15,000 years of guitar
The guitar is the backbone of modern popular music, The guitar is the backbone of modern popular music, but some experts speculate that it emerged around 13,000 BC, based on cave paintings in France;s Cave of the Trois-Frères , which depicted nose flutes and conch shell trumpets and possibly gut-stringed noise makers. Eventually early stringed sounds morphed into the Arabic oud. the European lute and Asian guqin and zheng, and eventually into what we now call the guitar in medieval Spain. By the 16th century, the Spanish vihuela, which became a crucial predecessor to the modern axe had arrived in the Americas.
European immigrants like Christian Frederick Martin (the founder of Martin Guitars in 1833) introduced innovations like steel strings. In 1931, immigrant Adolph Rickenbacker developed the electric guitar, the “Frying Pan,” with Texan George Beauchamp. In 1941, Les Paul created the first solid-body electric guitar, a design later popularized by Leo Fender’s Telecaster in 1950 and popular music was never the same.
And neither were musicians. They picked up the electric guitar and created rock and roll. From Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the “Godmother of Rock and Roll”, to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Memphis Minnie, Jimmy Page, B.B. King, , Joan Jett, Susan Tedeschi, Brian May, Bonnie Raitt, Carlos Santana, and many more, the guitarists became the soul of rock and roll and everything that followed (well, maybe not rap and hip hop).
In the 21st century, new guitarists emerged who blended genres and pushed technical boundaries. John Mayer,Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders and Tim Henson of Polyphia, Derek Trucks, Nancy Wilson of Heart, Orianthi, St. Vincent all expanded the boundaries of guitar playing.
Now a new generation of guitarist is emerging that are bringing an incendiary power to guitar, kicking off a new revolution in wielding an axe – Samantha Fish in blues, Daniela “Dany” Villarreal Vélez in alt rock, and Kurt Rosenwinkel in jazz.
Samantha Fish’s guitar playing stands out for its impeccable tone, expressive phrasing, and fearless genre-blending. She can and does shred with the best, but her slow-burning dynamic control imbues each note with emotion rooted in the blues, with elements of rock, country, and pop. Her solos use “bends” and vibrato to “talk” to the audience with an organic amp-driven tone. She isn’t afraid to experiment with effects or unconventional instruments like her cigar box guitar. And of course she can sing like a blues banshee, as she demonstrates in “I’m Done Running” on her new album, Paper Dolls.
Daniela “Dany” Villarreal Vélez of The Warning, now on a world tour, creates a massive, dynamic sound as the band’s sole guitarist. She maximizes her instrument’s tonal range, often using both humbuckers at full volume and experimenting with fuzz and distortion to convey the rage and massiveness the Mexican band is known for. Villarreal Vélez uses a combination of clean, chunky, and harmonized settings, even adding a low octave to make her sound “grow super big”. She uses effects like the Whammy for high-octane leads or dissonance – a wall of sound with just one guitar. And her singing matches her guitar .
in intensity.
In jazz, Kurt Rosenwinkel brings together intricate chord voicings, and the seamless integration of traditional jazz with other genres, like rock, fusion, hip hop, and electronic music. His trio Bandit 65 blends improvisation with psychedelic and electronic influences using effects pedals and electronic textures to brings a rock-influenced edge to jazz in songs like “Whoa” and Zivago.” His innovation and artistry has not only shaped the current jazz landscape but also inspired a new generation of guitarists, solidifying his reputation as one of the most significant and visionary figures in jazz guitar today.
Of course there are many more hot guitarists emerging out there. Grace Bowers, an 18-year-old blues prodigy, Jayden J Hammer, known for her energetic stage presence and shredding skills as lead guitarist for DeathbyRomy, Mexico’s Juan Castañón Acasia for both contemporary and experimental jazz. But all of them- from Jimi Hendrix to Daniela Villarreal Vélez -are the latest version of the musicians who started playing strings in the ancient past.
Patrick O’Heffernan
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