Delta-Slider

Michael Chapman Guitar Tablature

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:27:00 +0000

Fantastic to see artists that post tab to some of their music. I think everyone appreciates the effort and it's the best kind of self-promotion!

Go check it out!

The Terry Robb Band - MUDDYVISHNU

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:49:00 +0000

Review by Andrew Stranglen

The first thing that struck my mind when I heard the opening title cut of The Terry Robb Band's new album 'Muddyvishnu', was how much the tune reminded me of the guitar savvy of the late Jimi Hendrix. High praise I know, but this album deserves high praise. Rock solid from start to finish, or should I say Blues solid? Jazz solid? Fusion is what defines this effort. And a seamless effort it is.

Muddyvishnu is released on Terry's own label Psychedelta Records,

whose goal is 'bringing roots music into the future', along with redefining the genre known as 'American Primitivism', aka: 'American Primitive Guitar', a genre description coined by the legendary John Fahey.

Vishnu is one of the Hindu Trimurti of Brahma (The Creator), Vishnu (The Preserver), and Shiva (The Destroyer). 'Muddyvishnu', an apt title choice given the Psychedelta Records mission statement.

On the youtube link above Terry is interiewed on the street outside before a gig, in it he explains the title Muddyvishnu as "Muddy Waters meets Mahavishnu" (as in Mahavishnu Orchestra). The comparison of Terrys electric guitar playing to John McLaughlin, or even Jimi Hendrix for that matter is in no way a stretch. He's been described as a musician's musician, a guitarist's guitarist, and as evidenced by 'Muddyvishnu', such descriptions are wholly justified.

But back to the album for a minute, 11 total tracks, seven of which are T. Robb originals. The last track is entirely acoustic Lap slide (#11 The Refreshing), and No. 7 (Ju Ju) which begins acoustically and sweetly transitions to electric guitar. The other nine tracks feature Terry playing hotly!, jazzily!, fusionally!, bluesy! electric guitar, expertly backed up by Adam Scramstadt on guitar, Dave Kahl on bass, and Jeff Minnick on drums. This is not your average ho-hum blues band.

The tunes on Muddyvishnu range from juke-joint blues (#5 Lonesome Home, #9 Sheriff Brown) and smokey late-night wanderings (#3 Idle Moments, #6 Worried About It Now) to the fusion laden Title cut (#1 Muddyvishnu) and the surf-tinged (#10 Sweet Hip), and then there's the Faheyesque closer (#11 The Refreshing) which conjures Misissippi John Hurt, and a number of other original Roots Blues players. Actually, they're sprinkled all over this album!

This album is repeatedly rewarding listening, I highly recommend it.

It is the absolute best album of this kind that I've ever heard!

I'll eat my guitar if you don't find something to like, I'm that confident.

-Andrew Stranglen

Terry has quite a list of musical accomplishments:

http://www.terryrobb.com/biography.aspx

http://www.terryrobb.com/

Jack Rose TAB and misc others...

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Tue, 01 May 2012 05:08:00 +0000

Just a post of a mish-mash of TABs today. More from Paul, thank you sir! And some others I found here and there.

First is the excellent little tune Flirtin' With the Undertaker from Jack Rose's Kensington Blues.

Download Flirtin' With the Undertaker

How about Candyman - Rev. Gary Davis ?? Hmmm, you like??

Download Candyman

And here we have West Coast Blues, John Fahey's version. I've got two of these so I'll post them both. The text one is from Nicolas on the AG forum thank you sir! I can't recall where I got the other one so if it's yours give a shout so I can give you some credit.

Download West Coast Blues txt

Download West Coast Blues pdf

Iain Chambers - Mini-World Tour

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Iain Chambers recently released a gem called Rituals and Pastimes. He's hit the road and I wanted to alert you to that fact.

Sunday, April 22nd Iain will be playing a live show in Tokyo, Japan an Cafe Uma Merdre.

His first stop was Australia for a recording session on Sideways Through Sound. STS will feature a couple of live cuts and an interview with Iain. Broadcast date is April 25th. Stream it on the web!

Sideways Through Sound, your weekly dose of acoustic reverie, shimmering psychedelia, drones, backwards bits, sitars, stuff that sounds like Hawkwind and really lots of guitar picking...

Go there...

RC Johnston - The Fahey Project

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 05:06:00 +0000

Greetings Delta-Slider readers. I’m proud to say that today’s post is the official release of the new RC Johnston effort, The Fahey Project. Ralph has decided to go with a digital release for his latest and Delta-Slider is the place to get it! I’m thrilled! But the same rules apply here as to all of Ralph’s generous releases: feel free to share this far and wide, he wants the music shared.

So without further ado, here is Ralph to tell you all about it.

The Fahey Project:

Hiowdy, and welcome to "The Fahey Project", a dream of mine for over forty years. If I had recorded "the project" back then, you would have heard poorly played approximations of John's compositions and covers, whereas today you are listening to adequately rendered interpretations, tempered of course by time and experience.

The song selection process was easy: play the stuff that most moves me, even if it takes several versions of a song for me to reach Valhalla.

Hearing John's music for the first time was a definite shock to my shriveled suburban nervous system, but the greatest shock of all was when I heard the orange label version of "Voice of the Turtle". That edition featured "Bean Vine Blues” with Fahey and (?) on guitars and Joe Bussard and Fahey on vocals. Along with "Night Train to Valhalla", "Bean Vine Blues" is my ultimate favorite Fahey cut.

Other favorites included are renditions of "Poor Boy", "Tell Her to Come Back Home", "John Henry" and "Farther Along" (John's "duet" with Laura Weber on Laura's PBS TV program "Guitar, Guitar" back in 1969-70).

John influenced my picking style in so many ways by introducing me to the licks of such greats as Charlie Patton, Sam McGee, Bukka White, Frank Hutchison, Weaver and Beasley and a multitude of lesser known but nonetheless great musicians.

I also learned the art of open tunings from John, and the tunings I use on this recording are a testament to that fact:

FADDAD: #s 1, 2, 6

DADDAD: #s 3, 5, 12, 13

DAD: #4

GGDGBD: #7

DGDGCD: #8

DGDGBD: #s 9, 10, 11

Fahey’s music buoyed my spirits as I reached out to explore other musical realms such as surf music, Savage Republic and Quonset’s ethno/industrial sand doomed journeys.

I think about Fahey every day. He lauded me, he insulted me, but in the end it was all worth it. John’s music has stood the test of time. He is a modern classic: ignored by most, but beloved by the few.

My choice of guitars to play on these recordings was a no brainer: Dixie X appears on all cuts except “Night Train to Land O’ Lakes”. On that song I played Gator X, a 3 stringed cigar box resonator built by Jim Mitchell of Land O’ Lakes, Florida.

Thanks to one and all for your support over the years. Forty six minutes of music that took over forty years to see the light of day!

Cheers! Ralph.

You can d/l this as 320-MP3 or FLAC.
All artwork you see here, and a little more is included.

MP3-109MB

FLAC-256MB

Please come on back and leave a comment about the music!

Tracklist:

Pea Vine Apocalypse Then
Variations on John Henry Variations
Edgar Allan Poe Boy
Night Train to Land O’ Lakes
Blind Thomas’s Blues
Pea Vine Apocalypse Now
Night Train to Great Neck
On the Shady Side of the Desert
Takoma Two Step
The Wonderful Waltz I Heard on That Day
Jolly Joe’s Fonotone Blues #2
Tel Her to Go Back Home
I Love My Blind Joe Death Steam Engine Tattoo

Ragtime Ralph - Guitar Tabs

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 04:31:00 +0000

Today I've got a few more guitar tabs for y'all. The mysterious (or maybe not so...) Paul sent these to me recently. A small collection of Ragtime Ralph tabs. Enjoy.

Texas Tomatoes

Late Train Blues

In Memory of Sam McGee

Ghost Rider Blues

Bob Hadley - "Raven," a review by Ragtime Ralph

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 05:40:00 +0000

After John Fahey and before Ragtime Ralph there was Bob Hadley, finger picker extraordinaire, high school classmate of Leo Kottke and now Vancouver, BC resident.

Hadley was second acoustic guitar instrumentalist to capture the eager ears of Vancouver guitar picker, RC Johnston.

“I first heard Bob’s “Raven” album on a local radio station back in 1973” says Johnston. “Wreck of the Last Steam Engine Train,” an out of control , thrill packed slide ride in open G tuning was my introduction to Hadley’s guitar artistry, and to me, Bob’s album is a classic that stands equally alongside William Ackerman’s first album “In Search of the Turtle’s Navel,” the Takoma guitar catalog and the many Kicking Mule releases.” Bob later joined the Kicking Mule artists’ roster, releasing “Raven” and releasing two other stellar albums over the years.

If you get the chance to hear “Raven” and Bob’s other albums, “Tunes From the Well” and “On the Trail of the Questing Beast,” you will experience another guitar great worthy of your consideration.

Bob Hadley has contributed songs to several guitar compilations in recent years...so I must ask…when will his next full length recording see the light of day?

Cheers! Ralph

Amazon
EMusic
iTunes

Steve Tibbetts - Live in New York, May 9th 1992

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 08:00:00 +0000

What is it? Jazz fusion? World rock? I have no idea, take a listen or two and try it out. I own most of his studio work and I highly recommend it, particularly the early stuff.

Download the show.

Visit Steve Tibbetts on the web

Aaron Sheppard - Two new releases

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:00:00 +0000

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://aaronsheppard.bandcamp.com/album/leverage"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Leverage by Aaron Sheppard&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt; Aaron Sheppard has rather quietly released a couple of very nice works that I think you should check out! One is very traditionally acoustic and the other is a much more progressive approach to guitar playing. You probably know Sheppard's name from his piece's on Imaginational Anthem 4 : New Possibilities and Beyond Berkeley Guitar, both from the Tompkins Square label.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://aaronsheppard.bandcamp.com/album/a-prison-becomes-a-home-if-you-have-the-key"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;A Prison Becomes A Home If You Have The Key by Aaron Sheppard&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Sean Smith – Huge Fluid Freedom

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:15:00 +0000

Guest review brought to you today by Andrew Hammond

This rather ambitious sounding album title provides the first clue as to what you’re in for once you hit the play button on your CD player, or for you cool cats, release the turntable needle. Through Huge Fluid Freedom Sean Smith demonstrates that he is clearly a man with little concern for genre boundaries and refreshingly he seems determined to create the soundscapes he wants to hear, rather than worrying about album continuity or our external expectations. The album is also a reflection of where Sean Smith is in his career. He’s probably best known for his American Primitive acoustic guitar work, but a quick look at his discography reveals he has, in recent years, usually had an electric guitar strapped around his neck. This album is the latest, and perhaps boldest, in a line which has gradually introduced electric guitar to acoustic guitar and given the pair a free reign over 35 minutes of soon to be disturbed silence.

The album introduces itself with ‘I Know You’re Tired, But Come. This is the Way’. A slow ambient droning intro is interrupted by a rather ugly and disjointed riff reminiscent of Shellac at their most abrasive. It feels as though its role and responsibility is to grab the listener and shake them hard, dispelling any preconceived idea that Sean Smith will be performing an acoustic track today.

With that out the way the track embarks on an exploration of the ambience that can be created with several overlays of electronic feedback and vocals, anchored by simple acoustic riff whose insistence and attitude becomes a real centrepiece for this darkly cinematic track.

If track one is the ‘fluid’, then track two is the ‘huge’. The acoustic takes a step back here as ‘The Real’ opens with an incredible wail of dissonant electric guitar. Throughout the piece Sean demonstrates the control he has over a whirl of feedback, reverb and phase as he slowly reigns in the electric guitars allowing for moments of calm, before releasing yet another wall of sound.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://strangeattractorsaudiohouse.bandcamp.com/album/huge-fluid-freedom"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Huge Fluid Freedom by Sean Smith&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Just as we’ve forgot about the acoustic guitar the album turns surprisingly to a solo acoustic track with a lovely clockwork feel. The undertones of dissonance are still there, but it’s overlaid by far more sweet melodies than we have been treated to so far, the melodies springing out of the second movement of the piece being a particular favourite of mine. At 10 minutes long this track explores several different ideas and is more like a mini musical suite of its own.

Not to be outdone, the final track is an example of how an electric guitar (with a few overlays and effects) can hold its own in a solo setting. Fittingly for the album titled track, the anthem like riffs found at its center are perhaps the most original on the album and most likely reveal the style of future Sean Smith albums, unless he finds yet another corner of music to explore first.

Overall, the album is a surprising, perhaps hard to get hold of, mix of sounds. Whilst it might not tickle the average Delta Slider reader in all the right spots, it’s great to hear an acoustic artist showing what they are capable of in other areas of music. Perhaps only Glenn Jones, via Cul-De-Sac, has a history of branching out this far from traditional folk. Huge Fluid Freedom is certainly going to stay near the top of my music collection as I find myself wanting to listen again to the grit of ‘I Know You’re Tired, But Come. This is the Way’ and indisputable size of ‘The Real’ amongst all the other gems in there.

Pick it up at Strange Attractors Audio House
Visit Sean Smith on the web

Robbie Basho - Twilight Peaks

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:54:00 +0000

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://smeraldina-rima.bandcamp.com/album/twilight-peaks"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Twilight Peaks by Robbie Basho&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;
Smeraldina-Rima

John Fahey Guitar Tab

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Today I've got a guest post from Dale Cotton of Ontario, Canada. Dale is often found on the Yahoo! Fahey forum.

New Era Guitars

Here is a tab I made decades ago and have recently worked on some more. I realize there are already tabs for this piece available, but hopefully having a different read on the same piece will be of use to somebody out there. In particular I've made more of an attempt to visually indicate rhythm/duration than is usually provided. The main thing, of course, with double-thumbing is that the base line falls on the beat and the notes in the melody line either fall on the beat as well (pinch) or between beats (roll). Since we have recordings to imitate, we don't really need to have any more than that in the notation. For me, it's just easier to read music without losing my place when I can see markings that group notes together by beat. The exact nature of the markings isn't all that important.

Joe Kirby Blues

BTW: I've noticed that many people these days seem to scorn tab, if anything even more than they scorn sheet music, especially in the realm of folk and blues. The case seems to be that it's more authentic to learn by imitating a live performance, and if that's not available, to imitate a recording. No argument from me ... so far as it goes. But allow me to gently point out that tablature precedes even what we now call "standard" or sheet music notation by centuries. Tab was written and widely circulated in Europe from the medieval era, through the renaissance, and well into the baroque, especially for plucked string instruments like the lute and guitar. If tablatures had not been written down back then, there are hundreds of popular songs and instrumental compositions that would long since have vanished from the face of the planet. And many of these are much closer in spirit to what we now call finger picking than anything from the intervening centuries.

The very fact that John Fahey didn't have to (re-)invent open tunings seems to be due to the spread of two remarkable guitar compositions we still know today, and both of which John Fahey recorded: Spanish Fandango and Sebastopol. These were written in the mid-1800s in open tuning and were known throughout North America, not via recordings or live concerts, but via sheet music. These two compositions were used over and over again in the instruction books that went hand in hand with the sale of the wildly popular parlour guitar of that era. John was a student of blues history; he would have known this to be true.

A century later, I like many thousands of others were able to learn acoustic guitar after being seduced by Blind Joe Death and company, not via tracking down John Fahey, then somehow getting him to teach us how to play. Instead, we bought books of tablature by Happy Traum, Stefan Grossman, and others. An entire generation of amateur guitarists who can read tablature as easily as you can read this page was born. Yes, folks: somehow we made do without YouTube in that unimaginably primitive era. ;)

And just to complete the circle: it's not inconceivable that John Fahey's compositions will be rediscovered a thousand years from now, not via recordings on obsolete media whose every bit has long since been scrambled, but via yellowed and tattered paper tablatures uncovered in some archeological dig. I've read that JF carried a book of lute tablature in his guitar case when he traveled - and while my suspicion was that he thought it might prove useful for impressing impressionable young ladies ;) - I also suspect he had heard lute recordings that struck a chord and fully intended to have a go at the material. So the tablature connection with even as inveterately an ear player as JF was may not be *quite* as remote as we might otherwise believe.

Thanks to Dale for taking the time to work on a classic Fahey tune. Be sure to visit his photography site at Daystar Visions. The music specific page is HERE.

I also wish to present to you some tabs sent to me by Paul...

Is there anything better than this? No. So I suggest that if you haven't already, you sit right down and learn this. Oh, and here is a tab of it!

John Fahey - Red Pony tab

And here's some more Fahey tab. I think all of this is already out there but I also think it's good to get different interpretations of them out there so you might want to check these out even if you recognize that they are already tabbed out some where on the web.

John Fahey - In Christ there is no East or West

John Fahey - Candy Man

John Fahey - Brenda's Blues
John Fahey - Joe Kirby Blues
John Fahey & his Orchestra - I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free

Thanks to Paul for sending these to me. He's been working hard lately tabbing and there is some more I'll be posting for him soon. Some nice surprises for sure!!!

I've got some minor news regarding Fahey tabs. I have it on good authority that Stropes is considering a re-issue of the long out-of-print Fahey Xmas tab book. Some errors would be fixed and possibly even some songs would be added. It is not currently a work in progress, I'm told, but the idea is there.

John Fahey - San Francisco 1969 & Silverton, OR 1987 Bootlegs

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

John Fahey

The Matrix

San Francisco, California

United States of America

11 February 1969

John Fahey - acoustic guitar

01. Bicycle Built For Two 1:06

02. Stomping Tonight on the Pennsylvania Alabama Border 5:34

03. Some Summer Day 5:39

04. The Yellow Princess 12:58

Total Time: 25:19

Download MP3

Download FLAC

JOHN FAHEY

1987-07-02

Palace Theater, Silverton, OR.

01 - Sunny Side of the Ocean / Spanish Two Step /Spanish Fandango / Spanish Two Step (again)
02-Evening Mysteries of Ferry Street

03-Are You From Dixie?

04-Slide Medley

05-Deep River/Old Man River

06-You'll Find Her Name Written There

07-Nightmare/Summertime

08 - Poor Boy Long Ways From Home

09-Away in a Manger/Jesus Won't You Come by Here/Go Tell It on the Mountain

10 - Poor Boy (the OTHER Poor Boy!) / Steel Guitar Rag

Total time approx 53 minutes.

Download MP3

From the notes:
Excellent 'low-fi' recording. Nice sound. The taper used the pause button often. You will hear it 'rip' at the end of most all tracks. I did not attempt to remove them. This is a great performance. I am not familiar enough with all of titles to get a song/set-list together here. Anyhow, I have listened to this show a few times over the past couple of days. It's really swell. Enjoy .
It's an ok show that has it's moments in my opinion. Sorry, I didn't get the setlist done. EDIT: setlist done by a reader, thank YOU!

American Primitive on the Web

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

It's not like I'm the only guy out here posting on the internet about John Fahey or his influences. Today I present a few sites that you may want to check out if you don't know about them.

First up is a recently launched site by Ryan Leaf. It's a beautiful site and Ryan has posts up about some of my favorite guitarists, Glenn Jones and RC Johnson to name a couple. Both of whom he has hosted for house concerts.

He also does some nice playing himself.

Check it out at These Paths We Tread.

Here's a guitarist, Malcolm from France that emailed me a while back praising my blog. Well that's a sure way to win my favor! :) Malcolm plays some of his original tunes on Youtube, so lets see a bump in those views. You won't be disappointed!!

Up next is Daniel Bachman.
A guitarist (and more) formerly know as Sacred Harp. The German label Dying For Bad Music has released a new 7" from Bachman. Check it out.

Sacred Harp - Rappahannock (For J.R.) - Salem, Oregon from Paul Murray on Vimeo.

Check out the label site and a search for American Primitive turns up for interesting artists. Check out Nick Castell.

This is of course only a small sampling of what you can find out there if you just look around.

Kirill Nikolai & Colin Treiber "Three Studies Of October & The Cemetery For Mt.Vernon In Spring"

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 07:20:00 +0000

The name Kirill Nikolai may (or may not) be familiar to you. He is a member of Still Light an experimental folk trio featuring the considerable talents of Lucy Hague and Sand Snowman. Still Light released their "Lything" debut album first on Apollolaan Recordings and then reissued on vinyl on the wonderful tonefloat label.

For this superb release Kirill has collaborated with guitarist Colin Treiber. This two EP set contains recordings from October 2010 and Spring 2011. The first EP has three acoustic pieces. The second EP contains five tracks, consisting of three acoustic pieces divided by two field recordings. In Kirill's words "a kind of homage to John Fahey". This double 3" cdr set comes in a selection of rustic handmade cloth pouches.

"Three Studies Of October" EP
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
Kirill Nikolai - acoustic guitar, electric guitar Colin Treiber - acoustic guitar Recorded October 2010

"The Cemetery For Mt. Vernon In Spring" EP
1. Pt. I
2. Pt. II
3. Pt. III
4. Pt. IV
5. Pt. V
Kirill Nikolai - 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars, field recordings Colin Treiber - acoustic guitar Recorded Spring 2011

Made in a limited hand numbered edition of 50 copies.

Available now at Reverb Worship Scroll down to the Feb. 2nd date to find more info and ordering details.

Kirill and some of his associates opened for Arborea when they went through Denver.

John Fahey - Live at Swarthmore College 1968 & Carnegie Hall 1973

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:37:00 +0000

Great to hear such an enthusiastic crowd at this show.

A note on the quality of the recording. Realize that this is a recording made by an audience member most likely on the sly and the year is 1968. I don't know who did this but bless him!!

A note on the quality of the performance. Fahey is in fine form and complete control of his guitar, his fingers and his musical pieces. In short, playing like a stud.

Fair warning, when track three is over, it'll break your heart.

Enjoy.

Since this is such a short show I can offer both the lossless format and the mp3.

Download FLAC

Download Mp3

If you are not sure which to download, go with the MP3.

Carnegie Hall

And here is the Carnegie Hall show. Wow, I think that means you've really made it!

Stupid piano!!!! Just imagine Fahey sitting out there on that vast stage. Just him and his guitar, sitting on a chair...playing...

This is a quite good recording, again for the time, 1973, but quite good even so. I hope you enjoy this one, I love FFV. Just one of my all time favorites and then he wraps it with Beverly. Can't get much better for me!

Only MP3 for this one.

Download it here.

John Fahey - University Of Washington, 1973

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:30:00 +0000

John Fahey
Date: 1973, Jan. or Feb.
Location: Seattle, WA
Venue: University Of Washington
Source: FM radio broadcast

Setlist:
01. Dj Intro
02. thus Krishna on the battlefield -> fare forward voyagers
03. dance of the inhabitants of the palace of king Phillip XIV of Spain
04. sunflower river blues -> revolt of the dyke brigade -> requiem for Mississippi John Hurt
05. stomping tonight on the Pennsylvania / alabama border -> in christ there is no east or west -> beverly 06. DJ Outro

Length: 70:18

Recorded off of KOL FM. The sound is excellent. This show was broadcast about two weeks after it happened.

Art is included in download.

Get it here.

Guitar Holder Effigy of John Fahey

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

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

A Hard Road to Travel: A Tribute to John Fahey

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:40:00 +0000

Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 7:30pm

Solo guitar performances from
Tinh Mahoney
Rick Ruskin
RC Johnston
Sean Smith
plus others.
$13 advance, $15 day of show.

Located in North Portland's Historic Mississippi District: the acclaimed former neighborhood Baptist church turned recording studio turned music venue and home of the best burgers. The venue's three properties can also be rented for private events and recording sessions. Tickets to all Mississippi Studios shows are available at the main bar and online through Ticketbiscuit at: www.mississippistudios.com (there are NO service charges for tickets purchased in person at our bar box)
View event on facebook

Glenn Jones on European Tour

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:40:00 +0000

Glenn Jones is headed to France, Belgium, Netherlands, UK, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal.

He's asking to borrow a 12-string guitar as he is travelling w/out. How cool would it be to have Glenn do a show with your guitar? Check his facebook page for info!!

Check my calendar of events for these tour dates, just click on the tap in the upper right of the page, just below the banner.

Or go to Front Porch Productions

Sean Siegfried - Backwoods

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:20:00 +0000

This one has been out a while. One of many good things that I miss or just fall behind on when it comes to posting.

Work and Worry has a nice review.

I wanted to get this posted because Sean Siegfried has now tabbed out all the music to this release, Backwoods.

You can purchase it on his site.

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Yair Yona - World Behind Curtains

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:17:00 +0000

It usually takes me a couple times to process a new collection of music. I like to let it sit on the aural palate for a bit to get a handle on it. Yair Yona's sophomore effort, World Behind Curtains is no different. My emerging feeling was that this was a movie soundtrack. But after a listen or two that didn't seem quite right. Sure, it's cinematic, sweeping and gorgeous. But there's more.

The opening track was speaking to me like an overture of life. It sounds like a journey. And the opening piece struck me as a composite of life, everything is humming along nicely and suddenly reality comes barging in. No matter, Yona keeps pickin' and grinin' because like all of us, what choice do we have?

As I continued to listen to this effort I couldn't help but feel that each piece was emblematic of the stages of life we all go through. A fascinating journey populated by Yona's unique and inventive arrangement of instruments ranging from string quartets to bouzouki to electric guitar. And all of this nicely anchored by his influences.

Yona likes to get his heroes, his influences, all right out in the open. His first release had a song paying tribute to John Fahey. In this release Glenn Jones and Leo Kottke both get mentions in song titles.

This release is no surprise when you listen to Skinny Fists and Russian Dance form his first release, Remember. Should have seen this coming. But who knew he would be so fantastically good at it?

Everyone interested in the American Primitive genre needs to sit up and take notice of this release. This is a beautiful effort and frankly there is nothing primitive about it. The music is mature, confident and, thankfully as fresh as anything in the realm of this style to be found out there!

World Behind Curtains hits the streets Feb. 14th.

Pre-order now, also listen to streaming...oh and limited edition vinyl!

Strange Attractors Audio House

Yair Yona

Robbie Basho in Fretboard Journal

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:43:00 +0000

Be sure to check out the latest issue of the Fretboard Journal, #24 for an article on Robbie Basho. Even better is that the article is authored by Buck Curran!

Buck and his wife Shanti are the group Arborea and recently released Red Planet to critical acclaim (yes, I reviewed it too but Rolling Stone is a bit bigger than me...for now...).

Buck is also the curator of the excellent Robbie Basho tribute release, We are all one, In the Sun.

Buck was also kind enough to write an article here on Delta-Slider about Jack Rose and his slide guitar.

Be sure to check out the online notes about the article HERE that happen to mention a collection of artists, every one of which you can find right here on Delta-Slider! Hmmm...Delta-Slider sounds like a cool place to hang out.

Visit Arborea

Mary Flower

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:16:00 +0000

Good little interview with Mary Flower. Check it: Mary Flower – Interview and Music

Here's a song from Mary's latest CD, Misery Loves Company, one I highly recommend.

And then there is this little gem. I love it and it's on my list of songs to learn!

Yair Yona - New Release Coming Soon

delta_slider@yahoo.com (J Scott Moore) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:42:00 +0000

Yair Yona is set to release his latest effort "World Behind Curtains," Feb. 14th for Strange Attractors Audio House.

Go to Yona's site for a free download of the new single!

In case you aren't familiar with Yair Yona you should know that he is very prolific and always has plenty of music out there for the listening. Below is a small sample to get you by till the release date of the new CD/LP/MP3. Oh yes...vinyl!

La Feira De Sevilla by Yair_Yona

Poetry Night In Valhalla by Yair_Yona

Also, if you haven't downloaded this authorized live bootleg, you can get it HERE.