FEATURE: EARL KLUGH
Jazz icon Earl Klugh illuminates his unique approach to solo guitar. [More]

FEATURE: PLAY CLASSICAL GUITAR NOW!
The beauty of classical guitar rests in a few time-honored playing techniques. These tips and exercises will help you start exploring classical pieces while improving your playing in all styles. With video. [More]

PRIVATE LESSON: GYAN RILEY
The classical guitarist and composer talks about odd time signatures, world music influences, and tone production. With video. [More]

FEATURE: WASHBURN GUITARS
The Washburn brand is best known today for reliable and accessibly priced instruments. But earlier incarnations of the company built some of the most unheralded classics of the acoustic guitar’s golden age. [More]

NEW GEAR REVIEW: TAYLOR GS6-12
Slinky playability in a 12-string demonstrates incredible projection and tonal range.
With video. [More]

NEW GEAR REVIEW: CÓRDOBA FUSION 14 RS
Acoustic-electric nylon-string hybrid combines steel-string guitar feel with classical sound. With video. [More]

NEW GEAR REVIEW: BELKIN GOSTUDIO
Capable, portable recording interface converts your iPod into a tabletop studio.
With video. [More]

SAMANTHA CRAIN, The Confiscation
Odd and affecting, The Confiscation introduces newcomer Samantha Crain, a Choctaw singer-songwriter from rural Shawnee, Oklahoma. Crain’s voice is almost shockingly arresting, its built-in tremolo perfectly complementing her eerie, literate lyrics. Crain, just 22, has already developed a raw yet assured style grounded in influences from Dylan to fellow Oklahomans Woody Guthrie and the Flaming Lips. Supported by Paul Goodenough (drums), Sam Campbell (bass guitar), Beth Bombara (electric guitar), Joey Lemon (electric guitar, bass guitar), and Ben Abney (slide guitar), Crain’s acoustic guitar is spare and effective, with simple strums and fingerpicking. The EP is a clever concept, a “musical novella” in five chapters that begins and ends with the image of a river, in between touching on sin, nightmare, redemption, love, despair, and reconciliation (“we will find a tie that binds”). Linked by gorgeous instrumental haiku, the songs build to a cathartic whole. Crain is the real deal, her vocals and music shot through with the wonderful strangeness that marks true originality. (Ramseur Records, ramseurrecords.net)
—CÉLINE KEATING

AMY MACDONALD, This Is the Life
At the tender age of 20, Scotland’s Amy MacDonald, already a chart-topping presence in the UK and across Europe, arrives stateside with a gripping 11-song debut that rejuvenates the folk-pop tradition with youthful exuberance and moody, minor-key Celtic magic to burn. A Gibraltar-solid acoustic rhythm guitarist and commanding vocalist whose emotional reach consistently exceeds her years, the suburban Glasgow native roars out of the gate with “Mr. Rock ’n’ Roll,” “This Is the Life,” and “Poison Prince,” a trio of propulsive rockers that would justify the album’s price even if everything to follow was filler and fluff. But it’s not. With swirling verses that explode into a soaring chorus of exhilarating power, “Run” echoes mid-period U2’s winning formula, punchy horns spur the rockabilly gallop of “Barrowland Ballroom,” and “A Wish For Something More” shifts rhythmic gears with a welcome dose of island-style syncopated slap. If there’s a legitimate nit to pick with This Is the Life, perhaps producer Pete Wilkinson could have pared down certain arrangements that dilute MacDonald’s raw mojo with strings and electronic keyboards. It’s very easy to imagine what the precocious Scot could do with a bit more elbow room. She’s that good. (Decca Records, deccarecords-us.com)
—MIKE THOMAS

For more CD reviews, go to acousticguitar.com/playlist.

FEBRUARY 2009: Jack Johnson sits down with Acoustic Guitar to discuss his rhythmic guitar style; mid-size guitar review; reviews of the Eastman AC320 dreadnought and the Fishman SoloAmp; and music to Otis Redding’s “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay” and Wilco’s “I’m the Man Who Loves You.”

MARCH 2009: Folk icon Joan Baez reveals the story behind her new record, which was produced by Steve Earle; dreadnought die-hards; reviews of the Santa Cruz 12-fret dreadnought and the Lowden Baritone; and music to Merle Haggard’s “Sing Me Back Home” and the White Stripes’ “Hotel Yorba.”

APRIL 2009: Take our guided tour of the Taylor factory; find the right guitar summer camp in the Summer Study Guide; learn how to play country/bluegrass rhythm guitar; reviews of the Martin Cherry OM and the Voyage Air Travel Guitar; and music to “The Scientist” by Coldplay and the Allman Brothers’ “Little Martha.”

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