No. 230, February 2012

On the Cover: Gillian Welch. After eight years of stops and starts, Gillian Welch and partner David Rawlings return with a starkly beautiful set of songs on The Harrow and the Harvest. 

ESSENTIAL ACOUSTIC ALBUMS OF 2011
By Mark Smith.

19 GUITAR SHOPPING TIPS
Smart guitar-buying tips from five well-known guitar shop proprietors.  By Jason Borisoff.

ACOUSTIC CLASSICS
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. Words and music by Hank Williams.
The Parting Glass. Traditional, arranged by Danny Carnahan.

PRIVATE LESSON
Creative Chord Voicings Lesson. Sideman extraordinaire Mark Goldenberg on using open-string drones and reharmonization to spice up chord voicings. With video and tab. By Teja Gerken.

NEW GEAR 
Martin 0-28VS Review. A vintage-style rosewood and spruce small-body 12-fret with bold tones. By Stevie Coyle.

Traynor AM Custom Amp Review. Powerful, feature-laden, multiple-input amp with woody and warm sound. By Adam Perlmutter.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT
Sidi Toure. Sidi Toure contributes his own style to a long tradition of brilliant Malian guitarists. By Sarah Welsh.

HERE'S HOW
Effective EQ. How to use graphic and parametric Eqs to adjust your guitar’s amplified sound. By Doug Young.

THE BASICS
Accuracy and Tone for Slide Guitar. Get started on slide guitar with these simple note-targeting exercises. By Orville Johnson.

SHOPTALK
Charles Freeborn Guitars. Portland, Oregon, luthier fuses innovative designs with traditional building techniques to create sleek, unusual shapes and sizes. By Andrew DuBrock.

The 2011 Woodstock Invitational. Acoustic Guitar reports from the New York State guitar festival. By Teja Gerken.

WOODSHED
Building Bass Lines. Learn to craft jazzy walking bass lines and work them into your solo fingerstyle accompaniment. With video and tab. By Sean McGowan.

SONGBOOK
Spanish Harlem. Words and Music by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector, arranged by Kinloch Nelson.

GREAT ACOUSTICS
2001 Andersen SilverLine. By Baker Rorick.

Songs:
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Hank Williams
The Parting Glass, Traditional, arranged by Danny Carnahan
Scarlet Town, Gillian Welch
Blues in the Kitchen, Sean McGowan
Spanish Harlem, Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector, arranged by Kinloch Nelson