Rockers & Songwriters
Bonus list! It’s always tremendously di"cult to pare down these top-50 selections, so we added our favorite rockers-who-play-mean-acoustic and songwriters-with-cagey-acoustic-chops. Enjoy.
CONCORD MUSIC GROUP MUSIC CONCORD Joan Armatrading. Armatrading’s pro- Ronnie Montrose. Better known as an pulsive rhythm-lead style always brings electric rocker, Montrose loved playing her exceptional songs to life. acoustic—which birthed the all-acous- tic Bearings album in 1999. Lindsey Buckingham. Buckingham seamlessly melds acoustic and elec- Jimmy Page. Page’s alternate-tuned tric textures, as on Fleetwood Mac’s acoustic audioscapes with Led Zep- John Fahey “The Chain.” pelin were some of the hallmarks of Though often categorized as a his prodigious production talents. progressive folk artist, Fahey Eric Clapton. His 1992 album, Unplugged, called on a variety of styles— kicked o! a massive upswing in acous- Janet Robin. Robin’s String Revolution including blues, Native Amer- tic players and instrument sales. project is vibey and varied, and her ican music, Indian ragas, solo-acoustic reading of the Beatles’ experimental dissonance, pop, Donovan. His take on clawhammer “Here Comes the Sun” is almost “punk etc.—to demonstrate that the picking astounded Swinging London acoustic,” and in a thrilling way. fingerpicking techniques of in the ’60s, and, hey, he taught the traditional country and blues Beatles how to fingerpick. Ed Sheeran. Sheeran broke out world guitar could be used to express wide in 2014 with x, and triggered yet an alternate universe of musi- Nick Drake. “Cello Song,” from 1969’s another acoustic-music boom. cal ideas. —AT Five Leaves Left, is a lovely example of sensitive fingerpicking and emotive Stephen Stills. Hey, he’s one of the collaboration with the cello of the title. masters of fingerpicking and alternate tunings. Emmylou Harris. The Grammy-win- ning songwriter has her own Gibson Paul Simon. There must be 50 rea- signature model, the L-200 Emmylou sons to appreciate Simon, including Harris. the rollicking fingerstyle of “The Boxer,” the chimey capoed-up magic of “Scar- Steve Howe. The Yes guitarist has borough Fair,” and the infectious Afro-inspired rhythm treated fans to many wonderful acous- parts throughout Graceland. tic-guitar moments, but check out 2001’s Natural Timbre for a full-on Taylor Swift. Dig her music or not, acoustic onslaught. Swift is likely responsible for turning on more players to the acoustic guitar Jack Johnson. The pro surfer turned than anyone else the past few years. Vicki Genfan troubadour’s buoyant and laid-back Stepping into an arena of electric rhythms arguably started another James Taylor. Not quite blues or folk guitars and shredding, Genfan acoustic-music surge in 2000. stylings, Taylor’s pianistic approach to won Guitar Player’s 2008 Guitar fingerpicking relies on thoughtful Superstar competition by rely- Jorma Kaukonen. Kaukonen’s folk dynamics and carefully articulated ing on composition, dynamics, roots run deep, and he’s an outstand- accompaniment to his voice. and some very cool percus- ing fingerpicker. He even jammed on sive parts. We’re extremely “Deep River Blues” in 2012 with our Pete Townshend. From “Pinball Wizard” proud she is now one of the cover artist, Tommy Emmanuel. to “Behind Blue Eyes” and beyond, top solo-acoustic performers Townshend proved to rockers that the on the planet, and she contin- acoustic could be as devastatingly ues to astound and thrill audi- powerful as stacks of Marshalls or Hiwatts. ences. —MM
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