that’s artistically satisfying. I mean, I just try for good shooting every time, and hope I’ve made the right call. Was it the right thing to go in on my own first, and lay the thing out? Or should I have brought the band into this one straightaway? You know, you’re kind of lumbered with the song, as a songwriter, but I love being lumbered with it, if you know what I mean. It’s very difficult to talk about it, really, a lot of the time. Some songs you can talk about a little more easily than you can others. I can say, “When I wrote ‘Sailing to Philadelphia’ I was here and I was doing this and that.” But other songs just resist that. It depends on the song, really. Some of them, you’re feeling your way along, and the more
you try to talk about them, the more of a mess you get into. Is there a song on this album that feels more autobiographical than the others? Certainly, “Go, Love.” I see that as being about my relationship with North East England [Ed. note: Knopfler moved from Glasgow at the age of seven]. Obviously, I don’t live there any more, I’ve lived in London for years and years, but I go back. It’s a slightly odd relationship, you know? And somebody put it to me, “Maybe you just come back so you can leave again.” I don’t know what that is. But “Go, Love” is connected to me quite directly, though a song like that could mean anything to anybody, and I don’t go out there trying to shut it down, saying “This is exactly what it’s about.” Because it’s great when it means something else to somebody. How much do you know about these characters before you start writing? I’ll have a fairly reasonable idea of who these people are: the high priest of money in “The Kingdom of Gold,” or the music manager in “Gator Blood,” who’s pretty much based on Tom Parker [who managed Elvis Presley]. I read about these characters, and sometimes a character doesn’t leave me. For instance, take “Today is Okay.” I haven’t quite finished with [the heavyweight boxer] Sonny Liston [who was memorialized on “Song for Sonny Liston” on 2004’s Shangri-La]. I was reading about Sonny, on one particular day, how he was partying with his wife and some friends, and in the middle of it, he went down to the venue, demolished the German heavyweight champion in the first few minutes of the fight, and came back and carried on partying. That’s one kind of character. “Yon Two Crows” is about a hill farmer, and again, I have a song about him on another album, “Hill Farmer’s Blues” [from The Ragpicker’s Dream (2002)]. So I haven’t finished with this guy, who’s a lot
like people I met in Newcastle, when I was young and working on a farm. I suppose you get a sympathy for characters. I mean, “Seattle” was just looking at a couple in a bar in Seattle, and you could see that the dream wasn’t really working out. These are what I call situation songs, where you’re in a place just observing life, like “Money for Nothing” or “Sultans of Swing.” “Seattle” is like that. Which of these songs began on guitar, and which began on pencil and paper? More of them would start with a pencil and paper, but it can be the other way around, and sometimes it’ll just be a melody. I might be carrying some music in my head for a long time, and then it will just drift away and be gone forever. If I’m shaving in the morning, and it’s gone by the time I get downstairs, I don’t worry about it too much. Sometimes it can be years before the music arrives. I wrote a song called “Rudiger” about the time John Lennon was assassinated [in 1980], and the music didn’t come along until ’96, [when it
appeared on Golden Heart]. And I never changed one single word of the lyrics. So there is no formula to it, and if there was, I promise you I’d tell you. I’m trying to be as helpful as possible, but the thing is so shrouded in oddness. What part does your guitar play in the writing process? Obviously, I’ve had a very close relationship with the guitar, but it’s just something that I use to write songs with. I’m forever going back at the simple stuff, the stuff that’s always meant the most to me. The band is very forgiving of me as a musician, because I’m the bloke who wrote the song, and they let me get away with a fair bit. I have spent some time over the years trying to improve as a player, and I suppose you do pick up more of a vocabulary, but it’s not something that I’ve ever structured. When I do learn anything, it gets absorbed into the writing, but most of the time, it’s very intimate. I adore guitars, and I like picking up different ones and using them for different songs, and I like cheap ones as
well as the more rarified things. I just love them, and I suppose you do, too. Absolutely. When I got my first little electric guitar, I couldn’t afford an amp, so I used to borrow a friend’s cheap acoustic. So I have a big affection for acoustic guitars, and now, when I’m home, it will nearly always be an acoustic guitar that I’ll be playing. I’ll be using that acoustic to get into the songs, move the songs along as a songwriter. I’m lucky enough to have some beautiful acoustic guitars, I might have a couple of them on stands around me at home, and though I change them up a little bit here and there, there have been some real regulars that will be there all the time. The one that I’m probably most close to is an old Martin D-18 from 1935, which has a lovely dry, slatey sound, that would be on “Privateering,” “Go, Love,” and quite a few songs. I might be using a Gibson advanced jumbo from 1938, and I have a little [size 5] MiniMartin, which is a beautiful little guitar that I really like playing quite a bit—it’s
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MARK KNOPFLER
‘I ADORE GUITARS, AND I LIKE PICKING UP DIFFERENT ONES AND USING THEM FOR DIFFERENT SONGS, AND I LIKE CHEAP ONES AS WELL AS THE MORE RARIFIED THINGS.’ kind of a limited edition, they made a few hundred of them. I play my National quite a lot, and if I’m going to use a pick with an acoustic, whenever I need a pick to play chords and stuff, I’ll use a Gibson Southern Jumbo from ’53.
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SPONSORED 46 April 2014
How much do you think about your guitar parts, and how much do you just feel? I think probably more the latter. I think I just tend to use my ear, and try to respond to what everybody’s doing. And that’s what they’re doing, too. They’re not necessarily analyzing it and writing it all down. You know, someone like Tim O’Brien, you wouldn’t dream of telling him what to play. That would be like telling a great actor, “Put your elbow on the windowsill.” You just wouldn’t do it. It’s a given that Tim is as familiar with [the late blues mandolinist] Yank Rachell as he is with Bill Monroe, and he’s going to be perfect, and whatever he plays is going to fit right in there. That’s the joy of it. The roots on this album seem evenly split between the place where you grew up and the American South. Why is that? It’s all stuff that influenced me. One of the good things about not having an amplifier, and not being able to play in a rock band, was that it got me into folk joints and got me into playing acoustic guitar, and that led to exposure to a lot more music. Folk and blues and a lot of acoustic guitar music, and that’s led to lots and lots of other things. For me, I see the guitar as something to write songs with, not something to show off on. So I did learn to fingerpick, and that led to playing country blues, and that led to playing ragtime, and one thing leads to another, it’s like putting bits of a jigsaw together. Learning how to [finger]pick an acoustic guitar opens up the instrument for you to no end. I mean, I certainly wouldn’t have imagined it, because I was just like all the other kids, playing with a pick all the time, and that’s all I did. But once I got into folk and country blues, the synthesis started, and I started to break the rules. That’s something
that I would really advise young players to do, get an acoustic guitar. It doesn’t have to be good—I started on real cheap ones—and learn how to do a basic clawhammer pick. It’s amazing where that will take you. Would you encourage left-handed players to start the way you did? No. I mean, I’m left-handed with just about everything, but not the guitar. Before I had a guitar, I was playing with a tennis racket, strumming with my left hand, and my sister turned it around. But I think the violin was the real reason, which came from them trying to teach it to me at school. It just felt natural to have the guitar neck in my left hand. I remember listening to the soundtrack for ‘Local Hero’ [1983], and thinking how different it was from the rock you’d been playing with Dire Straits. Did that feel like a turning point? No, not really. I was just trying to have a bit of a more interesting life, really. Have a crack at a film, just to do something different. But I hadn’t heard you play Celtic music before. Yeah. I mean, it’s just natural for me to play stuff like that, to write those melodies. And I’m still doing it now, I suppose. I heard a lot of that stuff when I was very young, living up in Scotland and in the North East. You can’t escape it, really, can’t escape your influences. When you’re writing music like that, the music is partly what you are. Songwriters are odd, and the songwriter bit of me is a sponge that absorbs what it hears in one song and squeezes it out in another. When you write a song, there are echoes of all sorts of things. Is that why so many of these songs are about the sea? I suppose. I’ve lived in river towns all my life, Glasgow and Newcastle and London and New York. I haven’t lived anywhere else. And in fact, there’s no doubt in my mind that will continue. The Delta and the Tyne, all the time. AG
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ROADSIDE AMERICANA 50 MUST-SEE PLACES FOLLOW THE SIGNPOSTS ON THE ROAD TO THE ACOUSTIC NATION
AMANDA ELMORE
BY GREG CAHILL, MARK SEGAL KEMP, & DAVID KNOWLES
S
pring is in the air—time to hit the road and enjoy the incredible evolving history of an instrument that has, quite literally, helped change the world. Guitar shops, large and small, roadside attractions (hey, isn’t that the spot where Libba Cotten heard
that freight train whistle blow?), museums, guitar factories, and Elvis’ cinder-block palace are among the many places across the nation that tell the story of acoustic-guitar music. From the Mississippi Delta to Nashville, Austin, and Nazareth, Pennsylvania, acoustic guitars have not only helped shape popular culture, they’ve become symbols of what it means to be an American. Ready for a road trip? Here are 50 places that no acoustic-guitar enthusiast should miss.
AcousticGuitar.com 49
50 MUST-SEE PLACES ARIZONA
CALIFORNIA
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MUSEUM
ACOUSTIC VIBES MUSIC
FREIGHT & SALVAGE, BERKELEY
LAUREL CANYON COUNTRY STORE
Arguably, the world’s most extraordinary museum dedicated to making music is not found in the nation’s capital or New York City. That honor goes to Phoenix with its Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), a 200,000-square-foot, state-of the-art facility that left Carlos Santana “supremely inspired and overwhelmed.” MIM showcases instruments from around the globe, and hosts programs such as “Guitarmania to Beatlemania: The Evolution of the Acoustic Guitar” in its splendid 300-seat performance theater. 4725 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix. (480) 478-6000. mim.org
Describing itself as “more of an experience than a traditional retail” outlet, this inviting shop carries mostly top of the line guitars, banjos, mandolins, and ukuleles. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to find a model here that isn’t tempting to pick up and play. The shop also features a live performance series where you can watch top-notch players put those acoustic axes to good use. 2070 E Southern Ave, Tempe. (602) 295-5946 acousticvibesmusic.com
A performance hall located in the heart of the Berkeley Republic and dedicated to acoustic music, Freight & Salvage has established itself as a premier venue to see folk, Americana, country, and rock acts. With its high ceilings, stellar acoustics, and clear sight lines, catching performance by the likes of Robbie Fulks, Judy Collins, Jim Kweskin, Laurie Lewis, or the Milk Carton Kids proves to be a pure joy. 2020 Addison St., Berkeley (510) 644-2020. thefreight.org
In the late 1960s, Laurel Canyon was the Los Angeles neighborhood that best encapsulated the intersection of folk music and rock ’n’ roll. Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Mama Cass, the Byrds, Glen Frey, and Frank Zappa all lived in the canyon and shopped or hung out at the Country Store, a funky, independently owned grocery that still serves as the focal point of a place that, for some, inspires California dreaming. Though many of the famous musical residents have moved on, listen hard and you can still hear the echoes of guitar history (Shhhh, is that Joni singing “Ladies of the Canyon”?). 2108 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Los Angeles. (323) 654-8091
MCCABE’S GUITAR SHOP Since 1958, this block building on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, with the curvy, black acoustic guitar painted on the front, has been a premier destination for folkies, jazz prophets, punks, and indie rockers. By day, instructors teach, salesmen sell, and repairmen fix guitars, sitars, ouds, bouzoukis, banjos, mandolins, and other stringed instruments. But the best thing about McCabe’s is what happens when the sun goes down. Doc and Merle Watson, Elizabeth Cotten, Joni Mitchell, Beck, PJ Harvey, and even avant-jazz great Sun Ra are just a few of the artists who have performed at McCabe’s over the decades to small gatherings of avid fans while, behind them, gleaming in the lights, are walls full of beautiful guitars. 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 828-4497. mccabes.com
SANTA CRUZ GUITAR COMPANY FACTORY TOUR
TAYLOR GUITAR FACTORY TOUR
To put it mildly, luthier Richard Hoover runs an impressive operation down in Santa Cruz, hand crafting some of the country’s finest guitars in the seaside town known for surfing and its boardwalk rollercoaster. Tours of the factory, held on Thursdays and Fridays (reservations required), give you insight as to why players from Eric Clapton to Doc Watson to John Fogerty all swear by Hoover’s guitars. 151 Harvey West Blvd., Suite C, Santa Cruz (831) 425-0999. santacruzguitar.com
Ever wonder how the luthiers at Taylor get their guitars to sound so good? The company gives free tours of its El Cajon factory Monday through Friday at 1 p.m. A step-by-step walk-through of the process involved in building a Taylor, the comprehensive tour lasts one hour and 15 minutes, and visitors can also shop for spare parts, apparel, or, ahem, a new guitar, at the TaylorWare store. 1980 Gillespie Way, El Cajon taylorguitars.com
50 April 2014
COLORADO
THE GRAMMY MUSEUM
OLDE TOWN PICKIN’ PARLOR
Want to see John Fogerty’s old Dobro, the one he posed with on the cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1969 album Green River? Or plumb Bob Dylan’s Greenwich Village experience at “Bob Dylan, l’explosion rock 61-66,” a 2012 joint exhibit with the Musée de la musique in Paris that focused on the influences Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, and others had on Dylan? Folk-music icons—like Pete Seeger, Dylan, and Donovan—play a big role in the museum’s programming. 800 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles. grammymuseum.org
The best acoustic-guitar shop in Colorado—and one of the best in the country—this is the place to go if you want to take your time and get to know a few dozen Martin, Guild, Collings, and Taylor models up close and personal. Apart from an expert staff of luthiers, and more new and vintage models than you’ll be able to sample in a single visit, the shop boasts an impressive live bluegrass concert series that nurtures a porch-sitting vibe. 7515 Grandview Ave., Arvada. (303) 421-2304. picknparlor.com
ILLINOIS
CHESS RECORDS Sure, it’s the home of electric Chicago blues, but it’s also home to a label that released such bona fide acoustic-blues classics as Muddy Waters’ Folk Singer (a 1964 album that featured Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar). That album helped spread the blues to white college audiences immersed in the 1960’s folk revival. Similarly, 1962’s Howlin’ Wolf (with a cover photo of an acoustic guitar propped up in a rocking chair) introduced such blues standards as “Little Red Rooster” to British Invasion bands like the Yardbirds (with guitarists Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck) and the Rolling Stones, who would record two landmark albums at Chess Studios (including a song bearing the label’s address). The presentation is underwhelming, but this is the place the spawned some of the world’s greatest roots music. The original Chess Records studio is now home to Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation, 2120 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago (312) 808-1286. bluesheaven.com Chess Studio heavyweights Willie Dixon, left, Muddy Waters, and Buddy Guy
KENTUCKY
CHICAGO MUSIC EXCHANGE
INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS MUSIC MUSEUM
The insulated acoustic guitar room at the Chicago Music Exchange (CME) is an oasis from the clamor of the windy city and a music store that’s always bustling. Comfortable couches and knock-off Eames chairs provide a cozy place to try out hundreds of acoustic guitars, and you can test out pickups and electric models in practice rooms built specifically for that purpose. Visually, there’s an almost Victorian museum vibe to CME, but this is one place where you’re going to want to touch the artwork. 3316 N. Lincoln Ave. (773) 525-7773. chicagomusicexchange.com
Officials in Owensboro, Kentucky, voted in 2012 to contribute $3 million to a massive International Bluegrass Music Center that will light up the skies of this city on the banks of the Ohio River. It’s not there yet, but you can visit the current museum, which has a respectable collection of artifacts ranging from a fiddle played by Bill Monroe’s Uncle Pen to the original headstock veneer from Monroe’s 1923 Gibson F-5 Lloyd Loar mandolin. 117 Daviess St., Owensboro. (270) 926-7891 bluegrassmuseum.org
AcousticGuitar.com 51
50 MUST-SEE PLACES
BILL MONROE’S HOMEPLACE While in the Bluegrass State, drive about 45 minutes south from Owensboro to Rosine, the birthplace of Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music. In Rosine you’ll find the Bill Monroe Homeplace, the five-room house where he grew up. Uncle Pen’s cabin is out back. (Time your trip to coincide with the Jerusalem Ridge Festival, which is being held October 2–5 this year.) 6210 Highway 62 East, Rosine. (270) 274-9181 visitohiocountyky.org/billmonroe.html
MAINE
PANTHEON/BOURGEOIS GUITARS FACTORY TOUR Just a half hour from Portland, in the quaint town of Lewiston, is the equally quaint acoustic guitar factory for Bourgeois guitars. Here you’ll get a very intimate tour of luthier Dana Bourgeois’ operation, and even see him flitting about the production floor, attending to the smallest details of his creations. 2 Cedar St., Lewiston (207) 755-0003. pantheonguitars.com
MARYLAND
JOHN FAHEY MEMORIAL SUNDAY DRIVE Fingerstyle soloist John Fahey, the founder of the folk and blues amalgam known as American Primitivism, grew up in a nondescript single-story house on a quiet, tree-lined street in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Takoma, Maryland. In and of itself, that’s not spectacular. But the simple home served as an anchor for a talented, but troubled guitarist who experienced ill heath and poverty—Fahey named his label Takoma and titled several songs after places around his childhood home and throughout Prince George County. There’s Sligo Creek, from Fahey’s tune “Sligo River Blues,” and the wonderfully titled “Dance of the Inhabitants of the Invisible City of Bladensburg,” his ode to a neighboring burg. On this 75th anniversary of Fahey’s birth, hop in the car, crank up 1967’s Days Have Gone By, Vol. 6, and take a leisurely drive while drinking in a suburban landscape transformed and given iconic status in the rich imagination of an original American guitarist.
52 April 2014
John Fahey
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
THE ARK
BOB DYLAN WALKING TOUR
Like Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, there’s really not a bad seat in the house at Ann Arbor’s folk- and roots-music performance space known as the Ark. Considered one of the finest and most intimate live venues in the country, if not the world, the non-profit devoted to folk, roots, and ethnic music sprang up in 1965, and has hosted a steady stream of inspiring shows ever since, featuring performers like Keb’ Mo’, Alison Krauss, the Deadly Gentlemen, and Bela Fleck. 316 S. Main St., Ann Arbor. (734) 761-1800. theark.org
Sure, New York City boasts a Bob Dylan walking tour, but that doesn’t include Dylan’s boyhood home, the bowling alley where Bob and the rest of the Gutter Boys whiled away their youth, the L&B Cafe where Bob and girlfriend Echo would spend time after school smoking cigarettes and playing the jukebox, or the site of Bob’s Bar Mitzvah, to name a few highlights of the walking tour sponsored by the Hibbing Library, which is also home to the Dylan Collection. By the way, Hibbing will celebrate its annual Dylan Days events May 22–25 (arrive a week earlier and you can scoot over to Duluth’s Dylan Fest). hibbing.mn.us; dylandays.org
Above, Bob Dylan’s high-school yearbook stated he was set “to join Little Richard”; below, Dylan’s boyhood home.
FITZGERALD—WILLIAM WESEN
THE FITZGERALD THEATER Built in 1910, this theater is best known today as the permanent venue for National Public Radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” While Garrison Keillor and his musical guests regularly take the stage to perform for diehard fans, the 1,000-seat auditorium, with its fantastic acoustics, also plays host to events including lectures and concerts. 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul. (651) 290-1200 fitzgeraldtheater.publicradio.org AcousticGuitar.com 53
50 MUST-SEE PLACES MISSISSIPPI
JUNCTION OF HIGHWAYS 61 & 49
DELTA BLUES MUSEUM
Along a dusty stretch of blacktop near Clarksdale, Mississippi, music fans from across the globe gather with cell phones in hand, Instagramming images of themselves next to road signs indicating the junction of Highways 61 and 49—the spot where blues legend Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil in order to play the blues. Further on up the road, a gaudy monument—two giant hollow-body electric guitars, back to back, on a pole with a sign that reads “The Crossroads”—marks the exact spot where the apocryphal incident took place. OK, there’s no “exact spot,” but like tales from religious texts, this is how the music world has come to date the birth of the blues as we know it. And who are we not to believe? Other points of interest in the area include Hiresberg’s Drug Store in Friar’s Point, where Muddy Waters saw Robert Johnson playing on the front porch; the Tutwiler train station, where W. C. Handy first heard a man playing blues on a slide guitar; and the grave of harmonica great Alex Rice Miller, aka Sonny Boy Williamson.
For a more accurate look at the birth of the blues, head northwest from the Crossroads to the Delta Blues Museum. The city of Clarksdale didn’t much care about blues history in 1979, when librarian Sid Graves began presenting displays at the Myrtle Hall Library, attracting about one visitor a month. That changed when ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons began talking it up in the late ’80s, but it would be another decade before the museum got its own home. Today, the DBM attracts 25,000 people a year to its performances, classes, book signings, and exhibits of blues legends like Muddy Waters, Eddie James “Son” House, Jr., and Big Mama Thornton. Don’t miss the awesome collection of early Stella acoustics. 1 Blues Alley, Clarksdale. (662) 627-6820. deltabluesmuseum.org
MISSOURI
NEW YORK
EDDIE’S GUITARS
CAFÉ WHA?
The average number of years’ worth of experience of working in a guitar shop for Eddie’s employees is 22, so you know when you shop here you’re going to get some good gear advice. Making the guitar shopping that much easier is the incredible high-end selection of acoustics found here. With oriental rugs on the floor and some models kept in glass cases, the vibe is, appropriately given the stock, one of reverence. 7362 Manchester Rd, St. Louis (314) 781-7500 eddiesguitars.com
Bob Dylan cut his teeth at numerous spots in Greenwich Village—Gerde’s Folk City, the Gaslight, the Fat Black Pussycat (where he wrote “Blowin’ in the Wind”)—but his very first gig on the night he arrived in New York City was an open-mic at Café Wha? The place hosted plenty of other important acts of the era, from Peter, Paul & Mary to Hendrix, the Velvet Underground, later Bruce Springsteen, and several cultureshaking comics, including Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, Joan Rivers, and Richard Pryor. But that Dylan show is what keeps fans of acoustic folk music making pilgrimages today to 115 Macdougal St., New York City (212) 254-3706. cafewhacom
CAFFÈ LENA
THE MUSEUM AT BETHEL WOODS
Nestled in the horseracing country of upstate New York (in the town where Carly Simon’s “so vain” protagonist had a horse that “naturally won”) is the longest-running folk coffeehouse in the U.S. Established in 1960 by the late Lena Spencer, Caffè Lena provided shelter from the Greenwich Village storm for numerous folkies, including a young Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Kate McGarrigle, and such occasional bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes. These days, you’ll find more recent generations—Ani DiFranco, Arlo’s kid Sarah Lee, and talented folkies you’ve never heard of—still strumming away. 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs. (518) 583-0022 caffelena.org 54 April 2014
Located at Max Yasgur’s farm, on the site where half a million flower children descended for 1969’s Woodstock Festival of Peace and Music, the Museum at Bethel Woods is the best place to commemorate that defining generational event. With interactive exhibits, musical stages, and a lecture series, the $100 million museum and performing arts center at Bethel Woods is the next best thing to having been there. Opens for the season on April 5. 200 Hurd Road, Bethel. (866) 781-2922 bethelwoodscenter.org
AMERICAN GUITAR MUSEUM Owner and luthier Chris Ambadjes knows his guitars. In addition to acting as the curator for the museum’s 200-plus collection of rare, vintage guitars, Ambadjes, whose nickname is the “Guitar Doctor,” handles the repairs on the instruments for his devoted clientele. Housed in a three-story colonial home in New Hyde Park, the museum boasts axes owned by Jimi Hendrix, Les Paul, and other greats. Acoustic players will also marvel at the ten models in the collection made by famed luthier Jimmy D’Angelico. 1810 New Hyde Park Rd., New Hyde Park (516) 488-5000. americanguitarmuseum.com
NORTH CAROLINA
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
LIBBA COTTEN BIKEWAY
THE EARL SCRUGGS CENTER
Tucked away on the second floor of the venerable museum, the musical instruments section contains some 5,000 mind-blowing instruments from over the centuries, including pioneering acoustic guitar designs. If you didn’t think of instruments as artwork before you arrived, you will by the time you leave. Sweetening the deal, a special exhibit titled “Early American Guitars: The instruments of C.F. Martin” will be on view through December 7. 1000 5th Avenue, New York City (212) 535-7710. metmuseum.org
Not far from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill is an old train station. It’s been everything from a punk club frequented by a very young R.E.M. in the early 1980s to a fancy bar and restaurant. But in the early 1900s, when 13-year-old Elizabeth Cotten was inventing a new style of left-handed Piedmont Blues fingerpicking at her home on nearby Lloyd Street, the station in Carrboro was still a thriving depot. You can take the half-mile trek from UNC to the Carrboro train depot via the new Libba Cotten Bikeway, and maybe even hear the rumble that inspired Cotten’s most famous song, “Freight Train.” Main Street between Lloyd and Roberson, Carrboro. (919) 428-7119. ncrailtrails.org/ web/trails/libba-cotten
He didn’t play guitar, but Earl Scruggs’ signature three-finger banjo-picking style sure did sound sweet alongside partner Lester Flatt’s famous acoustic-guitar G-runs on barnburners like “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms.” And then there were the iconic instrumentals such as “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” If you’re a bluegrass banjo picker, Scruggs-style playing is Banjo 101. After his death in 2012, plans for a museum began in Shelby, near the Cleveland County town of Boiling Springs, where he was born. The Earl Scruggs Center—Music & Stories from the American South opened in January 2014. The aim is to shine a spotlight on Southern cultural and musical traditions. 103 S. Lafayette St., Shelby (704) 487-6233 earlscruggscenter.org
DOC & MERLE WATSON MOUNTAIN FOLK ART MUSEUM Merlefest isn’t the only Doc Watson-related event in the mountains of North Carolina. There’s also MusicFest, which in 2013 paid tribute to the recently deceased flatpicker by changing its name to the Doc & Rosa Lee Watson MusicFest ’N Sugar Grove. It took place at the Historic Cove Creek School in Sugar Grove, and featured mostly Appalachian-rooted acts, such as the Carolina Chocolate Drops. The role of the old Cove Creek School is significant: it houses the Doc & Merle Watson Mountain Folk Art Museum, so far the only such exhibition. While you’re there, take the half-hour drive east to the tiny hamlet of Deep Gap, where Doc was born. 207 Dale Adams Rd., Sugar Grove, North Carolina 828-297-2200 musicfestnsugargrove.org
OKLAHOMA
WOODY GUTHRIE CENTER The Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa is a 12,000-square-foot facility that features state-of-the-art, interactive exhibits on Guthrie’s life, art, and creative legacy. The center is home to Guthrie’s comprehensive archives, including the original handwritten version of his landmark anthem, “This Land is Your Land,” which is available for viewing at the center. 102 E. Brady St., Tulsa (918) 574-2710 woodyguthriecenter.org
AcousticGuitar.com 55
50 MUST-SEE PLACES OHIO
OREGON
ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME
BEDELL/BREEDLOVE GUITARS FACTORY TOUR Oregon may be a laid back, mellow state, but that doesn’t mean that its residents don’t have an eye for detail. Breedlove Guitars, the acclaimed guitar maker that Kim Breedlove started back in 1974 following a six-month surfing trip to Mexico, is a case in point. At its Bend factory, you can enjoy a low key, appointment-only look inside one of the country’s best manufacturers, and even consult with their luthiers to pick out wood combinations and inlay for your own custom model. 61573 American Loop, Bend (877) 800-4848 breedlovemusic.com
T H E 14 T H
New York Guitar Seminar A T
M A N N E S
DEREK JENSEN
Aside from its spectacular I.M. Pei architecture, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame—a.k.a., the house that Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner mysteriously built on the shores of Lake Erie instead of the banks of the Mighty Mississippi—is worth checking out for its collection of legendary acoustic guitars: Lead Belly’s early Stella 12-string; Johnny Cash’s 1943 Martin D-28; Wanda Jackson’s 1958 D-18; the 1968 Gibson J-200 Pete Townshend used on Tommy; the J-160 on which John Lennon drew doodles of him and Yoko; and the Martin 000-42 Eric Clapton played on MTV Unplugged. You might want to check out the Hall’s other guitars, too—you know, all the famous Strats, Les Pauls, and stuff. 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., Cleveland. (216) 781-7625 rockhall.com
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Guitars in the Classroom trains, inspires, and equips classroom teachers to make and lead music that transforms learning into a creative, effective, and joyful experience for k-12 students from coast to coast and beyond.
FROM THE ACADEMY:
Focus on the Guitar in Higher Education June 24 – 29, 2014 Featuring: Benjamin Verdery, Ana Vidovic, Fabio Zanon, Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo, Tali Roth, Mariano Aguirre, Allen Krantz, Ana María Rosado, Seth Himmelhoch, Sharpe/Zohn Guitar Duo, Ciraldo Duo, and others. 150 W. 85th Street, New York, NY 10024 212-580-0210 x4883
www.mannesguitar.com
Thanks to Martin Guitars and the C.F. Martin Foundation, Oriolo Guitars, the Bill Graham Foundation, and D'Addario & Co. for helping us launch the latest round of GITC programs!
Please visit
to learn more and check out GITC's first publication: The Green Songbook Available now from Alfred Music Publishing at www.GreenSongBook.com. 56 April 2014
SOUTH DAKOTA
PENNSYLVANIA
CRIPPLE CREEK MUSIC CO.
MARTIN GUITAR FACTORY TOUR
If you and your friends are looking to start a string band but are in need of new instruments, this is your place. Set on Ashland’s picturesque Main Street, Cripple Creek Music is practically overflowing with guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, violins, banjos, and cajons. Best of all, the cozy, wood-appointed shop has honed a laid back vibe where staff members actually encourage you to pick up their impressive selection of new Martins and Taylors and strum more than a passing E chord. 353 E. Main St., Ashland (541) 482-9141 cripplecreekmusic.com
Nazareth may not be the birthplace of the modern American guitar—that distinction goes to New York City, where luthier C.F. Martin started his storied company in 1833 —but the tiny Pennsylvania town is now home to Martin & Co. and draws acoustic pilgrims from around the world. “We make more great flattop steel string acoustic guitars than any other entity on earth,” CEO Chris Martin IV said recently. The illuminating hour-long tour of the state-of-the-art factory floor shows you why that claim is true. 510 Sycamore St., Nazareth (610) 759-2837. martinguitar.com
Rock On.
SPEAL’S TAVERN CIGAR-BOX GUITAR MUSEUM
NATIONAL MUSIC MUSEUM
Perhaps fittingly, one of the world’s biggest collections of cigar-box guitars can be found on the walls of a bar. Used by such noted players as blues legend Lightnin’ Hopkins and Mr. Blue Suede Shoes himself, Carl Perkins, as well as Paul McCartney, the cigarbox guitar has been memorialized at Speal’s Tavern in New Alexandria since 2010. The tavern’s impressive collection now numbers over 40, and includes cigar-box amplifiers and a trove of photos and artifacts chronicling the use of the instrument used by musicians on a budget. 1850 Lions Club Rd., New Alexandria. (724) 433-1322 spealstavern.com/ cigar-box-guitar-museum
With more than 13,500 musical instruments in its stunning collection, this University of South Dakota museum is not only one of the finest in the country, but one of the best in the world. Of course, you may be especially drawn to the Lillibridge Gallery, where close to 40 stunning guitars, banjos, and mandolins are housed, as is a recreation of the D’Angelico/ D’Aquisto/Gudelsky Guitar Workshop. Early Gibsons from the turn of the century, as well as some choice Martin D-28s, easily qualify this as a place to visit. 414 E. Clark St., Vermillion (605) 677-5306 orgs.usd.edu/nmm/galleries
DISPLAY & PROTECT!
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Acoustic Rock Essentials ALL THE TIPS AND TECHNIQUES TO UNPLUG YOUR ROCK AND ROLL Ten Great Rock Strumming Patterns
ACOUSTIC ROCK ESSENTIALS
Add ten popular rock rhythms (and their variations) to your strumming vocabulary. n
n
Strumming patterns based on music by the Beatles, Coldplay, the Strokes, Buddy Holly, and more Tips for finding the right rhythm patterns for your own songs
By Andrew DuBrock Includes 16 minutes of video
Get the video lessons from store. AcousticGuitar.com today.
GUITAR HUMIDOR.COM
874 382 8656
AcousticGuitar.com 57
50 MUST-SEE PLACES TENNESSEE
BLUEGRASS UNDERGROUND
COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME
More than 300 feet beneath the earth’s surface, deep inside the Cumberland Caverns, is a bluegrass stage unlike any other. Courtesy of Mother Nature, the perfect acoustics inside the Volcano Room have played host to such performers as Ricky Skaggs, Leon Russell, Missy Raines, and Ashley Caudill. While spelunking might not be every roadie’s idea of fun, sitting beneath the crystal chandelier along with a few thousand bats and some of the world’s best pickers simply cannot be beat, whether you’re a performer or audience member. 1437 Cumberland Caverns Rd., McMinnville. (931) 668-4396 bluegrassunderground.com
Based on the rock-with-a-twang music that comes out of Nashville today, it’s easy to forget the crucial role acoustic guitars have played in country music. The Country Music Hall of Fame won’t let you forget it. From its regular acoustic-guitar demonstrations by players like session man Jack Pearson to the vintage acoustic guitars in its permanent collection (including Jimmie Rodgers’ 1928 Weymann and Mother Maybelle Carter’s 1928 Gibson L-5), the Nashville museum is a must-see. While there, don’t miss the permanent exhibit, “Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music,” or the archive spotlight exhibit, “Hank Williams: Timeless Troubadour.” 222 Fifth Ave. South, Nashville (615) 416-2001 countrymusichalloffame.org
CarbonFiberCases.com
58 April 2014
GRACELAND OK, maybe Elvis Presley wasn’t known as a superlative guitarist, but he was the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, and no tour through Memphis is complete without visiting his castle. Highlights include the animal-print adorned “Jungle Room,” the three TV sets Elvis watched simultaneously, several iconic acoustic guitars (currently undergoing restoration, including one played on the King’s landmark 1968 comeback TV special), and, yes, the abundant number of impersonators who can’t seem to tour Graceland enough. 3734 Elvis Presley Blvd., Memphis (901) 332-3322 elvis.com/graceland
Ernest Tubb backstage at the Ryman Auditorium, June 5, 1955.
GORDON GILLINGHAM © GRAND OLE OPRY LLC
RYMAN AUDITORIUM Few places in America have played such an integral part in the country’s musical heritage as the Ryman Auditorium. Dubbed the “Mother Church of Country Music,” the Grand Ole Opry took up residence at the theater for 31 years. During that time, Earl Scruggs made his debut with Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash met June Carter backstage, Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley each knocked ‘em dead, and the Byrds introduced country rock to a mainstream audience. Though the Opry has moved on, the Ryman still has some of the best acoustics of any theater anywhere. 116 Fifth Ave. North, Nashville (615) 889-3060. ryman.com
SUN STUDIO
THIRD MAN RECORDS
Yes, you too can have your picture taken with an old RCA ribbon microphone inside the same studio where, in 1954, a young Elvis Presley, in an impromptu burst of inspiration, began strumming his acoustic guitar and singing Arthur Crudup’s “That’s All Right (Mama).” But Sun is much more than just a few iconic Elvis tracks. Nineteenyear-old Ike Turner’s band was cutting an earlier Sun side, “Rocket 88,” when another impromptu event helped shape American rock ’n’ roll—the cone in the band’s amp had been damaged, creating a fuzzy guitar sound that in later years would be simulated with electronics. Never been to Sun? What are you waiting for? 706 Union Ave., Memphis (800) 441-6249. sunstudio.com
Few Americans have done more to preserve our country’s musical legacy than former White Stripes frontman Jack White. At his record label’s tiny shop, you’ll find a great assortment of vinyl reissues, and can check out the world’s only functioning live-to-acetate recording studio. If you’re lucky, a music industry legend like Wanda Jackson may even stop by for an impromptu show. 623 7th Ave S, Nashville (615) 891-4393 thirdmanrecords.com
Kaufman University
Go Blue.
Coming Near You!
www.flatpik.com Steve Kaufman ~ The World’s Guitar and Mandolin Teacher! A Decade of Gold Awards for the Best Camps and Conferences
Upcoming Workshops and Concerts x Littleton, NH - May 2-3 Guitar Workshop & Concert
northernlightsmusic.com or 603-444-7776
x Ithaca, NY - May 9-10 Guitar Workshop & Concert
607-272-2602 or
[email protected]
FINGERSTYLE BLUES SONGBOOK
x Marlton, NJ - May 15-16-17 Mando & Guitar Workshop & Concert
[email protected] or call 609-217-1388 x
FINGERSTYLE BLUES SONGBOOK Learn to play 15 blues fingerstyle guitar arrangements, with tab, standard notation, and chord diagrams.
Includes audio for accompaniment and melody, played slowly and up-to-speed.
Arranged by Steve James
Available two ways (book+audio) or (PDF+video) from store. AcousticGuitar.com
Maryville, TN - June 8-14 & 15-21 Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamps
African Flatpicking Safari
November 2014 - Register Today! Photo/Flatpicking Safari
www.flatpik.com
865-982-3808 AcousticGuitar.com 59
50 MUST-SEE PLACES TEXAS
AMANDA ELMORE
BROKEN SPOKE
Broken Spoke
Accentuate
If you’re in Austin for the SXSW music shindig held each spring (or for any other reason), take a drive out to the old wood-paneled dive bar in a dusty gravel parking lot off South Lamar Boulevard. The Broken Spoke may look like just another Texas honky-tonk serving longneck beer and heart attack-inducing BBQ, but it’s one of the most famous dance halls in the world. Since 1964, country legends from Willie Nelson to the Flatlanders’ Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore to Lucinda Williams have played for rooms packed with roots-music fans and Western swing dancers. Don’t forget to pick up your own “I Dance Country at the Broken Spoke” bumper sticker. 3201 S. Lamar. (512) 442-6189 brokenspokeaustintx.com
COLLINGS FACTORY TOUR After moving from Ohio to Texas in the early 1970s, Bill Collings started making guitars at his kitchen table. Soon he was selling models to big name acts like Lyle Lovett, and demand for his guitars skyrocketed. The 60- to 90-minute tour of Collings’ state-of-the art, 27,000-squarefoot factory on the outskirts of Austin gives you insight into why Joni Mitchell, Brian May, and Pete Townshend have all sought out his guitars. Don’t be fooled by the building’s plain exterior, the operation inside is a thing of beauty. 11210 W. Hwy 290, outside Austin (512) 288-7776 collingsguitars.com
BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON’S GRAVE
1.800.788.5828 www.rainsong.com
Escape the expected. Experience graphite.
60 April 2014
“See that my grave is kept clean,” country bluesman and fingerstyle pioneer Harry “Blind Lemon” Jefferson opined in a song by the same title recorded two years before his death in 1929. Decades later, everyone from Andy Griffith to Bob Dylan has covered that song, and Geoff Muldaur referred to it in his wistful acoustic blues “Got to Find Blind Lemon.” You can find the grave in a small cemetery that now bears his name in rural Wortham. Bring a broom. Wortham Black Cemetery, Highway 14, Freestone County
HEART OF TEXAS COUNTRY MUSIC MUSEUM Deep in the heart of Texas, you’ll find this shrine to honky-tonk culture. Opened in 2000, the museum boasts an impressive collection of rhinestone-studded clothing worn on the road by such legends as Lefty Frizzell and Ray Price. Guitar enthusiasts will marvel at the collection of instruments on view here, from Buck Owens’ red, white, and blue Harmony to Martins played by Jimmy Reeves and Billy Walker. Floyd Tillman’s Gibson and Hank Snow’s custom Gay guitars round out a collection that is well worth the price of admission, but the museum is only open Friday through Sunday. 1701 S Bridge St., Brady (325) 597-1895. hillbillyhits.com
development of the guitar through the lives and accomplishments of such innovators as Orville Gibson, Leo Fender, and Les Paul, and the musicians who played them. 325 5th Ave. N (206) 770-2700. empmuseum.org
string beauty made for Chet Atkins by legendary luthier Hascal Haile in 1972, the collection is staggering in scope. Best of all, as with all the Smithsonian museums in DC, admission is free! 14th St. and Constitution Ave. (202) 633-1000. americanhistory.si.edu
WASHINGTON DC
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY Among the more than 5,000 musical instruments in the Smithsonian’s collection are some very prized guitars. From a 1690 Voboam to a nylon
TRAIL OF TEJANO LEGENDS Next to the Colorado River in East Austin is a project that not only offers a little history of Mexican-American music in this famous music town, but it’s a pretty good way to get some exercise. The Trail of Tejano Legends begins at the Mexican American Cultural Center and takes you by several hotspots, including a park honoring Manuel “Cowboy” Donley, who some call the grandfather of true Texas Tejano—you know, the kind that features bands fronted by furiously strummed nylon-string guitarists. Mexican American Cultural Center 600 River St., Austin. (512) 974-3772 UTAH
INTERMOUNTAIN GUITAR & BANJO With so many rare and vintage instruments, this Salt Lake City shop could double as a museum for folk instruments. Opened in 1973, it has become the go-to place for bluegrass players and has amassed a collection that includes an impressive number of fretted instruments from the mid-1880s onward. 712 E. 100 South, Salt Lake City (801) 322-4682. guitarandbanjo.com WASHINGTON STATE
EMP MUSEUM Probably best known as a shrine to Seattle rockguitar god Jimi Hendrix, the Experience Music Project (EMP) and Science Fiction Hall of Fame also boasts an impressive gallery of acoustic guitars, including early semi-hollow-body Bakelite guitars made by Rickenbacker. At press time, these and others were on display in “The Quest for Volume” exhibit, featuring 55 vintage, world-changing guitars from the 1770s to the present. The instruments on display span the AcousticGuitar.com 61
PRESENTS
STEVE
DAWSON
RATTLESNAKE CAGE This is the record that Steve Dawson’s growing number of fans have been waiting for.‘Rattlesnake Cage’ finally gives them the opportunity to hear Steve interact with his guitar in a way that has never been captured on record before - stellar solo instrumental guitar performances recorded with one vintage microphone. Raw, imaginative, and captivating - instrumental music informed by the deep traditions of blues, ragtime, jazz and even Hawaiian music, but taking those influences in unexpected directions.
“One magazine has referred to Steve Dawson as the T-Bone Burnett of Canada. I tend to think of him more as a Canadian version of Ry Cooder … his fine slide guitar and storytelling, everything seeming to flow effortlessly.” – Toledo Blade “Anyone who can hear Dawson play and not be moved is made of stone!” – Penguin Eggs Magazine
More Zesty Black Hen Releases
KELLY JOE PHELPS Brother Sinner and the Whale
JIM BYRNES I Hear the Wind in the Wires
Available on CD, vinyl and digital everywhere on Feb. 18
THE MISSISSIPPI SHEIKS TRIBUTE PROJECT Live DVD
www.blackhenmusic.com
62 April 2014
SPECIAL SECTION
Summer Events Guide 64
HOW TO APPROACH A JAM SESSION
66
2014 SUMMER EVENTS DIRECTORY
SPECIAL SECTION SUMMER EVENTS GUIDE 25th YEAR : FROM THE VAULT
Play Well with Others
HEADED FOR A FESTIVAL OR MUSIC CAMP? JAM SESSIONS OFFER GREAT FUN AND COLLECTIVE CREATIVITY . . . IF YOU KNOW HOW TO APPROACH THEM BY STEVIE COYLE
M
aking “a joyful noise” with others is one of the great treasures of being a musician, even for a beginner. And yet many of us don’t afford ourselves the chance, or do so infrequently, owing to circumstances, lack of confidence in our musical skills, or some other obstacle (real or imagined). Consequently, when you do play with others, you may find yourself entering the fray haltingly—making awkward contributions to the jam and just not plugging into the enjoyment everyone else seems to be having. If you’ve had this experience and long to experience the delight of spontaneous, shared musical discovery, here are some tips to get you on the right track. These suggestions may not make you a brilliant improviser or renowned jam leader overnight, but if you apply them diligently, you’ll not only enjoy jams more, you’ll find yourself invited to them more often.
BEFORE YOU JAM
64 April 2014
comfortable with it and can lead the jam on it. These songs should be familiar or simple enough that almost anyone will be able to join in, picking up the progression and feel by the end of the first verse and chorus (or with the help of a quick runthrough), yet fun and interesting enough that anyone who hasn’t played or sung them before will get a kick out of doing so. You may only get to do one of these songs (or none at all), but having such material ready can help keep your jams lively and moving forward, encouraging the development of a jam culture among your compadres and avoiding the dreaded, jam-killing question: “What do you want to play?” Tune Up Your Ax. Make sure your guitar has fresh strings (less than a week or two old) and everything is in good working order—and be sure to check that out at least two or three weeks in advance, in case you do need a repair.
Learning to play well with others starts when you’re still playing by yourself. In the days and weeks before a jam, make sure you do the following:
Woodshed. If you haven’t been playing much recently, practice frequently in the week or two leading up to the jam—and keep in mind that 15 minutes a day is better than two hours once during that week.
Expand Your Repertoire. Make it your job to learn one to three songs or tunes that are new to you before each jam, so you have some fresh material to contribute. Practice this material enough for a week or two beforehand so that you’re very
GET INTO THE GROOVE Once you’re at the jam, remember: You will have the most fun if you can transform yourself—even if only for a few hours— from a soloist into a band player. To do
that, keep these points in mind: Play, Don’t Perform. Realize that a jam is not a concert. Submit to the groove; in a jam, the groove is everything. Music needs a pulse before it can go anywhere, so help get that heartbeat going strong. And, as best you can, stick with the “flavor” of the jam, letting transitions from one musical style to another be fairly gradual. Look—and Listen—for Space. A jam is about listening as much as it is about playing. It’s almost always a good idea to wait for the first verse of a song to go by before you play. This not only gives you a chance to enter the song with a sense of how it goes; it gives the “arrangement” some nice dynamics. Keep Your Eyes Open. Many jammers are strongly tempted to close their eyes and internalize the music. Resist this temptation! Stay tuned visually so you’ll be able to take cues from others, especially the tune leaders, if there are any. Jams are often round-robin affairs where leadership is passed around a circle. The leader will frequently cue with a nod who should solo next and when. Variety Is the Spice of Jamming. Don’t play the same way or take the same role on every number. Vary your volume from song to song, from verse to verse, and from verse to chorus. Vary your chord voicings
and avoid always playing first-position chords; change your placement on the guitar neck, either with a capo or by your choice of chord forms. Vary the tempo and feel of tunes as you go around the circle. Have a few uptempo and slow ones in your bag of tricks so that when it’s your turn to call the tune you’ll have whatever “feel” you may want ready to go. Play with Space and Silence. Sing on one number; don’t sing on another. Play for a few tunes, and then sit out for a few. Songs and tunes need to breathe; there always needs to be a silent inhalation before you can sing, so try to feel that sense of silenceand-then-sound in your playing as well, rather than making a song one giant exhalation. Doing this also makes your music more purposeful—and allows your musical partners to see you as a discerning musician. Serve the Music. This is the primary objective of any musician, and the prime directive of any jam. During song verses, find ways to support the lyrics; this will probably mean playing at reduced volume while the song’s story is being told. Play fills between sung lines, rather than playing chords over
them. During instrumental pieces or solo sections, support the soloist (again, with decreased volume). Always look for ways to serve what’s being created by the group. Grow. Take a Step Forward. Sharing music with a roomful of musicians is a tremendous opportunity for learning and discovery. Pay attention to others’ techniques while playing with them, and ask questions on the break and afterward. Everybody loves to talk about what they do, so don’t hold back if you see somebody doing something you’d like to learn to do.
JAM FOREVER MORE You see, playing well with others is a pretty simple matter: Pay attention, check your ego at the door, and have fun! Now you’re ready to do all that and more, filling your free time with the incomparable pleasure of making music with others. There’s just one last thing to do before your next jam: Talk to your friends or search the Internet for some good new banjo jokes to bring with you.
A FESTIVAL & MUSIC CAMP
CHECKLIST A rugged gig bag (with plenty of padding and comfortable straps). Fresh strings (bring a few extra sets). A tuner (and extra batteries). A cleaning cloth (the great outdoors can be messy and hard on your guitar). A notebook and pencils (to track your experience and pen a tune or two). And, remember, you may want to leave your best guitar at home. A sturdy stand-in or even a good carbon-fiber guitar can come in handy in an environment that lacks temperature and humidity control.
A version of this article was published in the November 2006 issue of Acoustic Guitar.
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65 April 2014
AcousticGuitar.com 65
ACOUSTIC GUITAR’S 2014
SUMMER EVENTS DIRECTORY 31st Annual Classical Guitar Workshop College-Conservatory of Music University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio AUGUST 24-30 (513) 281-2865
[email protected] ccmguitarworkshop.org Weeklong workshop for classical-guitar enthusiasts of all levels. Participation in technique classes, ensembles, and masterclasses organized according to skill levels (beginning, intermediate, advanced). Concerts every evening. $250 student; $295 adults. Age 10 – retirement.
Acoustic Alaska Guitar Camp Wasilla, Alaska AUGUST 24-30 (503) 699-1814
[email protected] acousticalaska.com Watch moose and improve your guitar, mandolin, ukulele, voice, & songwriting on a picturesque lake surrounded by beautiful mountains. Small classes/campfire jams ensure a great experience—all experience levels welcome. Instructors: Ernie Hawkins, Dan Navarro, BettySoo, Sharon Gilchrist, D o u g C o x , F r e d S o k o l o w, M i c h a e l Chapdelaine, and Steve Baughman.
Accent On Music Fingerstyle Guitar Seminar Portland, Oregon
[email protected] accentonmusic.com Mark Hanson’s 15th annual guitar seminar. On the campus of Portland State University. Instructors; Mark Hanson, Mike Dowling, David Hamburger. Limited to 35 attendees Visit us online for more information and to register.
Alex de Grassi Summer Guitar Intensive Redwood Valley, California JULY 24-27 (707) 485-1083
[email protected] degrassi.com/workshops.html Summer Intensive Guitar Workshop July 24-27 (intermediate and advanced) at Jug Handle Creek Farm on the spectacular Mendocino Coast in Caspar, CA. $750 fee includes gourmet meals, shared room in farmhouse. Private rooms/cabins, camping available.
California Coast Music Camp Palo Alto, California JULY 6-12 and JULY 13-19 (650) 306-0399 or (415) 377-1755
[email protected] musiccamp.org Join top instructors at an acoustic music camp in Northern California’s scenic Gold Country mountains. One or two weeks. Cost includes all lessons, meals, and lodging. Workshops, dances, concerts, performance opportunities, swimming, and hiking.
JULY 23-26 (503) 699-1814
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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Centrum’s Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Workshop Port Townsend, Washington JULY 27-AUGUST 3 (360) 385-3102, ext. 116
[email protected] centrum.org/blues Daily classes in Hill Country, Delta and Piedmont styles, finger-picking, blues guitar, slide guitar, harmonica, violin, mandolin, banjo, blues piano, bass, blues singing, and gospel choir, all taught by masters of the traditions.
Charm City Folk and Bluegrass Festival Baltimore, Maryland APRIL 26
[email protected] charmcitybluegrass.com The Charm City Folk and Bluegrass Festival will take place at Druid Hill Park, near Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens, on April 26th, 2014. Headliners include 13-time Grammy Award winner, Jerry Douglas, mandolin prodigy Sierra Hull, and bluegrass heavyweight Audie Blaylock & Redline.
Django in June Smith College Northampton, Massachusetts JUNE 17-22 (413) 320-8154 djangoinjune.com Django in June is the only music camp in the US devoted soley to the Gypsy jazz tradition of Django Reinhardt. Instructional tracks for guitar, violin, accordion, and bass.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Folk Alliance International Kansas City, Missouri (816) 221-3655
[email protected] folk.org Folk Alliance International is a 3,000+ member driven organization and conferences for the Folk and TraditionalMusic Community. For 26 years, FAI has served as the collect iv e v oi ce of the com m unit y and it s conferences and music camp bridge yesterday and today intothe future.
[email protected] guitarworkshopplus.com The ultimate experience in music education for guitar, bass, drums, vocals, keyboards, and songwriting. Courses for all levels, ages, and styles.
Kerrville Folk Festival Kerrville, Texas MAY 22- JUNE 18 (212) 558-02100, ext. 4883
[email protected] kerrvillefolkfestival.org Kerrville Folk Festival is a family event presenting songwriters from every genre. Ian Moore, Eliza Gilkyson, Jimmy LaFave, Billy Jonas, James Hill, Judy Collins, Vance Gilbert, Brennan Leigh & Noel McKay, Mary Gauthier.
Fur Peace Ranch and Psylodelic Gallery Pomeroy, Ohio
New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes New York, New York
(740) 992-6228
[email protected] furpeaceranch.com
JUNE 24-29 (212) 558-0210, ext. 4883
[email protected] mannesguitar.com
A ranch that grows guitar players . . . the Fur Peace Ranch hosts national recording artists that teach guitar, bass, vocals, mandolin, percussion, and songwriting.
Guitar Intensives New York, New York
Princeton and Yale Universities’ and other top schools’ faculty (Ben Verdery, Ana Vidovic, Fabio Zanon, Newman & Oltman Duo, et al.) focus on interactive sessions—master classes, hands-on workshops, performance classes, ensemble coachings—as well as faculty and participant concerts.
(917) 620-8872
[email protected] guitarintensives.com Dream team faculty in a spectacular location on Frenchman’s Bay, Bar Harbor – steps from Acadia National Park. Mike Dowling, Martin Grosswendt, Andra Faye, Scott Ballenstine, and more, TBA! Guitar – Mandolin – Slide – Fiddle – Band Lab – Vocal – and more!
Guitar Workshop Plus Mississauga, Ontario, Canada JULY 13-18 (TORONTO) , JULY 20-25 (TORONTO) , AUGUST 10-15 (VANCOUVER) (905) 567-8000
Sisters Folk Festival Sisters, Oregon SEPTEMBER 5-7 (541) 549-4979
[email protected] sistersfolkfestival.org A three-day music festival every year in September in the charming town of Sisters, Oregon. From Blues to Bluegrass and everything in between. Nine stages and over 40 acts . . . a weekend full music.
Walnut Valley Festival and National Flatpicking Championships Winfield, Kansas SEPTEMBER 17-21 (620) 221-3251
[email protected] wvfest.com International convention for acoustic music featuring over 200 hours of live music on 4 stages, 8 National and International acoustic instrumental contests, workshops, and jam sessions.
Wernick Method Jam Classes & Camps Across 38 States and 10 Countries
[email protected] bgjam.com Wernick and his teaching team help learning musicians build skills and confidence, jamming in an inclusive and friendly social setting. Only G, C, D, A chords required. Many camps are connected to bluegrass festivals, with weekly classes by Wenick Method instructors across the country.
Christian Guitarist Workshop Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania MARCH 29 (717) 766-2511, ext. 330
[email protected] messiah.edu/guitar Messiah College’s Workshop for Christian Guitarists: Sessions for all levels (even beginners) acoustic or electric. $45 ($30/students). Part of our many programs/degrees for the complete Christian guitarist. See website for details.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Wind River Guitar Dubois, Wyoming (307) 455-3748
[email protected] mikedowling.com Three full days of personal, private, affordable instruction with Grammy-winning Mike Dowling in his comfortable Rocky Mountain home. Request a brochure jdowling@ wyoming.com.
AcousticGuitar.com 67
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Makers & Shakers 71
Gear Reviews 76
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AG
TRADE
SHOPTALK
Scott Baxendale
Oh, Graceland, Don’t Be Cruel! Luthier Scott Baxendale won’t be fixing Elvis’ guitars, but he came back from Memphis with some great stories BY MARK SEGAL KEMP
A
n Athens, Georgia, luthier who was tapped to restore some of Elvis Presley’s most famous guitars has been given the red light, according to Graceland spokesman David Beckwith. “The restoration project is on hold indefinitely as we reevaluate the conservation work needed for the guitars,” Beckwith said in a mid-January email. “And as far as anyone specific to do the work, we haven’t decided who that will be.” That’s very different from the news of just two weeks earlier, when The Tennessean in Nashville reported that Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, and her husband, producer and guitarist Michael Lockwood, had picked Scott Baxendale for the project. AG talked to an excited Baxendale shortly after he and his wife returned from Graceland, where he inspected several of the King’s guitars, including Presley’s favorite—the 1956
Gibson J-200 he used in numerous performances and movies including 1958’s King Creole. “We were just blown away,” said Baxendale, who is known for his fine craftsmanship in converting old Harmony and Kay guitars into top-quality instruments, and whose clients range from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy to punk-jazz guitarist Nels Cline. Baxendale would have been responsible for restoring 20 to 25 other Presley guitars, including a Martin D-76 and a black Gibson Dove. But the guitar maker, whose specialty at his Athens shop is transforming relatively cheap vintage instruments into glorious pieces of playable art, was most drawn to two unusual Fenders he saw in the collection. “They were identical Fender acoustics made in the late ’60s,” Baxendale said. “They were obviously Japanese-made guitars, but they weren’t like any I had ever seen
before—just little OM-shaped mahogany guitars that really looked pretty plain-Jane.” He wondered why Elvis even had the guitars—that is, until he returned later that night to the Heartbreak Hotel. “When we got back to the hotel—you know, they have those continuous-running loops of Elvis movies everywhere in the hotel—I looked up at one of the TVs and there he was, playing one of those little Fenders. I turned to my wife and said, ‘Look, that’s the guitar that we just saw!” When contacted about Graceland’s change of plans, Baxendale said he couldn’t comment, but added that he’s moved on. “Right now, I am focused on preparing for the American Craft Council award luncheon in New York. I have been selected as a finalist.” Stay tuned for more from AG on the talented Baxendale. AcousticGuitar.com 69
Ernie Ball Introduces a New Alloy Acoustic String It’s the age-old dilemma. You’re scheduled to play an intimate set of country-blues with some friends down at the bar, and you want a nice, warm, full-bodied sound. But maybe you’d like to throw in some bright, ringing, folk sing-alongs to get the crowd going. Should you pick up a set of phosphor bronze strings for their richness, or 80/20s for a little extra shimmer? What if you had a totally different choice? That’s the question string engineers at Ernie Ball asked when they began doing research and development three years ago on a new alloy for acoustic-guitar strings. The result is Ernie Ball’s Aluminum Bronze line—the first guitar strings to use this particular blend. The company unveiled the new strings at the January National Association of Music Merchants trade show in Anaheim, California, and planned to begin shipping them to music stores in March. Unlike phosphor bronze or 80/20s, which blend copper with zinc or tin, Ernie Ball’s Aluminum Bronze strings are a blend of copper and aluminum. It’s a strong, corrosion-resistant alloy used by the military in everything from aircraft landing gear to ship propellers. Even more important than the strings’ durability, according to company vice president Brian Ball, is their sound. The company was looking to create strings with a strong low-end response that also have a crisp, vibrant sound, but without the negative associations attached to brightness. “If you go down the tonal road of, like, extremely warm, then in
my opinion, you’re going to run into strings that sound muddled and boring and dull,” Ball says. “There are full copper blends that have been out there for a while now and not a lot of people are playing them. So we wanted to create a string that was vibrant, expressive, and punchy.” Over the past decade, Ernie Ball’s engineers experimented with more than 150 alloys that failed to make the cut because they didn’t sound good enough. That all changed when they began perfecting a blend of aluminum and copper. They noticed that the strings not only had more clarity and projection than traditional bronze, they also were more resistant to sweat and other contaminants, which means they last longer. “There are a lot of challenges to making strings better,” Ball says. “There are fixed variables—they need to be strong, they need to be durable, and they need to sound good. That’s kind of why there hasn’t been a lot of innovation. It’s not that people haven’t been trying.” To test the new Aluminum Bronze strings in-house, the Ball team strung up a mahogany Taylor for a couple of weeks, and then restrung the guitar with a set of 80/20s. “Those 80/20s actually sounded dull,” says marketing manager Derek Brooks. “We were like, ‘Wow, it’s the same guitar, but these strings just don’t have the projection.’ And they were brand new, right out of the package.” The company gave early samples to YouTube finger-picking
sensation Andy McKee and singersongwriter John Mayer. Both were impressed. Mayer’s guitar tech, Rene Martinez, called Ball to tell him how much more expressive Mayer’s playing sounded when he strung up his Martin acoustic-electric and plugged it in. “He said, ‘You know, I’ve never heard John be able to stand out acoustically with five guys playing electric instruments, but you can hear his playing so much more distinctly and better.’ ”
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But Elixir says its new HD Lights aren’t limited to those instruments. “Despite the collaborative effort,” says Elixir publicist Christopher Shuler, “the new strings— which deliver both a bold high end and full low end—can be used on
YAMAHA ACQUIRES LINE 6 The Yamaha Corporation, which started in 1887 as a piano and organ company and later became perhaps best known for its quality affordable acoustic guitars, has acquired Line 6, developers of cutting-edge digital audio equipment. Yamaha will run the company as a subsidiary. Line 6 co-founder Marcus Ryle said in a statement, “For over 30 years of developing products, and even further back to my earliest memories as a developing musician, Yamaha has been the brand for which I have always had the most respect. I am very proud for Line 6 to now be a part of this incredible legacy.”
SNAPZ INVENTS NEW BRIDGE PIN PULLER
‘We wanted to create a string that was vibrant, expressive, and punchy.’ —BRIAN BALL
“The note separation is amazing,” Brooks adds. “You just hear every note so clearly.” Manufactured at Ernie Ball’s Coachella Valley plant in California, Aluminum Bronze strings come in all gauges and sell for a starting price of $7.99.
Elixir Debuts New HD Lights Taylor Guitars’ master luthier Andy Powers recently worked alongside Elixir Strings’ engineers to create a new line of strings that are . . . well, tailor-made for the guitar company’s new 812ec Grand Concert and 814cd Grand Auditorium guitars.
BRIEFS
any brand’s acoustic or acousticelectric guitar, not just the Taylors.” Warning: This does not mean the new HD Lights will make your cheap foreign-made 1966 starter guitar with inch-high action sound like a Taylor.
Tired of misplacing the needlenose pliers, breaking your fingernails just to get your bridge pins out, and then losing the pins when they go flying across the room? Changing strings doesn’t have to be such a hazardous chore. A new device—the Snapz Bridge Pin Puller—removes bridge pins quickly and easily, according to the company that invented them, Big Rock Engineering. The Snapz puller is hardly the only bridge pin remover on the market, but it’s surprisingly effective and simple to use. Made of molded plastic, it has a locking mechanism that grips the pin and allows you to gently pull it out without scratching your guitar or putting out anybody’s eye.
AGED TONE SOUND ON BOURGEOIS GUITARS Master luthier Dana Bourgeois— AG’s “Guitar Guru”—announced at the recent NAMM trade show that his Aged Tone Sound Upgrade is now available on all models at Bourgeois Guitars. Once available only on Bourgeois’ Aged Tone series, the proprietary finish, hide glue, bracing and terrified tops can now be found on other models, from dreadnoughts to parlor guitars.
STUDIO WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY
MAKERS & SHAKERS
Jason Kostal
Practical Matters
Arizona-based Jason Kostal traded corporate life for a luthier’s dreams BY DOUG YOUNG
J
ason Kostal trod a sensible career path. He served more than a decade in the US Army, where he got an undergraduate degree in engineering at the US Military Academy at West Point and a master’s in business from Emory University. When he left the service in 2005, Kostal landed a job in management at the Home Depot. He was set. Any practical parent would be proud. But Kostal was miserable. Ever since he was a kid growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he had played the guitar. He started at four, was taking lessons at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music at ten, and by 18 had studied under a string of illustrious instructors, including fingerstyle picking whiz John Stropes and the late Michael Hedges. After graduating high school, Kostal was accepted by three top colleges: Juilliard, Berklee, and West Point. “The way I looked at it, music would always be there, but not many people get the opportunity to go to West Point,” he says.
So he put his guitar-playing dreams on the back burner, though Kostal continued obsessing over them. “I had amassed a pretty amazing collection over the years— vintage electrics, custom shop–manufactured acoustics, and some incredible luthier-built guitars as well,” he says. While at Emory, he looked up Atlanta luthier Kent Everett, who’s built guitars for Brad Paisley, Shawn Mullins, and Indigo Girl Amy Ray. Kostal wanted to take a class. “I had no intention of ever becoming a guitar builder,” he says. “I just wanted to figure out how one guitar could sell for $15,000 while another one sold for $500. But Kent warned me, ‘You’ll get bit by the bug and you’ll never want to turn back.’” The bug sank its teeth in. “I fell in love with the process and the creative side of it, but the realist side of me told me I wasn’t ready to do it full time,” Kostal says. “So I finished school, left the Army, and moved to Salt Lake City to start my new career in the corporate world.”
By day, Kostal was on the management track at Home Depot. By night, he tinkered with guitars in his garage. Two years into his career, he’d had enough. Kostal was ready to start building guitars professionally. He left his cushy job in 2006, moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and enrolled in a fivemonth program at the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. He apprenticed under Ervin Somogyi. “Looking back, it was a pretty ridiculous endeavor,” says Kostal, 38. “But I figured if I still enjoyed building guitars after doing it daily for five months, I could make it work somehow.” He’s more than made it work. Today, at Phoenix-based Kostal Guitars, he builds 16 to 18 instruments a year, concentrating on four models—a “modified dreadnought” (MD), OM, Jumbo, and 00, all with a base price of $10,500. I caught up with Kostal late last year and talked to him about the art, the craft, and—dare we say—the soul of guitar making. AcousticGuitar.com 71
What would the ‘perfect’ guitar feel and sound like to you? In all honesty, that is hard to describe. Playing an amazing guitar is a lot like driving a fine automobile or having an incredible dinner. You may not be able to perfectly describe what you are feeling or experiencing, but you feel as though all of your senses are alive, and you’re enjoying the moment completely. Plato once said that music gives “a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” I believe that completely, and I believe the heart of it is where the music is created. The more connected one feels to a guitar, and the notes it creates, or the way it feels in their hands, the more inspired they are to create. What kind of sound are you aiming for? My first memorable experience with a handmade guitar was playing a guitar made by Ed Claxton that was specifically geared toward the nuances of fingerstyle playing. I’m not sure how Ed builds or voices his guitars, but I love the way they sound. His guitars have a very balanced tone that really allowed me to push my playing to a new level. I’m looking for a sound that is balanced across the entire spectrum—a strong fundamental tone that is still rich in overtones and harmonics, that gives the player and listener a feeling of being enveloped by the sound. I try to create a deep and resonant bass response, but I also want to soften and clarify the treble and midrange. To my ear, the result is a guitar that you can play hard or soft and still hear the richness of each note.
HEAR A KOSTAL 00 MODEL AT ACOUSTICGUITAR.COM Can you describe the guitar you provided for our video? This guitar is my new 00 model. It’s a 12-fret guitar, although I also make it as a 14-fret. I spent three years working out the details and thinking through the design elements to create a small-body guitar with the deep bass and tonal range of a larger-body guitar. This particular guitar has a German spruce top, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, and a one-piece Honduras mahogany neck. Kostal Guitars kostalguitars.com
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How does a guitar maker achieve that? Voicing a guitar is pretty complex, and there are some incredibly different yet viable methods of doing this. My voicing method is not the same as everyone else’s. I focus on lightly building the guitar in order to allow it to respond as much as possible while not compromising the structural integrity. Thin tops, lighter braces, and different building techniques all work to create my desired sound. Removing material from the finished product allows me to refine that sound even more. It is a very methodical process that takes hours, even days to create a certain response or sound. What part of your design contributes most to your tonal ideal? My voicing methods and wood selection. Wood selection comes first, but the two
aspects together are a lot like playing chess. You are not only thinking about what you are doing now, but what you intend to do in the future, and everything within the guitar is connected in some way. How I locate and construct the braces; how I dimension my top, back, and sides; and how I profile them—all affect the outcome. No two guitars that I make are alike in that regard, and every aspect is adjusted throughout the building process for strength, stiffness, response, loadbearing properties, and so on. What’s your favorite combination of tonewoods? My favorites for back and sides are Brazilian rosewood, Madagascar rosewood, and Honduras rosewood. The rosewoods are some of the most consistent woods to work with. They produce a balanced, yet bell-like sound that is appealing to me. For tops, I like the warmth and diversity of German spruce. I want the woods to speak for themselves in both tone and visual beauty. Speaking of visual beauty, have you developed any unique aesthetic elements? My design philosophy is “elegance through simplicity.” The things that I am most known for on my guitars, from a creative standpoint, are my wood selection, my stained-glass rosette, the excavated headstock design, and my decorative end grafts. The end graft is an area that traditionally gets a triangle or rectangle of some kind, but it’s a wonderful place to add some color or artistic flair. [But] the sound of the guitar is the most important thing for me. A beautiful guitar without a beautiful voice is nothing more than a piece of art. I want something that creates music, and while I use design elements to create visual beauty and appeal, it is the sound that most attracts my customers. How much does your tonal goal change according to what your customer wants? My tonal goal is almost 100 percent dictated by the client. I work best with customers who have had some experience with a guitar, or many guitars, and come to me with a good understanding of what they liked and what fell short for them. There are a lot of conversations that go into understanding what a person plays and how they play it. One
‘A beautiful guitar without a beautiful voice is nothing more than a piece of art. I want something that creates music.’ —JASON KOSTAL customer may ask for a deep, resonant bass response or a lively top that has great attack with clarity and separation of notes. Another may focus on playability and ask for a custom nut width, Manzer-style wedge for comfort, or a cutaway to access higher frets. Others may want the guitar set up and intonated for a specific alternate tuning. Yet another may be a performer that needs to focus not only on the acoustic sound, but [also] the amplified sound, the electronics. While the majority of my customers are looking for something specific, I do have some that come to me and just want me to build the best guitar I can. Are your instruments best suited for a particular kind of player or style? I play mostly fingerstyle guitar, so that is my personal reference for evaluating a guitar once it is built. But I have heard my guitars played by many different people and styles.
It all works, but I believe in focusing on the things that I feel adequate at understanding. One of the benefits of being a player is that I know what I can and cannot do, and I tend to know who else out there is good at these things. It is not uncommon for me to listen to a client and realize that I am not the right person to build a guitar for them. Really? You’ve sent customers to your competition? One of the things that makes the lutherie community so amazing is the seeming lack of competition. We all make the best guitars we can, and we all strive to find the right customers for each of us. I have sent plenty of potential clients to other builders that I thought were more suited to what they were looking for, and I have had an equal amount of other builders send work my way. We take care of one another, and promote our craft, and it all seems to work out in the end. For example, I don’t build ladder-braced or fanbraced guitars, I don’t do classical guitars, and as of this moment, I don’t do fan-fretted or multiscale instruments. But there are many others that do. What’s the client’s response when you send them to another builder? Every potential client that I have sent elsewhere has initially been surprised that I am
willing to give up business, but when they see that I care about their best interests more than money, I think they respect that. Every player out there is looking for the right guitar for them, and I am not ignorant enough to believe that I make that guitar for every person. For those that like my guitars, I have been very fortunate that they enjoy them immensely, and for those that go elsewhere, I feel fortunate in having helped them find the right instrument for them. Is there a favorite interaction you’ve had with someone playing one of your instruments? One of my most memorable recent interactions involved a guitar that I had just finished prior to displaying it at a show. Tony McManus came by, picked up my guitar, and sat down to play. The room suddenly became quiet. The guitar sounded incredible, but what meant the most to me that night was seeing a large group of fellow builders and players taking the time to listen to an exceptional player as he allowed my guitar to be heard for the first time. AG
Doug Young (dougyoungguitar.com) is a San Francisco Bay Area–based fingerstyle guitarist and contributing editor to Acoustic Guitar. Senior editor Mark Segal Kemp contributed to this article.
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GUITAR GURU
Q: A: GOT A QUESTION? Uncertain about guitar care and maintenance? The ins-and-outs of guitar building? Or a topic related to your gear? Ask Acoustic Guitar’s resident Guitar Guru. Send an e-mail titled “Guitar Guru” to senior editor Mark Kemp at
[email protected], and he’ll forward it to the expert luthier. If AG selects your question for publication, you’ll receive a complimentary five-pack of Elixir HD Light guitar strings.
HOW DO I GET RID OF THIS ANNOYING BUZZ? My 1983 Martin HD-28 has a buzzing or rattling high E string. The rest of the strings sound great. A local fellow worked on the frets and smoothed them out and it plays well other than this annoying rattle. What in your view is the most likely cause? —GERRY LAVERTY, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
It can be vexingly difficult to diagnose string buzz. Here’s a list of ten possible causes that I look for. If this checklist doesn’t identify the problem, I sometimes resort to offering sacrifices to the guitar gods. 1. LOW NUT SLOT This typically causes problems on the open note, but can sometimes create buzzing between the nut and a fretted note. If you suspect the latter, play the fretted note and then damp the string between the nut and the fret while the note is still ringing. If the buzz goes away you may need a new nut or “nut implant.” 2. IMPROPERLY SHAPED NUT SLOT A string that bears too heavily on the middle or the back of the nut slot can buzz in a sitar-like way on the front of the slot. This can be corrected with a couple well-directed strokes of a nut file. 3. IMPROPER SADDLE CONTACT Same issue as above, only at the saddle. This occurs most often on taller saddles having acute string-break angles. 4. BAD STRINGS Buzzing can sometimes result from windings that have come loose from their core. I have even seen new, obviously defective strings with this problem. 5. TOUCHING STRINGS No two strings should touch in the area around the tuner posts. Custom nut spacing, replacement tuners, and oddball string gauges are the usual culprits. 6. BOUNCING FRETS An improperly seated fret can elude accurate
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leveling, then bounce back up and continue causing buzzing problems. Superglue and a little spot dressing can get you to your next full fret replacement.
DANA BOURGEOIS
7. NECK TOO STRAIGHT The physics of string oscillation dictates that fretboards should rarely be straight and never bowed backward. Ideal fretboard shape depends on scale length, string gauge, playing style, and other factors. A good tech can optimize your guitar for your style and playing preferences, but cannot change the laws of physics. Sometimes you just need more relief. 8. LOOSE JOINT A loose brace, bridge, binding joint, nut, or any ill-fitting part can cause vibration sympathetic to a specific note. I hunt for loose joints by damping strings and tapping around the entire guitar. The fix is often easier than the diagnosis. 9. LOOSE PICKUP This sympathetic vibration merits a category of its own. The problem is often a loose cable which can be detected by damping the strings and shaking the guitar. Recently, I found buzzing related to a loose jack cover. 10. SYMPATHETIC TRUSS ROD Think of the truss rod as a big guitar string that can be tuned to a note that’s either sympathetic or not sympathetic to a significant resonant frequency. You get the picture. AG Dana Bourgeois is a master luthier and the founder of Bourgeois Guitars in Lewiston, Maine.
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July 27-August 3, 2014
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NEW GEAR
LARRIVÉE OM-40R
Pretty on the Inside
Larrivée’s OM-40R may be a plain Jane, but don’t let this modestly priced guitar fool you— it’s one well-crafted machine BY ADAM PERLMUTTER
76 April 2014
W
ith its understated satin finish and modest adornments, the Larrivée OM-40R doesn’t make a strong first impression. But strum an open E chord, and you’re immediately struck by its uncommonly good sound—so vivid and resonant, with impressive sustain and projection. Not only that, but the guitar is one smooth play, owing to a subtle V-shaped neck profile and perfect low action and setup. That the street price on this all-solid, US-made instrument is less than $1,500 makes the guitar seem even sweeter.
VIDEO REVIEW AT
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Solid Sitka spruce top with rope purfling around the soundboard and soundhole.
Rosewood back and sides. Mahogany neck.
Square-top headstock with mother-of-pearl logo and Grover 18:1 tuners.
Ebony fingerboard with traditional diamond-shaped abalone inlays.
Bone nut.
AT A GLANCE BODY Orchestra-size body. Solid Sitka spruce top. Solid rosewood back and sides. Acrylic satin finish. NECK Mahogany neck. Ebony fingerboard and bridge. 25.5-inch scale. 1.75-inch nut width. 23/8-inch string spacing at saddle. Grover 18:1 open-gear tuners.
FROM CANADA TO CALIFORNIA In the late 1960s, Jean Larrivée, an auto mechanic by training, apprenticed as a luthier in Toronto, Canada, focusing on nylon-string guitars. He made his first steelstring in 1971, using the traditional dreadnought as a point of departure for his own experiments with structural details such as bracing patterns, which today form the basis of his company’s designs. By 1976, Larrivée and seven employees were producing as many as 30 instruments per month, and the next several decades saw
huge growth in the company, which moved to increasingly large factories in British Columbia. Larrivée’s output was robust enough to warrant opening a second plant, in Oxnard, California, in 2001, the site at which the company’s manufacturing is now consolidated (the company continues to base its wood milling operations in Canada). Larrivée Guitars’ earliest instruments were steel-strings with marquetry rosettes, clear pickguards, and other Europeaninfluenced touches. The company’s current line reveals more of an American inspiration,
ELECTRONICS Multiple electronics options. Optional Shadow Nanoflex pickup. EXTRAS D’Addario EXP17 medium-gauge phosphor-bronze strings (.013–.056); hardshell case. PRICE $1,899 list/$1,424 street. Made in the United States. larrivee.com.
with traditional details on acoustic guitars of all sizes, electric solid-body updates of 1950s and ’60s designs, as well as F- and A-style mandolins. Thanks to CNC digital technology, the already-celebrated Larrivée designs are built even better today. TRADITION & INNOVATION The OM-40R has the external appearance of the classic 14-fret OM body style first seen in the 1920s. Its tonewoods include AAAgrade Sitka spruce top, rosewood back and sides, and mahogany neck. (The guitar is AcousticGuitar.com 77
NEW GEAR | AG TRADE
also available in a less expensive edition with mahogany back and sides.) The fingerboard is ebony, as is the bridge. Our review model came with choice woods: fine-grained Sitka with a lovely reddish tint; rosewood with beautiful striations, ranging from a deep purple to a warm brown matched by the mahogany; and ebony with a uniformly inky color. Inside the OM-40R is where things get really interesting. The soundboard is supported by Larrivée’s first new bracing pattern in four decades. It’s referred to in the Larrivée literature as a “Scalloped Parabolic Hybrid” system, which is another way of saying that it merges Larrivée’s
78 April 2014
original bracing with that found on vintage Martins. Instead of being shaped like blocks, the lateral braces are tapered and scalloped, kind of like the trestles on a suspension bridge. This design is said to provide both strength and lightness, translating to enhanced vibrations of the guitar’s top. I can’t say whether the new bracing sounds better than the old, because it’s not possible to compare them on the same instrument. But I can say that this particular guitar sounds damn good. DESIGN & CRAFTSMANSHIP The look of the OM-40R is fairly spartan, with traditional abalone diamonds on the fretboard
and dots on the bridge pins, along with rope purfling that circles both the soundboard and soundhole. The guitar’s Canadian maple binding on the top and back offers a subtly luxurious touch, though it’s aesthetically at odds with the ivoroid neck binding and heel cap. All of the details are rendered flawlessly on the review model, boasting a level of craftsmanship expected of more expensive guitars. The bone nut and saddle were cut with great precision, the frets smoothly crowned and polished. Pores on the woods have been evenly filled and the satin finish smoothly applied. All of the binding is flush and tidy, and there’s not a trace of excess glue outside or inside the guitar.
Inside the OM-40R is where things get really interesting. The soundboard is supported by Larrivée’s first new bracing pattern in four decades.
AcousticGuitar.com 79
VERSATILE VOICE With its orchestra-sized body and 1.75-inch nut, the OM-40R demands to be fingerpicked, so I subjected the guitar to some basic Travis picking and found it well-balanced between the registers. The bass is thick, but not overpowering, the midrange has an appealing bark, and the treble sounds rich and clear on both open and fretted notes, all of which ring true and free of distortion. It’s easy to do alternate tunings on the OM-40R, thanks to the guitar’s 18:1 Grover machine heads, which, with their open gears, have a vintage look, but modern performance. The guitar loses none of its lustrous sound when fingerpicked in open-G, DADGAD, or Sebastopol (open-D), and it is responsive to pick-hand nuances. The guitar sounds as terrific played with a plectrum as it does when fingerpicked. With ample headroom, it stands up well to forceful 16th-note pendulum strumming, with a tone almost as cutting as that of a very good dreadnought. Single-note lines stand out on the OM-40R, too, with a fast response and plenty of blossom, which means the guitar will work for anything from bluegrass to swing. A SERIOUS CONTENDER There’s no shortage of all-solid, US-made orchestra models on the market these days. But few guitars in the OM-40R’s price range deliver this much. It might not dazzle with its looks, but this guitar’s excellent sound and playability make it a serious contender among much more expensive instruments, and any player in the market for a fine OM would be remiss not to give it a spin. AG Contributing editor Adam Perlmutter transcribes, arranges, and engraves music for numerous publications.
80 April 2014
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AcousticGuitar.com 81
NEW GEAR
Little Big Man
New Traveler AG-105 offers a full-scale neck and bright acoustic sounds BY TEJA GERKEN
T
he Traveler Acoustic AG-105 isn’t the only mini-guitar to come in a half-size, dreadnought-shaped body, but with gearless tuners hidden behind the bridge, it’s certainly the most unusual. It looks downright Frankensteinian—like a Baby Taylor with the headless neck of one of those Steinberger electrics. Why so weird? With all that efficiency of space, designers were able to use the same scale length as your average Martin D-28. That means when you pick up this tiny, 32¼-inch instrument, it doesn’t feel like a diminutive, on-the-road substitute for the real thing. It feels like the real thing. Lots of guitar companies carry travel or small-size guitars. In addition to the Baby Taylor, there’s the Little Martin, the Blackbird Rider, and many others. But the Southern California–based Traveler Guitar focuses solely on minis. Until now, the company’s instruments all were solid-body electrics that required headphones or an amp to be heard. No longer. The AG-105 comes in both a regular acoustic model and an acoustic-electric—or EQ—version. I checked out the acoustic-electric, which is just compact enough to fit into the overhead compartments of most airplanes, or atop the luggage in your car’s trunk. STRAP IT ON! Like most small-bodied travel guitars, this one requires some effort to hold comfortably without slouching over. Using a strap helps get the neck into an ergonomic playing position, and this guitar comes with two strap buttons attached. The comfort of playing on a full-scale neck offers a welcome change from the crammed feeling you get playing most travel guitars. It also increases the string tension, so that the guitar feels more like a regular steel-string under your fingers. The string spacing at the saddle is, to me, unnecessarily narrow, although interestingly, the neck is wide enough to support having the strings spread out more than they are. Given how the saddle is notched for each string, it would be easy to modify the guitar for wider spacing. TUNE IT UP! Rather than requiring special strings with ball ends on both sides (as Steinberger electrics do), the Traveler uses a clamping mechanism similar to the string locks in the Floyd Rose–style setups of some electric guitars. Operated with a small Allen wrench, there are three clamps just behind the nut, each of which secures a pair of strings. On the other end of the guitar, the regular ball ends of the strings go into what the company calls its Streamline tuning system, in which a knurled-head screw mechanism tightens or loosens the string. The result is a setup similar to a trapeze tailpiece. Tuning with the Streamline system takes a little getting used to, but overall, it works well, and because of the high gear ratio, it’s easy to achieve precise results.
82 April 2014
VIDEO REVIEW AT
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Watch ArtistWorks Instructor Bryan Sutton’s Rousing Rendition of “Hangman’s Reel”
AT A GLANCE
TRAVELER AG-105 BODY Mini-dreadnought body. Solid spruce top. Laminated mahogany back and sides. X-bracing. Satin finish. NECK Mahogany neck. Ebonized rosewood fingerboard and bridge. 15-fret to body.
SCALE LENGTH 25.5-inch scale.
STRINGS Light-gauge D’Addario EXP-16.
NUT 13/4-inch width.
ELECTRONICS Shadow electronics with built-in tuner, headphone output, and auxinput (for connecting MP3 players, etc.).
TUNING Streamline tuning system. STRING SPACING 21/16-inch at saddle.
PLUG IT IN! Played without amplification, the Traveler’s tonality reflects its small resonant chamber— that is, its trebles and mids overpower the sparse bass response. With a distinctive flattop voice and enough volume to make it satisfying to play, it could keep up with an acoustic jam, provided no one’s playing too loud. Plug the Traveler into an amp—like, say, the AER Compact 60 that I used—and the guitar’s performance belies its small size. Equipped with a custom Shadow pickup and preamp system, the Traveler has a sound that is hard to distinguish from that of a full-size guitar. The onboard tone controls allowed me to fine-tune the sound, and I could easily imagine using it on stage. Traveler’s AG-105 is a cool guitar for several reasons. For one thing, having a full-scale instrument with a compact overall size is useful; for another, the headless design and Streamline tuning system make for an interesting design. If you’ve been looking for a small guitar to take anywhere you’re going, this one is well worth checking out. AG Teja Gerken is a contributing editor to Acoustic Guitar
PRICE $714.99 list. $499.99 street. Made in China. travelerguitar.com.
When he’s not teaching via his Online Bluegrass Guitar School, Bryan Sutton spends much of his time bowling over audiences and fellow musicians with his amazing bluegrass skills. In this performance from a recent tribute to Doc Watson, it’s easy to see why members of Doc’s band tapped Bryan to pick up the torch from Doc himself. His rendition of “Hangman’s Reel” is mesmerizing, and shows why Bryan is considered by many to be the fastest and most fluid picker on the bluegrass scene.
Watch the video now at
AcousticGuitar.com/ How-To/Hangmans-Reel
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and a performing musician. AcousticGuitar.com 83
NEW GEAR
Don’t Mess Up a Good Thing
Popular small, but powerful, AER Compact 60/3 acoustic amp is better than ever BY TEJA GERKEN
O
ne thing is immediately clear when I plug into this amp: AER is not reinventing a successful wheel. For the most part, the new Compact 60/3 is virtually interchangeable with the previous version, the trusty AER Compact 60. What do I mean by that? Well, this amp has great transparency, which means that it faithfully reproduces what you put into it. Some players prefer an amp with more coloration, which may help get a more natural sound from certain pickups or guitars. But if you’re in search of accuracy, the AER is hard to beat.
The Compact 60’s success is due, in part, to its businesslike demeanor
AT A GLANCE
AER COMPACT 60/3 SPECS 60 watts. One eight-inch twincone full-range speaker. Two channels. 1/4-inch input (with optional nine-volt phantom power), high/low switch with 10 db pad, gain, color, bass, middle, and treble control on guitar channel. Combination 1/4-inch/XLR input (with 24-volt phantom power), line/mic switch, gain, bass, and treble controls on mic channel. Digital effects with two reverbs, delay, and chorus. Master volume. XLR DI-output. Line out, tuner, out, and headphone outputs. Effects send and return, and TRS effect footswitch jacks. 10.2 x 12.8 x 9.25 inches. 14.3 pounds. Padded carrying case included. Made in Germany. Distributed by Musiquip, Inc. aer-amps.com PRICE $1,299 list; $1,099 street.
84 April 2014
NO FRILLS In the two decades since it was founded, in 1992, Germany’s AER (their slogan is “the Acoustic People”) has become one of the most respected makers of amplifiers dedicated to reproducing acoustic instruments. Almost since the beginning, the Compact 60 has been the company’s workhorse—small, powerful, and transparent sounding—and the amp is now in its third generation. The Compact 60’s success is due, in part, to its businesslike demeanor. Completely devoid of bells and whistles, the unit is basically a black box with an easy-to-navigate control panel. With the exception of a different effects-control knob and rearranged jacks in the amp’s back, the 60/3 looks identical to its predecessor. There are two channels, one optimized for guitar, the other designed as a microphone channel, but with its combination XLR/1/4-inch input, it can also serve as a second instrument channel.
PUMP UP THE VOLUME! OK, so the changes to the amp’s design are minimal. What about its sound? According to AER’s co-founder Udo Roesner, the company tried to make the amp slightly more open, dynamic, and modern sounding. So, armed with my trusty custom Martin OM, which has an L.R. Baggs Dual Source system installed, I set out to test the 60/3, keeping my own earlier version of the amp set up as a reference. I immediately got a sound that was fat, yet crisp and also dynamic. Part of the secret to AER’s ability to get so much volume out of the Compact 60/3—it’s definitely loud enough to compete with a drummer or to play a small gig with no other sound reinforcement—is through the use of a dynamic type of compression. While it becomes audible at higher volumes, it doesn’t sound unmusical. I tried the amp during a rehearsal with a percussionist
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playing cajon and cymbals, using an Alvarez ABT60 baritone guitar equipped with a Fishman Rare Earth Blend pickup, and it was impressive how this little amp was able to keep up with the low baritone rumble. Still, there are some subtle differences between the new 60/3 and the older Compact 60. First, the new amp is slightly lighter. More importantly, the guitar channel’s midrange control is more effective than on previous versions. For example, with my own second-generation Compact 60, I usually add an external preamp with EQ to the signal as a way to expand on its built-in EQ offerings. With the 60/3, there is much less of a need to do this. I also found the 60/3’s reverb to be slightly richer sounding, especially when listening to its decay. Another effects-related difference is that the 60/3 no longer offers a combination of chorus and reverb. Also, I wish that the amp allowed the effects to be sent through the DI output, as this would be useful in many settings. As it is, the effects are only audible through the speaker, or the 1/4-inch line output—the same arrangement as in the amp’s previous versions. With its clean design, easy-to-carry dimensions, and punchy, transparent sound, AER’s Compact 60/3 is a great amp. There are acoustic amps with more features, louder volume, and lower prices, but it’s hard to argue with the smart overall utility and natural voice that AER specializes in. AG
Old Time and Traditional Week - June 8-14: Flatpicking: Dan Crary, Roy Curry, Jim Hurst, Roberto Della Veccia and Steve Kaufman, Fingerpicking: Clive Carrol, Pat Kirtley, Todd Hallawell; Old Time Fiddle: Brad Leftwich and Stacy Phillips; Old Time Singing: Evie Laden; Mt. Dulcimer: Joe Collins; Old Time Banjo: Jim Pankey; Hammer Dulcimer: Linda Thomas Bluegrass Week - June 15-21: Flatpicking: Mitch Corbin, Mark Cosgrove, Chris Jones, Mike Dowling, David Keenan, Chris Newman, Wayne Taylor, Doug Yeomans; Mandolin: Carlo Aonzo, Steve Smith, Bruce Graybill, Barry Mitterhoff, Roland White, Radim Zenkl; Bluegrass Banjo: Eddie Collins, Gary Davis, Murphy Henry, Ned Luberecki; Dobro ™: Stacy Phillips, Jimmy Heffernan; Bass: Rusty Holloway, Missy Raines, and Steve Roy; Songwriting: Kate Campbell; Bluegrass Fiddle: Becky Buller, Josh Goforth, Annie Staninec; Bluegrass Singing Class: Sally Jones and Don Rigsby; Jam Instructors On Staff
Your $850.00 Paid Registration Includes: All Classes, Housing and Meals plus ~ Organized Morning and Afternoon “All Level” Jams Highly Focused Afternoon Instructor Sessions Ensemble Work, Band Scrambles, Admission to All The Nightly Concerts Open Mic Time and Nightly Jams Voted "Best Camps" Airport Shuttle Service from Knoxville Airport (TYS) Plus much, much more. Call for info. Each Year Since 2002
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Rosanne Cash 88
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PLAYLIST
Rosanne Cash reaches back to her Southern roots to create a great American song cycle BY MARK SEGAL KEMP
R Rosanne Cash The River and the Thread Blue Note rosannecash.com
88 April 2014
osanne Cash’s genius as a singer and songwriter is that she’s become an American-music icon not because of her legendary father, Johnny Cash, but in spite of him. On her breakthrough album of 1981, Seven Year Ache, she distinguished herself as a songwriter of great depth, and an interpretive singer able to truly take ownership of other writers’ works. She had Linda Ronstadt’s emotionally resonant voice, but also a literary knack for storytelling and a musically adventurous spirit. After ushering in a new era of smart pop-country, Cash moved on to become one of the most brutally honest confessional singer-songwriters of the 1990s and 2000s, chronicling the heartaches of her failed marriage to fellow singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell on Interiors (1990), its emotional aftermath on The Wheel (1993), and the back-to-back losses of her father, step-mother June Carter Cash, and mother Vivian Liberto Distin on Black Cadillac (2006). Four years ago, Cash returned with The List, a collection of songs her father once told her she needed to know in order to understand American music. It ranged from such standards as “Motherless Children” and “Miss the Mississippi and You” to her celebrated step-grandfather A.P. Carter’s “Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow” to Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country.” All of that history comes to bear on Cash’s spectacular new album, The River & the Thread, in which she graduates from pop-country and confessional singer-songwriter to great American musical storyteller in a tradition that extends from the early American composer Stephen Foster to Randy Newman. The river in this song cycle is, of course, the Mississippi and the thread is our primal connection to it. Like Newman’s Good Old
The river is the Mississippi and the thread is our primal connection to it. Not many American pop song cycles have the depth, breadth, solid storytelling, and narrative thread that can elevate them to the category of American literature. You can practically name them on one hand: Sinatra’s September of My Years, Willie Nelson’s Phases and Stages, Newman’s Sail Away, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Lou Reed’s New York. You may now add to that lofty list Rosanne Cash’s The River & the Thread. AG
CASH—CLAY PATRICK MCBRIDE
Take the Long Way Home
Boys—or Tom Petty’s Southern Accents—The River & the Thread paints a vivid and visceral portrait of the South, with complex characters and musical arrangements that borrow from distinctly American styles, ranging from acoustic blues (“Tell Heaven”) and Appalachian ballads (“World of Strange Design”) to the sweetly orchestrated parlor style associated with Foster (“Night School”). It’s not just the lyrical and stylistic shadings that give The River & the Thread its power, though. Cash’s husband and longtime collaborator, guitarist John Leventhal, co-wrote, arranged, and produced the music, bringing just the right nuance and mood to each song. He puts the crisp acoustic-blues guitar that underlines such spare tracks as “Tell Heaven” and “World of Strange Design” front and center, and adds subtle reverb and swelling strings to give “The Long Way Home” its sense of both claustrophobia and wide-open space. An A-plus list of singers and players deeply connected to the South add color and texture to the musical narrative. Guitarist Derek Trucks (Allman Brothers, Tedeschi Trucks) puts his vaguely Middle Eastern-by-way-of-theblues touch to “Modern Blue,” about a Southerner who journeys from Memphis to Europe and back again. John Paul White, of the Civil Wars, harmonizes with Cash on the acoustic ballad “Etta’s Song,” a tribute to the late Etta Grant and her husband Marshall, the original bass player in Johnny Cash’s Tennessee Two. One of the highlights is another acoustic-based ballad, the Civil War-themed “When the Master Calls the Roll,” co-written by ex-husband Crowell, whom Cash has called one of the greatest living songwriters. Its refrain features a motley cast of gravel-voiced singers, including Crowell and a few other fairly decent living songwriters: Kris Kristofferson, Tony Joe White, John Prine, and the late Levon Helm’s daughter Amy.
Billie Joe + Norah
Los Lobos
Scott Law
Foreverly Reprise
Disconnected in New York City 429 Records
Black Mountain Volcano Underground
Unlikely tribute to Everlys is surprisingly perfect
The East L.A. band powers down for an eclectic set
Scott Law deputizes impressive posse of pickers & singers
On the surface, it’s an odd pairing: Billie Joe Armstrong, the snarling front-man for longtime East Bay pop-punk band Green Day, does a set of acoustic covers of old country songs with Norah Jones, the torch-and country-singing daughter of Indian classical composer Ravi Shankar. Add to that the inspiration for the collaboration (a tribute to the Everly Brothers before Phil Everly’s recent death) and the unlikely choice of material (an album of obscure covers the Everlys themselves did as a tribute back in 1958), and you have one of the stranger pop-music projects in recent memory. And yet, Billie Joe and Norah come off on Foreverly about as gracefully and naturally as Gram and Emmylou. The moment their voices lock together on the opening track “Roving Gambler,” they don’t let go. It’s as if Armstrong and Jones had been listening to the nuances of Phil and Don Everly’s harmonies their whole lives. The story goes that Armstrong discovered the Everlys’ Songs Our Daddy Taught Us and decided he wanted to cover the entire set, Everlys-style, rather than turn in yet another variation on such over-covered Don and Phil songs as “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Love Hurts,” or “Gone Gone Gone” (covered by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant). It was a counterintuitive idea that works spectacularly, as Armstrong’s surprisingly supple twang glides effortlessly over, under, and in between Jones’ honey-sweet vocals, moving from the sublime “Down in the Willowy Garden” to the harmonized hums on “Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet” to a guitars- and fiddles-fueled take on the folk standard “Barbara Allen.”
Even when they’re unplugged, Los Lobos are positively electric. Just check out the band’s all-acoustic live set of mostly traditional Spanish-language folk songs, Acoustic en Vivo, from 2005. It’s a firestorm of fluttering nylon strings and harmony vocals. Disconnected in New York City, recorded at City Winery in late 2012, is different. It brings acoustic instrumentation to typically plugged-in titles like “The Neighborhood,” replacing the squalling leads Los Lobos put to the song on another 2005 performance set, the electric Live at the Fillmore, with cooler, slinkier noodling, and a warmer, more muted sax part. More than specific instrumental flourishes, though, this intimate setting makes the biggest difference in lineup and song selection. Where the Spanish-language date featured acoustic guitars with no drums and only occasional horns, and the Fillmore performance included several grungy rockers and lots of wailing leads, this set broadens the instrumental palette to include guest percussionist Camilo Quinones (Allmans, Santana) and mixes the band’s English-language bar-rock with rousing original Spanish-language folk songs, like “Maria Christina,” “Chuco’s Cumbia,” and “La Venganza de los Pelados.” Played live on acoustic instruments, the Spanish material is what really takes off here, the fiery nylon strings this time fanning a wildfire of horns and percussion. It’s pretty disappointing, then, that the weakest track on the album was supposed to be the showstopper—a medley that begins well with “La Bamba,” loses steam as it segues into “Good Lovin’,” and then refuses to end. (The deluxe version of this set includes a second disc of music and a DVD.) —MSK
This Portland, Oregon, guitarist straddles two worlds. He’s a popular player on the jam-band circuit, plugging into an Alembic electric with an owl inlay and spinning sweet improvisational passages that would bring a smile to the most ardent Grateful Dead fan. Unplugged, as he is here, Law (an alumnus of Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings) is steeped in the bluegrass tradition. His precise, but soulful, flatpicking harkens back to Lester Flatt of Flatt & Scruggs (the album includes a cover of their “I’ll Stay Around”). Otherwise, all but one additional track is original. Law is joined by an all-star cast of singers and players that includes vocalists Aoife O’Donovan and Nicki Bluhm; guitarist Stash Wyslouch, dobro player Anders Beck; mandolinist Dominick Leslie; fiddlers Darol Anger, Luke Price, Mike Barnett, and Tashina and Tristan Clarridge; banjo player Greg Liszt; mandolinist Dominick Leslie; and bassist Samson Grisman (David Grisman’s son); among others. The core of that group, the Deadly Gentlemen, can be heard on the album’s eight instrumentals. There are toe-tapping straight-ahead fiddle tunes (“Five Pines”), homespun country (“Leave the Leavin’ Up to You”), and bluegrass breakdowns (“Instead of Me”). At times, as on “Big Lightning over Kansas,” the introduction of progressive bluegrass and Celtic elements is reminiscent of the best MCA country-jazz recordings of the 1980s. The closing track, the beautiful dobrodriven ballad “I Remember Silas,” shows just how lyrical Law’s music can be. —GREG CAHILL
—MSK
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PLAYLIST | MIXED MEDIA
I love my Wilborn Guitar! Ben is a truly artful maker, with a brilliant eye, a gifted hand, and an exquisite ear. You could not ask for more in a handmade guitar. GILLIAN WELCH NASHVILLE, TENN
RENO NEVADA | 775.240.5238
W ILBORN G UITARS.COM 90 April 2014
Doug Paisley
Kandia Crazy Horse
Strong Feelings No Quarter
Stampede Hillgrass Bluebilly
Toronto singer/songwriter delivers deceptively nostalgic sound
Former rock critic releases long-overdue country album
Laid-back and soft-spoken, Toronto’s Doug Paisley has a way of sneaking up on you. He’s a throwback, playing ’70s country about 40 years too late, so if the songs already sound familiar, it’s because they are, with a touch of Don Williams here, a little Charlie Rich there, and echoes of Ian Tyson just about everywhere. On the surface, they’re quietly reassuring, bringing back memories of peaceful, easier times. But all too quickly, nostalgia gives way to loss, and nothing seems right anymore, from the weightiness of the Garth Hudson piano intro that opens “Radio Girl” to the oddly lighthearted whistling that closes “Because I Love You,” as if love could ever be that simple. On “What’s Up is Down,” the duet vocals are strangely, beautifully out of sync. On “A Song My Love Can Sing,” the chorus is so upbeat you’re tapping your feet before you realize the woman he’s singing to is long gone, never to come back, and probably for good reason, too. Paisley’s guitar, with its flatpicked low strings and fingerpicked highs, remains at the center of the mix, but Strong Feelings is far more produced than his 2010 breakout, Constant Companion, giving these songs a smoother polish, greater depth, and a deceptively sweet mix of push and pull. —KENNY BERKOWITZ
After a decade-long career as a rock critic, Kandia Crazy Horse decided it was time to leave the world of music journalism and start her career as a musician. Given the scarcity of black female country stars, Crazy Horse (a long-time country fan) knew there was new ground she could break, so she recorded a country album of her own. The result is stunning. Stampede opens on “California,” a slow, sweet ballad driven by acoustic guitar, pedal steel, and Crazy Horse’s irresistibly husky voice. With every track, Crazy Horse subverts any expectations the listener may have gained from previous songs, floating effortlessly from the sentimental ballad of “California,” to the rocking “Congo Square,” to the old-school “Gunfight at the Golden Corral,” to the beautifully bluesy “Americana.” Her exploration of country takes the listener on a gorgeous, unpredictable musical journey, which should please both country music veterans and the uninitiated alike. Full of intersecting cultural lines, sincere songwriting, a genre-bending scope of sound, and unflinching bravery, Stampede is a powerful musical debut from Crazy Horse, who has the strength, soul, and talent to serve as a role model for other black women who want to enter the world of country music. —AMBER VON NAGEL
NEW & NOTEWORTHY Look for these other notable releases:
Robin & Linda Williams Back 40 Red House
Dakota Dave Hull Under the North Star Arabica
Will Kimbrough Sideshow Love Daphne
Scott H. Biram Nothin’ But Blood Bloodshot
New Bums Voices in a Rented Room Drag City Indie-folk duo plays pretty guitars over angry songs The first time they met, in San Francisco’s Mission district, Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) and Donovan Quinn (Skygreen Leopards) didn’t get along, and it’s not hard to see why. There’s a pained and troubled sense of humor underlying these 12 songs, making it hard to know how seriously we’re supposed to listen, with lines like “Sad wolfman in a Carl Sagan sweater/Bride of Frankenstein in denim and leather/You’ve got to admit we look good together/But Pigeon Town’s got earthquake weather/You only get fucked in Pigeon town.”
‘There’s plenty of anti-folk anger here, along with Dylanist absurdity.’ There’s plenty of anti-folk anger here (“Your Bullshit”), along with Dylanist absurdity (“The Killers and Me”) and Cohenesque despair (“Burned”), but the vocals are surprisingly gentle, the harmonies pretty, and the guitars even prettier. On 12-string, Quinn fingerpicks patterns with the lightest touch, anchoring the rhythm as Chasny plays ever-expanding circles around him, either on six-string or electric, improvising long, unlikely, rapturous lines in the best ’60s-folk tradition. It’s a heady combination, as immediate as two friends singing in a rented room, their guitars lovingly recorded in lo-fi, and playing their parts in this newer, weirder America. —KB
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GOSPEL SONGS FOR FINGERSTYLE GUITAR
DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE
By Steve Baughman
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RONALD RIETMAN
EVENTS
Peter Rowan plays MerleFest
April Charm City Folk and Bluegrass Festival Baltimore, Maryland
APRIL 26 missiontix.com/charmcitybluegrass Nothing like a day of folk and flowers in the park. On April 26, the beautiful Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland, will be filled with acoustic-music fans waiting to hear the likes of Jerry Douglas, Noam Pikelny & Friends, Sierra Hull, and many others at the Charm City Folk and Bluegrass Festival. Between sets, festival-goers can take a stroll through the park and visit the Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory, a 19th-century glass conservatory and botanic garden. Plus, $2 of every general admission festival ticket will go toward supporting the conservatory.
Brooklyn Folk Festival Brooklyn, New York APRIL 18–20 brooklynfolkfest.com
Inspired by New York folk-music revivals of the past and present, string-band musician Eli Smith began the Brooklyn Folk Festival six years ago, and it has been
growing ever since. The festival will take place April 18–20 at the Bell House in Brooklyn, and will feature old-time, blues, and folk acts of all kinds, including Nathan Salsburg, the Whiskey Spitters, East River Stringband, Nathan M. Godfrey, and more. The festival also features workshops and contests, including jam sessions, a square dance, and the everpopular banjo toss—whoever throws a banjo the farthest wins a free banjo (not the one you tossed, of course).
Della Mae
Old Settler’s Music Festival Driftwood, Texas
MerleFest Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Located just outside of Austin in Driftwood, Texas, the Old Settler’s Music Festival boasts an exciting, Americana-heavy lineup for 2014. Featuring Shovels & Rope, the Devil Makes Three, Tim O’Brien & Darrell Scott, Elephant Revival, Della Mae, and many more, this festival has something for just about everyone, including performance workshops, kids’ activities, camping, and food and drink with plenty of local, organic, and vegetarian options. The festival runs April 10–13.
The legendary “traditional plus” festival is back for another year, and its lineup, as usual, is staggering. This year’s festival includes Carolina Chocolate Drops, Della Mae, Rory Block, Peter Rowan, Steep Canyon Rangers, Tim O’Brien, Darrell Scott, Chris Jones and the Night Drivers, and a slew of other incredible acoustic artists representing a wide range of genres. The festival is dedicated to Doc Watson’s son Merle, who died in a tractor accident in 1985 at the age of 36.
APRIL 10–13 oldsettlersmusicfest.org
APRIL 24–27 merlefest.org
AcousticGuitar.com 93
M A R K E T P L AC E
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An Epic Guitar
Larry Campbell’s 1996 Linda Manzer baritone celebrates his love of mythology BY BAKER RORICK
Baker Rorick, director of the Woodstock Invitational Luthier Showcase, is a frequent contributor to Acoustic Guitar. Acoustic Guitar (ISSN 1049-9261) is published monthly by String Letter Publishing, Inc., 501 Canal Blvd., Suite J, Richmond, CA 94804. Periodical postage paid at Richmond, CA 94804 and additional mailing offices. Printed in USA. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Pitney Bowes International Mail Services, P.O. Box 32229, Hartford, CT 06150-2229. Postmaster: Please make changes online at AcousticGuitar.com or send to Acoustic Guitar, String Letter Publishing, Inc., PO Box 3500, Big Sandy, TX 75755.
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GUITAR COURTESY OF LARRY CAMPBELL. PHOTOS—DION OGUST
L
arry Campbell was on tour with k.d. lang in Canada in1996 when he ran into luthier Linda Manzer at a Toronto workshop and commissioned this baritone guitar. Campbell, the multi-instrumentalist who’s played with Bob Dylan, Levon Helm and many others, was looking for something with epic appeal. “Enraptured with King Arthur and the Avalon mythology,” Campbell suggested the theme for a graphic headstock design that inspired Manzer to create “Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake,” which is inlaid with abalone, mother of pearl, silver (from a melted-down Canadian dime), garnet, curly birds-eye maple, mahogany, plus hand-painted details. Considered the queen of Canadian luthiers, Manzer is renowned for her acoustic archtop, flattop and radical, multiple-necked and many-stringed harp guitar creations. She’s created 28 instruments for Pat Metheny alone. Cambell’s acoustic baritone is Manzer’s standard model. Its 15 9/16-inch wide cutaway body has a German spruce top and Curly Koa back and sides with Manzer’s innovative tapered body depth – the “Manzer Wedge” – of 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 inches. The neck is mahogany with an ebony fingerboard, bound in ebony with abalone side dots, a 1 13/16-inch nut width, and scale length of 29 inches. Meant to be tuned A to A or B to B, with .070 to .018 strings, Campbell has upped his string gauge to a heavier .080 set for his “default tuning” of AEADF#A, the baritone equivalent of Drop D. Campbell, a Grammy-winning producer and Americana Music Awards Instrumentalist of the Year, has used this guitar on numerous recordings, including Jorma Kaukonen’s “River of Time” and Helm’s “Dirt Farmer” and “Electric Dirt.” Its hauntingly beautiful voice can be heard to best effect on “Rooftops,” the title song on his 2005 solo acoustic CD of Celtic fiddle tunes played on guitar. AG
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DOIN’ THAT RAG By David Hamburger
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THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR FINGERSTYLE METHOD
WALKING BASS LINES By David Hamburger
THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR FINGERSTYLE METHOD
TRAVIS PICKING BASICS By David Hamburger
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