No. 268, April 2015
Songwriters at Play
Modern troubadours collaborate with the young Bob Dylan to create The New Basement Tapes
His Back Pages
Studio guitar legend Bruce Langhorne is the real Mr. Tambourine Man
Faith, Folk & Funny Business
From The Brady Bunch to Transparent, scriptwriter, songwriter, and acoustic-guitar player Faith Soloway has come full circle
Music from the Ruins
Guitars built from Detroit’s abandoned housing stock are adding to the Motor City’s legacy
MerleFest!
Behind the flowering of one of the most influential string-band festivals
Goodbye Earl
5 little-known teenage girls from North Carolina helped blaze trails for women in bluegrass
Pickin’ the Blues
How racism kept black string-band music virtually hidden for decades
I Love String Bands
AG readers weigh in on what inspires them about string-band music
News
The Beat
Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield release a tribute to indie songsmith Elliott Smith; Airplane manager Bill Thompson dies
News Spotlight
Rez Abbasi turned to the acoustic guitar to re-invent ’70s fusion classics
Play
Songcraft
Songwriter Nathan Bell on “finding” songs in particular guitars
Here’s How
The art of aleatoric, or “chance,” songwriting
Basics
Master the art of rests
Weekly Workout
Exercises for honing the major-pentatonic scale
AG Trade
Shop Talk
Ovation brand sold to Drum Workshop; Gibson issues a new Dylan signature SJ-200 guitar
Makers & Shakers
Indian Hill’s Mike Kennedy creates a unique showpiece flattop
Guitar Guru
What causes random intonation glitches?
Review: Bourgeois Bryan Sutton Dreadnought
A limited-edition revival of a modern marvel
Review: Paul Reed Smith SE A10E
This all-mahogany acoustic sounds warm and woody
Review: Fishman Platinum
Series PreampsUser-friendly models with clean and accurate sonics
Pickin’
Fender’s Premium Concert Tone 59 banjo revives a long-celebrated line
Great Acoustics
Larrivée’s 1975 cutaway was a true trailblazer
Mixed Media
Playlist
James McMurtry’s Complicated Game has a softer sound, but more edge to the lyrics; also Jorma Kaukonen’s Ain’t in No Hurry, Julian Lage’s World’s Fair, and Iron & Wine’s Archive Series Volume No. 1
