Jerry Garcia’s 1943 Martin D-28 Acoustic Guitar Finds a New Home—and New Players
Jerry Garcia’s Martin D-28 acoustic guitar was likely acquired by the guitarist in the late spring of 1970. Now it has a new owner to care for it.
Blair Jackson
Blair Jackson is the author of the definitive biography Garcia: An American Life and was senior editor at Acoustic Guitar before retiring in 2023.
Timeless Irish Music Feels Fresh and New on John Doyle’s ‘The Path of Stones’
All but one song feature multiple layered parts, sometimes contrasting strumming & deft fingerpicking
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Guitar Talk: Kenyan Singer-Songwriter Ondara Has Found his Voice in America
One of the more interesting cats to emerge in the acoustic guitar world is Kenya-born, Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter J.S. Ondara.
Watch Raphaël Feuillâtre Perform Rameau’s ‘Les Sauvages,’ a Melodic and Complex Baroque Piece
This wonderful recent performance of Rameau’s popular piece Les Sauvages, from the composer’s Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin (1726–1727), is delivered by one of the finest young players on the contemporary guitar scene, Frenchman Raphaël Feuillâtre, who was the deserving winner of the 2018 Guitar Foundation of America competition.
Album Review: Laurence Juber’s ‘The Fab 4th’ Is Full of Beatles Magic
LJ’s takes on The Beatles never get old
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Album Review: Peppino D’Agostino Has Much to Say on Instrumental Tour de Force, ‘Connexion’
The ten tracks vary considerably from tune to tune in terms of style, but are unified by his wondrous playing
Farewell, Singer-Songwriter John Prine, 1946-2020
Let's just enjoy a few examples of this man's genius; he truly put his heart and soul into every song he wrote and sang
R.I.P. Bill Withers: Watch Him Play “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Use Me” in 1972
Sad news that the great R&B singer-songwriter Bill Withers passed away on March 30, 2020 at the age of 81. The West Virginia native made a big impact during his relatively brief 15-year career between 1970-1985. (He stopped recording and…
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Guitar Talk: Railroad Earth’s Todd Sheaffer on His Influences, His Martins, and More
Sheaffer is a colorful and imaginative soloist who does wonders with a very simple setup
Cataloging the acoustic guitars at Woodstock
On the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, our author compiled a catalog of the acoustic guitars played on stage by Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Country Joe McDonald, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Neil Young and more.
Guitar Talk: Nashville Picker Extraordinaire David Grier is Happy to Play Anything
David Grier is the classic guitarist’s guitarist—not terribly well-known by the general public despite a long, stellar career working with just about everyone who’s anyone in the bluegrass and Nashville country music communities over the past four-plus decades, but uniformly admired by fellow guitarists for his amazing skill and versatility.
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Scott Tennant’s ‘The Segovia Sessions’ Highlights the Maestro as a Composer
This album,by Los Angeles Guitar Quartet co-founder Scott Tennant presents 36 of Segovia’s works
New Sounds: Watch Rodrigo y Gabriela Play the Title Track from Their New Album, ‘Mettavolution’
It's a been a while since we've heard new music from the powerhouse nylon-string-guitar-wielding duo of Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero, better known, of course, as Rodrigo y Gabriela.
Eric Bibb Draws on Blues, Folk, Gospel, African, and More on ‘Global Griot’
In a career spanning five decades, singer, songwriter, and guitarist Eric Bibb has proven to be a musical alchemist—combining heaping helpings of blues, gospel, folk, and world music styles into a distinctive and magical amalgam that feels like its own…
Album Review: Clay Parker and Jodi James Forge a Haunting and Beautiful Sound
The Louisiana-based duo of Clay Parker and Jodi James plucked the name of their first full-length album—The Lonesomest Sound That Can Sound—from a line in a semi-obscure Woody Guthrie tune called “When the Curfew Blows”
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Rory Block Slides Into a New Tribute Series: Power Women of the Blues
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Rory Block has been one of the country’s preeminent blues artists for more than four decades and close to 30 albums now, but if you haven’t checked in with her in the past dozen years, you’ve missed out on some of the best music she’s ever made.
Adam Levin’s Brave New World of Spanish Guitar Music
Levin has put out three volumes of a remarkable series on the Naxos label
Acoustic Guitar Sessions Presents Nathan Salsburg
The Kentucky-based guitarist Nathan Salsburg has made some of the most compelling acoustic-guitar instrumental albums in this decade, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with the wonderful Chicago-based (English) guitarist James Elkington.
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Guitar Talk: The Exotic Instrumental Flights of Steve Tibbetts
Steve Tibbetts’ music is impossible to pigeonhole, leaning towards jazz, avant-garde, and modern classical, but he doesn’t fit neatly into any of those categories.
CD Review: Tim Easton’s ‘Paco & the Melodic Polaroids’
The “Paco” in the title of Tim Easton’s latest folk-blues album is the nickname that was bestowed long ago on his trusty, travel-worn, black Gibson J-45, his constant companion over many years of traveling the globe—busking, playing clubs and any…
Review: “Primitive Guitar & Banjo” Collection is a Trip Back in Time
This stuff is rough and ragged in places, much of it clearly improvised, and sonically not what modern audiences perhaps expect/demand. But it’s undeniably heartfelt and soulful in a deep and occasionally even spiritual way.
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45 Acoustic Guitar Albums From the 2000s You Should Hear
We asked our writers and our readers to give us lists of their favorite acoustic-guitar-dominated recordings that came out between 2000 and 2017.
Acoustic Guitar Sessions: The Del McCoury Band (Plus a ‘Guitar Talk’ Interview with Del!)
When Del McCoury’s tour bus rumbled into the parking lot of our offices on a crisp morning in late November 2017, the band members were still waking up after a sold-out two-show night at Berkeley’s Freight & Salvage.
‘Before the Dead’: New box set sheds light on Jerry Garcia’s roots in folk music
Several hours of Garcia’s early folk forays have been brought together in a spectacular new box set called Before the Dead
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Lead Belly, Jackson C. Frank Documentaries in the Works
Chances are you know Lead Belly, the iconic, influential, and greatly celebrated folk and blues master. You will not be surprised to learn that he is the subject a forthcoming documentary film directed by Curt Hahn featuring reflections on the…
