FMWT Vol. 3, Edition #12: Glenn Jones w/ special guest Black Stork

Glenn Jones

Glenn Jones is a master of American Primitive Guitar, a style invented in the late 1950s by John Fahey, whose traditional fingerpicking techniques and wide-ranging influences were used to create modern original compositions. Jones, who led the post-rock ensemble Cul de Sac, brings his own made-up tunings, the use of custom-crafted partial capos, and a highly skilled picking style on both banjo and guitar, to create personal compositions that are lyrical, emotive and elegant. What sets him apart from the myriad guitarists playing today is his ability to tell stories with the guitar and banjo, and to convey a range of emotions. This process starts with the compositions themselves and carries through to his selection of recording environment and engineer.

Jones has written extensively about the leading lights of the American Primitive guitar style, namely John Fahey (with whom he was friends for nearly 25 years), and Robbie Basho (Jones was friends with the guitarist until Basho's untimely death in 1986, and hosted the guitarist / singer's final tour of the East Coast).

Jones has also performed with Peter Lang, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Cian Nugent, James Blackshaw, Paul Metzger, Peter Walker, Meg and Laura Baird, Harris Newman, Sean Smith, MV + EE, Dredd Foole, Sharron Kruaus, Tom Carter, Yo La Tengo, Thurston Moore, Chris Corsano, and many, many others.

...an incredibly adept fingerstyle guitarist whose technique always remains in service of the song... His vigorous leaps are daring but never reckless, and nearly always sublime.   - Utne Reader

...captivating... Jones' slide work on the resonator guitar sounds especially meaty, and when all six, and sometimes 12, strings start chiming as he fingerpicks, the effect is shimmering.   - Harp

“Jones has a solid grasp of the fundamentals, not just of his instrument, but also of music-making in general. He obtains attractive and varied tones from his several open-tuned acoustic guitars, and fashions them into involving, carefully drawn and skillfully paced audio narratives that impart emotions ranging from sweet affection to complicated grief… declare[s] Jones to be a musician whose moment has arrived.” – Dusted

Black Stork 

Black Stork is a solo project of the Spanish composer and performer Carlos Cotallo Solares. It combines elements of metal, math rock, and hardcore punk and reinterprets them through the acoustic guitar. Cotallo Solares’ compositions have been performed in new music festivals in Germany, Spain, Finland, Poland, and the US, by ensembles like the JACK Quartet, POING, handwerk, and Ensemble Chronophonie. As a performer, he has collaborated with Ensemble Alarm and Ensemble Container, and was a member of the rock bands El Mamut and Pato Grande. Currently, he is finishing a PhD in composition at the University of Iowa and is one of the organizers of the concert series iHearIC. He performs regularly with the free improvisation band Wombat.