How John Fahey Changed Acoustic Guitar Forever • Acoustic Tuesday 132

You might not have heard of John Fahey. If you’re lucky, you’ve heard his music. If you’re really a guitar geek, you’ve realized how revolutionary he is…

In fact, John Fahey is so revolutionary I’m dedicating a whole episode to him. There are few artists who have transformed the landscape of fingerpicking as John Fahey has.

In this episode of Acoustic Tuesday, I’m digging into the life of John Fahey, as well as 10 guitarists who have been heavily influenced by John Fahey.

If you want to get inspired, then this episode is for you. And, whether you’ve heard of John Fahey before or not, you’re going to love hearing about the storied life of one of my favorite guitarists of all time.

As always, you can watch Acoustic Tuesday at 10 am every Tuesday.

This Week on Acoustic Tuesday

10 Guitarist Carrying-on John Fahey’s Legacy

John Fahey stressed fingerpicking in his playing. His musical genre, American primitive, was defined by pulsing picking patterns and harmonically rich melodies.

So, why would John Fahey love these artists? Because they are a continuation and preservation of his style of acoustic guitar playing.

If you’re ready to experience the vanguard of American primitive guitar in the last few years, you’re going to love this list.

10: Glenn Jones

From the alternate tunings to the dissonant melodies, Glenn Jones embodies American primitive guitar. If you want to see what this genre is about, be sure to listen to Glenn Jones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qd7pWITPQQ

If you want to know more about Glenn Jones or purchase one of his albums, be sure to visit his artist profile at Thrill Jockey.

Link: http://www.thrilljockey.com/artists/glenn-jones

9: Jack Rose

Jack Rose is an incredible guitarist. Not only does he embody the American primitive style, but he innovates and builds upon it.

I love Jack Rose’s ability to learn from previous artists. You see, Rose played with Glenn Jones…who in turn played with John Fahey!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ojNy2orfwoA?feature=oembed

If you want to learn more about Jack Rose, you can find information about him and his records at Thrill Jockey.

Link: http://www.thrilljockey.com/artists/jack-rose

8: Nathan Bowles

Most of the time, we apply American primitive style to just guitarists. For Nathan Bowles, he took Fahey’s technique and sounds and applied it to the banjo.

For one of the most beautiful albums of banjo music I’ve ever heard, look no further than “Nansemond.” The note selection and the speed that he plays baffle me.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/2E3ZXnlNnCw?feature=oembed

If you want to know more about Nathan Bowles, be sure to visit his website today.

Link: http://www.nathanbowles.com/

7: Rob Noyes

To understand Rob Noyes, I need you to listen to his album “Feudal Spirit.”

https://www.youtube.com/embed/s2NIT0RyUUw?feature=oembed

A master of alternate thumb picking and an extremely rhythmic player, Rob Noyes is a must-listen.

His music is so rhythmic and train-like, it’s fitting to have the railroad tracks and engine on his album cover.

If you like Rob Noyes, be sure to check out his Bandcamp today.

6: Marisa Anderson

I first found out about Marisa Anderson on NPR. I was immediately struck by her expressive guitar playing.

And, yes…she plays electric guitar. However, her technique is absolutely rooted in the style of John Fahey. And, might I add, she has a hint of Joni Mitchell, too? I’ll let you decide.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/P7MOO-vgw3M?feature=oembed

If you want to learn more about Marisa Anderson or purchase some of her music, be sure to visit her website today.

Buy an album today!

5: Daniel Bachman

I’ve featured Daniel Bachman on Acoustic Tuesday before. I love Daniel because he does tons of experimental stuff but also reigns himself in at times.

No matter what he’s doing, Daniel Bachman has a huge sound that has a zen-like quality. To understand what I’m talking about, listen to his track “The Flower Tree.”

https://www.youtube.com/embed/dAeBSECwpy8?feature=oembed

His attention to the bass notes and how hard he plucks them is awesome. The result is a remarkable drone effect that could hypnotize me!

To learn more about Daniel Bachman, be sure to check out his website today.

Link: http://danielbachman.com/

4: Nathan Salsburg

Thanks to fellow Acoustic Tuesday viewer who recommended Nathan Salsburg, I am digging his music.

As one of the more refined American primitive guitarists on this list, Nathan Salsburg has all the right elements AND a Celtic vibe.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/bp0Luctf7cc?feature=oembed

There’s a sort of jaunty, lilting feel to this song that I absolutely love.

To hear more of Nathan Salsburg’s music, visit his website today!

Link: https://nathansalsburg.bandcamp.com/

3: Jan Morgenson

It took a lot of digging to find information about Jan Morogenson. Unique, haunting, and varied, Jan Morgenson has to be one of my favorites on this list.

https://youtu.be/zEygC7e_oCs

In addition to having a haunting aesthetic, I am at a loss as to how to further describe his music!

Be sure to check out his website today.

Link: https://janmorgenson.tk/

2: Joost Dijkema

I think there are lots of things to say about Joost Dijkema, but one of the most intriguing things is his right-hand technique. Check it out…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kq_BB2eGoGo?feature=oembed

Joost Dijkema’s playing is dense…thick…filled with fills. I love it all.

The thing about Joost is that he has a fingerpick on every single one of his fingers. The result? A five-finger roll that creates an insane cascade of notes in quick succession.

To learn more about Joost Dijkema, visit his website today.

Link: https://joostdijkema.bandcamp.com/

1: Gwenifer Raymond

I remember getting coffee with Charlie Parr a few months ago, and he told me to listen to Gwenifer Raymond.

Now, as soon as I listened to her, I was shaken.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/kz6KOJAfXzI?feature=oembed

An artist who applies a tremendous amount of energy, Gwenifer Raymond tears it up. The speed, the note selection, and the dissonance are all harkening back to Fahey’s style.

If you want to learn more, visit Gwenifer Raymond’s website today.

Link: https://gweniferraymond.com/

Did I miss anyone? Let me know in the comments below!

John Fahey Resources

• https://amzn.to/38RKlLr – “Dance of Death: The Life of John Fahey, American Guitarist”
• https://amzn.to/37SbT25 – “How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life”
• https://amzn.to/2ux1QSs – “Vampire Vultures”
• https://amzn.to/2PBHj6D – John Fahey Paintings
• https://vimeo.com/150294804 – Watch John Fahey’s 1981 House Concert in Santa Monica
• https://youtu.be/YSh-YsyjpXk – Listen to John Fahey’s Rare Bacon & Day Seniorita Guitar
• https://www.arkneweraguitars.com/ – Check out New Era Guitars (Tony Klassen makes some first-class Fahey-esque instruments)
• https://youtu.be/CJ-_qd161iM – Leo Kottke publicly thanks John Fahey
• https://youtu.be/yW7FhNwJtDc – Listen to Frank Hovington, the man responsible for inspiring John Fahey to pick up the guitar
• https://youtu.be/3oifxIOc-To – Liste to Blind Willie Johnson’s “Praise God I’m Satisfied,” the song that got Fahey into the blues.
• https://amzn.to/39VNeuK – Buy “The Transcendental Waterfall” Box Set

Fact #1 – Bit By The Bug

John Fahey got bit by the guitar bug In 1952, after being impressed by guitarist Frank Hovington, whom he met while on a fishing trip, Fahey then purchased his first guitar for $17 from a Sears, Roebuck Catalog.

Fact #2 – Religious Conversion

Fahey was attracted to record-collecting. Fahey discovered his love of early blues upon hearing Blind Willie Johnson’s “Praise God I’m Satisfied” on a record-collecting trip to Baltimore with his friend and mentor, the musicologist Richard K. Spottswood. Much later, Fahey compared the experience to a religious conversion.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/3oifxIOc-To?feature=oembed

Fact #3 – The Birth of a Record Label

In 1959 Fahey recorded material that would become his first record for the Takoma label. Having no idea how to approach professional record companies and being convinced they would be uninterested, Fahey decided to issue his first album himself, using some cash saved from his gas station attendant job. Thus was born Takoma Records. One hundred copies of this first album were pressed. On one side of the sleeve was the name “John Fahey”; on the other, “Blind Joe Death”—a humorous nickname given to him by his fellow blues fans. He attempted to sell these albums himself. Some he gave away, some he snuck into thrift stores and blues sections of local record shops, and some he sent to folk music scholars, a few of whom were fooled into thinking that there really was a living old blues singer called Blind Joe Death. It took three years for Fahey to sell the remainder of the records.

Fact #4 – Masters With Some Canned Heat

Fahey received an M.A. in folklore in 1966. Fahey’s master’s thesis on the music of Charley Patton was later published by Studio Vista in 1970. He completed it with the musicological assistance of his friend Alan Wilson, who would go on to be in the band Canned Heat.

Fact #5 – Paying It Forward

In addition to his own creative output, Fahey expanded the Takoma label, discovering fellow guitarists Leo Kottke, Robbie Basho, Bola Sete and Peter Lang. Kottke’s debut release on the label, 6- and 12-String Guitar, ultimately proved to be the most successful of the crop, selling more than 500,000 copies.

Fact #6 – Rising From The Ashes

After the death of his father in 1995, Fahey used his inheritance to form another label, Revenant Records, to focus on reissuing obscure recordings of early blues, old-time music, and anything else that took his fancy.The label’s most famous release would prove to be Screamin’ and Hollerin’ the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton, a seven-disc retrospective of Charley Patton and his contemporaries. It won three Grammy awards in 2003.

Fact #7 – Award Winner

Fahey, for his part, won a Grammy in 1997 for his contributions to the liner notes of Revenant’s Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 4.

Fact #8 – New Inspiration

Fahey began to channel a new outlet for experimentation which included his return to painting; a hobby he abandoned when he took up the guitar. He painted on found poster board and discarded spiral notebook paper. His painting studio floated from motel bed to motel bed and eventually ended up on the bed of his rental home in Salem, OR; occasionally painting with anti-freeze in the garage. He worked with tempera, acrylic, spray paint, and magic marker.

Fact #9 – Vintage Guitars of Obscurity

Guitar #1 – John Fahey was not known to play fancy instruments. He tended to pick up inexpensive guitars and then pawn them when he needed cash. During his heyday in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Fahey was partial to a 1930s Gibson Recording King with a sunburst top and a bell-like tone. He used it to record some of his most enduring albums, including America, Of Rivers and Religion, After the Ball, and Fare Forward Voyagers.

Guitar #2 – The Bacon and Day banjo company made a few guitars they called Senorita. No one seems to know how many of them were made. This was maybe during the 1940s. The Senoritas were a bit different. They had one that was quite elaborate with stones and inlays and color and one that was plainer. They were bigger than a parlor size but not as big as a dreadnaught size.

Fact #10 – Gone But Not Forgotten

In February 2001, six days before his 62nd birthday, Fahey died at Salem Hospital after undergoing a sextuple coronary bypass. In 2006, no fewer than four Fahey tribute albums were released as a testament to his reputation as a “giant of 20th century American music”.