Mary Flower

2 weeks ago | acousticguitar.com | Maurice Tani |Mary Flower |Adam Perlmutter |Judy Minot

“Oh, the Dreadful Wind and Rain” is a traditional folk ballad with roots tracing back to the mid-17th century. Like many songs passed down orally for generations before the era of recording, it has appeared under various titles, with small shifts in melody and lyrics. But the core story has remained—and it’s a dark one.

1 month ago | acousticguitar.com | Mimi Fox |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |Mary Flower |Dylan Schorer

I’ve always loved how a simple melody can open the door to so many musical possibilities. The concept of theme and variations has been around for centuries, from classical composers to jazz improvisers, and it’s something I naturally gravitate toward in my own playing.

Dec 18, 2024 | acousticguitar.com | Mary Flower

I credit Joni Mitchell for inspiring me to leave college and pursue a career in music. During those years, I figured out her song “I Had a King” in open-G tuning, which quickly became a mainstay of my repertoire. Mitchell’s songs were stunningly original, and I discovered how hard it was to sound bad in open tunings—whether playing the blues or creating instrumentals. It was all about using my ear to find the treble melodies and letting the open bass strings ring.

Nov 13, 2024 | acousticguitar.com | Mary Flower |Adam Perlmutter |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

In a remembrance of Happy Traum that he wrote for the Acoustic Guitar website, David Lusterman recalls receiving Traum’s last album, There’s a Bright Side Somewhere (2022), and being struck by how strong and vital the guitarist sounded at 84. Listening to a take on the traditional song “He Was a Friend of Mine” from the record, it is easy to understand what Lusterman heard.

May 12, 2024 | acousticguitar.com | Pete Madsen |Mary Flower |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |Doug Young

The legendary classical guitar virtuoso Andrés Segovia famously described the guitar as a small orchestra, and generations of steel-string guitarists, armed with six strings and ten fingers, have pursued and expanded that potential. A range of fingerstyle techniques has allowed these musicians to function like a complete band, creating independent melodies, bass lines, harmony, and even percussion on a single guitar.