Features
Since 1989, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing some of the finest songwriters and guitarists of our time, as well as writing in-depth explorations of their musical legacies, through my work as founding editor (and, currently, editor at large) of Acoustic Guitar magazine. Artists have been extraordinarily generous with me in sharing their creative lives, and I have learned so much from their insights and from going under the hood of their songs.
Below is a selection of Acoustic Guitar features from across these years. Images link to the complete text (and in some cases, video and guitar tab) where available.
The book Rock Troubadours collects some interviews from the ’90s, including Ani DiFranco, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Indigo Girls, Ben Harper, Chris Whitley, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, and Barenaked Ladies.
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Ben Harper, January/February 2021
Anaïs Mitchell on the road to Hadestown, November/December 2020
How to play like John Prine, November/December 2020
The guitar style of John Denver, March/April 2020
Letters from Pete: How Pete Seeger mentored and inspired generations of musicians, November/December 2019
Bruce Cockburn, September/October 2019
The elegant fingerstyle guitar of Joan Baez, May/June 2019
Joni Mitchell's guitar inventions, February 2019
I'm With Her, June 2018
Mary Gauthier on songwriting with veterans, May 2018
Beyond strumming, January 2018
David Rawlings, December 2017
American Acoustic roundtable with Chris Eldridge, Sarah Jarosz, Chris Thile, Aoife O'Donovan, and Julian Lage, December 2017
Joan Shelley, August 2017
Molly Tuttle and next-generation bluegrass, April 2017
Graham Nash, August 2016
Mary Chapin Carpenter, July 2016
Don Henley, December 2015
Brandi Carlile, May 2015
The New Basement Tapes (interviews with Elvis Costello, T Bone Burnett, Rhiannon Giddens, and Taylor Goldsmith), April 2015
The Milk Carton Kids, February 2014
Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, July 2013
Kaki King, May 2013 (excerpt at link)
Songwriting lessons of Woody Guthrie, April 2013
Shawn Colvin, December 2012
John Doyle, May 2012
Jeff Tweedy, March 2012
Jason Mraz, October 2010
Jakob Dylan, August 2010
Joni Mitchell, August 1996. Also published in Rock Troubadours (see link) and as the foreword to the Joni Mitchell Complete So Far songbook.
Elvis Costello, August 2009
Bob Weir, August 2008
Pete Seeger, July 2002
Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, January/February 1994