You don’t need to be Jewish to appreciate the audacious project that guitarist Nathan Salsburg just pulled off: An album of vocal and guitar compositions created around passages he found in his copy of a bilingual Hebrew-English Book of Psalms.
“I opened a Psalm book at random,” he says of his original writing exercise. “[I’d] find some English text that appealed to me… and then just start playing around with it. All the melodies are my own.” The resulting compositions he wrote on his Bourgeois acoustic were a far cry from the last time he heard many of these passages… at Jewish summer camp when he was a kid.
Eventually, Salsburg recruited some of collaborators – James Elkington, Spencer Tweedy, Joan Shelley, and Will Oldham, along with Israeli singer Noa Babayof – to add their touches to the final album.
It’s a record unlike any other that Salsburg has released to date and we thoroughly love it.
Order Psalms here.
Two pieces of music referenced during the conversation: Jonathan Harkham and David Brook's Darcho (Bandcamp link)
The Caretaker (YouTube link)
The Fretboard Journal's 48th issue is now mailing. Julian Lage graces the cover. Click here to read up on it and start your subscription.
Don't forget, we now host an entire family of podcasts, about everything from lutherie to home recording: Luthier on Luthier; The Truth About Vintage Amps; The Truth About Recording & Mixing;Acoustic Voices; and Sweep the Floor.
This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases, Folkway Music and Retrofret Vintage Guitars.
Extra thanks to Calton Cases and Martin Guitars for sponsoring all that we do.
Chris Thile (Punch Brothers, Nickel Creek) joins us this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast for an introspective talk about the making of Laysongs, his new solo album. It's a project that has the groundbreaking composer/mandolinist meditating on themes of organized religion, god and church (he even recorded the project in a former Hudson, NY church). During out chat, we talk about the compositions found on the album, his vocal technique, Live From Here, and why even Lloyd Loar-signed Gibson F-5 mandolins aren't perfect as-is. It's a fun and insightful conversation with one of our favorite musicians.
Originally recorded May 13, 2021.
The Fretboard Journal's 48th issue is now mailing. Julian Lage graces the cover. Click here to read up on it and start your subscription.
Don't forget, we now host an entire family of podcasts, about everything from lutherie to home recording: Luthier on Luthier; The Truth About Vintage Amps; The Truth About Recording & Mixing;Acoustic Voices; and Sweep the Floor.
This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases, Folkway Music and Retrofret Vintage Guitars.
Extra thanks to Calton Cases and Martin Guitars for sponsoring all that we do.
"Everything flows from the music." - Dana Bourgeois
What happens when one of the world's most-loved domestic boutique acoustic guitarmakers joins forces with an expansive Chinese instrument maker? On this week's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we talk about just that with Dana Bourgeois, founder of Bourgeois guitars. We hear about how Bourgeois' partnership with Eastman Instruments transpired back in 2019, how the two companies currently collaborate on projects and even get the scoop on some soon-to-be-released instruments that Dana is designing. Lastly, we learn about the new transcontinentally-built Touchstone Series guitars, designed and voiced by Dana's Maine-based team, but largely built overseas. The result is an affordable take on the kind of The FJ is proudly offering a Touchstone OM prototype for sale on August 16, 2021 via this link: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/collections/merchandise/products/fj-exclusive-bourgeois-touchstone-om
Recorded June 10, 2021 via Zoom (sorry for the occasionally glitchy audio).
The Fretboard Journal's 48th issue is now mailing: Click here to read up on it and order your subscription.
Don't forget, we now host an entire family of podcasts, about everything from lutherie to home recording: Luthier on Luthier; The Truth About Vintage Amps; The Truth About Recording & Mixing;Acoustic Voices; and Sweep the Floor.
This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases, Folkway Music and Retrofret Vintage Guitars.
Extra thanks to Calton Cases and Martin Guitars for sponsoring all that we do.