# Solo Instrumental artists??



## SnowfaLL (May 20, 2011)

I've been trying to search for this forever but can't find much; basically Solo artists who do instrumentals by themselves live, no backing tracks..

(not talking about people who make solo albums, with 5 instruments in the mix, im talking solely one instrument on stage or recorded, no vocals)

Jake Shimabukuro and Andy McKee (or whoever that acoustic tapping guy is) is about the only I know of, other than afew people who do like 2-3 songs out of their whole repertoire.. (Tosin, Tetsuo Sakurai)

Post some youtube videos!


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## technomancer (May 20, 2011)

What genre specifically? Bucky Pizzarelli did a lot of solo 7 string jazz work. There's a Mel Bay book set with 2 CDs and transcriptions of a lot of his stuff IIRC


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## SnowfaLL (May 20, 2011)

Any genre, but ideally (and why im researching this) is because I want to start doing some coffeehouses/solo gigs, but I dont really want to sing. so something that can hold the attention span of a public audience; not bore the fuck out of everyone

I was definitely thinking in that kinda, gypsy jazz style, but that seems best suited for 2 players or so (to have rhythm/lead seperated, and trade off melody).. but watching "Sweet and Lowdown" is pretty inspiring for ballad-type solo guitar work.


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## ibanez254 (May 20, 2011)

Joe Pass has a bunch of solo guitar stuff. Just listen to the 'Virtuoso' albums he has done for a good start. (though they can be a bit complicated)


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## SirMyghin (May 20, 2011)

Phil Keaggy has a lot in the same vein as McKee (except much longer ago) , as well as some other solo guitar stuff.


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## Solodini (May 21, 2011)

Kaki King does some nice solo stuff. Pretty far from Jazz, her stuff.


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## Holy Katana (May 26, 2011)

Solodini said:


> Kaki King does some nice solo stuff. Pretty far from Jazz, her stuff.



And of course, her biggest influence, the late, great Michael Hedges.

Joe Pass, as previously mentioned, was a god at this. 

Lenny Breau is criminally underrated, and he used a seven on occasion, albeit with a higher string instead of a lower one. He's not strictly jazz, but was mainly jazz-based. He had some country influence, though, since his parents played country. I believe his seven was a nylon-string.

And if you liked the guitar in Sweet and Lowdown, you should check out Howard Alden, who played all the guitar parts on that for Sean Penn's character. Also a seven-string user, but with the normal lower string.


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## Skyblue (May 26, 2011)

How about a touch-style approach? it seems to me like the best idea for a one man show thing...


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## celticelk (May 26, 2011)

Does live looping get disqualified as "backing tracks"? If not, there are an awful lot of folks using the technique in a variety of genres, and even a centralized community for discussion (http://www.loopers-delight.com).


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## DomitianX (May 26, 2011)

Saw Peppino D'Agostino on tour with Eric Johns and Andy McKee. He was really good.


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## Trespass (May 26, 2011)

Bireli Lagrene put out a CD of a completely improvised solo set (called To bi, or Not to Bi). Really esoteric stuff though.

This is more accessible solo Bireli Lagrene improvisations:





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Otherwise, check out Antoine Dufour's latest works:


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## yingmin (May 26, 2011)

The CandyRat roster is full of guys doing completely solo stuff.

Don Ross





Robert Taylor





Craig D'andrea





And of course, one of the originators of this style, to whom even Michael Hedges owes a great debt, Leo Kottke





Muriel Anderson







Tommy Emmanuel





Although he usually didn't perform strictly solo, Chet Atkins is still the inspiration for most of the artists mentioned in this thread





Tuck Andress


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## Holy Katana (May 27, 2011)

Ah, yeah, Tuck Andress and Tommy Emmanuel are both great. Tuck doesn't really play solo so much anymore, since he's in a project with his wife.


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## Scar Symmetry (May 27, 2011)




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## Explorer (May 27, 2011)

+1 on the Tommy Emmanuel, Leo Kottke, Mike Hedges, and so on. 

I'm a little surprised that the OP wasn't able to find any information mentioning these people exist. 

I suggest looking on Google for "solo guitar cd" in order to find names. That way you'll discover those who are/were working artists, instead of just YouTube posters.


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## SnowfaLL (May 27, 2011)

well like I said, I was looking more for coffeehouses/events with singer-songwriters and such that appeals to the average person in a crowd, not musicians. So esoteric jazz isnt really going to work. 

I mean, if you show most of these youtube videos to a non-musician, I dunno how much of a response you would get out of them, other than "im bored".. so thats why I was asking more in the sense of Jake Shimabukuro and Andy McKee, which had mainstream youtube success from non-musicians, which is a very difficult thing to do. Something that can be enjoyed by EVERYONE

We can all respect these as musicians of course, and I even listen to alot of these guys in my spare time, but we're musicians. If you give this to your sisters, or girlfriends, or most people, what would they say about these videos? Know what I mean??

(yes, I should of put that in the first post, my mistake.. but it is in the 3rd post of this thread, so if you red thru the first 3 posts, you'd see it)


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## Explorer (May 27, 2011)

I hate to break this to you, but most coffee houses have people there as wallpaper, not as the main attraction. It's not like you're the headliner, and that all those drink concession stands outside the main stadium are just there for some. Most coffee houses are about having something going on while the patrons are enjoying their food and drink. 

There's nothing wrong with doing a wallpaper gig. I've done that more than once, and if you have a steady gig (morning brunch at an upscale restaurant, say), it can be a nice spot of income you can count on. 

If you're counting on it being like a concert, when it's not actually a concert, you're going in with the wrong mindset.


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## AlexRuger (May 28, 2011)

Has no one said Ted Greene?!
Buy his album "Solo Guitar." Prepare for your mind to be blown.

Beyond that, there's some cool cats out there doing really interesting stuff...
Dominic Frasca is doing the modern-minimalist thing on his 10 string guitar. 
Fred Firth is pretty insane.
Charlie Hunter does some amazing solo work.

Plus all the jazz and acoustic guys everyone mentioned. It's all great stuff.


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## Solodini (May 28, 2011)

I'm sure someone else mentioned somewhere that some people see coffee shop and bar solo gigs as a place to practise and be paid for it. You can try things out with little risk and see how they work.


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## SnowfaLL (May 28, 2011)

Explorer said:


> I hate to break this to you, but most coffee houses have people there as wallpaper, not as the main attraction. It's not like you're the headliner, and that all those drink concession stands outside the main stadium are just there for some. Most coffee houses are about having something going on while the patrons are enjoying their food and drink.
> 
> There's nothing wrong with doing a wallpaper gig. I've done that more than once, and if you have a steady gig (morning brunch at an upscale restaurant, say), it can be a nice spot of income you can count on.
> 
> If you're counting on it being like a concert, when it's not actually a concert, you're going in with the wrong mindset.



Maybe so but im not going into it just for my own "practice time".. I want to entertain people. I want people to actually go "Hey wow, that was actually quite cool" and help me expand into concerts as a solo artist in the future. That is the point.

I would never be one of those guys who just takes up space on stage doing some wanky shredfest or whatever to bore the hell out of the audience just to show off.. I want to actually appeal to people. Theres too much of that wanking in the music world that I wouldnt look at even coffeehouses as "gigs just to practice on"

I also think we have a different opinion on what coffeehouses are.. Im not talking about restaurant gigs, where you are meant to be in the background.. Im talking events set up specifically to watch the music/entertainment, where they have like 10 people going up to play 1-2 songs each and its a chance to see new artists and the venue can get some profits from people buying snacks. Maybe the definition of coffeehouse is different from our locations, but where im from, its mainly to showcase new artists who want to try to get some stage time without having to have a full set prepared/booking a show, and these are generally fundraiser events set up by the musicians and shops.

These are not meant to be paying gigs.. they are meant solely to expose new artists through the performance and word of mouth IN THAT GENRE; Its networking for a different niche, one that is more available to a different variety of gigs. Im not gonna go in there and play the most complicated chord-melody solo I know, thats not whats going to be appealing in this environment. This is for your average music lovers, the ones who want to be entertained and are not musicians.


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## SirMyghin (May 28, 2011)

Coffee house gigs are effectively practice time, you are atmosphere and nothing else. No one is going to notice if you are doing your job. They might notice if you are not however.


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## SnowfaLL (May 28, 2011)

SirMyghin said:


> Coffee house gigs are effectively practice time, you are atmosphere and nothing else. No one is going to notice if you are doing your job. They might notice if you are not however.



Then I guess it really is true, coffeehouses mean a totally different thing in the east coast than in ontario.

Coffeehouses here are music events where people get up to play 1-2 songs, and the focus is 100% on the music. *Everyone goes to watch the music, that is the primary reason. *The only reason its called a "coffeehouse" is because the venue is often a small coffee shop that allows the promoter to set up their stage there because they can sell their snacks/drinks while the music goes on. *THERE IS OFTEN COVER*, altho small like $2, which usually goes to charity or fundraising for other events. The musicians often sign up a week or so before the event (they are not asked to play), but ANYONE can participate, as its meant to be a charity event basically to showcase new artists.

so totally different geographic locations have totally different meanings for things in this industry I guess. What we call what you guys are describing here, is restaurant/bar gigs, but thats 100% totally different than Coffeehouse events. Yes, those are atmosphere, where you can wank all day and no one cares. But what im talking about is where *THE PEOPLE ARE THERE TO WATCH MUSIC*, they dont want to see some wanker practicing on stage. They want to see music they will actually enjoy.


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## concertjunkie (May 28, 2011)

Kelly Valleau has some very cool one man arrangements for quite a few songs, another candyrat gem


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## SirMyghin (May 29, 2011)

NickCormier said:


> Then I guess it really is true, coffeehouses mean a totally different thing in the east coast than in ontario.
> 
> Coffeehouses here are music events where people get up to play 1-2 songs, and the focus is 100% on the music. *Everyone goes to watch the music, that is the primary reason. *The only reason its called a "coffeehouse" is because the venue is often a small coffee shop that allows the promoter to set up their stage there because they can sell their snacks/drinks while the music goes on. *THERE IS OFTEN COVER*, altho small like $2, which usually goes to charity or fundraising for other events. The musicians often sign up a week or so before the event (they are not asked to play), but ANYONE can participate, as its meant to be a charity event basically to showcase new artists.
> 
> so totally different geographic locations have totally different meanings for things in this industry I guess. What we call what you guys are describing here, is restaurant/bar gigs, but thats 100% totally different than Coffeehouse events. Yes, those are atmosphere, where you can wank all day and no one cares. But what im talking about is where *THE PEOPLE ARE THERE TO WATCH MUSIC*, they dont want to see some wanker practicing on stage. They want to see music they will actually enjoy.



Fair enough, better break out the vocals then, as singers are going to dominate it, people tend to like music with words as they feel they can actually understand it regardless of background.


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## Sephael (May 30, 2011)

Gustavo Dal Farra


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