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Hello Sorry State, It’s Tallulah from Shows!
I would first like to introduce myself before I get into my pick of the week! I will be working the counter so ya’ll will be seeing me quite often :). I grew up in Asheville but have been living in Chapel Hill for the past couple of years for college where I work at the Nightlight and All Day. I’ve been collecting records all my life, but it was really through doing college radio and working at a record shop that I gained a deep love and appreciation for records and the people who buy ‘em. I absolutely adore the music scene in the triangle and have found the greatest sense of community and acceptance in our DIY scene. I’m thrilled to be working here and have been having tons of fun (minus the time last week when I lost my truck in a parking deck downtown and spent three hours looking for it but a huge shoutout to Daniel for helping me find it).
Okay, time for my staff pick. For my pick of the week, I chose Robbie Basho’s 1967 album Basho Sings. I’m a huge nerd when it comes to fingerstyle guitar, and Basho is by far my favorite musician and guitarist. I could talk about this guy for ages, but I will try to keep it somewhat short. He grew up in Maryland and it was at school there that he evolved his style with fellow classmates and solo guitar legends John Fahey (founder of Takoma records) and Max Ochs. They would later all relocate to the bay area, where they created a new school of solo fingerstyle guitar that they coined American Primitive. The genre really takes its roots in American Blues music, and I would be remiss to not mention that the real pioneer of the genre is folk and blues musician Elizabeth Cotten. Cotten actually grew up in Carrboro, where she was born in 1893 in a musical family, although she did not start recording or releasing music until the 50s. Her style was highly inventive and pushed the boundaries of what a guitar could be as a solo instrument.
Ok back to Basho.
Basho, along with many other musicians at the time, was highly influenced by Eastern and Indian music and adopted many open tunings and melodic frameworks from these styles into his playing. He tended to have a deep love for the Raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music for improvisation that hangs on musical motifs. He played on a 12-string, which allowed him to get a much deeper and wider sound. He ended up studying under Ali Akbar Khan, a master of the Sarod, which became deeply influential in his playing. His life was filled with many different musical personas as he explored different spiritual movements and cultures. He for sure was at times very culturally voyeuristic, with many of his album covers being quite culturally appropriative. During his lifetime, he was often shaken off by others as just another oddball white dude into Meher Baba, and it wasn’t until after his death that his music gained a cult following and his style of playing world-renowned in the guitar world.
Basho Sings was the third studio album by the guitarist and was the first album of his to also put a focus on his vocals. He sings in a somewhat operatic style, many either love or hate it. I personally love it. This is probably one of my favorite records of his, and I nearly fainted when I found it in the back of the shop, as you don’t come across Basho releases or really any Takoma releases quite often. His stuff is worth a listen. It is extremely difficult to try to put into words his style of playing but it is quite transcendental.
Basho died a bizarre and untimely death at age 45 when during a routine chiropractor visit he was given “experimental whiplash”, which ended up bursting an artery in his neck. If you are into Basho, I would highly recommend watching the documentary on him called Voice of the Eagle, which is absolutely fantastic.
That’s all I got for now,
Best,
Tallulah