When any guitarist reaches for their acoustic, the shadows of John Fahey and
Leo Kottke loom. Not so much as a result of the new breed's lack of imagination and ability (far from it), but because of the enormous breadth of those two men's exhausting catalog.
Among the small handful of worthy heirs to the throne (namely Jack Rose, but also Glenn Jones and Steffan Basho-Junghans), Harris Newman's take on the guitar shows he's up to the challenge.
Being a member of Canada's large and well-known Constellation Records family, Newman enlists Godspeed you Black Emperor member Bruce Cowdron for various (largely percussive) accents. "God is in the Details" eyes the fringe with bowed cymbal, drones, rumbles and a slow guitar slide. While "Feral Blues" builds to an energetic bounce, recalling the old-timey-est Americana. The tumbling guitar lines of "Forest for the Trees" (which is a 15-minute epic) bring to mind label-mate Basho-Junghans, but with the added texture of bubbling percussion.
Dashes of blues, jazz, folk and a few experimental twists give Newman's guitar playing a fresh and evolving sound.
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