Category: Songwriters

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Margaret Glaspy Connects with Her Younger Self—and an Old Gibson L-00—on ‘The Sun Doesn’t Think’

It wasn’t until a recent solo acoustic tour that Glaspy played for a public audience with just her steel-string guitar for the first time in her professional life, a format she found freeing both literally and metaphorically.

Adam Perlmutter
September 15, 2024

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Approaching His 80th Birthday, Legendary Roots Singer-Songwriter Chris Smither Reflects on Lessons from the Stage, Studio, and Woodshed

When Acoustic Guitar invited me to interview Smither, I was delighted to sit down in his study to talk about how his performance and writing have evolved over the years.

Peter Mulvey
September 4, 2024

Alynda Segarra black and white photo with Guild guitar.

Hurray for the Riff Raff’s Alynda Segarra Looks Ahead, and Reconnects with Acoustic Guitar, on ‘The Past Is Still Alive’

Segarra’s return to the acoustic guitar marks a new integration of the band’s American folk roots with a more sophisticated level of songcraft.

Mac Randall
July 17, 2024

Dom Flemons Brings a Deep Knowledge of Roots Music to His Work as the American Songster

The multi-instrumentalist scholar talks about how he found his own voice through the study of old and new songs, and what makes the ideal acoustic guitar.

Adam Perlmutter
September 3, 2023

Milk Carton Kids: Kenneth Pattengale (left) and Joey Ryan

The Milk Carton Kids Deepen Their Sound and Songwriting on ‘I Only See the Moon’

Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale, aka the Milk Carton Kids, discuss the creative process behind what is perhaps their strongest set of songs to date.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
August 27, 2023

Singer-Songwriter John Oates Explores the Music of Mississippi John Hurt

He will forever be best known as half of Hall & Oates, but John Oates has carved a distinct identity as a proponent of classic Americana

E.E. Bradman
July 7, 2023

Larkin Poe standing in empty room with guitars

How Megan and Rebecca Lovell of Larkin Poe Traveled from Bluegrass to Blues Rock and Beyond

To learn more about Larkin Poe's journey from acoustic roots music to amped-up rock, we caught up with the sisters by phone from their home bases in Nashville.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
June 7, 2023

After More Than 40 Albums, John McCutcheon Is Still in Love with His Instruments

As you might expect from such a narrative songwriter, each of his guitars has a bit of a story behind it.

Emile Menasché
March 22, 2023

Singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham with guitars

How Madison Cunningham Uses Unusual Tunings and Beater Guitars to Discover Fresh Sounds

Madison Cunningham is a true triple-threat musician: a singer and inventive songwriter, a wickedly good guitarist, and a seeker of unconventional riffs and tones.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
December 11, 2022

Arlo Guthrie on Why ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ Has Endured: Listen to the Thanksgiving Classic

"The idea was to play something that would allow me to tell a long tall tale without it becoming distracting—or in other words, play something familiar. The actual fingerpicking is instantly recognizable now.”

Whitney Phaneuf
November 24, 2022

Letters from Pete: How Pete Seeger mentored and inspired generations of musicians

Tony Trischka grew up with Pete Seeger’s banjo ringing in his house, by way of his parents’ records of the Weavers, the Almanac Singers, and Seeger’s folk songs for children. In 1962, at age 13, Trischka started getting serious about wanting to play. So he got ahold of Seeger’s seminal…

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
September 4, 2022

The Versatile Lyle Lovett Returns with His First Album in a Decade, ‘12th of June’

Lyle Lovett describes the making of his album 12th of June and shares his thoughts on guitars, from his relationship with Collings to his preferred electronics setup.

Kate Koenig
August 7, 2022

Amythyst Kiah with a G-45 Gibson acoustic guitar

Amythyst Kiah Gives Old-Timey Music a New-Timey Sound

It's the stuff you can’t teach that makes Amythyst Kiah's music so impactful: a wicked right-hand fingerpicking and pick stroke, plus a voice full of power and authority.

James Rotondi
February 1, 2022

Guitar Talk: Lianne La Havas Draws from Bossa Nova and Samba in Her Nylon-String Guitar Work

British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas’ third album, a self-titled song cycle that chronicles the full arc of an intense relationship, is dreamy for several reasons

E.E. Bradman
December 10, 2020

Guitar Talk: Kenyan Singer-Songwriter Ondara Has Found his Voice in America

One of the more interesting cats to emerge in the acoustic guitar world is Kenya-born, Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter J.S. Ondara.

Blair Jackson
September 29, 2020

bruce springsteen oh shanendoah seeger acoustic guitar

Watch Bruce Springsteen’s Take on the Classic “Oh Shenandoah”

In this recently released video (originally filmed in 2006 during the recording of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions), the song reaches new heights with Springsteen’s signature anthemic, yet acoustic, sound.

Joey Lusterman
September 23, 2020

Anaïs Mitchell with producer/guitarist Michael Chorney

How Singer-Songwriter Anaïs Mitchell Tapped Into Tradition in Hadestown—and New Band Bonny Light Horseman

Back in 2006, Anaïs Mitchell was in a Vermont studio with producer/guitarist Michael Chorney working on her album The Brightness. Then in her mid-20s, she was already a rising star of the singer-songwriter world, winning the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk award and signing with Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe label.…

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
September 18, 2020

Justin Townes Earle poses with a black and white guitar

Justin Townes Earle on Songwriting, His Idiosyncratic Fingerpicking Style, and Battling Personal Demons

[Ed. Note: Singer/songwriter Justin Townes Earle passed away on August 23, 2020, at the age of 38. Earle last sat with Acoustic Guitar’s Kenny Berkowitz for an extended conversation in 2012. Here is that interview.] As the son of Steve Earle, Justin Townes Earle carried an enormous weight of expectation. Would he match…

Kenny Berkowitz
August 24, 2020

Woody Guthrie’s Songwriting Wisdom

Guthrie is in many ways our prototypical singer-songwriter, showing the young Bob Dylan, among countless others, how to use old songs to make new ones.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
July 14, 2020

R.I.P. Bill Withers: Watch Him Play “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Use Me” in 1972

Sad news that the great R&B singer-songwriter Bill Withers passed away on March 30, 2020 at the age of 81. The West Virginia native made a big impact during his relatively brief 15-year career between 1970-1985. (He stopped recording and performing after that.) Among his hits were “Lean on Me,”…

Blair Jackson
April 3, 2020

Eric Bibb Draws on Blues, Folk, Gospel, African, and More on ‘Global Griot’

In a career spanning five decades, singer, songwriter, and guitarist Eric Bibb has proven to be a musical alchemist—combining heaping helpings of blues, gospel, folk, and world music styles into a distinctive and magical amalgam that feels like its own genre. A relentless collaborator, through the years he’s shared albums…

Blair Jackson
December 31, 2018

Sunny War: A Different Kind of Blues

And then there’s Sunny War's guitar playing—a startling take on fingerstyle technique, with melodic riffs dancing over bluesy bass lines.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
August 7, 2018

Aoife O’Donovan, Sara Watkins, and Sarah Jarosz of I’m With Her

I’m With Her Brings Out the Best from Aoife O’Donovan, Sara Watkins, and Sarah Jarosz

What happens when these three musicians band together is something greater than a typical all-star project, where the members take turns in the spotlight.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
April 13, 2018

Mary Gauthier with a songwriting student.

Mary Gauthier Helps Veterans Turn Stories into Songs on ‘Rifles and Rosary Beads’

In 2015, singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier was sipping coffee inside the Carey Center for Global Good in upstate New York, watching one of the participants arrive for a weekend retreat led by an organization called SongwritingWith:Soldiers.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
March 26, 2018

Guitar Talk: Joe Henry’s ‘Thrum’ Album Called for Serious Spontaneity

Henry chats about 'Thrum,' the guitars he used on it, and what he plays as a live performer.

Blair Jackson
February 26, 2018