Photo credit: Jesse Sheppard
Sunday April 10 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS
Glenn Jones is a master of American Primitive Guitar, a style invented in the late 1950s by John Fahey, whose traditional fingerpicking techniques and wide-ranging influences were used to create modern original compositions. Jones, who led the post-rock ensemble Cul de Sac, brings his own made-up tunings, the use of custom-crafted partial capos, and a highly skilled picking style on both banjo and guitar, to create personal compositions that are lyrical, emotive and elegant.
Jones has written extensively about the leading lights of the American Primitive guitar style, namely John Fahey (with whom he was friends for nearly 25 years), and Robbie Basho (Jones was friends with the guitarist until Basho's untimely death in 1986, and hosted the guitarist / singer's final tour of the East Coast).
Jones has performed with Jack Rose, Peter Lang, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Cian Nugent, James Blackshaw, Paul Metzger, Peter Walker, Meg and Laura Baird, Harris Newman, Sean Smith, MV + EE, Dredd Foole, Sharron Kruaus, Susan Alcorn Tom Carter, Yo La Tengo, Thurston Moore, Chris Corsano, and many, many others. And his work has been highlighted by NPR, Pitchfork, Boston Globe, and more.
What sets him apart from the myriad guitarists playing today is his ability to tell stories with the guitar and banjo, and to convey a range of emotions. This process starts with the compositions themselves and carries through to his selection of recording environment and engineer. Jones turned away from standard tuning years ago, inventing tunings as a way of escaping the known. The pieces he writes in these tunings are his way of navigating new and unfamiliar landscapes.
Jordan Perry is a guitarist and educator currently living in Charlottesville, Virginia. Perry’s guitar work straddles a space between classical guitar composition and free improvisation and reflects a wavering sense of departure and return. His most recent albums Beautiful Swimmers (20/20 Records and Tapes, 2021), Curtains (20/20 Records and Tapes, 2022), and Changing Always Who Is Waving To Us (Feeding Tube Records, 2020), explore Perry’s improvisational language born out of his earlier albums of classical guitar composition, Witness Tree (Feeding Tube Records, 2019) and S/t (Feeding Tube Records / Good Cry Records, 2018).