LP Edition of 430. Bandcamp

$24

A very nice return to unadorned acoustic guitar playing by one of the form’s masters. Allred’s last album for FTR, What Strange Flowers Grow in the Shade (FTR656) was more of an imaginary band outing, but Folk Guitar plays it straight.

Joseph reports they’d been listening to a lot to pieces by 16th Century composer, John Dowland, and the solo work of Pentangle’s John Renbourn while this album was gestating. They also note Hammer Studio horror-film soundtracks as a touchstone for certain tunes, while others were inspired by the music in Chinese fantasy TV shows, and poetic fragments by Sappho. All of which means, this is another deeply considered and beautifully rendered set of tunes by this Tennessee-based rambler.

Unlike some of Allred’s early solo work, which manifested the same sort of syncretic brassiness as Robbie Basho’s Takoma-era work, several of the pieces here display an extreme clarity of attack that reminds me a bit of British guitarist, John Pearse, whose work also explored folk and classical traditions (sometimes simultaneously). But of course, Allred’s playing is as original as always. They manage to blend whatever influences they have consumed into perfect gems of musical karma — each facet glimmering like a transcendental star.

Folk Guitar is a work of unalloyed brilliance, and will prove to be a boon companion for anyone attuned to the art of solo guitar music.

–Byron Coley, 2024