alternative music guitar heroes


In the never ending pursuit of new interesting original music, I recently have been enjoying a new crop (to me anyway) of guitar heroes- lots of instrumentals and some vocals. In no particular order:
Steve Gunn- Unseen in Between, Eyes on the Line. Steve has played with Kurt Vile for many years. Acoustic, electric- this guy is great.
William Tyler- Modern Country. 
Lee Renaldo- Last Night on Earth- Lee played guitar for Sonic Youth for many years and his solo works are in the same electric feedback vein.
Thurston Moore- The Last Day.  Also from Sonic Youth, Moore wrote most of their songs. This album is fantastic. Kind of like Television or the more accessible Sonic Youth albums. 
Chris Forsyth and the Solar Motel Band- from Philadelphia, I have enjoyed every Forsyth album I have purchased. His music is primarily instrumental and I hear influences from Jeff Beck, Zappa, Steve Morse, and even a little Grateful Dead. 
None of these artists are about technical speed or guitar pyrotechnics. They each have a distinct style and infuse their own personality and soul into their songs. Check them out. Add to the list. Have fun.
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Evan Johns made some noise in the 80’s, with three albums on Rykodisc (one produced by Gary Tallent of The E Street Band). Before that, Evan-fan Jello Biafra put out one album of him on his Alternative Tentacles label. Evan and Danny Gatton had worked together (Evan wrote three of the songs on Danny’s Redneck Jazz album), and he also worked with The Leroi Brothers out of Austin, Neko Case, played guitar on the road with Butch Hancock (an incredible Hillbilly singer/songwriter---the real deal---out of Austin), buncha others.

By the time I worked with him (in the late-90’s, on his Moontan album) he was in pretty bad shape, though still playing like the madman he was. During the week we were in the studio in Atlanta, he ate one meal, the rest of his diet consisting entirely of room-temperature Budweiser in the can. He bought it by the 18-pack, one of which lasted him a day. We were suppose to go on the road to promote the album, but he fell into a coma, in the final stages, the doctor said, of liver failure. That’s was the end of that tour!

A real character, Evan played guitar and sang like no one else. He died two years ago in Austin, at age 60.

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