JAMES BLACKSHAW (UK - Young God/Current 93) 6/17 @ Garfield Artworks

[manny at garfieldartworks.com]

he is a performing member of Current 93, as well as Pantaleimon

>  I've never heard of this fellow before, but I'm listening to the songs on
> myspace, and they sound quite excellent. And I've yet to be disappointed
> with a single artist on Young God Records that's come through Pittsburgh.
>
> J
>  -------------- Original message from manny at garfieldartworks.com:
> --------------
>
>
>> You won't want to miss this!
>>
>> Wed June 17 8 pm all ages $7 advance/$10 door
>> Garfield Artworks, 4931 Penn Avenue
>>
>> live from the UK on Young God Records
>> (note: he's also collaborated with lutenist Jozef Van Wissem who was
>> just
>> here, on Van Wissem's Incunabulum label. and he is a member of Current
>> 93!)
>>
>> 12-string acoustic fingerpicking wizard
>> JAMES BLACKSHAW
>> http://www.myspace.com/jamesblackshaw
>>
>> on tour with the duo
>> GREG DAVIS (Kranky/Carpark Records) & CHRIS WEISMAN
>> http://www.myspace.com/gregdavismusic
>>
>> and special local guests
>> Michael Tamburo
>> and Chris Niels / Taichi Nakatani Duo
>>
>> Advance tickets will be on sale at stores as of June 1: Eide's
>> Entertainment, Paul's CDs, Caliban Books, Wicked Discs, Dave's Music
>> Mine,
>> Slacker, and The Exchange Squirrel Hill.
>>
>> We'll make it as easy as possible for you to get in for the $7 price.
>> Yes, we'll be printing up advance tickets to sell at stores - but if you
>> can't make it to the stores we'll give you another option. Simply send
>> an
>> e-mail to me with your real name and your real phone number, stating
>> that
>> you would like to reserve tickets at the advance price, and just let me
>> know how many you want (you can reserve up to 4). This is the simple
>> equivalent of a will-call system. Then give me your name at the door,
>> and
>> I will read it off the will-call list and admit you for the advance
>> price.
>> Sound easy? It is. And as long as you show up, this same courtesy will
>> be extended to you the next time this is offered in the future.
>>
>> Hope to see everyone at the show.
>>
>> Information on JAMES BLACKSHAW:
>>
>> New studio album, "The Glass Bead Game", due May 26th 2009 on Young God
>> Records
>>
>> Initially inspired by the guitarists of the 60’s Takoma label to teach
>> himself fingerpicking, James Blackshaw writes long-form pieces primarily
>> for solo 12-string guitar and piano that are heavily influenced by
>> minimalist composers and European classical music and which use drones,
>> overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for
>> melody
>> to create instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and
>> emotionally charged.
>>
>> Born in London in 1981, Blackshaw has so far released six solo studio
>> albums, one live recording and has also appeared on numerous
>> compilations
>> in the last five years. "O True Believers" (2006, Important
>> Records/Bo’weavil Recordings), "The Cloud of Unknowing" (2007,
>> Tompkins
>> Square) and "Litany of Echoes" (2008, Tompkins Square) have received
>> huge
>> critical acclaim from printed and online publications including
>> Pitchfork,
>> Billboard, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The New York Times,
>> Rolling Stone Magazine, The Onion, Magnet and Acoustic Guitar Magazine.
>> "The Cloud of Unknowing" was also listed as one of the 50 best albums of
>> 2007 by The Wire (no. 24) and Pitchfork (no. 34). His latest album,
>> "Litany of Echoes" was listed as Uncut Magazine's 13th Best Album of
>> 2008.
>>
>> Blackshaw has recently signed to Michael Gira's (Swans/Angels of Light)
>> Young God Records label and his seventh studio album is to be released
>> in
>> May 2009.
>>
>> Blackshaw is currently a member of Current 93, Brethren of The Free
>> Spirit
>> (duo with Jozef Van Wissem) and performs live with Pantaleimon.
>>
>> He has toured extensively in Europe, US and Japan, playing approximately
>> 200 shows since 2005 in a broad range of environments from sold-out
>> 1,000
>> capacity venues supporting Jose Gonzalez to intimate church shows and
>> institutions such as The Douglas Hynde Gallery in Dublin and The ICA in
>> London. He has featured on National Public Radio in the US, BBC Radio 2
>> and performed live on VPRO television in The Netherlands.
>>
>>
>> Selected Press:
>>
>> "... A veritable solo symphony that's as schooled in uncommon beauty as
>> it
>> is in complex 20th century composition... Blackshaw writes high drama
>> into
>> instrumental music with subtlety and charm, speaking on sentiments and
>> stories without requiring a single lyric... Blackshaw seems fully
>> settled,
>> engaging his pieces and ideas with the unflinching belief of Tony Conrad
>> in 1964 or Steve Reich in 1965... The Cloud of Unknowing carves out a
>> new,
>> peerless space altogether-- one that puts Blackshaw at the top of his
>> class." - Grayson Currin, Pitchforkmedia.com
>>
>> "In the tradition of "American Primitive" guitarists within which he's
>> often grouped, James Blackshaw cuts rather an odd figure. Neither
>> American, nor primitive, nor as Litany of Echoes begins, even playing
>> the
>> guitar, the English musician is all about upending the expectations we
>> might have from his instrument. Whereas kindred spirits like John Fahey
>> and Robbie Basho looked East for their Raga-inspired guitar diversions,
>> Blackshaw instead sounds more East-Coast: his long-distance guitar tunes
>> recalling NY minimalism, or Sonic Youth, as arranged for chamber
>> orchestra. Mesmerising stuff, and proof that less is often more." - John
>> Robinson, Uncut Magazine
>>
>> "There's an indecent ease to James Blackshaw's guitar playing. His
>> fingerpicking mantras are as melodic as a music box, gliding through
>> dizzying tempos like clockwork... Such is the silky control he exherts
>> over his instrument, Blackshaw often sounds more like a court harpist
>> than
>> a backwoods strummer." - Derek Walmsey, The Wire
>>
>> "The hypnotic arpeggios at the heart of James Blackshaw’s acoustic
>> guitar
>> playing reflect strong influences from outside the precincts of folk
>> music: minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Terry Riley, and some
>> of
>> their precursors, like Erik Satie. Mr. Blackshaw, a British autodidact
>> still in his mid-20s, fingerpicks his 12-string Guild with an immersive
>> focus befitting such heady allusions. At its best, his sumptuous new
>> album, Litany of Echoes, conveys a stark and ancient feeling, like
>> something handed down through the ages...." - Nate Chinen, The New York
>> Times
>>
>> "Twenty-seven-year-old Brit James Blackshaw has lately emerged as a
>> major
>> force in the world of instrumental guitar, his epic, austere
>> compositions
>> and unpretentious 12-string technique perching him somewhere between
>> John
>> Fahey and Robbie Basho... Downright beautiful stuff." - Jonathon Cohen,
>> Billboard Magazine
>>
>> "The most gem-like overlooked album this year is neither hairy nor
>> scary;
>> rubber-necking into the great unknown isn't high in its priorities. But
>> it
>> is preternaturally beautiful. O True Believers by 24-year-old guitarist
>> James Blackshaw features 10 fingers and 12 strings and, frankly,
>> urinates
>> all over whatever will be the Mercury Prize's token folk nominee next
>> year. Blackshaw is British, but virtually no one has heard of him
>> outside
>> the US folk underground; he deserves ticker-tape parades. His style
>> derives from the Takoma school founded by John Fahey, but that is all
>> detail. Blackshaw's got it all: skills to hyperventilate for, and
>> instinctual loveliness in spades." - Kitty Empire, The Observer
>>
>> "One of the best and most original instrumentalists in the new, acoustic
>> renaissance" - David Fricke, Rolling Stone Magazine
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