8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
1/104
OCTOBER 2015 | ACOUSTICGUITAR.COM
TALLEST MAN ON EARTH | SARAH MCQUAID | JD SOUTHER | ED HELMS
WIN TC ELECTRONIC& TC HELICON
PRIZES!
+
3 S ON G
S
JAMESTAYLORBACK IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
AFTER 13 YEARS
ALICE IN CHAINS Nutshell
BOB DYLANHouse of the Rising Sun
EARL BELLTravelin’ Blues
NEW GEAR
TAYLOR’SREVAMPED 914CE
MÉRIDAMASTER SERIES 75D
GRACE HARBORGHGC-200
A COUCH
POTATO’SGUIDE TOGUITAR
PLAYING
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
2/104
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
3/104
https://www.taylorguitars.com/
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
4/104
Get to know A Series here:
4wrd.it/AStudioAG
©2015 Yamaha Corporation of America. All rights reserved.
Built to perform—in the studio, unplugged or
amplified—these acclaimed acoustic-electrics
boast fast and comfortable neck profiles and
cutting-edge Studio Response Technology
(SRT) preamp systems featuring classic
microphone modeling.
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
5/104
AcousticGuitar.com 5
CONTENTS
46 The Accidental Guitarist
Ruminations on
the art of noodling
By Adam Perlmutter
50 The Way of the CouchTips on practical
ergonomics for guitarists
By October Crifasi
52 BBQs, Beaches,
and Backyards
Playing at home or with friends
is the perfect casual gig
By October Crifasi
10 From the Home Office
12 Opening Act
80 Marketplace
101 Ad Index
102 Final Note
October 2015
Volume 26, No. 4, Issue 274
On the Cover
James Taylor
Photographer
Timothy White
Special FocusHome Play
24 Tallest Man on Earth
Swedish singer-songwriter
Kristian Matsson’s modern folk
By Adam Perlmutter
30 Brand New Start
James Taylor talks guitars,songwriting, and his first album
of new songs in 13 years
By Greg Cahill
36 Try a Little Tenderness
JD Souther takes a classic
songwriting approach
on new album
By Kenny Berkowitz
40 Lightning in a Bottle
The rise of folkie Sarah McQuaid
By Andy Hughes
Features Miscellany‘Mistakes
sometimes
create
the most
interesting
sounds.’
KRISTIAN MATSSON, P. 24
J O E Y L U S T E R
M A N
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
6/104
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
7/104
AcousticGuitar.com 7
CONTENTS
NEWS
15 The Beat
Bluegrass picker and comedian Ed Helms on
the Lonesome Trio; remembering Ronnie Gilbert,
Jim Ed Brown, and Richard Eddy Watson
20 News Spotlight
Joseph Skibell and his book, My Father’s Guitar
and Other Imaginary Things
PLAY
57 Songcraft
A songwriter’s guide to rhyme
The Basics
60 How to use open strings creatively
62 Learn the fundamentals of hybrid picking
64 Weekly Workout
Swinging like Freddie Green
Songs to Play
68 NutshellAngsty acoustic gem from Alice in Chains
70 Travelin’ Blues
A hot one from Memphis legend Earl Bell
74 House of the Rising Sun
Learn this timeless bordello blues
AG TRADE
79 Shoptalk
The Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery;
Woodstock Luthiers Showcase
82 Makers & Shakers
Paul Heumiller and his Dream Guitars
84 Guitar Guru
The upside of torrefaction
86 Review: Taylor 914ce
This revamped guitar is a winner
across the board
88 Review: Mérida Master 75D
A dreadnought with a lovely voice
and a modern look
90 Review: Grace Harbor GHGC-200
A satisfying and responsive budget flattop
92 Great AcousticsPogreba resonator
MIXED MEDIA
96 Playlist
The Steep Canyon Rangers show
versatility on Radio; also, Langhorne Slim’s
The Spirit Moves, Chuck Johnson’s Blood
Moon Boulder , Thad Beckman’s Streets
of Disaster , Dylan’s first album remastered
99 Books
Willie Nelson’s lively memoir, It’s a
Long Story , is full of heart, soul, and humor
Mérida
Master 75D
p. 88
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
8/104
8 October 2015
NEW INSTRUCTIONAL SERIES AVAILABLE: ‘5 MINUTE LESSON’
Acoustic Guitar ’s experts offer brief, insightful tips on warm-up exercises,
practice tips, gig preparation, and other useful topics. The first few install-
ments of 5 Minute Lesson are taught by master jazz guitarist, composer, and
educator Ron Jackson. For more information and to start shopping, visitstore.acousticguitar.com
GET ‘ACOUSTIC GUITAR’ IN YOUR E-MAIL INBOX
Your daily piece of acoustic guitar. Enjoy reviews and demos of the latest
guitars and gear, instructional video, guitar technique tips, acoustic guitar
news, special offers, and so much more. Sign up for Acoustic Guitar Notes and
we’ll e-mail you articles and videos that will help you improve your playing
and stay connected to the acoustic guitar world.
acousticguitar.com/acoustic-guitar-notes
AG ONLINE
Enjoy a recent Acoustic Guitar Session episode with bluesman Charlie Parr.
Watch Parr perform his new song “Frank Miller Blues” and talk about his
beloved National metal-bodied resonator and Fraulini 12-string. See more at:
acousticguitar.com/sessions to check out interviews with and performances by
Richard Thompson, Ani DiFranco, Seth Avett, Peter Rowan, Della Mae, Bruce
Cockburn, Valerie June, Julian Lage, Eliza Gilkyson, Preston Reed, and many
others.
In the Studio:Charlie Parr
P E T E R L
E E
Seems Kaki King is everywhere these
days; magazine covers, a new album
with an insp ir ing video, and she’s
touring the world.
After Kaki was featured on the July
cover of Acoustic Guitar magazine, we
thought it only appropriate to dig out
from our archives a 2010 interview
where Kaki offers some timeless advice
to young musicians.
“I put my first set on my guitar, and
two weeks later they still sounded
awesome. I love their playability. Your
fingers just glide along.” —Kaki King
Elixir® Strings Acoustic 80/20 Bronze
with POLYWEB® Coating, Light Gauge
SPONSORED
SPONSORED
KAKI KING has Some Great
Advice for Young
Musicians
Watch the video now:
AcousticGuitar.com/
How-To/Kaki-Elixir
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
9/104
ntroducing the new Alvarez 1965 series
or more information, please visit: www.alvarezguitars.com/1965-series
50 years of
craftsmanship,
tone and beauty.
http://www.alvarezguitars.com/1965-serieshttp://www.alvarezguitars.com/1965-serieshttp://www.alvarezguitars.com/1965-serieshttp://www.alvarezguitars.com/1965-series50
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
10/104
10 October 2015
FROM THE HOME OFFICE
Crifasi also contributes etiquette advice on
making that backyard bash a fun experience.
And Adam Perlmutter contemplates four ways
that the sometimes maligned art of noodlingcan help you to tap your creativity.
Elsewhere, you’ll find my interview with
singer-songwriter James Taylor, who hit the top
of the Billboard charts earlier this summer with
Before This World, his first album of original
material in 13 years. And Perlmutter sizes up
the Tallest Man on Earth, the Swedish artist
who has carried the sobriquet as the next Dylan
on his broad shoulders. Meanwhile, Kenny
Berkowitz delves into JD Souther’s tender side
and Ron Jackson returns with a lesson on
playing swing jazz in the style of the legendary
Freddie Green.In addition, you’ll find news, more player
tips, songs to play, gear reviews, and more.
Keep on playing! —Greg Cahill
Stage. Praise. Studio. You name it—acoustic
guitarists employ their guitars in a variety
of special settings. One common factor: You’d be
hard-pressed to find a guitarist that doesn’t playat home. In the special section in this month’s
issue, you’ll find advice on three aspects of
playing at home: noodling, playing on the
couch, and leading friends in backyard sessions.
Call them home improvement tips.
A couch potato’s guide to playing the guitar
struck a few folks around here as too irreverent
a topic.
But the negative ramifications of slumping
on the couch while binge watching Ancient
Aliens can come back to haunt you. So, AG
enlisted contributor October Crifasi, a skilled
performer and instructor, to lay down the law(sit up straight!) by explaining the flawed
mechanics and potential harm inherent in this
common practice.
AcousticGuitar.com • AcousticGuitarU.com
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Editorial Director & Editor Greg Cahill
Editor at Large Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
Managing Editor Blair Jackson
Senior Editor Marc Greilsamer
Associate Editor Whitney Phaneuf
Copy Editor Anna Pulley
Senior Designer Brad Amorosino
Production Manager Hugh O’Connor
Contributing Editors Kenny Berkowitz,
Andrew DuBrock, David Hamburger,
Steve James, Orville Johnson,
Richard Johnston, Sean McGowan,
Jane Miller, Greg Olwell,
Adam Perlmutter, Rick Turner,
Doug Young
INTERACTIVE SERVICES
Interactive Services Director Lyzy Lusterman
Creative Content Manager Joey Lusterman
Creative Content Coordinator Tricia Baxter
Community Relations Coordinator
Courtnee Rhone
Single Copy Sales Consultant Tom Ferruggia
MARKETING SERVICES
Sales Director Cindi Kazarian
Sales Managers Ref Sanchez, Greg Sutton
Marketing Services Manager
Tanya Gonzalez
Stringletter.com
Publisher David A. Lusterman
FINANCE & OPERATIONS
Director of Accounting & Operations
Anita Evans
Bookkeeper Geneva ThompsonAccounting Associate Raymund Baldoza
Office Assistant Leslie Perry
General Inquiries [email protected]
Customer Service
Advertising Inquiries
Send e-mail to individuals in this format:
Front Desk (510) 215-0010
Customer Service (800) 827-6837
General Fax (510) 231-5824
Secure Fax (510) 231-8964
MAIL & SHIPPING
501 Canal Boulevard, Suite J,
Richmond, CA 94804
Printed in USA
DISTRIBUTED to the music trade by Hal Leonard Corporation (800-554-0626, [email protected])
GOT A QUESTION or comment for Acoustic Guitar ’s editors? Send e-mail to [email protected]
or snail-mail to Acoustic Guitar Editorial, 501 Canal Blvd., Suite J, Richmond, CA 94804.
TO SUBSCRIBE to Acoustic Guitar magazine, call (800) 827 6837 or visit us online at AcousticGuitar.com.
As a subscriber, you enjoy the convenience of home delivery and you never miss an issue. You can take care of
all your subscription needs at our online Subscriber Services page (AcousticGuitar.com/Subscriber-Services):
pay your bill, renew, give a gift, change your address, and get answers to any questions you may have about
your subscription. A single issue costs $6.99; an individual subscription is $39.95 per year; institutional
subscriptions are also available. International subscribers must order airmail delivery. Add $15 per year for
Canada/Pan Am, $30 elsewhere, payable in US funds on US bank, or by Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.
TO ADVERTISE in Acoustic Guitar , the only publication of its kind read by 150,000 guitar players and
makers every month, call Cindi Kazarian at (510) 215-0025, or e-mail her at [email protected].
Except where otherwise noted, all contents ©2015 Stringletter, David A. Lusterman, Publisher.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
11/104
LUXURIOUS,
AUTHENTIC, ACOUSTIC
Availableexclusively at:
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
12/104
12
October 2015
OPENING ACT
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
13/104
AcousticGuitar.com 13
DavidCrosby
BACKSTAGE AT THENOURSE THEATER
SAN FRANCISCO, CA APRIL 11, 2015
JAY BLAKESBERG
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
14/104
The journey took four days. Five flights and hours of off-roading ontreacherous, handmade jungle roads. Sleeping on cots in remote, thatched-
roof logging camps and grinding raw corn for tortillas with the camp chef. All of this effort to locate the perfect mahogany tree for the next batch ofBedell Guitars. Going to the source is not the easy way, but it’s the right
way to find sustainable tonewoods and forge fair trade partnerships withcommunities worldwide. Doing the right thing never sounded better.
KNOW YOUR ROOTS
THE SEED TO SONG JOURNEY: GUATEMALA
EVERY 2015 BEDELL IS HANDCRAFTED IN THE USA .
WATCH THE VIDEO AT BED ELL GUI TA RS .C OM
http://bedellguitars.com/http://bedellguitars.com/
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
15/104
AcousticGuitar.com 15
NEWS
In the 20 years since graduating from Oberlin,the three college buddies who formed Weed-
killer have moved on to very different careers.
Banjo player and guitarist Ed Helms has become
the publisher of the Bluegrass Situation website
and an actor, playing Andy Bernard on The Office,
Stu Price in the Hangover trilogy, and Rusty Gris-
wold in this summer’s Vacation. Ian Riggs has
become a full-time musician, playing upright bass
in New York City, and mandolinist Jacob Tilove
is an architectural historian whose most recent
book is about “the definitive history of the devel-
opment of the garden suburb.”
Fortunately for bluegrass fans, the friendsstayed in touch, playing occasional gigs as the
Lonesome Trio. Now, with the release of their
self-titled debut album on the Sugar Hill label,
they’re busier than ever. Helms—talking by
phone from his office in Los Angeles, where
he’s working on a set of upcoming film proj-
ects—describes how decades later, they simply
love playing together.
“Playing together has been a very steady
constant in our lives, but not anything we took
all that seriously,” he says.
“I have some old cassette tapes of Weedkiller,
where we sound like mus ic ians who love
Picking & Grinning Actor and music hound Ed Helms
talks bluegrass, comedy, and a cappellaBY KENNY BERKOWITZ
19The BeatMerleFest RadioHour is on the air
16The BeatWeavers co-founderRonnie Gilbert dies
20News SpotlightJoseph Skibell on‘My Father’s Guitar’
THE BEAT
bluegrass, but haven’t had a lot of exposure toreally great bluegrass playing. At that time, it
wasn’t as much about performing for people as
just having a blast performing for ourselves. We
would play at weddings, parties, but even then, it
was just for us. It was something we did because
we loved it.”
That’s what you hear when you listen to The
Lonesome Trio: friends playing for the pleasure
that comes from making music, carving two
weeks out of their otherworldly schedules to
write, rehearse, and record an album of original
material, with enough time left over to simply
hang out.It’s a folk album filled with overdubs, with
Helms on acoustic and electric guitar, accor-
dion, banjo, harmonica, organ, piano, and
trumpet; Riggs on bass, piano, autoharp, vibra-
phone, and drum; and Tilove on acoustic and
electric mandolin, accordion, fiddle, and guitar.
Of the three, Tilove’s writing is the most ironic,
with titles like “Appalachia Apologia” and “The
House Song (Sung by a House),” while Riggs
follows close behind with the tragicomic “River
in the Gutter.”
That leaves Helms, the comedian, as their
darkest writer, singing about death, drink,
Lonesome Trio (L to R)
Jacob Tilove, Ian Riggs,
Ed Helms
exhaustion, failure, fear, loneliness, and a lifethat’s “all gone to hell.”
“We tap into a pretty raw place, and I really
love that,” says Helms, the trio’s only Southerner,
who started bluegrass guitar at 13 years old and
takes his main inspiration from Tony Rice and
John Hartford. “It’s a totally separate creative
pursuit, a different channel of creativity than the
comedy, and I love them both. Our show is lively
and fun, but it’s not comedy. It’s about the music,
our friendship, and the joy of playing together.”
Over the summer, the trio took their show
on the road before Helms went back to work on
Love the Coopers (due in November), Central Intelligence (2016) , Captain Underpants (2017),
and the longer-term projects Mermaids in Para-
dise and Naked Gun, which may still be years
away from being finished. In the fall, he’ll
return to the Bluegrass Situation’s Los Angeles
festival, which he co-founded, and if all goes
well, the trio will soon have enough material to
record a follow-up album.
And what about Andy Bernard, who’s been
out of work since The Office closed shop? What
does he think of all this bluegrass? “It’s pretty
good,” says Helms, in character, “but it would
sound a lot better a cappella.” AG
D A L E M A Y
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
16/104
16 October 2015
The folk and country music worlds lost three
greats in recent weeks:
RONNIE GILBERT 1926–2015
Ronnie Gilbert—who co-founded the seminal
folk-singing quartet, the Weavers, with Pete
Seeger, Lee Hays, and Fred Hellerman—died
on June 6 in California at age 88. As the only
female voice in the Weavers, Gilbert’s signaturecontralto was a rally cry for social change and
helped inspire the folk-music revival of the
1950s. Gilbert was born Ruth Alice Gilbert in
Brooklyn and grew up in New York City, where
the Weavers performed their first gig at the
Village Vanguard in 1949. The group ’s 1950
debut record, which contained “Tzena, Tzena,
Tzena” and Lead Belly’s “Goodnight, Irene,”
was a hit and spent 13 weeks at No. 1. The
Weavers’ harmonies and sing-along spirit
brought work songs, union ballads, and gospel
to new audiences, and popularized standards,
including “The Wreck of the John B” (aka“Sloop John B”), “Rock Island Line,” and “On
Top of Old Smoky.”
But post-World War II politics and the
impending Cold War made the Weavers a target
of the anti-Communist right wing and, after a
pamphlet called Red Channels named Seeger a
member of the Communist Party, the group was
blacklisted. The Weavers had a second act,
thanks to a sold-out Carnegie Hall reunion
show in 1955, and continued recording and
touring until 1963.
Gilbert turned to acting after the Weavers
broke up and appeared in many plays, including
IN MEMORIAM
THE BEAT
The Weavers
(L to R)
Pete Seeger,
Lee Hays,
Ronnie Gilbert,
Fred Hellerman
‘HOME’ SWEET HOME
Nickel Creek and Punch
Brothers co-founder, mandolin
virtuoso, and multi-
instrumentalist Chris Thile will
become the new host of NPR’s
A Prairie Home Companion
starting in 2016. Thile has twice
served as a guest host on the
popular public-radio show,
which features heartfelt
traditional music and
storytelling. Longtime host
Garrison Keillor will retain an
active role in the coming season
and beyond, acting as co-host,
writer, and executive producer
over a lengthy transition.
the Harold Pinter-directed, 1968 Broadway pro-
duction of Robert Shaw’s The Man in the Glass
Booth. Later, in the ’70s, Gilbert studied psychol-
ogy and worked as therapist.
Gilbert is survived by her wife and longtime
manager, Donna Korones, her daughter, and a
granddaughter. Her memoir, Ronnie Gilbert: A
Radical Life in Song, is set for publication by the
University of California Press this fall.
JIM ED BROWN 1934–2015
Jim Ed Brown , Grand Ole Opry star and
member of country music sibling act, the
Browns, died of cancer on June 11 at age 81.
Brown—alongside his sisters Maxine and
Bonnie—sang and played acoustic guitar on
the trio’s singles including “Here Today and
Gone Tomorrow,” “I Take the Chance,” and
“Just as Long as You Love Me.” But it was the
1959 crossover hit, “The Three Bells,” that
cemented their place in history. The Chet
Atkins-produced folk-pop song reached No. 1on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned the
Browns an invitation to join the Grand Ole
Opry in 1963. Brown continued performing at
the Opry for more than 50 years and enjoyed a
solo hit with “Pop a Top” in 1967.
This month, the Browns will be inducted
into the Country Music Hall of Fame, along
with Grady Mart in and the Oak Ridge Boys.
Before Brown’s death, while he was in a Frank-
lin, Tennessee, hospital, he was presented with
a medallion commemorating his Country Music
Hall of Fame membership.
SONGSMITHS HONORED
The Songwriters Hall of Fame
ushered in its 46th year of
honoring songwriting legends. Van Morrison received
the Johnny Mercer Award, the
hall’s highest honor, which is
bestowed to writers with a long
history of outstanding creative
works. Other new inductees
included the Grateful Dead
songwriting team of Robert
Hunter and the late Jerry
Garcia, rock composer Linda
Perry, the late Chicago
bluesman Willie Dixon,
and country star Toby Keith.
BRIEFS
Chris Thile
Van Morrison
CONTINUES ON PG. 19
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
17/104
Be heard with Mackie FreePlay, the personal PA you can
control wirelessly from your phone. It’s the shockingly
powerful sound solution that has nothing to apologize for.
300W | BATTERY POWERABLE | BUILT - IN MIXER | BLUETOOTH® CONNECTIV ITY
®2015 LOUD Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. “Mackie.”, the “Running Man” figure, and FreePlay are trademarks or registered trademarks of LOUD Technologies Inc. The Bluetoo th® word mark is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Any use of such marks by LOUD Technologies is un der license.
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
18/104
INTRODUCING EXP-COATED SETS WITH NY STEELD’Addario created EXP-coated acoustic strings so that the quintessential tone
of our 80/20 or Phosphor Bronze sets could last longer, yet still maintain the
sound musicians love. Today, we’re introducing NY Steel to our EXP sets, aproprietary material engineered for unprecedented strength and pitch stability.
Coated to last longer. Engineered strong to stay in tune better.
ALWAYS TRUE
THE HARMONY OF
LONGEVITY AND STABILITY
daddario.com/alwaystrue
http://alwaystrue.daddario.com/http://alwaystrue.daddario.com/
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
19/104
SUNDAY FEELINGWNCW has teamed up
with MerleFest to create the
MerleFest Radio Hour, an
hour-long weekly show of live
performances, album tracks,
and an interview segment
with artists who have played at
MerleFest. The show, co-hosted
by Mark Bumgarner and Steve
Johnson, airs live on Sundays
from 6-7 p.m. EST on WNCW.
It also is streamed on
wncw.org/listen-live.
RICHARD EDDY WATSON 1966–2015Richard Eddy Watson—blues guitarist,
grandson of Doc Watson, and son of Merle
Watson—died on June 1 of a heart attack at his
home in Deep Gap, North Carolina. He was 48.
As a young player, Watson perfected his fin-
gerpicking on tour with his late father and
grandfather. He recorded “Feeling the Blues” in
1992, which he dedicated to his father, and in
1999 collaborated with Doc on the Grammy-
nominated Third Generation Blues album.
Watson performed with his grandfather until
Doc’s death in 2012, and was a staple at Mer-
leFest—the traditional music festival that bearshis father’s name.
In a statement, MerleFest director Ted
Hagaman writes: “The entire MerleFest family
was saddened to learn of the passing of Richard
Watson. Richard has been a fixture at MerleFest
for many years, helping to carry on the Watson
legacy. He was a talented musician and he will
be missed.”
Watson is survived by his wife, Annette;
daughter, Candis Watson Webb; grandson,
Tantem Webb; mother and stepfather, Geneva
Hennessee and David Hennessee; and sister,
Karen Watson Norris. —Whitney Phaneuf
AUSTIN: OUTE R LIMITS
Asleep at the Wheel frontman
and founder Ray Benson has
returned to Sirius XM’s “Willie’s
Roadhouse” on a bi-weekly
basis to host his show, Austin
Outer Limits. The one-hour
broadcast, inspired by the theme
“where cowboys meet aliens,”
features Western swing and
Texas honky-tonk music hand-
picked by Benson. On October
26, Benson will be added to
the Philadelphia Music Walk
of Fame—along with six other
inductees—during a ceremony
on the Avenue of the Arts
in Philadelphia.
Richard Eddy Watson
Ray Benson
THE BEAT
BRIEFS
Developed over three years of
engineering and innovating, NY Stee
a proprietary alloy with unprecedent
pitch stability and remarkable streng
First presented to the public in
D’Addario NYXL electric guitar string
this technology has now been adde
to our coated acoustic sets for the
ultimate in tone, strength, and reliabil
daddario.com/alwaystrue
PITCH STABILITY
NY STEE
STANDA
STRENGTH
ALWAYS TRUE
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
20/104
20 October 2015
Steel-String LitIn his new book, My Father’s Guitar and Other Imaginary Things,
essayist Joseph Skibell draws inspiration from wood and steel
BY ADAM PERLMUTTER
What was it like to share the stage with
Paul Simon when he participated in the
Richard Ellmann Lectures, a series you
directed at Emory University, where you’re
on faculty?
He was such a mensch to let me join him in
playing and singing “The Boxer.” The words
“I’m onstage with Paul Simon” shot through my
head, and I immediately gave myself a tension
headache. And working with him for the year
and a half leading up to the lecture, it was so
inspiring to see how he was all about serving
the work to an impeccable degree. He’s a
master in all senses of the word.
In your instrument collection, you’ve shied
away from production models in favor of
those built by luthiers. As an artist, do you
feel a connection with guitar makers?
I’ve really gravitated toward luthiers—Ken
Parker, especially, because I do feel a kinship
with him. Ken is working so far beyond the
norm, but like many novelists, he’s sort of an
unheralded genius—many people see him as
just a guitar maker. In the same way, a novelist
can work so hard to put new and amazing
things into a work, only for it all to be lost on
readers.
NEWS SPOTLIGHT
A
s a teenager in the 1970s, novelist and
creative-writing professor Joseph Skibellspent countless hours in intimate discourse
with his Alvarez steel-string, wearing deep
grooves in its fretboard while dreaming of
becoming a singer-songwriter. But in his 20s,
having devoted himself to a literary life, he lost
interest in the guitar and played the instrument
only occasionally.
Decades later, Skibell read a profile on
luthier Ken Parker in The New Yorker, rekindling
his relationship with the six-string. Skibell’s
father passed away around the same time, and
the writer used a chunk of his inheritance to
upgrade from the old Alvarez to a pair of Parkerelectric guitars. “In an idiosyncratic way, I
taught myself the classical repertoire, working
through volumes 1 and 2 of Christopher
Parkening’s method. If only someone had told
me when I was in my 20s that I could play
sophisticated music on the solo guitar, and not
just sit around strumming ‘Ride Captain Ride,’”
says Skibell, now 55.
Skibell began to make a study of the art of
lutherie. In the summer of 2009, he and his
daughter, Arianna, took a North American road
trip to visit the workshops of Ken Parker,
Michael Greenfield, and Linda Manzer. Skibell
developed an acquisitive streak as a conse-
quence of the trip, and he’s since commissionedelegant acoustic guitars from J.S. Bogdanovich,
Bevan Frost, Shelley D. Park, Erich Solomon,
and others.
But the centerpiece of Skibell’s collection is
a handmade Parker archtop dubbed Fig, named
for the dramatic figuring of its big-leaf maple
back and sides, which resembles the meat of
that fruit. F.I.G. is also an acronym for Father’s
Imaginary Guitar. The instrument is a minor
character in Skibell’s latest book, My Father’s
Guitar and Other Imaginary Things (Algonquin
Books)—a collection of essays originating from
reflections he had on his great road trip.
How would you characterize yourself
as a guitarist?
I play a lot, mostly fingerstyle, and I’m a bit
surprised I play as well as I do. I studied a little
with Pierre Bensusan and Michael Chapdelaine,
and I can play some of their less challenging
pieces. I’d say that I’m a high-intermediate
player. My question is: What would it take to
become advanced? It seems that there’s a great
leap between high intermediate and low
advanced—I don’t know if I’ll ever make the
leap, but I’d like to.
Joseph SkibellMy Father’s Guitar and
Other Imaginary Things
Algonquin
CONTINUES ON PG. 22
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
21/104
Christopher from Savannah, GA
( 800 ) 222-4700
Sweetwater.com
FREE 2-YEAR
WARRANTY**Total ConfidenceCoverage™ Warranty
FREE PRO
ADVICEWe’re here to help!Call today!
FAST, FREE
SHIPPINGOn most orders, withno minimum purchase!
0% INTERESTfor 24 MONTHS*
On purchases of select manufacturers’ productsmade with your Sweetwater Musician’s All AccessPlatinum Card between now and October 31, 2015 –24 equal monthly payments required.
Visit our exclusive Guitar Gallery for more detailed hi-res guitar images at Sweetwater.com/guitargallery.
“Never has there been a betterbuying experience. Sweetwateris always my number one choice
for all my needs.”JOHLENE FROM RICHMOND, KY
N E W !
N E W ! N E W !
Taylor T5z Custom
Macassar Ebony Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S61
Universal Audio Apollo Twin DUO
PreSonus Studio One 3 Professional
Apple MacBook 12-inch
JBL LSR305
Toontrack EZdrummer 2
*Offer applies only to single-receipt qualifying purchases. No interest will be charged on promo purchase and equal monthly payments are required equal to initial promo purchase amount divided
equally by the number of months in promo period until promo is paid in full. The equal monthly payment will be rounded to the next highest whole dollar and may be higher than the minimum payment
that would be required if the purchase was a non-promotional purchase. Regular account terms apply to non-promotional purchases. For new accounts: Purchase APR is 29.99%; Minimum Interest
Charge is $2. Existing cardholders should see their credit card agreement for their applicable terms. Subject to credit approval. **Please note: Apple products are excluded from this warranty, and otherrestrictions may apply. Please visit Sweetwater.com/warranty for complete details.
RØDE NT1-A
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
22/104
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
23/104
hen it’s your instrument that’s holding
you back, it’s time or a change. We
invite you to stop by your local Blueridge
Dealer and have an intimate conversation
with the guitar that will bring
out the best in you.
Te secret o tone lies in the
details o design, selection
o materials and the skilled
hand o the crafsman. Te
result is more Bang…
period!
W
BR-160 Dreadnaught To learn more about Blueridge Guitars,
visit www.sagamusic.com/AG
Blueridge Guitars...More Bang for the Buck!
P.O. Box 2841 • So. San Francisco, CaliorniConnect with us on
The Qualityand Value Leader!
Blueridge BR-160 Guitar
• Select, aged, solid Sitka sprucetop with traditional herringbonepurfling or tone and beauty
• Expertly handcarved top bracein authentic, pre-war, orward-Xposition
• Select, solid East Indian rosewoodback and sides or deep, rich ton
• Carved, low profile, solidmahogany neck and dovetailneck joint or strength andstability
http://www.sagamusic.com/AGhttp://www.sagamusic.com/AG
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
24/104
24 October 2015
STANDING TALL
By Adam Perlmutter
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
25/104
AcousticGuitar.com 25
I’m perched on an old vinyl couch in a dress-
ing room in Los Angeles’ historic Wiltern
Theater, waiting to meet Kristian Matsson,
the Swedish singer-songwriter who goes
by the stage name the Tallest Man on Earth.
When he enters the room and I stand to
shake his hand, I am surprised to find that
his height is not one for the record books.
Matsson, who was touring in support of
his latest album, Dark Bird Is Home (Dead
Oceans), is a compact man with a command-
ing presence. He wears a short beard and
fashionably disheveled hair with subtle grey
highlights that he makes no effort to hide.
He is dressed nattily, having swapped
out the tank top he’s often photographed
wearing in favor of a tan blazer over a black
T-shirt. He has a coffee in hand. As he sits
for the interview, he removes the blazer,
revealing a horse tattoo on his left forearm.
Singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson possesses a stage name that
commands respect. And he has the talent to be the Tallest Man on Earth
He looks like the prototypical hipster
sampled from Silver Lake or Bushwick,
but Matsson speaks thoughtfully and without
any affect about his music, which can be
categorized roughly as modern folk, and
which is indebted to such idiosyncratic
singer-songwriters as the late Nick Drake.
Matsson, who is 32, grew up in Dalarna,
a rural province in central Sweden. He was
fortunate enough to be exposed to jazz
and classical-guitar repertoire in high school,
but even so he grew tired of the regimented
structure in those forms and sought out
other sounds.
“I started playing in punk and glam
bands before entering a Bob Dylan period,
and also checking out Nick Drake in my
late teens,” he says, adding that this led
to a discovery of their folk and blues
antecedents.
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
26/104
26 October 2015
TALLEST MAN ON EARTH
In 2006, after a brief stint in the Swedish
indie-rock band Montezumas, Matsson emerged
as the Tallest Man on Earth, releasing a self-
titled solo EP with just acoustic guitar and voice.He would use this same instrumentation on his
next two full-length efforts: Shallow Grave
(2008) and The Wild Hunt (2010). Inevitably,
Mattson drew frequent comparisons to Dylan.
It’s true that, like Dylan’s early work, the
Tallest Man on Earth’s most prominent features
are a scratchy voice and a fingerpicked acoustic
guitar, but the assessment is somewhat superfi-
cial. From the beginning, Matsson has had his
own concept within the folk tradition, with a
harmonic language that’s broader than most,
and a lyrical lens that’s often Northern
European.
‘IN TERMS OFTUNINGS, I TENDNOT TO USE THEOBVIOUS CHOICES,LIKE DADGAD—THAT WOULD JUSTSOUND TOO IRISH.’
“[The comparison] drove me crazy for a
whi le, ” says Mat tson, looking down at his
coffee and rapidly stirring it. “I didn’t set out
with a specific plan to be a singer-songwriter inthe mold of Bob Dylan. I just don’t think like
that. My music has evolved naturally as I’ve
brought different influences into the fold.”
atsson has always thought of the
guitar as an extension of his voice—
he has often recorded his playing and
his singing on the same track. To match his
baritone, and to suit his signature contrapuntal
approach, he’s relied on a number of different
makes and models of guitars. Early on, he
played acoustics by Furch, a Czech maker, and
by Guild. Then, in 2011, he received a
Matsson performs
at the Fox Theater in
Oakland in June.
J O E Y
L U S T E R M A N
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
27/104
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
28/104
28 October 2015
DADGAD—that would just sound too Irish,” he
says, laughing. “What I like about the B tuning
[Bsus2/E, to be exact] is that it has not the tonic
but the fourth [E] as the lowest note, and that
adds a bit of unpredictability to the sound.”
Using a recording studio that he built in an
old barn adjacent to his home allowed Matsson
to work on Dark Bird Is Home in a relaxed and
unhurried way, tracking whenever the inspira-
tion struck. “It was great to be able to sit down
in my kitchen with the L-0, write a song like
‘Timothy,’ and then walk across the lawn to
record it. My studio is such an inspiring place to
work. It’s got solar tubes in the ceil ing, which
let in this beautiful prismatic light. The floor
has these wide wooden panels that add bril-
liance to the sound. If you play drums in my
studio, you’ll sound like John Bonham,” says
Mattson, referring to the late Led Zeppelin
drummer.
Partly as a way of stretching out sonically,
and partly with an eye toward touring with a
band that would help carry the load, Matsson
worked with fuller arrangements on Dark Bird Is
Home than on any of his previous records. Ini-
tially he recorded all the guitar, banjo, pedal-
steel, synth, and vocal parts, along with some of
the drum tracks, in his barn. Dusting off his old
B-flat clarinet, he also added some strategically
placed woodwind layers. But he wasn’t quite
satisfied with the results. “The record needed
some supporting musicians who could actually
play their instruments correctly,” he says.
TALLEST MAN ON EARTH
THE B TUNING
ADDS A BIT OF
UNPREDICTABILITY
TO THE SOUND.
Smokey darkness
Escape the expected. Experience graphite. www.rainsong.com1.800.788.5828
o address the situation, Matsson flew
to Wisconsin and enlisted the help of
Michael Lewis, Michael Noyce, and C.J. Cam-
erieri, members of Bon Iver, with whom
Matsson has toured. They used reed, string,
brass, background vocals, and assorted other
parts to create lush overlays for the arrange-
ments. Matsson says that he wanted a female
vocalist to record the harmonized vocals, but,
not unlike at an old Muscle Shoals recording
session, he had to go with the musicians who
happened to be available. “Since no women were around at the time, that’s Mike Noyce on
all the high parts,” Matsson says. “He sings so
beautifully.”
On that note, it was time for Matsson to
soundcheck for the evening’s performance. He
put his jacket back on and, walking me out of
the Wiltern, peered at the stage through one of
the theater’s back doors. “I’ve got an entirely
different backline than I had for shows on the
East Coast, and the symphonic drum we’ve
been lent is so much larger than we’re used to,”
he says, somewhat nervously. “But then again,
mistakes sometimes create the most interesting
sounds.” AG
T
J O E Y
L U S T E R M A N
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
29/104
“Elixir Strings simply play the smoothest and last the longes
I’ve never heard a fuller, brighter or cleaner sound
out of my guitar. They bring new life to any classic.”
- Jerrod Niemann
Elixir ® Strings Acoustic Phosphor Bronze deliver distinctive phosphor bronze warmth and sparkle -
together with the extended tone life that players have come to expect from Elixir Strings.
Elixir Strings is the only coated string brand to protect the entire string, keeping tone-killing gunk out of
the gaps between the string windings. As a result, Elixir Strings retain their tone longer than any other string,
uncoated or coated*. Plus, our innovative Anti-Rust Plated Plain Steel Strings prevent corrosion,
ensuring longer life for the entire set.
With a smoother feel and reduced finger-squeak, Elixir Phosphor Bronze Strings are a winning choice for the studio
and stage. With less hassle and expense of frequent string changes you can enjoy more time making music.
The Phosphor Bronze tone you love – for longer
www.elixirstrings.com/phosbronze
ELX-532-ADV-US-JUL15
*Elixir Strings player survey
GORE, ELIXIR, NANOWEB, POLYWEB, GREAT TONE · LONG LIFE, “ e” icon, and other designs are trademarks of W. L. Gore & Associates. ©2015 W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
http://www.elixirstrings.com/photobronzehttp://www.elixirstrings.com/photobronze
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
30/104
30 October 2015
BRAND
NEWSTART
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
31/104
AcousticGuitar.com 31
like the idea of slow evolution and practice, the way the Japa-
nese revere their masters and pass their technique down to
subsequent generations,” says singer-songwriter James Taylor,
whose recently released hit album, Before This World (Concord), marks
the second-longest wait between an artist’s debut on the Billboard charts
and the coveted No. 1 spot. (Tony Bennett holds the record.) “It’s not a
very Western way of thinking, but in the long run it’s a nice way to think
of your work.”
In addition to Before This World, his first set of originals in 13 years,Taylor has a newly launched Sirius XM channel devoted to his music—he
recently performed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, the first time he’d
headlined a show in that venerable hall, to promote the channel. And at
press time, he was scheduled to perform on August 6 with his band for
the first time at Fenway Park in Boston, the hallowed Red Sox baseball
stadium that inspired one of the songs on the new album.
Taylor, 67, recorded most of the album last January with his longtime
rhythm section in a barn in the woods behind his home in rural Massa-
chusetts during a ten-day period. “That contributed to the unity and cohe-
siveness of the sound,” he says. “And that really works in its favor.”
The album is alternately reflective and celebratory, often evoking
familiar themes of restoration and spiritual renewal that grace his best
work. His voice is as soothing as ever. And despite the presence of cellist
Yo-Yo Ma and guest singer Sting, Taylor’s cedar-top concert-model acous-tic, built by Minnesota luthier Jim Olson, colors these sessions with
warmth. His guitar even cements the foundation for the Steely-Dan-
inspired “Stretch of the Highway,” and his impressive fingerstyle tech-
nique shines on the folksy tunes “Before This World/Jolly Springtime”
and “Wild Mountain Thyme.”
Asked about his custom-made guitar, Taylor says, “It has very low
action. [Jim] makes a guitar that is very stable, very reliable. All of my
Olsons have lasted—I’ve played them on the road and they’ve stood up
well. I’ve abused them terribly, but he’s around to fix them, so that’s a
crucial relationship we have.”
The new album arrives 45 years after Taylor’s 1970 breakthrough
release, Sweet Baby James (Warner Bros.), which included such signature
songs as “Fire and Rain,” “Country Road,” and the sweetly sung titletrack, a lullaby to his baby nephew. The LP was made on a shoestring
budget of just over $7,000 and established Taylor as one of the brightest
stars in the then-nascent singer-songwriter movement.
I spoke to the five-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame inductee in late June as he was winding his way on a bus through
the Berkshires to Pennsylvania, where the troubadour had scheduled
three days of band rehearsals to prepare for this summer’s tour. He was
gracious, contemplative, and excited as he discussed songwriting, guitars,
the power of music, and the latest leg of his career—a brand new start.
On his first album of new songs
in 13 years, singer-songwriter
James Taylor reconnects with his
muse and tops the pop chartsBy Greg Cahill
“I
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
32/104
32 October 2015
JAMES TAYLOR
The opening track, “Today Today Today,”
finds you singing “The world will open
wide / I’m running with the tide.” It’s a
cheerful personal manifesto.
It is. I used to find a quiet space at home and
put in a couple of hours writing lyrics in the
morning and maybe a couple of hours in theafternoon. But it wasn’t enough this time. I
found that it would take a week or more for the
lyrics to come through. One day, I was leaving
my home and driving to a friend’s apartment in
Newport, Rhode Island, to do some writing. I
had packed my guitar and all my notebooks
and a keyboard and all my little recorders, and
I’d put a boat on the top of the car. This song
lyric came to me while I was at the wheel. The
lyric was sort of, “Let’s get going on this thing.”
It’s a song about getting started.
The album marks the end of a 13-year
hiatus from recording original material.
But were you writing during that time?
Yeah, you know, there were lots of starts—lots of
melodies and chord changes—but it’s always a
matter of writing the lyrics. That was the hard
part. Some of these melodies I’d had for years.
For example, “Montana”—those changes I’ve
had for at least 15 years. Russ Titelman [the pro-
ducer of 1997’s Grammy-winning album October
Road] was on me to finish it. It took a family ski
trip to Big Sky, Montana, where I’d borrowed a
friend’s cabin—that’s where that lyric came
through after three days, again, isolated. So
these songs didn’t just crop up in the last year. Infact, in 2010, we went into the studio and put
down demos to about nine of these songs.
The album has two tracks that evoke
English folk music, one original (“Before
This World/Jolly Springtime”) and the
other traditional (“Wild Mountain Thyme”).
Why did you turn to that style?
It’s a tradition that I came up in. That sort of
acoustic-guitar folk style—it was very accessible,
it was something that was made for citizens to
do. It’s the people’s music—unlike jazz or classi-
cal music, folk music is meant to be played byeveryone. It was a major movement in popular
music in the late ’50s and early ’60s, and for me
it was something that a young man with a guitar
could tap into. It’s always been one of my
foundations. I come back to it a lot. . . . On the
past couple of albums, I’ve come back to
keeping the acoustic guitar at the center of the
arrangements.
Why do you think the new album
has struck such a chord?
Well, it has been a long time [between studio
albums] and I have a very loyal audience that
‘FOLK MUSIC WAS SOMETHINGTHAT A YOUNG MAN WITH A GUITAR COULD TAP INTO.IT’S ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF MY FOUNDATIONS.I COME BACK TO IT A LOT.’
James Taylor, mid-1970s
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
33/104
AcousticGuitar.com 33
was waiting for a new album and was ready for
one. And, though I say it myself, I think that it’s
good work—this is something I’ve done 16
times before, to take a batch of new songs into
the studio, and I’ve learned how to do it. It’s
painful for me to listen to the first couple of
albums I made because it took a long time todevelop the skills to make an album this way.
Primarily, I’m a singer and songwriter, and I’m
writing for myself, but increasingly, as the years
go by, I’m writing for this band that I’ve worked
with for decades. It ’s a consensus type of
arrangement—I don’t dictate what they’re
going to play. We talk a lot about it though.
You know, one of the strange things about
being a singer-songwriter is that often the first
time a song is played it’s also recorded for good
and all. In an ideal world, you would take those
ten or 12 songs on the road and play them 20 or
30 times for audiences and let the songs reallybecome what they are meant to be. So part of
the challenge is getting it right the first time.
In a 2000 60 Minutes interview, you told
Charlie Rose that you are yourself for
a living, which is the classic definition
of a singer-songwriter.
I think that’s true. But I have started writing from
a point of view other than my own, increasingly
as time goes by. “Angels of Fenway” is from the
point of view of a young boy attending the ball
game with his grandmother. “Far Afghanistan” is
from the point of view of a soldier preparing to do
this extreme thing that we ask of our soldiers. SoI am more often writing from the point of view of
a character other than myself, although inevitably
there’s a personal connection with the song.
Exceptions are “Today Today Today,” “Watchin’
Over Me,” and “You and I Again,” which are
about me and the people in my life.
“Far Afghanistan” is a bit of a departure
in that it is topical.
But it’s not political. For one reason or another, I
spent a lot of time thinking about what a sol-
dier’s experience is and why young people are
compelled to test themselves.
I have written other songs in a similar vein,
including “Native Son,” “Soldiers,” and “Belfast
to Boston,” that also are about war, or about this
extreme state. But it’s true that I haven’t written
many political songs—though I did write “Let It
All Fall Down” during Watergate. Occasionally, I
am moved to write political songs, but generallyit’s personal.
It’s cathartic?
And celebratory, too. And palliative. And all of
these things, you know?
Sweet Baby James was released 45
years ago, as the Vietnam War dragged
on. It was an era that found the nation steeped in a malaise. Played on your car’s
AM radio, those soothing songs offered
shelter.
It was an amazing time. The function those
songs serve for me is that, whatever it is that
makes you want to put into the language
of music an internal emotional experience and
to make that both outside of you and in front of
you, they show that my music can resonate
with other people, too. And that’s what you
want as a performing artist—you want other
people to share in that experience.
Not to get too cosmic, but the human condi-tion is that we live in these isolated individu-
ated consciousnesses that re-create the entire
world inside our heads. It’s obviously the thing
that allows us to compete, and it’s been a great
survival strategy as a species. But it does isolate
us, and we’re constantly looking for a way back
to oneness or connection with each other and
the world. That’s kind of a spiritual hunger to
escape this thing that we are so committed to,
this isolation. Music is very effective at connect-
ing us together.
That’s a primal thing. Music does it. It
always has. There’s a reason why music lived in
the church for hundreds of years, and that’sbecause it does fulfill a spiritual need.
You’ve always been open about your
recovery from alcoholism and addiction,
and have said that music saved your life.
I have a passion for music and I had it early on.
It solved problems for me—internal, emotional
problems—by being able to express some of
this stuff and finding an audience for it. It was
such a positive thing.
For me, there’s also a little bit of arrested
development . . . and having an audience listen-
ing to my music and giving me feedback is still
‘WE’RE CONSTANTLYLOOKING FOR A WAYBACK TO ONENESSOR FOR ACONNECTIONWITH EACH OTHER
AND THE WORLD.
MUSIC IS VERYEFFECTIVE ATCONNECTINGUS TOGETHER.’
In a recent interview on the Howard Stern
Show , you said “Fire and Rain” is a song
you probably wouldn’t play if you were
alone because you tap into that deeply
personal lyric through the audiences’
connection to it.
That’s very much what live performance isabout, that shared experience. I know from
being onstage and in the audience that the two
things are similar experiences. There’s some-
thing very gratifying about something as simple
as kicking loose and celebrating, and sometimes
it’s deeper than that. I remember being on tour
directly after 9/11, the shows that we played
were deeply emotional experiences. Everything
was resonating deeply with people. It runs the
gamut emotionally. But ideally performances
find a group having a common experience and
there’s something about the music—it can mean
a lot and it can go very deep.
During the past few years,
James Taylor has produced nine
videotaped guitar lessons that
are available free of charge on
his website. The videos employ
a number of viewing angles,
including a guitar cam that
shows his fingerpicking pattern
from inside the soundhole. He
provides pointers on playing his
hits “Fire and Rain” and “Country
Road,” among other songs, and
offers a detailed explanation of
his flat tuning.
“I plan to record another batch
of these this fall,” he says, “when
things slow down a little bit.”
Learn more at
jamestaylor.com/guitar-lessons
FREE JTGUITARLESSONS
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
34/104
34 October 2015
very compelling, very important to me. I love
that . . . that’s the main thing that I live for, and
the album addresses that tug of war between
home and the road. It’s always a challenge to
find the balance between the family at home
and the family on the bus.
I’ve read that your songwriting process
starts with noodling on the guitar.
Yes, that’s what happens. I’l l find a chord pro-
gression that will suggest a melody and that
also will suggest some language. That’s all you
need, just a “corner” that you can lift up. Gen-
erally, my practice is to follow that wherever
it goes.
I do have themes that I keep coming back
to. There are spirituals for agnostics that are
palliative and that give comfort. There are
recovery songs. There are songs about homeand the road. My father shows up a lot in songs
of mine. There are songs that are celebratory.
Occasionally, I’ll write a song about the music
business, but I do come back to familiar themes.
From one point of view, you could say that all
songwriters are constantly rewriting the same
50 songs, and that can be an interesting exer-
cise. I once wrote a song called “Turn Away” in
which I literally took a Beatles song, the song
“The Night Before,” and I restated it. You can
do that. It was just an exercise, but it turned
out to be quite a good song. But often I’ll lift a
corner and follow it wherever it will take me.
And that’s how I write most of my songs.
What is the meaning of the album’s title,
Before This World ?
When I was 17, I didn’t think that someone
who is 67 had anything in common with me or
that we would have a shared experience or that
we could communicate in any important way.
One of the things that you learn over time is
that you become who you are at the age of 17,
or 20, or whatever—you basically gel, you indi-
viduate, you coalesce—and you are that person
for the rest of your life. That’s the news. You
don’t change that much, because change is agradual thing. So I became who I am in 1965,
through the five years before that and the five
years after it—that’s who I am. I feel like a mes-
senger from that time, from another time.
And you’re still going strong at 67,
and at the top of the charts.
Being No. 1 at this age is very reassuring. I
want to continue as long as I have something to
contribute. I don’t want to hold on longer than
is appropriate, but I do feel that if I’m meant to
do anything in this life then this is probably it.
And that’s wonderful to know. AG
JAMES TAYLOR
CarbonFiberCases.com
Zac Brown and Hoffee Cases
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
35/104
Serious Guitars | www.collingsguitars.com
Julian Lage
and Collings Guitars
http://www.collingsguitars.com/http://www.collingsguitars.com/http://www.collingsguitars.com/
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
36/104
36 October 2015
TRY A LITTLE
‘TENDERNESS’By Kenny Berkowitz
J E R E M Y C O W A R T
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
37/104
AcousticGuitar.com 37
o some people, JD Souther is country
legend Watty White on ABC’s Nash-
vi lle, a fictional writer/producer
modeled halfway between Harlan Howard and
Cowboy Jack Clement.
To others, he’s one of the architects of Cali-
fornia county-rock—a man who wrote hit songs
for Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles, released ahandful of solo albums, and then disappeared.
In the past few years, he’s begun performing his
old songs again, recasting himself as a singer-
songwriter and acoustic guitarist in a jazz trio.
Now, with Tenderness (Sony Masterworks), he’s
finding a place within the Great American
Songbook, which he insists isn’t a new direction
at all, but more like a new film.
“Every album is like a different movie for
me,” says Souther, a member of the Songwriters
Hall of Fame, talking from his farm just south of
Nashville.
“For a while, it was the same ensemble of
actors, and this is a different group. But theprocess for putting together this album, and all
my albums, is always the same. We start with a
slow, gathering storm, a broad band of stuff
that gets winnowed down until it’s a good
45-minute set. We end with a rush, when I see
the shape and know who the players are.
“It’s like I’m punching up my own script.
“But I like this album very much. It’s by far
my favorite, because I sound so much more
relaxed as a singer. I’m not trying to do any-
thing. I’m just singing the songs, telling the
stories.”
It’s a warm spring day in Tennessee, and
because Souther has a mild case of synesthesia,
he talks about the colors he sees when he hears
music, how he envisions this album as a woman
standing outside in the rain, and how the sky
above his barn looks like Vaseline. Nearing 70
years old, he’s been writing songs and telling
stories for a long time, some of them sadderthan others, but almost all of them sad. He
grew up in Detroit, where his father, John
Souther, sang in big bands under the stage
name Johnny Warren, crooning in an Irish
tenor that JD (born John David) remembers
sounding “like an early Sinatra.”
When Souther was three years old, the
family moved to Shaker Heights, Ohio, fol-
lowed by a move to Dallas and then Amarillo,
where his father owned a music store and JD
attended college.
At 22, after playing drums in a series of
bands, he left for Los Angeles, where he taught
himself guitar and quickly became part of ascene that included David Blue, Jackson
Browne, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Linda Ron-
stadt, Judee Sill, and Warren Zevon.
Some became stars, some didn’t. Souther
and Frey recorded an album as Longbranch
Pennywhistle, with session help from James
Burton, Ry Cooder, and Buddy Emmons, but
their record company folded before they could
make much impact. Next, Souther almost
became an Eagle, thinking about joining Frey
and Henley in Ronstadt’s backup band, but
deciding against it.
“David Geffen asked me to give it a try, to
play a set with Glenn and Don one afternoon at
the Troubadour,” says Souther, referring to the
famous West Hollywood nightclub. “I remem-
ber we were doing a ballad, and I was looking
down the road and thinking, ‘I am unnecessary
here. We’ll stay better friends if I’m not in this
band.’ So I told David, ‘I don’t think it’s a goodidea, and I’m sure Glenn and Don are going to
be relieved when you tell them.’ We were all
happy with that, because we knew we were
going to keep writing together. Jackson and I
lived right across a little courtyard from each
other, and Linda was my girlfriend, and we
were all hanging out, listening to everything
each of us was doing.”
oon enough, Ronstadt’s career took
off, with the Eagles following close
behind, while Souther stayed close to
all of them, becoming an award-winning co-
writer with Frey and Henley (“Best of My Love,”“Heartache Tonight,” “New Kid in Town,” “The
Sad Café,” “Victim of Love”) and a songwriter/
producer for Ronstadt (“Don’t Cry Now,” “Faith-
less Love,” “Prisoner in Disguise,” “Simple Man,
Simple Dream,” “White Rhythm and Blues”).
From there, he went out on his own, first with
the short-lived Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
(with former Byrd Chris Hillman and Richie
Furay of Buffalo Springfield and Poco), and then
as a solo act, releasing four albums in 13 years.
All of them— John David Souther (1972), Black
Rose (1976), You’re Only Lonely (1979), which
JD Souther revamps his acoustic jazz on an album of originals rooted in the Great American Songbook
T
S
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
38/104
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
39/104
http://www.ernieball.com/
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
40/104
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
41/104
AcousticGuitar.com 41
ll musicians need an editor, someone
who will tell them honestly i f songs
work or not. For UK-based singer-
songwriter Sarah McQuaid, while working on
her latest album, Walking Into White, that
much-needed candid opinion was provided by
her cousin and co-producer Adam Pierce.
It was Pierce—whose producer credits
include Tom Brosseau’s Posthumous Success—
that recommended McQuaid cut her five-minute
songs in half and remove the repetition, be it in
lines or complete verses. The result is a moreradio-friendly album that represents the ongoing
development of her craft as a songwriter and
musician. Walking Into White is the Sarah
McQuaid album fans have been waiting for.
“It is a short album. But I looked up some
other short albums—the Beatles’ Revolver
album is one—so I am in great company! It
does mean that with the bits of talking that I
do, I can get the album nicely into a set, and
that makes it perfect for my current concerts,”
explains McQuaid, who is also the author of
The Irish DADGAD Guitar Book, which The Irish
Times called “a godsend to aspiring traditional
guitarists.”Though McQuaid makes a living from her
music, she is not troubling the super-tax
bracket just yet. Born in Spain and raised in
Chicago, she moved to the wild country of
county Cornwall on the south coast of England
in 2007, after 13 years in Ireland. That meant
she had a property to sell, which brought her
some welcome additional capital.
So what does a musician do with extra
cash? Buy the acoustic guitar of her dreams, of
course.
“I was living in France when I was 18, and I
went to Ireland for the Easter holiday and meta musician named Brendan O’Regan, who had
this gorgeous bouzouki, and I asked him who
made it, and he told me about Andy Manson,”
she says.
Manson lives in Devon, the next county to
Cornwall, and has made guitars for Jimmy
Page, John Paul Jones, Ian Anderson, and
Mathew Bellamy of Muse, so, unsurprisingly,
his waiting list is long—too long to add another
musician. But McQuaid asked Manson to make
a guitar for her, and by way of an audition, he
traveled to see her support Cara Dillon in
concert. She passed the audition, and Manson
moved her to the top of his waiting list. A few
months later, her new Manson guitar was ready.
“I visited Andy’s workshop,” McQuaid
recalls. “And I told him what I wanted—a small
body with a big sound, and a deep cutaway,
because I like to work up the neck of the guitar.
I had been playing a guitar made in 1965,
when you could use Brazilian rosewood, which
is illegal now, and you can get your guitar
confiscated by customs in some countries, so I
was worried about traveling with that. Andy
told me he was using cherry wood for hisguitars, so the body is cherry wood, the top is
spruce, and the neck is mahogany. It’s a
beautiful piece of work, and I am so lucky to
have it.”
Every bit as vital as the craftsmanship of her
guitar is the creativity McQuaid brings to her
playing. She stresses that she sees the guitar as
far more than just chords to lay her vocals
over—it is an integral part of her music. Her
admiration for the influential folk artist Nick
Drake comes in part from his willingness to
write guitar melodies that were a direct but
complementary accompaniment to his soulful
vocals and viv id stories. You can hear thatinfluence in her use of complex guitar textures
on the track “Canticle of the Sun (All Creatures
of Our God and King).”
“The first verse is single unison notes
playing the melody, the second verse has a
chord-based backing, the third verse is some
tinkly notes that I get from playing high up the
neck of the guitar to give a mandolin sound,
and the fourth verse is a harmony to the
melody of the vocal,” McQuaid explains. “I
found it interesting to record it like that, and
hopefully the listeners will find it enjoyable as
well.”Walking Into White is also notable for the
different method of writing she employed from
her past three albums. “Previously my albums
had long gestation periods—my third album was
written and recorded, but I went on tour, came
back a year later, ditched half of the album,
wrote some new songs, and tinkered with what
was left, so that was a long time in the making.
For this album, I was so busy touring, I had
nothing finished when I booked the studio and
the flights to the US. I had loads of music ideas
recorded—I get inspired in soundchecks for gigs,
and record ideas then. I had notebooks full of
A
WHATSARAHMCQUAIDPLAYS
GUITARS
“My first guitar was a second-hand Yamaha 375S, which is
lovely. It has a solid spruce
top and a rosewood body, and
I played that through college.
I had a job in a music store
that sold vintage guitars, and I
played almost every guitar that
came through the store when I
worked there! They had a Martin
D-28, from 1965, and I fell totally
in love with it. The owner let
me buy it by paying out of my
wages—it took me about two
years, and I still have that guitar
now. My favorite guitar has to be
my Manson, because that was
made for me to my own specifi-
cations, and it is just a wonderful
instrument to play.”
STRINGS
McQuaid uses Elixer strings.
CAPOS
“Just a couple of days ago,
I met up with Nick Campling,
who designs and makes G7th
Capos. I have used them for
years, and, because I wrote
about them online, the company
sent me some design prototypes
to try out and I sent them back
with some comments. Nick
invited me over to his house,
so I could tell him in person
which capos I liked and which
ones I didn’t like, and why, and
show him what was making
buzzing noises, and so on.My road manager and I went for
a fantastic lunch with Nick, and I
tried loads of capos, and I asked
to have one of the Newport
models. Nick asked me if I
would like a gold-plated one!
So now I have a gold-plated
Newport capo—it’s really bling,
I love it!”
On the eve of a US tour, UK-based folkie Sarah McQuaid talks abouther passion for Nick Drake, live performance, and her custom-madeManson acoustic guitar
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
42/104
42 October 2015
SARAH MCQUAID
snatches of lyrics, so I had a very short, intense
period of getting everything together, and chose
the best for the record.
“I enjoyed this compacted way of working.
It felt scary at the time, but now I know I can
do it that way, I may well do that again in the
future. Having made three albums, I wanted a
change in approach and my way of working. I
wanted to broaden my horizons in terms of my
subjects for songs and the way I made the
record, and I got both of them this time.”It’s clear that music is not just McQuaid’s
profession, it is entirely her passion. “I have
always loved music. I remember singing songs
with my mother, and I joined a choir when I was
about six years old,” she says. “I have always
loved hearing new music—I remember when I
was almost late for school because I heard a new
song on the radio, and I couldn’t leave to catch
the school bus until the song ended. That was
how much I adored listening to music, and I still
feel that way now. I have always responded
emotionally to music—I often cry when I am
writing songs; I have no idea why! It’s not that I
am sad, it’s just . . . an excess of emotion. Thatsometimes happens when I play live onstage as
well. I can feel tears starting to prick my eyes,
and I think, ‘I can’t do this! My makeup will run
and I’ll get a snuffly nose,’ so I have to fight it
down and carry on. I do meet people afterwards
who say they cried during my show, and I can’t
really tell them that I understand that because it
happens to me, too!”
That emotional connection, to her music
and fans, motivates McQuaid to keep playing—
even when she’s worn down by life on the road.
“I love performing, I love the communication
with an audience, and sometimes it feels like anelectrical connection between me and them.
When they are with you, it can be wonderful,
but there are times when it is a struggle,” she
says. “I think that people are not getting it, and
then they come to see me when I sell my CDs
and say how much they loved it! Some
audiences are just more reserved in showing
their feelings, I guess.
“I have just done six weeks with five shows
a week, and I am exhausted and happy to be
home, but I know that in a few days, I’ll be
keen to get out there and start doing it all over
again.” AG
‘I HAVE ALWAYS RESPONDED EMOTIONALLYTO MUSIC—I OFTEN CRY WHEN I AM WRITING SONGS;I HAVE NO IDEA WHY! IT’S NOT THAT I AM SAD,IT’S JUST . . . AN EXCESS OF EMOTION.’
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
43/104
LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEE | RISK-FREE RETURNS | EXPERT ADVICE | BEST SELECTIONGET HANDS-ON AT ONE OF OUR 265+ STORES NATIONWIDE OR SHOP ONLINE AT GUITARCENTER.COM
At Guitar Center, you can get hands-on with the finest guitars
and instruments in the world. The best gear, the best deals—
only at Guitar Center.
ANY GEAR, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
http://www.guitarcenter.com/http://www.guitarcenter.com/
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
44/104
http://uke.daddario.com/
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
45/104
AcousticGuitar.com 45
SPECIALFOCUSHOMEPLAY
From couches to cookouts, you can improve your chops in casual settingsFREE & EASY
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
46/104
46 October 2015
J O E Y
L U S T E R M A N
his magazine dedicates a whole lot of
ink—and pixels and megabytes—todemonstrating regimented approaches
to learning the guitar, from accompaniment pat-
terns in all styles to the nuts and bolts of alter-
nate tunings to songs both old and new, inside
and out. So the topic at hand—noodling, basi-
cally playing in an unguided way, with few
restrictions or none whatsoever—might seem
counterintuitive.
The term is often used pejoratively, less by
those who noodle than by innocent bystanders,
like anyone who’s ever tried to have a conversa-
tion with someone who’s simultaneously
picking on a guitar. Or any musician, en routeto the soundproofed acoustic room in a Guitar
Center, who’s been assaulted by the sound of 20
or more players auditioning loud electric
guitars, unintentionally collaborating with pen-
tatonic gibberish in all different keys.
In any case, noodling is a pastime that’s
potentially rich with musical benefits—a disci-
pline, or maybe non-discipline, that can reveal
hidden reserves of creativity and lead to previ-
ously unseen directions. When used to supple-
ment a more methodical study of the guitar, it can
be an asset to one’s overall musicianship, and not
just a nuisance to anyone within earshot.
SPECIALFOCUSHOMEPLAY
TTHE ACCIDENTALGUITARISTNoodling is a discipline, or maybe
non-discipline, that can reveal
hidden reserves of creativity
By Adam Perlmutter
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
47/104
AcousticGuitar.com 47
TV TUNES
Not to be patronizing, but the average Ameri-
can spends far too many hours each day sitting
on the couch and watching television.
If this describes the way you spend the bulk
of your leisure time, noodling can allow you to
feel slightly less guilty when binge-watching,
say, a full season of House of Cards or Mad Men.
Enjoying a show with a guitar at hand lets you
make the most of this sedentary time, working
on musical exercises you normally neglect.
For instance, playing along with the pro-
gram’s theme song, its incidental music, or even
the commercial breaks can be a study in both
ear training and improvisation.
But beware—unless you’re in the saintliest
company, noodling with the TV should be a soli-
tary activity. It’s so annoying to have the audial
aspect of television viewing obscured by a family
member or friend’s commentary on the guitar. A word of caution: The salty, oily snacks typically
associated with TV viewing, not to mention the
beverage perched on the couch’s arm and
waiting to be spilled, can have damaging effects
on the strings and the finish of a fine guitar—
especially if it’s French polish.
NOODLING CAN
BE ESPECIALLY
SATISFYING
IN A GUITAR-DUO
SETTING.
making it easy to create or import a backing
track, layer on an extended solo, and then
listen back to everything. That way, you can
comb through the music to identify any mis-
takes in your noodling or to extract little bits
and pieces, which you can then flesh out into
new licks or even full compositions.
TWISTING THE PEGS
A twist of the tuning machines can make the
guitar refreshingly unfamiliar territory, ripe for
noodling. If you’re new to nonstandard tunings,
first try the basics, like open G (low to high:
D G D G B D, with the strings 6, 5, and 1 each
tuned down by a whole step from standard) or
DADGAD (in which strings 6, 2, and 1 are
lowered by a step). Play freely, experimenting
with the nicely contrasting timbres of open
strings, fretted notes, and natural harmonics.
Or better yet, come up with some of your
own tunings, twisting the pegs until the open
strings work together to make a harmony you
find appealing. To further mix things up, strap
on a capo. Then noodle away and explore the
colorful new possibilities inherent in your
reconfigured fretboard.
CHORDAL NOODLING
Those who are mediocre multitaskers will
respond better to more focused strategies. Jam-
band guitarists tend to play long solos, some-
times interminably so—aka noodling—over
static harmonies. Try doing the same. Select
one chord—any chord, open or closed, simple
or complex, familiar or exotic—and, dispensing with theory and not worrying yourself with
thoughts about chord-scale relationships, relax
and play whatever comes to mind.
Though working with static harmony is in
many ways freeing, you need not use just a
single chord as the basis of a noodling session.
Try a two- or three-chord progression, a 12-bar
blues, something more complicated, or even an
atonal situation, all of the 12 notes carrying
equal weight.
Whatever harmonic backdrop you choose,
the idea lends itself nicely to recording, espe-
cially on a DAW (digital audio workstation),
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
48/104
48 October 2015
PARTNER UP FOR A NOODLE FEST
Noodling is typically classified as self-indulgent,
but it can be a collective activity as well. At
best, it can be a fascinating, spontaneous dia-
logue between two or more musicians; at worst
a group of players talking over each other in anobstreperous and unlistenable way, as in an
ensemble of inexpert free-jazz musicians.
If done with sensitive listening on the musi-
cians’ parts, noodling can be especially satisfy-
ing in a guitar-duo setting, where the different
personalities of each instrument and its owner
can make things really interesting.
The next time you get together with a gui-
tar-playing buddy, instead of rehashing “Hotel
California” or whatever, try using any of the
above strategies to noodle together. Pick a
single chord or simple, looping progression to
riff on, get into the same nonstandard tuning,or maybe even two different tunings, then see
what happens next.
The best part is that you won’t annoy your
friend with incessant plinking as you sit
together on couches, noodling away while you
drink tall boys and catch up on all those epi-
sodes of Game of Thrones. AG
SPECIAL FOCUS HOME PLAY
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
49/104
Our L1 Model 1S offers the portability and flexibility of the L1 family — with a
new level of performance. With the Bose proprietary 12-speaker articulated line
array, it’s big enough to fill the room with 180 degrees of clear, even sound. At the
same time, it’s small enough to fit in your car and light enough to carry yourself.
Plus, with no speaker stands and fewer connections, it’s easy enough to set up in
minutes. You’ll focus less on your equipment and more on your performance.
L1 Model 1S
with B1 bass
To learn more about Bose L1 systems,
visit Bose.com/L1systems
or call 800-994-2673.
FOCUS LESS ON YOUR GEAR,MORE ON YOUR MUSIC.
BOSE® L1® MODEL 1S SYSTEM
©2013 Bose Corporation.
Discount not to be combined with
other offers or applied to previous
purchases, and subject to change
without notice. Offers are limited
to purchases made from Bose and
participating authorized dealers.
C_010978
©2015 Bose Corporation.
Discount not to be combined with
other offers or applied to previous
purchases, and subject to change
without notice. Offers are limited
to purchases made from Bose and
participating authorized dealers.
CC016506
M a y 1 – J u n e 3 0 , 2 0 1 5
https://www.bose.com/https://www.bose.com/https://www.bose.com/https://www.bose.com/https://www.bose.com/https://www.bose.com/https://www.bose.com/https://www.bose.com/
8/16/2019 Acoustic Guitar 274.pdf
50/104
50 October 2015
h, to lose oneself to the hours of the
day strumming the strings of a good
acoustic guitar while stretched out on
a favorite comfortable spot on the sofa. A few
minutes of mindless meandering across the
strings in this blissful state of repose can serve asthe perfect pick-me-up to low spirits, or as an
excellent jumping-off point to get the creative
musical mojo flowing. But while playing this
way can be good for the soul, i t is not always
good for the body. Proper ergonomic posture is
not the first thing that springs to mind during
these moments of musical Zen, and yet, if care is
not given to correct alignment, muscle pain and
other more serious issues can occur over time.
Although the best bet for healthy posture
while practicing is a straight-back chair, i t is
still possible to sit on the couch and play for a
brief period to relax, without ruining your
A
THE WAY OFTHE COUCHFar more guitarists qualifyas couch potatoes than
care to admit— sometimes
to their detriment
By October Crifasi
spine, as long as you are mindful of your
posture and take breaks to stand up, stretch
out, and walk around a little to work out any
tension that may have set in while noodling.
Here are a few helpful hints to ensure a
blissful session of guitar Zen while also takinggood care of your back.
THE COUCH SLOUCH
What is the couch slouch? It’s that strange
L-shaped body position that comes from slump-
ing low a