AMERICANA REDUX

In our second installment, Ry Cooder reveals the source of his authentic guitar tones on his new album with Taj Mahal, Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.

- JIMM LESLIE

LAST MONTH, RY COODER began to take us along on the journey of how he and Taj Mahal got back in the saddle together after decades apart and recast themselves in the roles of folk-blues duo Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Vocalist/harmonica player Terry and acoustic guitarist McGhee maintained a prolific partnership from the early '40s to the mid '70s, and Cooder and Mahal's new album, Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (Nonsuch), is a nod to the songsmiths, who inspired them to join forces as the Rising Sons in 1965.

Today, Cooder and Mahal are Americana icons in their own right, intent on keeping the flame and passing the torch to those who may find new inspiration in the time-honored tunes and perhaps offer new interpretations for future generations. Traditionals such as "Midnight Special" and "Pick a Bale of Cotton," as well as the stylist elements that inform originals such as "Pawn Shop," have been handed down through a century-long line of known and unknown troubadours using the six-string as a soapbox. McGhee was a Piedmont blues stylist, and for these sessions Cooder adopted everything from his technique using vintage metal finger picks to his choice of acoustics, including his primary guitar, a 1946 Martin D-18. As our conversation continues this month, the slide icon offers plenty of insights into both his acoustic and electric work and choice of amplification.

How did Brownie McGhee's backstory inform your arsenal of instruments?