If I'm unworthy
October 22, 2014 1:00 PM   Subscribe

Blake Mills is a Venice Beach-based guitarist who combines lo-fi folk with smart pop-rock song craft. Described by Eric clapton as "the last guitarist I heard that I thought was phenomenal" Premier Guitar interview (long), Rolling Stone interview, soundcloud: If I'm unworthy
posted by Lanark (9 comments total) 25 users marked this as a favorite
 
A guitar-playing friend made me aware of Blake earlier this month. What a monster player! And what a tasteful player, too. Great stuff!
posted by mosk at 1:35 PM on October 22, 2014


Who designs your amps and cabinets?
They’re made by a fella named Austen Hooks. He finds a particular model of these old Bell & Howell film projectors, and he makes amps out of the amplifier section.


Crazy! i've never heard of this.
posted by thelonius at 1:36 PM on October 22, 2014


Wow, thanks! Another guitarist to adore and emulate.


so my problem all these years has been that I clean my fingerboard. yep, that's it
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:43 PM on October 22, 2014


The stellar Hey Lover has been on circulation in my world for a while, but never dug into his other stuff. Thanks for the post!
posted by wemayfreeze at 1:52 PM on October 22, 2014


Let's not blow this guy up or turn him into a guitar nerd. Said purely out of self-interest, as I love this shit and like my choice of small venues. And I've been eating everything I can hear from this guy on Youtube for the last few months, I love it.

I just saw Blake play in Bush Hall in London, my local 150 seater. I took a hard look at that Bell and Howell amp.

Don Was, legendary producer and now Blue Note head, walked by me on the way to the bar. Fiona Apple came out and did a few numbers. Great tone, great band as well. Blake's worked hard on the vocals, but he still sounds best with some harmony singing or with a female voice. Good songs, good covers.

He was on tour with Lucinda Williams a few years ago. He's clearly listened to a boatload of Ry Cooder, Marc Ribot, and has those percussive and angular tendencies. Plays the unexpected, zigs when others zag, he also has a strong sense of dynamics, of loud and soft, of using quiet and soft to pull listener in. If I had to criticise at all, I'd say just sometimes he needs to know how and when to bring it home, particularly at the end of songs, but that is a tiny niggle. His album sounds great, and the "Don't Tell My Friends About Me" single is great.

Fretboard Journal live interview and performance

solo "Don't Tell Your Friends About Me
posted by C.A.S. at 1:54 PM on October 22, 2014 [3 favorites]


Wonderful, wonderful!
posted by Wolof at 5:17 PM on October 22, 2014


My, oh my-- this guy is great!
posted by cleroy at 8:07 PM on October 22, 2014


Whooooo!
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:35 PM on October 22, 2014


Nice. Thx!
posted by Emor at 11:14 PM on October 22, 2014


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