WITH REHEARSALS FOR his tour just a week away, rising indie-rock star Bartees Strange is surrounded by his favorite guitars and amplifiers. From all indications, this is the hard part of the job.
"If you could see me right now, I have all of my amps in a circle around me and, like, five guitars," Strange says over the phone from his home in Virginia. "And I'm just like, 'What's going to be the perfect combination?' I can't figure it out."
Whether he's strapped with his Gibson '59 ES-335 Reissue, '67 Epiphone Casino or '59 Fender Jazzmaster, Strange will show up ready to blaze. Over the past year, he's toured with indie vanguards like Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Car Seat Headrest. But as one can tell from his latest album, Farm to Table (4AD), his own music is a fusion of styles and influences stretching back to his youth, when hardcore and emo bands ruled his playlists and fueled his creativity.
"I got into guitars and playing music from having hardcore bands and punk bands expand my understanding of what you can do with a guitar," he says, "the ethos of guitar playing and sounding like yourself being more important than sounding like anybody else."
Strange's music is rooted in the emotional heft of emo, but he pulls R&B and hip-hop into the layered madness of "Cosigns" and explores acoustic pop on "Tours" and "Black Gold." There is also a hint of Fleetwood Mac balladry on "Escape This Circus" and some fine dueling guitars on the surging and lyrical "Heavy Heart." On the eve of touring for Farm to Table, Strange spoke with Guitar Player about his journey to indie-rock stardom.
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Denne historien er fra October 2022-utgaven av Guitar Player.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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TRANSCENDENTAL MAN
Luther Dickinson interpreted a priceless work of art in music. In the process, the blues guitarist wrote his own next chapter.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Together with Tony Levin, Adrian Belew and Steve Vai join forces for a Robert Fripp-endorsed revival of King Crimson's groundbreaking 1980s music.
I'M 100 PERCENT HAPPY WITH THE WORK I'VE DONE WITH PINK FLOYD. BUT...'MY FOCUS IS DIFFERENT RIGHT NOW'
Leading a rock group and being a solo artist were \"not what I asked for,\" David Gilmour says. For Luck and Strange, he assembled a team that shared the weight of his creative efforts. The result? \"The best album I've made since The Dark Side of the Moon.\"
DOUG GILLARD IS INDISPENSABLE
His six-string genius has proved vital to the music of Guided by Voices, Nada Surf and other indie-rock favorites. But all he really wants is to make good music.
Sol Salvation
The genius of Sol Hoopii is preserved in 16 timeless cuts on Master of the Hawaiian Guitar.
Pickup Artist
With its Wide Range humbuckers, the 1970s Fender Telecaster Thinline scores better than most of its contemporaries.
MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS
Joe Walsh's Jazzmaster, Billy Cobham's bass line... As Bush head out on tour, Gavin Rossdale reveals the history behind a handful of their best tunes
TIPSHEET
We asked Brian Ray for his advice on playing Beatles tunes. After all, he learned from the best.
MAN AT WORK
A juke joint just wasn't in the cards. So Cedric Burnside turned the old building into a studio for his hardcore blues workout, Hill Country Love.
MADE IN THE SHADE
The Gibson Custom Shop created just 59 examples of the Jason Isbell \"Red Eye\" 1959 Les Paul Standard. We got our hands on one of them.
