Acoustic Guitar Magazine Archives

Acoustic Guitar magazine switches to bi-monthly

Stringletter Media, publishers of Acoustic Guitar magazine, have announced that they are dropping their print publication schedule down to every other month from the monthly frequency they had followed for most of the 22 years the magazine has been active.

The editors are at pains to ensure readers that there are no plans to stop the publications of new material on their web site, where they feel that a large percentage of readers already consume their offerings in digital form.

So starting with the March 2019 issue, subscribers will receive the print version every two months. Acoustic Guitar will enlarge to roughly 100 pages per issue with this change, from the current 80-85 pages. There are no plans to extend subscription terms, though print subscribers will retain the right to all of the content online.

This move simply reflects the more general move towards digital distribution which is occurring all across the media world. Even those of us who recall with fondness the anticipation that came with looking forward to seeing your favorite periodicals in the mail recognize that those days are numbered. Paper and mailing costs are saved, as are worries about disposal of old issues.

More details for Acoustic Guitar subscribers can be found online.

Mumford And Sons in February Acoustic Guitar

The February edition of Acoustic Guitar magazine is now available from news stores.

The main attraction is the cover story of much-vaunted Mumford And Sons, described by the magazine as Chart-Topping Folk-Rockers, but embraced as well by bluegrass fans who inhabit the big tent.

The feature consists of an interview with the British quartet; Marcus Mumford (guitar, mandolin and drums), Ted Dwane (upright bass), Ben Lovett (accordion and keyboards) and Country Winston Marshall (banjo and resophonic guitar) – with emphasis on their focus on the song; what’s important to them.

Elsewhere the magazine’s staff name their best acoustic album of 2012, with Punch Brothers and the Matt Flinner Trio both getting a few mentions. Others cited include albums by Darrell Scott and Tim O’Brien; Sara Watkins; Trampled By Turtles; Old Crow Medicine Show; the various artists’ Foggy Mountain Special: A Bluegrass Tribute to Earl Scruggs; Laurie Lewis; Infamous Stringdusters; Carolina Chocolate Drops; and singer-songwriter Tift Merritt, who is the subject of another story.

The 5 Songs To Play include Mumford And Sons The Cave, Steve Goodman’s City of New Orleans and the traditional Angeline The Baker.

The magazine is available in a digital as well as print format.

For more information about these features and what else Acoustic Guitar has to offer, visit the magazine’s website.

Acoustic Guitar’s Essential Acoustic Albums of 2011

The editors and contributors of Acoustic Guitar magazine have compiled their personal lists of their favorite acoustic albums of 2011. Each contributor picked their ten top albums, making for a total of 100 CDs chosen. While a good many of the records were from several different genres, bluegrass and bluegrass-related artists were well represented.

When perusing each list a few projects kept coming to the forefront. Gillian Welch’s The Harrow and the Harvest and Sarah Jarosz’s Follow Me Down, both made their way onto more than half of the lists.

Kenny Smith was on mentioned twice for his album, Return. Acoustic Guitar editor, and noted bluegrass/acoustic guitarist Scott Nygaard said that Kenny is…”One of the most creative and widely imitated flatpickers in the bluegrass business.” I would tend to agree.

The brother duet influenced CD, Sleep With One Eye Open by Christ Thile and Michael Daves, also popped up on a couple of lists. Other releases of bluegrass interest include Jim Lauderdale (Reason and Rhyme), Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver (Drive Time), Blue Highway (Sounds of Home), Sierra Hull (Daybreak), and Noam Pikelny (Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail).

It was a surprise to me that popular bluegrass stalwarts Alison Krauss and Union Station only received one nod for their release Paper Airplane.

At any rate, a big thanks to the folks at Acoustic Guitar for letting their readers know about the many fine bluegrass projects released in 2011.

Sarah Jarosz on Acoustic Guitar

Richard Thompson posted over the weekend about Sarah Jarosz being featured on the cover of the October issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine.

I caught up with Sarah this afternoon in between her classes at the New England Conservatory to get her take on this signal honor. She had just started school again two weeks ago, and was getting back into the swing of her academic life after a full summer of touring.

“I was so honored! The idea of it being on the cover didn’t really hit me until I saw it. To be my age and have something like this… it’s so exciting and encouraging.

They had reached out to me a while back. Kenny Berkowitz did the interview last Spring, and I really enjoyed it. He asked a lot of questions most people don’t ask.

I’ve loved Acoustic Guitar for a long time and it was pretty surreal to be on the cover. I checked it out in one of the local music stores here in Boston, but didn’t have the nerve to carry it up to the counter to buy a copy.”

Sarah said that for the next few months her mind will be on her studies.

“Right now I’m mainly focusing on school. This past summer was touring non-stop for 3 months and I feel like school is my down time from the road when I can focus on writing.”

She said there were no immediate plans to start a new record, but with a full academic year to compose new music, who knows? She may be ready by summer time.

Bluegrass Vocabulary Lesson

The latest issue (March 2011) of Acoustic Guitar magazine is out, and it includes a lengthy article by Tyler Grant entitled: Must-Know Bluegrass Vocabulary – A guide to practical licks every flatpicker should know.

Grant draws an interesting analogy between learning to play a particular style of music, like bluegrass, and learning to speak a new language. His goal with the article is to introduce guitar players to bluegrass vocabulary in such a way that they don’t just memorize some licks, but actually learn to speak the language so as to create their own “stylistically appropriate solos.”

just knowing a large number of words is not enough to get by—if you don’t want to sound like a tourist

The article is three pages long (at least online) and comes complete with tab and video examples for fifteen different exercises. Remember, the goal isn’t just to learn these licks, but to learn to speak the language of bluegrass like a native!

The conclusion of the article includes tab/video for Tyler’s original tune, Witch Creek.

Tyler is a great player, and with this article he’s provided a helpful introduction to the style for guitarists who are just learning to speak bluegrass.

HT: The Bluegrass Ireland Blog

Acoustic Guitar lists top albums of past 20 years

The February 2010 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine has a year-by-year listing of what they deem to be the finest acoustic music of the past two decades. It’s part of the magazine’s 20th Anniversary issue, billed as a collector’s edition.

They call the list 20 Years of Essential Acoustic Albums, and it can be found on their web site. Of course, bluegrass and bluegrassy albums are included, taking up a substantial percentage of the total.

Unsurprising titles include the Nickel Creek debut, the Alison Krauss Live CD, Bryan Sutton’s Bluegrass Guitar, Tone Poems from Tony Rice and David Grisman, and Slide Rule from Jerry Douglas. We were also pleased to find Blue Highway’s Midnight Storm and Tim Stafford’s Endless Line make the list, along with Cherryholmes’ Don’t Believe, Alison Brown’s Simple Pleasures, and Bluegrass Rules from Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder.

Read the complete list online.

Acoustic Guitar magazine online community

Acoustic Guitar magazine has launched a social networking site specifically for… well, acoustic guitarists.

The site is called Acoustic Guitar Community, and offers many of the features familiar to users of such culture-shifting sites as Facebook or MySpace. Members create a customized home page, and can post blogs, photos, videos and events viewable by other members, who they can contact directly inside the network.

Members can also add applications to their profile page, many of which are identical – or nearly so – to ones in common use on Facebook and MySpace. The difference, of course, is that the entire environment is dedicated to guitars and guitar players.

Like the other popular social networking sites, membership is free and, as of this writing, is up to nearly 4,000 strong.

Find all the details at www.acousticguitarcommunity.com.

Dreadnaughts reviewed in Acoustic Guitar

The September edition of Acoustic Guitar magazine includes a review of seven dreadnaught guitars.

In an eight page section the feature article assesses the merits of seven different makes of the cherished Dreadnought guitar, varying in price from $350 to $4,000 and across the range of manufacturers such as Morgan Monroe, Epiphone, Larivee, Taylor, Breedlove, Martin and Santa Cruz.

The reviewers, who include magazine Senior Editor Scott Nygaard, provide a narrative comment on the characteristics of each guitar, added to which are basic specifications, prices and contact details. Whether it is an entry-level or a professional-quality modern guitar that you are seeking, the general opinion is that all of them are well worth consideration.

While specific models are discussed, comparables from the same price range are mentioned also, bringing attention to 42 dreadnoughts in all.

The complete article can be found at the Acoustic Guitar website, where there is access to two videos which allow a good view of each of the seven guitars, and a sonic appreciation of their tonality.

Another interesting feature of the September edition of Acoustic Guitar is Cross-Cultural Picking in which Nygaard discusses with Italian ace guitarist Beppe Gambetta the latter’s new cross-picking technique, and the poetry of flat picking.

Clarence White in Acoustic Guitar Magazine

The latest edition of Acoustic Guitar Magazine features an article written by guitar master Scott Nygaard, entitled Flying High: Clarence White Feature Lesson.

The article includes a good bit of historical information about Clarence, including his influences, and comments from some of today’s legends who were influenced by his playing. One quote that seems to sum up the feelings most professionals have for Clarence is from guitar great Tony Rice.

I couldn’t play like him. I still can’t play like him. Nobody else can either.

Despite Rice’s accurate assessment that no one can play like Clarence, Nygaard feels that we can still learn from him and capture at least a little part of his style in our own playing. To that end, the article includes tablature examples for 13 different licks and passages, including one rhythm passage, a turn through 9lb Hammer, and some wilder licks that might take a bit of practice to master.

The online version of the article includes mp3 audio files to let you hear Nygaard perform the lick as an aid to your learning experience.

If you are a guitar player, here is a chance to grab a couple new moves that will not only expand your mind and playing, but make the other pickers you play with take notice.