Author Description

John Fahey (a.k.a. Blind Joe Death) has been called the father of American Primitive Guitar. He brought a force and inventiveness to his compositions and playing that is firmly rooted in country blues and folk traditions. We open this DVD with a 1969 appearance on Laura Weber's Guitar, Guitar TV show. John talks about his sources of inspiration, guitar styles and techniques and general thoughts on playing. He performs In Christ There Is No East Or West, The Death Of The Clayton Peacock, Red Pony, Farther Along and other solos.We then jump thirty years to a concert John gave at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, California. His physical appearance has changed but his approach and guitar style are still the same. John performs his hits but he is not afraid to explore and extend these compositions to new areas and boundaries. Together with his audience he travels the musical highways that have influenced his playing and composing. This is the magic of John Fahey. I try to keep changing my pieces each performance. If I get to having fun changing it, especially the syncopation and dynamics, then the audience really gets off on it, and it sounds like an orchestra.