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Berkeley Guitar
- Avg user rating:
Out of 15 votes - Similar Artists: John Fahey, Leo Kottke, James Blackshaw, Jack Rose, Robbie Basho
Out of 15 votes
- Location: Berkeley, California, United States
- Genre: Folk » Finger-Picked Guitar
Editor's review
Picking up where fingerpicking masters like John Fahey and Robbie Basho left off, this compilation brings to the fore three Berkeley-based up-and-comers (Sean Smith, Adam Snider, Matt Baldwin) who know their way around a fretboard. As with the aforementioned legends (and contemporaries like Jack Rose), their stripped-down acoustic songs bring elements of light and dark together into hypnotic melodies that are at times unsettling but always brimming with charm.
Biography
Berkeley Guitar is a collection of new recordings by three of the Bay Area’s finest young acoustic guitarists: Sean Smith, Adam Snider, and Matt Baldwin.
The city of Berkeley and the acoustic guitar share a rich, decades-long history — most notably as the Sixties home base of Takoma Records, which released landmark recordings by John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Leo Kottke and many others. This history inspired three young guitarists from the Bay Area to create a document of the present-day guitar scene.
Produced by Sean Smith and recorded and mastered at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA, the package includes liner notes by Larry Kelp of Berkeley public radio station KPFA and Ed Denson, co-founder of Takoma Records. The album is available on CD and gorgeous limited edition deluxe gatefold vinyl.
Where to buy
Record label store
