FEATURE LESSON: ALTERNATE TUNINGS FOR ACCOMPANISTS
Develop a distinctive guitar style full of rich and unusual harmonies by learning to play in open G, open D, D A D G A D, and other tunings. With video examples.

FEATURE LESSON: BOB WEIR
The rhythm ace of the Grateful Dead and RatDog shares the secrets of his unclassifiable guitar style.

PRIVATE LESSON: DOUG SMITH
The fingerstyle master shows how he combines fingerpicking patterns and brings melodies to the forefront of his compositions. With Lick of the Month.

Sponsor: Montreal Guitar Show

FEATURED: ELECTRIFIED!
Acoustic guitar makers are building electric guitars that refine time-tested designs and explore brand-new territory.

NEW GEAR REVIEW: R. TAYLOR STYLE TWO
Luxurious style and tone come together in a new, smaller-bodied guitar from Bob Taylor’s boutique workshop. With video.

NEW GEAR REVIEW: WALDEN T550
Travel guitar packs character, tone, and feel into a compact instrument that’s a blast to play. With video.

NEW GEAR REVIEW: TASCAM DP-02
Easy-to-use digital recording system delivers high-quality multitrack recording capability, CD output, and a wealth of creative possibilities. With video.

EDDIE DURAN: The remarkable longevity and broad scope of Eddie Duran’s musical career places him in the ranks of jazz guitar’s most venerable elder statesmen. Over the past 50-plus years, he has performed with many of jazz’s greatest luminaries—including Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, and George Shearing. Since his recording debut in 1956, working as a sideman with swing pianist extraordinaire Earl “Fatha” Hines, Duran has appeared on albums as both sideman and leader. Currently working in an acoustic jazz duo with his wife, powerhouse sax and flute player Mad Duran (madneddieduran.com), the free-spirited fingerstyle guitarist plays with an obvious love of jazz (and music in general). [more]

PASSINGS: Utah Phillips: 1935-2008
Bruce "Utah" Duncan Phillips, better known to folk music fans by his performing name, Utah Phillips, died in his sleep on May 23 at his home in Nevada City, California. A folk singer, labor organizer, and poet, Phillips recorded with Ani DiFranco in the mid-’90s (the Grammy-nominated The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere), and his songs were recorded by Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Tom Waits, Joe Ely, and others. In 1997 Acoustic Guitar interviewed Phillips and DiFranco about their collaboration, which can be read [here].

SOLTERO: You’re No Dream
Philadelphia-based Tim Howard is one of the most intriguing young artists on the indie edge of acoustic music. Soltero is the form his musical experiments take, sometimes as a full band or, as on his excellent fifth release, a solo endeavor. Howard creates a fraught, murky dreamscape—with just vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, drums, and wind organ—that sounds as if it were recorded underwater. He uses the guitar to build atmosphere the way a painter layers a canvas, whether with the delicately beautiful arpeggios of “Necromancer” or the strategically placed single notes and drone effects of the spooky “Along the Wire.” Howard’s mumbly, Elliott Smith–like voice and arresting, evocative lyrics add to the moody effect, yet lurking underneath is a strong melodic and harmonic core. You’re No Dream could be the soundtrack of a hallucinatory, psychedelic movie—and that’s a compliment. (La Societe Expeditionnaire, solterosongs.com)
—CÉLINE KEATING

CATHERINE MACLELLEN: Church Bell Blues
Catherine MacLellan’s pure, expressive voice—with a hint of Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks—is so lovely it almost overshadows the guitar playing on the Canadian singer-songwriter’s second solo CD. Almost, but not quite, because the unusual chord voicings, subtle strums, and sensitive fills define the music rather than act merely as accompaniment. Longtime collaborator James Phillips supports MacLellan’s acoustic guitar on electric, bass, and acoustic, his playing impeccable, fluid, and restrained. MacLellan sings of the uncertainties and sorrows of love with poetry and passion, drawing listeners in to her melancholy, introspective mood. In lesser hands the narrow stylistic range could have become tedious, and certainly the outstanding bluesy title track is a welcome addition to all-original collection of slow ballads. But with songs as gorgeous as “Dreams Dissolve,” Maclellan shows she can get away with just about anything. (True North Records, truenorthrecords.com)
—CÉLINE KEATING

For more CD reviews, go to acousticguitar.com/playlist.

SEPTEMBER 2008: Beppe Gambetta lesson; the next generation of fingerstyle guitarists; dreadnought guitars roundup; reviews of the Huss and Dalton FS and the Genz Benz Shenandoah; and music to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Into the Great Wide Open.”

OCTOBER 2008: Interview with John Hiatt; Tony McManus lesson; reviews of the Schertler Pagelli and the Roland CD-2e; and music to Dolly Parton’s country classic, “Jolene.”

NOVEMBER 2008: Amos Lee talks about his new album; online guitar instruction programs; seven classic acoustic guitars; reviews of the Breedlove Pro and the Crafter TMC035; and music to Bo Diddley’s “Bo Diddley” and Elliott Smith’s “Between the Bars.”

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