News & Updates — John Fahey

Feliz aniversario to Djalma de Andrade aka "Bola Sete" ("seven ball"), a great Brazilian guitarist. In Brazilian billiards, the seven ball is the only black ball, his name was given due to being the only black guy in his early jazz group. Born in Rio, he studied guitar and had a love of jazz, catching many visiting American big bands in Brazil. In 1945 he won a prestigious guitar competition and formed a jazz combo, also playing samba. He played in Italy for a few years in the mid-'50s and toured with an orchestra through South America before moving to...

The first "folk" guitarist I got really into was John Fahey and his curious Takoma albums. Fahey's music combined blues, country, classical, avant-garde and finger-pickin' roots styles and other international folk musics all together. From dissonant to haunting, country blues to modal epics, it covered a lot worth hearing. Takoma was his label, started with money saved from his gas-pumping gig and it went on to be a very influential independent label, releasing many classics not only by Fahey, but also records by Bukka White, Robbie Basho, Leo Kottke, Canned Heat, Charlie Nothing, Bola Sete, George Winston and others. He...

Despite never being what I would call "an acoustic guitar guy", I always dug the ever-reaching and even educational style of John Fahey's music. An early "world music" blender, his records covered country blues, gospel, Indian ragas, ambient sounds, classical, avant-garde and various international folk styles, documented on a classic run of '60s & '70s sides. I can't say as much for Eric Clapton, although I like his music enough, I just don't enjoy it as much as I enjoy Fahey's. Certainly, Clapton also scoped wide influences: blues, country, jazz, psychedelic rock, Arabic, reggae, etc. One of my favorite tunes...