Thursday 30 June 2016, 8pm
One of a final clutch of shows from guitarist and composer, James Blackshaw, before a recently announced indefinate hiatus from live performance. Widely acclaimed for his remarkable skill as a 12-string guitarist, Blackshaw has recently explored more traditional songcraft and soundtrack work. Don't miss this last chance to catch “...one of the best and most original instrumentalists in the new, acoustic renaissance.” (Rolling Stone)
“An incredible melody writer and musician in a tradition that existed long before him; he writes guitar and folk music as well as Robbie Basho or Leo Kottke, but he does not copy them” – Tiny Mix Tapes
“There's an indecent ease to James Blackshaw's guitar playing. His fingerpicking mantras are as melodic as a music box, gliding through dizzying tempos like clockwork... Such is the silky control he exherts over his instrument, Blackshaw often sounds more like a court harpist than a backwoods strummer.” – Derek Walmsey, The Wire
James Blackshaw is highly regarded for his pieces for solo 12-string guitar, nylon-string classical guitar and piano. Strongly inspired by the 60’s Takoma school of guitarists, minimalist composers and European classical music, Blackshaw employs fingerpicking techniques to create drones, overtones and repeating patterns, alongside a strong inclination for melody, to create instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and emotional.
Born in London in 1981, Blackshaw has so far released nine solo studio albums, one EP, two live recordings and has also appeared on numerous compilations since 2003, receiving praise and earning places on Best of Year lists from online and printed publications such as Pitchfork, Billboard, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Onion, Magnet and Acoustic Guitar Magazine among others.
Blackshaw has collaborated with Lubomyr Melnyk, performed and recorded as a member of Current 93 and with Jozef Van Wissem as Brethren of The Free Spirit and toured and played shows with artists such as Swans (whose Michael Gira signed Blackshaw to his Young God label to release two albums in 2009 and 2010), Grails, Meg Baird (Espers), Mountains, Glenn Jones, Sir Richard Bishop, Jose Gonzales, Peter Walker, Alex De Grassi and Hauschka. He has toured extensively in the US, Europe and Japan, playing such institutions as the ICA, the Barbican and Merkin Hall, NYC as part of the New York Guitar Festival, 2010. Matt Groening, creator of ‘The Simpsons’, invited Blackshaw to perform at All Tomorrow’s Parties, May 2010. His music has been featured multiple times on National Public Radio in the US, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4 and and has been used both on TV and in one feature length film, ‘Sebbe’.
His tenth studio album - ‘Summoning Suns’ - was released by Important Records (USA) and P-Vine (Japan) in 2015.
Joseph Fawcett is an English audiovisual artist and performer. Currently based in Hastings his films and their scores are of a personal nature, and are contemplative of his life and place in the world. They have a hypnotic quality incorporating dreams and visions in which he explores the relationship between film and music.
