Discover Top Posts Tagged with #will ackerman

Will Ackerman, Shape Of The Land I Conferring With The Moon, 1986

Prom Queen by Beach Bunny from the Prom Queen EP - Directed by: Matt Gehl and Brandon Hoeg

It’s not spooky or eerie or Halloween-like, but this is my current Samhain/autumn jam. Listen to it and tell me that it doesn’t absolutely fill you with an intense longing and yearning. This feeling cannot be captured into words or lyrics. It’s something else entirely.

#music #will ackerman #william ackerman #conferring with the moon #audio

Robbie Basho: Art of the Acoustic Steel String Guitar 6 & 12 (1979)

I can’t remember where I first read about Robbie Basho – master of the steel-stringed acoustic guitar (*) – but I’d been planning on exploring his cult-approved ‘60s albums until this late ‘70s collection fell into my lap.

Here, a grown-up (and surprisingly dressed-up) Basho was seeking a second wind for his underground career by transitioning from hippie sage to new age troubadour, but his technique was prodigious enough for any time, place or guise.

Indeed: Basho’s repertoire ranges from Western classical (“Variations on Grieg”), to Indian music (“Pavan India”), to more conventional folk varieties (“Scottish Rites,” a short-and-sweet tribute to fellow guitarist Will Ackerman called “Ackerman Special”), and sometimes he even unleashes his acquired-taste vocals (“Pascha II”).

But when I noticed that several of this LP’s most striking performances, like the both musically and emotionally complex “The Grail and the Lotus” and “Cathedrals et Fleur de Lis,” were actually re-workings of the guitarist’s ‘60s efforts, well, I started hankering for the originals.

So I made myself a promise to seek out reissues of those earlier LPs, at some point (and if my budget allows) and, until then, I’ll keep listening to one of Basho’s steel guitar disciples, Jack Rose.

* Basho’s vintage 12-string acoustic was allegedly a century-old Mexican instrument that he’d bought from a sailor for $200.

More Steel Guitar: Michael Hedges’ Aerial Boundaries, Jack Rose’s Kensington Blues.