If I were to do a top ten (or five....or one) favorite guitar players, David Rawlings would be on that list. Maybe one of these of these days I do that list, but for now just let me say that I could listen to DR and Gillian Welch all day, every day. I've seen them play twice; once, in the rain, when they opened for Norah Jones at the Mann Center, and then again when they played with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, and Buddy Miller as the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue at the Keswick.
There are just a handful of guitar players you hear and can identify immediately, and DR is one of them. It's both his playing style (the lightning-quick single-note runs) and the warm-yet-cutting sound of his 1935 Epiphone Olympic that makes it so notable. I know I recently was bashing Acoustic Guitar magazine, but here's an article/lesson from their website with some video clips of him playing the Olympic.
By the way, let me plug the Fretboard Journal, my favorite publication, and the feature they did on DR last summer.
Here's a recent interview and performance by GW and DR on Fresh Air (NPR).
Much like chocolate and peanut butter coming together in tasty goodness, two of my favorite things are joining forces: The Fretboard Journal is coming to the iPad. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the app; it will make faculty meetings bearable.
Saturday, May 19, 2012