Duane Pitre is an American avant-garde composer and performer. His work often focuses on the tensions between electronic sound and acoustic instrumentation, chaos and discipline, as well as site-specificity and performativity. The composer frequently works with long-tones and utilizes alternate tuning schemes that focus on microtonality, enabling him to explore unaccustomed harmonic intervallic relationships.
In 1979, Paul Metzger drilled a few innocent holes into a Yamaha acoustic guitar. A self taught musician with 5 years of playing behind him, Metzger was growing tired of the conventions of the instrument. This lobotomy was the first of many surgeries that would follow in years to come. Strings were added, subtracted, added again; the frets of the neck were disemboweled and retrofitted with a sarod like metal fingerboard plate; paint was splattered over it, a rejigged music box was affixed to the guitar's belly, a crash cymbal mounted to its bottom.
John Russell, Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter has fought his way through various musical avenues to finally end up yet again alone. Hanging up his Gibson he reached for his acoustic guitar and has never looked back. John's music demonstrates uplifting, melancholy acoustic tunes with a soulful and often darker edge. Critics have already described him as 'Cat Stevens meets Kiedis' a fitting indication of the mix of influences which makes John Russell something special.
James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 2, 1942 in St. Matthews, South Carolina) is an American avant-garde jazz and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer's distinctive guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging." His singing has been called "raggedly soulful." Ulmer began his career playing with various soul jazz ensembles, and first recorded with organist John Patton in 1969. After moving to New York in 1971, Ulmer played with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Joe Henderson, Paul Bley, Rashied Ali and Larry Young.
Jeremy "Jem" Finer (born July 25, 1955) is an English musician and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Pogues. He was primarily a banjoist, but he played a handful of other instruments as well.
On the first of January 2000, the Finer-composed Longplayer piece of music was started; this is designed to last 1000 years without ever repeating itself, and as currently implemented is computer-generated.
Nels Cline (born in Los Angeles in 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. Currently he is the lead guitarist of the rock band Wilco. Nels began to play guitar at age 12 when his twin brother, Alex Cline took up the drums. Cline is not classically trained. This gives him a unique avant-garde style that many other jazz guitarists fail to match, due to their probable conventional training. He is noted for his apt use of effects pedals and looping devices, which enhances his style and gives his approach to guitar and music a distinct sound.
Gerry Joe Weise has established himself as a blues rock musician of international acclaim since beginning his career as a soloist in the 1990s. Guitarist, singer and songwriter born in Australia, he has performed throughout the world with such renown and legendary artists as Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins, Noel Redding and The Yardbirds, among others.
Scott Johnson is: 1. a cartoonist, illustrator and designer, known for the webcomic ExtraLife.
2. an American composer (born 1952). 1) Scott Blaine Johnson was known for creating and hosting the ExtraLife radio show (ELR), a weekly off-beat, award winning Podcast about comics, movies, music, the Internet, computers and gadgets. They have interviewed noted personalities such as Todd McFarlane and Curt Schilling.
Tetuzi Akiyama (秋山徹次) was born in Tokyo, April 13, 1964. Tetuzi Akiyama is a highly unique and experimental guitarist heavily applying free improvisation and noise. Besides guitar, he also plays electronics, viola, and self-made instruments. Akiyama became an enthusiastic hard rock fan when he was eleven years old, and started playing electric guitar at the age of thirteen. Later, he also came to be very interested in free improvisation and classical music.
Kevin Drumm is an experimental musician based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Emerging from the city's improvised music scene, in the 1990s he became one the world's pre-eminent prepared guitar players. Years active from 1991. Drumm's work expanded to include electroacoustic compositions and live electronic music made with laptop computers and analog modular synthesizers. He has collaborated with many artists working in similar fields, including Japanese guitarist Taku Sugimoto, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jim O'Rourke...