Flat pickers on emusic.com (or elsewhere)?

[imwjl]

Any suggestions for good instrumental and/or mostly acoustic tracks on emusic.com? I have 40 downloads right now, and I'm looking beyond some obvious artists I know such as Doc Watson etc.... Music with vocals would be fine too - main goal is flat picking tracks with good fedility.

Any suggestions would be appreciated because I have an iTunes account too, but choice one for now is where I have the 40 tracks paid for.

Thank you.

WJL

[jeremy3220]

Norman Blake if you're not already familar.

[tuffythepug]

The Duhks should fill the bill.  I know they have at least one cd available on emusic.com.

[imwjl]

Norman Blake if you're not already familar.

Thanks. I have Norman Blake, Doc Watson, Rich O'Brien, Leo Kottke, John Fahey tracks, but will certainly look for some more.

[maxferry]

I've always liked the flatpicking style of Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull). He's been active all these years since Tull was a multi-platinum arena art-rock act in the 70s, although he's dropped off the radar somewhat.

The album that has captured my interest is called "The Secret Language of Birds". Has a lot of 'world' influences as well as his stock-in-trade neo-Celtic style. Very nice melodies/changes and stories in his music. He also does something similar to what Leo Kottke does in his liner notes...gives a bit of a glimpse into the thought process or inspiration behind each tune.

I intend to dig into his more recent stuff a bit more, and I highly recommend Anderson's work for anyone looking for something a little different.

[imwjl]

I've always liked the flatpicking style of Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull). He's been active all these years since Tull was a multi-platinum arena art-rock act in the 70s, although he's dropped off the radar somewhat.

The album that has captured my interest is called "The Secret Language of Birds". Has a lot of 'world' influences as well as his stock-in-trade neo-Celtic style. Very nice melodies/changes and stories in his music. He also does something similar to what Leo Kottke does in his liner notes...gives a bit of a glimpse into the thought process or inspiration behind each tune.

I intend to dig into his more recent stuff a bit more, and I highly recommend Anderson's work for anyone looking for something a little different.

Thanks. I was in one of those arenas in the 70s, and was rather thrilled to have him a few feet from us when he came into the audience.

;)

[tuffythepug]

Thanks. I was in one of those arenas in the 70s, and was rather thrilled to have him a few feet from us when he came into the audience.

;)

Re Jethro Tull (Ian Anderson):     I was a fan of Tull in the late 60's early 70's.     I never even realized that Ian Anderson played guitar.  The one and only time I saw the band perform was in San Francisco at the Fillmore West in 68 or 69 ( those years kind of mesh together at this point)  My recollection of the show, which was fantastic by the way, is of Ian Anderson playing the flute on one leg, hopping around the stage and blowing into that thing like a crazy person.   The sound was so un-like anything else we were hearing at the time it left a lasting impression.    Has he always played guitar in that band ??   On that night he never picked up a guitar even once.   The guitar player was great as I recall but the center of the show was definately Anderson and his flute and vocals.

[maxferry]

I guess it would depend on which tour you saw; I definitely remember seeing him play guitar in stage (a Martin O-28) during their 'Aqualung' tour. It also may have depended on the venue where you saw him, given that acoustic amplification was at best a crude proposition in those days, often requiring an open mike. The guy on electric, incidentally, was Martin Barre, who still works with Anderson on a lot of his music.

You're right that he's not really known as a guitarist...more a composer/singer/flautist, however his acoustic work is quite unique (a lot of it's pretty difficult as well) and would be a decent fit in a really hot Celtic band. He played the acoustic parts on everything Tull ever did that had acoustic guitar; plays almost exclusively flatpick style, although it sometimes sounds as though he's using a hybrid pick/fingers approach. On his more recent releases he also plays things like bouzouki, mandolin, fretless acoustic bass.

He's been a big influence on my playing; I also cover several of his tunes in my solo sets, although I've arranged some them for fingerstyle.

[ElJefe]

http://www.flatpick.com/