Scott Wainwright Talking Backwoods

First I came across Scott Wainwright’s album “Sentimental Debris” which is a pretty nice and pleasing mix of slide guitar, pre war blues and american primitivism. But then I checked out his 2018 album “Talking Backwoods” and the references to Aphex Twin and Brian Eno and John Fahey in the liner notes were much more intriguing, so I listened to that and it was better than I imagined.

I would argue to mix electronica and fingerstyle guitar/country blues is not an easy task.

But Wainwright really mastered it to merge glitch beats, acid synth bubbling and studio trickery with syncopated guitar blues ornaments.

Using his love of The Takoma Records Label and its founder, American Primitive Guitarist, John Fahey, a fondness for the work of Aphex Twin and Brian Eno and inspired by the soundtrack work by the likes of John Carpenter, Ry Cooder and Ennio Morricone, Scott has created a journey through musical history that celebrates the crossing of many boarders and the absorption of seemingly polar musical opposites mixed into brave new whole.

Taking his guitar compositions through various moods and styles, Scott celebrates the acoustic guitar as an instrument that still has plenty to say in our modern world. Touching on Blues, Folk, String Band, Ragtime and even taking in ideas from Surf and Hawaiian guitar styles, Scott works his compositions into the electronic sound world developed in the studio with producer Grant Henderson.

Fun album and highly recommended. Download on bandcamp and check out the strictly acoustic “Sentimental Debris”.