09.08
I love fingerstyle and classical guitar. It’s about all I listen to when I’m working. I find it hard to concentrate if the music I’m listening to has lyrics, so I stick with instrumental stuff. My criteria for a good fingerstyle guitarist is fairly simple, though very few pickers seem to meet it. Of course number one is that they have to be proficient with their instrument. Duh! Nobody wants to listen to crap. There are many great guitarists out there so that isn’t a very strict requirement.
Next, they have to write songs with a melody line that captures you. Not simply a catchy “hook”. It’s the kind of melody that lingers in your head for days. You can’t wait to get in the car so you can listen to it again. That narrows the field considerably. There are so many cookie cutter fingerstyle guitarists out there who just plough through their instrument without any compelling melody lines at all. I want a song to capture my attention and not let me go until the end, and then make me long to listen to it again.
Thirdly, the music can’t be overproduced. Pure fingerstyle is just delicious. Don’t start dropping any drums or anything like that in there and levening the whole lump. I don’t mind a little bit of that sprinkled into an album, but it has to be used sparingly and it can’t interfere with the guitar at all. Lastly, they have to be able to keep up these criteria for an entire album. There are a lot of guitarists who will hit a home run with a song every couple of albums, but the ones that can string an entire CD worth of great music together are rare. So without further ado, here are my top 3:
Billy McLaughlin – Site
Favorite Songs:
- Country Wicklow Mystic
- Looking For Good
- While She Sleeps
- Clockshop
Billy is just incredible. He writes the most beautiful guitar music I’ve ever heard, hands down. His tunes either groove or weep and you are at his mercy until he decides to let go. Whether it’s an original piece or a Christmas hymn that he has re-arranged to fit his unique two handed tapping style, it’s pure magic. You owe it to yourself to grab some of his songs off the web. Start with the ones I listed above and venture out from there. When it gets closer to Christmas purchase Billy’s album called “Wintersongs and Traditionals”. You will not be able to take it out of the CD player. Sadly, over the last couple of years Billy has developed a rare motor disease that has all but ended his guitar playing. Last I heard he was a music minister at an Lutheran church up North.
Stephen Bennett – Site
Favorite Songs:
- Old Growth
- Perestroika
- Sea Rose Beach
- Cornwall
Stephen’s music is very gentle, and very captivating. He uses a lot of syncopation, which is such a crucial part of good fingerstyle guitar music. His slow stuff is just as good as the quicker paced tunes. The first album you should pick up is “Harp Guitar”. It’s a fantastic album. If you don’t know what a harp guitar is, it looks like a guitar with 4 bass strings on the top above the sound hole. Just go to his site and look at the pictures. From what I understand he is one of very few people in the world that know how to play the harp guitar well, and it shows. He just recently made all his music available on iTunes so it is much easier to get now.
Pierre Bensusan – Site
Favorite Songs:
- Nice Feeling
- Santa Monica
- Abbesse’s Lake
- The Arched Back Woman
Wow! Something good has come out of France besides fries. Pierre is much better than fries though. He has been around for a very long time and it shows. His music is hard to describe. To call it jangly is accurate yet misses so much of the depth and emotion of the music. The harmony lines kind of roll out of the guitar; at times almost stepping on one another but without ever sounding sloppy. His songs bring you up and down, but in a smooth way that doesn’t overload your senses. It’s the kind of music where you just want to load up a pipe with your favorite tobacco, close your eyes and let Pierre do his thing. The first album I would get is called “Nice Feeling”. It’s a good collection of all of his best pieces over the years. Unfortunately it’s not available on iTunes but you can find it at Barnes and Noble usually.
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