Piedmont Blues
Duck Baker–Thumbs of Fury
Since I often talk about right hand technique on this Blog, you might think ‘Thumbs of Fury’ refers to the right hand thumb.* Yes, the fingerpicker’s Jedi force surely resides in the right hand thumb, but in the case of long-time fingerstyle master Duck Baker, there’s a lot going on with the left hand thumb. [...]
What is Fingerstyle Guitar Anyway?
A discussion of fingerstyle techniques, categorization, and the advent of modern fingerstyle, percussive guitar. The music of Vicki Genfan.
Blind Blake-Georgia Bound
In the song “Georgia Bound“, Blake is in fine form as he sings evocatively of the Eastern Seaboard region known as the Piedmont, where he was from, bringing out the sounds and rhythms of his youth, the real Piedmont blues he had learned as a kid.
Blind Blake-the Stevie Wonder of the 1920s
Blind Blake was an important American recording artist at the dawn of the recording industry.
Traveling to the north from the Piedmont region of the eastern seaboard, he recorded for Paramount Records, the premiere label marketing ‘country blues‘ music to black audiences in the late 1920s. Because he was one of the first widely heard players, [...]
What the Hell are the Piedmont Blues?
I had been playing fingerstyle blues for many years before I ever heard the term ‘piedmont blues.’
I had gravitated towards a group of players that included Blind Blake, the Reverend Gary Davis, and Brownie McGee, looking for songs that I felt comfortable singing, without knowing they were all from the same region. There’s certain [...]
