Wood and wire. Old
strings, new strings. Solid wood and
plywood. It’s no matter to me,
really. Bare fingers and flatpicks,
fretted notes, chords, and the old broken top of a wine bottle. An acoustic guitar sings to my soul. There is nothing quite like the sound of one.
The beautiful things that John Fahey did with the acoustic
guitar speak to me because he did them within the realm of the wire and the
wood and he did them solo. Fahey was one
of many that brought the acoustic into it’s own. It wasn’t just for folkies anymore.
Blues artists, all but forgotten, were also part of this
acoustic awakening. They played the
instrument so skillfully that they sounded like a band. And thankfully the blues artists that had
slipped into obscurity were being sought out at the time and Fahey played a part
in that as well.
Fahey is one of the important figures in setting the
acoustic guitar on a course true to it’s nature and potential. He wanted to play it like a
one-man-symphony. Thankfully there was
enough interest in his music to keep that course for many decades and to this
day it seems as strong as ever.
Today begins yet another Fahey Week here at
Delta-Slider. I hope you enjoy it. I’ll start it off with this crazy/cool John
Fahey guitar holder effigy. Seems like I’ve
seen it before but I’m not sure so I thought I would post it.
Check this out at the Jim Pallas site
Fahey Week! Great!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure whether that thing would encourage me or discourage me to play...
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