To most Chicagoans, “Englewood” and “rock” are hardly synonymous, but guitarist Edward Vaughn reps his hood proudly as he follows his rock-star dreams. And where he’s from isn’t the only thing about him that points away from rock ’n’ roll: he also has a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering. “I’m from Englewood, so […]
Tag: guitar
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Kokomo Arnold helped shape giants of the blues
Kokomo Arnold’s recording career lasted less than a decade, but he changed the world by influencing the likes of Robert Johnson and Elmore James.
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Denmark’s Causa Sui channel guitar legend Gábor Szabó on their latest psychedelic adventure
When things got dark in 2020, some bands leaned into anxiety, loneliness, and rage, but others embraced silver linings—especially if COVID shutdowns allowed them a more relaxed pace of life that helped them refocus and pursue quieter personal interests that might otherwise get pushed to the back burner. And if there’s a musical equivalent to […]
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Your Arms Are My Cocoon pulls off a strange combination of bedroom pop and screamo
Before Tyler Odom moved to Chicago this year, he had the wild idea to take bedroom pop’s fragile instrumentation and whispered vocals and mash them together with screamo’s bleating hollers and grenades of frisson. On his recent self-titled solo debut as Your Arms Are My Cocoon, Odom fuses those incongruous styles with pluck, charm, and […]
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Adrianne Lenker makes time for healing on Songs and Instrumentals
Adrianne Lenker was in the throes of a breakup this spring when she holed up in a one-room cabin in Western Massachusetts and spent a few weeks crafting the paired albums Songs and Instrumentals (both on 4AD). While Lenker is primarily known for her folk-rock band Big Thief, her comparatively pared-down solo work is equally […]
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Malian guitarist Sidi Touré dials it back on an all-acoustic, digital-only album
Count Sidi Touré among the billions of people around the world who’ve had to revise their plans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Malian singer-guitarist’s previous album, Toubalbero, was recorded live in Bamako’s best studio in order to best showcase his band’s vibrant combination of electric guitars and traditional regional instruments. But between the […]
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On Yannis Kyriakides and Andy Moor’s Pavilion, the musicians are also the exhibit
Cypriot composer and electronic musician Yannis Kyriakides uses polyphonic vocal arrangements, string sections, glitchy beats, and found-sound collages to articulate wordless experiences and evoke things lost or removed. English electric guitarist Andy Moor is best known for playing with the Ex, a band that has never abandoned the principles or ferocity of its punk roots, […]
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Jazz guitarist Dave Miller drops an album of brainy feel-good grooves
Jazz guitarist Dave Miller drops an album of brainy feel-good grooves, Naked Raygun singer Jeff Pezzati makes his solo debut with a new EP, and more.
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Blues guitarist Lurrie Bell beat mental illness to build a thriving career
By the early 90s Lurrie Bell didn’t even own a guitar anymore, but now he’s got a shelf full of Blues Music Awards.
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Bill Nace uses his guitar to make unguitarlike sounds on Both
Until COVID-19 laid waste to his and everyone else’s touring schedule, Bill Nace was looking forward to a splendid spring. Not only would the Philadelphia-based guitarist have opened in Chicago for the Gunn-Truscinski Duo and Mdou Moctar; he’d also have joined Gunn, Truscinski, and Kim Gordon (his bandmate in Body/Head) at a couple festivals in […]
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Nonpareil improvising guitarist Sandy Ewen returns to Chicago
Ever since guitarist Sandy Ewen moved from Texas to New York City in 2017, she’s been a prolific performer, both at conventional venues (Bushwick Public House, Downtown Music Gallery) and at house shows. Sometimes she’ll gig more than once a day, improvising with the likes of Stephen Gauci, Daniel Carter, Maria Chavez, and Michael Vatcher. […]
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Goran Ivanovic and Fareed Haque make classical guitars dance
Chicago-based guitarists Goran Ivanovic and Fareed Haque collaborated on two albums in the early 2000s, but they’ve since focused on other projects; Ivanovic leads a trio with Matt Ulery on bass and Pete Tashjian on drums, while Haque, a mainstay on the festival circuit, released an album in 2018 with local chamber ensemble the Kaia […]
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David Dann on his new biography of blues-rock guitarist Michael Bloomfield
From Glencoe to Monterey Pop to oblivion: Michael Bloomfield’s huge talent and unique style changed rock guitar forever, but while Clapton and Hendrix entered the canon, he faded away.
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Louis Myers cofounded one of the great backing bands in the blues
The guitar and harmonica master from the Aces played with Junior Wells, Little Walter, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and many more.
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Lefty Dizz was one of the greatest showmen in the blues
Guitarist Lefty Dizz toured abroad for decades, but even in his home base of Chicago he was never the star he played like.