MARTIN SIMPSON | JOHN FOGERTY | DAVID CROSBY | ACOUSTIC GUITAR PROJECT

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MARCH 2014

DEVIL MAKES THREE — ELEPHANT REVIVAL — THE BUILDERS & THE BUTCHERS

PLAYING IN THE
BAND
5 Guitarists Discuss the Art of Collaboration

25
TH

A RY
A N N IV E R S
YE AR
ACOUSTICGUITAR.COM
 the man who went to hell, and came out sin g in g.
TAYLOR
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©2014©2014 GUITARS
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 FEATURES

36 Just Be Croz
Folk-rock icon David Crosby releases
his first solo album in 20 years
BY DAVID KNOWLES

38 John Fogerty: The AG Interview

Guitarist talks about God, swamp rock & songcraft
BY JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS

46 The Write Stuff

Ad copy writer Dave Adams is using ‘creative
restriction’ to challenge and inspire songwriters
through the global Acoustic Guitar Project
BY JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS

51 Flying Solo
British folk master Martin Simpson spotlights
chops—and his songwriting—on a stripped-down
solo album
BY TEJA GERKEN
51 Martin Simpson

SPECIAL FOCUS: PLAYING IN THE BAND

58 Punk Unplugged
The Devil Makes Three’s Pete Bernhard brings
a punk attitude to roots music
BY KENNY BERKOWITZ

60 Occupy Colorado
Elephant Revival axe slingers tap into mile-high
chemistry on ‘These Changing Skies’
BY KENNY BERKOWITZ

62 Goth-Grass Heroes
The Builders & the Butchers guitarists blend
Goth, Americana & folk for a sound that’s all
their own
BY DAVID TEMPLETON

ON THE COVER: DEVIL MAKES THREE

PHOTOGRAPHER: COURTESY NEW WEST

ACOUSTIC GUITAR
MARCH 2014, ISSUE 255
CROZ—DJANGO CROSBY, DEVIL MAKES THREE—ANTHONY PIDGEON

VOL. 24, NO. 9

9 FROM THE HOME OFFICE

10 OPENING ACT
93 EVENTS
94 MARKETPLACE
97 AD INDEX
98 GREAT ACOUSTICS

58 Devil Makes Three

AcousticGuitar.com 5
 DEPARTMENTS

Martin CEO-7 72

NEWS
13 The Beat
Parker Millsap taps his years in the
Pentecostal church; John Prine undergoes
cancer surgery; and more

17 Letter from Saint Ouen

A day in the life of a Gypsy-jazz Mecca

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6 March 2014
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CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Editorial Director & Interim Editor Greg Cahill
Editor at Large Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
Managing Editor Megan Westberg
Senior Editor Mark Segal Kemp
Senior Editor David Knowles
Assistant Editor Amber von Nagel
Production Designer Brad Amorosino
Production Manager Hugh O’Connor
Contributing Editors Kenny Berkowitz,
Andrew DuBrock, Teja Gerken,
David Hamburger, Steve James,
Orville Johnson, Richard Johnston,
Sean McGowan, Scott Nygaard,
Greg Olwell, Adam Perlmutter,
Rick Turner, Doug Young

INTERACTIVE SERVICES NAMM veteran John Jorgenson

L
Interactive Services Director Lyzy Lusterman
Copywriter Maura McElhone
Marketing Designer Joey Lusterman arry Thomas, the CEO of Fender Musical But it’s important to put all that gear in perspec-
Digital Developer Breeze Kinsey Instrument Corp. and a 35-year veteran of tive. Ultimately, NAMM represents not shiny
Community Relations Coordinator the music trade, last year likened the objects, but the life’s work of some of the most cre-
Courtnee Rhone
annual Orange County, California, gathering of ative, dedicated, and just plain interesting people
Single Copy Sales Consultant Tom Ferruggia
the National Association of Music Merchants you’ll ever meet, including the people who design
MARKETING SERVICES (NAMM), the largest event of its kind in the States, and engineer the world’s musical instruments.
Marketing Services Director Desiree Forsyth
to “Disneyland for musicians.” And while this is the business side of the music
Marketing Services Managers
Cindi Kazarian, Claudia Campazzo Indeed, the Anaheim Convention Center, business—retail sales of instruments and related
Marketing Services Associates where NAMM is held, is, literally, right across the products is a $7.6 billion growth industry—it’s also
Jessica Martin, Tanya Gonzalez street from Disneyland, and navigating the packed important to remember that all that gear mirrors a
aisles of vendors and convention goers, preview- growing audience of musicians, both casual and
ing the latest musical gear (ear plugs advised), is professional, that is embracing the acoustic guitar
like a trip through Tomorrowland. in unprecedented numbers. According to the Music
Where else can you try out the complete Business Journal of the Berklee College of Music,
Stringletter.com product line of every major acoustic-guitar manu- “Acoustic guitars accounted for 52.5 percent of the
Publisher David A. Lusterman
facturer? Or check out the latest amps and total guitar market in 2011 as trends in popular
pickups? Or catch Gypsy-jazz great John Jorgen- music shifted from contemporary rock to a more
FINANCE & OPERATIONS
son performing at an exhibitor’s booth? Or, for acoustic-focused country style.”
Director of Accounting & Operations Anita Evans
Bookkeeper Geneva Thompson
that matter, bump into Jermaine and Tito Jackson You can see—and hear—that emerging inter-
Accounting Associate Raymund Baldoza of the Jackson 5 strolling casually through the est in acoustic music in the three string bands
Office & Systems Manager Peter Penhallow Yamaha exhibit? featured in this issue’s Playing in the Band special
General Inquiries FrontDesk@Stringletter.com
By the time you read this, Lord willing and the section. They represent the crest of a mighty wave
Customer Service creek don’t rise, the Acoustic Guitar staff will have of musicians, of every skill level, drawn to the
Help@AcousticGuitarService.com just returned from this 112-year-old event, which simple pleasures of acoustic instruments.
Advertising Inquiries was scheduled for January 23–26. And we will have Sure, the newly minted music products
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posted blogs and videos from the convention floor splayed out across the cavernous convention floor
Send e-mail to individuals in this format:
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coming months. fall silent. Play on!
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Mail & Shipping Corrections & Clarifications The “Take Flight” article in the January 2014 issue inferred that only part of
501 Canal Boulevard, Suite J,
the Calton guitar cases company had been sold. In fact, the entire company was sold to the current owner Jon
Richmond, CA 94804
Green of Austin, Texas. Keith Calton maintains hands-on involvement with the company for the foreseeable
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AcousticGuitar.com 9
OPENING ACT

10 February 2014
THE AVETT BROTHERS
AMERICA’S CUP PAVILION
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
OCTOBER 13, 2013
JAY BLAKESBERG PHOTO

AcousticGuitar.com 11
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 John Prine 14 Guitars for Swaziland 14 Letter From Saint Ouen 17

NEWS
THE BEAT

Using His Religion

Parker Millsap taps his years in the Pentecostal church for inspiration
SAMANTHA LAMB

BY DAVID KNOWLES

A
fter spending the first 18 years of
his life attending an Oklahoma
Pentecostal church, Parker Millsap
has finally found his calling. On his self-
titled album, released on Okrahoma
Records, Millsap growls about the church
he’s left behind on such songs as “Old Time
Religion” in a voice that owes as much to
the preachers he watched in the pulpit as it
does to Tom Waits or Howlin’ Wolf. “A lot of
Pentecostal preachers, they yell a lot, and
they’re pretty active onstage, and, as far as
the voice, I think that’s where a lot of it
comes from,” Millsap says.
Given that he grew up singing in
church, the fact that much of his new
record is infused with religious themes
should come as no surprise. “Any time you
grow up in something it’s bound to come
out in your work,” he says. “When you
spend 18 or 19 years going to church three
times a week, it’s bound to come out [in
song].
“Lately my writing hasn’t been maybe
as influenced by that, at least the songs
that I’ve recorded since the album. It’s defi-
nitely important, but I’m trying to make it

AcousticGuitar.com 13
The Beat | News
not the only thing that I’m capable
of writing about.”
Growing up in the tiny town of
Purcell, Oklahoma, Millsap says
he convinced his parents to buy
him a $70 nylon-string guitar
when he was seven. “I messed
with it for a week and then put it
away, and when I was nine I
started taking lessons. After a year
or two of that, I thought, OK, I
think this is what I want to do.”
These days he’s upgraded to a
2005 Martin OM-21 and a 1952
Gibson LG-1, which he tunes to an
open E. His guitars in tow, he’ll
soon be hitting the road with a
stand-up bass and fiddle player to
promote the new album, but he
hasn’t traded in religion for music
altogether.
“I still love all the people that I
grew up with in the church,” he
says, “but at a certain point I just
got tired of feeling guilty for
everything. You have to weigh
how can you live and feel good
about yourself and still be follow-
ing a set of rules that maybe is a
little bit unrealistic.”
‘When you spend 18
or 19 years going to
church three times
a week, it’s bound to
come out [in song].’
—PARKER MILLSAP
DONOVAN DUE
AT BEATLES FEST
Sixties icon Donovan will
headline this year’s New York
edition of the Fest, a convention
dedicated to all things Beatles.
The three-day event, which will be
held February 7–9 at the Grand
Hyatt hotel, also will feature the
Smithereens, Chad & Jeremy,
and a host of authors who have
penned books on the Fab Four.
Visit thefest.com for tickets.

JAVIER LIMON’S
WORLD VIEW
Guitars for Swaziland
A partnership between the U.S. State Depart-
ment’s Arts Envoy Program, Fender Guitars,
and Austin, Texas, musicians is putting acous-
tic guitars in the hands of orphaned children
in the Kingdom of Swaziland. In a trial run in
November, 20 Fender guitars were delivered
to the kids in the tiny South African nation,
many of whose parents have died in the coun-
try’s AIDS epidemic. “The U.S. is really doing
some good things over there,” says Stephen
Doster, the founder of the program.
This year, Doster adds, the program hopes
to ship hundreds more guitars to the country.
Donations to the program can be made at
guitarsforswaziland.com.

John Prine Undergoes Cancer Surgery Pants for Parkinson’s Spanish guitar legend Javier
Singer-songwriter John Prine was forced to reschedule a They’re pants for a good cause. Retro-rocker Limon, who is the artistic director
series of December shows due to his ongoing battle with Willie Nile has teamed up with Stitch’s Jeans at Berklee College of Music’s
cancer. “There’s nothing I hate more than canceling shows,” to create a pair of custom black-denim pants, Mediterranean Music Institute in
Prine said in a statement posted to his website. “I’ve been the proceeds of which will go to the Light of Boston, teamed up on his new
diagnosed with non-small cell carcinoma of the lung. Day Foundation, which funds research for Par- album, Promesas de Tierra, with
Doctors here in Nashville have caught it early, and it is oper- kinson’s disease. “I want to give people who young composers from Israel and
able. They see no reason why I won’t fully recover.” can’t come to the shows an opportunity to Palestine who study at the
In 1998, Prine underwent radiation therapy after being support a great cause and get involved,” Nile esteemed music school. In the liner
diagnosed with squamous cancer cells in his right cheek. notes. “To be able to offer fans a unique, styl- notes, Limon writes the
The treatments caused his voice to sound deeper and more ized pair of pants I designed with Stitch’s and collaboration represents “a new
trend towards cultural diversity in
PRINE—JIM SHEA

gravelly. have all the purchase money, not just the net
Prine rescheduled two Louisville, Kentucky, shows on Feb- proceeds, go to the cause is extraordinary.” contemporary roots music.” Within
ruary 28 and March 1. Dates in Madison, Wisconsin, originally The pants can be purchased online for a days of its release in November, the
slated for November, have not yet been booked for 2014. $200 donation at www.Lightofday.org/stitchs. album hit No. 1 on iTunes in Spain.

14 March 2014
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Chasing Django’s Ghost
A day in the life of a Gypsy-jazz Mecca
BY JASON GLASSER
F
or many Parisians, the northern
suburb of Saint Ouen is best known
for its sprawling, 18-acre flea
market. Museum-quality artifacts, furni-
ture, vintage clothes, records, and books
share space with every kind of junk imagin-
able. But the town is also the place where
Django Reinhardt, the guitar genius and
inventor of the music called jazz manouche,
or Gypsy jazz, lived in his family’s trailer,
and, in 1928, burned his left hand so badly
that he was forced to play his legendary
solos with just two fingers.
On a Sunday afternoon in November, I
stopped by Saint Ouen’s bustling flea
market to check out the place that has
become a temple of jazz manouche, a little
bar called La Chope des Puces (it’s part of
complex that upstairs houses a Gypsy-jazz
music school, recording studio, and concert
hall). Tucked into the corner by the door,
two guitarists were holding forth, one
whacking out a staccato rhythm with
downward strokes known as la pompe, the
other playing sweetly swinging melodies
punctuated by vertiginous runs and
LETTER FROM SAINT OUEN
flourishes. The bar was full of regulars,
tourists, antique dealers, couples, and
attentive young musicians, and when a set
of songs was over, the two guitars were
set down on chairs and two more musicians
picked them up and took their places. The
new guys bristled with fresh energy, and
the people standing over the guitarists in
the corner ordered whiskey by the bottle
and made sounds of approval while scruti-
nizing the players’ flying fingers.
Looking around at the decades-old
photos on the walls, I realized that those
two chairs set out on the black-and-white
tile floor had been in that same spot used
for many decades by guitarists.
Not so long ago, the owners at La
Chope did make a few changes. There are
now video monitors on the walls along
with display cases containing the style of
vintage guitars now linked with Reinhardt
and jazz manouche—large bodied acoustics
with small O-shaped soundholes (dubbed
“le petite bouche”) and long bridges that
produce a trademark vocal sound that cuts
through like a fiddle. They are mostly
French guitars, made by the famous wood-
wind company Selmer from a design by the
Italian luthier Mario Maccaferri. The cases
also contain several examples of acoustics
with a giant D-shaped soundhole, which
are favored by rhythm guitar players. The
guitarists performing on the Sunday I
stopped by the club were playing hollow-
body electrics—a Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis
model and an Ibanez 2355—that were
“easier on the fingers when you play all day
long” one of them told me. Still, my favor-
ite models of those I’ve spotted at La Chope
have been old acoustic Selmers fitted with
bulky silver magnetic Stimer pickups.
I
f you don’t know this music, take a listen
to “Minor Swing” or just about anything
by Django Reinhardt and his most famous
group the Quintette du Hot Club de France.
It is a style of jazz music that came out of
France in the 1930s and is special for its
arrangement of mostly strings: guitars,
violin, and bass. Later recordings added
drums and horns—hence the need for
pickups. Unlike American jazz from the
AcousticGuitar.com 17
 The new guys bristled with fresh
same period, Django’s music is dis-
tinguished by its European influ-

energy, and the people standing

ences, such as flamenco, klezmer,
musette, and Gypsy music.
At La Chope des Puces, one
guitarist above all the rest stood
out as being the real deal. He
over the guitarists in the corner
looked like the guys in the black-
and-white pictures on the walls ordered whiskey by the bottle
and he played with absolute fluid-
i t y a n d a u t h o r i t y. W h e n I and made sounds of approval
while scrutinizing the players’
approached him during a break,
I learned that Ninine Garcia has

flying fingers.
been playing jazz manouche at the
bar for 38 years and gives lessons
in an apartment upstairs from the
bar. “No sheet music, all listening,”
Garcia said. Having learned
Django-style from his father,
Garcia was one of the four people
featured in the 2012 documentary
Django Reinhardt
Les Fils du Vent by Bruno le Jean.
I asked Ninine what he thought
about the term “manouche.” He
said it was like the word “Indian”
for the Native Americans, a
made-up word that is a cover-all
term for a people without specifi-
cally stating Apache, Seneca,
Navajo, or Crow. Ninine and
Django are from a culture of
nomadic people who have trav-
elled through Europe and North-
ern Africa for centuries. Their
culture is still very much alive
today in France and throughout
Europe. In general, these musi-
cians don’t mind the jazz
manouche label, but when people
ask what style they play, they say
“du Django.”
The politically correct term is
“les gens du voyage,” the travel-
ling people, Ninine said.
As we spoke, two other journalists with a swept over France about a rising tide of nomads
camera and a microphone asked Ninine about coming from Romania and Eastern Europe. The
the current situation of “les gens du voyage” in French government had destroyed their camps
France. These players live an alternative lifestyle, and kicked some people out of the country.
moving in nomadic groups across Europe in trail- “The French manouche have enough trouble
ers, setting up makeshift villages wherever there being recognized in France, so I imagine that it
is a spot—empty fields, construction sites, under will be impossible for the Rom (people from
bridges, between highways—and refuse to Romania) to be accepted,” Ninine told the
conform to any societal norms, like paying taxes reporters. “These people have been travelling all
or sending their kids to school. Their public over Europe for centuries, and now the borders
image is that they are thieves and misfits whose are open, so I do not see why the French govern-
only profession is stealing. “They stole the nails ment would expect it to stop now.”
when Jesus was taken down from the cross, it is Then Ninine politely excused himself and
their place in society” a French woman once told went back to the corner by the door where he
me. Now that the European Union has opened its would soon pick up his guitar again, much to
borders to member states, a wave of concern has the delight of the packed room. AG

18 March 2014
 The Basics 24 Take It Easy 29 Weekly Workout 31

PLAY
ISTOCK

AcousticGuitar.com 19
ACOUSTIC CLASSIC

Remembering the
‘Father of American Music’
150 years after his death, Stephen Foster’s songs live on in the popular culture
BY STEVE BAUGHMAN

O
ne of the best-known American
composers of the 19th century,
Stephen Foster (1826–64) penned
hundreds of popular songs during his brief
career, including “Beautiful Dreamer,”
published after his death. Many of them
combined styles common to popular parlor
tunes and blackface-minstrel songs, and
reflected nostalgia for the South, which
Foster visited just once.
Raised in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
area, Foster attended various private acade-
mies and taught himself to play flute, guitar,
violin, clarinet, and piano. Though he had no
formal training in composition, he started
writing music at 14 (“Tioga Waltz”) and at
24 had his first published work, “Open thy
lattice love.” One of his first hits was “Oh!
Susanna,” written while Foster worked as the
bookkeeper of an Ohio steamship company.
It was first published in 1848 and adopted as
the unofficial anthem of the California gold
rush. It later became known nationwide and
gave Foster the requisite recognition to take
up songwriting as his full-time profession.
Due in part to limited legal protections for
composers, Foster struggled to keep his
finances in order throughout the 1850s.
After accruing insurmountable debts and
resorting to alcohol, he died in January 1864
at 37, sick and poor, from a head wound
incurred by falling against a washbasin
placed next to his sick bed.
“Hard Times (Come Again No More)” is
one of Foster’s most enduring songs—it’s
been recorded and performed by Bruce
as it may sound, and the payoff is huge. It
involves two simple motions. You’ll notice ‘Hard Times’ is one of Foster’s
Springsteen, Iron and Wine, and many
others. And the Great Recession of 2009
from the directional arrows in the tab that
there is no up picking. You’re contacting the most enduring songs, and
renewed interest in it. There are two techni-
cal features of this arrangement that I hope
string with a downward motion using
the back of your first fingernail. That is our
the Great Recession of 2009
will entice you to learn to play it. First, it’s
performed in clawhammer style, an old-time
first motion. You’ll also notice that the thumb
does not play on the downbeat, but on the
renewed interest in it.
banjo picking technique with African origins. pick-up to the downbeat. This is the second
Clawhammer requires you to unlearn motion, and it’s not a normal pluck, but
everything you know about fingerpicking more of a push and release. Once you have
and do it backward. That is not as daunting the basic pattern, the music really flows (for

20 March 2014
more on the basic pattern, check out my
clawhammer guitar lesson at YouTube).
Another unusual feature of this
arrangement is that the guitar is in a “high
five” tuning. I have taken my fifth string off
and replaced it with a high first string. I
tune that string to a high G. On the guitar
I used to record this piece, I actually had a
“railroad spike” hammered into the fifth
fret of my fifth string, so that I could simply
tuck the first string under it, thereby using
it as a mini capo. But a G string from a
12-string guitar set works also. If you don’t
want to mess with tuning up so high, just
tune your high fifth string to a C, or you
can even try a D. If you’re feeling brave, go
ahead and tune it up to a G.
Any of these methods will get you a
nice high-five effect.
The results are worth the effort. High-
five tuning produces an exciting sound and
is something everyone should experiment
with. (You’ll probably want to dedicate one
of your guitars as a high-five guitar.) High-
five tuning opens up a new sonic realm:
you can tune to DADGAD and have the
high fifth string up to an F sharp, or down
to a D. Or you can tune to some kind of C
tuning and have your fifth string down to
an E flat for a haunting C minor texture.
The possibilities are endless. AG
Mitchell Drury contributed to this article.

SONG TO PLAY Hard Times (Come Again No More)

BY STEPHEN FOSTER
Arranged by Steve Baughman

**
Tuning: C G C G C D
ˇˆˇMelody
ˆ ˇ (high)
C F 6(9) C F C

A

(continue downstrokes
with fingers simile)
0 2 2 2 2 5 5 2 0 0 2 7 45 5
0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 4
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
B 0
0 0 0
0
0
x
5
0 0
0 5 0 0
0

* All upstemmed notes played with back of fingers; all downstemmed notes plucked with thumb.
Arrows show downward motion of fingers (first system only; continue simile)
** Fifth string tuned up two octaves to high G (restrung with high G from 12-string set.).

A F 6(9)
 
6

5 0 0 2 2 2 2 0 0
4 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 2 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
B 0 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
x
5
0

C F C
 
12

2 7 5 5 5 2 3
0 0 2 4 4 4 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 2 2 5 0 0
0 0 0 0
B 0
0 5 0
0 0 0 0
0

AcousticGuitar.com 21
Acoustic Classic | Play
B
F add9 C F add9 C

17

3 5 5 5 5 4 5 7 7 5 5 10 5 7 5
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 4 4 0 0 2 9 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
B 0
0
0
0 0 0
5 5 0
0
0 5 0 0

G G7 A C


23

5 5 5 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 5 2 0 0
2 4 4 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 2 4 2 0 0
5 0
B 0 0 0 0
0 0 0
0

F add9 C To Coda 

29

2 7 3 5
0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 4 2 0 0 2 2 2 0 0 0
0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 5 0
0 0 0 2
B 5 4
0
0 0
0 0
0

Melody (low)
A C F C

34
 

0
0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 20 0
2 4 4 4 4 7 7 4 2 42 0 0 2 2 2 4 0 0 2 4
B 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0


39
 
0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 2 5 0 0 0 4 4 4 7 4 2 20 0 2 2
454 0 0 2 20 0 0 0 2 4 4 4 4 7 4 2 20 0 2 2
B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

22 March 2014
 F add9 C


45 
2 3
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0
4 0 0 0 2 4 4 5 4 0 0 2 2 20
B 5
0
0 0 0
0
0
0 0

 Coda
F C

50  

20 0 0 0
0 0 0 02 5 2 20 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 4 5 4 0 0 2 0
B 0 5
0
0 0 0
0
0

AcousticGuitar.com 23
THE BASICS SONGpTO27PLAY

Finger-pickin’ Good Rock

Let your fingers do the walking on your favorite ballads,
blues & acoustic-rock tunes
BY PETE MADSEN

E
ver wonder how Lindsay Buckingham
First, try playing each chord separately (see “What Goes Where?” on page 26)
brings the emotion to the guitar parts of

Ex. 1
classic Fleetwood Mac ballads like
“Landslide,” or how Jimmy Page builds the C G
x 3201 0 320004
dark tension in acoustic-based Led Zeppelin

4 j j œ j j j œ j
songs such as the folk standard “Babe, I’m

.
. ‰
& 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ
Gonna Leave You”? Both of those rock guitar-

œ œ œ œ œ œ
ists use a time-honored style of playing: finger-
picking, a technique that goes back to the
earliest folk and blues standards.
Many well-known guitarists have used fin- p i p m p a p i p i p m p a p i

.
gerpicking in their songs, from early masters 0 3

.3
1 1 0 0
like Merle Travis and Mississippi John Hurt to 0 0

B
’60s folkies Bob Dylan and Joan Baez on up to
3 3 3
more contemporary artists such as Ani 3 3 3 3
DiFranco, Michael Kiwanuka, and Iron & Wine.
Here are some tips on how to apply finger-
Am
x 0231 0
E
0231 00
picking to some of your favorite tunes. If you

j j œ j j j j
œ œ œ
know how to strum a few chords, you’re in the

& ‰ œ œ œ œ ‰ #œ œ ..
right class. The playing will be mostly chord-

œ œ œ œ
based—that is, you’ll be fingering common

œ œ œ œ
chords with your left hand and using your right
hand to arpeggiate, which means to play the 3

notes one at a time.

p i p m p a p i p i p m p a p i

.
0 0
Put Your Right Hand Here
.
1 1 0 0
2 1
There are a few ways to position your right (or
picking) hand. If possible, watch your favorite B 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
players and note how they hold their right
hand. Many classically trained players hold
their hand above the strings with the wrist
bent, not touching the surface of the guitar.
Some players use the pinky fingers to “post” on
the top of the guitar—this adds some stability
to the hand. Blues-oriented players plant the
palm of their right hand on the bass strings,
next to the bridge. This allows them to damp
the bass strings, which adds a percussive aspect
to the bass notes.

LISTEN TO THIS
Fleetwood Mac
Landslide

Mississippi John Hurt

24 March 2014
 Different styles of music lend themselves to
Apply the same technique to the D and F chords
different techniques. Try all of the above to see
what fits your style best. In the beginning, prob-
Ex. 2 D F ably none of those techniques will feel perfectly
x x 0132 x x 3211
natural. Again, think about which player’s style

j j
you want to emulate and strive for that hand

4 ‰ #œ œ
j j œ
œ
œ ‰ œ
œ
j j œ
œ œ
position.

& 4œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Voicing Your Bass & Treble

In terms of fingerpicking, think of the guitar as
p a p i p m p a p a p i p a p m having two voices, bass and treble. The bass
2 2 1 1 strings are the rhythmic foundation of what you
3 1 will be playing with your thumb. The thumb/
2 2
0 0 0 0 3 3 3 3 bass sequences have more “regularity” than the
B other strings. The treble strings, more often than
not, carry the melody, which can be somewhat
more irregular in its rhythmic make-up. In blues,
Merle Travis the bass often plays a steady “groove,” and that’s
why you want to add a percussive “thump” using
your right-palm muting. Folk ballads, on the
other hand, have less sharp percussion and more
“flow”—the bass notes become more entwined
with the treble notes, creating a melding of the
two voices.

Fingerpicking Patterns
With these fingerpicking patterns, what you
play for one chord will work for the next chord,
and so on.
This technique requires playing two strings simultaneously, pinching them together The chords in Ex. 1 should be familiar: C, G,
Am, and E. The pattern for each chord is the
Ex. 3 E m G same: bass note/third string/bass note/second
023 000 320004 string/bass note/first string/bass note/second
string. Try playing each chord separately. The

œ
goal is to bounce between the bass notes, which

œ
& 44 œ œ œ œ œ œ
are played with your thumb, and the high three
strings, which are played with the index (i),

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
middle (m), and ring (a) fingers. Once you are
comfortable playing the chords separately, play
them in sequence: C to G to Am to E.
a m i m a m i m In Ex. 2, apply the same technique to D and
p p p p p p p p
F chords. Notice that you will “skip” strings,
0 3
0 0 0 0 bouncing from the bass notes to the first and
0 0 then the third strings. The goal is to gain finger
B 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 3
independence, so that you can automatically
play any string you want.
The next technique you will work on is a
Use the pinching technique while playing the melody notes in between bass notes “pinch,” which, as its name implies, requires
you to play two strings at the same time, thus
Ex. 4 E pinching the strings. In Ex. 3, play the sixth
0231 00 string of an Em and G chord while simultane-
ously playing one of the high three strings.

4 œ. j j j j œ.
In Ex. 4, use both the “pinching” technique

& 4 œ œ #œ. œ. #œ œ
while playing the treble, or melody, notes in
between the bass notes. The goal is to keep a

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
steady bass pattern. If you can play this pattern
without any trouble, great! But if the pattern is
giving you some difficulty, try counting your
0 0
0 0 way through. At first, tap your foot as you play
1 1 only the bass notes, and count: 1, 2, 3, 4. When

B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
you add the treble notes, the count will be: “1,
2, and 3, and 4.” You can tap this rhythm on
Count: 1 2 & 3 & 4 1 2 3 4 your leg or with your hands.

AcousticGuitar.com 25
Basics | Play
So far, you have been playing only a single
Here, your thumb will rock back and forth between the fifth and sixth strings
string for your bass pattern. But you can also

Ex. 5
bounce between two or more strings. Look at Ex.
5. Here, you play Am7 and C chords. The thumb A m7 C
will rock back and forth between the fifth and x 0201 0 x 3201 0

fourth strings. Keep in mind that, rhythmically,

& 44 ∑ ∑
you are playing the same pattern as you did in

œ œ œ œ œ œ
Ex. 4, but now the bass is a little busier.

œ œ
In Ex. 6, take the two-string bass pattern and
match it with the rhythmic pattern from Ex. 4.
Now, the music appears to have more movement,
even though you are playing only two chords!

‘Drifting by the Wayside’ 2 2 2 2

I have written a song to demonstrate how you B 0 0 3 3
can put together all that you just learned. The
song, “Drifting by the Wayside” (page 27) has
two parts: an eight-bar verse with one eight-bar Take the two-string bass pattern (Ex. 5) and match it with the rhythm from Ex. 4
variation and an eight-bar bridge. The verse
consists of the chords C, Am, Dm, and G, which Ex. 6 A m7 C
x 0201 0 x 3201 0
all should be familiar.
Notice that with both the C and Am chords

j j œ. j j œ.
& 44 œ . œ.
we play a G note on the first string at the third

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
fret. While this does not change the chordal

œ œ œ œ
makeup of the C, it does turn the Am into an
Am7. The G note will turn up again in the eight-
bar variation, but with the Am it occurs earlier,
giving it more emphasis. 0 0
At the end of the first eight-bar section, 1 1
0 0
notice that there is a “walk-up” that leads from 2 2 2 2
the Am chord back to the C. This is a simple B 0 0 3 3
device used to navigate between chords and dif-
ferent sections of songs. In the variation, we
also turn the Dm chord into a Dsus2 for a
slightly different flavor. At the end of the
second eight-bar verse is a “walk-down” instead
WHAT GOES WHERE?
of a “walk-up,” which leads you to the bridge.
The first section of the bridge should be famil- In this exercise, your thumb will The standard abbreviations
play the low three strings (6/E, for right-hand picking are:
iar: G to Am. The last two chords are a barred F
chord and a barred G chord. I normally don’t
5/A, 4/D), and your index, middle,
barre all six strings. Instead, I use my thumb over
the top of the fretboard to play the sixth string
and ring fingers the third (G), p = thumb
and then use my first, second and third fingers to second (B), and first (E) strings, i = index
fret the top four strings. This leaves my pinky respectively. You will not be using m = middle
available to finger the G note “pull-off” in the your pinky. a = ring
second-bar measure of the F chord. AG

Now that you have learned some
fingerpicking patterns, try exploring
all the chords you know, with the idea
of creating complimentary bass and
treble parts. The possibilities are
limitless. For example, you can try
creating walking bass lines and add
different melody notes. See what
fingers in your left hand are available
to embellish the chords. For example,
I use my pinky a lot to finger notes
beyond simple triads and seventh
chords. Don’t be afraid to experiment,
and don’t be afraid of your mistakes.
After all, you can’t learn to pick
yourself up if you don’t fall down!
—P.M.

26 March 2014
 SONG TO PLAY Drifting by the Wayside
BY PETE MADSEN

Verse
C Am D m/A G
x 32 0 1 0 x0 231 0 x00 231 3 2 0004

3 3 1 3
1 1 1 1 1 1 3 0
0 0 0 2 2 2 2 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
B 3 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 3
Verse (variation)
Am C Am
x0 231 0 x 32 0 1 0 x0 231 0

3 3 3
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 0 0 0 2 2 2
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
B 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 3 3 0 0 0 0

Bridge
D sus2/A G6 A sus4 Am G
x00 130 320000 x0 124 0 x0 231 0 3 2 0004

13

0 0 3
3 0 3 3 1 0 0 0
2 0 2 2 0 0
0 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
B 0 0
3 3
0 0 0 3 2
3 3 3 3

Am F G
x0 231 0 T x3 2 1 1 T x 3211


© 2014 PETE MADSEN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

19 
3 3 1 3
1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3
2 2 2 2 4
2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 5 5
B 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 3 3 3
0 2

AcousticGuitar.com 27
 ”
This is not
an electric guitar maker’s acoustic;
this is one of the best
acoustic guitars ever.
”
- Martin Simpson

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Visit a PRS Acoustic Dealer to
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Listen to the Music
Playing in Your Head
Songwriting inspiration is as close as
your inner juke box
BY JANE MILLER
W
hat song is in your head right
now? Every now and then,
try playing a variation on
musical chairs with yourself. Stop in your
tracks and listen to the music in your
mind’s ear. Do you recognize it? It might
be something that you just heard in the
car. It might be something you’ve been
practicing. It might be something brand
new that is just coming through to get
your attention. Whatever it is, grab a
guitar.
Play the melody.
How do you want to harmonize the
melody?
Try some chords, starting with dia-
tonic and then moving into more adven-
turous territory. If it’s a familiar song, you
might be in the beginning stage of a new
arrangement. Or, it might have been a
familiar song at first, but has since
changed into something else altogether.
In that case, you’re writing something
new, triggered by something that got
BRAD AMOROSINO
stuck in your head and started dancing
around in a spontaneous and naturally
improvised variation on a theme. If it’s all
brand new, tune in.
Stay with it.
TAKE I T EASY
If you’re not near a guitar, hum it
into your phone recorder or voicemail,
do solfege, grab a cocktail napkin, or use
the side of your Starbucks cup. Write
down whatever will help you recall the
music later. I once wrote note names on
a scrap paper as soon as I got off of a
tour boat in Ogunquit, Maine. I had to
walk to my car to get a pen and find an 714 ce
old envelope to write on. I saved it and Sunburst
made a new song when I got home.
Another time, I had a strong melody
come to me—complete with appropriate
chords and rhythm—while taking a walk
along the Charles River in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. I wrote down note names
and sang it to myself all the way home
until I could get a handle on it with my
guitar and some music paper.
Rather than feeling plagued by ear-
worms, tune in and start creating some-
thing with the ongoing tracks that scroll
by in your mind all day. When you’re
feeling stuck or you’re looking for some-
thing new to practice, there it will be,
right in your head. AG
629 Forest Ave. ‡ Staten Island, NY 10310
718-981-8585 ‡ mandolin@mandoweb.com
Jane Miller is an associate professor of
guitar at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
mandoweb. com
AcousticGuitar.com 29
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 WEEKLY WORKOUT

Shapeshifting
Play chords built from pentatonic scales
BY SEAN McGOWAN

M Week One Ex. 2

ost guitarists, regardless of ability or
Ex. 1 C 
genre, are familiar with playing
pentatonic scales. Countless songs, Am
melodies, solos, and classic riffs are based on the
sound and structure of the pentatonic scale,
which is literally any scale with five notes.
However, most musicians refer to the major-
5 8 8 10 12
pentatonic scale, which is built from scale 5 8 8 10
degrees 1-2-3-5-6; or, a major scale without the 5 7 5 7 9
5 7 5 7
fourth and seventh degrees. The minor-penta-
tonic scale (1-b3-4-5-b7) is an inversion of the
B 3 5 7
5
3 5 7

major pentatonic (from the fifth note, or scale


degree 6), and is often the first scale that guitar- Ex. 3 Ex. 4
ists learn on the fretboard. C Am
The pentatonic scale is popular in musical
cultures throughout the world for a number of
reasons. By omitting the fourth and seventh,
the inherent dissonance created by half steps
and the tritone interval (between the fourth 8 10 12 5 8 10 12 15 12 10 8 5
5 8 10 8 10 13 5 8 13
and seventh) are removed. As a result, every 5 7 5 7 9 5 7 5 7 9 12 14 14 12 9 7
2 5 7 5 7 5 7 5 7
B
note in a major-pentatonic scale sounds conso-
3 5 7 7 3 5 7
nant. For this reason, wind chimes are often 5
tuned to pentatonic scales. This scale is popular
for beginning improvisers for the same reason—
every note sounds great! Ex. 5 Ex. 6
Here are some exercises to help you play C Am C Gm
chords that are built from pentatonic scales.
Pentatonic chord structures are relatively
uncommon compared to their scalar counter-
parts. But they offer unique and beautiful
sounds that will create interesting textures,
whether you’re writing a song, playing rhythmic 5 8 5 8 12 10 8 5 6 8 10
chord fills in a tune, looking to add colorful tex- 5 8 5 8 5 10 8 8 5 13 10 8 5 8 5 6 8 8
7 5 9 7 9 7 5 7 2 7 5 7 5 7
tures to fill out your lead lines, or simply 7 5 5 8
looking for a good physical workout and way to B 7 5
reinforce your knowledge of the fretboard.

WEEK ONE
Start by reacquainting yourself with the major-
pentatonic scale. Ex. 1 shows a common
fingering for a C major pentatonic. In the same
way that an Am chord is the relative minor to C
major, so is the Am pentatonic scale shown in
Ex. 2; it is the exact same scale as C major
pentatonic, starting on the sixth degree, or note
(A). With this in mind, you can now use penta-
tonic scales and chords for both major chords
and minor chords down a minor third interval.
For example, C and Am have this relationship,
as well as G and Em, D and Bm, Bb and Gm, etc.
Before you start applying three- and four-
note chord structures, work through double-
stops using the pentatonic. Ex. 3 and 4 offer
fingerings for the C major—or A minor—
pentatonic scale in double-stops starting on two
different intervals. Again, notice that every note
sounds consonant and sweet. Also, they create
unique intervals due to the large skip in the
scale (between the third and fifth degrees); as a
result, the intervals change between thirds and
fourths [Ex. 3] and fifths and sixths [Ex. 4].
Ex. 5 shows a possible lead line or fill using
double-stops from the C major pentatonic scale,
which works over C and Am chords. Play
through this example slowly and hone in on the

AcousticGuitar.com 31
Weekly Workout | Play

different sounds created by some of these two- Week Two

note structures. There is an element of familiar- Ex. 7 Ex. 8
ity, yet it yields some interesting chords and
shapes such as the last chord in the example.
Ex. 6 illustrates the same type of lead idea
using double-stops. However, this time the
chord progression moves from C to Gm. To fit 3 5 8 5 8 10 12
our lines over these changes, use C/Am penta- 1 3 5 5 8 10 5 8 5 8 10 13
0 2 2 5 7 5 7 9 2 5 7 5 7 5 7 9 12
tonic for the first bar, and Bb/Gm pentatonic for 2 5 2 5 7 2 5 7 5 7
the second bar over B 3 5 3 5 7

BEGINNERS’ TIP 1

the Gm chord. All of
Ex. 9 Ex. 10 Ex. 11a

these patterns are
movable; therefore,
Before tackling

  
you can take our C/
the double-stops in
Am shapes and
Ex. 3-6, try playing
simply move them
each of the two lines
down two frets to
independently at first, 3 5 8 3 5 8 10 12 5 8 10 12 10
access the Bb/Gm
and focus on the 3 5 3 5 8 3 5 1 3 5 8 10 8 5 5 8 10 13 8
pentatonic shapes. 0 2 5 2 5 5 7 9 0 2 2 5 7 9 12 7 5 5 7 9 12 9
shape and sound 0 2 5 5 7 2 5 2 5 7 10 12 7 5 10
B
Try playing these 3 5 7 3 5 0 0 0
of each line.
examples fingerstyle
and hybrid using the
pick and fingers.
Ex. 11b Ex. 11c Ex. 11d

WEEK TWO
   
Now you’re ready to explore some three- and
four-note structures, thereby creating chords

built from the pentatonic scale. The first three 3 0 5 8 10 12 10 3 0 5 8 10 12 10 3 0 5 8 10 12 10
examples this week (Ex. 7–Ex. 9) illustrate 3 1 5 8 10 13 8 3 1 5 8 10 13 8 3 1 5 8 10 13 8
2 0 5 7 9 12 9 2 0 5 7 9 12 9 2 0 5 7 9 12 9
chords using only notes from the C/Am penta- 10 10 0 10
tonic scale, starting with a unique intervallic B 0 0
0
0 0 3
structure. The first example starts with a basic
C major triad. Yet, because there are only five
notes in the scale, the chords shift from
common triads to unique voicings comprised of
second and fourth intervals. These sound more Week Three
like little chord structures a keyboardist might Ex. 12 Ex. 13
use, and will fit the bill perfectly if you’re
looking for new, compact chord voicings in a
tune.
Ex. 10 also moves through the C/Am penta-
tonic scale, this time with four notes. These are 8 5 3 5 3 0 0 5
a little more difficult to play than the three-note 5 3 1 3 1 5 5 8 5 3
7 5 2 2 0 7 7 7 5 5 2
versions, but they provide a great workout for 5 2 10 7 5
the fretting hand. Remember, you don’t have to B 3
always play scales for a workout–getting in and
out of complex chords is also a workout! Ex. 14
Ex. 11a shows a chordal line built on the Gm

previous patterns. The subsequent examples


illustrate how this same line will work over C,
Am, and also related chords that would com-
monly be associated with these tonalities. For
example, 11c uses Em and Am chords, while
0 6 3 3
11d the line over Dm, Am, and finally, C chords. 1 3 6 3 6 6 3
Try using a looper or recording device to play 2 0 0 2 5 5 5 3 0
2 0 2 5 5 3
these types of chordal ideas over different notes
and chords; there are lots of great sounds to
B 3 3 0 3

explore and discover in these structures.

32 March 2014
WEEK THREE Ex. 15


Take some of these pentatonic chord ideas and


apply them to songwriting, arranging, and lead
situations. Remember, the idea is to create new
yet familiar-sounding lines and chord structures
from only the five notes of the scale. Ex. 12 3 6 8 10 8 6 6 3
shows a simple melody or lead line from the C/ 1 3 6 8 6 8 6 3 6 3
3 5 7 5 5 3 5 3 653 0
Am pentatonic scale, supported with little three- 5 5 5 5 0
note chord structures. Try playing the example B 8 5
3
with and without the accompanying chords,
and notice the difference. Some of these struc-
tures—based on their design using second and
fourth intervals—almost sound like an altered/ Week Four
modal tuning such as DADGAD, but you can Ex. 16 A m
x 0231 0
easily resolve the music with a common C
chord, as in this example. Ex. 13 uses the same
Bm pentatonic Em pentatonic
scale, but in the context of a fingerstyle pattern Am pentatonic
and progression. This example could work as an
excerpt from an instrumental piece or as a foun-
dation for a song with lyrics. Singer-songwriters
might find this concept especially attractive if
they are looking for alternative chord voicings 3 5 8 5 10 7 5 7 10 12
5 3 5 8 5 8 10 7 10 7 5 5 8 5 8 10 12
in standard tuning, without straying too far 5 7 5 2 5 7 5 7 9 7 9 7 4 7 4 2 4 7 4 7 4 7 9 12
5 7 5 7 9 7 4 7 4 2 5 7 5 7
B
from the sound of the chord itself.
5 7 7 5 2 5 7
The next two examples show possibilities in a
lead setting. Ex. 14 features a little melodic
break in G minor using structures from the B/
Ex. 17 C
x 3201 0
Gm pentatonic. Ex. 15

BEGINNERS’ TIP 2 Ex. 18 


is the same idea, with



a little hybrid picking
counterpoint line in
Play each example


the last two bars.
slowly, one measure
These will work great
at a time, and make
in any kind of setting,
sure to play each 3 0 3 5 7 10 12 10 7 5 2
offering a familiar
complete chord 10 7 5 8 3 3 1 3 5 3 5 8 10 12 10 7 10 7 5 3
blues-oriented sound, 9 75 7 2 2 0 2 4 2 4 7 9 12 9 7 9 7 4 2
voicing with the 9 75 7 5 2 5 9 7 4 2
fretting hand.
with unique chordal
support. B 3
0

Yo u c a n e a s i l y work great over C, which is the relative major

WEEK FOUR BEGINNERS’ TIP 3 apply this lead substi- of Am as shown in Ex. 17. Ex. 18 shows struc-
Now, look at how to use different scales over tution concept to tures built from the G/Em pentatonic (first two
one chord, employing a common substitution Hybrid picking rhythm using penta- bars) and D/Bm pentatonic (second two bars),
technique. Here’s the essential concept: over (using the pick and tonic chords. Ex. 16 all of which work over G or Em chords. In this
any minor chord, you can use a minor penta- fingers) works best illustrates pentatonic example, think of Em as the root, and Bm as the
tonic scale based on the root and/or the fifth of for blending little chord patterns for fifth. G major is the relative major of Em, just
the chord. For example, if you are playing over chord structures Am, Bm, and Em, all like C is the relative major of Am.
an Am chord, you can use both Am and Em and lead lines. of which work beauti-

pentatonic scales as the basis for lead and
rhythm lines. If you want to add a little more
modal complexity (think Allman Bros. vamps)
you also can use the minor pentatonic on the
second degree. That would be a Bm pentatonic
if you’re still in Am. The Bm pentatonic (B-D-E-
F#-A) creates a Dorian type of modal sound,
due to the F# on top of the Am. If you’re
playing a song that has long sections of just one
chord, this is a great way to add some interest
without going too far outside of the tonality.
fully over an Am
chord. If you’re
playing in another
key, simply transpose
the formula of root,
second, and fifth of that key. For instance, if
you’re playing in Gm, use Gm, Am, and Dm.
Use these substitutions over major chords,
too. They will work just fine over the relative
major of the minor key you’re in. For example,
your Am chords (as well as Bm and Em) will
EXTRA
CREDIT
There are many other pentatonic scales besides
the major (and minor) explored in this lesson. For
extra credit, work through two additional penta-
tonic scales, the Dorian pentatonic (aka “3 penta-
tonic”) and Dominant pentatonic, both based on
and named after modes of the major scale.

AcousticGuitar.com 33
 Weekly Workout | Play


Ex. 19 (Dorian Pentatonic) Ex. 20
Cm

3 5 8 3 5 8 10
3 4 1 3 4 3 4 8 10
2 5 2 0 2 5 2 5 7 8
5 1 0 1 5
B 3 5 6 3

Ex. 21


Cm
 

3 5 10 10
4 3 1 1 3 4 3 4 3 3 10 10
2 2 5 2 5 5 5 8 8
1 5
B


Ex. 22 (Dominant Pentatonic) Ex. 23
C7

3 6 8 0 3 6 8 10
3 5 1 3 1 3 5 8 11
3 5 3 0 3 0 3 5 7 9
2 5 2 0 2
B 3 5 3

Ex. 24 

Guitars in the Classroom
trains, inspires, and equips 
classroom teachers to
make and lead music that
transforms learning into a 0 3 6 6 8 10 10 8 10 8
creative, effective, and 1 3 3 1 3 5 5 8 11 11 8 10 8 8
joyful experience for k-12 3 0 3 3 0 3 5 5 7 9 9 8 9 10 8 9 9
2 0 2 2 10
students from coast to
coast and beyond. B 3
8

Thanks to
BEGINNERS’ TIP 4 Ex. 19 and 20
show fingerings for
Dorian type of sound. It is equally at home in
rock, blues, and jazz tunes. Ex. 21 shows an
Martin Guitars
and the C.F. Martin
the scale and three- example of a swing/blues type of line, using a
In your practice
Foundation, Oriolo note chord structures “question and answer” approach alternating
Guitars, the Bill journals, record
of the Dorian penta- between lead and chord breaks.
Graham Foundation, different pentatonic
and D'Addario & Co. for tonic (1-2-b3-5-6). Ex. 22 and 23 illustrate the Dominant pen-
ideas within the
helping us launch the This scale really tatonic (1-2-3-5-b7), which implies the Mix-
latest round of GITC framework of a tune
should be called the olydian mode and fits like a glove on
programs! you already know.
minor pentatonic, as dominant-seventh chords. Ex. 24 is an R&B
Please visit it is almost identical chord riff using structures from this scale
to the major penta- before finishing with a common triple-stop
to learn more and check out GITC's first tonic, with the blues lick in the last measure.
publication: The Green Songbook lowered third degree. Because of the natural
Available now from Alfred Music Publishing sixth degree, it works great over minor, minor6, Sean McGowan (seanmcgowanguitar.com) is a jazz guitarist based
at www.GreenSongBook.com. and minor7 chords, and anything with a in Denver, where he directs the guitar program at the University of Colorado.

34 March 2014

Of Thumbs and Necks
7 ways to improve the way you hold a guitar
BY JANE MILLER
The Problem
Grabbing the guitar neck so that your
thumb comes over the top of the neck and
onto the string side makes for a handy fifth-
finger way to grab a bass note. But it is an
inefficient hand position for playing chord
changes and melody lines—and it can lead
to cramping and more serious injury.
The Solution
Chet Atkins. George Harrison. Richie
Havens. Wes Montgomery. All great
players—all held the guitar wrong. Well,
wrong according to some. Guitar players
with large enough hands may well be able
to pull off the trick of thumbing a bass note
while fingering the rest of the chord, but it
requires putting your hand in an awkward
position, which can inhibit movement and
possibly cause muscle strain.
Pick up any object and notice how your
hand naturally grasps. Hold a glass of water.
The heel of your hand is likely touching the
glass and your fingers are slanting on the
opposite side of your thumb. That’s a good
grip on the glass, but that position does not
work well when it comes to playing the
guitar. Your first three fingers can probably
play a simple melody comfortably in that
position, but when you need your fourth
finger—and you will need your pinky—you
will be putting undue strain on the muscle
that runs right along the pinky side of your
hand; that’s if you can reach anything at all.
Fortunately, there are a few things you
can do to make things easier on yourself.
1
To get some perspective on reaching the
low E string with your fretting fingers,
try this:
• Visualize a spot on the back of the
neck directly behind the third fret
between the D and the G strings.
• Bring your fingers around the neck
as you would normally play, keeping
them parallel to the frets.
• Touch the spot on the back of the
neck so it is right between your
second and third fingers.
• Look at your hand position.
2 Notice that your wrist has dropped
down, and your thumb is well below
the midpoint of the back of the neck. Notice
that your fingers are curved, and you’re
having no trouble reaching far beyond any
bass note you’ll ever need.
3
Now play a chromatic scale that moves
across all six strings. If your fingers are
parallel to the frets, they will drop right
down on the needed notes: a finger for
every fret.
4 Play a C chord in the first position. Grab
a pen with your free hand and run it
HERE’S HOW
right alongside the back of the neck through
the tunnel created by your thumb. There
should be plenty of space for this.
5
Play a barre chord. Make sure that your
thumb and wrist are down in the back
so that you can reach your first finger across
with room to spare. Your remaining fingers
ought to be curved and standing on their
own without strain.
6 Flexibility is key here. Rather than
going for absolutes, try for common-
sense hand positions that fit the chord or
melody of the moment. Play in front of a
mirror, or use a photo or video program
while you practice at your computer. You’ll
see that if you play a D chord on the first
three strings, your thumb will indeed be
peeking up over the top of the neck. That’s
fine. Now reach around and play a G chord
(use your second, third, and fourth fingers
on the fifth, sixth, and first strings respec-
tively). Your thumb should now be hiding
behind the neck.
7
Putting your awareness on keeping
your thumb and wrist down is for the
higher purpose of keeping your fingers up
and parallel to the frets, clearing open
strings, and increasing your reach without
cramping your hand. AG
Jane Miller is an associate professor of guitar at the
Berklee College of Music in Boston.
AcousticGuitar.com 35
 JUST BE
CROZ
Folk-rock icon David Crosby releases
his first solo album in 20 years
BY DAVID KNOWLES
avid Crosby is not resting
on his laurels. The 72-year-
D old two-time inductee to
the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame closed out a busy
2013 by performing a Bridge School
Concert with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
(the first CSN&Y reunion in seven years),
putting the finishing touches on a new solo
album titled Croz, and preparing for his
first solo tour in years. Recorded at
Jackson Browne’s Groove Masters studio
in Santa Monica, California, Croz is a
family affair—Crosby wrote much of the
album with his son, James Raymond, who
36 March 2014
also produced it along with Daniel Garcia.
The album’s cover, meanwhile, was shot by
son Django Crosby.
At the same time that the now clean-
and-sober co-founder of two of rock’s most
influential groups—the Byrds and CSN—is
looking ahead and composing new songs,
Crosby’s legendary past exploits continue
to generate interest from fans. Some of the
more salacious passages from Graham
Nash’s recent autobiography Wild Tales: A
Rock and Roll Life come courtesy of Crosby,
like the time Nash walked in on him receiv-
ing oral sex from two groupies as he was
placing an order with his coke dealer.
In May, the first Crosby, Stills & Nash
record will celebrate its 45th anniversary, but
while Crosby’s decadent rock ’n’ roll lifestyle
may be a thing of the past, he has largely
remained true to himself throughout his
career. If anything, Croz—released January
27 on Blue Castle Records, the label he co-
founded with Nash—finds him reconnecting
with his muse, and his return to the record-
ing studio and the concert stage shows that
the icon is far from ready to pack it in.
Congratulations on the new record!
I am a very happy guy right now. I’ve spent
a long time holding my breath, hoping

people were going to like this record, and
it seems like a lot of them do, in fact, like
it. I’m hearing from musicians I respect
who are digging it. It’s a tremendous relief,
to be honest.
This is your first solo record in 20 years.
How does it feel?
I’m not counting. Really, I have no idea if it’s
been 15 or 20 years. What I do know is that
this record has been completely different
than anything I’ve done before. A record is
about creating chemistry, and I’ve been
lucky to write with my son, James Raymond,
who is about an eight times better musician
than I am, and a great engineer.
You also just reunited for CSN&Y at the
Bridge School Concert. Was that easy to
do after taking six years off?
It comes naturally. CSN has a natural
chemistry and then adding Neil Young is
like adding nitroglycerine. He’s never satis-
fied with being just good, and I love him
for that. He just keeps pushing you.
Speaking of your band mates, did you
happen to read Graham Nash’s recent
autobiography?
I did read it, and it seemed to me that any
time he was writing about sex and drugs in
the book he was writing about my sex and
drugs, not his, which was kind of weird.
But that’s all ancient history, really. I wrote
two books about those times myself, and in
much more detail.
On your new record, as well as on some
of your earlier work, I hear what
sound like Brazilian influences. Is that
conscious?
It is. I’m strongly affected by Brazilian
music because so much of it is so damn
beautiful. Also Afro-Cuban, American jazz,
and newer flamenco, but particularly
Brazilian music.
Given those influences, when you write
songs, are you using a nylon-string
acoustic guitar?
‘CSN has a natural chemistry and then adding
Neil Young is like adding nitroglycerine. He’s never
satisfied with being just good, and I love him for that.
He just keeps pushing you.’
I compose on a McAlister steel string guitar.
In fact, I’ve got it hanging on the wall next
to me, and I’m in the middle of writing a
new song on it. Roy McAlister gave it to me
back when I was broke. Normally, I’d been a
dreadnought player, but I love this guitar.
It’s my favorite. Two things help me to write
new songs—I use new tunings, either ones I
make up or ones I learn from other people,
and those help lead me to different chord
patterns. The second is sparking off of other
people. I listen to a lot of Shawn Colvin,
Mark Cohen, Randy Newman, Neil, Stephen
and Graham—they all influence me.
What motivated you to write the songs
for ‘Croz’?
I don’t understand why I’m having such a
good writing time right now. This album
uses a wide palette of colors, and has some
of the most positive stuff I’ve ever written.
Then again, there is also a song about
hookers, about how they have to hide
themselves to be with fat German and
American tourists. I don’t know why that
one came to me. I was sitting in my hotel
‘It’s still really fun
connecting with an
audience. Having not
gone out and played
solo for a long time,
I’m excited to go
and do it again.’
room in Belgium watching them try to
convince these guys to fuck them, and it
really left a sad impression on me.
You’re heading out on tour to promote
the album. Is that something you’re
looking forward to?
It is, actually. I’m trying to get attention
again. I want this to sell. We’re doing
multiple nights—four or five—in select
cities. The idea is to work in fine brush
strokes and doing multiple nights will
allow us to fine tune what we’re doing.
Aside from selling records, what is it
about playing live that you like best?
It’s a joy to do. It’s still really fun connecting
with an audience. Having not gone out and
played solo for a long time, I’m excited to go
and do it again. Later this year, I plan
to go out just me and a guitar. The good
thing is I have grown since the last time. And
there have been times in my career when I
was lagging being a drug addict. In the last
15–20 years I’ve learned a lot, but it’s still
me, just further along in the story. AG
DAVID CROSBY
CROZ
Blue Castle Records
AcousticGuitar.com 37
 BY J E F F R EY P E P P E R R O D G E R S
T H E AG I N TE R V I E W
JOHN FOGERTY
IMAGE—MARK SULLIVAN/WIREIMAGE; TEXT © 2014 JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
 CCR: Tom Fogerty, left, John Fogerty, Stu Cook, Doug Clifford

orking on a new song, there’s a point where

nothing is there and then, as most of us say,
the gift is given to you—the exact right
description, the right choice of words that
describes what it was you were trying to give a picture
of to the audience,” John Fogerty says during an interview
at his home in Los Angeles. “When that happens, there’s
not a soul anywhere around. I’m all alone, except for God.
But I have to say, that moment when you know you got it
right is more rewarding and more happy and maybe even
more spooky than any of the other parts of music—being
in front of 10,000 people getting a standing ovation
or somebody giving you a gold record or whatever.”

AcousticGuitar.com 39
JOHN FOGERTY | THE AG INTERVIEW

rom “Bad Moon Rising” and “Born on

the Bayou” to “Fortunate Son” and
“Proud Mary,” the songs Fogerty
penned with Credence Clearwater Revival
are so deeply embedded in American
music, and covered so often by musicians
of every stripe, that it’s hard to imagine
anyone wrote them. For decades Fogerty’s
songs have been a part of our cultural
vocabulary, which explains why artists as
diverse as the Foo Fighters, Kid Rock,
Miranda Lambert, My Morning Jacket, and
Brad Paisley all sound so at home reinter-
preting his catalog on Fogerty’s latest
album, Wrote a Song for Everyone. Paisley,
who first covered one of Fogerty’s songs
onstage when he was 12 or 13, can’t even
trace where the influence began.
“I don’t remember my first encounter the
same way that I don’t remember my first
drink of milk either,” Paisley says. “You’re
born in the United States of America, espe-
cially when I was born in 1972, and you’re
just surrounded by John’s music.”
The ubiquity of Fogerty’s songs, not just
the Creedence classics of the late ’60s and
early ’70s, but such solo hits as “Center-
field,” makes it a little startling to meet the
songwriter himself. When he greets me, he’s ‘“Mystic Highway” was a work in progress so long I’m almost
looking just as John Fogerty is supposed to
look, wearing a blue plaid flannel shirt, embarrassed to admit it. But that’s the crazy process that
jeans, his face strikingly youthful even at
the age of 68. On record and in concert
we go through as songwriters.’
these days, Fogerty sounds just as he’s sup-
posed to sound, too, from the searing vocals
to the swampy guitar riffs. Now fully
embracing his past (in recent years he’s (which he still does not own), Fogerty seems Many of your songs begin with a title
even worked with his longtime nemesis, relaxed and content and very chatty—par- phrase written in a notebook. How did
Fantasy Records, now owned by Concord, ticularly on the topic of songwriting and you get started collecting titles?
on several releases of solo and Creedence guitars. We tour his home studio suite, Well, there’s one notebook in particular I
material, including a new box set), Fogerty where one room is piled with boxes of scrap- started in 1969. What happened was, I had
is far from coasting on it. He starts each day books, photos, recordings, notebooks, and written a song while I was on active duty
with intensive woodshedding on guitar and other mementos from more than 50 years in [in the army], a song called “Porterville,”
works hard on new songs, two of which, music. And he cracks open an old Anvil case although I didn’t quite have a title yet. It
“Mystic Highway” and “Train of Fools,” to show me a 3/4-size, sunburst Ricken- was a narrative, kind of about my personal
appear on Wrote a Song for Everyone. backer—the John Lennon model—that he life as a kid, but in a lot of ways it was also
My visit with Fogerty came before he hit played with Creedence. As we talk in his made up. Remember, I’d been writing songs
the road for a lengthy fall tour that included family room, near a wall of gold records, since I was probably five or six years old,
onstage jams with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Fogerty cradles a favorite new acoustic: a but they were always kind of moon/June,
Zac Brown Band, and Widespread Panic. No Santa Cruz Vintage Southerner inspired by Tin Pan Alley. I was trying to write a song
longer consumed by the bitter legal battles his beloved Gibson Southern Jumbos from like I saw on TV. When I was in the army, I
over his Creedence royalties and copyrights the 1950s. began to write a song that meant some-

40 March 2014

SANTA CRUZ
VINTAGE SOUTHERNER
thing to me, and I began to go someplace. I
had stumbled upon the idea of a completely
blank sheet of paper or completely blank
mindset that could go anywhere or be in
any time. I could be anything or anyone I
wanted to. I had just discovered poetic
license. So while I’m marching around, I’m
creating this song that’s a little bit autobio-
graphical and a little bit not.
I got out of the army and was struggling
with all that and realized, I need to get orga-
nized. So I went down to the local drugstore,
and I got a little plastic book and called it
Song Titles. I put blank paper in the little
binder, and somewhere along the way the
very first thing I wrote in it was the words
CELEBRATING A
VINTAGE GIBSON
John Fogerty’s longstanding favorite
acoustic guitars are two Gibson
Southern Jumbos: one from 1952,
which has a P-90 pickup and is tuned
down to D, and the other from 1954,
which stays in standard tuning. These
SJs are all over his latest album, and he
considers them the holy grail—and irre-
placeable, so he won’t tour with them.
At the suggestion of his guitar buddy
Brad Paisley, who owns a Santa Cruz
Guitar Co. interpretation of the prewar
dreadnought, Fogerty contacted Santa
Cruz about building a guitar modeled
after his Gibson SJs.
Santa Cruz offers the short-scale
Vintage Southerner (VS) as one if its
regular models, so company founder
Richard Hoover sent Fogerty a Santa
Cruz VS to compare to the vintage
Gibsons. Fogerty made a recording
test of the Santa Cruz and his ’54
Gibson to help Hoover and company
dial in the tone. For Fogerty’s guitar,
Santa Cruz used mahogany for the
back and sides (as on the standard
“Proud Mary.” I had no idea what that meant.
After that, every time I had an idea, I’d write
it in that book. What I discovered was if I had
a title that sounded cool, then I’d try to write
a cool song that fit the cool title.
Where did you get the idea of using
a title book?
Of all people, I was talking with Duane Eddy
once about this subject. Remember, Duane
Eddy is an instrumentalist. He writes songs
with no words, right? But one of the things I
learned specifically from Duane Eddy was
his song titles were really cool, like “Rebel
Rouser,” “Forty Miles of Bad Road,”
“Ramrod,” “Commotion,” “Cannonball,”
VS) and Italian (rather than Sitka)
spruce for the top. “One of the real
secrets about old instruments and why
they sound better,” Hoover says, “is the
wood sounds better with age. The
resins polymerize, which is a chemical
change that hardens the woods, as
opposed to the common belief that
they dry. So the woods that we used
for this guitar were really old.”
Around the time Santa Cruz was build-
ing Fogerty’s guitar, Hoover adds, the
company was using mahogany that
came from the door of a rural church in
Brazil, and also a Chicago mill dating
from the 1920s.
Fogerty received his Santa Cruz in 2013,
and says it’s the closest he’s heard to his
vintage Gibsons. “I’m sure after years of
me hammering on it, it’ll start to sound
more like those guys,” he adds.
In a modern touch, Fogerty’s Santa
Cruz is equipped with a K&K Pure Mini
pickup for stage use.
“The Lonely One.” The titles took you some-
where. So I at a very young age learned or at
least formed the opinion that the title is
really important.
I was talking about that with Duane,
because he was the guy that inspired that in
me, and he says, “Well, yeah, when you
have a title, you kind of know where you’re
going to go then, don’t you?” This is a guy
who never wrote lyrics. Man—he should
have been writing lyrics if he was that
clever about how it works.
So many of your songs have these great,
simple guitar riffs. When you’re writing, do
the riffs help to lead you into the song?
AcousticGuitar.com 41
JOHN FOGERTY | THE AG INTERVIEW
‘I had stumbled upon
the idea of a completely
blank sheet of paper or
completely blank mindset
that could go anywhere
or be in any time. I could
be anything or anyone
I wanted to. I had just
discovered poetic license.’
JOHN FOGERTY, SURF GUITARIST?
Believe it.
One disc of this new six-CD box set includes 25
pre-CCR tracks, including eight previously unis-
sued, that chronicle the band’s evolution between
1961–67, from the ’50s-style doo wop of their
earliest band, Tommy Fogerty & the Blue Velvets,
to the El Cerrito High School–era Golliwogs,
which morphed rapidly from surf to Yardbirds-
style rock to Jimmy Reed–inspired blues to
garage rock.
By the time the band signed with Fantasy
Records, in John Fogerty’s birthplace in nearby
Berkeley, California, Creedence had brewed a
swampy blend of blues, Stax R&B, and roots rock.
It was party-friendly music tempered with Fogerty’s
raspy blued-eyed-soul vocals, his seemingly bot-
tomless bag of seductive guitar riffs, and a trance-
inducing Louisiana bayou vibe that led many to
assume, mistakenly, that Fogerty and his band
mates had deep Southern roots.
This box set gathers 121 remastered tracks,
everything released by the band, including such
hits as “Born on the Bayou,” “Bad Moon Rising,”
42 March 2014
Wrote a Song for Everyone, 2013
Featuring Bob Seger, Brad Paisley,
Foo Fighters, My Morning Jacket,
Jennifer Hudson, Miranda Lambert,
Tom Morello, Kid Rock, and others.
Vanguard Records
“Green River,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,”
and “Fortunate Son,” to name a few. It includes
two CDs of rare studio sessions and live concert
recordings from 1970–72.
The set also has a 76-page book of essays
by Ben Fong-Torres, Stanley Booth, Alec Palao,
and Dave Marsh, among others, and rare photos,
including images of such obscure memorabilia as
Golliwog concert posters.
Of course, most of CCR’s recordings featured
electric guitars, but Fogerty and his brother Tom
often went unplugged. The intro and outro to
“Who’ll Stop the Rain,” for instance, were built
around a simple three-note acoustic lick, and
powerful acoustic-guitar strumming propelled the
rhythm on such hits as “Have You Ever Seen the
Rain” and “Lookin’ Out My Back Door.”
The acoustics seen on two of the band’s album
covers have even achieved iconic status: the dobro
that John Fogerty posed with on the cover of
Green River was featured in a recent CCR exhibit
at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
—GREG CAHILL
Creedence
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Fantasy/Concord
6-CD box set
121 remastered tracks
76-page book of essays
Rare studio sessions
Live concert recordings
I have a guitar in my hands every day, usually
electric. I do a lot of practicing. I’m working on
my technique, you know, trying to get better. So
most of the riffs that I write are intended for elec-
tric guitar, leading a band. I can’t really tell you
how that comes about. You just have the guitar in
your hands. You’re noodling. You get into a
certain sort of mood [plays E7 blues riffs]. Some-
times your fingers will go a new way by accident.
What you’re playing sounds similar to the
‘Born on the Bayou’ riff, from the early days
of Creedence.
That was certainly one of those accidents. It’s
funny. We were going to play at the Avalon Ball-
room [in San Francisco], and there were a whole
bunch of other people on the bill. My band was
the last to soundcheck just before they opened
the doors. I think this was our first chance to play
at one of the big places in San Francisco. “Susie
Q” was out. It wasn’t a real album yet—it was a
tape I had given to the radio station KMPX.
For some reason, I was inspired. I think it was
just a young person in the environment—oh,
man, we’re in the Avalon Ballroom! Cool! My
amp was sounding good, we’ve got everything
plugged in. . . . So I started doing that [riff] on
the guitar, and I turned to the drummer, Doug
[Clifford], and I said, “Just play along with this,”
and I kind of gave him a feel. I looked at Tom
[Fogerty] and Stu [Cook] and said, “Just play an
E—follow me.” And I just started screaming out
vowels, because that’s how I write songs—conso-
nants and vowels, just nonsense. I was standing
on the stage, basically doing what I did in my
own little room, except it was much louder. I was
making these noises and coming up with a sound.
That’s how probably 90 percent of my songs
get written, usually with a guitar in hand and
usually at a point of, I’ve set up the opportunity,
but I don’t know what I’m going to do. That is
very important for songwriting: you have to
construct the opportunity. You have to have the
intention, I guess, yet you have to have a com-
pletely open mind.
You also have to be able to capture your
ideas somehow.
If I’m traveling in a car and I get an idea for some-
thing, unless I write it down in my little book, it’s
gone. All of us have had a zillion of those—oh,
man, it was such a great idea! What was that
idea? You never feel exactly as you felt when you
had that idea. I’ve noticed that I’ll be sitting some-
where and not have a pencil and paper or even
have a guitar, and I’ll think, “I’ll remember this—
it’s obvious.” It’s kind of like the movie is playing
in your head. It’s perfect. You’re feeling all the
emotions, and there’s a certain way you’re
thinking about a topic. But then the next day or
even two hours later, whenever you go to try and
re-create it, it evaporated. It’s just gone.
 For me at least, I do better [holding onto the Your songs are so lean, both the words and word that took the place of five words, that
idea] if I have an actual phrase that sounds the music. You get in there, get the feeling, was way better to me.
good to me, like “Bad Moon Rising.” and get out. Does that quality reflect your
roots in ’50s rock ’n’ roll or country? Were you aware of the writers behind songs
Didn’t you originally write that in your Yeah, you know I had grown up through the you grew up with?
title book? whole rock ’n’ roll era. Songs were short— I had read a little bit about other songwriters. I
Yeah. I have a lot of phrases in there. Some- they were two minutes and 30 seconds on certainly admired the craft of songwriting. I
body asked me recently, is there a song you average, so that’s what I learned from. had learned especially, mostly from my mom,
haven’t written yet? I looked at them: “I’m not Arranging a record, you knew that you didn’t about people who were earlier than my day,
going to give you that. If I give you that, you’ll have a long time for a solo, you didn’t have a meaning Irving Berlin and Harold Arlen and
write the song!” [laughs] But I know, for long time for an intro, and I was very Hoagy Carmichael, and Stephen Foster actu-
instance, “Mystic Highway” was in that book conscious of trying to say what I was going to ally. This is probably a well-known tale from
for maybe 30 years. I knew what it was when I say with as few words as possible—but have me now, but for some reason when I was about
wrote it; I just didn’t know how I’d ever tackle them be really good words. If I could find one three and a half in preschool, my mom gave
the subject and make a song out of it. I could
see a group of travelers, probably a family, and
they’re weary but they’re not broken. That’s
what I saw, and I would hear a little bit every
once in a while over the years. It’s like it’s
behind a veil and you can’t make it come out—
what does that really sound like?
“Mystic Highway” was a work in progress so
long I’m almost embarrassed to admit it. But
that’s the crazy process that we go through as
songwriters. I’d be opening a door, walking into
a room, and, “Oh, man, there’s that song again.
How is that going to be?” Without realizing it
over the years, I kept filling in just a little bit
more of what that refrain was going to be, until
finally, for this album, I guess I was ready to do
something really tough. The thing had been
floating around so long it was almost sacred.
You know, it’s got to be good after 30 years! But
I wasn’t afraid of it. When it finally occurred to
me what to do, it was just right.

You’ve got to meet some kind of internal

standard, right, no matter how long it takes?
Yeah, and it’s a really imperfect process, at least
for me. Like I say, I’ll have the guitar in my hands
’cause I always have the guitar in my hands. A lot
of riffs occur to me. Over the years, I’ve had
special little recorders and a little Dictaphone
kind of thing, but now I just turn on the phone
and record them. I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff
in my iTunes—that goes back probably eight
years. I go back and listen to them sometimes.
I seem to come up with enough riffs auto-
matically that I don’t go searching for riffs—I
probably should. But I do go searching for song
ideas. The lyrics are far and away the hardest
part to me. In fact, one of my own truisms is I
have to have a really strong melody; it has to
sound really like a song or I’m not even going to
bother working on the lyrics, because they’re so
hard. In the old days, I would get one verse or
two verses, half finished songs. I used to tell
people, for every song you hear I’m writing ten
other songs that I don’t finish. Somewhere you
get into it, you just realize this is a dead end. It’s
not going to work. This is stupid. You turn the
page and try to get onto something better.

AcousticGuitar.com 43
JOHN FOGERTY | THE AG INTERVIEW
me a record and explained to me that was
Stephen Foster, and he was the songwriter—
one side was “Oh! Susannah” and the other
was “Camptown Races,” doo-dah, doo-dah. I
mean that’s remarkable to be telling a kid
about a songwriter. I don’t know if she had an
intent, but she gave me the record, which I
loved. Of course I thought Stephen Foster was
on the record.
Then as rock ’n’ roll and the folk tradition
came along, I went to the library a couple of
times and got books about songwriters. It was
in one of those books that I saw this instruc-
tion—I always thought it was from Johnny
Mercer but it’s probably someone else. Anyway,
[the idea] was when you’re working on a song
44 March 2014
and it’s not right, it’s just not resolved, a bell
will ring in your head. The little bell is telling
you that you need to fix this—you can’t leave it
that way. But if you ignore the bell, pretty soon
it won’t ring for you anymore.
If you’re going to be lazy—“Oh yeah, that’s
good enough”—well, then, you’re never going
to develop. I think the act of searching for the
right thing is what improves you as a writer—
the very act of digging and then the knowledge
of the reward. AG
Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers (jeffreypepperrodgers.com), Editor-at-Large
for ‘Acoustic Guitar’, is author of ‘The Complete Singer-Songwriter’
and the Homespun video series ‘Learn Seven Grateful Dead Classics
for Acoustic Guitar.’
THE ANATOMY OF A SONG
JOHN FOGERTY DESCRIBES HIS
EUREKA MOMENT IN WRITING
THE NEW SONG “TRAIN OF FOOLS”
As told to Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
Actually, when I got the idea [for “Train of Fools”],
first I wrote another song. It was still called “Train of
Fools,” and it was kind of fat Elvis, [sings] “hoo-a
hoo-a train of fools.” I was under the gun to make a
song in the next 24 hours, because in 48 hours I was
going to be in the studio with my band. I finished this
dreadful thing, but it wasn’t good enough. So I
backed up, and miraculously I was able to do it with
the same song [title]. Usually that’s so tainted you’ve
got to put it away for a while.
But what is this train of fools? I knew it was a
really solid concept. And so I started coming up with
the idea of these characters and their backgrounds. It
was kind of a morality play, I guess. The way I
described it later, long after the record was made, it
was almost like an episode of Twilight Zone. I could
just hear Rod Serling, “Here’s the gambler and here’s
the loser and here’s the pretty maiden who’s deceit-
ful.” Anyway, the song was basically done, and I actu-
ally went into the studio and recorded it with the
band, but I just felt that the song was incomplete. It
had a narrative, it took you on a little description of
the journey, but it didn’t have a conclusion. And so I
said, it’s got to be more. Even though the song was
already recorded, I was willing to throw it out.
So I was working on “Train of Fools” and there was
the line, “One will be addicted / Chained to the devil’s
cross / That one’s going to die before he’s old.” That
was really where the song ended, and it went into the
chorus. I started thinking in terms of a child. I finally got
the lines, “This one is a victim / A lost and broken child
/ Soon enough he’ll be a man to hate.” I thought, all
right, pretty good. And then I had to have rhyming
words that filled in. I had the idea that people stand
around, they’re holier than thou, they think they can do
no wrong, and so the [next] line was, “Those that point
their finger / Will also share the blame.” Pretty good.
Then—this is probably over a period of a few days—
there was this little space and suddenly the line was,
“Those that point their finger / Will also share the
blame / No one leaves this train to judgment day.” I
went, what? That was a gift. It surprised me. It’s one of
those moments, you’re all alone, and you go, “God,
that’s so good.” I mean, who am I going to tell? Even
my wife, who loves my music, doesn’t quite struggle
with me over words. I can’t go in and [shout], “Judg-
ment day! Judgment day!” She’ll be stirring the spa-
ghetti and she’ll go, “Right, John, judgment day.”
I was literally alone, but it’s like the whole Olympic
stadium had gone, “Rah!” The writer knows it. The
writer is almost basking in it. Now I take no credit—I give
all the credit to the Almighty, whoever or whatever he or
she is. That’s when you know someone’s saying, “OK,
you worked really hard, my son: here.” I don’t know how
to say it . . . It was just beyond what I expected to do.
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 A film crew documents the work of Haitian singer-songwriter and
Acoustic Guitar Project participant Chaby (pronounced Shay-bee).

WRITE
STUFF
BY JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS
Ad copy writer Dave Adams is using
‘creative restriction’ to challenge
& inspire songwriters through the
global Acoustic Guitar Project

46 March 2014

A
local musician approaches you
with a guitar, a portable recorder,
and a challenge: write a song on
that guitar and record it within a
week, and then sign the guitar
and pass it along to another
musician with the same instruc-
tions. This is the simple concept behind the
Acoustic Guitar Project, a songwriting
experiment that began in New York City in
2012 and has since spread around the
United States and as far as Haiti, Colombia,
and Finland.
Interestingly, the guy behind the
project, Dave Adams, is not a musician, but
a music fan who worked for years as an
advertising copywriter and wanted to be
involved in a less commercial, more artistic
pursuit. “I have friends who can just pick
up a guitar and write a song,” Adams says
from his home in New York. “That to me is
magic. That’s power. That’s a gift. But then
that same musician would spend two years
on a computer producing it. And I thought,
you know, I come from a creative back-
ground as well, but I have deadlines and
Dave Adams
restrictions. When someone says, ‘I need ‘I just put my advertising
this by two o’clock,’ I know I can do it. So I
knew about the power of creative restric- mind to work and figured
tion, but I think most artists and musicians
haven’t been placed in that type of environ- out what’s the best way
ment. I just put my advertising mind to
work and figured out what’s the best way to help musicians be
more prolific.’
to help musicians be more prolific.”
One of the keys to the Acoustic Guitar
Project is limiting not only the time, but the
tools for creating the song: artists can use
—DAVE ADAMS
only the equipment supplied, and no edits
of the recording are allowed. To Adams,
these rules remove a lot of pressure.
“Everybody’s using the same guitar, every-
body’s using the same mic,” he says. “It’s Craigslist—they ended up with a Takamine
not a competition, except with yourself, GS330S. He got a Zoom H2 digital recorder
and you can sit down and create something to accompany the guitar, wrote up and lami-
that’s not going on your album. nated instructions that went into the case,
“It’s just a moment for you to reconnect and handed it all to his friend Brandon
with the instrument.” Wilde, who inaugurated the project with the
song “Deep Blue Secret.”
W hen Adams was preparing to launch the
Acoustic Guitar Project in the spring of
2012, an instrument-savvy friend helped
“The initial melody and inspiration for the
song came quickly,” Wilde says, “but then I
had to craft a fully functioning song, which
him find a good, inexpensive guitar on took some time and editing. I somehow made
AcousticGuitar.com 47
ACOUSTIC GUITAR PROJECT

Winter took away a lesson

that all songwriters need
to learn and relearn:
‘Just get out of your way
and write. Have fun!’
my way through. Since I was the first, I didn’t
have any other songs to compare mine to. Dead-
lines are scary, but can be great for scattered musi-
cians like myself.”
Wilde passed the guitar to Briana Winter, a
Brooklyn musician he was dating at the time and
who hadn’t written a song in several years.
“Whenever I go through a writing drought I
wonder, ‘Wow, maybe this is it, maybe I’m never
going to write another song again,’” Winter
recalls. “I’ve been through enough droughts by
now to know they end, but the questions still get
Lucio Feuillet asked. Am I going to be able to come up with
something that is good? Does it really matter if
it’s good? Or does it matter more to go through
the process of finishing a song?”
In her week with the Acoustic Guitar
Project, Winter wrote a reflective song called
“Slumber” and took away a lesson that all song-
writers need to learn and relearn: “Just get out
of your way and write. Have fun!”
The New York guitar is still circulating—it
has inspired (as of this writing) 34 songs, all of
which can be heard at theacousticguitarproject.
com (at press time, the Takamine was in
Detroit). Along the way, the instrument has
passed through the hands of some well-estab-
lished artists, including former Norah Jones
sideman (and regular Acoustic Guitar contribu-
tor) Adam Levy, guitarist/composer Doug
Wamble, and singer-songwriter and self-
described “professional smart aleck” Carla
Ulbrich. But the point of the project has always
been about stirring creativity wherever or
however it can—not about reaching big-name
artists or generating any particular type of songs.

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48 March 2014
O ddly, at the same time Adams’ Takamine was
making its rounds among New York musi-
cians, the $100 Guitar Project also was
underway. That’s a similar experiment cooked
up by guitarists Nick Didkovsky and Chuck
O’Meara for which more than 60 players around
the world ultimately recorded tracks on a
no-name electric guitar. Adams says he was
unaware of that counterpart when he launched
the Acoustic Guitar Project, and in the mean-
time his own idea was taking on a life of its
own. With the help of a friend living in Finland,
Adams launched a second project with a Martin
D-15 in Helsinki, and then decided to expand to
South America, where guitarist Joel Waldman
in Bogotá, Colombia, found a Yamaha C80 clas-
sical for Adams and kicked off a third project
with the lilting song “Como Una Llama.” In
both of the most recent cases, Adams decided to
cap the number of musicians, so the projects
had an endpoint, and he has organized a
closing concert with as many of the participants
as possible.
Adams has also launched a project with
another Takamine GS330S in Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, and started a project in Detroit—with a
guitar donated by Maryland luthier Victor Long
(minorbird.com) and built with wood salvaged
from demolished local buildings.
The songs coming out of the international
projects are, naturally, branching out in lan-
guages other than English, including Finnish,
Spanish, and Haitian Creole. In Helsinki, the first
recipient of the guitar was Axel Ehnström (aka
Paradise Oskar), a young musician who’d repre-
sented Finland at the 2011 Eurovision Song
Contest.
“The process was hard in the beginning,
because I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Ehn-
ström says. “I ended up writing one song in
Finnish and one in Swedish before I was ready to
write the final, English one. After writing the first
two songs, all the pressure was gone, and I think
that’s why it was so effortless to write the third
song, which turned out to be the most simple
and honest one.” Eva Louhivoura
AcousticGuitar.com 49
ACOUSTIC GUITAR PROJECT

‘The stories are the dinner

and the song is the dessert.’
—DAVE ADAMS

A true believer in the potential of the Acoustic

Guitar Project to stir creativity, Adams eventu-
ally quit his day job to devote himself full time to
the project. Along the way he has been inter-
viewing the musicians as often as possible, and
Christian Velez he loves the stories they have told about not only
the creative process, but their lives as musicians.
The experience of videotaping these interviews,
many of which can be seen on the project’s
website, led Adams to the realization that “the
stories are the dinner and the song is the dessert.”
Which, in turn, has sparked the idea of bringing
the Acoustic Guitar Project to television.
In early 2013, Adams ran a Kickstarter cam-
paign to support the creation of a TV pilot and
surpassed his $20,000 goal. After filming musi-
cians in Haiti and Detroit, and even document-
ing Victor Long building the Detroit guitar,
Adams is putting together a pilot episode that
he will shop to networks.
At the time I last spoke with Adams, 75
musicians had participated in the various proj-
ects, and that number will soon grow signifi-
cantly larger—Adams plans to launch new
guitars simultaneously in 20 cities around the
world. The project website (acousticguitarpro-
ject.com) includes a form for nominating a
musician to participate.
Adams does hope to kick-start his own guitar
playing eventually—he dabbles on the instru-
ment from time to time. But in the meantime, he
draws great satisfaction from playing a role in
the creation of a song like “The Last Time,” by
Helsinki musician Eva Luohivuori, who recalls
her writing process: “I came home after receiving
the guitar, opened the case, stared at the beauti-
ful piece of wood, tried some chords, and started
the song. It wasn’t difficult at all, I felt the whole
process was so natural, and I felt like the guitar
has so much story to it.”
Adams was in his office when he received
“The Last Time” by email from Luohivuori, “It
was absolutely one of the most beautiful songs
I’ve ever heard,” he says. “I started crying at
work—I couldn’t believe that somebody had
written something so incredible for this.”
Thinking back on how the Acoustic Guitar
Project started, and where it may be going, he
adds, “If every guitar player wrote a song, only
good can come out of that. If I can facilitate a
lot of different musicians doing that, I think it’s
a real honor.” AG

50 March 2014
 BRITISH FOLK MASTER MARTIN SIMPSON
S P OTLI G HTS C H O P S—AN D H I S S O N GWR ITI N G—O N A STR I P P E D-D OWN S O LO ALB U M

BY
Y TE JA G E R K E N
 MARTIN SIMPSON
A ‘I really despair the lack of melody in
s anyone who has ever witnessed a
Martin Simpson show can attest, the
spellbinding British guitarist is capable
of solo performances that leave fellow
pickers’ jaws on the floor. Simpson’s extraor-
dinary range—from his lyrical fingerstyle
arrangements of traditional songs to his
gritty blues and red-hot slide playing—has
made him an icon of traditional folk, and
has earned him nominations for 26 BBC
Radio 2 Folk Awards, more than any other
musician. But until his latest release, Vagrant
Stanzas, Simpson hadn’t displayed his solo
style on a full studio album since his debut
LP, 1976’s Golden Vanity.
A stripped-down affair in which his acous-
tic and electric guitars, banjo, and vocals take
center stage, Vagrant Stanzas is, to put it
mildly, worth the wait. The album contains
Simpson’s strongest set of self-penned lyrics
yet. On “Jackie and Murphy,” for instance, he
tells the story of John Simpson Kirkpatrick, a
British-born stretcher bearer serving in the
Australian army in the Gallipoli campaign
during World War I, who saved hundreds of
wounded soldiers with the help of a donkey
before being killed by sniper fire. “Delta
Dreams,” meanwhile, chronicles Simpson’s
experience driving through the American
South in a 1955 Chevy Bel Air.
I caught up with Simpson by phone while
he was in Maryland to perform at Paul Reed
Smith’s Experience PRS event.
Your last couple of albums were larger
productions with bands. What made you go
back to a solo format for ‘Vagrant Stanzas?’
There were a number of things, but the most
persuasive element in doing a completely
solo record was hanging out with my friend
Richard Hawley. Richard is a massive star in
England—he’s quite ubiquitous. We get on,
and I played on his last record. We both just
love music, and we love a lot of different
music. We sit and play a lot and hang out,
throw ideas around. Usually it’s around my
kitchen table, quite literally.
We were doing that one night, and we
said, “Let’s go into the studio.” I really felt
like working on this next record, so into
the studio we went, and I started just
playing stuff.
We did a fairly long day, and in the end,
he said, “You just completely proved to me
52 March 2014
most modern guitar playing, so I avoid it,
to be honest.’
—MARTIN SIMPSON
what I thought was the case—that this next one instrument stating the melody, and you
record should be nobody but you. You don’t have your voice stating the melody; but you
need me. You don’t need a producer. All you move them in and out of each other and add
need is a really good engineer and really good little harmonizations, and it creates an irre-
microphones, and then bear in mind you’re sistible tension.
playing to me over the kitchen table.”
It was so time for me to do that, because Do you usually start with the guitar?
I’ve been doing hundreds and hundreds of Not necessarily. One tune that really put me
gigs on my own, doing what I do and honing about learning it was Leonard Cohen’s “The
it. So I came over here [to PRS], and went Stranger’s Song.” I knew it from being a kid,
into the studio with Peter Danenberg, who is and I heard a cover version of it that was so
a fantastic engineer. He surrounded me with awful, but even though it was bad, it
brilliant microphones, and off we went. On reminded me what a staggering song it was.
the first day, I did 12 tracks, and I think ten So I thought, “I’m going to start singing it to
of those ended up on the record. myself in the car.” And I couldn’t! I couldn’t
sing it, and I thought, “Wait a minute, that’s
Do you have a set approach or method a really hard tune!” So I kept battling away
to arranging a traditional song? at it until finally I could sing it. And only
No. It varies. I think one of the most impor- when I could sing it did I go to the guitar
tant aspects of learning anything is making and start to accompany it.
sure that you really know the melody you’re
working with. If there’s a fault with modern You recorded Bob Dylan’s ‘North Country
music, it’s that people aren’t really very good Blues.’ Is it harder to find your own voice
at tunes—I don’t hear great melodies very on a song that is so familiar to people?
often. I really despair the lack of melody in I’ve been singing that song since I was about
most modern guitar playing, so I avoid it, to 15. But I think part of the strength of it is the
be honest. But if you work with traditional emotional content, not just of the song but
music, or the work of the best songwriters,
the bottom line is you have this beautiful
tune, and you’d better try and do it justice.
I’m quite traditional in my approach, and
sometimes I’ll just play the tune along with
the vocal, and add little bits of harmoniza-
tion. An example of that would be “Lord
Jamie Douglas/Waly, Waly.” I recorded that
years ago as an instrumental, playing [the
melody] with my fingers. Like most of the
pieces I’ve recorded as instrumentals, it was
because, at the time, I didn’t feel like I could
sing them well enough. Over time, I’ve MARTI N SI M PSON
worked on that a lot. So when it came to this
one, I started to play it with the slide and Vagrant Stanzas
sing along with it, and immediately got Topic Records
really excited by the way it worked. You have
AcousticGuitar.com 53
 MARTIN SIMPSON

because of my feelings toward my hometown.

When I was a kid, I used to listen to that song
and thank God that what was happening in
that song was not happening in my hometown,
which is around iron mines and became a steel
town. And now, that’s exactly what it’s like. I
wanted to sing that song out of empathy for all
those northern [England] towns that are being
destroyed by the greed and worthlessness of
capitalism.

You also play a lot of banjo on the record.

Yeah. I only have one regret, in terms of my
general direction of [banjo] playing. When I
lived in the States, I wasn’t always terribly well
off, to put it mildly. So I ended up selling my
banjo, which meant that I really didn’t play for
quite a few years. And that knocked a real hole
in my clawhammer technique. When I came
back to it, I couldn’t do it the way I used to.
With regards to clawhammer, I have to
warm up massively before I can relax. But I’ve
been playing quite a bit of double thumbing,
sort of two- and three-finger banjo, which is
what I play on this record—it’s all fingerpicked.
“Diamond Joe,” for instance, uses some very
untraditional techniques—there’s actually a
four-finger roll in there, because it just made
sense to do it that way. In a sense, I’m liking the

Richard Smith the master’s master…

freedom that having to relearn the banjo has
given me. So I’m using a bunch of not particu-
larly traditional techniques to play it. I’m still
completely enamored of, for instance, Buell
Kazee, Hobart Smith, Wade Ward, and all those
fantastic players, and I get a massive amount
out of listening to them and playing with bits of
their technique. But I really feel that it’s time to
push the instrument for me.

You learned ‘Palaces of Gold’ from your

father-in-law, Roy Bailey. Were you influenced
by Martin Carthy’s version as well?
Oh yeah, Carthy’s version is fantastic! That is a
monster piece of music. It’s Leon Rosselson’s
song. He doesn’t write at all like English tradi-
tional music. He writes like a French or Belgian
chansonnier—the chord sequence is absolutely
photo: Bob Singer richardsmithmusic.com mad. Roy gave me the chords so I could accom-
One of the world’s greatest guitarists, Richard Smith first met his hero, Chet Atkins, when he was only eleven and was invited by Chet to pany him, and I looked at them and went,
play with him on stage at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London. Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed referred to Richard as their hero. “What is this?” I played it with my fingers to
My Favorite Guitars is proud to celebrate Richard with a special Martin Custom Shop guitar – the Richard Smith Signature Edition start, but then I thought, “Wait a minute, this is
000-12 fret deep-body cutaway. Crafted from Madagascar rosewood and Adirondack spruce, this guitar represents the finest C.F. just made for slide.” I’m very proud of that
Martin & Company has to offer – and in Richard’s hands, it’s nothing less than a masterpiece.
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C.F. Martin & Company instruments available from My Favorite Guitars. ‘Jackie and Murphy’ tells a remarkable story.
How did you learn about it?
June Tabor called me up and basically said, “I
saw you on television singing your songs, I love
the way you’re writing, and I want you to write
www.myfavoriteguitars.com / jon@myfavoriteguitars.com / Toll-free: 888-CFM-1833 this song.” She just said, “This song needs to be
written.” She told me the story of John Simpson

54 March 2014
Kirkpatrick and sent me a bunch of articles
about him. The more I read about him, the
more moved I was by the story. This boy and
his relationship with the donkey is an extraor-
dinary thing. This very poor Victorian working-
class kid grew up working with donkeys on the
beach, and he ended up dying with the donkeys
on the beach. It’s such a complicated story. It’s
very obvious that he should have had the
Victoria Cross (the Commonwealth countries’
highest military decoration), but it was equally
obvious that he never set out to be a hero. He
wasn’t interested in being a hero; he was inter-
ested in getting back to England! But being
down there on the beach, with carnage all
around him—it was the most shocking
slaughter. They landed on a beach which was
completely pinned down by the Turkish army,
and they just blew them to bits. The fact that
Jack lasted four weeks and rescued 300 men
under fire is absolutely miraculous. In England,
it’s not known. I haven’t met a single English
person who knew about it. In Australia, he’s a
national hero.
It was very interesting to write it, because
you have to set the background, which the first
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three verses do. I felt it was massively important
for the relationship between Jackie and
Murphy to be central to the song, and so the
second half of the song is basically the man
talking to his donkey and really making you
feel that you’re there.
Are you a disciplined writer who can sit down
and knock something out, or do you have to
wait for inspiration to come?
Both. On the bonus disc there is a song called
“The Bell,” which is about the bell at the
[1936] Berlin Olympics. I was commissioned
to write that song. It was really good for me to
have that, because it proved to me that I can
sit down and write if I have to. But I also spend
a lot of time just living with ideas in my head.
I’ll write down salient points, but then I’ll let
stuff stew and rattle around for a long time
before I finish things.
In the album’s liner notes, you talk about
discovering footage of Buell Kazee on
YouTube. How do you think that access to
historic performances like that is changing
the way traditional music is interpreted?
That’s a really interesting question. Years ago, I
used to listen to Mississippi Fred McDowell,
those really repetitive riffs that he would play.
And when he was playing in D-major tuning, he
would vamp in between the riffs, and I used to
be completely and utterly frustrated because I
could never get it to sound right—I just couldn’t
figure out what he was doing. He’d be playing a
minor-pentatonic blues, and then there would
be this vamp, and it really confused me. Then I
saw a film of him, and I went, “Oh, of course.”
What he was doing was playing the second fret
on the second string, so he was vamping on a
major sixth. It was so utterly counterintuitive. I
probably would have worked it out by now, but
this was 20 years ago!
When I was a kid in the folk clubs, I would
learn from sitting and watching people. And
because of the technology of the Internet, you
can now see the best players that have ever
been, whether it’s historical footage or some of
the stuff you can get through Stefan Grossman
and Happy Traum. But if you’re going to be
good, it doesn’t matter how much access to
YouTube or anything else you have.
You still have to work hard to get there. AG
AcousticGuitar.com 55
SPECIAL FOCUS:
PLAYING IN THE BAND
Flying solo’s good for the ego, but there’s nothing
quite like working in service of a grander collective vision.
‘Acoustic Guitar’ talks to five guitarists about what it means
to be a player in the band

58 60 62

PETE BERNHARD SAGE COOK RYAN SOLEE

Devil Makes Three DANIEL RODRIGUEZ HARVEY TUMBLESON
Elephant Revival The Builders & the Butchers

AcousticGuitar.com 57
SPECIAL FOCUS:
PLAYING IN THE BAND
Punk Unplugged
The Devil Makes Three’s Pete Bernhard
brings a punk attitude to roots music
BY KENNY BERKOWITZ
I
n his 2009 song “For Good Again,” the
Devil Makes Three guitarist and singer
Pete Bernhard offers a nostalgic look
back at his first punk band, a group
called the Shakes. “We drank and we threw
up,” Bernhard sings, “sometimes we prac-
ticed and played.”
Suffice it to say, the Vermont native has
grown a lot more disciplined since the
Shakes crashed and burned—he has
focused his efforts instead on the country,
58 March 2014
Devil may care: Lucia Turino, left, Cooper McBean, Pete Bernhard
blues, and rockabilly trio he now leads with
childhood friends Cooper McBean (guitar,
banjo) and Lucia Turino (upright bass).
Though he’s still writing about some of
the same things—smoking, drinking, and
getting wasted—Bernhard has taken a
serious turn on I’m a Stranger Here (New
West), the band’s sixth album since forming a
dozen years ago in Santa Cruz, California. It’s
the first time the group has worked with a
producer, and the new songs touch on
heavier subject matter, like addiction (“Mr.
Midnight”), loss (“Goodbye Old Friend”), and
mortality (“Dead Body Moving”).
“Working with [producer] Buddy Miller
was a blast,” Bernhard says. “Buddy lent us
some instruments, which was great, and
made a lot of interesting choices in picking
songs. It was the first time we’ve had a
budget, so it was the first time we’d gone
into a studio without having to watch the
clock. It was just an awesome way to do it,

ANTHONY PIDGEON
the best experience we’ve ever had in a
recording studio.”
I caught up with Bernhard at his home
in Brattleboro, Vermont, a town that, back
in his punk-rock days, he had once been in
a rush to leave.
What don’t you like about the tag
‘punk-folk’?
If you listen to us, at least on record, you
won’t hear a whole lot of punk. I mean, if
you see us live, you might get some of that
feeling, because that’s the sort of shows we
grew up going to. But I think it would be
misleading, because other bands are closer
to punk, whereas we’re a lot more tradi-
tional than that.
But you used to play punk.
I played bass in a punk band, and Cooper
played guitar in a punk band. That’s what
we were doing before we started this. At the
time, I was playing solo and Cooper would
come and sit in on guitar. Then Lucia joined
and we became a band.
How did you find your way to this music?
I grew up in a family with a lot of musicians
and a lot of folk music. My father, my
‘I love old music, but I
want to keep the themes
relevant to now, as
opposed to becoming a
historical reenactment.’
—PETE BERNHARD
Devil Makes Three
I’m a Stranger Here
New West
brother, my aunt, and my uncle were all
musicians. Cooper’s mom was a musician,
his dad was a musician. So we took to it
naturally, trying to do what our families
were doing. The other part was just through
listening to recorded music, old music, and
learning it as best we could. My brother was
my doorway into a lot of this, doing the big
brother thing of throwing music my way—
Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf—all
that, I got from my brother.
What’s the key to keeping your sound raw?
I don’t really know, to be honest. I’ve always
just done what I felt like doing, and this is
how it comes out. We try to make our live
shows really fun, really high energy, and to
tell the truth in our songwriting, which is
where the rawness comes from. And we’ve
always steered clear of doing songs about
old-timey things.
Like what?
You know, mining. Cotton picking. Trains.
Basically, all the things we don’t know
anything about. I wasn’t alive back then,
and that’s not what’s happening to me, so I
try to stay away from that in an attempt to
give the music new life. I love old music,
WHAT
PETE
BERNHARD
PLAYS
Guitars 1945 Stella parlor guitar with
a Lace pickup. 1954 Gibson Recording
King with a Silvertone single-coil
pickup. 2005 Martin 0015 with
a Sunrise pickup.
Strings Ernie Ball mediums (guitar).
Banjos 1928 Gibson tenor banjo with
a Fishman Rare Earth pickup and Ernie
Ball tenor banjo strings. Recent Field-
ing Rooster with a Schatten pickup and
Ernie Ball banjo strings.
Amplification Fender Deluxe Reverb
Reissue or a 65 Fender Deluxe,
depending on the show.
Accessories Shubb capos.
Dunlop medium picks.
but I want to keep the themes relevant to
now, as opposed to becoming a historical
reenactment.
What song on this album are you
proudest of writing?
“Goodbye Old Friend,” the last one.
It’s also the slowest one on the record.
Well, I write a lot of slow songs, and when I
play solo, I do the slower stuff. It’s the nature
of the band that we gravitate toward upbeat
material, but Buddy wanted a couple of
slower songs to balance out the album. And I
think we took to it pretty naturally, even if
it’s not what we typically do onstage.
What do you love about playing live?
Everything. Really, our band is a live band.
We love playing, and love touring. But this
is the first time we’ve ever enjoyed making
an album. We got that live feeling and
energy inside the studio, which is a first for
us. We all love playing live, just because of
the energy of the crowd. You know, if you
play a good show and the crowd is there
with you, there’s no better feeling. And at
this point, I think we’re all pretty addicted
to it. AG
AcousticGuitar.com 59
 SPECIAL FOCUS:
PLAYING IN THE BAND
JAY BLAKESBERG

Sage Cook, left, Daniel Rodriguez, second from right

Occupy Colorado
Elephant Revival tap into mile-high
chemistry on ‘These Changing Skies’

BY KENNY BERKOWITZ

T
he five songwriters of Elephant
Revival come from all over: Connect-
icut, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, New
York, Oklahoma, Oregon. But as a
group they sound like Colorado. “We’ve
been a lot of different things, with every-
body coming from different influences,
different backgrounds,” says guitarist/
banjoist Daniel Rodriguez, talking on the
road outside Durango. “We started out in
Oklahoma, trying to legitimately alchemize
all those influences into one sound. And
then we landed in Colorado.”
Arriving in Nederland, all their far-flung
musical influences—including newgrass,
bluegrass, Celtic, old-timey, country, and
folk—began swirling together. It took a
couple of albums—Elephant Revival (2006)
and Break in the Clouds (2010)—for the
band to find its footing, but with the new
These Changing Skies (Itz Evolving), they’re
officially on solid ground.
For all their differences, the new album
is surprisingly consistent, and the quintet—
Rodriguez, Sage Cook (electric banjo,
guitar, mandolin, viola), Bridget Law
(fiddle), Bonnie Paine (washboard, djembe,
saw), and Dango Rose (double-bass, man-
dolin, banjo)—swings as one, beautifully
blending music and message.

60 March 2014

At one end of the spectrum, there’s the
ecstasy of Rodriguez’s “Birds and Stars,” a
song about transcending human conscious-
ness. At the other, there’s the insistence of
Cook’s “The Obvious,” which was written
after a night with the Occupy movement in
Zuccotti Park. In between, there are songs
by Law, Paine, and Rose that capture a
band coming together in a whirl of moods
and sounds that defy limitation.
If I twisted your arm and asked you to
describe your music, what would you say?
RODRIGUEZ I’d say twist a little harder. No.
I’d say, well, everybody outside the band
calls it Americana or folk rock. We call it
necessity.
How did the band form?
RODRIGUEZ Bonnie and I were the first to
meet. I was running an open mic in New
London, Connecticut, and she’d traveled
from Oklahoma to visit a mutual friend.
The moment I heard her sing, I was like, “I
have to play music with this woman.” That
night, we went to the rooftop of the venue
and played until the sun came up. Then,
when I went to see her in Oklahoma, I met
Dango at a club—we threw horseshoes
together. I met Sage at a festival, heard his
sensitivities, and knew I wanted to play
with him. That’s how I felt when I met
Bridget, too, and it just so happened that
WHAT
ELEPHANT
REVIVAL
PLAYS
SAGE COOK
Guitar Bowerman Claro walnut/Adirondack
parlor with any brand phosphor bronze medium/
light strings
Banjo Nechville Moonshine open back with
turbo module and D’Addario light gauge nickel
wound strings
Amplification LR Baggs M1 pickup in the guitar.
Audio-Technica Pro 70 condenser and Seymour
Duncan SSL-1 single coil in the banjo. Both are
played through a Denver Amp Works tube amp
with a prototype model 14 lightweight Fluxtone
speaker.
Accessories Wegen TF120 and Dunlop picks.
Shub and Paige capos.
everybody felt the same way about every-
body. Dango started booking shows under
the name Elephant Revival, and we started
showing up.
Was there a point when you realized
that you were a band?
R OD R I G U E Z It developed over time,
through the commitment of traveling, but it
really began on the banks of Spring Creek
[Paine’s Oklahoma hometown], which was
the perfect setting for us to play music all
night and all day. Right on the water,
cooking meals and writing songs together. It
was a great spot to nurture a band.
What does each member bring
to Elephant Revival?
COOK Lots of different things. Bonnie, she’s
an amazing percussionist, with impeccable
timing and an amazing voice. Bridget’s got a
great violin tone, her intonation is incred-
ible. Dan is a great songwriter and instru-
mentalist, and Dango is a solid bassist with a
really great approach to writing. As far as
influences, we’re all over the board, and
that’s the beauty of it.
What do you have in common?
COOK A love for the music is the first thing
that comes to mind. But also a love for the
natural world, a love for this beautiful
planet, and a love for lifting spirits. The
‘We’ve learned that space
is another bandmate—
you can’t see it, but it’s
certainly there.’
—DANIEL RODRIGUEZ
DANIEL RODRIGUEZ
Guitar Larrivee LO3 SP with D’Addario phosphor
bronze medium gauge strings.
Banjo Nechvillle custom with Heli-Mount pot,
interchangeable acoustic and electric heads,
and D’Addario nickel light strings.
Amplification LR Baggs M1in the guitar, run
through a Grace M101 preamp; EMG telecaster
pickup and Rare Earth pickup in the banjo, run
through a Radial DI split to a Fluxtone tune amp.
Accessories Wegen picks. Kyser capo.
common thread is that we’re coming from a
place of love and thankfulness—and we’re
all humans.
As a group, what does Elephant Revival
do really well?
RODRIGUEZ Listen. That’s why we ended
up forming the band, because everybody
realized we were listening to what the songs
needed, not what the individuals wanted to
play. That’s what we do best, listen and play
off the space. Fit into the pocket. Don’t over-
play. We’ve learned that space is another
bandmate—you can’t see it, but it’s certainly
there.
What are Sage’s strengths as a guitarist?
RODRIGUEZ He’s on an endless search for
the perfect tone. I’ve found myself really
admiring what he’s doing, and well, not
copying but, yeah, I guess it is copying. Why
not?
And your strengths?
LAW Because Daniel hasn’t learned from
anybody in particular, and hasn’t really had
any direct influences, he just comes to the
guitar with his own approach, playing the
music the way he hears it. It’s very genuine,
very authentic.
Daniel, what do you think of that?
RODRIGUEZ I’ll take it. AG
AcousticGuitar.com 61
SPECIAL FOCUS:
PLAYING IN THE BAND
Goth-Grass Heroes
The Builders and the Butchers blend Goth,
Americana & folk for a sound that’s all their own
BY DAVID TEMPLETON
A
s their name suggests, the Builders and
the Butchers are something of a
curious mix. The self-described Gothic-
Americana-folk band from Portland,
Oregon, has built a singular reputation with
high-energy tunes propelled by decidedly
dark lyrics about graveyards, massacres,
funerals, hangings, Spanish influenza, and
all manner of death and despair. The group
blends guitar, banjo, mandolin, and a split-
drum kit into something that is part punk-
rock party group, part funeral marching
band, and part old-time medicine show.
62 March 2014
“To some degree,” says lead singer and
guitarist Ryan Solee, “our style, our sound,
carries a bit of the perspective of the Day of
the Dead in Mexico. The Day of the Dead is
a celebration of life. It’s not mournful.
That’s the vibe we try to exude in our
music. We do sing about death a lot, but
death is part of life. Instead of being
bummed that we all die, we just want to
celebrate that we’re even here at all.”
Having honed its sound by playing on
Portland’s streets and sidewalks, the Build-
ers and the Butchers now have five albums
Butchering music (in a good way):
Harvey Tumbleson, far left,
Ryan Solee, second from right
under their collective belt and have
amassed a rapidly growing fan-base. Their
distinctive songs are written by Solee, who
is backed by Harvey Tumbleson (guitar,
mandolin, banjo, vocals and percussion),
Willy Kunkle (bass and percussion), Justin
Baier (drums), and Ray Rude (drums,
piano, and clarinet).
A strong audience connection stems
from the group’s notoriously wild live street
shows (in the early days the band’s members
passed out toys and musical instruments to
encourage fans to play along), but as their

‘We just try to have as much fun as a band
can have with songs about death and despair.’
—HARVEY TUMBLESON
popularity grew they have strived to maintain a
level of intimacy onstage.
I spoke up with Solee and Tumbleson via
phone over the Thanksgiving holiday.
You describe your sound as ‘Gothic
Americana.’ That’s an interesting blend
of styles.
SOLEE (laughing) Well, when we say Ameri-
cana, we don’t mean that we are in any way
traditional. Our sound is not some typical banjo-
mandolin thing, though we do have banjos and
mandolins. We play traditional instruments, but
we don’t really know what we’re doing—so that
keeps us sounding, um, different.
How did you all get together, and how
did you develop your sound?
TU M B LE SON We all had bands that were
coming to a close, and I was kind of over being
in a band. I just wanted to get together with
other musicians and have fun. Then Ryan, who
was my roommate, suggested the idea of
creating a New Orleans–style funeral band, and
that sounded exactly like something I’d be into.
SOLEE As for the sound, and the kinds of songs
we play, I would say most of the guys in the
band aren’t that into love songs. We’re not into
the kind of acoustic folk music that most people
think of when they say ‘acoustic folk music.’
And—I don’t know if you’ve noticed—but
personally, I’m not terribly accomplished as a
guitar player. (Laughs again) So the two main
cruxes of the music I write are the words and the
melody. Our sound is really all about the way we
tell a story. The lyrics are what make us Gothic.
If the band was just instrumental, I don’t know
how interesting we would be.
TUMBLESON The whole band loves Ryan’s
writing, and we like helping him tell those
stories and sing those songs . . . (laughs) . . .
songs about death and alcoholism and heroin
and graveyards!
How hard was it moving your shows from
out in front of clubs to inside the clubs?
The Original
Guitar Chair
the details make the difference
Was adapting to larger and larger audiences
as big a challenge as it sounds?
SOLEE It wasn’t easy. After an audience grows
to about 80 people or so, if you are playing
unamplified, nobody can hear what you’re
doing anymore. We’d play a show without
amplification, and I’d blow out my voice and
break ten strings just trying to play loud enough
for the audience to hear me. Eventually,
begrudgingly, we plugged in.
TUMBLESON Early on, I remember going into a
local music store and saying, ‘What are the Proudly made in the USA
chances of me getting a case of mandolin
strings?’ The owner was going, ‘Why would
1-877-398-4813
anyone need a case of mandolin strings?’ But www.OriginalGuitarChair.com
the guy who worked behind the counter, who’d
seen us in some of our shows, who’d seen me
breaking strings all the time, he told his boss,
‘Yeah. He’s going to need a case.’
Eventually, we just tried to make the indoor,
plugged-in shows as authentic as we possibly
could. But let’s face it—playing amplified
acoustic music can be a giant pain in the butt.
SOLEE One way we keep a sense of those orig-
inal shows is that, in 90 percent of our shows
now, we end by going down into the audience
and playing a couple of songs without elec-
tricity. We had a talk, and we decided that as
long as we could continue to do that, then we’d
be cool. That was our compromise.
You’ve worked hard to create a strong
relationship with the audience in your live
shows. What’s your recipe for doing that?
TUMBLESON What we’re trying to do, really, is
just give the audience a good time. I love that
people come to our shows, and they’re out
there drinking and dancing and smiling to
songs about the Great Depression, about
suicide, about the end of the world. It’s actu-
ally a kind of spiritual thing, I think, to have a
good time in the face of bleak, dark, sad reality.
So, we just try to have as much fun as a band
can have with songs about death and despair.
It’s like, ‘We’re all gonna die, people! Let’s have
a party!’ AG
AcousticGuitar.com 63
 Makers & Shakers 66 Guitar Guru 69 Gear Reviews 72

AG
TRADE

Director Maxine Trump and producer

SHOPTALK Josh Granger in the Tongass

A Screaming Comes
Across the Forest
In the new documentary ‘Musicwood,’ Greenpeace & the big three
acoustic-guitar makers face off with Native American loggers
BY MARK SEGAL KEMP

T
he hum of the native Alaskan’s documents how and where we get the pace. The company cites cultural entitle-
voice is as warm and sonorous as a golden Sitka spruce wood that makes so ment to the forest based on past maltreat-
COURTESY OF HELPMAN PRODUCTIONS

plucked A string. “People say that
forests are quiet,” Tom Abel intones, as a
camera pans up, down, over, and across a
lush sea of giant Sitka spruce trees. “Forests
are not quiet. Forests are alive.”
The majestic trees in the Tongass
National Forest near Juneau, Alaska, cer-
tainly are not quiet—in fact, they’re
screaming, according to a new film that
many Martins, Gibsons, Taylors, and other
top-quality guitars sing. Musicwood tells the
tale of a thorny and complex culture
clash—three different groups with three
different perspectives on trees that are fast
becoming endangered.
First, there’s Sealaska, a Native Ameri-
can-owned logging company that has been
clear-cutting the trees at an accelerated
ment by the U.S. government, though some
in the documentary claim the company
doesn’t support the Native community.
Then, there’s Greenpeace, the environmen-
talists who are worried that clear-cutting
will permanently alter the forest’s ecosys-
tem, resulting in the loss of the great Sitkas
as well as turmoil for the area’s wildlife.
Finally, there are the guitar makers—Chris

64 March 2014

Martin, Bob Taylor and Gibson’s
Dave Berryman—who agreed to
put competition aside in an effort
to persuade Sealaska to slow down
the clear-cutting, lest the wood for
great guitars becomes extinct.
The film’s director, Maxine
Trump, was in Alaska making a
short film about Eskimos in the
Bearing Sea when she heard about
Greenpeace’s efforts to bring the
three guitar makers to the negotiat-
ing table with Sealaska. “I’ve always
loved acoustic-guitar music,” Trump
says, “so when I heard that these
three CEOs would be coming
together, it just seemed really inter-
esting and unusual. We asked if we
could go along and film it.”
Taylor agreed to take part in the
negotiations because he thought it
was important for the big three
guitar companies to work in soli-
darity on issues of sustainability. “If
we cut it all now, we will never see
these old trees again,” Bob Taylor
says. “So we met the folks from
Sealaska, who own these lands,
‘If we cut it all now,
we will never see
these old trees again.’
—BOB TAYLOR
and we became friends, even if we
did not agree at every point. They
were gracious hosts and spent a
fortune in time and resources to
accommodate our intrusion, which
in the end, is what it was. After all,
it’s private land that belongs to
them. But that doesn’t mean we
don’t have a say.”
In an interview with AG last
month, Chris Martin talked about
the guitar industry’s environmental
responsibilities. “Now that we’ve all
realized that there’s a reason they’re
called rare, exotic timbers, there’s
also the understanding that, oh
MILESTONES
man, these trees take 50 years to
100 years to grow.”
Trump has called Musicwood
“an adventure-filled journey, a
political thriller with music at its
heart,” but it’s more than that. The
film is a multilayered piece of cin-
ematic art that follows the five-
year negotiations through
cinematography worthy of a
National Geographic travel film,
painstaking guitar craftsmanship,
and clips of acoustic guitar-loving
artists ranging from fretboard vir-
tuoso Kaki King and alt-country
icon Steve Earle to eclectic experi-
mental musicians Ira Kaplan and
James McNew of the influential
indie-rock trio Yo La Tengo. Musician’s Friend
“They’re like living things. Guitar Center has named
They make noise. They have some Gene Joly president of
kind of living quality to them,” Musician’s Friend, the
Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner says of company’s online music retail
acoustic guitars about halfway into division. Joly previously served as
the film. “The notion of looking for executive vice president of stores
sustainable woods for guitars is a for GC, and he will be replaced
good idea. If the resource is threat- by Kevin Kazubowski, a
ened, then let’s think about that.” longtime operations executive
with the company.

Guitar Confab Comes to Fullerton

The Guitar Foundation of America’s 2014 convention—to be held
June 20 to June 25—has been moved from Cal State University’s
Dominguez Hills campus to its Fullerton campus. Organizers relo-
cated because of a shortage of housing at Dominguez Hills. On tap
for this year’s convention is a full schedule of lectures and perfor-
mances by artists including the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Ana
Vidovic, Paul O’Dette, Tilman Hoppstock, and Jorge Caballero.
The GFA also holds its International Concert Artist and Interna-
tional Youth competitions during the convention week. “We’re
excited to hold the convention at CSU-Fullerton,” says GFA execu-
NATALIE FIOL

tive director Galen Wixson. “The campus has a concert hall with
Two Old Hippies
excellent acoustics and there are great amenities that will create
Ana Vidvodic Breedlove and Bedell have
an atmosphere of community for our attendees.”
named Justin Morris sound
engineer for the Oregon-based
handcrafted guitar companies
Tony Rice Gets Signature Strings operating together as Two Old
When C. F. Martin & Co. discontinued its Monel strings in Hippies. Morris is charged with
the 1970s, it saddened more than a few fans of the earthy identifying ways to increase wood
sound the strings—made from a nickel-based alloy, rather yield. In his 10 years as a design
than copper-based—created. One of those sad fans was engineer—at one point he even
ace flatpicker Tony Rice, who recently partnered with served as the “virtual luthier” for
Martin to revive Monels as Tony Rice Signature Strings. Metalocalypse, the Adult Swim
The strings, which returned to the marketplace in Novem- TV show featuring “virtual band”
ber, come in Rice’s preferred medium gauge. Dethklok—Morris “has mastered
“I never liked the way the newer alloys, like phosphor the use of technology in ways
bronze, changed the tone of my guitar. They create a false that preserve organic-handmade
brightness that doesn’t suit my playing style,” Rice says. qualities while providing a more
“When I put Martin’s Monel strings back on my D-28, it consistent product,” according to
sounded just like it did in the ’60s, the way it should.” a press release.

AcousticGuitar.com 65
MAKERS & SHAKERS

Jean Larrivee, a lumberjack at heart. His guitar

company will continue milling at its Vancouver,
British Columbia, facility.

Larrivee Guitars Closes Up

Shop in Canada (Sort Of)
Canadian company relocates last guitar-making operation to California
BY GREG CAHILL

A
fter a dozen years of splitting its
operations between two facto-
ries—one in Vancouver, Canada,
the other in Oxnard, California—the
Larrivee Guitar Co. has decided the time has
come to close up shop north of the border
and move all of its manufacturing to the
Golden State.
While Larrivee opened its Oxnard facility
in 2001, and had relocated most of its
high-end production to the United States,
the company continued to make its 02 and
03 models in Canada. Jean Larrivee, the
69-year-old owner and CEO of the guitar
maker that carries his last name, says that
while leaving the country in which he
founded his company in 1967 was a tough
choice, it boiled down to a business decision
in a tough economic climate. Acoustic Guitar
recently spoke via phone with Larrivee, who
was in the midst of a European sales trip,
about the impact that the move will have on
his family business.
What brought about the initial decision
to relocate to the United States?
There are two stories here. One I can tell
you and one I can’t. I’ll tell you the one I
can. Basically, 70 percent of our sales are in
America, so in the end it was just a good

66 March 2014
 Ro
Robe
Robbeert
r Auum
man
man
ann Ba
Band
nd
d’s
‘I’m the next best thing to a Deebu
D but CDCD “Q
Qui
uiet
et Edg
et dge
ge of
of Tow
wnn””
lumberjack. I was born with Heeaarr it on
H nli
line at.
t ..
a chainsaw in my hand.’ RobertAumannBand.com
–JEAN LARRIVEE
IItt’ss a litttl
tle bi
b t fo
olkk ro occk
A li l tt
ttle
tlee bitt cou
ount
unt
ntry
rryy bluues
e

All of it Rocks
Robe
Ro
Rob ert
rrtt Au
Aum
Aum
umann
an BBa
Ban
an
and

TM

idea to move south, and I had a choice to move

to North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee
even. But, you know, because of my age I
thought I’d rather live in California, to work in

Accentuate
a place that is warm, and the climate is ideal
for guitar making. Fender is there, Taylor is
there, many of the companies are there simply
because it’s a good climate to work with
guitars. It’s drier, there’s the sun, all those
things put together. I guess the bottom line is
when you get up in the morning and it’s not
freezing cold and snowing, you know all those
things are really important to a lifestyle. It’s just
a good place to work.

Was it a difficult decision to relocate the last

of the company’s production to California?
Yeah, you know, this is something that’s been in
the works for about ten years. Once I relocated
and California became the main designing
place, it was inevitable and only a matter of
time before the Canadian plant would have to
be shifted to America. It was a tough decision
because we had a lot of employees, some who
had been with us for a long time. But now that
we’ve been here for 12 years, we also have a lot
of old employees who are now used to making
high-end guitars. Also, the main factor in the
whole thing was the company transportation
that had to go back and forth and back and
forth. For example, you had to have two of
everything, two secretaries, two this, two that,
two receptionists, two shippers—it just became
kind of obsolete.

In terms of brand identity, will customers

notice any difference now that the guitars are
all made in California?
They’re going to be a little bit different, and
probably for the better, because here in Cali-
fornia we’re only used to doing high end. Basi-
cally the big deal here is going to be savings and
that means we won’t have a price increase for at
least another year because by amalgamating the 1.800.788.5828
two companies we avoid so many different www.rainsong.com
charges. At the end what this is going to mean is
that we can save money for our clients. Escape the expected. Experience graphite.

AcousticGuitar.com 67
 The Aged Tone™ Series
“I love the sound of
vintage guitars.
I’m always the guy in the front row, enjoying
performances of the great acoustic guitarists of
our time.
I’ve devoted a career to exploring nuances of
guitar design, the intricacies of voicing, infinite
colorations of tonewoods, and the way a
guitar sounds in the hands of a gifted player.
Aged Tone guitars combine what’s in my
ear and heart to recreate a sound that’s
in my head. In a very real sense,
they’ve been in the making for
nearly 40 years.”
- Dana Bourgeois
Aged Tone Sound upgrade package
now available on most Bourgeois guitars. bourgeoisguitars.com
68 March 2014
REILANDER CUSTOM GUITAR
This Larrivee plant in Canada
has closed its doors.
So this will allow Larrivee
to be more competitive?
It’ll make us more competitive and it’ll be just
easier in general, easier and faster delivery.
But Larrivee will continue its milling
operations in Canada, is that correct?
Yes, we’re doing it right now. The important
part about milling is that the spruce and the
cedar and the maple that we cut comes out of
Canada. I’m the next best thing to a lumber-
jack. I was born with a chainsaw in my hand. I
know a lot about that.
Some guitarists online are saying that all the
good Larrivee guitars have come from Canada
and they’re suspicious of the American-made
models. What do you say to that?
That’s not true at all. The recipe is the recipe.
Remember, I’m the guy who created this whole
thing. So, consequently, when I moved south
all the engineering and all the high-tech stuff
came with me. What stayed in Canada was the
production that I had set up and it just
complied with what I did. All the innovations,
all the new stuff, anything that’s happened
over the last 12 years, that all came out of Cali-
fornia. Making guitars is a lot like making
soup, you know? You have a recipe and if you
stick to it then you get the same thing over and
over again, right? California is a little bit
different. We looked back on the history, and
we just kind of moved forward. Now, we have
some new models that we’ve been moving
forward with like the G-40 and the OM-40 and
we’ve made some incredible improvements in
bracing and also in sound.
We’re really proud of the new models that
we’ve done, and they’re selling really, really
well, especially in America. AG
Acoustic Guitar senior editor David Knowles contributed to this article.

CAN A SOFT TOP WOOD
LAST AS LONG AS SPRUCE
Q:
A:
TVYL
)HUQV>LLR(\N\Z[
GOT A QUESTION?
Uncertain about guitar care and
maintenance? The ins-and-outs of
guitar building? Or a topic related
to your gear? Ask Acoustic
Guitar’s resident Guitar Guru.
Send an email titled “Guitar
Guru” to senior editor Mark Kemp
at mark.kemp@stringletter.com,
and he’ll forward it to the expert
luthier. If AG selects your ques-
tion for publication, you’ll receive
a complimentary five-pack of Elixir
HD Light guitar strings.
GUITAR GURU
I am interested in Dana’s take on soft .\P[HY>LLR1\S`(\N^P[O
top woods, such as Western red cedar )LWWL.HTIL[[H;PT;OVTWZVU
+H]PK1HJVIZ:[YHPU(S7L[[L^H`
or redwood, both in terms of longevity :LHU4J.V^HU:[LWOLU)LUUL[[
and ‘opening up’ over time. Can he :[L]L)H\NOTHU7H[+VUVO\L
address this?” 9VIPU)\SSVJR
-VSR(Y[Z>VYRZOVWZH[
=PJRP.LUMHU >HYYLU>PSZVU*VSSLNL
—CHRISTIAN MESSERSCHMIDT ;VI`>HSRLY 76)V_ 
:JV[[(PUZSPL (ZOL]PSSL5*
.LYHSK9VZZ  
^^^Z^HUNH[OLYPUNJVT
,K+VKZVU
While cedar and redwood can be as .YLN9\I`
stiff or stiffer across the grain as 7H[2PY[SL`
spruces, they are almost always less
stiff along the grain. Cross-grain stiff-
ness plays a significant role in deter-
mining treble response; long-grain ‹;YHK:VUN>LLR1\S`
stiffness greatly affects bass response. ‹*LS[PJ>LLR1\S`
‹6SK;PTL>LLR1\S`
DANA BOURGEOIS It’s no surprise, then, that cedar and
‹*VU[LTWVYHY`-VSR>LLR1\S`(\N
redwood guitars have a reputation for ‹4HUKV
sparkly treble voices and boomy, less-defined bottoms. ‹-PKKSL>LLR(\N\Z[
X-braced steel-string guitars are entirely reinforced with
bracing that runs diagonal to the grain, offering relatively
little long-grain support. When used in conjunction with tra-
ditional X-bracing, cedar and redwood tops must be made
Elliott Capos
thicker than spruce to achieve equivalent long-grain stiff-
Crafters of the
Elliott Pushbutton, Elite and
ness. At heavier dimensions, cedar and redwood become
much too stiff across the grain, resulting in a thinner, less “ The McKinney” by Elliott
complex high-end response. Fortunately, cross-grain stiffness
can easily be reduced by thinning at the edges of the lower
bouts and/or by lightening the outermost “finger” braces.
So, what does this have to do with your question?
Perhaps because of their lighter weight, cedar and
redwood tops tend to “open up,” or break in, relatively
quickly. However, unless the builder pays adequate attention
to longitudinal stability, cedar and redwood tops sometimes
open up beyond a point that many players consider optimal,
losing low-end definition as the guitar continues to be played.
In addition to tonal issues, insufficient long-grain stiffness
can lead to top-bellying, which, if significant, can cause the
bridge to lift. Softer fibers, especially cedar, can easily get lost
in the bridge-regluing process—after several regluings, a
viable glue joint may become impossible to maintain.
Well-constructed cedar and redwood guitars can have
exceptionally full tonal signatures as well as the balance,
responsiveness, and punch of spruce guitars. I have found
that redwood, somewhat heavier and stiffer along the grain More than just a capo...
979-421-9393
than cedar, is the better match for my building style, often
exhibiting headroom approaching that of spruce. But that’s
just me. Other builders, such as Lowden and Olson, make ElliottCapos.com
cedar guitars that put smiles on many players’ faces, and will Elliott Capos (Phill Elliott)
also last as long as their spruce cousins. AG American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa.
See our website for information on all other banjo
and guitar styles and sizes, with pricing.
Dana Bourgeois is a master luthier and the founder of Bourgeois Guitars in Lewiston, Maine.
AcousticGuitar.com 69
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 KITBAG

Righteousness & Humidity

You wouldn’t let your lips get cracked and chapped. Don’t let your instrument
BY ADAM PERLMUTTER

I
f you live in a region where the winters
are cold and the heaters old, you’re famil-
iar with dry, cracked skin. But low humid-
ity also takes a toll on the sensitive woods in
your acoustic guitar collection. Unless your
guitar is made from a nontraditional material,
such as carbon fiber, it’s susceptible to
warping of the top and back, or even cracks,
that can devalue it, at best, and maybe even
ruin it.
Fortunately, you can minimize or avoid
the damage to your instrument by controlling
the humidity in its environment. In a home
whose heating system includes a built-in
humidifier, this is obviously easy to do. But
without such a luxury, you’ll have a harder
time maintaining a constant acceptable mois-
ture level. After all, you are literally “in
heated competition with a radiator that
drains moisture [from] the environment,”
says Manny Salvador, a master luthier and
repairman based in New York City.
Salvador has a few tips on how you can
measure and maintain the right level of
humidity on a budget. You don’t necessarily
need a $200 certified hygrometer, such as
those made by Abbeon, although they are
generally more accurate than cheaper digital
models, such as the $25 model available
through Radio Shack. “As long as the unit is
reasonably accurate, you should be just fine,”
says Salvador, who swears by the inexpensive ‘In the dead of winter, you’ll that fit inside an instrument’s case (be sure to
follow directions). But Salvador says you can
AcuRite he uses at home.
The optimal relative humidity level for
be surprised how quickly also make your own humidifier from common
household items. “Just put a wet sponge, one
guitars is between 45 and 55 percent. But
don’t worry if this seems impossible—many
that thing dries out.’ that’s roughly three-by-five [inches], in a
plastic baggie with holes in it,” and put it in
guitars can thrive in conditions that are a bit —MANNY SALVADOR your case, he says. “In the dead of winter,
less moist. “In my heated shop in the winter, you’ll be surprised how quickly that thing
I maintain a humidity level of 40 percent, if dries out and needs to be re-soaked.”
I’m lucky,” Salvador says. “In a typical build- room. Those are widely available in home- Whether you use an electric humidifier
ing of apartment dwellers with an old-fash- supply stores. Because the water receptacles or a sponge, you probably won’t be able to go
ioned heating system, I’d be happy with a on the units require constant refilling, it’s for more than a couple of days without
level of 35 to 45 percent.” best to keep all your guitars in the same replenishing the water. This presents a chal-
room, Salvador says; that way, “you don’t lenge to vacationers or professionals whose
Get a Humidifier have to deal with the hassle of maintaining work takes them away from home.
One method of humidification for guitars multiple humidifiers.” “It would be a good idea to have a friend
involves using an inexpensive electric If you have only one guitar, a number of check in on the humidity situation,” Salvador
humidifier that is small but powerful enough companies—Dampit, Planet Waves, and suggests. “Remember that your guitars are
to control the environment in an entire Oasis, to name a few—offer good humidifiers just like plants craving water.” AG

AcousticGuitar.com 71
NEW GEAR

MARTIN CEO-7

F
or the seven limited-edition models of the
CEO series, which debuted in 1997,

From the Top Martin’s chief executive officer, C.F. Martin

Modeled after a vintage Gibson small-body,

the CEO-7 is a no-frills stunner
BY ADAM PERLMUTTER
IV, has designed new guitars that merge the
company’s time-honored construction and mate-
rials with notable departures from tradition. The
dreadnought-size CEO-2 (1998) featured a solid-
spruce top, but laminated Macassar-ebony back
and sides, while the CEO-3 (1999), also a dread-
nought, had a laminated Brazilian-rosewood
body and the type of gold-top finish usually
reserved for electric guitars. With its Adirondack-
spruce top and mahogany back and sides, the

72 March 2014
 VIDEO REVIEW AT ACOUSTICGUITAR.COM

With its Adirondack-spruce top and

mahogany back and sides, the new CEO-7
is a bit more traditional.

The guitar’s distinctly The tuners are Golden Age

sloped shoulders are Relic Nickel 2517.
inspired by the mid-1930s
Gibson L-00.

The bridge and fingerboard

are made from the traditional
Martin choice of ebony, not
the rosewood Gibson used.

BODY 14-fret 00 body. Solid Adirondack SADDLE 2 5/16-inch string spacing

spruce top with scalloped bracing.
Solid-mahogany back and sides.
NECK Select-hardwood neck. Black-ebony
fingerboard and bridge. 24.9-inch scale.
NUT 1 ¾-inch width.
at saddle.
TUNERS Golden Age Relic Nickel
2517 tuners.
PRICE $2,999 list/$2,299 street.
Available left-handed. Made in the USA.
martinguitar.com.

new CEO-7 is a bit more traditional than its
predecessors. And the short-scale, small-
body guitar is winner in all regards.
Golden-Era Design
In a sense, all of Gibson’s flattop guitars are
indebted to Martin designs, but with the
CEO-7, Martin tips its hat to Gibson.
Inspired by a mid-1930s L-00, this CEO is a
no-frills flattop with distinctively sloped
shoulders, a 14th-fret neck-to-body junc-
tion, and a sunburst soundboard finish. It’s
built from a traditional selection of all-
solid tonewoods—tightly grained Adiron-
dack spruce for the soundboard and
mahogany for the back, sides, and neck.
(The Martin literature specifies the neck
wood as “select hardwood.” In the event it
becomes too difficult to source mahogany,
an appropriate substitute, such as Spanish
cedar, will be used.) The bridge and finger-
board are made from the traditional Martin
choice of ebony, as opposed to the rose-
wood Gibson used on the L-00.
Other traditional details on the CEO-7
include a dovetail neck joint, which
requires a great deal more handwork than
the mortise-and-tenon joint found on some
contemporary Martins. A peek inside the
CEO-7 reveals 1/4-inch, scalloped X-brac-
ing made from solid Adirondack spruce and
cloth reinforcement strips on the sides—
period-correct specs also found on models
in Martin’s Golden Era and Vintage series.
Like its vintage counterparts, the CEO-7
has a handsomely Spartan appearance with a
minimum of embellishments. The instrument
lacks back and end strips—ornamentation is
limited to ivoroid binding on the body and an

AcousticGuitar.com 73

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New Gear | AG Trade
While the guitar might look like a Gibson, it most
definitely sounds like a Martin—and a fine one at that.
ivoroid heel cap, plus a simple black-and-white
rosette. On the fingerboard, the “old-style 18”
inlays start at the fifth fret and get progressively
smaller as the frets ascend. The headstock’s ebony
cap sports the old-fashioned script Martin logo,
and off-white plastic buttons on the open-geared
tuning machines lend a nice vintage effect,
though it’s slightly goofy that the metal aspects
are aged, while the rest of the guitar looks so
shiny and new.
As expected of a new Martin, the craftsman-
ship on the CEO-7 that I reviewed was tip-top.
The 20 frets were smoothly crowned and pol-
ished, without any roughness, and the bone nut
and saddle were precisely notched. The body’s
nitrocellulose lacquer finish has been rubbed to
a faultlessly even gloss, and the soundboard’s
sunburst pattern is perfectly shaped, though
perhaps wanting for a greater range of variation
in color as it progresses from dark brown to
warm orange.
Light & Loud
When I first removed the CEO-7 from its hard-
shell case, I was wowed by its lightness—a
mere three pounds, 11 ounces—and its perfect
balance between neck and body. The neck has a
modified-V profile and feels substantial, but not
cumbersome. Its short scale, at 24.9 inches,
makes it easy to play stretchy chords and travel
swiftly up and down the neck, while the rela-
tively wide nut, 1 3/4 inches, allows plenty of
room for the fretting fingers and fingerpicking.
The neck was comfortable in all regions and
somehow felt broken-in.
The CEO-7 has a sound to match its fine
playability. It is loud with great projection for
such a small, light guitar, perhaps owing to the
Adirondack top. The bass is uncommonly tight
and robust, while the overall sound is lush, with
crisp fundamentals and rich overtones as well as
excellent sustain and natural reverb. While the
guitar might look like a Gibson, it most definitely
sounds like a Martin—and a fine one at that.
Because small-body guitars, especially the old
Gibsons the CEO-7 is modeled on, are often used
for fingerstyle blues, I played through some
Robert Johnson and Blind Blake transcriptions.
The CEO-7 fared well in this context—the sound
was well balanced between the registers, and the
guitar was responsive to fretting- and picking-
hand nuances. It sounded just as good in standard
as it did in open-E and open-A tunings, which
Johnson used. Fingerpicked improvisations in
slackened tunings like open-C also benefited from
the guitar’s rich resonance and impressive bass.
 Back in standard tuning, I scared up a plec-
trum to see how the CEO-7 performed as a
strummer. Playing a tune in heavy rotation with
my children, Cat Steven’s “Moonshadow,” with
its open-position cowboy chords, the guitar had
a commanding, rhythmic voice. It is also har-
monically rich, making it satisfying to strum
even the most basic material.
It also sounded excellent for a little jazz
comping and chord-melody playing.

Martin’s Gibson
The CEO-7 is a cleverly conceived guitar that
uses a golden-era Gibson design as the inspira-
tion for a vintage Martin that never existed. It is
a highly playable and excellent-sounding little
guitar whose voice is suitable for a range of
applications.
At $2,999 list, the CEO-7 is not cheap, but it
is a bargain relative to other small-body Martins
with vintage features, like the $3,599 00-18V or
the $4,499 000-18 Golden-Era 1937.
A peach of a guitar, the CEO-7 begs for
inclusion as part of Martin’s standard line.
AG

Adam Perlmutter is an Acoustic Guitar contributing editor who writes,

transcribes, engraves, and arranges music for numerous publications.

AcousticGuitar.com 75
NEW GEAR

TAYLOR 814CE

3 piezo sensors
embedded in the saddle

S
trum an open G on the latest edition
of Taylor’s 814ce and you’ll feel the

Introducing the Expression back vibrate against your chest. The

instrument—which comes in the familiar

System 2 & a Lively Guitar grand-auditorium body shape—has a

Taylor’s popular 814ce grand auditorium
gets a makeover & a brilliant new pickup
BY TEJA GERKEN
low-end depth and looseness that makes it
sound like a larger guitar. What’s more,
with its super-low action and relatively
shallow, half-rounded neck, it’s virtually
effortless to play. Once you hit the strings,
it’s immediately evident that you’re
handling a very “alive” guitar.
AG got an exclusive look at the 814ce,
which not only features new construction
ideas, but also introduces a brand-new

76 March 2014
 VIDEO REVIEW AT ACOUSTICGUITAR.COM

The 814CE grand

auditorium has the familiar
16-inch wide body with The mother-of-pearl
Indian rosewood back fingerboard inlay features
and sides. new shapes, but the
headstock remains the same.

To promote environmental
consciousness, Taylor uses
ebony with non-black color
characteristics.

A super-tight grained sitka spruce top with
standard x-bracing on the inside
BODY Grand auditorium body with
14-fret neck. Solid Sitka spruce top.
Solid Indian rosewood back and sides.
X-bracing. Gloss finish.
NECK Bolt-on NT mahogany neck. Ebony
fingerboard and bridge. 25.5-inch scale.
1 3/4-inch nut width. 2 3/16-inch string
spacing at saddle. Enclosed nickel tuners.
ELECTRONICS Expression System 2 uses
3 piezo sensors embedded in the saddle
STRINGS Elixir HD Light phosphor bronze
strings (gauged .013, .017, .025, .032, .042,
.053).
PRICE $4,378 list street. Made in USA.
taylorguitars.com.

Taylor pickup that’s been designed from the
ground up.
Background
First introduced to celebrate Taylor’s 20th
anniversary in 1994, the grand auditorium
has become the company’s most popular
guitar style. Although it’s available at
almost every level within Taylor’s model
hierarchy, the acoustic-electric, rosewood-
and-spruce 814ce in particular has become
a runaway success. Taylor’s 800-series has
received the occasional facelift over the
years, and the company constantly refines
its construction techniques. But two
decades after the grand auditorium’s intro-
duction, Bob Taylor and his company’s
master luthier, Andy Powers, decided to
completely revamp the line, introducing an
updated version of Taylor’s patented
Expression Pickup System.
New Pickup System
The 814ce’s pickup system is big news for
Taylor, as it uses an entirely different
approach from the company’s previous
Expression System, and it eventually will be
installed on other steel-string models in the
Taylor line. (The company will continue to
offer its original ES by special order).
Developed by long-time Taylor engineer
David Hosler, the Expression System 2
leaves behind the previous combination of
a magnetic pickup and a soundboard trans-
ducer, relying instead on an original
approach to placing piezo crystals in the
bridge. The basic concept is as simple as it
is clever: Instead of placing the pickup
under the saddle, the Expression System 2
uses three piezo sensors that are embedded
in the bridge behind the saddle, touching it
between each of the three pairs of strings.
This fundamentally changes the informa-
tion the pickup reads, as it senses the back-
and-forth rocking motion of the saddle,

AcousticGuitar.com 77
 New Gear | AG Trade
The newly designed piezo sensors can be seen behind the bridge.
rather than its up-and-down movement. The
pickup’s elements are mounted in inserts that
are adjustable from the top of the bridge with a
small hex-key, and which extend through the
bridge to the inside of the guitar.
The Expression System 2 uses the same
three-knob control unit (bass, treble, and
volume) in the upper bout as its predecessor
and the same combination endpin-jack/battery
access panel in the endblock, though the
preamp has been redesigned. “This system is
more dynamic, and its ability to accurately
translate what is happening with the guitar is
definitely better,” Hosler says.
All New, but Familiar
In terms of construction, the latest 814ce
successfully fuses the old with the new. The
guitar has the familiar 16-inches-wide body of
the older versions, with Indian rosewood back
and sides, a Sitka spruce top, a tropical
mahogany NT neck, and ebony fingerboard and
bridge. The high-quality rosewood shows deep,
three-dimensional grain patterns and a rich
chocolate color, and the spruce top is super-
tightly grained. To promote a more ecological
use of ebony resources, Bob Taylor has begun
using ebony with non-black color characteris-
tics, so the new 814ce’s fingerboard has several
light-brown areas, details that bring a beautiful
Win free guitar strings! and individual quality to the guitar.
Follow us on Twitter at What’s different about the latest incarnation?
twitter.com/juststrings
Besides some cosmetic touches, including
78 March 2014
maple binding, new shapes for the mother-
of-pearl fingerboard inlay, and a rosewood pick-
guard, there are also some interesting things
going on inside the instrument. A peek inside
the soundhole reveals that the 814ce’s four
back braces are glued at an angle instead of
being perpendicular to the guitar’s centerline,
and this leads to a significantly slanted appear-
ance. “By angling the bracing, I’m changing the
stiffness of the back, and how it interacts with
the top,” Powers says.
The top bracing follows a standard X-config-
uration, with two tone bars, but it’s paraboli-
cally tapered, rather than scalloped, as on
earlier Taylor grand auditoriums. “The top
bracing is a bit lighter than before, but it’s just
as strong,” Powers adds.
Taylor is also using hide glue and fish glue
in areas where they make a tonal difference.
What’s more, the company has applied the
finish at about half the thickness of its standard,
which should result in less dampening of the
vibrating surfaces.
A Versatile Player
Saying a guitar has great versatility can mean
that it’s good at a lot of things but doesn’t excel
at anything in particular. Not so with the 814ce.
This instrument is just as suitable to strumming
chords as it is to playing jazz voicings in stan-
dard tuning or fingerpicking in alternate
tunings. There’s a reason why the Taylor 814ce
has been a popular choice for players who want
 




 
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one guitar to do everything, and this latest
version just raises the bar.
The fretwork is perfect, and I appreciate
that Taylor chose non-flamed maple for the fin-
gerboard binding, as highly figured wood
binding often makes the position markers hard
to see. The only thing I would criticize for my
personal playing style is that the rough surface
of the rosewood pickguard caused some
unwanted sounds as I rested my pinky while
flatpicking.
Plugged into an AER Compact 60 amp, the
new Expression System 2 offers the immediacy
and presence of a typical saddle pickup, but it
has a warmer attack than most, and a complex
tone, overall. The feedback threshold is high—I
was able to get the AER up to ear-splitting
volumes while directly facing the speaker—and
the system is able to sense sound from the entire
guitar body. I’m not crazy about the location of
the phase-reversal switch—it requires reaching
through the soundhole to a small switch
mounted to the preamp’s circuit board—but I
find it effective in dialing in an optimal sound.
There’s no question the 814ce is a modern
classic. And while updates to anything familiar
sometimes leave you longing for the previous
version, it’s hard to imagine that players would
argue that Taylor’s latest changes haven’t made
AG
a great guitar even better.
Teja Gerken is a contributing editor to Acoustic Guitar
and a performing musician.
"'# #
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AcousticGuitar.com 79
NEW GEAR

An Acoustic
for All Seasons
The Peavey DW-3 is a budget guitar for the
beginner, frugal professional, or player who
normally jams electric
BY ADAM PERLMUTTER

R
ight out of the box, Peavey’s new DW-3 is a fantastic player, with a
medium-sized, C-shaped neck that’s comfortable to grip in all regions,
even for extended periods. What’s more, the sleek low action allows
you to play both barre chords and swift single notes with ease. Any type of
guitarist would be happy with this instrument, but it’s an especially good choice
for those who primarily play the electric.
For example, when I plugged the instrument into a Fender Acoustasonic
amp, I got some nice acoustic-electric tones. With a 50/50 blend of the DW-3’s
pickup and built-in mic, and the equalizer set flat, the electronics did a fair job
of reproducing the instrument’s natural acoustic sound, and tweaking the EQ
allowed for a satisfying range of tones, from dark jazz timbres to shimmering,
ethereal textures.

Pioneered Use of Computers in Guitar Design

In 1965, Mississippi-based Peavey Electronics began offering its trademark
roadworthy guitar and bass amplifiers at modest prices. But by the 1970s, sales
of Peavey amps were threatened when such companies as Gibson and Fender
began giving dealers harsh incentives to sell their exclusive amplifiers.
Peavey fought back, and later that decade was making its own guitars and
basses. In doing so, the company pioneered the use of computers — specifi-
cally, CNC equipment — to produce guitars of remarkably consistent build and
quality at much lower prices than its competitors.
Peavey’s guitar line now includes Composite Acoustics carbon-fiber
instruments, the Composer series of modern parlor guitars, and the DW
series of dreadnought acoustic-electrics—most, save for the Composite
Acoustics instruments, sell for well under a grand.

Smart Dreadnought Design

The DW-3 is built on the traditional dreadnought platform. The soundboard
is solid Sitka spruce; the back and sides, rosewood; the three-piece neck,
mahogany; and the fretboard and bridge, rosewood. Our review model is built
from a selection of attractive tonewoods. The rosewood’s wavy striations range
from a deep purple to a warm brown, and the spruce is finely and evenly
grained. On the neck, though, the three pieces could have been better matched
in terms of grain pattern and coloring.
The DW-3 is a handsome guitar, without an overabundance of ornamen-
tation. The binding on the body, fingerboard, and headstock is not cellulose
but wooden—a classy touch that is echoed in the material of the heel cap
and truss-rod cover. The laser-etched rosette has a lovely wooden-look-
ing motif, encircled by fine brown lines; the bridge, a cool, idiosyn-
cratic shape that calls to mind the back pocket on a pair of Levi’s. And
gold tuners with ebony-like buttons add a subtle touch of elegance.
Craftsmanship on the DW-3 is good for a guitar in its price range.

80 March 2014
 VIDEO REVIEW AT ACOUSTICGUITAR.COM

PROMOTE YOUR
The frets are nicely crowned and polished,
though just a hint jagged at the edges of the fin- GUITAR EVENT
FOR FREE
gerboard. The glossy natural finish is smoothly
buffed and polished, without any apparent
orange-peel effect. There’s a smidgen of excess
glue where the edge of the fingerboard meets
the soundhole—a small flaw mitigated by the
tidy construction on the guitar’s interior and
hardly a deal-breaking detail.

Notes Ring Clear & True

When you strum an open-E chord forcefully on
the DW-3, it doesn’t necessarily sound like a
cannon—the hallmark of the finest dread-
noughts. It does have a decent amount of
volume, though, and is nicely balanced between
the registers, from a sturdy bass to a clear treble.
The guitar has adequate sustain and a hint of
natural reverb. When played moderately loud,
all of the notes, from those on the open string
to those at the 20th fret, ring clear and true,
with perfect intonation. There is, however, a
hint of buzzing on certain fourth-string notes
when they are accented.
Strummed with a pick, the DW-3 is respon-
sive and full-sounding, whether you’re playing
in a traditional mode, like Carter strumming, or
in a newer manner, with 16th-note syncopa-
tions and percussive muting. Cowboy chords
and fully fretted jazz chords sound equally
attractive, and single-note lines have a robust
presence. And the guitar doesn’t muddy up
AT A GLANCE
PEAVEY DW-3
BODY Dreadnought body. Solid Sitka
spruce top. Mahogany back and sides.
NECK Mahogany neck. Black ebony
fingerboard and bridge. 25.5-inch
scale. 1.625-inch nut width. 2 1/8-
inch string spacing at saddle. Natural
gloss finish. Chrome die-cast tuners.
STRINGS Light-gauge phosphor-
bronze strings (.012–.053).
EXTRAS Onboard microphone and
undersaddle piezo pickup with blend
knob. Preamp with chromatic tuner.
Hardshell case.
PRICE $549.99 list/$399.99 street.
epiphone.com
when played in slackened tunings like open-G
and DADGAD, though the tone does start to get
a tad murky in open C—an effect that may be
avoided with a heavier set of strings
Though fingerstyle guitarists tend to prefer
1.75-inch nuts, the relatively narrow (1.625-
inch) nut on the DW-3 is friendly to this tech-
nique, with ample room for the picking fingers
to do their work. For everything from basic
Travis picking to Bach arrangements, the gui-
tar’s fingerpicked voice is pretty. In standard
and a variety of open tunings, the notes blend
together smoothly.
The Electronics
The DW-3 comes with Peavey’s onboard micro-
phone and under-saddle piezo pickup. A preamp
interface mounted on the guitar’s bass side
includes controls for blending the mic and
pickup; mini dials for bass, middle, and treble,
all plus or minus 12dB; notch and phase con-
trols; a low-battery-check LED; and a built-in Want to attract more
digital tuner with a display that illuminates in players to an event you’re
green when a note is in tune. A 1/4-inch output hosting?
jack is on the lower right bout, along with an
XLR out and a pop-out compartment for the AcousticGuitar.com is your platform for
nine-volt battery that controls the electronics.
spreading the word.
The Price is Right Simply enter the relevant details
Peavey’s DW-3 might not be the finest hand- and hit “submit” to share your event
crafted dreadnought, but at a $400 street price, with thousands on the official
this solid-topped instrument is a great value in a ACOUSTIC GUITAR website.
highly playable, nice-sounding, and good-looking
package. What’s more, it comes recommended
It’s fast, easy, and free.
for club work and for home or studio recording.
As such, the DW-3 makes an excellent choice for
either a beginner or frugal professional. AG
Get started today; visit
Contributing editor Adam Perlmutter transcribes, arranges, and AcousticGuitar.com/Events
engraves music for numerous publications.

AcousticGuitar.com 81
NEW GEAR

A True Road Warrior

Red-Eye Twin two-channel preamp is optimized for multiple instruments
BY TEJA GERKEN

O
ne look at the Red-Eye Twin preamp
is enough to confirm that this
machine was built with serious
road-warrior abuse in mind. It comes in a
sturdy metal box and its layout is about as
minimal as an early Mustang engine. Guitar-
ists who perform in public night after night
need a preamp that can withstand punish-
ment, and this model fits the bill, albeit for a
certain kind of guitarist.
Do you need one? If you’re amplifying
your guitar with a pickup, you’re already
using a preamp at some point in the signal
chain. Many pickup systems include a
preamp that’s built right into the guitar, and
there’s also a preamp stage in the actual amp
or PA that you’re plugged into. However,
using a dedicated external preamp as part of
your setup can lead to better tone and more
control over your sound.
Virtually all makers of acoustic-guitar
pickups offer their own takes on an external
preamp, with the most common being a com-
bination of preamp, equalizer, and direct-
input box. But while some guitarists wouldn’t control, a low-profile toggle switch, an effect
step on stage without plugging into one of loop (using two 1/4-inch mono jacks), and
these multi-function units, others feel that an XLR output. Take off the back panel
having too many functions can get in the way (where the batteries live) and you’ll find
of providing a pristine tone. There are also more bulletproof workmanship on the
guitarists who feel that having myriad inside: All of the jacks, pots, and switches
buttons and controls on a preamp makes it are mounted directly to the chassis, neatly
hard to dial in a good sound quickly. All this connected to the lone circuit board via wires,
inspired the Austin, Texas, electronics engi- making it impossible to damage the circuit
neer Daren Appelt to design a line of simple with external pressure.
preamps with interesting features for his Fire-
Eye Development Inc.
Bulletproof Workmanship
Fire-Eye’s Red-Eye Twin preamp is a dual-
From the first strum,
channel unit designed for players who switch
between two instruments onstage. Its two-
it was evident this preamp
channel nature essentially results in a mir-
ror-image duplication of its sparse primary
added a dose of richness,
features: two 1/4-inch mono inputs, two
sturdy foot switches, and two sets of controls
with the trebles sounding
for gain and treble (mounted to the left and
right sides of the unit, where they can’t be
fatter and rounder.
stepped on). There’s also a boost gain

AT A GLANCE

RED-EYE TWIN
SPECS Two-channel preamp.
1/4-inch inputs (high-impedance,
one million ohms, maximum
one-volt peak-to-peak level), gain,
and treble control for each channel.
Foot switches for channel selection
and gain boost. Selector switch for
A/B or simultaneous use of both
channels. Effects loop. Low-
impedance (600 ohms) XLR output.
Phantom power or nine-volt battery
operation. 4.5 x 3.5 x 1.25 inches.

PRICE $325 list; $295 street.

Made in USA. fire-eye.com

82 March 2014
 VIDEO REVIEW AT ACOUSTICGUITAR.COM

Separate Gain Units

To get acquainted with the Red-Eye Twin, I
grabbed a custom Martin OM guitar with an
L.R. Baggs Dual Source pickup system and
plugged it into my Mackie 1202 mixer, which
fed a pair of M-Audio BX5 studio monitors.
From the first strum, it was evident this preamp
added a dose of richness, with the trebles

PLAY YOUR BEST

sounding fatter and rounder. Next, I used the
same guitar, but plugged into an AER Compact
60 amp. Again, the tone was rich, full, and
more harmonically complex. The Red-Eye’s
treble control is useful for limited tone adjust-
ments, and it was effective for dialing out the If there’s one thing we musicians know,
it’s that there’s always room for improvement.
high-end brittleness in this setup’s sound.
Players who perform with two instruments
will appreciate being able to set separate gain
levels (to achieve matching volume), and to
SONGWRITING BASICS
alternate between the two using a foot switch. FOR GUITARISTS
The Red-Eye’s toggle allows you to select COMPLETE CARTER-STYLE
EDITION GUITAR BASICS
between channel A and B, or to have both inputs ACOUSTIC BLUES GUITAR BASICS START ENHANCING Care & Maintenance
Acoustic Guitar
active at once. In either setting, one of the foot WRITING CARTER-STYLE
COMPLETE EDITION

switches can be used to engage a boost function SONGS STRUM

PATTERNS
(which you can set using a central dial) for solos
EL
or musically quieter passages. TESTAMENT Q Learn how to keep your guitar
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D’AMELIA
Q Step-by-step instructions for
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One limitation is that the Red-Eye Twin Whether your tastes lie in the
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Expert advice by Acoustic
Delta, Chicago, Piedmont, or
Texas blues, learn the Guitar authors including
Frank Ford, Charlie Hoffman,
doesn’t have a dedicated 1/4-inch output. The SPANISH REPERTOIRE
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rhythmic patterns used by
acoustic blues guitarists.
and Rick Turner
Detailed photos and video
FOR CLASSICAL GUITAR
Q

Q Complete arrangement of the Spanish

Includes
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by composer Miguel Llobet
Presented in tab and standard notation
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By Patrick Francis By Orville Johnson By Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers By David Surette
but you end up in an either-or scenario. For
example, I like to use a preamp’s 1/4-inch Q Presented in tab and standard
standard notation
guitar piece “Bolero” by composer Julia
Q Complete
p arrangement
g of the Spanish
p

FOR
O CCLASSICAL
SS C GU
output to feed my onstage amp, while sending SPANISH REPERTO Q

the XLR signal to the PA, but with the Red-Eye Q

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There’s no question the Red-Eye Twin is a pro- Available for purchase and download at store.AcousticGuitar.com
fessional-quality piece of gear. With its lack of
–OR–
sophisticated onboard tone controls, it is best
suited for players who rely on a sound engineer Stream any lesson or course instantly at Acoustic Guitar Unlimited.
to make final tweaks in the PA. The unit’s dual- Visit AcousticGuitarU.com/Free to start your FREE one-month trial today!
instrument approach and crystal clear, signal-
enriching sound is sure to deliver great tone on
stage, and its foolproof operation is welcome
news for players who prefer plug-and-play to
lots of knob-twisting. AG

Teja Gerken is a contributing gear editor.

AcousticGuitar.com 83
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1-800-343-7857
MerleFest and WCC are 100% Tobacco Free.
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84 March 2014
 Neil Young 87 Growling Old Men 89 Doc Watson 90

MIXED
MEDIA

Shelby Lynne p 88

AcousticGuitar.com 85
 PLAYLIST
DICK BARNATT/REDFERNS

All Mined Out included the previously released Massey Hall

show but also a 1968 acoustic performance,

Is the fourth live acoustic set from Live at Canterbury House, and a 1969 acoustic
performance recorded at the Riverboat in
Neil Young’s early solo years too much Toronto. What’s more, seven of the 13 tracks

of a good thing? on Cellar Door—including such popular and

enduring guitar-based songs as “Old Man,”

I
“Don’t Let it Bring You Down,” and “Down by
the River”—are repeats from the superior
n many ways, Live at the Cellar Door, the latest solo-acoustic
Massey Hall show. Not that there aren’t special
edition of Neil Young’s Archives Performance Series, is the flip
moments here; one is the aforementioned
side of Live at Massey Hall, released as a single disc six years
Springfield song, and another is a piano rein-
ago. The shows were recorded within two months of each other.
terpretation of “Cinnamon Girl”—a song we’re
But while Massey Hall found Young playing to an audience of
used to hearing jumped up with fuzzy power
nearly 3,000 at the majestic Toronto venue in early 1971, Cellar
chords—that works in such a small room.
Door was cobbled together from six nights in late 1970 at the
legendary Washington, D.C., club that seated fewer than 200.
The difference in the venues is evident on the first track, “Tell
Me Why,” whose familiar opening licks draw scattered applause
rather than the roar that greeted the song in Toronto. Still, the
‘Cellar Door’ is the
Neil Young
Live at the Cellar Door
intimate setting is nice. In between tracks, you hear table chatter,
coughs, laughs, and random comments from audience members,
flip side of ‘Massey Hall.’
Reprise such as the guy who yells “Far out” when Young eerily runs his
fingers across the strings inside his nine-foot Steinway grand
piano before introducing his lovely Buffalo Springfield–era drug Still, the release of more live acoustic solo
ballad “Flying on the Ground is Wrong.” material from this period begs at least two ques-
But for casual Neil Young fans—or even not-so-casual tions: Why wasn’t Live at the Cellar Door
ones—are those details worth plunking down more cash for yet included in the box set, and what other live
another live set from the early days? After all, Cellar Door acoustic performances will those who already
arrives little more than four years after the release of Young’s own the box set be asked to spring for next?
massive Archives Vol. 1: 1963–1972 box set, which not only —MARK SEGAL KEMP

AcousticGuitar.com 87
Playlist | Mixed Media
Nathan Bell
Blood Like a River
Stone Barn
Country-folk documents life
on the hardscrabble margin
“My hands are hard and my poetry plain,”
rasps Nathan Bell on “Fade Out,” one of 12
thumbnail sketches, each pared down to the
sharpness and subtlety of a haiku on Blood
Like a River. Bell’s rustic voice, which
couples the grain of the Band’s Levon Helm
with the gruff troubadour’s lilt of Kris Krist-
offerson, lays bare lives on the hardscrabble
margin: The perpetual motion of a jittery
everyman in “Turn Out the Lights,” young
service men and women reduced to a
handful of ruins in “Names,” the ordinary
heroism of choosing to love in “Really
Truly,” and Bell’s own encounter with a
desperate gunman in the autobiographical
“Trigger.”
On this rock-tinged country-folk set,
Bell’s guitars (both steel and conventional)
entwine in a Gordian knot of dual fret-
work, with mandolin and tenor ukulele
occasionally subbing for one of the guitars.
His playing—and it’s a one-man show
here—encompasses delicate rhythm,
mountain drones and surging melodic fills.
Bell’s rhythm work is closely miked, so you
hear his fingers hitting every string. His
fingerpicking marries thumb blues to his
guitar’s mimicry of frailing banjo, uncoiling
with percussive impact on the choruses.
This contrast, with a harsh buzz snapping
back to spiraling filigree, mirrors the
tension in Bell’s storytelling.
With his crisp, handcrafted playing and
intimate, incisive lyrics, Bell documents an
America teetering on the edge. Yet he
leavens this view with wonder, gratitude
and compassion. —PAT MORAN
88 March 2014
Shelby Lynne
Thanks
Everso
Folk, rock, country & gospel
swaggers with gratitude
Major labels never knew what to do with
Shelby Lynne. In the 1980s, Epic Nashville
tried to turn the Alabama ingénue into a big-
haired, video-friendly firecracker. In the ’90s,
Island tried to turn her into an alt-country/
pop/R&B hipster. Lynne was all of that and
none of it—at least not a major label’s view
of it. So, it wasn’t suprising that her music
began to make more sense when she started
putting it out on her own. She played and
produced everything on 2011’s Revelation
Road, and penned some of her best songs,
including one in which she finally addressed
the murder-suicide of her parents by her
father. Heavy, heavy stuff.
And now this: a simple, five-song EP that
finds Lynne testifying to some higher power
in a living-room jam session of vigorously
strummed acoustic guitars, mandolins, a little
dobro and pedal steel, and some fuzzy, David
Lindley–like lead work that sounds straight
off Jackson Browne’s Running on Empty.
Lynne puts her best Bonnie Raitt bravado to
opener “Call Me Up,” as a quartet of gospel
backup singers, including veteran Maxine
Waters, harmonizes behind her. She brings
her pop/R&B sensibility to “Forevermore,”
but it’s homemade, acoustic pop. The gospel
“Walkin’” finds Lynne praying “on bended
knees”; the slow, contemplative folk-jazz of
“Road I’m On” puts her at a fork; and the title
track has her expressing gratitude to either
the Good Lord or some eminently patient
lover. She’s a rascally country singer, to be
sure, but you won’t find Lynne fitting in with
Taylor Swift or even Miranda Lambert. And
she’s definitely not a hipster, although when
her fingers are fluttering over the strings of
her 1920s Stella acoustic guitar, Lynne is
hipper than God. —MARK SEGAL KEMP
Reinier Voet & Pigalle 44
My Room
Pigalle
Musical alchemist mixes modern
jazz with Django Reinhardt
Gypsy jazz can be a stodgy, hidebound genre
tethered hand-and-foot to the style laid
down in Paris in the 1930s by founders
Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli.
Then, along comes a guitarist of the caliber
of Reiner Voet, who injects more modern
jazz sensibilities into the grand old lady,
bending without breaking the traditional
mold. He makes a tune as tired and over-
played as “Minor Swing” sound fresh and
alive again.
A musical alchemist, Voet demonstrates
a thorough grounding in classic Gypsy jazz,
but infuses his lines with the alerted scale
mentality of the bebop Django had started
to pursue before his death. Great originals
emerge, like the lush title track that sounds
instantly familiar, and Voet and friends rei-
magine the classic sounds of unheralded
Reinhardt originals like “Vamp” and Babik
Reinhardt’s “Abandon” with fresh instru-
mentation and arrangements. Hardcore
fans of the Quintette du Hot Club de
France will dismiss the occasional electric
guitar and 21st Century arrangements
here, but much like how bluegrass has
evolved since the days of Big Mon and
Flatt & Scruggs, Reinier Voet and Pigalle
44 are pioneering a new course for authen-
tic Gypsy jazz. —DAVID MCCARTY
She’s a rascally country singer,
to be sure, but you won’t find
Lynne fitting in with Taylor Swift
or even Miranda Lambert.
 Growling Old Men Steve Baughman Steep Canyon Rangers
Chicken Feed & Baling Twine Farewell to Orkney Tell the Ones I Love
Snake River celticguitar.com Rounder

Full bluegrass sound with guitars
& mandolin but no fiddles or banjo
Growling Old Men do just about anything
but growl—they purr, they harmonize, and
they play impeccably classy string-band
music. The duo—singer and guitarist John
Lowell, singer and mandolin player Ben
Winship, with help from bassist David
Thompson—plays an upbeat, flawlessly
executed mix of traditionals (“Lazy John”),
catchy originals, and inspired takes on other
artists’ songs (Jeffrey Foucault’s “Double-
trees,” Dirk Powell’s “Waterbound”). The
group manages to create a full bluegrass
sound without the benefit of traditional
instruments like fiddles or banjo. Instru-
mental “Elzik’s Farewell” showcases stylish
picking and the contrasting textures of
Winship’s spikey mandolin and the deep,
rich tone of Lowell’s guitar.
The originals seem just as classic as the
classics: Winship’s lyrics are humorous
(“monkeybars on an old dirt bike, monkey
wrench keeps the wheels on tight, come on
baby let’s monkey around,” on “Toolshed”)
while Lowell’s tend toward the poetic (“It’s
up the draw and through the sage and to
an old lime shack,” on “Wild Jack”).
Winship also plays with the trio Brother
Mule, while Lowell put out a highly
regarded solo album, I’m Going to the West,
in 2012. But with this commanding duo
performance, the only growling to be
heard will likely come from listeners—
wanting more. —CELINE KEATING
A master of dynamics, color & timing
offers a game changer
Once in a while an album comes along that
can alter your thinking about guitar music—
Farewell to Orkney is one of those. On his
fourth solo release, Baughman (an AG
contributor) extends the essence of Celtic
beyond traditional tunes to hymns, a clas-
sical piece, and originals. Baughman is a
virtuoso player of both fingerpicking and a
technique he calls “clawhammer guitar”
(“Wasilla Weed”), based on banjo playing.
He works in exotic tunings as well. Then
there’s his unparalleled ability to mimic the
sound of a fiddle roll (“Trip to Bally-
shannon”). These innovations and tech-
niques are only part of what makes
Baughman’s playing so special. He’s a master
of dynamics, color, and timing. Witness the
way he lingers on notes in “Leitrim Queen,”
the resonance he achieves on “Fretless Guitar
Piece,” with its dronelike bodhran effects,
and the contrasting bright and dark tones he
brings to “Coilsfield House.” Throughout, the
lush, ringing tones of his guitar saturate the
music with emotion. Especially on the title
track, he captures the deep sadness of all
farewells and the brooding landscape of
Orkney, an island on the northern coast of
Scotland. “Andantino/Planxty Bongwater III”
is an astonishing tour de force with intensity
sustained for over six minutes. A must for all
lovers of guitar and especially Celtic music,
Farewell to Orkney will bring Baughman’s
music to a broader audience. —C.K.
Steve Martin’s NC picking buddies
reach for a wider audience
Since teaming up with actor, comic, and
sometime banjo player Steve Martin four
years ago, the Steep Canyon Rangers have
been steadily evolving toward a sound that
owes as much to country and singer-song-
writer folk as it does to trad bluegrass.
The original quintet of Mike Guggino
(mandolin), Charles Humphrey III (bass),
Woody Platt (lead vocals and guitar), Nicky
Sanders (fiddle), and Graham Sharp (banjo)
is still going strong. But they’ve added drums
(on eight of these 12 tracks), shifted away
from three-part bluegrass harmonies, and
increasingly focused their songs on reaching
a wider audience. In the process of playing to
millions of people, in person and on televi-
sion, they’ve become first-rate entertainers,
and the best tunes on Tell the Ones I Love—
like “Camellia,” “Bluer Words Were Never
Spoken,” and “Stand and Deliver”—are as
catchy as anything you’ll hear on main-
stream-country radio. Primary songwriter
Sharp, who generally takes a backseat to
Martin on banjo, re-emerges as the driving
force on the band’s own albums. Platt and
Guggino take advantage of the new percus-
sion to push well beyond rhythm. Sanders,
always the virtuoso, sounds better than ever.
And along with writing some of this set’s
strongest tunes, Humphrey provides the
foundation for all this change, pushing their
music toward an even bigger future.
—KENNY BERKOWITZ

NEW & Tony Trischka Various Drive-By Truckers Holly Golightly Dean Wareham Johnny Cash
NOTEWORTHY Great Big World From Another English Oceans & the Brokeoffs Dean Wareham Out Among
Look for these other Rounder World: A Tribute ATO All Her Fault Double Feature the Stars
notable releases: to Bob Dylan Transdreamer Legacy
Buda Musique

AcousticGuitar.com 89
Playlist | Mixed Media
A Portrait of an American
Bluegrass-Guitar Icon
Doc Watson’s daughter pays tribute
to the flatpicking genius she called dad
BY DAN GABEL
Doc & Merle Watson
Milestones: Legends
of the Doc Watson Clan
4-CD collection gives listeners
a remarkable seat in the
Watson music circle
docwatsonmilestones.com
90 March 2014
5 ESSENTIAL
DOC WATSON ALBUMS
Doc Watson
Self-Titled
1964
Doc Watson
Southbound
1966
Doc Watson &
David Grisman
Doc & Dawg
1997
Doc & Merle Watson
Doc & Merle
1998
DAVID GAHR/GETTY IMAGES
Doc Watson
Sittin’ Here
Pickin’ the Blues
2004
turned her hands to creating the 50 collages
included in the box set’s 74-page package.
Made up of more than 500 family photos and
Watson’s hand-written notes, these collages
form a touching visual backdrop for the audio.
“I love all of the collages,” she says, “but I think
my favorite is the last one, a fall scene in the
woods and Frosty Morn is onstage at MerleFest
with Merle’s son, Richard, sitting in for Merle.
In the background, you see Merle leading
Daddy away. I did that before Daddy passed. I
had no idea how symbolic it was going to be.”
Before they died in 2012, both Doc and
W
Nancy’s mother, Rosa Lee Watson, got to hear
ith Milestones: Legends of the Doc Watson Clan, the late the completed project, making the release of
flatpicker’s daughter Nancy Watson has created a Milestones bittersweet for Nancy.
vast, intimate portrait of one of the great families in Aside from Doc’s jaw-dropping flatpicking
American roots music. Combining Watson-family stories with 92 and harmonic work, the most remarkable cuts
previously unreleased musical recordings spanning from the mid- unearthed by Nancy, are those from the early
1950s to 2006, the four-disc set holds countless treasures for fans 1950s of Doc playing his Gibson Les Paul electric
of Doc and Merle Watson. guitar on popular songs from that time. His
This set weaves remembrances and stories from five genera- plugged-in recording of “Stardust” evokes jazz-
tions of Watsons with tracks played and recorded by members of guitar pioneer Eddie Lang, and sticks mostly to
the family during informal gatherings and picking sessions. gentle, swinging backup with a few lively single-
Mixed alongside Doc’s private home recording sessions, the col- note phrases as punctuation.
lection gives listeners a remarkable seat in the Watson music With Doc’s tender singing, many of these
circle. tunes would have been completely at home on
Decades in the making, Nancy started compiling these record- ’50s popular radio. Also particularly poignant is
TEXT © 2014 DAN GABEL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ings in 1969 as part of a folklore project at East Tennessee State son Merle’s strong and steady strum on “Merle’s
University. By 1999, she had hundreds of hours of reel-to-reel and Vaughan’s Tune,” recorded the day after his
tapes, as well as her cousin Kermit’s own recordings. “I had all mother, Rosa Lee, taught him his first chords.
this material—64 CDs and several cassettes, because I wore out Merle’s stellar slide-guitar playing on such
the CD copier—and I thought, how am I going to do this?” she tracks as “Peach Pickin’ Time in Georgia”
says. “But I looked for guidance and the first piece came into my further demonstrates his quick development as
mind, so I wrote that down. Then the second piece came to me. an artist. With Watson’s father-in-law, Gaither
“It was more like it came through me than it came to me.” Carlton, on fiddle, and brother Arthur Watson
Slowly, she pieced Milestones together, often sharing the on banjo, Milestones is an intimate anthology of
results with her father. By 2009, Nancy had completed the proj- one of the most influential families in Ameri-
ect’s timeline, and while the audio was being mastered, she can-roots music. AG

More Than Just ‘Pickin’ & Grinnin’
Buck Owens recalls a life at the center of country music
BY GREG CAHILL
T
he Beatles scored a major hit with the
tender 1964 ballad “Yesterday,” but
few recall that this acoustic classic was
the B-side to a cover of Buck Owens and the
Buckaroos’ spirited country chart-topper “Act
Naturally,” which became a vocal vehicle for
drummer Ringo Starr on the Help soundtrack.
That the Fab Four, during the heyday of
Beatlemania, would pay homage to Owens
underscores the lofty status of this Texas-born
California country star, who would hit the top
of the country charts 21 times.
During his long career, Owens shaped
the famous Bakersfield Sound—he vaguely
describes it in the preface, but staunchly
refuses to analyze it. That vibrant music
scene was centered in the then-dusty Central
Valley truck-and-farm center of Bakersfield,
California, the freewheelin’ counterpart to
the slicker Nashville country-music machine.
Owens, of course, had a foot in both camps,
appearing regularly on the hit music-and-
comedy TV show Hee Haw, where he recalls
standing in a mock cornfield and trading
“pickin’ and grinnin’” jokes with guitarist
and show regular Roy Clark.
Owens, who also hosted The Buck Owens
Ranch Show, addresses the negative impact
Hee Haw had on his image and record sales:
“To tell you the truth, I had a pretty good
idea of what I was walking into at the time,
but I did Hee Haw anyway, hoping to be the
one guy who wouldn’t be affected by it.”
A decade in the works—Owens, who
died in 2006, taped his memoir between
1990 and 2000—this engaging book bene-
fits from Owens’ photographic memory and
keen powers of observation. It’s filled with
behind-the-scenes tales of the Grand Ole
Opry, musicians and movie stars (from Eliza-
beth Taylor to Social Distortion), recollec-
tions of Bob Wills and other key Western-
swing figures, his revival after singing on
Dwight Yoakam’s cover of Owen’s “Streets of
Bakersfield,” and the evolution of country
music in the mid-20th century.
Owens was bright and inventive
and blessed with a razor-sharp
wit. And he led a red-hot band
that blended the best of country
and rock ’n’ roll and came to
personify country twang.
It also captures what Yoakam, a Buck
Owens’ acolyte, in the introduction calls
Owens’ “enormously charismatic directness.
“Buck’s genius lay in his stellar gift for
succinctness and simplicity,” Yoakam opines.
The simplicity of that message—and his
association with Hee Haw—has left some to
dismiss Owens as a country bumpkin.
BOOKS
Buck ‘Em:
The Autobiography
of Buck Owens
Buck Owens
(with Randy Poe)
Backbeat Books
Big mistake.
Owens was bright and inventive and
blessed with a razor-sharp wit. And he led
a red-hot band that blended the best of
country and rock ’n’ roll and came to per-
sonify country twang. The Buckaroo talent
pool ran deep: it featured fiddler and Tele-
caster player Don Rich, guitarist Doyle
Holly; steel players Tom Brumley, Jay Dee
Maness, and Buddy Emmons; and pianoman
Earle Poole Ball; to name a few.
It’s clear from the book that Owens never
recovered from the 1974 motorcycle acci-
dent that led to the death of Rich, who pro-
vided key elements to the Buckaroos’
signature sound. “I couldn’t accept the fact
that he was gone,” Owens writes. “I was in
such bad shape [after the funeral] that I was
convinced he’d show up one day like
nothing had happened.”
As for “Act Naturally,” it pops up again
toward the end of the book. In 1989, after
his duet with Yoakam helped to revive his
career, Owens and Starr traveled to Abbey
Road Studio to re-record “Act Naturally.”
The single garnered Grammy and CMA
nominations, losing both times to a duet of
“Tears in My Beer” by Hank Williams Sr. and
Hank Jr.
“Hey, nobody wants to lose, but it’s really
hard to beat the guy who’s probably the
most revered figure in the history of country
music,” Owens concludes, “especially when
he makes a record after he’s been dead for
36 years.” AG
AcousticGuitar.com 91
JONI MITCHELL
SO FAR …

THIS COLLECTIBLE, HARDCOVER

SONGBOOK INCLUDES:
• Over 500 pages with 167 songs from 18 landmark albums
• Accurate transcriptions
• Guitar tunings and chord fingerings approved by Joni
• An easy-to-use, cross-referenced tuning index
• Full-color historic photos of Joni and friends throughout her career

SCAN HERE
FOR MORE
Visit alfred.com/jonicomplete
 EVENTS

Steep Canyon Rangers

Tell the Ones I Love

March
SXSW 2014
Austin, Texas
MARCH 11–16
sxsw.com/music/shows/2014
The 2010 compilation album We Are All
One, In the Sun: A Tribute to Robbie Basho,
produced by Buck Curran (one half of the
husband-and-wife singer-songwriter team
Arborea), made just about every Top 10 list
band for Steve Martin, but this North Caro-
lina bluegrass band already had a firm
grasp on that high, lonesome sound long
before the comedian-cum-banjo player
came along. Their Nobody Knows You
(Rounder) picked up a Grammy Award last
year for Best Bluegrass Album. Catch them
at the Suwanee Springfest, when the event
celebrates its 18th year with a lineup of
incredible Americana and bluegrass acts Arborea

around, including Acoustic Guitar’s. Hot on
the heels of their fifth album, 2013’s Fortress
of the Sun (Esp-Disk), Arborea has joined
the lineup at the legendary SXSW arts
festival in Austin, Texas, which is back for its
27th year. The music lineup promises some-
thing for everyone, including the Devil
Makes Three, Shakey Graves, Whiskey
Shivers, and many others.
Suwannee Springfest
Live Oak, Florida
MARCH 20—23
suwanneespringfest.com
The Steep Canyon Rangers— Woody Platt
(guitar), Mike Guggino (mandolin),
Charles Humphrey III (bass), Nicky
Sanders (fiddle) and Graham Sharp
(banjo)—gained notoriety as the backup
that also includes the Avett Brothers, Del
McCoury Band, Punch Brothers, Jason
Isbell, Aoife O’Donovan, and Southern
Soul Assembly, among others. The site of
the festival is surrounded by miles of
hiking, biking, and horseback-riding trails,
so you can enjoy the great outdoors as well
as great acoustic music.
Savannah Music Festival
Savannah, Georgia
MARCH 20–APRIL 5
savannahmusicfestival.org
This acoustic-heavy, two-week festival in
downtown Savannah is so huge, it spans a
half-dozen separate venues during its late-
March/early-April dates. It features Aoife
O’Donovan, the Lone Bellow, the Avett
Brothers, and Chris Thile and Mike
Marshall, to name a few. The festival also
offers a five-day Acoustic Music Seminar
under the direction of Mike Marshall, with
such instructors as Martin Taylor, Julian
Lage, Bruce Molsky, and Jerry Douglas.
Kacey Musgraves
U.S. / Canada
MARCH 1–28
www.kaceymusgraves.com
Rising country star Kacey Musgraves
continues to “follow her arrow” through
March with her North American tour. With
dates throughout the West Coast, Midwest,
and South, as well as appearances in
Canada, March will be a busy month for
the young artist, who recently won New
Artist of the Year at the 2013 CMAs.

AcousticGuitar.com 93
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Acoustic Remedy Cases, acousticremedycases.com . . . . . . . . 70
Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., alfredpublishing.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Alvarez Guitars, alvarezguitars.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Ameritage Carrying Cases, ameritage.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Boucher Guitars, boucherguitars.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Bourgeois Guitars, pantheonguitars.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Bread & Roses, breadandroses.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Breezy Ridge Instruments, Ltd., jpstrings.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
California Coast Music Camp, musiccamp.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Mark Campellone Guitars, mcampellone.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
D’Addario & Company, daddario.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 84
Elliott Capos, elliottcapos.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Epiphone Guitars, epiphone.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Ernie Ball Music Man, ernieball.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Folk Alliance, folk.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
G7th, Ltd., g7th.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
96 March 2014
s Rocky Road to Dublin
s Paddy’s Green
Shamrock Shore
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Available now at
store.AcousticGuitar.com
Gibson Montana, gibson.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Guitar Center, guitarcenter.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Guitars in the Classroom, guitarsintheclassroom.org . . . . . . . . . 34
Guitar Humidor, guitarhumidor.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Hearts’ Home Acoustics, heartshomeacoustics.com . . . . . . . . . 48
Hill Guitar Company, hillguitar.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Homespun, homespun.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Huss & Dalton Guitar Company, hussanddalton.com . . . . . . . . 55
Juststrings.com, juststrings.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75, 78
Steven Kaufman Enterprises, Inc., flatpik.com . . . . . . . . . . .74, 79
Kyser Musical Products, kysermusical.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Levy’s Leathers, levysleathers.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
L.R. Baggs, lrbaggs.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Luthier Music Corp., luthiermusic.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Luthiers Mercantile, lmii.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Mandolin Bros., Ltd., mandoweb.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
C.F. Martin & Co., Inc., martinguitar.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Masecraft Supply Co., masecraftsupply.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Merlefest, merlefest.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
The Music Emporium, themusicemporium.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
IRISH
SONGS
FOR GUITAR
COMPLETE EDITION
Q Learn to play 15 traditional Irish
classics
Q Includes tab, standard notation, Includes
chord 85 minutes
diagrams, and complete lyrics
of video
My Favorite Guitars.com, myfavoriteguitars.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Original Guitar Chair, originalguitarchair.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Paul Reed Smith, prsguitars.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Pierre Bensusan, PierreBensusan.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Pimentel & Sons, pimentelguitars.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
The Podium, guitarrodeo.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
RainSong Graphite Guitars, rainsong.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
RealChords, realchords.com.au . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Robert Aumann Band, robertaumannband.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Saga Musical Instruments, sagamusic.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Seagull Guitars, seagullguitars.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Sheppard Guitars, sheppardguitars.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Shubb Capos, shubb.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Soloette, soloette.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Stewart-MacDonald’s Guitar Supply, stewmac.com . . . . . . . . . 34
The Swannanoa Gathering, swangathering.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Sweetwater Sound, sweetwater.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Tanglewood Guitar Co., tanglewoodguitars.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Taylor-Listug, Inc., taylorguitars.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
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GREAT ACOUSTICS

You Might Know

This Luthier Before
He Was L.R. Baggs
Singer & songwriter Janis Ian’s 1978 Baggs
is chock-full of design surprises
BY TEJA GERKEN

W
hen singer-songwriter Janis Ian wanted a new guitar in 1978, she
looked to Lloyd Baggs. Known today as an innovative designer of
acoustic-guitar pickups and electronics—most guitarists are
familiar with his L.R. Baggs brand—he was, at the time, a successful luthier
whose forward-thinking guitar designs had caught the fancy of such players as
Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, and Graham Nash. Ian, best known for her 1967
ballad of interracial love, “Society’s Child,” and the 1975 megahit “At Seven-
teen” was looking for a small-bodied instrument with a scalloped fingerboard.
The resulting guitar, pictured here, ended up being No. 19 of the 32 guitars
Baggs built between the mid-’70s and 1982.
“I started using it as soon as I got it,” Ian remembers. “It’s the main acous-
tic single-line guitar throughout the [1979] Night Rains album, especially at Janis Ian
the end of ‘Have Mercy, Love.’ It has great vibrato!”
Even though the guitar looks like your standard 12-fret 00, it is actually
chock-full of design elements and ideas that were radical in the late ’70s and
that would even be unusual today. Among these is a neck with a fully scalloped
fingerboard and composite construction. Baggs hollowed out the rosewood neck
(“like a canoe,” he says) until all that was left was a 1/8-inch thick skin. Into this
channel, he laminated alternating pieces of 1/8-inch thick spruce and .015-inch
sheets of carbon graphite.
“This makes for an extremely stiff and stable neck with a resonant fre-
quency above the highest fundamental,” Baggs says. “Consequently, there are
no dead notes on the neck.”
The guitar has a spruce top and South American rosewood back and sides.
Baggs attached the top to the rim using the traditional Spanish method of
individual blocks, rather than kerfing; he says the Spanish method leads to less
stress. The guitar’s top is braced with a modified fan pattern, with a cross-
brace sharply angled toward the treble side. “This gave enough stiffness to
support the trebles, and allowed the bass side some extra flexibility for good
low-end response,” Baggs says.
The instrument’s headstock inlay was inspired by Chinese artist Chang
Dai-chien and executed in abalone. French polished, and outfitted with an L.R.
Baggs LB6 pickup and Micro Drive preamp, it was a frequent partner for Ian’s
performances, both live and in the studio. “I also used it on the next two
albums, Restless Eyes [in 1981] and Uncle Wonderful [1983], and on the road
through that period,” she says. AG

Teja Gerken is a contributing editor to Acoustic Guitar and a performing musician.

Acoustic Guitar (ISSN 1049-9261) is published monthly by String Letter Publishing, Inc., 501 Canal Blvd., Suite J, Richmond, CA 94804. Periodical postage paid at Richmond, CA 94804
and additional mailing offices. Printed in USA. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Pitney Bowes International Mail Services, P.O. Box 32229,
Hartford, CT 06150-2229. Postmaster: Please make changes online at AcousticGuitar.com or send to Acoustic Guitar, String Letter Publishing, Inc., PO Box 3500, Big Sandy, TX 75755.

98 March 2014
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