You can’t fight the folk. These days it’s everywhere with revivals, the new freak folk, folktronica and all kind of bizarre hybrids. But the numero label isn’t about that, they’re stuck in the past, back when folk was just plain folk. This is the second in their Wayfaring Strangers series, the first was almost intolerable, obscure Joni Mitchell styled coffee house singers, destined for, well obscurity. Guitar Soli however is much easier to deal with, to begin with it’s instrumental, just solo acoustic guitar. We’re talking fourteen tracks of rootsy, deltaesque John Fahey style plucking, None of the artists are known outside a small circle and most released small self released pressings of their material. But that’s Numero’s speciality, uncovering artists who weren’t appreciated during their day, and giving them a second chance forty odd years later. It’s six string heaven, recorded between 1966 and 1981, with artists who worshiped at the temple of Fahey, Takoma and Leo Kottke. It’s filled with impassioned picking, gentle strums and plenty of reverberant space, demonstrating the diversity of styles and approaches that the acoustic guitar can achieve when in the right hands.
Bob Baker Fish.
*
