The Face of Solo Guitar Is Changing. It’s About Time.
April 28, 2021 2:40 PM Subscribe
Solo acoustic guitar is changing. It's about time.
(Note: since the original article is from the New York Times, try archive.is or other archival sites to avoid the paywall.)
John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Leo Kottke, Sandy Bull - all white men who pioneered acoustic guitar in a style that Fahey labeled "American Primitive". The style tends to introduce alternative guitar tunings, drone notes, percussive techniques, and other modifications to traditional playing styles. There is a new, diverse wave of musicians playing this style who come from all colors, all genders, all cultures.
Kaki King has been hailed by Rolling Stone as “a genre unto herself". She has 9 albums out.
Yasmin Williams just released her second album, "Urban Driftwood". Check out her video for Reverb.com, playing a Harp Guitar.
Gwenifer Raymond describes herself as "Guitar Convincer, Banjo Thumber, American Primitive Musician"
Tashi Dorji knew nothing about this style of music while he grew up in Bhutan, so he reinvented it.
(Note: since the original article is from the New York Times, try archive.is or other archival sites to avoid the paywall.)
John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Leo Kottke, Sandy Bull - all white men who pioneered acoustic guitar in a style that Fahey labeled "American Primitive". The style tends to introduce alternative guitar tunings, drone notes, percussive techniques, and other modifications to traditional playing styles. There is a new, diverse wave of musicians playing this style who come from all colors, all genders, all cultures.
Kaki King has been hailed by Rolling Stone as “a genre unto herself". She has 9 albums out.
Yasmin Williams just released her second album, "Urban Driftwood". Check out her video for Reverb.com, playing a Harp Guitar.
Gwenifer Raymond describes herself as "Guitar Convincer, Banjo Thumber, American Primitive Musician"
Tashi Dorji knew nothing about this style of music while he grew up in Bhutan, so he reinvented it.
I think this is more about who is newly being discovered by music industry and journalism power brokers than about what kinds of people are out there playing. Because people have always been out there playing.
posted by Miko at 3:40 PM on April 28, 2021 [15 favorites]
posted by Miko at 3:40 PM on April 28, 2021 [15 favorites]
Miko: I think this is more about who is newly being discovered by music industry and journalism power brokers
Reminds me of, Their conversation involved Lilith Fair. He goes, “Mark my words: that will never happen again.” Maybe it's not just science that advances one funeral at a time?
posted by clawsoon at 3:47 PM on April 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
Reminds me of, Their conversation involved Lilith Fair. He goes, “Mark my words: that will never happen again.” Maybe it's not just science that advances one funeral at a time?
posted by clawsoon at 3:47 PM on April 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
Wow, I love that Urban Driftwood song by Yasmin Williams, thank you for putting it into my life!
posted by Corduroy at 3:58 PM on April 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Corduroy at 3:58 PM on April 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
I’m gonna give this a look, because after 25 years, hundreds of gigs, and thousands of practice hours with the instrument, I’m pretty fucking bored with white dudes playing acoustic guitar.
posted by aspersioncast at 4:01 PM on April 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by aspersioncast at 4:01 PM on April 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
Oh my - that other Yasmin Williams Through The Woods video that follows on is even more sublime.
I'd also recommend Sunny War for lovely crab-claw blues.
posted by scruss at 4:33 PM on April 28, 2021 [7 favorites]
I'd also recommend Sunny War for lovely crab-claw blues.
posted by scruss at 4:33 PM on April 28, 2021 [7 favorites]
Such fun! I just ran into a new guitarist today too! It's guitar person day! I think it's because I have been listening to Jose Gonzales (who has new stuff , warning: beautiful), so the algorithm is nudging me around.
But the one that came up today for me is Marika Hackman and I like listening to her. She's not new, but I love finding things that my ears like.
posted by pol at 4:56 PM on April 28, 2021
But the one that came up today for me is Marika Hackman and I like listening to her. She's not new, but I love finding things that my ears like.
posted by pol at 4:56 PM on April 28, 2021
I’m pretty fucking bored with white dudes playing acoustic guitar.
Yeah what's up with that? Why don't they go play golf or something?
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:08 PM on April 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
Yeah what's up with that? Why don't they go play golf or something?
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:08 PM on April 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
(Well, i still find it to be a pretty meaningful and satisfying artistic pursuit and a source of joy in my life, and i don’t care for golf, so...? Am I missing the joke?)
posted by ducky l'orange at 5:17 PM on April 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by ducky l'orange at 5:17 PM on April 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
Wow, scruss, you weren't kidding. That "Through the Woods" clip is wonderful.
posted by mediareport at 5:24 PM on April 28, 2021
posted by mediareport at 5:24 PM on April 28, 2021
I’m pretty fucking bored with white dudes playing acoustic guitar.
Yeah what's up with that? Why don't they go play golf or something?
(Well, i still find it to be a pretty meaningful and satisfying artistic pursuit and a source of joy in my life, and i don’t care for golf, so...? Am I missing the joke?)
ducky l'orange
Yes, I was just being sarcastic toward the lazy idea that playing acoustic guitar is dominated by "white dudes". Playing acoustic guitar is a very fine thing for anyone to do.
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:57 PM on April 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yeah what's up with that? Why don't they go play golf or something?
(Well, i still find it to be a pretty meaningful and satisfying artistic pursuit and a source of joy in my life, and i don’t care for golf, so...? Am I missing the joke?)
ducky l'orange
Yes, I was just being sarcastic toward the lazy idea that playing acoustic guitar is dominated by "white dudes". Playing acoustic guitar is a very fine thing for anyone to do.
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:57 PM on April 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
My twin pointed out a subreddit exists: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmericanPrimitivism/
posted by blob at 6:22 PM on April 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by blob at 6:22 PM on April 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
Marisa Anderson, mentioned in the NYT article, is worth a deep dive for sure.
posted by TheCoug at 7:20 PM on April 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by TheCoug at 7:20 PM on April 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
bored
Acoustic guitar is probably a perpetual struggle to not lapse into cliches - so many great ideas of how to play it have been done to death. Personally, I find the percussive/tapping style grows tiresome quickly, for example. But this was fresh and original when people first started doing it; I suppose Michael Hedges was the first player I heard who had built compositions around these techniques.
Now this artist, Gwenifer Raymond, from the Reddit link, is the least cliched acoustic guitar player I have heard in some time.
posted by thelonius at 8:22 PM on April 28, 2021 [6 favorites]
Acoustic guitar is probably a perpetual struggle to not lapse into cliches - so many great ideas of how to play it have been done to death. Personally, I find the percussive/tapping style grows tiresome quickly, for example. But this was fresh and original when people first started doing it; I suppose Michael Hedges was the first player I heard who had built compositions around these techniques.
Now this artist, Gwenifer Raymond, from the Reddit link, is the least cliched acoustic guitar player I have heard in some time.
posted by thelonius at 8:22 PM on April 28, 2021 [6 favorites]
Thank you for this. I've been down a Yasmin Williams rabbit hole and it's brightened my day. Holy shit, what talent.
posted by zardoz at 4:06 AM on April 29, 2021
posted by zardoz at 4:06 AM on April 29, 2021
Yes, I was just being sarcastic toward the lazy idea that playing acoustic guitar is dominated by "white dudes". Playing acoustic guitar is a very fine thing for anyone to do.
As a guitar player myself, I agree that playing guitar is a fine thing for anyone of any gender or race to do. And lots do.
As a guitar player myself, I also agree and recognize that the people who are famous, or legendary, or considered historically important, or musically groundbreaking, and who get write-ups and reviews and interviews and career retrospectives and articles in the New York Times and the covers of various guitar magazines and websites are overwhelmingly white dudes.
Claiming that this is some "lazy idea" is totally missing the point.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:00 AM on April 29, 2021 [5 favorites]
As a guitar player myself, I agree that playing guitar is a fine thing for anyone of any gender or race to do. And lots do.
As a guitar player myself, I also agree and recognize that the people who are famous, or legendary, or considered historically important, or musically groundbreaking, and who get write-ups and reviews and interviews and career retrospectives and articles in the New York Times and the covers of various guitar magazines and websites are overwhelmingly white dudes.
Claiming that this is some "lazy idea" is totally missing the point.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:00 AM on April 29, 2021 [5 favorites]
I belong to a Facebook group of guitar players all using one instructional guitar program (it's huge, sponsored by a major manufacturer). According to the instructors it is a unicorn among guitar forums with only positive waves and no bros ridiculing others' abilities or gear. The estimate is that half of the players are women, young to old. Most of us used the initial quarantine to begin (or resume) learning to play guitar.
I suspect that the linked players above are only the tip of the iceberg. Manufacturers and dealers estimate that in the massive amount of guitars sold last year at least half went to women. It used to be about a third. Of course, half of the women I see on the FB group are either playing electrics (a few playing bass) but there's a wave of acoustic players coming and they're all going to have ideas of their own.
posted by Ber at 7:35 AM on April 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
I suspect that the linked players above are only the tip of the iceberg. Manufacturers and dealers estimate that in the massive amount of guitars sold last year at least half went to women. It used to be about a third. Of course, half of the women I see on the FB group are either playing electrics (a few playing bass) but there's a wave of acoustic players coming and they're all going to have ideas of their own.
posted by Ber at 7:35 AM on April 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
Yes, I was just being sarcastic toward the lazy idea that playing acoustic guitar is dominated by "white dudes". Playing acoustic guitar is a very fine thing for anyone to do.
And yet every time I've seen somebody break out an acoustic guitar at a hostel and hold a bunch of people uncomfortably hostage, it's been a white dude.
posted by sinfony at 8:21 AM on April 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
And yet every time I've seen somebody break out an acoustic guitar at a hostel and hold a bunch of people uncomfortably hostage, it's been a white dude.
posted by sinfony at 8:21 AM on April 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
https://www.newsounds.org/story/guitarist-gwenifer-raymonds-instrumental-tales-old-weird-wales/
Gwenifer Raymond on Soundcheck. Quite amazing, plus we learn how to pronounce her name (as well as assorted personal factoids)
posted by Ayn Marx at 9:19 AM on April 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Gwenifer Raymond on Soundcheck. Quite amazing, plus we learn how to pronounce her name (as well as assorted personal factoids)
posted by Ayn Marx at 9:19 AM on April 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
And yet every time I've seen somebody break out an acoustic guitar at a hostel and hold a bunch of people uncomfortably hostage, it's been a white dude.
So anyway, here's Wonderwall...
posted by loquacious at 9:22 AM on April 29, 2021 [5 favorites]
So anyway, here's Wonderwall...
posted by loquacious at 9:22 AM on April 29, 2021 [5 favorites]
There have been some interesting archival / historical reissues happening as well, e.g. Tompkins Square's recent "Lena Hughes: Queen of the Flat Top Guitar".
I'm expecting great things from Muireann Bradley.
posted by ryanshepard at 9:38 AM on April 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm expecting great things from Muireann Bradley.
posted by ryanshepard at 9:38 AM on April 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Oh - is this the thread where we share our favorite acoustic guitarists who are women, POC, etc.??!!
I've long been a big fan of Jennifer Daniels, a singer-songwriter in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Her husband often performs with her, too, and he's an incredibly tasteful player. I really enjoyed this video of a backstage rehearsal with her husband and a guest vocalist (Paul Melancon) joining her. If you're looking for more interesting guitar playing, check out the intro to "Mary's Song."
Anjuli Dawn is a great singer-songwriter. She only released three albums in the late 1990s and 2000s and I don't know if she still plays. I still listen to her albums quite frequently. "Here in my temple" is probably my favorite song.
Allie Moss is more well known, especially through all of her work with Ingrid Michaelson. Her solo work, however, is fantastic. She also seems like a really nice person. I saw her playing in Ingrid's band about a decade ago. I didn't know who she was and never heard of her but my friend recognized her and was really excited. During a lull between songs, my friend asked Allie if she was going to play any of her songs (it was a club show and we were right next to the stage). Allie said no but she offered to play us a song after the show. Sure enough, after a full show with Ingrid we found Allie and she walked with us outside the venue where it was more quiet, asked my friend what song she wanted to hear, and she played us a personal 1-song performance! It was really nice and a surefire way to make fans for life. (The song my friend requested was "Melancholy Astronautic Man".)
posted by ElKevbo at 10:00 AM on April 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
I've long been a big fan of Jennifer Daniels, a singer-songwriter in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Her husband often performs with her, too, and he's an incredibly tasteful player. I really enjoyed this video of a backstage rehearsal with her husband and a guest vocalist (Paul Melancon) joining her. If you're looking for more interesting guitar playing, check out the intro to "Mary's Song."
Anjuli Dawn is a great singer-songwriter. She only released three albums in the late 1990s and 2000s and I don't know if she still plays. I still listen to her albums quite frequently. "Here in my temple" is probably my favorite song.
Allie Moss is more well known, especially through all of her work with Ingrid Michaelson. Her solo work, however, is fantastic. She also seems like a really nice person. I saw her playing in Ingrid's band about a decade ago. I didn't know who she was and never heard of her but my friend recognized her and was really excited. During a lull between songs, my friend asked Allie if she was going to play any of her songs (it was a club show and we were right next to the stage). Allie said no but she offered to play us a song after the show. Sure enough, after a full show with Ingrid we found Allie and she walked with us outside the venue where it was more quiet, asked my friend what song she wanted to hear, and she played us a personal 1-song performance! It was really nice and a surefire way to make fans for life. (The song my friend requested was "Melancholy Astronautic Man".)
posted by ElKevbo at 10:00 AM on April 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
Thanks for all the great links!
I'm perfectly aware that there is a wonderful diversity of people who play the acoustic guitar, an instrument which, again, I have played since I was about 15 and consider myself fairly accomplished with. It's a lovely, versatile instrument, and I'll continue to play it as long as I'm able.
I also don't think there's anything controversial in the idea that the face of solo acoustic guitar has been white AF since the mid-twentieth century. Hell, that's basically the underlying premise of the FPP. White dudes fucking weaponized this cliche.
As a fellow white dude who plays the acoustic guitar, I feel like if you take umbrage at that assertion, you miiiight be part of the problem.
posted by aspersioncast at 10:28 AM on April 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
I'm perfectly aware that there is a wonderful diversity of people who play the acoustic guitar, an instrument which, again, I have played since I was about 15 and consider myself fairly accomplished with. It's a lovely, versatile instrument, and I'll continue to play it as long as I'm able.
I also don't think there's anything controversial in the idea that the face of solo acoustic guitar has been white AF since the mid-twentieth century. Hell, that's basically the underlying premise of the FPP. White dudes fucking weaponized this cliche.
As a fellow white dude who plays the acoustic guitar, I feel like if you take umbrage at that assertion, you miiiight be part of the problem.
posted by aspersioncast at 10:28 AM on April 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
the face of solo acoustic guitar has been white AF since the mid-twentieth century
Other genres too of course. I just tried to see if I could name three women jazz guitarists fast, off the top of my head. I've got Emily Remler, Leni Stern (who isn't straight-ahead jazz, but she sure isn't a rock player) and uh.......there's a woman who does Truefire bebop courses, and can I remember her name? No I cannot.
posted by thelonius at 10:59 AM on April 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
Other genres too of course. I just tried to see if I could name three women jazz guitarists fast, off the top of my head. I've got Emily Remler, Leni Stern (who isn't straight-ahead jazz, but she sure isn't a rock player) and uh.......there's a woman who does Truefire bebop courses, and can I remember her name? No I cannot.
posted by thelonius at 10:59 AM on April 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
.....and surely there are many
Mary Halvorson is one of the most consistently interesting jazz guitarists working right now.
Ava Mendoza is always somewhere between free improvisation and metal, but what the hell - I feel comfortable calling it jazz.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:04 PM on April 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
Mary Halvorson is one of the most consistently interesting jazz guitarists working right now.
Ava Mendoza is always somewhere between free improvisation and metal, but what the hell - I feel comfortable calling it jazz.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:04 PM on April 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
Wow, another new Yasmin Williams fan right here. Thanks for the post.
posted by dnash at 12:58 PM on April 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by dnash at 12:58 PM on April 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I bet I’m not the only one who found out about Kaki King via her Mountain Goats collaboration. Great player.
posted by atoxyl at 8:58 AM on April 30, 2021
posted by atoxyl at 8:58 AM on April 30, 2021
Mary Flower did a Zoom concert the other day, along with Pat Donohue & Michael Jerome Browne, and you can watch it for free now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn8CNgEzeE8
They are pretty traditional players, yet they're so good that you should listen to them anyway. And the show was a concert series (Bruce Swan's "Music My Mother Would Not Like") that's new to me: every week they stream someone, and do a PayPal pool for the performers to share.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:45 AM on May 6, 2021
They are pretty traditional players, yet they're so good that you should listen to them anyway. And the show was a concert series (Bruce Swan's "Music My Mother Would Not Like") that's new to me: every week they stream someone, and do a PayPal pool for the performers to share.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:45 AM on May 6, 2021
« Older How news publications put their legal risk on... | Pierre Delecto and Reinhold Niebuhr, meet... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by j_curiouser at 3:32 PM on April 28, 2021 [1 favorite]