American Fingerstyle Guitar

Hi, thanks for visiting.

I’m really excited as I get ready to head out on the road for some really fun shows this weekend with Kinloch Nelson.  I’ve got my new site all bright and shiny, I’ve got all my music back under my control, you can buy it right here (which help$ me the most), or you can find it on iTunes, Amazon.com, eMusic, Napster, and Rhapsody if those are your preferred options. The multiple-CD bundles, such as 20th Century Guitar are only available from my store.

I’ve also just added a video page and will be adding to it over the coming days and weeks. Right now you can view a couple of older tunes, Mystic Morning and Renaissance, arranged for high-string guitar, as well as one of my favorite oldies Steel String Surprise.

I’ve also just added a page of tablature. I’ve got three books available, Artistry of the Guitar Volumes 1 and 2 with 8 songs in each, and an Alternate Tunings Guide with over 200 chords diagrammed in DADGAD and CGDGAD.

You’ll notice that I’m offering a free song to anyone brave enough to join my mailing list. I send out about 4-6 mailings a month depending on my activity, and I won’t share it with anyone else.  This month’s free track is a bouncy ragtime piece, Mesa Rag, from my EP Harbor Town.

Make sure to check out Upcoming Shows, and if you come make sure to say hello.

Peace, kb

So, about a month ago I posted some thoughts regarding the importance of strings to a guitar’s overall sound. As you may know,I’ve been playing Thomastik-Infeld strings on my guitars for over 15 years and have only used two other sets of strings out of necessity when I ran out while I was on the road. I’ve always loved them, they were perfect for my sound, and up until very recently they covered all the gauges I needed to do my work. And they take such great care of me, always getting me strings well ahead of my touring schedule.

But in last month’s Guitar Diaries blog I encouraged all guitarists to experiment with strings and I decided that I had to follow the same advice. What really tripped me into experimentation mode was a set of strings on one of Jeff Bamburg’s guitars on exhibit at the Montreal Guitar festival July 2-4. This guitar had been played by dozens upon dozens of folks in very humid conditions, and I’d played part of a mini-concert with that guitar under stage lights in extremely humid conditions. Death for most strings, especially for me, but when I got back home and played that guitar on July 6th they sounded rich in the low end with really nice sparkly highs; not quite brand new, but I’d have had no qualms performing with them. The strings in question are called Newtone, they’re hand-made in the UK by an ex-coal miner named Malcolm Newton. (continue reading…)