The Gerry Leonard Interview

Posted on December 5, 2020 by guitar moderne

In my video intro I say I first saw Gerry Leonard with Jonatha Brooke in in San Francisco. I might be wrong about that, but once I moved back to New York I saw him often in his guise as Spooky Ghost, both solo and with an amazing band, performing feats of looping magic while singing haunting, Gaelic-tinged, original songs. One of those nights, in a tiny Tribeca club, I found myself sitting practically on top of David Bowie as he checked Leonard out for his band. The rest is history as Gerry went on to be musical director for David Bowie’s Reality Tour and have his guitar featured on Bowie records, “Heathen,” “Reality,” and “The Next Day.” We discuss that fateful night and much more.

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Cool Pedal Alert: EHX Eddy Vibrato/chorus

Posted on December 2, 2020 by guitar moderne

Magnatone amps included vibrato in their amps as far back as 1957, but went out of business circa 1969. The effect was lost until Boss issued their VB-2 Vibrato pedal in 1982 to resounding crickets. But in the last couple of years the effect’s surge of popularity has caused Boss to reissued the VB-2 in Waza form, while Earthquaker Devices, T.C. Electronic, and others have also launched vibrato pedals. Even Magnatone is back in business. Nels Cline recently told me that he is afraid he uses his VB-2 too much. So, it is not surprising to see Electro-Harmonix enter the field. But first let’s clear up exactly what vibrato is, and is not.

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The Patrick Higgins Interview

Posted on November 26, 2020 by guitar moderne

I have often extolled Downtown Music Gallery in New York as a great place to order records by many of the artists I cover. I have also found it to be a terrific resource for discovering new modern guitarists.

Their periodic email blast often lists records featuring players that have escaped my attention and sends me scurrying to YouTube to check them out. Patrick Higgins is one such guitarist. He is also a composer of note on the modern classical scene. How he has remained unknown to me over a decade of touring and recording, I have no idea, but I hopefully have rectified that for you here.

Patrick was on his iPhone and on the move when we did the interview, so if you suffer from motion sickness, you might want to just listen. Either way, you will find our conversation rewarding.

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Marc Ribot Movie

Posted on November 24, 2020 by guitar moderne

I used to see Ribot play at the same club as I did, performing with an R&B horn band. He would strum rhythm on his Barney Kessel Gibson until it came time for his solo, and then mouth the pick to play blistering lines with his classically trained fingers. I lost track of him for a few years, after which he emerged playing a Telecaster with a new skronky style. Watch this before they take it down.

Ed Pettersen: Dispatch from the COVID Front

Posted on November 18, 2020 by guitar moderne

In 2019, I kept running into Ed Pettersen at Big Ears. We had some interesting conversations during which I learned that we both lived in Nashville and that he was something of a musical polymath. He recently sent me an email describing the effect that Covid has had on his musical plans. I thought that many GM readers could relate and that it would be a good time to officially introduce Pettersen to the Guitar Moderne community.

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