Catching Up with the Eclectic Guitarist and Composer Andrew York
Catching up with guitarist and composer Andrew York on the launch of his online video subscription service, Andrew's Den.
How a New Lap Steel Guitar Sparked Ben Harper’s First Instrumental Album
In 2010, during a visit to New York City, Ben Harper stopped into the guitar mecca Rudy’s Music to check out instruments. He was sampling a series of top-of-the-line archtops when a guitar stopped him in his tracks: an instrument by renowned luthier John Monteleone. Though Harper is best known as a lap steel player who brought vintage Weissenborns into the limelight of contemporary roots-rock, he heard in that archtop a tone quality that he’d been seeking for years, and he wondered whether Monteleone would consider building a guitar for lap slide.
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Inspiration and Unification: Cultural Ambassador Claudia García on the Power of Mariachi
Mariachi in the realm of music education is nothing new. For California-based educator, vocalist, and guitarist Claudia García, uniting the two worlds has been a lifelong passion. García’s experience directing mariachi began back in 2001, when she was an undergraduate at Harvard University. After discovering the school had no mariachi…
Al Di Meola Takes Classic Beatles Tunes to New Places
After nearly 50 years exploring the most remote destinations on the musical map, Al Di Meola’s homecoming to formative influences The Beatles was always going to involve new languages and fresh perspectives. The travelogue that preceded it, after all, carried the New Jersey native across a universe of sound and…
Sharon Isbin’s Multihued Musical Experience
During a phone call from her New York City home, multi-Grammy-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin’s voice reveals patience and acceptance regarding the situation imposed by the current pandemic that has kept her and every other touring artist out of concert halls. “I haven’t traveled since the middle of February,” Isbin says.…
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Guitar Talk: Kenyan Singer-Songwriter Ondara Has Found his Voice in America
One of the more interesting cats to emerge in the acoustic guitar world is Kenya-born, Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter J.S. Ondara.
Watch Bruce Springsteen’s Take on the Classic “Oh Shenandoah”
In this recently released video (originally filmed in 2006 during the recording of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions), the song reaches new heights with Springsteen’s signature anthemic, yet acoustic, sound.
How Singer-Songwriter Anaïs Mitchell Tapped Into Tradition in Hadestown—and New Band Bonny Light Horseman
Back in 2006, Anaïs Mitchell was in a Vermont studio with producer/guitarist Michael Chorney working on her album The Brightness. Then in her mid-20s, she was already a rising star of the singer-songwriter world, winning the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk award and signing with Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe label.…
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Watch an Alternate Take of Elvis Performing “That’s Alright” at his ‘68 Comeback Special (And Get Tips for How to Play It on Guitar)
As guitarist Scotty Moore tells it, the song’s recording happened nearly by accident.
The Acoustic Inventions of Chet Atkins, Certified Guitar Pioneer
You can’t learn what Chet Atkins knows about playing the guitar from a book or from his records. Any guitarist who has lifted one of Atkins’ solos or some of his knuckle-busting moves from a tape and tab knows that while it’s possible to play the notes correctly, getting them…
Justin Townes Earle on Songwriting, His Idiosyncratic Fingerpicking Style, and Battling Personal Demons
[Ed. Note: Singer/songwriter Justin Townes Earle passed away on August 23, 2020, at the age of 38. Earle last sat with Acoustic Guitar’s Kenny Berkowitz for an extended conversation in 2012. Here is that interview.] As the son of Steve Earle, Justin Townes Earle carried an enormous weight of expectation. Would he match…
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Fingerstyle Authority: John Renbourn on His Distinctive Technique and Approach to Arranging
Whether as a solo artist, playing duets, leading his own group, or as a founding member of the seminal British folk-jazz ensemble Pentangle, Renbourn’s playing has left a profound imprint on the modern landscape of acoustic music.
Five Questions for Gretchen Menn, Author of ‘The Way Music Works’
San Francisco Bay Area–based Gretchen Menn is the author of The Way Music Works, portions of which can be viewed at Acoustic Guitar Plus (formerly Guitarcast). We recently reached out to Menn, ordinarily a busy performer, to see how she’s been handing her musical life during the coronavirus pandemic, and…
John Williams Travels Beyond the Classical Guitar’s European Roots
In the pantheon of classical guitar greats, Australia-born John Williams stands as a most imposing figure. For decades he has been the archetype for recitalists of the post-Segovia era. His singular technical abilities and thoroughgoing approach to the music he plays have set very high standards for those seeking to…
Guitarist/Composer/Teacher Benjamin Verdery Has Taken the Eclectic Road
Benjamin Verdery inhabits his own exclusive territory in the classical guitar world. Among the virtuosi of the baby boomer generation, it’s not hard to make a case that Verdery has explored the most diverse musical terrain.
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Woody Guthrie’s Songwriting Wisdom
Guthrie is in many ways our prototypical singer-songwriter, showing the young Bob Dylan, among countless others, how to use old songs to make new ones.
Five Questions for David Hamburger, Author of ‘The Acoustic Guitar Method’
We checked in to learn about what David's been up to lately and to hear his suggestions on remote learning.
Ron Jackson ‘Takes Over’ Acoustic Guitar’s FB Page July 10 for Live Performance, Q&A with Special Guest Sean McGowan
Looking for something fun, safe, and socially distant to do on Friday night? Seven-string guitarist Ron Jackson will take over Acoustic Guitar’s Facebook page Friday, July 10 at 6–7PM (PST) for a live performance and Q&A. Joining him for a portion of the event will be Sean McGowan, who will…
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Watch Raphaël Feuillâtre Perform Rameau’s ‘Les Sauvages,’ a Melodic and Complex Baroque Piece
This wonderful recent performance of Rameau’s popular piece Les Sauvages, from the composer’s Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin (1726–1727), is delivered by one of the finest young players on the contemporary guitar scene, Frenchman Raphaël Feuillâtre, who was the deserving winner of the 2018 Guitar Foundation of America competition.
Guitar Talk: Alberto Lombardi on Motown, Taylor Guitars, and More
Alberto Lombardi had been working as a professional guitarist—a professional electric guitarist, that is—for more than two decades before he turned to the acoustic as a primary form of musical expression several years ago.
Out of the Blues: Reflections on the 1960s Folk Revival
In the late 1950s and early ’60s, prewar acoustic blues guitarists such as Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, and Reverend Gary Davis earned late-in-life fame as new audiences eagerly devoured their music through performances at events like the Newport Folk Festival and LP reissues and compilations on labels like Folkways…
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Bob Dylan’s Acoustic Guitars
Throughout his career Bob Dylan has played a lot of acoustic guitars, mostly Gibsons and Martins, with some exceptions. Here, we take a close look at the guitars of Bob Dylan.
R.I.P. Bill Withers: Watch Him Play “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Use Me” in 1972
Sad news that the great R&B singer-songwriter Bill Withers passed away on March 30, 2020 at the age of 81. The West Virginia native made a big impact during his relatively brief 15-year career between 1970-1985. (He stopped recording and performing after that.) Among his hits were “Lean on Me,”…
Guitar Talk: Railroad Earth’s Todd Sheaffer on His Influences, His Martins, and More
Sheaffer is a colorful and imaginative soloist who does wonders with a very simple setup
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Cowboy Chords: An Introduction to Western Swing and Its Illustrious Guitarists
Western swing developed quickly in the 1930s and ’40s from a number of influences: Western life and cowboy culture, various and diverse forms of blues and gospel music, Dixieland jazz and swing, and an all-but-forgotten form of entertainment in traveling tent shows and vaudeville theatre.