PLAYMUSIC’S TOP 5 TAPPERS… WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU CHECK OUT THESE INCREDIBLE ACOUSTIC GUITARISTS.
Gareth Pearson Welsh wizard whose solo rendition of Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean (complete with moonwalk!) earned a personal invitation to play with Aussie acoustic god Tommy Emmanuel.
Antione Dufor French Canadian whose trademark red bandana tied behind the guitar nut serves as a string mute to control the magestic resonance of his thunderous Stonebridge CR23 signature guitar.
Erik Mongrain
Another canny Canadian, Erik’s stunning piece ‘Airtap’ has clocked up over 5 Million his on YouTube to date. The 31 year old plays with his guitar balanced on his lap, creating complex chords and melodies with the dexterity of a concert pianist!
Michael Hedges
The late Michael Hedges was a perfectionist who introduced a new dynamic to the acoustic guitar whilst also being one its most thrilling players. Loved and respected in equal measure by rock players including Pete Townshend and Steve Vai (whose own work Hedges equally admired) Hedges remains a hugely influential force in the new acoustic movement.
Newton Faulkner A Glastonbury festival regular, the 26 year be-dreadlocked Brit was a pupil of the late Eric Roche and based his playing on Roche’s own intricate yet powerful percussive style. A new LP is currently in the works and is expected to be out in summer 2011.
Firstly; the players. This style, alongside new internet tools, has given everyone with an internet connection the ability to attempt to learn to play like Andy McKee or Preston Reed. It has also meant those new guitarists can get instant recognition and feedback. You only have to spend twenty minutes surfing YouTube to be amazed by the ability of new and usually very young guitarists emulating this style and more to the point a lot of them are making it their own. Support is not wavering, Andy Mckee says “more and more people are coming to my shows”, so the audience is out there and they are willing to come to your gigs! The mix of huge audience’s, accessibility to tuition material and instant uploads means that we are sure to see a constant steady flow of brilliant new talent in this exciting genre. Finally, the instrument; what has this genre done to or for the acoustic guitar itself? I pinned down Mike Watts from the North American Guitar Company to get his thoughts, his reply to this question was instant, describing it as “a player led revolution. Guitar players are demanding new things, and luthieres are offering solutions. The flat top steel strung guitar is now being approached in a non mass produced way”. Mike went on to highlight how since the 1970’s and the artists on Windhan Hill Records, the guitar has been seen as a significant and serious solo instrument that demands attention and individual specifications. Andy and Preston both play one-off custom instruments, specially crafted just for them. Preston, for example is now working with Bailey Guitars to get that custom built attention from a smaller luthier, and of course Andy is famous for working with Greenfield Guitars. So there is an obvious steady move towards personalized instruments by players whose style demands some interesting variations on the standard flat top as we know it. But, it’s important to understand this love for custom built instruments is not a snobbery thing, and nor is it purely a necessity. Preston Reed was keen to point out “I could do what I do with any guitar” and Andy also happy to admit “I’ve played standard guitars my whole life, until the last few years”. So ladies and gentlemen, the gates of opportunity are open for you. Get experimenting, get practicing and don’t worry if you haven’t got ten Grand in the bank! PM
still relatively unknown compared to today, there was still only one home page, so anyone in the world looking at YouTube would arrive at the same page. By December 2006, the video to ‘Drifting’ had gone viral, drawing literally millions of views. As Rob put it himself, “it was perfect timing!” This does raise another question, what musical factors make people like this style of music it so much? When discussing this it’s important to remember we are not talking just about guitarists, we are talking about music fans in general. This suggests that whilst the technical elements are manner from heaven for the guitar geeks, it is the more musical and emotional qualities that seem to have captured the attention of the public at large. When I ask Andy Mckee the mildly cheeky question, ‘is ‘Drifting’s success all down to flashy technique?’ he very calmly replies “I have no doubt it helped create interest. But if that was all it was it would have been a flash in the pan.” I don’t doubt him for a second, Andy’s incredible musicality should never be underestimated. Rob Poland very clearly expressed “if I’m not moved by it, I’m not going to sign it”. With reference to the extraordinary ‘Drifting’ video Rob says “the visuals (technique) brought the people in, but the music made them fans. In the long run you have to have the music to have commitment from fans”. It’s obvious that the visually and sonically stunning techniques deliver plenty of ‘wow’ factor, but as Andy and Rob both insist, it really wouldn’t have won such a long-term audience if it didn’t have any musical substance. Ultimately when these videos were released on mass, the techniques had only been seen by a handful of folk, so in retrospect it seems almost inevitable they would be so successful. The helping hand this early explosion had, thanks to YouTube, is still being felt. Thanks to CandyRat’s YouTube channel you can discover some amazing new acoustic guitarists taking the world by storm via the internet.
THE FUTURE: THE PLAYERS AND THE GUITARS! There is no doubt that the new acoustic instrumental movement has made
some serious waves, reaching millions of people and changing the perception of the steel strung acoustic guitar. Once almost solely viewed as a finger picking pop/folk instrument the steel string acoustic guitar is now recognized as a standalone solo instrument that stands shoulder to shoulder with violins and other classical solo instruments. But what does it mean for the future of guitars and the players?
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