Andrew Lardner

"Plainsong" by John Renbourn

Friends:

Thank you for being so active in last month's suggestion thread. There were many suggestions to consider, ultimately steering this month's content in the direction of another Renbourn instrumental.

"Plainsong" was recorded for Renbourn's first LP in 1965 (released 1966). It bears both the influence of British folk and American blues. We're also very fortunate to have an earlier ta...

Make your suggestions for upcoming content

Friends:

We are long overdue for some community feedback. I have some ideas about trying to organize posts by tuning, genre, difficulty, etc., but have yet to implement any changes. I see the content here as falling into a few subgroups:

Largest priority - 60s-70s folk/blues - this encapsulates everything from what most call American Primitive to British Isles

Next priority - early 20th century country blues - I also love doing lessons on country blues, artists like Bl...

"Single Girl" arr. by Alex de Grassi

Friends:

Welcome back! I'm excited to share a lesson on an important artist we have yet to cover here on Patreon.

Alex de Grassi has been recording since the late 70s, a prominent early presence on the Windham Hill label, and one of the most technically impressive players I've had the opportunity to sit in a room with and listen to play. I worked with de Grassi several times during my stretch of time at UW-Milwaukee, first meeting him about 15 years ago. I remember first seeing h...

"Young Man, Young Man, Look At Your Shoes," by Peter Lang

Friends:

This month I'm excited to present another fine Peter Lang solo from his first record.

"Young Man, Young Man, Look At Your Shoes" should appeal to most here, it is simple enough for more beginner fingerstyle players to find accessible, while having enough melodic and harmonic interest to grab more advanced players for a quick study.

It is constructed of 5 brief melodic ideas, I hesitate to call them sections because each is so brief, but they do all feel like unique...

"Hey, Hey Baby" by Big Bill Broonzy

Friends:

I'm pleased to be back this month with what I believe to be one of the most iconic blues numbers of the era. Though I've been very hesitant to do this one because of how frequently this has been covered on the internet, both performances and lessons, I felt I could no longer idly sit by while others continue to misrepresent Broonzy's artistry.

I have been playing this piece for the last 15 years, though I have never transcribed it fully until the score was completed a few...

"Medley: Crow River Waltz / Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring / Jack Fig" by Leo Kottke

Friends:

It's a pleasure to be back this month with a huge post. If any of you have been following the narrative of this Patreon, Leo Kottke's My Feet are Smiling record will always stand alone as the most important for my development on the guitar. Even though I tagged along with my parents to Kottke's concerts as a young kid, I didn't start listening to his records on my own until around 2001-2002. It was around this time that I was starting to play some acoustic guitar and m...

"Sandy Bells" by John Renbourn

Friends:

Here's something a little different. As some of you know, sometimes the breeze catches my ear and it whispers something that I may want to consider for the next post. This one came to me as a random member suggestion last month. I was already in a Renbourn mood, planning on doing another soon, and this just struck me as something fun to look at.

I never heard of the tune "Sandy Bells" prior to this suggestion. This struck me as odd, I'm not an expert on Renbourn's catalog...

"Rosslyn" by John Renbourn

Friends:

Welcome back for another monthly video and lesson. This month we're back to some John Renbourn. I knew I wanted to go back to the British Isles this month, and was unsure of what to do. I felt it would be well worth the effort of transcribing another Renbourn solo, and I really wanted to work from video so we had excellent documentation of the right- and left-hand fingerings.

The only known recording of "Rosslyn," to my knowledge, is this take from the BBC's 1974 broadcas...

"When the Springtime Comes Again" by John Fahey

Friends:

Im pleased to close out 2023 with one of Fahey's most epic collages. "When the Springtime Comes Again" was first commercially released on the Death Chants, Breakdowns, & Military Waltzes album in 1963 (this track was actually recorded in February of 1962). It progressed through many different forms over the course of many years. The re-recording of the Death Chants album was released in...

"Ku'u Lei Awapuhi Melemele" arr. Keola Beamer

Friends:

Aloha

I know it may be unexpected to be seeing a Hawaiian tune on the first of December, but often the work I do here is a reflection of current events in my life. I recently reconnected with a great old friend who lives on Lahaina, and I also think of this as one of my favorite slack-key pieces and have wanted to include something from the genre here for a long time.

Nearly all Hawaiian guitar music is played in alternate tunings, thus the term slack key, or "slack...

"Skinflint" by Leo Kottke

Friends:

I'm pleased to present my first ever attempt at recording a piece using the bottleneck. We've got a way to go but I look forward to doing more in the future. This is also an exciting post because it is a more contemporary Kottke piece and gives me the opportunity to touch on his thumb damping technique in the lesson video.

"Skinflint" was first included on the 1988 release Regards from Chuck Pink. Luckily, there was plenty of video footage to draw upon to create ...

"Mississippi Blues" by William Brown

Friends:

We're back with a transcription of a 1940s blues number this month. William Brown's "Mississippi Blues" was recorded by Alan Lomax at the Sadie Beck plantation (Arkansas) in 1942. Other than this, little is known about William Brown. What seems to be accepted today, is this William Brown is different than the Willie Brown of Mississippi who was known as an early pioneer of the Delta blues and collaborator with other well-known players like Son House and Charlie Patton.  2023-10-01 13:00:43 +0000 UTC View Post

"Red Meat on the Road" by Peter Lang

Friends:

I'm pleased to offer another lesson focused on the work of Peter Lang. This solo was originally included on his premier LP, The Thing at the Nursery Room Window, recorded in 1973. You can listen to both the original recording and a slightly later recording from the 2023-09-01 12:59:02 +0000 UTC View Post

"Ojo" by Leo Kottke

Friends:

I'm excited to share this classic composition from what I view as the most important/influential solo acoustic guitar record, 6- and 12-String Guitar. "Ojo" has remained in Kottke's concert repertoire through the decades, and while it has undergone some development with some refinement to the lines and the addition of new sections, I present it here in its original form as it was recorded in December of 1969.

Those of you who are already familiar with the composi...

"The Siege of Delhi"

Friends:

This month we're exploring more wonderful British finger-style. I can't believe this is the first time we're having a look at Martin Carthy, and I'm excited to share my work on documenting this incredible musician with you.

This arrangement is based off a traditional bagpipe melody from the late 1800s. It features the tuning that Carthy uses as one of his main tunings, CGCDGA (Hedges fans might want to note that Carthy was a major early influence and this tuning is analog...

"Stomping Tonight on the Pennsylvania/Alabama Border," by John Fahey

Welcome back for another monthly lesson. I was thrilled to see so much discussion on last month's post asking for your suggestions. I couldn't help but move forward with the piece that seemed to have the most suggestions/upvotes for this post. I will continue to weigh the other suggestions and see what I can do to keep everyone having fun.

This month we'll have a look at Fahey's "Stomping Tonight on the Pennsylvania/Alabama Border" 2023-06-01 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post

Make your suggestions

Friends:

I'm relieved the academic year is winding down for my main job. Most of my students are now rehearsing their music for graduation ceremonies and there is a collective sigh of relief from the staff that we only have about 40 days of work left. It's always hard to believe I make it through another year serving almost 600 students and teaching 30 classes a week. I always look forward to this time of the year, the weather turns around in Milwaukee (can you believe it is still in th...

Samson and Delilah, by Rev. Gary Davis

Friends:

Welcome back for another important dive into the past. This month we look at Gary Davis' arrangement of "Samson and Delilah" as performed in 1967. The piece is considered "traditional," but would most likely be credited to Blind Willie Johnson as he first recorded his version in 1927. Following Gary Davis' recordings and performances of the piece in the 60s, it went on to inspire many other artists to cover the tune during the folk boom. I have always wanted to play this piece ...