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Listen to the Lab's Experimental Tracks 
"Maybe the best part of the Acoustic Blues Lab was it ended before I could fix these tracks..."
Personal blues explorations.
The Lab's music veered off into its own direction. I ran out of everything. I was actually relieved that it ended. Much of what survived was recorded in the studio's last hours, using a portable recorder. It is what it is. Some of the weirdest blues ever recorded. ________________________________________________________ Releases:  Personal Blues - Hardcore (EP) This EP is one of the more caustic blues recordings I've heard. And strangely, it's mine. I can tend to be mindlessly optimistic, even when I shouldn't be. These tracks were meant to get beyond that tendency. I wanted to experience blues as it emerged. Fueled by the emotion of the moment. Not after the music had been rehearsed into entertainment. The stark playing style was inspired by Blind Willie Johnson's guitar evangelist song, Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground. Yeah, the first 2 songs were an electric guitar. But they were played using acoustic finger-style technique. Some of the many Lab experiments. Personal Blues Info Sheet LISTEN on Bandcamp: Personal Blues ________________________________________________________ Upcoming Releases:  SLOAN - Hardcore - Longform Single (EPS) The SLOAN EPS was somewhat inspired by an obscure Delta blues musician named Henry Sloan. All that is known about him is, he was an itinerate field hand who was possibly the first known Delta blues musician. And that he was one of Charley Patton's teachers. This wasn't particularly encouraged by Sloan himself. I want to make it clear this longform recording is not intended to project or fabricate what Henry Sloan might have sounded like. No one knows that. Some say Patton copied Sloan. I doubt that. Charlie could only be Charlie. But he might have borrowed a cup of Sloan's blues and never paid it back. Info Sheet ________________________________________________________  Last Chance Deconstruction Blues - Hardcore - Longform Single (EPS) Last Chance Deconstruction Blues was one of my last chances to record some of the most explorative blues I'd been working on in the Lab. Using my '74 D-18, and a heavy Craftsman deep-well socket as a slide. I was on the wrong guitar with the wrong setup. An eleventh-hour effort. But that was what I had with me. And crazy stuff started to happen. Which turned into one of the strangest acoustic blues I've come across. (Currently Unavailable) Info Sheet ________________________________________________________  The Sinking of the Larsen B - 12-String - Longform (Single) The Larsen B is not a sailing ship that went down in stormy seas. It's one of the biggest ice sheets in Antarctica. The smaller Larsen A has already sunk. When the Larsen B sinks, we don't know what will happen. All we know is, sea levels will significantly rise. This track was spontaneously composed in one take, no edits, nothing but me and the guitar. Somehow, my inner suppressed classical background surfaced. Late at night, in the project studio. Bashing away, out of frustration. Info Sheet ________________________________________________________  Relentless Slide Blues - 12-String Slide (Single) For this track, I was focused on how big of a slide tone I could get from a simple 12-string acoustic guitar song. The instrument is a 1961 Gibson B-45. Gibson made a lot of them. From 1961 to 1979. A few excellent early B-45's were somehow made. This guitar is one of those instruments. Info Sheet ________________________________________________________  Parallel Blues (EP) Parallel Blues was a transitional period in my acoustic guitar studies. The linear order of the songs is backwards. The first song, although historically inspired by early blues, was the most recent of these three songs. But this is appropriate. At the time, I was musically going backwards in time. On purpose. Or, more accurately, guided by the Muse. In this creative process, I evolved out of the inspirations of quasi Leo Kottke solo acoustic guitar (and other solo acoustic guitarists), and ever deeper into early Delta blues. I'll never know if this was a good thing, or a bad mistake. The constant process of musical evolution is the main reason these experiments were never completed. I just kept going. Info Sheet ________________________________________________________  Delta Blues Radio - Early Blues (EP) The idea behind Delta Blues Radio was wildly idealistic. As if this music had been broadcasted by a 1930's Delta radio station, and it somehow bounced back from a time warp. But it was never my intention to actually be authentic. This music is decidedly not scholarly. Not even close. Along the way, it turned into a 3-way battle. Trying to source from Charley Patton's circle without copying them, trying to not sound like Fahey, and attempting to connect my rock band background. At times, I purposely pushed into acoustic distortion. An experiment I'd never repeat again. Info Sheet ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________
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